Ferrari were worried enough about their engine problems to sack people.

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/20932119/ferrari-gives-details-malaysia-failures

http://en.f1i.com/news/288137-former-ferrari-engine-guru-sassi-heads-mercedes.html

Lorenzo had been working on a new piston design that was expected to be a big step forward. That failure and his sacking and move to Mercedes is not a good omen for Ferrari.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/127947/ferrari-counting-on-piston-innovation

>Ferrari were worried enough about their engine problems to sack people.

OMG Ferrari love sacking people so much lol

Hamilton’s interview was odd – he seems to have picked up a bit of an accent from somewhere, my guess is he’s picked up a Bajan slur to the end of his words, he does like it out there…

Ferrari are sticking wings everywhere – even the wing mirrors!…

New McLaren is out – I like the orange, but the lack of swooshy graphics really highlights the lack of sponsors. It looks like Chandon have lowered their sponsorship too as they were prominent on the airbox last season…

New mclaren looks ace….although seemed to not get the memo about the side pod winglet super aero bits

It’s quite surprising there is a huge difference between the teams on the treatment of the sidepods. We’ve got ‘conventional’ from Merc, Renault, McLaren and Toro Rosso. And intricate sidepods from Red Bull, Ferrari, Williams, and Haas to bat-shit crazy from Sauber!…

My guess is that the teams are still working on a lot of the details and will turn up to the first test with a bunch of different aero stuff to try. The cars will probably look quite different by the time they get to the first race.

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Ferrari were worried enough about their engine problems to sack people.

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/20932119/ferrari-gives-details-malaysia-failures

http://en.f1i.com/news/288137-former-ferrari-engine-guru-sassi-heads-mercedes.html

Lorenzo had been working on a new piston design that was expected to be a big step forward. That failure and his sacking and move to Mercedes is not a good omen for Ferrari.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/127947/ferrari-counting-on-piston-innovation

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I don’t think that tells you anything at all.  Mercedes had one off problems too:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mercedes-discovers-new-problem-on-f1-engine-909151/

That he was sacked doesn’t tell you much other than Ferrari are a bit licenziato-happy .

And who do you think these regs are targetting?

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mercedes-discovers-new-problem-on-f1-engine-909151/

Read between the lines on what they’re banning.  It sounds to me like a team with a very good quali-banzai mode were running a naughty oil spec that was different to the one used for the race…

Unrelated, a quote from PH member regarding the sound of the cars…

DazzledSo having been up to the circuit today to see the Mercedes running it just confirms how awful the halo is.
It’s been hard enough in recent years to identify the drivers as they sit so low in the cockpit. Now it’s next to impossible. It’s also incredibly ugly.
On the plus side the noise is back. Considerably louder and more purposeful.
One step forward, two steps back.

Quite interesting…get to see what they see.

The colour scheme on that McLaren has completely vindicated my controversial choice of blue anodized components on my old bright orange Marin Wolf Ridge.

Aren’t all new Mclarens painted pre-season test orange?

Not always.  There’s speculation (draws excited breath) that McLaren are making the colour change permanent.  One would assume that the blue hues are a nod to Renault’s corporate colours, but equally that might just be pure unwarranted speculation on my part.

My orange and blue Marin was a complete dog, BTW.  I hope for better things for McLaren.

I’m 99% sure that will be McLaren’s livery this season – it’s pretty much the same as their Indycar from last year. And the blue is from their Can Am days.

And re the Halo – from some angles it looks broadly acceptable, from others downright ungainly. Unfortunately I think we will be stuck with it until the regs are completely changed in 2021.

I’d bump that 99 to 100.

Don’t think I’ve seen that much blank space on a car since the Brawn, though.

Dunno how to link the vid but the mclaren’s livery looks great when the car is on the move

Fernando fires up and heads down the pitlane. A proud moment for the team as our #MCL33 lays rubber for the first time. #BeBrave 🔊 pic.twitter.com/FwOnnGeDMw

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 23, 2018

oh, that sounds good, did it last a lap?

Probably already done more test laps than the last couple of seasons

@the-muffin-man – Sauber – to paraphrase a certain film “Call that mental, this is mental…”

@the-muffin-man To deviate slightly of piste

I dont mind the drama on the rally cars as much.Properly haulin.

And we’re off!

Apparently the Honda engine has started up. I predict 27 laps for Toro Rosso today. 🙂

Alonso has crashed the McLaren already.

He’s not used to going so fast!

Looks like the wheels have already fallen off this season

hello darkness my old friend

much louder 🙂

honda still sounds like a bag of nails

red bulls are in their race livery

merc sounds brutal, the renault a bit tinny

I noticed ear-defenders were being used again in the pitlane.

Recap of the 2018 liveries

[img]https://preview.ibb.co/noQV0x/f1_toro_rosso_str13_launch_2018_toro_rosso_str13_7639723.jpg[/img]

that honda engine sounds shit

Aesthetically the Renault wins IMO, Williams second. The McLaren looks nice but I think that can largely be attributed to the huge space they’ve left for a title sponsor once the trophies come flooding in… fingers crossed, Zak.

The Sauber looks great from some angles but a bit hmmm from others. All the others, meh. The Force India graphics are a bit of a mess.

the renault car looks good on the track early doors too, getting on the power earlier than most

My first prediction of the year fails!

Toro Rosso has already done 33 laps. 🙂

Latest lapcount:

Hartley 41
Hulkenberg 38
Bottas 37
Raikkonen 32
Stroll 29
Ricciardo 24
Ericsson 23
Grosjean 18
Mazepin 15
Alonso 6

The McLaren problem seems to be tyre related on the clip I have just seen.

Zac Brown said it was a wheel nut problem.

Renault are looking good early doors! 🙂

Ah ok, thought it wasn’t related to engine or drive train.