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On that basis, if you were a driver would you want to drive the one that's been tested or a nice new one for the beginning of the year?*
* I apologise for the terrible oversimplification
The way F1 cars are is that they're near enough completely dismantled between races and many parts replaced (they have a fixed life) anyway so a 'new' car is generally a mix of parts anyway. Typically the chassis are made at the start of the year and used through the year, only replaced if they break or if they don't sometimes feel quite right. I think you're asking the question from the view of testing as being something that checks a complete car over which it doesn't. It's really there to check the design and components rather than the specific car as a whole.
Carlos Sainz 4th fastest?..Ouch that'll hurt some F1 egos... 😆
Most of them leave their egos at home for pre-season testing
Ok my predictions:
First race, on the Friday Nicole Sherzingerwinger announces she is pregnant to some new RAP star. Lewis finished 12th.
Hora in finally providing some relevant insight to F1 shocker 🙂
Any more?
seems mercedes had turned their engine up to 11
I wonder what broke ..
I don't think they had a failure did they? More likely just that some components wore faster than expected while others wore less.
I'll retract my suggestion above about finishing order in Australia then:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31713292
pretty big news isn't it?
They really are careful now following the Bianchi incident.
Now, can KMag beat Button 🙂
The real problem McLaren have is the car. They had the best engine on the grid last year in the Mercedes yet were a country mile off the pace. Therefore the problem was the car. The design team behind that hasnt changed so I dont see them being competative. Its hard to see Honda producing a better engine than the Merc at their first attempt. Give them another year then yes they could
Something still smells fishy with the whole Alonso saga, very odd.
That's really big news - not so much in many ways because of teh one race but more the way they're playing safe with head injuries - quite correctly IMO - in the past, the driver would have decided whether they were safe to race or not and I reckon almost to a man, they'd race regardless.
I'm not sure that Bianchi's accident is actually that relevant though - that's the sort of accident where the driver racing again soon is irrelevant against the fact that their life will be, at best, very different to before. This could potentially shape some season's outcome for the World Championship where a driver has a bad crash one race (or before the race) and doesn't compete in the next one where in the past they would have.
Ref last year's McL we've already covered that and a big jump is perfectly possible though unlikely to close the gap enough to Merc to really bother them even if the Honda was on a par (which again is unlikely).
The design team behind that hasnt changed
Yes it has. They've recruited Peter Prodromou from Redbull and he's totally changed the design of the 2015 car.
Something still smells fishy with the whole Alonso saga, very odd.
+1
All very strange. Supposedly Alonso's 'people' have been making demands to McLaren for information in relation to the accident. They'll regret taking him back - as good a driver as he is, he's a team wrecker, not team builder.
Yes it has. They've recruited Peter Prodromou from Redbull and he's totally changed the design of the 2015 car.
+ they made fundamental mistakes with the new regs (as did Ferrari) last year meaning that they couldn't correct them during the season.
Sorry its dodgy. The FIA will get the full telemetry right?
Maybe it just seems dodgy because that's the way they should treat cases like this, but they never have before? An issue that rugby seems to just be waking up to.
It's worth noting that Alonso was unconscious even if for a few seconds (and it's being reported that he thought he was in a Ferrari...). It does all seem strange and I still wouldn't be shocked if we found out there was more to it than we're being told but I reckon most likely is that it is just a bad accident and the doctors are playing safer now than they did in the past (or more likely, team management are playing safer and not overruling the docs)
This is the last thing F1 needs if it does turn out to be murky. A return to Mclaren being naughty again-even if it was just hiding facts.
Well if they're hiding facts, I reckon it'd be to protect Alonso's privacy if the conspiracy theories were right and he did pass out prior to the crash. That doesn't sound too naughty to me...
If the car isn't going to score points then why do they car if Alonso drive or anyone else?
If later in the year another teams driver gets concussion at a vital point in the championship they can scream "SAFETY!!" and ask them to stop the driver for the next race too?
Might be a useful precedent...
Lets wait and see. If Alonso isn't on a plane for the practice/set up for the second race then we know there is a problem somwhere (unless something transpires first). Alonso wont be hushed up etc if he finds something out- remember the last time he sent all the emails etc to the FIA? Plus a driver needs to trust their team with their safety/wellbeing 100%.
njee20 - MemberSomething still smells fishy with the whole Alonso saga, very odd.
Yep. It will be about 3 weeks won't it between Australia and Alonso's crash? Surely enough time to recover from his crash?
And his online 'thank you' video seemed very staged. Almost like there was a bloke off camera (Ron D) with a script and a gun....... 😆
Reckon it's gonna be an interesting season, whatever happens.
remember the last time he sent all the emails etc to the FIA?
He didn't. He threatened Ron that he would send all his emails between Coughlan, himself and De La Rosa unless he got his own way. Which was giving LH a slap and making him back off. That didn't work so well. It was Ron himself who took the info to the FIA.
FA not quite the sporting gentleman you seem to have mistaken him for. See Singapore for details.
I remember the term 'Teflon Alonso' from all these shenanigans 😀See Singapore for details.
Yeah, FA's certainly not adverse to playing dirty but it has since come out that Ron did indeed promise FA that he would be number 1 driver and then didn't deliver on that.
Anyway, hopefully there's no skullduggery here, just bad luck..
This can all read as very suspicious or very straight forward
Alonso has minor head energy
Doctor says knocking your head soon could be a problem
Team ask what are the benefits to us taking the risk of Alonso driving?
Not much we expect the car not to be competitive
What are the benefits of Alonso not driving?
Alonso is safer
Kevin gets a go in the car so he'll be less grumpy
Kevin gets a go in the car so he'll be less grumpy
Kevin says 'after all these shenanigans I still get the drive! 😆
If I were running McL 🙂
I'd put Vandoorne in the car, that would seriously piss KMag off but it needs doing to see what he's like without too much risk, at the very least I'd put him out on Friday.
They need to be looking for a special driver, not just fast but one that has something else KMag is fast but that's it IMO.
They need to find the drivers and use them, like Kyvat and Verstappen, before long Honda will be pushing to get Matsushita in the car, which will make it much harder for Vandoorne.
Nothing to add to the thread, other than to say a good friend of mine has recently started working for Ferrari F1 as "Head Of Design Methodology (Chassis)" - so if they have a return to form this year, it's because of him ok? 🙂
[i]This can all read as very suspicious or very straight forward
Alonso has minor head energy
Doctor says knocking your head soon could be a problem
Team ask what are the benefits to us taking the risk of Alonso driving?
Not much we expect the car not to be competitive
What are the benefits of Alonso not driving?
Alonso is safer
Kevin gets a go in the car so he'll be less grumpy[/i]
I said this earlier but added the bit about shouting SAFETY so the conspiracy theorists would still read my post
Head of design methodology
Let me know when he becomes Director of Results 8)
Worldclassaccident you should have had a credit in my post 🙂
3 weeks between accident and race and yet he wont race - having seen a few websites i note the wording never actually states "because of his accident" in quotes from anyone regarding his reason not to race - for sure the Press have filled in and assumed that - but i see no direct quote that relates it to the concussion.
personally, i think this is very serious for alonso....it would not surprise me if we dont see rumours in the press about him seeing some kind of head specialist.
So what if he'd been back in the car on Sunday then we found out that he'd been unconscious - mclaren would be getting pasted for that too.
Fwiw I've read that long haul flights can be bad after concussion, but don't know anything about neurological rehab so can't comment. Hasn't stopped many people tho...
3 weeks between accident and race and yet he wont race - having seen a few websites i note the wording never actually states "because of his accident" in quotes from anyone regarding his reason not to race - for sure the Press have filled in and assumed that - but i see no direct quote that relates it to the concussion.
However, Fernando’s doctors have recommended to him that, following the concussion he sustained in a testing accident at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 22nd, for the time being he should seek to limit as far as is possible any environmental risk factors that could potentially result in his sustaining another concussion so soon after his previous one, so as to minimise the chances of second impact syndrome, as is normal medical procedure when treating athletes after concussions.
http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/inside-the-mtc/fernando-alonso-a-medical-update/
Regarding it only being 3 weeks between accident and race. Jonny Sexton the Ireland rugby fly-half was out for something like 12 weeks with concussion so asking him not to race in Aus makes sense to me. To be honest I don't think he'll be missing much anyway, probably a Friday practice filled with niggles and then a mid order qualifying followed by retirement mid race. McLaren are effectively where all the other teams were this time last year so it'll take them time to get up to speed.
Sorry I'm reafing into that that McLaren would have liked him to drive- read the first para
Sorry I'm reafing into that that McLaren would have liked him to drive- read the first para
Yep
Ours docs think he's OK
His docs don't
Yep....
Jonny Sexton the Ireland rugby fly-half was out for something like 12 weeks with concussion so asking him not to race in Aus makes sense to me
Chances of getting a biff on the bonce much, much greater in Rugby, though.
They don't wear an enormous helmet and hans device for starters
That's some selective posting
McLaren-Honda driver [b]Fernando Alonso’s doctors[/b] have informed him that [b]they[/b] find him asymptomatic of any medical issue; that [b]they[/b] see no evidence whatsoever of any injury; and that [b]they[/b] therefore describe him as entirely healthy from neurological and cardiac perspectives alike.However, [b]Fernando’s doctors have recommended[/b] to him that...
So in short, FA's docs have said he's fine but that if he smacked his head again so soon he might not be. Where on earth do you infer that McL's 'doctors' have said anything or even that McL have doctors. The only doctors mentioned are FA's and the statement is clear on what they think.
so i'll backtrack from my previous statement - it does appear that FA own doctors dont want him to get a 2nd concussion so soon.
still does not explain the crash, nor the 3 days in hospital running tests.
i dont believe he is simply thinking "the car is crap and i dont want to drive it" because there is no way mclaren could improve the car so much after 1 race then he is suddenly in a winning car.
he drove for years at ferrari without the possibility of a win.
to me that is not alonso's style.
i do stick by by feeling more of this will come out in the coming weeks, especially after australia when he is cleared to race then.
Maybe but more likely is that it's just what it appears to be.