< mystic- > is alesi a particularly sucky driver? < as- > not really, he's one of the faster ones < as- > he seems to have a brainfade every now and then, though < mystic- > ah, ok. < as- > why? < mystic- > i was wondering how serious a misuse of funds that is < mystic- > sponsoring him, i mean. (and it took me a good 15 minutes to find teh "petronas" logo) < as- > sponsors usually sponsor the teams, not a specific driver < mystic- > oh. what team's he in then? < as- > Sauber, a Swiss team < as- > their engine is called Petronas, although it's in fact an old Ferrari unit < mystic- > right - i thought that was another sponsor. so umm ferrari and mclaren are teams as well? < mystic- > what?! petronas is the name of their engine ?! < as- > it's a common practice, a sponsor pays the team money to get their name on the engine < as- > because the engine name appears in the team's name, for example Sauber-Petronas, McLaren-Mercedes < mystic- > ah, beginning to make sense now. < mystic- > though it sounds silly. < mystic- > hey, when will they be at sepang? < as- > mystic: in the autumn, checking < jss-away > back < as- > October the 17th < mystic- > cool, thanks. wonder if i could get tickets (siemens is, as usual, sponsoring it i guess) < jss-away > <-- bought khaki trousers, NATO Size 7583/7989 < as- > the Chinese GP was cancelled two months before it's time (March the 21st), but it seems that the Malaysian GP isn't in jeopardy anymore < mystic- > the GAP ads are cool enough to make me go get one 8) < mystic- > as, it was the backup venue ? < as- > mystic: not really, it was supposed to be the second event this year, two weeks after the opening Australian GP, but instead they had a five week break between Australia and Brazil < mystic- > why? < as- > although the facility in Zhuhai itself was finished, there was some problems with logistics and funding, I think < as- > but the Chinese GP is supposed to take place next year < mystic- > what, so they just missed out an entire race? < as- > yep, it happens quite often < mystic- > you get points and stuff for winning each one, the one with the most is the overall winner ? < jss-away > points for the six best in each race - 10, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, < jss-away > -, < as- > mystic: exactly, in every GP, the best six get points (10, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1) < as- > mystic: the teams have their own championship, each team gets the points of their both drivers < mystic- > cool. hmm, still it'd hurt someone trying to achieve some sort of maximum right? < mystic- > <-- has been watching snooker as well (had no choice in the matter.) < as- > mystic: well, it's more or less same for everyone, and the the races are usually cancelled well in time, so they can adapt whatever startegy they might have < mystic- > as, how far are they into it now? < as- > mystic: three out of sixteen, the next race in Monaco is in 1.5 weeks < mystic- > ahh, post-exam period. they show the stuff live, here. < mystic- > actually, probably live in most places. < as- > we get the qualifying, warm-up sessions and races live on national TV < as- > with awfully biased commentary < mystic- > biased towards what? < as- > the Finns < mystic- > hakinnen(sp?)is finnish? < as- > yeah, and the other Mika (Mika Salo) < mystic- > he completely ruined his car yesterday didn't he? < as- > more or less < mystic- > how does this work; do they rebuild it, or do they have spare ones? < as- > I think the teams manufacture at least a dozen chassises every year < as- > the engines aren't used after the race at all, as they're engineered to last roughly 400 kilometers < jss-away > don't they rebuild old engines, rather than just dump them? < mystic- > what a waste. it's cheating, almost, eh < mystic- > everyone should be given the same car =) < mystic- > umm, the same type, that is. < as- > F1 is more or less about the teams building their own cars from scratch, it is what makes it special and also awfully expensive < jss-away > mystic: well, the top teams have $200 million annual budgets for participating 16 races with two cars, and that probably doesn't include the money engine manufactureres spend < as- > the engines are generally bought from car manufacturers like Mercedes, Renault and Peugeot, but Ferrari for example has been making their own engines since the 50's < mystic- > how much'd they win? < as- > I don't think they win that much, the whole circus is being funded by the sponsors < mystic- > i seriously can't understand how they gain anything at all from that sort of advertising. < mystic- > i mean, it's ok for the engine makers i guess (though where else exactly would you drive a thing like that?) < jss-away > sponsors are willing to pay, for TV audience of hundreds of millions < as- > it's one of the most widely followed sports worldwide < attilla > eek < attilla > split < jss- > as-: the lose their aerodynamical grip and didn't have any mechanical grip to begin with, right? < attilla > re < jss- > the=they < as- > jss: exactly < jss- > ah < mystic- > umm, so why not have mech grip as well? < jss- > mystic: F1 rules banned it < as- > by allowing slick tyres and venturi tunnels, and reducing the attack angle of front and rear wings, they could easily allow more room for creative racing lines and overtaking < as- > mystic: after the fatal accidents of 1994, they've been trying to slow the cars' cornering speeds < jss- > as-: what difference do the wing attack angles make? < mystic- > how do you ban something like that? they go through the design specs ? < attilla > oh geez, they're talking about Formula 1 < as- > mystic: yep, the size of the tyres is regulated, and since '98 they're required to have four diagonal grooves each < attilla > bbl, I'm going to lunch < as- > jss: higher angle == more downforce < jss- > as-: why should they reduce aerodynamical grip? < as- > jss: to make the cars more dependant on mechanical grip < as- > if they brought back slick tyres and possibly non-flat bottoms, they only way to slow the cars back to "safe" speeds would be to reduce aerodynamical grip of engine size < as- > of=or < jss- > mystic: the list of what a Formula One car may NOT have is very long indeed, after decades of curious engineering experiments and mechanical gadgets the organizers didn't like < w1r3d > re attilla < jss- > mystic: for example, one year in the seventies the Tyrrell team arrived to the first race with a six-wheeled car, which soon began winning races < jss- > mystic: in a few years the number of wheels had been limited to four < mystic- > heheh. exactly four? < jss- > exactly, I think < as- > the rules also define "wheel" in depth < as- > just in case, or something < jss- > I'm happy they banned it, the six-wheeler was UGLY < mystic- > it sounds too obfuscated with CANs and CAN NOTs to be much fun, though. < jss- > bye attilla < mystic- > hye, att < mystic- > -h+b < as- > the points with two pairs of smaller front tyres was to reduce air resistance without losing grip < as- > point < w1r3d > bye attilla. bon appetit < as- > http://www.forix.com/iex/imgz/1976/06004_RN.JPG < w1r3d > as/> _ < w1r3d > oops < w1r3d > as-: what is that url for ? < w1r3d > kinda funny if you change your keyboard layout mid-session < as- > wired: it's a six-wheeled racing car :-P < mystic- > ugh < as- > terribly ugly, but it was successful < as- > gotta go *** as- has quit IRC (bonk)