The Formula 1 Stuff Thread

[onetwothree 0]

If I had a dollar for every time Ferrari threatened to leave, I'd have enough money to buy Ferrari and actually follow through with the threat.

[MBKF1 91]

I swear we get the same recurring sh*t every year.

- Ferrari threaten to leave F1
- Will Kimi Raikkonen be replaced?
- Rumours of Audi entering F1
- Will the new McLaren be orange?
- Jacques Villeneuve's seasonal sh*t stirring

I've missed out a helluva lot more, but you get the idea.

[ImDyingYouIdiot 0]

You forgot about Häkkinen. I'm sure he returns from his sabbatical this year!

[Hughesy 254]

The one and only time I'll agree with Rosberg

https://twitter.com/nico_rosberg/status/828933087673384960

[Jiggy 5]

Kubica before the accident was as fast as anyone. World Champion-material. Kubica after the accident has a messed up arm. But I'd love for him to get a shot and be quick again.

[Jiggy 5]

Also, Wehrlein is apparently still injured. Sauber has denied it, but trusting Sauber on their word is something a Dutchman should and will not do.

[MBKF1 91]

Well that's an end to the F1 drivers doing Race of Champions again :/

[Hughesy 254]

Hmm I'm not so sure Lewis, all I see from god/religion in general is war....

https://twitter.com/LewisHamilton/status/829763696524156931

[f1since08 60]

Hughesy said:

Hmm I'm not so sure Lewis, all I see from god/religion in general is war....

https://twitter.com/LewisHamilton/status/829763696524156931

You're so wrong. This isn't the place for me a debate, but there is so much good.

[Hughesy 254]

No mate, I'm not.   There may be some good, but there's so much bad stuff because of religion.       I myself went to church every Sunday when I was young, so I respect people's religious beliefs, but what I said was fact.





:p   

[MBKF1 91]

Silly pre-testing predictions time. Write down your list of what you reckon the order of the 10 teams will be, and I've grouped them as well based on what other teams I reckon they'll be fighting.

1) Mercedes
2) Red Bull

3) Ferrari
4) McLaren

5) Williams
6) Force India

7) Renault
8) Toro Rosso
9) Haas

10) Sauber

[ImDyingYouIdiot 0]

1) Red Bull
2) Mercedes

3) Ferrari
4) McLaren

5) Force India
6) Renault
7) Toro Rosso

8) Williams
9) Haas

10) Sauber

[RevolvingPrawn 1]

1) Mercedes
2) Red Bull

3) McLaren
4) Ferrari

5) Williams
6) Force India
7) Renault

8) Haas
9) Toro Rosso

10) Sauber

Also this is Sky's F1 testing schedule, shame there's no live coverage, seems ridiculous to me considering how much it costs to get Sky and the Sports package.

TEST ONE

Monday February 27
Day One live blog (Sky F1 Digital), Live updates on SSN HQ.

9pm: Sky Sports F1 - Paddock Uncut

9.15pm: Ted's Notebook

Tuesday February 28
Day Two live blog (Sky F1 Digital), Live updates on SSN HQ.

9pm: Sky Sports F1 - Paddock Uncut

9.15pm: Ted's Notebook

Wednesday March 1
Day Three live blog (Sky F1 Digital), Live updates on SSN HQ.

9pm: Sky Sports F1 - Paddock Uncut

9.15pm: Ted's Notebook

Thursday March 2
Day Four live blog (Sky F1 Digital), Live updates on SSN HQ.

9pm: Sky Sports F1 - Paddock Uncut

9.15pm: Ted's Notebook

TEST TWO

Tuesday March 7
Day One live blog (Sky F1 Digital), Live updates on SSN HQ.

9pm: Sky Sports F1 - Paddock Uncut

9.15pm: Ask Crofty

Wednesday March 8
Day Two live blog (Sky F1 Digital), Live updates on SSN HQ.

9pm: Sky Sports F1 - Paddock Uncut

9.15pm: Ask Crofty

Thursday March 9
Day Three live blog (Sky F1 Digital), Live updates on SSN HQ.

9pm: Sky Sports F1 - Paddock Uncut

9.15pm: Ask Crofty

Friday March 10
Day Four live blog (Sky F1 Digital), Live updates on SSN HQ.

9pm: Sky Sports F1 - Paddock Uncut

9.15pm: Ask Crofty.

[MBKF1 91]

I remember watching their testing coverage back in 2013, it was heaven for an F1 fan! But I guess it's just not worth it considering the cost of making it vs number of viewers, which is probably not a lot as it's in the middle of a week.

Also Sky have to do all the coverage themselves as FOM don't cover testing, so they have to send out all their cameramen and equipment to all parts of the track. Probably just too expensive.

But we're paying good money to get Sky, and having a dedicated F1 channel, live testing is what I'd expect to get in return!

[RevolvingPrawn 1]

MBKF1 said:

I remember watching their testing coverage back in 2013, it was heaven for an F1 fan! But I guess it's just not worth it considering the cost of making it vs number of viewers, which is probably not a lot as it's in the middle of a week.

Also Sky have to do all the coverage themselves as FOM don't cover testing, so they have to send out all their cameramen and equipment to all parts of the track. Probably just too expensive.

But we're paying good money to get Sky, and having a dedicated F1 channel, live testing is what I'd expect to get in return!

Can't help but think that if they don't think it's worth it then paying the extra to get that channel isn't worth it :p

Thing about testing though is they wouldn't really need to cover the entire circuit, just 4 or 5 corners and the main straight/pits would be enough to satisfy the majority of fans. I can imagine that if they were willing to cover testing properly only 4 years ago, and they've now reduced that to 15 mins per day and live blogging, they'll end up ditching the dedicated F1 channel eventually, and either bump it to Sky Sports 5 or drop it entirely. And then of course the coverage will go online where Liberty can charge whatever they like for it (crossing my fingers for a reasonable price now that Bernie is gone).

[Liaveil 129]

1) Mercedes
2) Red Bull
3) Ferrari
4) Mclaren
5) Force India
6) Renault
7) Williams
8) Haas
9) Toro Rosso
10) Sauber

[VetteIfan 0]

So the general opinion here seems to be that this year's rules tweaks aren't going to shake the field up anywhere near as much as 2009 did. I tend to agree. 

I think Red Bull's ability to challenge Mercedes depends on Renault. For the best part of 18 months they've had the aero package to challenge Mercedes, so presuming Mercedes don't totally **** up with the new rules, the engine will still be the main offset in performance. 

Pretty much everyone seems to have written Ferrari off but their main struggles all the way through 2009-2016 have been with that era of aero regulations. Returning to something more reminiscent of pre-2009 might actually be good news. But, admittedly, the fact remains that they still don't have a lead designer. 

If McLaren aren't at least comfortably the 4th best team and challenging the top 3 this year then Alonso might as well go to Sauber. Yes they've been making progress but that progress has been so slow that they're not going to be winning again till 2030 at the current rate. This is the year where they've got a big oppurtunity to make up most of their lost ground. 

Renault are my "sleeper", if you can count them as that. This is effectively the first Renault car and considering their budget and the fact they basically gave up after 3 races last season, they could make a bit of a jump. Based on my belief that James Key is one of the best and most underrated designers in the field, I also think Toro Rosso will have a good car and be the 6th best team. After that: Force India, Williams, Haas and Sauber. 

[Jiggy 5]

Title contenders: Mercedes, Red Bull.
Might win a race or two: Ferrari, Renault
Might get a podium on their day: McLaren, Toro Rosso, Force India
Won't get a podium, but won't be as shit as Sauber: Haas, Williams
Is as shit as Sauber: Sauber

[Chadwick8505 0]

Hopefully it'll be close, Renault's engine isn't that far off anymore and with Red Bull's aero they might be able to match Mercedes at certain tracks.
1. Mercedes

2. Red Bull 

3. Ferrari - While the shift to more mechanical grip this year might suit Ferrari well, I don't think it'll be enough 

The rest is going to be really interesting. Williams doesn't always do well with rule changes. Toro Rosso seems to have every other year success and the constant changing of power units might effect them. Force India are always consistent. Haas should still be there too. 

McLaren has a lot to prove. I don't think they'll be challenging for podiums consistently. Maybe top5s. They've shown steady progress but I just don't see them returning to top form this year. Same with Renault, at least now they're a factory team but is that enough? The way I see it there best hope is that they had the funding early on and probably started full development of the 2017 car the soonest. So they'll probably have similar result to McLaren (probably a little bit worse).

And Sauber will show up to get the participation trophy I guess.

[RevolvingPrawn 1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFagk2lpseQ
                                                                                  

[Jiggy 5]

The rear wing is not as wide as I thought it would be. And eww, still the penis-nose? Williams has never been this unlikeable.

[ImDyingYouIdiot 0]

Rear is looking great, nose is flipping ugly. Livery still the best part.

Meh. A bit underwhelming.

[MBKF1 91]

I think all the concepts we've seen have made us have too higher expectations. I was expecting a sleeker nose, but still stuck with the stubbly bit. Rear looks sexi mexi though.

[Hughesy 254]

Sauber are going to win the championship, if Leicester can win the Premier League then anythings possible :trollface:


As for the looks, anyone who got excited about the concepts and expected them to look like that are silly, the final thing never looks as good as the concept... 

[GoldenColt 1]

As someone pointed out in the AS-forum:

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/017/588/reality.jpg