Anyone know whether the Now TV deal is in HD?
McLaren lapping 25 seconds faster than Merc. Might as well just give them the trophies now and not bother with the rest of the season.
Shall we start a sweepstake on how many laps it'll be before something terminal afflicts the McLaren?
I'm going to go with a hopeful sixty laps.
BTW, does anyone have any info on the top speeds achieved by teams during testing so far?
Shall we start a sweepstake on how many laps it’ll be before something terminal afflicts the McLaren?
Christ, if they can't figure out which way round the wheels go on, it's not surprising they keep having problems. Pitstop video online if you scroll down a bit here:
http://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog
hols2
Christ, if they can’t figure out which way round the wheels go on, it’s not surprising they keep having problems. Pitstop video online if you scroll down a bit here:
Jees, they're having a shocker [img] 
[/img] Leaf blowers pointing at the engine cover too
They're swapping to supersofts...will be interesting to see the comparative pace.
But at least nothing is on fire. Yet.
LOL at that pitstop!
That pitstop was simply amazing! If only there were markings on the outer facing sidewall to help them, oh hang on.... lol
Hmm Vettel smashes lap record, but how much of that is the new surface and how much is the step from last year. Anyhow we now know Ferrari will be world champions this year, for sure.
Re Now TV:
Thanks Kryton
So that tally was 46 laps then a 6.5hr engine change - ouch
Wow, 1:17.18 from sebbo
Headline testing times mean very little (MB haven't even brought any hyper soft tyres with them). On the long runs, MB were looking rather strong today.
I thought Ferrari have been looking very strong, they've shown that they have got both reliability and speed. Yep, sure, all the usual winter testing caveats apply, but from as far as we can tell anything it looks like it's gonna be a close one between them and Mercedes, with Red Bull snapping at their heels also. Kind of the same as last year! But possibly this time Red Bull will be strong from the start of the season instead playing catch-up for the first half...
How is "rich energy drinks" a company I have never heard of and never seen their products in a shop about to stump up £200M for force India?
Still don't really understand how red bull have so much money is the energy drink business just a giant money laundering scam or something?
A can of Red Bull probably costs 10 cents to produce, their markup is enormous. They are basically just a marketing company selling caffeinated sugar water to stupid rich people. They have been very successful at branding themselves as cool by sponsoring extreme sports.
Rich Energy Drinks just seems to be a front for somebody else with money. Whether there is actually any real money there is another question. I wouldn't believe anything until the money is in the bank. The rumored buyer may just be Vijay Mallya trying to jack up the price by making it appear that there is a bidding war going on. SFI are going to struggle to finish higher than 6th in the teams' championship this year, 7th or 8th seem more realistic, so Mallya will be desperate to sell while the team is still worth something. By this time next year, he probably won't be able to give it away.
Alonso has broken down again
McLaren broked again!
🙂
it's leaking fluids
I've never been a big McLaren fan, but still wanted them to be in competitive. However, after that shitty propaganda piece on Amazon I kinda feel like they're now getting everything they deserve - Honda need to up their Twitter trolling game though
I think that Honda have delivered a trolling masterclass by clocking up so many trouble free miles.
It does point to McLaren being piss poor at the installation doesn't it. It may just be new engine supplier/tam interface issues that will be sorted by Melbourne but if it is a genuine problem on the McLaren side I can imagine how vindicated the Honda people must feel!
And McLaren have never been known for their rock-solid reliability. They lost numerous championships and race wins because of fragile cars.
McLaren are definitely pushing the aero envelope, but there've been a number of silly issues in testing that should never have happened - wheelnuts, broken cabling clips, etc.
You almost get the feeling that the engine supplier gives them the requirements, then McL rip it up and do their own version as they know best. Apparently they've been cutting big holes in the bodywork again?
They obviously have a lot of aero work to do back at base, which could mean a new engine cover and will have repercussions for the whole aero package.
Given that Toro Rosso had exactly the same time constraints in which to get a new engine and drivetrain package to fit a chassis very late in the day, McLaren's failure to capitalise on Renault's development head start is quite galling.
I reckon that there will be a high profile sacking there before too long (and I don't mean Fernando).
So my big question for the day is: why have Williams taken Kubica off the rosta, despite setting all of Williams' fastest times? Was he too fast and beginning embarrass the other two?!?
So my big question for the day is: why have Williams taken Kubica off the rosta, despite setting all of Williams’ fastest times? Was he too fast and beginning embarrass the other two?!?
...daddy Stroll has had a word!
Haha!
Good omen for McLaren, much faster at changing engines today.
Well, they've had plenty of practice.
Interesting that Merc don't seem to have done a qualifying sim - they must be very confident.
And Toro Rosso have used 3 Honda engines this test - so they're either - a) aren't as reliable as we think or b) have been trying different versions (all of which are reliable!).
Well that's testing over.
I think all we can conclude is that even with the best engine Williams have built a very slow car! It's not had any serious pace in any of the test days.
Its testing, so any conclusion is pointless. Wait till after the first race before then conclusions will be obvious.
Also mclaren set the 3rd fastest time of the whole test, shame it won't make it to the end of the race...
Apparently Kubica 'volunteered to step down for the day to give the other two guys more time to practice' . Yeah right!!!! Chinny rackon my friends lol
Kubica is and always has been a prodigious talent.
It does Stroll and Sirotkin no harm at all to have him waiting in the wings. The legal small print of their respoective contracts will make for interesting reading.
Such a shame they couldn't give him a seat!!
Maybe Force India will give Kubica a go when they bump Ocon up to Merc next year 😉
My team predictions for next year:
Ferrari: Vettel/LeClerc
Mercedes: Hamilton/Ocon
Red Bull: Verstappen/Sainz
Renault: Hulkenberg/Ricciardo
Force India: Perez/Bottas or Kubica
Williams: Stroll/Sirotkin
McLaren: Alonso/Vandourne
Haas: Grosjean/Magnussen
If Bottas doesn't have a great season he may be heading for Formula E lol
Old man, injured Kubica who hasn't been near an F1 car since Schumacher jnr has completely humbled two, young and prodigiously funded hotshoes. That's not to denigrate the two race drivers, but if Kubica doesn't fight his way into a race seat before the end of the season then I'll be incredibly miffed.
Yup, and if he did genuinely suggest him 'taking one for the team' that'll only make him more employable...
There's a human story right there, as emotive as Lauda vs Hunt, Hill vs Schumacher and Zanardi winning at everything.
My guess is that the Williams is a dog of a car and Kubica realized that the less he drives it, the better the chances of reviving his career.
On the contrary, I think he's throwing down a gauntlet. Post accident he's proved himself over a race distance, but he's six years out of the game and there's a new generation of cars to learn. I'll bet he's doing some coaching, but if either pay drivers contracts allow for a performance clause...
Nice comparison with Alex Zanardi, that guy is a total hero!! 🙂
Superb new sponsor for McLaren!...
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-halo-to-carry-flip-flop-sponsorship-1015149/
🙂
Loving that!
Superb new sponsor for McLaren!…
That's inspired! 🙂
edit: seriously can one of you <div>vies please add a strip_tags() call to your code 🙂
Splendid. That would've never been allowed under Ole Ron.
Is it April 1st already?
edit: seriously can one of you <div>vies please add a strip_tags() call to your code
What does this mean?
edit: seriously can one of you <div>vies please add a strip_tags() call to your code
Wasn't at you mate, just a casual whinge at STW. strip_tags() is a PHP function which would get rid of all the <DIV> etc you get when quoting someone
I have a question. Why is F1 such a tightly controlled formula? Surely it wasn't like this in the past, when they had cars with 6 wheels and fans underneath!! Considering it's supposed to be (at least partly) about technical innovation why do the rules paint the teams into such a restrictive corner?
Surely it wasn’t like this in the past, when they had cars with 6 wheels and fans underneath!!
Well, until someone thought of putting six wheels on a car, they hadn’t thought about a rule to state that cars must have 4 wheels. Ditto fans.
Unfortunately most of the obvious stuff stuff has been done by now so there are rules. Lots of rules.
Unfortunately most of the obvious stuff stuff has been done by now so there are rules. Lots of rules.
That seems a shame! I would love to see lots of weird and interesting attempts to gain lap time, like moveable aero surfaces etc
Even in the last 10 years some of the innovations have been very cool, just a shame they aren’t as in your face anymore! Blown diffusers being a particular favourite as they sounded brilliant
I would love to see lots of weird and interesting attempts to gain lap time, like moveable aero surfaces etc
Moveable aero has been banned for ages, however............ that didn’t stop the teams (Red Bull in particular) using wings that deflected as the load on them increased. Faster the car went, the slippier it got, back into full downforce mode as they scrubbed the speed off
The F-duct was pretty cool too: http://www.racecar-engineering.com/technology-explained/f-ducts-how-do-they-work-f1-2010-formula-one-technology/
This is what Adrian Newey would build if there were no rules...
...and these type of F1 concepts are being considered for the next rules change in 2021.
Speeds and development are restricted for the circuits as much as the drivers. If they got too fast more safety features would have to be put into place and fans pushed further away from the action.
<div class="bbp-reply-content">
it’s always been regulated to some degree specifically the engine sizes
</div>
Thanks for that, it was a good read!! 🙂
Moveable aero has been banned for ages, however
In the late sixties! To stop the use of air brakes 🙂
A lot of the regs are there to control costs. Without them, engines would really exotic lightweight materials.
I thought moveable aero was banned for safety (what if it fails just before a corner?), but I could be wrong.
Anyone catch the FE race on Saturday? -Thought it showed how you could have interesting racing without much passing at the front,you just need the cars to be close enough to challenge.
Why is F1 such a tightly controlled formula?
To control costs and keep things competitive. If the rules were just "cars must have four wheels", then two or three big, rich teams would utterly dominate and the rest would quickly be bankrupted. New manufacturers would not be interested in joining, races would not be exiting, and the whole sport would collapse within a few years.
A lot of the regs are there to control costs
That's the theory, but doesn't really work in practice.
If they come up with a rule, say a gearbox has to last X races, then teams will spend less over the course of season building gearboxes but huges amounts on R&D designing a gearbox which can last x race
It's rules changes which cost money. No-one can run an updated version of last year's car any more, they are too different, this used to be fairly common practice, even for the big (rich) teams.
Consistancy in rules should also make closer racing. A change means that the wealthy teams can spend huge amounts on R&D and keep their advantage, consistancy means that gaps should decrease over time, Merc and Ferrari simply have less improvements open to them at any given moment as they are closer to what's optimal for that rule set. If Merc and Sauber each make a 3% improvement then the gap will narrow as Sauber will have made the bigger absolute gain.
[i]thepurist wrote:[/i]
Anyone catch the FE race on Saturday? -Thought it showed how you could have interesting racing without much passing at the front,you just need the cars to be close enough to challenge.
Completely different to every other FE race I've seen then? They seem to be dead boring.
So what do we think of the new 'official' F1 theme tune as commissioned by Liberty Media?
It sure ain't The Chain...
I don’t know what 1980s movie that’s from but I want to watch it!
That music is terrible. Sounds like a really bad start to a James bond film but unlike the bond songs I doubt it will sound any better accompanying the title sequence.
I hope I don't have to listen to Eurovision theme tune again........................
Hahahahahahahaaaargh
How can they replace the timeless Fleetwood Mac's The Chain with that awful new theme tune? 😮
This is a theme tune for F1 as presented by Liberty, not C4s (sadly doomed) coverage. Though I guess one downside of the new streaming service would be hearing it a lot more.
How can they replace the timeless Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain with that awful new theme tune?
I don't think they have, it looks like that Brian Tyler theme tune will be used by Liberty Media. Although I'm not sure where!! Corporate events?!?
McLaren have fixed their cooling problem - they've painting the engine cover black so you can't see the burns!...
