FE next year will see a move to a single car per driver due to improvements in battery tech. No more 1 minute put stops to change cars.

I don’t see that it being slower than F1 is a big deal personally since the racing is much closer and there tends to be plenty of overtaking on street circuits. The nature of aero packages in F1 seems to severely limit the ability to overtake (especially if you drive a merc) and makes for less entertaining races (IMHO)

What spat is that?

Think its more theres 2 big events close to each other back to back, which have to split audiences.

If they had one at the start of the year and another at the end of the year it would be easier to maximize audiences at both events

Yup but COTA are insisting Mexico change their date. They don’t want to.

jairaj – Member
I have no idea why Williams have been struggling to get near the sharp end

Maybe it was the panda-faced pace-o-phobe*

Hopefully they don’t find another excuse to re-employ Massa. I know a bad thing happened to him and he’s really well liked within the paddock but the main part of the job is driving really fast and he’s just not up to it.
I know that Williams is a nice team and they can’t bring themselves to give him a P45 but there’s numerous guys you could pedal that car faster.

* Credit: Sniffpetrol 2013

I think what will happen to Ricciardo next year is one of the most interesting things in F1 one right now. He clearly wants to step out from Verstappen’s shadow and into a car that can beat the over talented little Dutch man. So that would mean Mercedes or Ferrari, and I think Mercedes are keen to hold on to Ocon so that it looks like Vettel may well be getting the only teammate who beat him on a regular basis back again..

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/11166579/red-bull-plan-daniel-ricciardo-talks-next-year-but-have-2019-options

He clearly wants to step out from Verstappen’s shadow and into a car that can beat the over talented little Dutch man.

If he can’t beat him in the same car, then Verstappen deserves to be No. 1. Ricciardo outscored MV over the year and pulled off more overtaking moves than any other driver. His only weakness was being outqualified by 13-7, from memory. However, the average gap was tiny, so the two drivers seem to be very evenly matched and I don’t think DR is intimidated by MV. Wherever DR goes, he has to be prepared to beat a first class teammate, so I think that will be less of a consideration than whether Red Bull can produce a competitive car. Red Bull seem likely to be stuck with Honda engines from 2019, so if the Honda engine doesn’t improve massively, he won’t want to stick around.

Any driver on the grid would take a Mercedes seat if it was available, but chances of that seem slim. DR will obviously be looking at McLaren and Ferrari, and also how the Honda engine compares to the Renault next year. Red Bull and Mclaren will have the same engine, so that will make it obvious which car is better. Alonso’s nearing the end of his career and won’t want to stick around if the Renault engine isn’t competitive right out of the box. Ferrari will be very disappointed with Vettel’s meltdown this year, so Ricciardo might look attractive, he seems to be very tough mentally. Renault is another team he will obviously be looking at very closely.

Ferrari will be very disappointed with Vettel’s meltdown this year, so Ricciardo might look attractive, he seems to be very tough mentally. 

I agree, I think DR will be in red from 2019 onwards, the only thing possibly barring his way is if Charles Leclerc puts in a storming debut next year…

Kvyat gets Ferrari development role…

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/kvyat-joins-ferrari-development-driver-994378/

…could be the best thing for him. Perhaps work his way back into F1 with an Alfa/Sauber drive next year (surely they won’t hang on to Ericsson for 2019!).

I bet finger boy will enjoy working with him 🙂

Ricciardo will need a complete personality transplant if he moves to Ferrari. He is far too personable and happy for the prancing horse. I mean he has a sense of humour and actually smiles. There is no way Ferrari would employ someone likeable FFS.

I read this over the holidays and thought it was interesting. Tiff’s view on how to improve the Yas Marina circuit…

DriveTribe

Most sense Lewis has talked in a while!

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/133873/hamilton-f1-needs-more-doningtonstyle-turns

Dan Gurney RIP.

So Sirotkin gets the nod while Kooobica gets to be kept on the books in case sergei turns out to be a disaster. Oh, and to front up for Martini as the race drivers are too young.

Boom!…and down to 8th or 9th in the constructors table. 😀

Williams – they just seem to be trying to find the next young-verstappen and hoping it will get them some notice, when in reality they are slipping further and further down the grid (even with that Merc engine in the back) with less and less sponsorship money — and almost every race there is some excuse as to their problems with performance (doesnt suit us, tyres not heating up etc) – and i think they had a chance with Kubica to get a genuine talent with F1 experience and they went for ooodles of cash instead.
Personally if i was Kubica i’d have looked at another F1 team instead of backburner status.

as for Formula E – plenty of big manufacturers coming in, and rumours are the new car for 2019 will be very much faster than the existing ones and there is already talk of them “out growing” some street circuits – when they start to get on to proper race circuits, then the F1 challenge will really begin.

There may be no need at all to try and change F1 against the manufacturers power base , because it might just simply fade away as they all jump ship into FE.

I always thought there should be another league / Break away.
The big boys and spend what they want and do what they want to build the fastest cars possible while Sauber, Hass, Williams etc cass about making excuses for themselves in F 1 junior.

They could be a support race for the Big teams 🙂

when they start to get on to proper race circuits, then the F1 challenge will really begin.

Not for a while I’d wager. The current, tight, tracks make them look fast. If you copied the F1 calendar they’d look dismally slow in comparison. The speed will come, but then do you also want the teams spending millions and millions to match the aero performance?

Oh, and to front up for Martini as the race drivers are too young.

Supposedly Kubica doesn’t drink though…

I always thought there should be another league / Break away.
The big boys and spend what they want and do what they want to build the fastest cars possible while Sauber, Hass, Williams etc cass about making excuses for themselves in F 1 junior.

They could be a support race for the Big teams

What big boys, Merc, Ferrari and Renault? Would be dull as dishwater. F1 needs independents and it needs engine rules that allow them to be competitive.

over the past 2 decades that power over the rules have ebbed away from FIA into the teams / manufacturers, and now its just impossible to get back,
i think Liberty are just realising this after the luke warm reception they got from offering the teams shares in the sport and the Brawn dossier on new regs for 2021 and suggestions about reformatting the payment structure to the teams.

What big boys, Merc, Ferrari and Renault? Would be dull as dishwater. F1 needs independents and it needs engine rules that allow them to be competitive

I would hope that without the rules it would attract the heavy weights back into the sport.
Basically an unlimited F1 with BMW, Ford, Nissan, Toyota etc – guys, get the car around the track as quickly as possible using 75kg of fuel per race. ( possibly other metric such as size )

I just saw the sad news about Dan Gurney up there.

I always liked this:

Proper exhaust pipes in those days too

Oh and he was a big guy. Spot the bump on the top of the door for his helmet.

F1’s diminishing constructer appeal is ultimately down to expenditure. Merc, Renault, Ferrari and Honda all have a vested interest in hybrid technology and will benefit from the data gathered from the R&D process to help offset the cost.

Either they see a future in efficient petrol engines, or in fully electric drivetrains (hence the backing for Formula E).

If hybrid powertrains are dropped for 2021, then that removes a large chunk of expense but it risks making F1 an irrelevance when the market for road cars seems to be heading in a different direction. The payoff is that companies like Aston Martin, McLaren, etc will be in a better position to fund an engine programme.

If 2021 engine regs stipulate a turbo V6 of 1600cc capacity and a fuel flow limit then it’ll be difficult for any engine constructor to find and exploit a power advantage. There will be greater emphasis on aero and chassis development to gain a performance advantage. I can’t see Merc and Ferrari being terribly happy about that.

That’s the quandary facing Liberty.

If hybrid powertrains are dropped for 2021, then that removes a large chunk of expense

The biggest problem is the cost of aero development. A couple of years back, there was a story that the electricity bill for Red Bull’s wind tunnel was a million dollars or pounds, I forget which. Adrian Newey earns as much as the very top drivers, so Red Bull’s aero program costs much more than an engine contract. Force India and Williams have Merc engines, but were soundly beaten by Red Bull. Force India had two excellent drivers. Massa might not be a superstar, but he’s not a bad driver. Williams just seem to have gone wrong in the technical department and don’t have the budget to get back on track. Red Bull also went wrong with their aero at the start of the year but had the resources to redesign the car and make it competitive. That was mostly down to aero development, not engine.

New Formula E car!…

https://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/formula-e-reveals-second-generation-car-1000535/

^^^^^ That looks mega – that’s what innovation looks like.

Not sure what’s innovative about what you can see there? Might be a centre downwash wing, but otherwise looks a lot like the 2018 Indycar

…apart from the mahoosive rear diffuser! 🙂

Looks like Alonso is going to be a busy boy this year with F1 and WEC:

Fernando Alonso will be competing in two World Championships after it was confirmed he will be racing for Toyota in the upcoming WEC season. Here’s a look at his updated diary…

Alonso will be in the Toyota No.8 LMP1 car alongside his new team-mates and ex-Formula 1 drivers Sebastian Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima.

The World Endurance Championship is about to go through a transitional phase known as the ‘Super Season’ which comprises of eight races, including two Le Mans 24 Hours races, running from May 2018 to June 2019.

This is so the next World Endurance Championship season can start in the autumn and make Le Mans the season finale.

With this in mind and McLaren no longer affiliated to Honda, Alonso is taking full advantage of the longer season to help his Triple Crown bid.

Alonso’s potential schedule:

February

February 26 – March 1 Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona (first Winter Test)

March

March 6 – March 9 Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona (second Winter Test)
March 25 Australian GP Melbourne

April

April 8 Bahrain GP Sakhir
April 15 Chinese GP Shanghai
April 29 Azerbaijan GP Baku

May

May 5 6 Hours of Spa
May 13 Spanish GP Barcelona
May 15 – May 16 Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona (In-season Test)
May 27 Monaco GP Monaco

June

June 10 Canadian GP Montreal
June 16-17 24 Hours of Le Mans
June 24 French GP Le Castellet

July

July 1 Austrian GP Spielberg
July 8 British GP Silverstone
July 22 German GP Hockenheim
July 29 Hungarian GP Budapest
July 31 – August 1 Hungaroring, Budapest (In-season Test)

August

August 19 6 Hours of Silverstone
August 26 Belgian GP Spa-Francorchamps

September

September 2 Italian GP Monza
September 16 Singapore GP Marina Bay
September 30 Russian GP Sochi

October

October 21 United States GP Austin
October 28 Mexican GP Mexico City

November

November 11 Brazilian GP Sao Paulo
November 18 6 Hours of Shanghai
November 25 Abu Dhabi GP Yas Marina

January 2019

January 26-27 Daytona 24 Hours*

May 2019

May 4 6 Hours of Spa**

June 2019

June 15-16 24 Hours of Le Mans**

*Not confirmed, but Alonso is open to returning to Daytona

**Dependent on 2019 Formula 1 season

Good write up on the Halo for those not familiar with it…

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/22262498/all-need-know-halo-ahead-2018-f1-season

Shame that the only challenge the Toyota should have is from the other Toyotas

So Grid Girls are to go this year – I wonder if they’ll stop doing lingering shots of pretty ladies in the crowd and bikini clad beauties in swimming pools at Monaco!?…

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/formula-1-to-drop-grid-girls-for-2018-1000912/

“Good write up on the Halo for those not familiar with it…

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/22262498/all-need-know-halo-ahead-2018-f1-season”

[still not quote button]

I’d love to see a driver’s-eye view through the halo: It looks like the central support would annoy the hell out of me.

In that report the drivers say visibility isn’t a problem and that it could even go lower.

So instead of “exploiting” women (and some men) who are paid to stand on the grid F1 will now be exploiting children who aren’t paid (as far as I can see) to be there. That’s progress!

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12430/11232101/f1-in-2018-race-start-times-pushed-back-for-new-formula-1-season

10 past the hour race starts, later qualifying, Bahrain becomes a night race etc. this coming season.

So instead of “exploiting” women (and some men) who are paid to stand on the grid F1 will now be exploiting children who aren’t paid (as far as I can see) to be there. That’s progress!

The kids are to come from local motorsport clubs and racing series. So there will probably be a lot of palms greased to make sure ‘the next Hamilton’ and his/her family get to mix among the F1 paddock! 🙂

How come an alternative to F1 isn’t out there considering that most fans of F1 aren’t happy with the direction it is going.

How about launching unlimited racing?

Only criteria is that you have a budget cap but you can do what you want after that.

the-muffin-man wrote:

So Grid Girls are to go this year – I wonder if they’ll stop doing lingering shots of pretty ladies in the crowd and bikini clad beauties in swimming pools at Monaco!?…

thepurist wrote:

So instead of “exploiting” women (and some men) who are paid to stand on the grid F1 will now be exploiting children who aren’t paid (as far as I can see) to be there. That’s progress!

Well that is unsurprising – those against the change completely fail to understand the issue.