Zoxxo

Formula One - Abu Dhabi - Schedule on NBC Sports Network

THINGS ARE DIFFERENT THIS WEEKEND SO HEADS UP

ALL SHOWINGS WILL BE ON NBC SPORTS NET

Practice is being shown ONE time.

Qualifying will be shown TWO times.

The Race will be shown TWO times.

The Pre-Race show is built in to the schedule this week.

There is an extra "F1 Extra" schedule PRIOR to the live race.

The post-race show "F1 Extra" is shown immediately after the race
show whatever time that may be. So the simplest way to make sure you
record it is to simply added enough extra time to the race broadcast to
get (a) any extra time that was needed to record the entire race
including any delays, and (b) "F1 Extra".

I pull this info from from my Tivo's schedule. I have no guarantee that
it is correct but it usually is. I double check it with the NBC Sports
NET schedule, too.


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ALL TIMES PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME !!!!! Eastern time in parens
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Friday November 21, 2014
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Saturday November 22, 2014
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Sunday November 23, 2014
---------------------------Enjoy!!

Z//

BrianCunningham

thanks

Nowanker

Thanks!
Not too sure about that 'double points' hocus-pocus, but it's been an interesting season so far. Either candidate for champion is deserving, just hope they can race it clean!

63Corvette

Good info. Thanks

VetteDrmr

Thanks, Z, for one last weekend of fun before the long, cold, barren, season of Monster Truck marathons begin <shudder>

Have a good one,
Mike

tytek

As always... thanks!

Zoxxo

Re: thanks

Thanks guys. It's a minor labor of love and a tool to make sure that *I* have it right

It remains to be seen how I'll feel about doing year #3 come Australia 2015. The F1 powers that be are really, really doing a great job of draining the enthusiasm I have held for F1 for some 50+ years now. Between the corporate greed, the "let them eat cake" politics, the ridiculous "power units", the diminished spectacle, and the ongoing, nonsensical ravings and rantings of the toad in charge, it's all becoming just a bit much. The fans truly come last now - "let THEM eat cake, too!"

We'll see. It will be an interesting weekend, though, that's for sure (despite the double points foolishness.)



Z//

Zoxxo

This is pretty funny (and pretty accurate.)

http://jalopnik.com/how-formula-one-...-am-1661109693

Z//

BrianCunningham

Read that the other day hilarious!

VetteDrmr

I read that yesterday, parts I laughed at so hard I had tears in my eyes. Some of the reader comments were fantastic as well.

Zoxxo

I think the word needed here is "tragicomic".

The die was cast when Bernie and Mosely set out to lure the big automakers (read: "huge bank accounts") into the sport. You can enjoy reading about all of Bernie's deals and machinations BUT, the fact remains that he is to cash what pigs are to truffles (the difference being that the pigs aren't allowed to keep 50% of the truffles they sniff out.). And as Bernie himself pointed out at Austin, they/he don't/doesn't think long term. This is the fundamental flaw to the stock market routine - it's all "what have you done lately?" (as in the past 20 minutes) and even more important, "what are you going to do for me in the next 20 minutes?"

F1 has had the soap opera bit going some degree forever. Enzo Ferrari was his own soap opera all to himself. But these days it's different. These days it's the "one percenters" act writ large and with Bernie actually writing himself out of the position of power that brought F1 to where it is today, there seems to be no easy way to get things back on track. I really do fear they are going to tank the whole thing.

Mark Webber thinks it's going seriously wrong:
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/to...g-mark-webber/

And Eddie Jordan has publicly called for Bernie to bow out:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/for...ie-Jordan.html

But then, as the Jalopnik piece points out, just who/what can/will replace him?

Sigh.

Z//

Zoxxo

As you watch the pre-race and race show this morning, you'll get to hear Christian Horner
winge and cry about how Red Bull has been "singled out" for their illegal front wings.
("but officer, those other guys were doing 120 mph too!")

So, from Britain's Autosport, here is the story:

Red Bull's flexible wing exclusion
Sunday, November 23rd 2014, 07:44 GMT




Red Bull's exclusion from Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying for having front wing flaps
designed to deflect under aero load revived Formula 1's controversy over flexible bodywork.

The FIA's announcement of the disqualification was brief and the specific details of
what part of the wing flexed have not been made public.

But the FIA did say that the flaps were the parts in question.

These are the rear-most elements of the front wing, typically forming the adjustable
section (see image above).

These parts can be adjusted when the car is stationery, via the threaded adjuster
pods, but any movement from aero load is banned.

There are a pair of technical regulations that can be applied to the front wing.

Article 3.15 lays out that bodywork must be rigid and immobile relative to the rest of the car.

No part can be infinitely rigid, so another rule sets out some tests to be applied to specific areas.

Article 3.17 details various deflection tests, but this only includes one front wing test
that does not affect the front wing flaps.

The rules do state, in Article 3.17.8, that in order to ensure that the requirements of
Article 3.15 are respected, the FIA reserves the right to introduce further load/deflection
tests on any part of the bodywork which appears to be (or is suspected of), moving
while the car is in motion.

If the front wing flaps flexed at speed, the most obvious gain would to move the centre
of pressure rearward.

This flex could be achieved in several ways, firstly by the carbon fibre bodywork being flexible.

This could mean they meet any expected FIA test, but then flex at loads above those
applied when being checked.

Secondly, the wing could have a mechanical means to meet the FIA flex test and then
deform at higher loads, potentially through the use of a spring.

Red Bull has accepted the FIA's decision, but pointed out its belief that other teams
interpret the rules in the same way it does.

Analysis of the cars when on track is difficult. The on-board cameras are a better way
to view deflection, but often the front wing is obscured from the roll hoop camera by
the wheels and suspension.

The lower nose mounted cameras are better for this sort of analysis. On-board footage
from a camera mounted on the Williams nose in Abu Dhabi appeared to show its flaps
deflecting downwards, but its cars were deemed legal by the FIA.

During qualifying, super-slow-motion images often show the front wings shaking in an
alarming fashion over kerbs and even striking the ground in a cloud of sparks.

This sort of deflection is unavoidable and does not serve to prove either way if
a team is beneficially flexing its wing.

Images of the cars when near the end of a straight before braking suggest that
several teams have front wings that appear rotated about their mounting pillars.

But the angle of the images is rarely consistent and the eye can be fooled into
seeing a tilted wing when it is level with the floor of the car.

Red Bull will now need to replace or modify its wings before the race.

Z//

not08crmanymore

It's still the best racing on TV and today was no exception.Great season overall. At least the guys that won the most races are the ones in the final showdown for champion..unlike another auto racing venue I used to watch until this years ending..

Zoxxo

Agreed. It was a good season despite the best efforts of so many greedy boneheads to derail it. Many good races. Several very good ones. Even this final one was good (although Diffey's incessant cheerleading gets very, very old.)

I also agree with Hobbs that next year will likely be more of the same since the rules prevent all that much from changing (another source of Horner's whining.) With Newey "taking a step back" Red Bull will really have to up their cheating skills over this past season to take up the slack.

Predictions:

1. Vettel will soon find out why Alonso is considered the best in the game when Sebastian can't extract anywhere near the results from next year's Ferrari that Fernando did with this year's. Carrying a lesser car is not Vettel's strong point. (If their engine department comes up with a motor that's 75hp up on the Merc motor than I retract this prediction )

2. Fernando will very be happy to not have the weight of the tifosi and the Italian motoring press on his shoulders for the first time in 5 years. The relief to be done with Maranello was written all over him during that quick pit lane interview w Buxton. And he will probably enjoy trying to make something out of the McLaren/Honda mix. This could be interesting to watch if it's not just a total dog. Let's just hope that Ron Dennis keeps a low profile so Fernando can stay sane.

3. It will be interesting to see how things evolve socially at Merc next year. I expect Nico will do more than his share of muttering under his breath.

This season was also a great reminder about the truth of F1 - it's far more about the cars than it is the drivers. Taking nothing away from Nico or Hamilton, the fact is that any of several drivers on the grid could have been in their shoes today were they in one of those cars. And that's the way F1 has always been. That's the way the championship was, and still is, structured. The drivers are paid employees of the constructors. They get zero prize money from Bernie or the FIA. And the "prize money" (if that's what you want to call it these days - "booty" is probably more apt) goes to the folks who make the cars. (And that's the #1 reason that the engineers should NOT be making the rules.)

And Matchett hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that what Ferrari needs is another Ross Braun to come in and once again shield the racing team from the "too many chiefs and not enough Indians" syndrome that Fiat/Ferrari management seems unable to avoid. ALL CEOs eventually start believing their own PR.

Z//

drivinhard

In reality, the merc gap over the rest of the field (save for Williams at a few races) was MUCH larger than RB ever had, when everybody was whining about how boring the races were then. The only difference was the team with the best car, had two drivers that were able to get almost identical performance out of the cars. No other team/driver pairing was able to do the same week in and out.

If Merc had the performance difference Vettel and Weber had, it would have been just as "boring" as the RB years.

Ros and Ham both drove very well all year.

Zoxxo

I agree. And, again, as I said, it's about the cars. Both the Vettel era and the Schumacher era were times when the team in question had clear #1 and #2 drivers. While both teams paid lip service to "both drivers have the same equipment" the fact was that the equipment in question was designed for, and built to suit, ONE driver with the expected results. Even during the time that Michael Schumacher was at Mercedes, and Nico was trouncing him pretty soundly, much was made of "next year's car will be built more to suit the umpteen-time champion" and "we're not giving Michael the car he needs." (They never did.)

Now Merc seems to have truly played fair and square (keyword is "seems") with the result that you had real racing at the front instead of processional after processional as we all suffered with both Schumacher and Vettel. Combined with some really great racing in the second tier, and just enough unreliability to keep everyone guessing, it was a most entertaining season.

Z//

VetteDrmr

Don't think tifosi are going to see much difference, other than there should be much tighter competition between Vettel and Raikonnen

This is one that is a true step into the unknown for me, much like when Hamilton moved to Merc.

Initially I thought that Hamilton's championship would relax things somewhat. Then I came to my senses and realized that the monstrous egos that make them such excellent racers will overshadow any such good will.

That was the best analysis quote of the weekend for me.

And now we enter the long winter slumber of reruns and tractor pulls.

Have a good one,
Mike

Zoxxo

Both of them are clearly drivers who can't easily deal with a car not made to their liking. Vettel loses the blown diffuser and watches Ricciardo drive off into the distance again and again. Raikonnen ditto with his steering rack fetish. Hobbs was right that Ferrari is really losing an asset with Fernando's departure. It's hard to think of anyone else in F1 who can drag a loser car up the points tally like Fernando can. That fact alone adds $20 million to his price tag for the likes of Honda.

And now Ferrari has canned Mattiachi! He's *totally* out at Ferrari (apparently he pissed off the big boss with his handling of Fernando's exit and he was picked by de Montezemolo so that surely didn't help.)

http://en.espnf1.com/ferrari/motorsp...ry/185685.html

The suits are in full display at Ferrari once again. It's just like the pre-Braun days. Can the return of the Ferrari's "Italian fire drill" pit stops be far off?

Z//

hklvette

Looks to me like Ferrari F1 is going down in flames. Not that I care, I don't toe the "F1 is Ferrari and Ferrari is F1" line...

VetteDrmr

I just read that! Is there some connection between Ferrari management and Indycar management? They sure seem to be following the same business model!

Have a good one,
Mike