[Faline]

Think i'd rather be dead than in a vegetative state.

[gatagato]

F1 in 2014 will change a lot, with many (and important) new technical regulations; hopefully the embarassing gap between Red Bull and the others will be drastically reduced.

Summary:
■Front wing reduced front 1800mm to 1650mm wide
■Nose tip centered at 185mm high
■Front Bulkhead maximum height 525
■Chassis height maximum 625mm
■Vanity panels still allowed
■Engines now 1.6l V6 turbo, Direct injection, fuel flow limited, 15k max RPM
■Energy Recovery systems to add +150hp from Kinetic and Turbo harvesting
■Race Fuel limited to 100kg
■Gearboxes to have 8 forward ratios, those ratios are fixed for the season
■Single central exhaust pipe exiting 17-18.5cm behind rear axle line and 300-525mm high
■Last 150mm of tail pipe must point 5 degrees upwards
■No bodywork behind the tail pipe axis
■No lower beam wing
■Space still allowed for Y75 winglet (monkey seat)
■Top rear wing a little shallower
■Minimum weight 690Kg



The front wing will be a little narrowed, from 1800mm to 1650mm.

150 mm doesn't sound very much but it's actually a HUGE change because it puts the endplate right in the middle of the front tyre, now. This means turbolences very hard to be handled.


The circular end of the final 150mm of tailpipe of the 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engine


will point upwards at an angle of five degrees: any aero effect from the exhaust will be hugely restricted (and this was a point of strenght for RB). This will also drastically change the architecture in terms of the physical size of the internal combustion engine. Bodyworks are now also banned in the area behind the tailpipe's axis, preventing vanes or winglets from diverting the plume towards the rear wing or diffuser. This also was a point of strenght for RB: almost all teams tried to copy RB's system but not only they've failed, they even worsened the performance of the car: Adrian Newey, only by exploiting these two technical details, has been able to gain half a second per lap. This year, teams still will gain a huge amount of downforce from the blowing effect: with both the Coanda and downwash effects, the diffuser is effectively sealed at its sides by the exhaust, which will give around two seconds per lap in performance. The problem is that nobody compares to Adrian Newey when it comes to draw a new F1 car: if the other teams will gain two seconds, then RB will gain three seconds for sure (only by the combination of these two effects). The nose tip must be centred at 185mm,

not much higher than the front wing, so noses will be veeery low: this is also important, as the flow under the nose and chassis will be obstructed (yet another serious loss for RB).


In order to to maintain the highest possible chassis/nose combination, engineers will be forced to draw very strange shapes (which will be funny, with some unavoidable epic fails, wait and see). A large part of the cars' power will be provided by energy recovery systems, but what we knew as KERS will be now termed as ERS-K: it not only will effectively double the power output, it will also last five times longer than current systems (this will affect the braking effect at the rear wheels, so an electronic rear brake control system will be allowed). This is one of the changes that Ferrari, McLaren and Lotus are hoping to exploit in order to reduce the gap from RB. Also the minimum weight will be increased to 690kg (up from 642kg).
It has also been estabilished that dummy cameras are now banned: many teams were used to exploit the front-mounted FIA camera pods for aerodynamic benefit, (often fitting them just behind the middle section of front wing).
This has now been outlawed by mandating the front cameras to be between 325-525mm above the floor:

now, fake or real, the cameras won't affect the aerodynamics anymore (yet they will, but at the same way for every team).
The most important change, however, won't affect the performance: the side impact system designed to improve protection in the case of an oblique angle of impact has been developed through collaboration between F1 teams: the final specification was produced by Red Bull based upon an initial design by Marussia (GREAT satisfaction for the relatively new and small russian team): F1 cars (but racing cars in general) have never been that much safe.
The cooling challenge is a rebus: they'll have to come up with a solution that will cool and give them the optimum aerodynamic performance. Many teams will find themselves in troubles because of this, hopefully RB included: the energy recovery system will obviously pump out MUCH more heat, and they still have got the gearbox, hydraulics, oil and water to cool, so it won't be a very easy-to-fix issue.

It will be a very interesting season and all those used to believe that F1 is boring (which was true in many cases during the last seasons) will change their minds for sure.
The regulation changes for 2014 will hurt Red Bull more than any other team: this may look not nice, but it always happened in F1 that regulations changes are made in order to balance the values: but as far as i remember, it never happened before that so many rules changed alltogether, especially from the aerodynamic side.

Obviously I root for Ferrari, but I also wish a great comeback to McLaren: also Lotus and Mercedes deserve an eye of attention, they are doing a great job, their drivers will end up on the podium more than once, for sure. If i wasn't a fair fan i would have wished a heart attack to Adrian Newey (which would be the ONLY way to beat him for sure) but since I'm fair, I wish to him all the best and if once again he's drawn the winning car... then be it: he's the best after all, it's not humiliating to be beaten by him.

Ferrari F14T (named so after fans poll)





McLaren MP4-29





Lotus E22



Mercedes W05, Red Bull RB10 and others, to be unveiled in Jerez on Jan. 28.




http://www.fia.com/sport/regulations..._category%3A82

[Clubhouse]

Michael Schumacher ‘undergoing muscle training to stop body seizing up in coma’


The F1 star is receiving treatment to protect his joints as he enters a fifth week in an artificial coma in a French hospital.








The F1 star is receiving treatment to protect his joints as he enters a fifth week in an artificial coma in a French hospital.



Stricken F1 legend Michael Schumacher is getting muscle training to stop his body seizing up in hospital.

The seven-times world champ has been in an artificial coma since smashing his head on a rock while skiing four weeks ago.

He stable in a Grenoble hospital but there are no plans to wake him yet.

Emergency medicine expert Prof Heinzpeter Moecke said: “Patients in comas need limbs and joints moved daily to ensure muscles do not atrophy.”

Fears continue that Schumacher could be left in a permanent vegetative state when woken up.

An Iraqi war victim Schumacher visited has sent a letter of support to his wife Corinna.

Ali Abbas, who lost both arms in a US missile attack, said: “He was kind to me. I am praying for him.”

Schumacher’s wife Corinna, 44, and children Gina Marie, 16, and son Mick, 14, have received more than 1,000 letters and gifts since the ski accident in the French Alps on 29th*December.

Manager Sabine Kehm said: “The family are overwhelmed by people’s unstinting support.”

Schumacher’s former F1 colleagues are gearing up for the new season, but the former champion remains very much in their thoughts.

And Mercedes, the team Schumacher ended his career at in 2012, debuted their new car with a "Keep Fighting Michael" message in a testing session in Jerez, Spain, yesterday.


Daily Mirror

[Sharon]

Michael Schumacher is gradually being woken from his coma and is responding 'positively' to the treatment, according to a French newspaper.

L’Equipe said according to its sources, medics treating the German Formula One champion, who has been in an artificial coma since his skiing accident on December 29, started the phase of gradual awakening this week.

The news comes as Schumacher enters his fifth week of a medically induced coma, and there are fears he may remain in a 'persistent vegetative state' for the rest of his life even if the awakening treatment is successful.

The national newspaper, devoted to sport, wrote: 'After four consecutive weeks in a coma, Michael Schumacher has been placed, according to our information, in a phase of gradual awakening. It is a slow and uncertain process of return... Michael Schumacher is responding positively to the process, started this week.'

In the case of traumatic brain injury, such as that sustained by Schumacher, doctors sometimes induce a coma. Shutting down function can give the brain time to heal

Mail Online

[Clubhouse]

Michael Schumacher is being brought out of his coma and is “responding to instructions”, according to Sky News sources.

The seven-time Formula One champion has been in a Grenoble hospital with severe injuries since the accident on 29th December.

His manager, Sabine Kehm, said in a statement that the 45-year-old was slowly being woken from his induced coma and Sky News understands he has been “responding to simple instructions”.

“Michael’s sedation is being reduced in order to allow the start of the waking-up process, which may take a long time,” Ms Kehm said.





Sky News



At least he's out of life threatening danger (it seems)...

[gatagato]

That's relatively very good news, he's now on the road to recovery and all we can do is to cross our fingers: the Schumacher we knew prior to this accident hardly will be back, but if he'll be able to walk, feed himself, dress himself, and if he retains his previous personality, then it would be great.
Ferrari & Mercedes for Schumi, yesterday in Jerez

[Faline]

It has also been alleged that the seven-time world champion has blinked during brain tests.
Citing “very reliable sources”, L’Equipe newspaper said Schumacher has undergone a number of neurological tests since Monday and he has responded “positively”.

And on Thursday the newspaper revealed Schumacher had blinked during the “first stage” of brain tests.
The newspaper’s deputy editor Jérémie Arbona said the publication was “100 per cent sure” that its story was correct.
The paper wrote: “After gradually reducing the sedation of the patient, the team of Professor Emmanuel Gay [the medic overseeing Schumacher’s treatment] has been doing neurological tests since Monday. During this first stage, the patient blinked.” Sky News quoted sources saying Schumacher was “responding to instructions”.
It is not known if the information from the two separate reports is linked and therefore whether Schumacher blinked on command.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mot...s-reports.html

[Faline]

I don't want to sound heartless or whatever but there's a part of me that would like to see some images of him.

[Clubhouse]

I doubt they'll surface, his management will only allow pics of him as a macho looking sportsman....Not as a bed ridden baldy-locks with various tubes and electrical sensors attached to his body....I understand his families wish for privacy but, its his fans that have helped make him so wealthy and by that them as well...They do owe them.

[GoreisGreat]

Originally Posted by Kelly ↗

I don't want to sound heartless or whatever but there's a part of me that would like to see some images of him.

Doubt it. With a net worth of $800,000,000, i'm sure there's many layers of rent a cops to ensure no one with a camera can get anywhere near him.