2015 Formula 1 Thread

[The-Real-Deal82]

If I were him I'd be looking for a get out Claus!

They are a bit tougher to get out of these days without parting with a lot of money! It annoys me with footballers these days who can suddenly decide they are not going to play and get out of £40m contracts.

That being said I truly hope McLaren make a break through next season. Alonso is wasted in such a poor package and it's sad to see an amazing team like McLaren get it so wrong. When I think I stood in their garage a few years ago while they were fighting for world championships, it's hard to believe it's now the same team!

 

[Apple fanboy]

They are a bit tougher to get out of these days without parting with a lot of money! It annoys me with footballers these days who can suddenly decide they are not going to play and get out of £40m contracts.

That being said I truly hope McLaren make a break through next season. Alonso is wasted in such a poor package and it's sad to see an amazing team like McLaren get it so wrong. When I think I stood in their garage a few years ago while they were fighting for world championships, it's hard to believe it's now the same team!

Picture or it didn't happen!

 

[CWallace]

There is uncertainty regarding Alonso's contract. McLaren says his contract is rock solid for three years.

Supposedly he was chatting with IRBR folks after they were rumored to get Mercedes power for next year.

Hulkenberg is staying with Force India

Probably his best option until he can move to a factory WEC LMP1 drive full-time as I don't see him getting a better drive in F1.

 

[Gav2k]

They are a bit tougher to get out of these days without parting with a lot of money! It annoys me with footballers these days who can suddenly decide they are not going to play and get out of £40m contracts.

That being said I truly hope McLaren make a break through next season. Alonso is wasted in such a poor package and it's sad to see an amazing team like McLaren get it so wrong. When I think I stood in their garage a few years ago while they were fighting for world championships, it's hard to believe it's now the same team!

Blame the rules. They need to open testing and development and let the teams decide what they want to spend ffs.

 

[AustinIllini]

Supposedly he was chatting with IRBR folks after they were rumored to get Mercedes power for next year.

There's some question whether or not Mercedes will provide for RBR. Mercedes clearly believes they have an advantage in PU output, however they question whether or not their car is overall better. The consensus seems to be that RBR will terminate their contract with Renault earlier. Tricky business, for sure, because Renault is a Nissan partner, so Infiniti might drop as an RBR sponsor.

Either way, Red Bull Mercedes or Red Bull Ferrari would have a huge impact on 2016

--------------------

Honda B team speculation.

Honda F1 B-team can't be a 'distraction', says McLaren's Boullier

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/120580

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier says a second Honda-powered 'B team' would only be viable if it was not a "distraction" to the partnership's main Formula 1 squad.

An affiliated customer Honda team has been mooted as an option for both speeding up the Japanese firm's engine development by doubling its presence on track, and to create race seats for McLaren proteges Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne while world champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button occupy the primary drives.

Although F1's rules allowing increasing possibilities for partnerships between teams - such as 2016 newcomer Haas's alliance with Ferrari - Boullier was cool about the prospect of McLaren or Honda striking such a deal.

"I'm not sure we would like to pay the price of having a distraction within Honda or giving some focus to this," he told AUTOSPORT.

"We have to balance things. We'll see in time.

"We are thinking and we are talking and we are brainstorming."

He underlined McLaren would do its best to help Magnussen - who raced for the team in F1 last season - and runaway GP2 leader Vandoorne.

"It's a nice problem to have - but a tricky one," Boullier said of McLaren's driver surplus.

"We will do our best for them."

EXPERIENCED DRIVERS BEST FOR NOW

Boullier is certain McLaren's current line-up of very experienced drivers - with Button and Alonso having been in F1 since 2000 and '01 respectively - is its best option during Honda's development period.

"Both have the credibility, and that is very important," he said.

"When each of them says something, everybody is listening and everybody is trusting them to the point where they will try to fix it. That's a big change.

"If you have two junior drivers, you will be tempted to teach them what to do rather than listening to what they want.

"When you are in the situation where we are now, it's good that Honda and McLaren listen to drivers.

"They give the guidance from the past on where we need to go."

But he stopped short of confirming an unchanged line-up for 2016. Alonso has an ongoing deal while there is an option to retain Button too.

"We are happy today with both drivers," said Boullier.

"I can't comment more than this and I don't want to create a wrong or bad or untrue expectation.

"We are happy with the situation today."

 

[Apple fanboy]

A RBR team powered by Mercedes will win the Championship. That's why IMO it won't happen.
I'm not sure Ferrari would be keen either. As it will just push them further down the grid.
So where does that leave RBR?
Stick with Renault? Honda? Quit altogether?
I'm not sure.

 

[tdale]

A RBR team powered by Mercedes will win the Championship. That's why IMO it won't happen.
I'm not sure Ferrari would be keen either. As it will just push them further down the grid.
So where does that leave RBR?
Stick with Renault? Honda? Quit altogether?
I'm not sure.

I feel they will stick with Renault. They just need more HP. I'm not sure either, but IMHO RBR is a tiger easy to pounce. They are slowest car of the main teams, speed trap wise, yet they won three races last year. They beat all the other Mercedes powered teams. Pretty darn good for a poor engine. They won and often dominated with a well known low speed car. They don't need Mercedes HP, they just need some extra HP

 

[keysofanxiety]

Blame the rules. They need to open testing and development and let the teams decide what they want to spend ffs.

Agreed, this whole penny-pinching thing is just stifling innovation. So some poor Marussia team won't be able to afford to stay in - well quite frankly who gives a ****, as even with the current rules, they're making up the back of the grid. They're like Minardi but without any of the charm.

What I want to see are the big teams - Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes - heck, even Audi and others if they joined - just throwing money at their cars and making leaps and bounds after each race. A hand-over-fist approach, where nobody can get complacent. Each race likely to bring a new surprise with a crazy new package. Maybe a different winner now and then. F1 is meant to be the pinnacle of motorsport, and frankly it's so weak these days.

If you can't afford to make a massive loss then don't go into it. What I would love to see would be all the main global car manufacturers just battling it out. Not for money, or profit, but bragging rights. The fact that they can say "we beat everybody else last year". That old-fashioned mentality that will bring back a real racing spirit, a ridiculous competitive edge. Not some newbies to the sport whining about how they don't get paid enough to make up another few places on the grid.

Yes, historically putting rules on aero/engines to limit what teams can do does inspire innovation; try to find ways around it, a loophole in the rules, a different way of thinking. But when they're limiting the amount of time that people can test in a wind tunnel - that's absolute ********.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Agreed, this whole penny-pinching thing is just stifling innovation. So some poor Marussia team won't be able to afford to stay in - well quite frankly who gives a ****, as even with the current rules, they're making up the back of the grid. They're like Minardi but without any of the charm.

What I want to see are the big teams - Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes - heck, even Audi and others if they joined - just throwing money at their cars and making leaps and bounds after each race. A hand-over-fist approach, where nobody can get complacent. Each race likely to bring a new surprise with a crazy new package. Maybe a different winner now and then. F1 is meant to be the pinnacle of motorsport, and frankly it's so weak these days.

If you can't afford to make a massive loss then don't go into it. What I would love to see would be all the main global car manufacturers just battling it out. Not for money, or profit, but bragging rights. The fact that they can say "we beat everybody else last year". That old-fashioned mentality that will bring back a real racing spirit, a ridiculous competitive edge. Not some newbies to the sport whining about how they don't get paid enough to make up another few places on the grid.

Yes, historically putting rules on aero/engines to limit what teams can do does inspire innovation; try to find ways around it, a loophole in the rules, a different way of thinking. But when they're limiting the amount of time that people can test in a wind tunnel - that's absolute ********.

Agree. The only thing Marissia bring is helping McLaren not finish last. It's not coincident that the richest team in F1 (Ferrari) have won very few races since the accounts took over F1.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Agree. The only thing Marissia bring is helping McLaren not finish last. It's not coincident that the richest team in F1 (Ferrari) have won very few races since the accounts took over F1.

It's a real shame. It's like dumbing down a school lesson to go at the pace of that slow kid in the corner who eats crayons. Everybody's now on the same level, but the best and brightest suffer because of it, and the slow kid still has a mouthful of crayons.

 

[CWallace]

A RBR team powered by Mercedes will win the Championship. That's why IMO it won't happen.

Supposedly there is a fair bit of pressure on MB to make it happen (I am guessing from Bernie).

So where does that leave RBR?

I feel they will stick with Renault.

Well Renault is said to be buying a majority stake in Lotus so they're going factory again, it seems.

(RBR) just need more HP. I'm not sure either, but IMHO RBR is a tiger easy to pounce. They are slowest car of the main teams, speed trap wise, yet they won three races last year. They beat all the other Mercedes powered teams. Pretty darn good for a poor engine. They won and often dominated with a well known low speed car. They don't need Mercedes HP, they just need some extra HP

Adrian Newey is a major part of what made RBR successful and his involvement with the design of the car is much less this year than in years past, which is likely why RBR is performing far worse than last year (when MB slips up, it is now Ferrari taking the wins, not RBR). And he's said to be even less involved with the 2016 challenger...

Agreed, this whole penny-pinching thing is just stifling innovation. So some poor Marussia team won't be able to afford to stay in - well quite frankly who gives a ****, as even with the current rules, they're making up the back of the grid. They're like Minardi but without any of the charm.

What I want to see are the big teams - Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes - heck, even Audi and others if they joined - just throwing money at their cars and making leaps and bounds after each race. A hand-over-fist approach, where nobody can get complacent.

Well Bernie certainly just wants factory teams and their customers in F1 - he's trying to kill Marussia and if he succeeds, his next targets will be Sauber and Force India. It's why Haas F1 is going to be a de facto Ferrari customer team and if not for the issues at RBR, Toro Rosso would certainly return to being their customer team as was the case when they started.

But my fear about such a scenario is that we could see a repeat of FIA World Sports Cars (Group C), which by the late 1980s could only be undertaken by a factory team and when they all decided they were spending too much money for what they were getting in return, all pulled out and it was two decades before it came back (as WEC LMP1 today).

 

[Apple fanboy]

Looks like Bernie has told the drivers to stop bad mouthing Pireli. Maybe they don't like the (psi) pressure!

Hamilton looks to extend his lead further. With an upgraded engine package, short of an accident or a dnf, I'm pretty sure who the top two are going to be.
However he is against supplying RBR. Can't say I blame him. RBR didn't supply exhaust systems during their dominance to their rivals.

 

[AustinIllini]

Looks like Bernie has told the drivers to stop bad mouthing Pireli. Maybe they don't like the (psi) pressure!

Hamilton looks to extend his lead further. With an upgraded engine package, short of an accident or a dnf, I'm pretty sure who the top two are going to be.
However he is against supplying RBR. Can't say I blame him. RBR didn't supply exhaust systems during their dominance to their rivals.

Of course he doesn't want that. Hamilton would be completely exposed. I want this so bad. Real racing. If Ferrari continues to improve, you can bet there's a real potential for tight competition.

 

[AustinIllini]

From the looks of it, by next season, Ferrari and Mercedes should make for some very good competition. Hamilton is going to have to run and hide in tomorrow's race.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Go Kimi! Nice to see him on the front row. Time was very close to Hamilton to (by recent standards anyway). I'd love to see s nice close race, but I'm still guessing it will be
Lewis
Nico
Seb
On the podium. And in that order.

 

[AustinIllini]

Go Kimi! Nice to see him on the front row. Time was very close to Hamilton to (by recent standards anyway). I'd love to see s nice close race, but I'm still guessing it will be
Lewis
Nico
Seb
On the podium. And in that order.

My dream is
Seb
Kimi
Anyone but HAM

 

[Apple fanboy]

My dream is
Seb
Kimi
Anyone but HAM

My dream is
AFB
Anyone else!

 

[AustinIllini]

Just when you though deflategate was over, Lewis Hamilton is asked to do what are essentially qually laps on bad tires to overcome a potential penalty for an under inflated tire.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Just when you though deflategate was over, Lewis Hamilton is asked to do what are essentially qually laps on bad tires to overcome a potential penalty for an under inflated tire.

That was strange. One of the announcers guessed that the team foresaw a time penalty and made him push to try and get the maximum cushion - and Hamilton let everyone know how he felt about it during the victory lap. You could tell that he was pushing beyond 100%, even though he didn't know why.

 

[AustinIllini]

That was strange. One of the announcers guessed that the team foresaw a time penalty and made him push to try and get the maximum cushion - and Hamilton let everyone know how he felt about it during the victory lap. You could tell that he was pushing beyond 100%, even though he didn't know why.

No actions will be taken by FIA, but yeah, that was a little scary. Good thing it happened with a driver like Hamilton, someone like Verstappen couldn't handle it.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Strange finish to a race. But not as strange as the start. Poor start from Kimi, totally out of character. At least we saw some good overtaking from him throughout.
With the dnf from Nico, the gap is so big, that all Lewis has to do now is finish his races to win the championship.
Even though the Ferrari's have made up time in the qualifying (although I put it more down to the tow effect), they are still well behind on race day. Hopefully they will make up some pace, to keep it interesting on Sunday's.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

The tire pressure affair was a bit odd - still not clear to me how hard and fast the "rules" are with tire pressures and what the consequences of bending/breaking them are. But clearly there is wiggle room since no punishment is forthcoming against Hamilton.

 

[AustinIllini]

Strange finish to a race. But not as strange as the start. Poor start from Kimi, totally out of character. At least we saw some good overtaking from him throughout.
With the dnf from Nico, the gap is so big, that all Lewis has to do now is finish his races to win the championship.
Even though the Ferrari's have made up time in the qualifying (although I put it more down to the tow effect), they are still well behind on race day. Hopefully they will make up some pace, to keep it interesting on Sunday's.

Agreed. At this point, between Ferrari and Mercedes, Merc has the best driver (HAM) and the better power plant. But the gap is shrinking and VET had favorable conditions to beat ROS anyway. Ferrari is definitely NOT where Merc is, but they are in a position where they can exploit any mistakes.

 

[Gav2k]

Ok:.

Max time penalty for tire pressure infringement is 25 seconds hence the 'hammer time' telling Lewis nothing was to stop vettle trying to keep within that limit. Was Lewis at his limit? Opening an extra 1 second in two laps says no!

The reason there was no punishment is due to Pirelli verifying the pressures with the team before the race. The issue is the pressures fluctuate so yes clarity is needed which I think needs to be a pressure taken in the blanket before the race.

 

[happycadaver]

Agreed. At this point, between Ferrari and Mercedes, Ferrari has the best driver (VET) and Mercedes the far better power plant.

I have corrected that for you.

It's a shame that the issues of Mercedes don't hit HAM more often. The result is an even more lame season than last year.