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2008 Formula One Thread
- Thread starter R.Youden
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Well only two weeks to go until the first race of the season and almost all the teams have completed their preparations (Honda and Super Aguri are testing this week).
So how will the season shape up?
For the first few fly-away races I think it will be Ferrari ahead of McLaren with BMW, Williams, Renault and Red Bull making up the top 10. Toyota will be poor again and Honda will struggle (unless this new aero is a revolutionary as I have heard - bridge front wing and an even more radical engine cover than Red Bulls). Torro Rosso, Force India and Super Aguri will make up the number again.
But after that I can see McLaren close the gap (once all the Ferrari cheats are leaked out!) and it should be another great season. I think Kimi will retain his title but Lewis will push him hard again.
So how will the season shape up?
For the first few fly-away races I think it will be Ferrari ahead of McLaren with BMW, Williams, Renault and Red Bull making up the top 10. Toyota will be poor again and Honda will struggle (unless this new aero is a revolutionary as I have heard - bridge front wing and an even more radical engine cover than Red Bulls). Torro Rosso, Force India and Super Aguri will make up the number again.
But after that I can see McLaren close the gap (once all the Ferrari cheats are leaked out!) and it should be another great season. I think Kimi will retain his title but Lewis will push him hard again.
The problem with Toyota is that no-one knows how to win there. They always have had Ok drivers and most of the engineers have shown 'promise' within other teams, non have ever won anything. That is why I think Honda will recover as Ross Brawn knows what it takes to win and how to make a winning team. When they where successful in 2004 they had Dave Richards in charge who had won almost everything in WRC so he had the right mentality.
I can also see Williams getting the better of Toyota which will be yet further embarrassment for them. I could almost see a scenario where Toyota sell-up to Audi (who are very interested in F1 at the moment, and the factory is in Germany) and buy Williams as they appear to know what they are doing.
pachyderm
macrumors G5
completely agreed. and gascoyne(sp?) did know a little bit about winning but they let him go...
wow! this i didn't know nor would of thought! audi coming in would be very cool. although i'd rather sir frank not sell his team...
i'm just glad to see jarno still has a ride. i hope when his days are done in F1 he wants to race here in the states a bit.
With regard to Audi this is no means gospel, but....
About 2 - 3 years ago the head of Renault was not happy with being involved with Formula One, despite winning 2 World Championships! Anyway he wanted to pull the plug at the end of 2006 and had already sounded out Audi to take over the whole operation. Audi had apparently the funding in to get Schumacher (the good one!) in to run the ship and there was an initial contract in place. Then the head of Renault stepped down and the current man in charge took over, now he loves F1 and has confirmed Renaults long term future to the sport.
Now I don't know how much truth there is in the story, it was not a gossip story, this was an 'inside F1' story and people took it seriously. Now weather Audi still have the desire to compete in F1 I am not sure. I am sure they would be effective but they get better publicity from winning Le Mans every year than they would from chugging around midfield with F1.
Well... not honestly anyway. Heheh.
I think it'll depend greatly on whether Brawn has been able to convince the Honda board to stop medalling, indeed numerous articles I have read over the years have intimated that the interfering nature of Japanese corporate culture is to blame for the lack of their competitiveness in F1. See Toyota as well.
I'm not sure I can imagine Audi in F1, at least not as a soul brand, I'm not entirely convinced that it'd be anymore beneficial to them than their current involvement in sports and touring car.
Now that Porsche are acquiring a majority stake in Volkswagon, I could perhaps see the Auto Union brand making a return, but obviously no longer representing Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer, instead representing the current VAG brands.
But more than likely any F1 entry would surely sport the VW brand?
SpookTheHamster
macrumors 65816
I remember reading a year or so ago that Audi would only consider entering if the FIA allowed them to use an alternative fuel, as they want to promote their TDI brand as much as possible.
Lord Blackadder
macrumors P6
Patrick Head wants to reverse the grid...not gonna happen, I think.
I like the idea of an Auto Union team.
I like the idea of an Auto Union team.
Of course he cared about spectacle when his Williams-Hondas/Renaults were wiping the floor with everyone. 🙄
Reading his comments anyone would think that every race back in the '80's and '90's was like Dijon '79. 🙄
One only has to read the contemporary press of the time to understand that the same concerns regarding the lack of, and difficulty of overtaking in F1 relative to previous era's.
But as soon as F1 starts trying to artifically create a spectacle, it is no longer a sport... it is entertainment.
pachyderm
macrumors G5
For someone as well respected as Patrick Head, sometimes he does spurt out absolute garbage!
What F1 needs is a method of ensuring that the grid is reasonably random, and not manipulated. Maybe by having a similar setup to what the have (had?) at the Indy 500. The drivers draw lots from 1 - 22 and that is their position on a one lap flying run. I don't know really 😱
What F1 needs is a method of ensuring that the grid is reasonably random, and not manipulated. Maybe by having a similar setup to what the have (had?) at the Indy 500. The drivers draw lots from 1 - 22 and that is their position on a one lap flying run. I don't know really 😱
pachyderm
macrumors G5
Qualifying should be 1 hour, 12 laps, 4 sets of super sticky qualifiers, low fuel. Fastest gets pole.
Imagine the battles we would've been deprived of had such nonsensical qualifying systems existed back in the Senna/Prost era? Or even the Schumacher/Häkkinen one?
Imagine the battles we would've been deprived of had such nonsensical qualifying systems existed back in the Senna/Prost era? Or even the Schumacher/Häkkinen one?
vendettabass
macrumors 6502a
Sadly, ITV's live streams were...what's the word...
CRAP
Stuttery beyond the point of being watchable. Pointless to be honest.
Doug
CRAP
Stuttery beyond the point of being watchable. Pointless to be honest.
Doug
The ITV coverage was crap.
The Honda mechanics look like someone left a can of mushy peas in the laundry basket.
But the Honda did look better and was upto 11th so the improvements in Jerez last week appear to be working so far.
Renault where poor, as where BMW. It looks like another Ferrari McLaren battle this year, so far anyway.
What I did find interesting, from what of the ITV stream that worked, was how little effect the traction control ban was having. Although a lot of people where going off the road, most of these where loosing the car going into the corner under breaking. Martin Brundle said that a corner is 75% entry, 25% exit and the ban on engine breaking is really showing this up so far. It doesn't help that the track is very dusty but it is causing them some problems so far.
The Honda mechanics look like someone left a can of mushy peas in the laundry basket.
But the Honda did look better and was upto 11th so the improvements in Jerez last week appear to be working so far.
Renault where poor, as where BMW. It looks like another Ferrari McLaren battle this year, so far anyway.
What I did find interesting, from what of the ITV stream that worked, was how little effect the traction control ban was having. Although a lot of people where going off the road, most of these where loosing the car going into the corner under breaking. Martin Brundle said that a corner is 75% entry, 25% exit and the ban on engine breaking is really showing this up so far. It doesn't help that the track is very dusty but it is causing them some problems so far.
Quite a few people getting it wrong on entry, that's for sure - it looks, from the outside, like they're just putting two wheels onto the grass on the outside before turn-in, but I'm fairly sure it's because the car is getting squirrelly with the lack of engine management braking going on.
When the feed DID work - it was bliss to have uninterrupted F1 without James Allen's voice infecting it. Sadly, that was a rare occurrence.
Very much a Red and Silver season ahead I think. Surprised that Williams and BMW were not further up. Pleasantly surprised that Newey's influence at RB seems to be making itself seen on track. I don't imagine that they're be higher than 5th come qually, but they look like being the best of the rest, ahead of BMW, Honda, Toyota, etc.
Doug
When the feed DID work - it was bliss to have uninterrupted F1 without James Allen's voice infecting it. Sadly, that was a rare occurrence.
Very much a Red and Silver season ahead I think. Surprised that Williams and BMW were not further up. Pleasantly surprised that Newey's influence at RB seems to be making itself seen on track. I don't imagine that they're be higher than 5th come qually, but they look like being the best of the rest, ahead of BMW, Honda, Toyota, etc.
Doug
pachyderm
macrumors G5
Well its 3:30 am in the UK and for some stupid reason I am up watching qualifying.
So far Kimi out and 16th at most. Webber has just binned it after a brake failure.
What ever they put in that Honda laundry they also put some go faster stripes. That car is, dare I say it, looking good. Hopefully one of them will make it into the top 10 😱
Yawn....
So far Kimi out and 16th at most. Webber has just binned it after a brake failure.
What ever they put in that Honda laundry they also put some go faster stripes. That car is, dare I say it, looking good. Hopefully one of them will make it into the top 10 😱
Yawn....
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