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Hope JEV gets another drive after the news he's leaving Torro Rosso.
[url= http://sniffpetrol.com/2014/11/27/vergne-to-return-to-day-job/#.VHg-dWdyapo ]He's sorted already...[/url]
webber gets a clobbering - outlook is good, no major injuries
[url= http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/sport/other-sports/mark-webber-fine-despite-horrific-crash-in-brazil-1.712760? ]video[/url]
Yeah, that looked like a pretty solid hit... 🙁
i quite like the "idea" of the Endurance and LeMans type series, but i find the reality of watching it a bit hard to do, although MotorsTV at least is doing a good job of covering the rounds, i still feel a bit "out of it" compared to F1 in terms of the technology in the car, the pits and what they do and think about and a general lack of info to keep me hooked in.
so it appears the McLaren announcement is Thursday - just why has this taken so long--- all will be revealed???
just why has this taken so long
Money. How much of it could they get now Alonso is aboard...
There's an entertaining rumour that Alonso has actually signed with Honda and will have an option to jump team the following year if McLaren don't produce a decent car.
McL were pretty adamant that Alonso's contract is with them, not Honda...
Mind you, I expect there will be some pretty stringent performance clauses in there..
hmmm i wonder if Alonso was waiting for the data from the first test of the McLaren Honda before committing slightly longer than 1 year with them. not sure if he'd have gained anything from the actual running that they ended up doing.
Honda (this time round) have not mentioned about having a full works team, but if there are a number of teams "on the market" in 2015 after yet more cost crisis issues, and mcLaren are not performing....
Thing is as Merc teams have found this year, there's a big difference between being the works team or not - eg Williams et al didn't have the same options (eg power) available to them as Mercedes did. In that sense, I reckon Ron is spot on in going away from Merc as they'll probably not win a WC otherwise (now they just need a decent car...)
Williams et al didn't have the same options (eg power) available to them as Mercedes did.
As far as I've read all Mercedes powered teams had the same spec 'engine' from Mercedes - it's the energy recovery systems that differed between the teams, and Mercs was better than anyone elses.
Same engine, etc but they have not allowed customer teams the same boost, etc - eg time that they can run at full power and so on.
My understanding was that the ERS is standard for each engine too since it's part of the PU these days and so closely integrated. Back in the days of KERS, Renault for example didn't provide KERS which was one reason that they were behind the curve with their engine (also because they made a load of people redundant).
Maybe they do share all their info, but I can't see how or why merc would divulge evverything about their engine. If they've developed it from scratch they will surely know more about the engine and it's tolerances than their customers even if they give their customers the same engine?
[quote=Toto Wolff]There are the same engines in every car out there, and you see quite some difference between customers. Of course as a power unit manufacturer and chassis manufacturer you have certain advantages on integration, and that comes down to mechanical balance, centre of gravity, etc.
even Ron doesn't go as far as to claim they're lacking power compared to the works engines
http://adamcooperf1.com/2014/10/04/ron-dennis-frustrated-by-lack-of-engine-parity-with-mercedes-works-team/
(I checked a few other articles and they all say much the same, that there is no difference in the customer engines)
From what I understand, one of the biggest issues was fuels and lubes, Mclaren used Mobil, the rest of the Merc teams used Petronas, who worked closely with Merc to develop fuels and lubes specific for the engine.
conspiracy theory #1
Berne asked mercedes to give more info on how to get the best out of tyre/engine/chassis combo to williams about midway through the season to gives fans something to shout about as Merc were so far ahead and RBR and Ferrari so far behind....
I've been trying to find where I read it but without succuss so far. It was specifically about Williams and one of the races where (Bottas?) was racing/chasing one of the Mercs and there was a comment about how much full power running Mercedes (the engine guys rather than the racing team itself) would allow them (Williams) to use through the race.
The suggestion was that the Merc cars were allowed to run more than the customer teams.
Was that a general rule Nemesis or was it at that specific race? Maybe the Williams had an older engine in and they were more concerned about reliability?
No, it was a general thing - the Merc techs in the Williams garage tell them how much boost they can use, same as at the works Merc team but it seemed that the customer teams got less than the works team which was also reflected IIRC in speed on the straight (don't forget the Williams this year was designed to be slippery at the expense to some extent of downforce) at some races - particularly when Williams ended up getting close to Merc.
A mate of mine used to work at Merc HPE. As pointed out above a lot of development work is done with lubrication etc, but even though the basic ICEs are stuck on a dyno to sort the "best" ones for the factory team the difference in HP is v. small and not enough to account for the gap in single lap performance or race pace.
The fact is that Merc did a much better job than anyone else this year - as usual in F1 people single out one thing (the engine, double diffuser, bendy wings, blown diffuser etc.) but it's actually the whole package working together that makes the difference.
Oh and what the blinking flip is going on in this pic?
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Has Ron become a Bond villain who dresses his serfs in uniform? Is he invoking some sort of 70's Gerry Anderson SciFi look on everyone at MTC?
I don't know, what the blinking flip is going on there?!? Where did you get the photo from?
Some kind of memorial for JB's Dad: [url= http://www.planet-f1.com/driver/3213/9373523/British-GP-Sunday-pictures ]Planet F1[/url]
Jb's dad was famous for his pink shirt
Pink for Papa, isn't it (the pink t-shirt thing)? Cos his Dad always wore pink shirts.
So Bianchi didn't slow enough and they was a incompatibility with Marussia's car design which meant the FailSafe system didn't work:
[url= http://www.fia.com/accident-panel ]http://www.fia.com/accident-panel[/url]
Findings also say:
It is not feasible to mitigate the injuries Bianchi suffered by either enclosing the driver’s cockpit, or fitting skirts to the crane.
Hurry up McLaren and announce your driver line for 2015!
Jenson would be the best choice both for the racing and business aspects of the Mclaren team.
So given that it is Mclaren, the obvious choice is Kevin Magnussen
So Bianchi didn't slow enough and they was a incompatibility with Marussia's car design which meant the FailSafe system didn't work:
I wonder if this problem with the FailSafe system has something to do with Marussia finally closing their doors - future buyers wary of possible litigation from Bianchi family perhaps?
Jenson would be the best choice both for the racing and business aspects of the Mclaren team.So given that it is Mclaren, the obvious choice is Kevin Magnussen
I fear this will be exactly the case 🙁
Jenson would be the best choice both for the racing and business aspects of the Mclaren team.
So given that it is Mclaren, the obvious choice is Kevin Magnussen
😆
But true. I still laugh about their strategy/pit stop changes with Lewis.
richmtb - Member
Jenson would be the best choice both for the racing and business aspects of the Mclaren team.So given that it is Mclaren, the obvious choice is Kevin Magnussen
😆
prove us wrong McL...
I wonder if this problem with the FailSafe system has something to do with Marussia finally closing their doors - future buyers wary of possible litigation from Bianchi family perhaps?
Reading the article on BBC's website, it seems what Marussia did was not against the rules, so I don't think there would be any issues for any potential new owners?
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30319256 ]Sauce[/url]
There's obviously some internal strife at McLaren. RD is in favour of one driver, the entire board and investors another.
JB has had a good season in a lacklustre car and has demonstrated that he's on top of his game. Pairing a rookie with Alonso next year is asking for trouble IMHO, given Alonso's propensity for dummy-spitting there needs to be a stable element to the team.
On the other hand I wouldn't be surprised if McLaren didn't buy Bottas out of his Williams contract and swap him with Button...stranger things have happened and Ron Dennis has a weakness for Finnish drivers.
so whats the point of a failsafe system if its not failsafe then! i'm aiming it at the FIA not the team, but if there is something there for safety and a team can bypass its operation then it should go through some kind of FIA safety test first to see if its in contradiction to the failsafe system!
The problem is that loads of F1 cars deliberately apply both throttle and brakes to control the attitude of the car and adjust balance. Add in BBW and it's massively more complex than just brake on/throttle off.
BBC need to get their facts straight. Bianchi was going alot quicker than 78mph.
This season, teams were allowed to tweak the parameters of their brake-by-wire system to suit a driver's style and thus Marussia can be seen to have not broken the rules.
A guess- What if they by-passed and ultimately the driver passes away? I wonder if the Japanese authorities might want to press manslaughter charges.
Why was Bianchi driving so fast under double-yellows compared to say Lewis? What if a marshall had been killed? Bianchi was going to fast BEFORE he hit the tractor.
BBC need to get their facts straight. Bianchi was going alot quicker than 78mph.
Official FIA report says it was 126kph (78mph).
Re McLaren - Mercedes haven't announced a new deal for Lewis yet! 😀
...but contracts mean nothing in F1! 😀
And F1 doesn't really care too much about drivers who are just decent - they're always after the next world champ - rightly so actually IMO - JEV is a great example of this recently - did a reasonable job at Toro Rosso but it's clear he's not ever going to be a standout driver so they gave him the boot.
Official FIA report says it was 126kph (78mph).
I can't see it? All I can see is them saying he hadn't slowed down sufficiently.
The wording on the failsafe says to me 'incompatible' means it was by-passed or simply didn't work. That wouldn't be an accident, it would have been deliberate. Hence if he does pass away - does that mean it could be manslaughter charges? Remember cutting and welding of Senna's steering column? That was an alteration not avoiding something.
FIA Report on www.F1Fanatic.co.uk
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/03/fia-releases-bianchi-crash-report-findings/
11. It is not feasible to mitigate the injuries Bianchi suffered by either enclosing the driver’s cockpit, or fitting skirts to the crane. Neither approach is practical due to the very large forces involved in the accident between a 700kg car striking a 6500kg crane at a speed of 126kph. There is simply insufficient impact structure on a F1 car to absorb the energy of such an impact without either destroying the driver’s survival cell, or generating non-survivable decelerations.
It did say 78mph.
Incompatible means that the failsafe didn't work with how they had the system configured - eg in this instance pressing both pedals didn't drop the throttle input to zero. As I mentioned, it's perfectly legit to have a car that allows both though the ECU by default won't do it. That doesn't mean it broke the rules or anything else and it doesn't prove whether that had any impact on the crash - braking hard on very wet grass is unlikely to have much effect regardless of whether the engine is on or not.
Italy has funny laws on manslaughter/murder. I haven't heard anything suggesting that the same is the case in Japan. Besides, the fact that Bianchi pressed both pedals would reasonably (IMO) point to a driver error - if you crashed your car with both brake and throttle pressed, would you blame the people who made the car?
Sadly a lawyer could find blame anywhere. Whether or not a court will apportion it is a different matter.
Anyhow, the team no longer exists, so there is no one to take to court.
I understand that it does still exist as there's still a (IMO very slim) possibility that it could race next year. Most of the staff have been made redundant though but no doubt could be rehired if a miracle happens.
The administrators own it. Its unlikely to be bought and they are auctioning off the equipment this weekend. Do they (current team - potential new owners) get the prize money for coming 10th ?
They seem to think so (see the Chilton interview) though I understood that by missing the last race they weren't eligible for it.
McLaren still haven't made their mind up
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/212475/1/mclaren-fails-to-reach-driver-decision.html
Wheres Jensons self-respect?
McLaren really need to take a look at how badly they've handled this. Regardless of all the internal shenanigans the PR aspect has been lousy - we'll decide later this year...after the season...after 1st DEC
..after the board meeting...after the next board meeting. Haas will be announcing drivers before them at this rate.
Interesting that the VAG rumours are seeming to have a grain of truth in them too. With any luck CVC will see it is an excuse to get rid of Bernie so they can bring another manufacturer in.
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30336569 ]name what would they race under ? autounion or bugatti ?[/url]
barnies more of a liability nowadays .. i dont understand why they dont keep all three drivers at mclaren.
You could rotate them depending on which track is best suited to the driver .. sod the drivers championship as that means nothing to the prize money and just go for the constructors.
Expect a p45 soon barnie.. your time is up much like montezemelo and also ron dennis if he keeps going like this.
Do McLaren have a board meeting to decide when to pit drivers during a race, or is that level of decision making devolved to the people on the ground? What a farce. Or are they simply hoping to avoid making a decision at all by putting it off for long enough that JB makes the decision for them (unless of course he's already made his decision and is simply waiting for them to ask him to race next year before telling them to FO).
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"No, stay out another lap"
Sounds to me like they were waiting for [and expecting] some deal or other to finalise and if it does, X [and his money] will be announced as the second driver, if it doesn't happen, Y will be announced.
Yep, it looks like deadlock at McLaren as Ron Dennis wants one thing, everyone else another and RD is lacking the financial clout to simply push it through. Deadlines have now been pushed back to January, none of which can be good for the team!
agree with the posts above, what kind of message does it say about how the team operates, treats its drivers and staff and , its fans.
I was never a fan when Ron was there, liked them when they took on Button, now, again this season they seem to have descended into Ronness.
as for VAG entry - its still only a feasibility study, if they are thinking of a brand new from scratch team, thats a very long term commitment, if its engine supplier, then that gives them a quick entry but they could lose out because the design of the car is out of their hands, the 3rd option is to buy in to an already middle pack team (hello Force India, Sauber?)
First thing they should do is sign Button.
Skoda F1
I'd think Lotus are prime for troubles this season after losing two sponsors to Williams.
Thinking about it, McLaren's driver decision was never going to be yesterday. Both drivers were on a PR day for Johnnie Walker in Edinburgh.
VAG + Lotus = VAGL!
errrrrr
The situation at McLaren I think is being driven by LH and Merc's discussions.
IIRC Merc came out and said we'll talk to Lewis at the end of the season and get things wrapped up within a few days of Abu Dhabi.
Shortly after McLaren came out and said they would have an answer by 1 Dec.
Then Lewis comes out and says 'no rush guys, I'm world champion and things can wait a couple of weeks'.
At this point McLaren suddenly show more indecision.
Alonso no doubt is waiting to here the outcome of LH's negotiations so he can factor in a suitable break clause / performance clause whatever that will leave him free to go to Merc should McLaren Honda be crap.
No, it isn't. LH still has a contract for next year. He'll just be looking at 2016 onwards. McL indecision is theirs alone.
as for VAG entry - its still only a feasibility study
Cobblers. They didn't take on the ex Ferrari boss because they liked his ties, it was for his F1 knowledge.
And if they race under any other banner than Audi, I'll eat my socks.
VAG rumours are interesting. With a slowing European economy I find it hard to see how they would justify the expense of an F1 team. I imagine they have looked on at Merecedes with a tinge of jealously, from nowhere to World Champions and good for the car brand. However, trying to replicate that - a very tough task.
On LH etc my 2 cents. Mercedes said mid season they though LH was paid too much and wanted to cut his wages to same level as Nico. Clearly thats a slap in the face for LH and as newly crowned World Champion he is rightly trying to get the best deal. If Merc play hardball (and I think they should, its the car you know...) then LH will move on if its the money he's interested in.
Hes already got a contract for 2015 so any wage negotiations would be on a extension to 2015/longer deal. TBH he'd be better off seeing out 2015/current contract then seeing mid-season how Honda are getting on.
Apparently it takes Merc 3 1/2 hours to recoup LH's salary through sponsorship, prize money, endorsements etc ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30172221).
As WDC he ain't going to be taking a pay cut and Merc won't expect him to.
Had he lost then they would have had some leverage.
Plus bad salary negotiations is one thing Merc wouldn't want- imagine 'hey Im your World Champ and you are trying to make me take a pay cut'? MiserBend
I'm staggered that as RedBull have supposedly sparked a wage reduction by taking on two junior drivers that Alonso's contract with McLaren is worth a reputed $40m (£25.5m) a year.
If that's the case I can't see Hamilton agreeing to a pay cut as Alonso would also be looking for top dollar from Merc if he went there.
I think Button is going to make their decision for them. It's getting to be a joke now.
Alonso would also be looking for top dollar from Merc if he went there.
Don't reckon - Merc have all the cards in an Alonso/Merc deal unless LH chooses to leave. It's the other way around for McL/Alonso with the slight caveat that if FA doesn't sign for them (which I reckon is already a done deal so I'm not really convinced by jambalaya's scenario though I'll admit it fits the timeline) he's going to have to take a sabbatical with further uncertainty on 2016.
They didn't take on the ex Ferrari boss because they liked his ties, it was for his F1 knowledge.
Cobblers, they employed him as he has the worlds best man hair. 😛
@hora - mansell had the same situation with williams, hence he left to indycar where he smashed all those drivers to bits.
Merc have all the cards in an Alonso/Merc deal
Granted, Merc will carry the car advantage they had this year over into 2015, and so I could agree with your arguement there, but there's no guarantee they'll still be top of the pile in 2016.
Mansell smashed himself to bits in Indycar iirc 😉
[quote=P-Jay ]"Sources" I'll bet money VW don't enter F1 - these rumours appear every year and the more VAG say they will never enter F1 the more the F1 press seem to think they're bluffing for some reason.
Have they hired Domenicali every year? This year they also specifically haven't said they'll never enter F1 - quite the opposite.
My understanding is that VAG won't enter until either Ecclestone or Ferdinand Piech (chairman of VAG) goes, because they hate each other ([url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30336569 ]BBC Sport[/url]).
And if they race under any other banner than Audi, I'll eat my socks.
I love a bold statement!! So why not Lamborghini, Bugatti or Porsche?
Shermer what brand would you choose if you wanted a car that could run inches behind another with no loss of performance then pass in the most unlikely places?
Haha fair point!!!
I suppose the driver wouldn't be known for their self-effacing humbleness too, right?