The Formula 1 Stuff Thread

[onetwothree]

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]

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]

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

[Hughesy]

The one and only time I'll agree with Rosberg

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

[Jiggy]

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]

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]

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

[Hughesy]

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

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

[f1since08]

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]

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]

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]

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) 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]

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]

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]

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

[VetteIfan]

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]

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]

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]

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

[Jiggy]

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]

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

Meh. A bit underwhelming.

[MBKF1]

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]

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]

As someone pointed out in the AS-forum:

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

[couger1981]

Was expecting a wider car this year doesn't look much different from last years car.

[VetteIfan]

Hughesy said:

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... 

While that's true, one of the main targets of this set of regulations was to have better looking cars that are more aggressive. To still see the stud nose there is dissapointing in that respect. 

Should probably wait until we see an actual car first anyway. Some parts of this render are very simplified and Williams clearly aren't giving too many tricks away. The side pods look very slim, but I think that's an illusion because the floor has been made wider on this year's cars. 

[Chadwick8505]

There really was nothing in the new rules that were gonna make these cars look any better. Things got wider; that's about it. The tires are the only thing that actually will effect the look. 2017 is just going to look like bulkier versions of 2016. 

Concept renders are made to look pretty. They aren't made within the rule book or made using an engineer's knowledge of what works and what doesn't. 

[GoldenColt]

Tbf, I thought the concept renders weren't that good-looking in the first place. Especially these Sean Bull designs. Nothing compares to the 2007/2008 cars imho, the most beautiful F1 cars of all time.

[Hughesy]

You thought the 07/08 cars were the most beautiful cars ever? Eww..... 

I liked the front wings, but that was it. 

[Jiggy]

Agree with Colt. The overall shapes of the cars were good looking, the BMW was the peak of that grid.

[Juice29]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/128158

Do you agree?

[Hughesy]

No I don't agree with him, it's a team sport. 

[Mexicola]

"I don't want to see my teammate's data"

right sonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

[Jiggy]

"If I can't do it on my own then I'm not good enough and I don't deserve to be there. And there are some drivers that don't."

HAMILTON LAYING THE SMACKETH DOWN ON ALL THEIR CANDY ASSES


No, but seriously, fundamentally, I agree with Hamilton. Find it out on your own. That engineers will share for the overall improvement, logical. But a driver being able to copy his team-mate's lines, kind of sounds like weak sauce imo. However, it saves time when ideally drivers can catch up on each other and keep leapfrogging each other, raising their level at a faster pace than they would, had they have done it all on their own. From a team's perspective, it's just more efficient and you don't lose time having to wait on both drivers catching speed when they're on their own. Think not having all the time in the world to test your cars like in the old days will only enhance that need to get up to speed quick, so that you can focus on other things. So I agree with Hamilton, but as long as it's not banned, I'd imagine there's no team willing to take Hamilton's approach in the development race.

[Chadwick8505]

This really illustrates my problem with Hamilton. It's only ever about him; he's got to be one of the most selfish drivers on the grid. The problem is all this says to Mercedes is "I'm not a team player, and I don't have to be because no one's as good as me." I just think that's a really piss-poor attitude for such an incredible driver.  

At the end of the day F1 is a team sport and it will also be a team sport. And as a driver in a team, your job is to maximize the team's success before your own. If that includes share setup advice, data, driving lines, or whatever than the team expect you to do it. The other side of that is with sharing the end product is completed quicker. Now both drivers in free practice can work on separate goals and try new parts at the same time; essentially doubling the work that can be accomplished in the session. If Hamilton is not willing to share that information or accept that information, he's dealing with half the deck. It's in his arrogance that he thinks there's nothing wrong with that and that he'll come out on top anyway; which he probably will because he is that good. It's just not a character trait I appreciate in a World Champion. 

[Hughesy]

I think Hamilton learnt early on from the best at being selfish, Alonso.... Most world champions in F1 or any sport are selfish & arrogant. 

[Hughesy]

Sauber....... 

https://twitter.com/f1fanatic_co_uk/status/833615597657264129

[RevolvingPrawn]

It's pretty! Love the rear end packaging that's closest to the suspension, and the gold and blue at the front looks fantastic :)

[MBKF1]

I like it, the design of the car looks great, but not 100% sure on the livery to be perfectly honest. The white on the sidepod is a bit odd when it goes into the U shape. I could get used to it though.

[RevolvingPrawn]

MBKF1 said:

I like it, the design of the car looks great, but not 100% sure on the livery to be perfectly honest. The white on the sidepod is a bit odd when it goes into the U shape. I could get used to it though.

Maybe the white is like a placeholder till they can get some sponsor logo's one there? :p

If it isn't though then I wish they'd used either black or more of the gold on there.

[MBKF1]

Perhaps! Love the gold, normally it's a bit touch and go if it goes with blue but they've nailed it here. From the front, this car looks amazing.

It's nice to not have a grey livery as well!

[ImDyingYouIdiot]

Love the livery, love the shark fin, still can't stand those stubby noses. At least if they're not hidden well, like on the RB12.

[RevolvingPrawn]

ImDyingYouIdiot said:

Love the livery, love the shark fin, still can't stand those stubby noses. At least if they're not hidden well, like on the RB12.

Yea, I'm not so keen on the stubby noses either, but as long as they don't hang over the edge of the front wing then I can live with em.

Just gonna chuck the images up in this post too so they're on this page instead of the last page.

[onetwothree]

Livery is meh. The white ruins it tbh. 

ghlkmfd94jy0er//;

[Hughesy]

Not a fan of it at all,  it reminds me of this

[RevolvingPrawn]

Another couple of pics, that wing and nose look awesome in these coolers :)

[Chadwick8505]

Saber looks cool. I like the new livery, almost retro Ligier. The air box seems unique with the ducts set back from the center divider. I like the shark fin too, although I've always been a fan of them; except it's kinda weird that it's so much higher than the rear wing.

Hopefully more cars look like this and not as much like the Williams. 

[GoldenColt]

Livery looks refreshingly different from everything we've seen in the last few season, but dear me, I was expecting the chassis of these cars to look so much better.

Oh well...

[Juice29]

The car looks like the C35 on steroids....