Teh Formula 1 Encyclopedia: 2018 Edition.

[FaultyMario]

2753




Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport
HAM (44) & BOT (77)

Scuderia Ferrari
VET (5) & RAI (7)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing
RIC (3) & VER (33)

Sahara Force India F1 Team
PER (11) & OCO (31)

Williams Martini Racing
STR (18) & SIR (??)

Renault Sport Formula One Team
HUL (27) & SAI (55)

Scuderia Toro Rosso
GAS (10) & HAR (28)

Haas F1 Team
GRO (8) & MAG (20)

McLaren Formula 1 Team
ALO (14) & VAN (2)

Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team
ERI (9) & LEC (16)

I don't think that Ferrari will debut without a title sponsor.

[Tom Servo]

If history is any judge, Massa will be back at Williams.

[Alan P]

If history is any judge, Massa will be back at Williams.

It seems that Williams were all set to announce their driver lineup after the tyre test at Abu Dhabi. Then Robert Kubica decidedly DIDN'T set the track alight with his times, being generally slower than both Massa in the race and Sirotkin in the test when tyre type and run timings are taken into account.

Which leaves Williams in quite the dilemma. Kvyat is still in with a slight chance, it's thought Wehrlein has more or less been dropped by Mercedes with little to no corporate incentive/benefit to sign him for any team and PDR still has a small chance as well and fits with the 'over 25' Martini sponsorship requirement but it's thought this is now an outside chance.

[dodint]

Did you typo the title on purpose? Either way can we change it? Spending a year with it is going to needle at me.

[FaultyMario]

Ask Russ. Title's locked for me.

[The359]

Force India is supposed to change their name next season, they just haven't decided what it will be.

[samoht]

It seems that Williams were all set to announce their driver lineup after the tyre test at Abu Dhabi. Then Robert Kubica decidedly DIDN'T set the track alight with his times, being generally slower than both Massa in the race and Sirotkin in the test when tyre type and run timings are taken into account.

Which leaves Williams in quite the dilemma. Kvyat is still in with a slight chance, it's thought Wehrlein has more or less been dropped by Mercedes with little to no corporate incentive/benefit to sign him for any team and PDR still has a small chance as well and fits with the 'over 25' Martini sponsorship requirement but it's thought this is now an outside chance.

Indeed. Having let Massa go, they're now left with a choice of drivers, all of whom appear to be slower than Felipe. Oops.

What makes it so tricky is that they're saddled with pay-driver Stroll in the other car, who is neither quick nor reliable nor experienced nor old enough for their title sponsor. So they need to attract a lead driver who is all of these things to make up for it, without that much to offer in terms of cash or championship-winning chances.

[FaultyMario]

If it was my choice I'd go with Kubica and Kvyatt.

There's no point in taking Sirotkin or Wehrlein.

Kubica might not be the fastest now, but he could reach a better performance level than Stroll, and consistently stay within it. Also, the attention he brings should net Williams a grace period of at least the first 4 flyaway races.
Kvyatt I'd sign as reserve driver and send him to Super Formula or elsewhere where they have multiple races in a weekend. He needs to regain his raw pace. And I think we all agree it's mostly a psyche issue with him, the Torpedo has proven his fast but he totally lost his one lap pace and needs to work in his racecraft. His racepace stayed on, me thinks.

PdR is solid and experienced, but both Kubica and Kvyatt are experienced and have a higher performance ceiling.

[Tom Servo]

Massa's totally coming back and he's going to end up being like KISS with multiple farewell tours.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Kvyatt is the only driver experienced and cheap enough, yet with higher future potential than Massa.

I'm still a bit concerned with Kubica's physical limitations..., I just don't see him outperforming Massa. His very own admission that he's 90% as before the accident in an F-1 car is not easing any minds. Why hire a lead driver with 10% deficit to begin with? He wasn't 10% better than other F-1 drivers before! Not even Senna or Hamilton are 10% better than rest...

Massa is a safe bet, but if Williams wants a break thru performance, it's time to find somebody new.

[FaultyMario]

They could go for Pérez, if something funny happens in the next couple of weeks with @thevijay and his extradition trial.

[balki]

I was itching for F1 news, here's the best that could come up with, regarding Mercedes' power output:
"Auto Motor und Sport reports that GPS measurements made by a rival of the German marque's engine output at the end of 2017 showed 949hp...
Ferrari is next in the power rankings with 934hp, followed by 907 for Renault and Honda's 860hp"
Those numbers are closer than I expected

[Freude am Fahren]

Interesting, but it's impossible for the rival to know the mechanical grip, nor the amount of drag to a close enough degree for those number to be anything less than +/- like 5%. At least I would think so.

I imagine Modern F1 cars can't put down full power until the aero is causing massive drag. I suppose they could use their own figures, and maybe the error is smaller than I think.

Honda is actually higher than I would have thought, but that may be based on a figure when they opened up the taps. I bet that engine was running at 85-90% all year to try and get some kind of reliability.

[balki]

I think the teams have good enough telemetry, spying, setup knowledge and reverse engineering that those numbers are fairly accurate.
All i could think is that those figures came from late last season, at that point Honda's 860 seems feasible, combined with the reliability measures that you mentioned. I think they were quoted at less than 700hp in race trim last season

[FaultyMario]

It has become much clearer what Alonso's focus has been for his twilight years in F1. He wants to build a brand for himself in the US. And it was thought that with Honda it would have been mutually beneficial, but because it was slower to come to fruition than he had planned for, he started to publicly disown them.

I don't fault him for that, an athlete's professional years are short already, but what I don't understand is how he got McLaren to agree to some of his lateral movements. I mean, the part about building a brand in one of the largest markets in the world is easy to understand. AFAIK Ferrari derive a lot more income from license sales than actual car or team stuff. Honda gave Alonso and McLaren a marketing partnership, but Renault? WTF

How is that going to work?

[Blerpa]

I dunno in there, but in Europe Renault is wildly bigger than Honda, especially Honda automotive.

[Freude am Fahren]

Actually, it may have worked to some degree.

Alonso had more support than anyone else in Texas this year, including (though maybe not, it was close) Hamilton.

America loves an underdog, I don't know if that is the same in Europe or elsewhere. Probably. But if Alonso and Honda came into Austin 3rd in points or something, I don't think he would have had as much support. Seriously.

[FaultyMario]

In the Americas Renault means economy not performance. And in the U.S. no french passenger cars have been sold in numbers higher than Subaru in the last 30 years.

[Freude am Fahren]

Honda also doesn't equal performance in the US anywhere outside of sportbikes (even that has fallen well behind the other brands) since the S2000 went away. I don't think the Type-R has done anything to change that either. It's people movers and generators.

[dodint]

Isn't that the point of Acura? Or are they 'luxury'?

Oh, wait, sorry. Acura is an American brand. #GT-Things

[balki]

What's the deal with F1's TV broadcast in the US for 2018?
Thought Fox had the rights, go to foxsports.com and they list ESPN and ESPN2 (with ABC airing only US+Mex)

2017 had Univision airing every race live and free, has that changed? (not a fan of ESPN)

[dodint]

No, ABC bought the rights and they own ESPN.

[The359]

Fox lost the rights to NBC about, what, 3 years ago? Then NBC has lost the rights and will be Disney/ABC/ESPN this year, with ESPN getting most of the races.

[balki]

I must have confused the former broadcasters for some reason.
Man, am I the complete opposite of hyped for ESPN covering anything automotive

[FaultyMario]

Univision still have the contract for the U.S. Spanish speaking market. At least that's what their webpage and wikipedia say.

[dodint]

I must have confused the former broadcasters for some reason.
Man, am I the complete opposite of hyped for ESPN covering anything automotive

I am excited for races to be prempted by NFL draft parties and up to date coverage of that time Lebron sneezed.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yup.

Luckily, I think ESPN 3 is pretty widely available if you have the cable station on your plan, unlike Fox's streaming platform.

NBC's streaming options were excellent, but I'm not sure how available it is. I've always had access (DirecTV, Comcast, Atlantic Broadband, and Dish). They only had the one Cable sports channel (plus CNBC which they used sometimes, they had access to USA and MSNBC too, but I don't think they used them for F1.), one network channel and online. ESPN has like 4 cable stations, plus ABC and streaming, so hopefully it won't be worse than NBC at least.

Fox was (and still is with sports car racing) the worst when it comes to coverage. NBC wasn't bad IMO. Let's hope ESPN can do better than both (doubt it).

[dodint]

Fox running UFC reruns over live sportscar racing was infuriating.

[FaultyMario]

Lance Stroll is now a number one driver. At Williams.

Sergey Sirotkin has been designated to the Williams seat over Robert Kubica.

[FaultyMario]

“We anticipate Robert will make a strong technical contribution to the team, using his wealth of experience in track testing, simulator work, and support to the race drivers and engineers at every race. He is a driver I have admired for many years and I am personally very happy to be working with him towards our 2018 championship.”

and


“Having driven both the FW36 and the FW40, I’m looking forward to seeing how the FW41 measures up on track and working with the team to ensure we can maximise the performance of the car. My ultimate goal remains to race again in Formula One and this is another important step in that direction. I cannot wait to get started.”

[Blerpa]

Sergey Sirotkin has been designated to the Williams seat over Robert Kubica.

Yup, good news.

[Blerpa]

F1 team car launch dates:

Mercedes 22/02/2018
Ferrari 22/02/2018
McLaren 23/02/2018
Toro Rosso 25/02/2018

Barcelona F1 pre-season testing 26/02/2018

[dodint]

Vasseur called off Honda deal an hour into Sauber tenure (https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/vasseur-made-honda-move-within-hour-of-starting-at-sauber-998451/)

Fred Vasseur's no-nonsense approach to being a motor racing team boss helped him carve out an ultra-successful career in the junior categories – and made him an obvious candidate when Sauber were after a new chief last year.

Yet there is no better proof for how intense, determined and focused he can be in his job than the speed with which he got on with plotting an all new direction for the Swiss team within minutes of getting his feet under the desk on his first day.

The boldest move of all – cancelling plans for Sauber to tie up with Honda – was top of his job list when he walked through the factory doors, and the wheels were set in motion within minutes of starting.

"I joined on July 17 at 9am, and the meeting was at 10am," he smiled, in an interview with Motorsport.com reflecting on his return to the front line in F1.

*whistles*

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/956214915311783938/BaIsuduk?format=jpg&name=600x314

These 70s helmet designs from @seanbulldesign are properly amazing 👌 Which is your favourite? #F1 (https://wtf1.com/post/if-the-2017-f1-grid-was-racing-in-the-1970s-their-helmets-might-have-looked-something-like-this)

[Blerpa]

F1 team car launch dates:

Williams 15/02/2018

Renault 20/02/2018
Sauber 20/02/2018

Mercedes 22/02/2018
Ferrari 22/02/2018

McLaren 23/02/2018

Toro Rosso 25/02/2018

Barcelona F1 pre-season testing 26/02/2018

[MR2 Fan]

No more Grid Girls for the F1 2018 season...F1 has officially jumped the shark

[Blerpa]

No more Grid Girls for the F1 2018 season...F1 has officially jumped the shark

Actually that's good news. Enough with the arcaic misoginist setup, it's squallid and belongs to the past.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, I'm sure the models HATED that job :rolleyes:

[Tom Servo]

I doubt they made much money or got much out of it either.

Honestly, the most shocking thing about this is that FOM were able to make a change that quickly.

[MR2 Fan]

Sorry, I don't think a lot of beautiful women holding signs is some massive misogynist problem. If that's the case, let hot men do it too...Equality.

But Formula 1 has always been about glamour and beauty along with the other stuff, so this change seems like a knee-jerk overreaction to things.

[Tom Servo]

There are a lot of people who disagree with you and who feel very strongly about it. I'm not necessarily one of those people, but I also don't really feel like I'll be missing all that much if there aren't a bunch of grid girls out there. I don't feel like they add much and it'll be no big loss to not have them. Bike racing is going through a similar thing right now.

[dodint]

I don't care strongly either way, it's just amusing that a great many women lost a gig in the name of feminism. A position that implies they were not capable of deciding on their own what they wanted to do with themselves to earn a living, or socially, or for leisure.

[Freude am Fahren]

^bingo^

[FaultyMario]

Sorry, I don't think a lot of beautiful women holding signs is some massive misogynist problem. If that's the case, let hot men do it too...Equality.

But Formula 1 has always been about glamour and beauty along with the other stuff, so this change seems like a knee-jerk overreaction to things.

2849

It's already been done.

And it's a testament to how silly having grid girls is.

[FaultyMario]

From a logistics standpoint I think that there are too many people on the grid who only get in the way of team personnel.

When I am Lord Emperor of the Universe, the beautiful people for hire at GP venues bring drinks to the fans as they mingle with the drivers in the meet-n-greet area.

[dodint]

I don't care strongly either way, it's just amusing that a great many women lost a gig in the name of feminism. A position that implies they were not capable of deciding on their own what they wanted to do with themselves to earn a living, or socially, or for leisure.

Oh, hey: https://twitter.com/rebeccageldard/status/958718387361861633

[Crazed_Insanity]

I'm not a smoker nor am I a womanizer, but perhaps I'm the minority who actually misses seeing tobacco sponsorship on cars and hot grid girls... too sentimental I suppose..., but it's probably for the best.

[FaultyMario]

Liberty has agreed with broadcasters to move the start times of all races and some sessions during the European rounds and the Brazilian GP to one hour later.
Also, all races will now start 10 minutes past the hour.



Venue Date Local UTC

Australian Grand Prix 25/03/2018 16:10 06:10
Bahrain Grand Prix 08/04/2018 18:10 16:10
Chinese Grand Prix 15/04/2018 14:10 07:10
Azerbaijan Grand Prix 29/04/2018 16:10 13:10
Spanish Grand Prix 13/05/2018 15:10 14:10
Monaco Grand Prix 27/05/2018 15:10 14:10
Canadian Grand Prix 10/06/2018 14:10 19:10
French Grand Prix 24/06/2018 16:10 15:10
Austrian Grand Prix 01/07/2018 15:10 14:10
British Grand Prix 08/07/2018 14:10 14:10
German Grand Prix 22/07/2018 15:10 14:10
Hungarian Grand Prix 29/07/2018 15:10 14:10
Belgian Grand Prix 26/08/2018 15:10 14:10
Italian Grand Prix 02/09/2018 15:10 14:10
Singapore Grand Prix 16/09/2018 20:10 13:10
Russian Grand Prix 30/09/2018 14:10 12:10
Japanese Grand Prix 07/10/2018 14:10 06:10
U.S. Grand Prix 21/10/2018 13:10 19:10
Mexican Grand Prix 28/10/2018 13:10 19:10
Brazilian Grand Prix 11/11/2018 15:10 17:10
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 25/11/2018 17:10 13:10

[MR2 Fan]

I'm not a smoker nor am I a womanizer, but perhaps I'm the minority who actually misses seeing tobacco sponsorship on cars and hot grid girls... too sentimental I suppose..., but it's probably for the best.

I can understand the tobacco advertising ban, but banning women who just wear nice clothes and stand with a sign isn't something I consider to be extreme. It's not like they were in bikinis or forced to do any other work and not being paid

[Reynard]

I'm shocked that I actually agree with Angelo on something. ;) Anyway my four cents...

First, while I have no factual knowledge of this, I've always assumed that "grid girls" were spawned from "trophy girls". You know the young woman that you "won" to go along with your trophy. Hooray for women as property... even if just metaphorically.

Second, just like walking up or down a moving escalator, if you're going to a race to see the grid girls, you're doing it wrong! They're not an attraction but rather a distraction.

Third, other then in Japan, a model is not going to make a living just being a grid girl. It's just one of many gigs contracted by their agency. It's not whether or not they liked the job, I'd assume most women that go into modeling like the attention. No it's the ongoing use of them as sex objects and the perception that gives to all hetero males out there with low intelligence and will power who then go on to... well you get the idea.

Fourth, call me weird but I much prefer my titalation in the comfort of my own home... where there can always be a satisfying conclusion for it. :D

[Tom Servo]

If we're going on the "hahah feminists just ruined their own jobs", how much work is that? Maybe a maximum of 3 days a year for the country you're in? I'm not sure if they do stuff on the practice and qualifying days, but I'll assume that maybe they do.

It clearly doesn't pay enough money to bring in any models we'd actually recognize. I tried to find out what the pay is but couldn't find anything. The few testimonials I could find all mentioned that it was in addition to their day jobs, so it's not enough to earn a decent living. Do we know any professional models that got their start being grid girls? If so, at least we'd have a career-advancement angle. In the meantime, I think there's something to be said that by framing it as though men are the drivers and the mechanics and the women are eye candy that it may discourage any women who actually are interested in racing at a young age from pursuing that career.

But let's not go with the "banning" language. FOM decided against having grid girls at their events. There's nothing preventing these women from working a myriad of other racing events, or autoshows, or frankly just about any major convention that still hire them. One series decided that they thought it financially or otherwise benefitted them to make this call. Otherwise, the "banning" idea sounds just as stupid as the confederate flag people.

[CudaMan]

One of the grid girls who spoke about the issue today mentioned how it took a long time to "get to the top" so to speak, to be able to be a grid girl on the F1 calendar. It was a feather in her modeling career cap. She wasn't happy about not having the choice anymore to do work she enjoys.

It almost seems to me that this move comes at a wrong time somehow. We live in a time now where the majority of young girls being raised are taught (I sure hope) that they can be whatever they want and do whatever they want with hard work and determination and all that good stuff - and there's proof of that in the F1 paddock and other high profile racing series (and I'm not talking about grid girls). I've seen countless times women who perform these driving/engineering/crew jobs are treated with the respect they deserve for doing it well. Young girls growing up now can see women in all kinds of roles within motorsport. They have these role models to choose from.

It's like F1 is trying to solve some kind of sexism problem from a while back, but back then is when it was needed more - when it was more common for women to be viewed simply as sex objects and not able to do "men's jobs."

Taking grid girls away from F1 (and let's be honest, in F1 they're often dressed in a classy way) just makes racing more of a sausage fest. :lol:

[IMOA]

On the one hand I wonder if the fact that there are so few women in motorsport and almost none at the top level is due to the fact that its drilled into everyone that a woman’s place in motorsport is looking pretty and on the other hand I think, well, this.


I don't care strongly either way, it's just amusing that a great many women lost a gig in the name of feminism. A position that implies they were not capable of deciding on their own what they wanted to do with themselves to earn a living, or socially, or for leisure.

If I’m ever torn I’ll tend to come down on the side of no rules over more rules so I’d go with they shouldn’t ban them but I’d be supportive of any team who chose to put in some equality and used both sexes (I’d prefer that over not having any because, well, jobs are good)

[Crazed_Insanity]

Are pit babes banned too?

To get around to it, can grid girls just call themselves pit babes? Just hang around the pitstop area... you don't even need to hold up a sign! Makes the job easier! ;)

Of course, to make it equal opportunity, we need Pit Hunks too!

Last thing we need would be Grid Bots holding up the sign... replacing humans!

[Kchrpm]

Young girls growing up now can see women in all kinds of roles within motorsport. They have these role models to choose from.

The problem is that, for the most part, you don't. Sure, there are women doing the behind-the-scenes jobs and a few big name drivers in sports car racing now, but if you're watching F1 on TV or at the track, you're going to see women acting as eye candy and almost nothing else.

It's not good for the women who are actually being hired as models, but 1) they can be hired by any of the other companies at the event to be anywhere other than the grid; hell, as a fan, you get a better exposure to normal promotional models than grid girls, and 2) there are (hopefully) far more women watching on TV or in the stands than standing on the grid.

There will still be promotional models at the track at every race, just not on the grid and as heavily promoted to the international audience. Young women watching who have an interest in motorsports won't get the idea that their best shot at getting involved is to be a model that stands there and isn't actually involved.

They're not even the first industry to do this, video game conventions have cracked down on promotional models that are just there for eye candy and now they present them as people who are extremely knowledgeable about the product and/or created their own cosplay costumes.

[Reynard]

It almost seems to me that this move comes at a wrong time somehow. We live in a time now where the majority of young girls being raised are taught (I sure hope) that they can be whatever they want and do whatever they want with hard work and determination and all that good stuff - and there's proof of that in the F1 paddock and other high profile racing series (and I'm not talking about grid girls). I've seen countless times women who perform these driving/engineering/crew jobs are treated with the respect they deserve for doing it well. Young girls growing up now can see women in all kinds of roles within motorsport. They have these role models to choose from.

I'm glad you mention this but it's also why I think it is very much the right time because there are more women involved with the actual race teams that aren't just holding umbrellas. There are countless venues that young girls can witness and aspire to be model that stands about with a forced smile (not easy by the way, I can hold one for maybe 10 seconds), why does motorsport still need to be one? It's true that the grid girls in F1 are attired far less revealing then in most other motorsports but then if it's truly the pinnacle, shouldn't they be the ones setting the example for all to hopefully follow in due time? Would a F1 grid girl holding a sign in front of a KFC suddenly make crappy fast food glamorous? Don't kid yourself in thinking that their entire purpose is anything more then to be pleasurable for men to ogle.

I've had 3 past girlfriends who actually would go to the races with me. All of them enjoyed it, more then they anticpated actually (especially if it was a motorcycle race). All the colors, sounds and daring do was enough to keep them engaged for the most part. However, all of them also came away with the impression that a womans role at the race track (aside from spectating) was nothing more then eye candy. That left them all suitably unimpressed.

Of course I would tell them that some of the walls & prejudice were coming down, albeit slowly & revel in my admiration of Lyn St.James, Michele Mouton etc. but... and this is why I call them a distraction and not an attraction. Most people never notice the partridge in the brush with all the peacocks strutting about.

[dodint]

I can't believe so many of you know so many weak women that something as benign as a model at a sporting event would forever alter their own ambition. It's sad if true and opportunistic if you're embellishing.

My wife watches F1 and knows she can't race in F1 because she's a Physical Therapy Aide. :lol:

She also watches sports car racing with no desire to turn a wheel in anger. Sometimes entertainment is just a spectacle.

Fucking White Knight's. Don't dislocate anything patting yourselves on the back.

[Kchrpm]

I can't believe so many of you know so many weak women that something as benign as a model at a sporting event would forever alter their own ambition.

They're called children. They're impressionable. If they see someone that looks like them doing something or being treated a certain way, they often think that's the way things are, and may not bother to even ask anyone to confirm.

As for the White Knight suggestion, go fuck yourself.

[dodint]

Reynard dates children?

Have a seat right over there...

[CudaMan]

In F1 right now there are women shown on TV in all kinds of roles. Some more than others, yes, and sometimes that's by choice of the women not wanting to be in front of the camera. In F1 a woman can be:

- A team (https://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/2304/d4375cfe6fab477889ca63cc8ddc1f86.jpg) principal (https://www.thisisf1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Monisha-Kaltenborn-2017-Sauber-F1-Team.jpg)
- A test driver (https://media.zigcdn.com/media/content/2015/Nov/susie-wolff-williams-martini-retirement-m1_720x540.jpg)
- A strategy engineer (http://ksassets.timeincuk.net/wp/uploads/sites/46/2017/07/B-Collins.jpg)
- A reporter or broadcaster (http://tvnewsroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Sky-Sports-F1-Promo-2012-The-Heart-of-Formula-1-02-28-10-25-24.jpg)
- Head of trackside electronics (http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7Jdddx-gYh8/UXUc_M4BJlI/AAAAAAAAaHQ/UG2WX8df3-Y/s0/Gill_Jones_podium_champagne_vettel_2_bah13.jpg)
- A model on the grid. Oh, wait. Men in power have decided that women shouldn't do that anymore.

I've personally worked with women in motorsport in various roles and they were each awesome at what they did and were respected for it in all the interactions I saw.

It's not logical that seeing a woman doing one thing on TV means there is no freedom to explore other opportunities in that field or to even try.

[dodint]

Discussing this in chat with Keith, this is pretty much my bottom line:


You boys are arguing that the only roles for women at the track are roles that you've defined for them. It's legitimately sad. I posted the response from an actual grid girl who was upset by it and it was completely ignored.

I don't really have anything else to say. I support FOM in that they're a private entity making a private policy. My complaint is the people preening as if this is some kind of win for feminism and I'm not likely to change their minds.

Perhaps people that watch F1 and only see the grid girls are they themselves the problem. When I think of women in F1 I think of Claire Williams.

[Reynard]

White Knight... yeah, that's rich. No hero here, just guided by my personal conscience/morality as ever. Being raised by a single mom probably has a lot to do with it but take it as you will. None of my exes had any ambition to be part of motorsports. It was just simple observation of how a entity (motorsports) employs it's female workers. They enjoyed being there but weren't happy that there were no women to be able to root for along with the men and hey I don't think that wanting to not be seen as only a sex object is weak but ok.

[Kchrpm]

I don't think it's a win for feminism. I think it's a reasonable decision given the factors.

I'm not saying that there aren't exceptional women working in motorsports or even F1 specifically, just that this may help increase those numbers in the future.

To be clear: if they *didn't* do this, I wouldn't feel like they HAD to, either. I think the idea that this is a decision with no merit just to appease SJWs and White Knights is unfair.

[dodint]

If you see a beautiful woman and equate her as nothing more than a sex object the problem is you, not the woman. You're supporting them losing their job/hobby because you can't act mature around them. That's horrible.

[dodint]

Since the opinions of those that lost their jobs were ignored once, I'll make it more accessible:


Part-time 'grid girl' Charlotte Gash had told BBC Radio 5 live that she was "disgusted" with F1's decision.

"It's upsetting that it has given in to the minority to be politically correct," she said.

"I'm one of the lucky ones that I don't rely on this as a main source of income, but there are girls out there who do.

"I know the grid girls are there to look pretty when they're out on the grid but my role was interacting with the crowd and we were there as an advertisement for the sponsors. We love doing it, we don't want it taken away from us."

Former grid girl Caroline Hall said she was saddened by F1's "extreme measures".

"I think they could have looked at ways of bringing the role more into line with modern times instead of scrapping it entirely," she told BBC Radio 5 live. "They could have looked at making it more equal between the sexes in the role."



The fact that her name is Gash is an unfortunate coincidence.

[Reynard]

It's not logical that seeing a woman doing one thing on TV means there is no freedom to explore other opportunities in that field or to even try.

You're 100% correct! Unfortunately we live in a world where logic is usually kicked to the curb.

[Kchrpm]

I agree that finding a way to bring the role into more modern times would have been a better solution, and think it would be great for everyone if it was clearer if they were doing more than just what is represented in the international feed (standing in pit lane, cordoned off from fans, and smiling). As I said, I think this is entirely an issue of how it appears to the first-time/casual fan. The comments from longtime fans and drivers saying that the tittilation is important to them (my friend was angry because the podium celebration would no longer be worth watching) are not helpful but don't sway me either way.

[dodint]

The podium celebrations haven't been worth watching since they started doing those terrible interviews. Usain Bolt? GTFO.

[Tom Servo]

It strikes me that almost nobody in here has championed this as a "big win for feminism", just that you started out by saying "haha, feminism removed some women's jobs." We don't know what prompted this. We do know the FIA are trying to encourage more women to get into racing, maybe they felt like that wasn't in line with that effort. Maybe they've decided that they want more female fans, and focus groups showed that having grid girls was an impediment to that. Maybe everyone running the company are a bunch of raging feminists and your personal boogeyman is the actual truth. We won't ever know, because I doubt that they're going to elaborate more on their decision publicly than they already have.

[Kchrpm]

Yeah, I don't think it's a big win for feminism because, as others have said, especially the models, it's removing jobs from women who choose to do them, and genuinely enjoy them, without in any way really offering new jobs for those people (though my guess is the fan sections will have more promotional models each weekend). The usual solution is to transition the role to something where they're in a business casual outfit and providing information and a sales pitch to fans, but Formula 1's grid girls are not representing a sponsor or product that they can talk up, they're just their for the series/country. I don't know what the equivalent would be given that situation, perhaps just roaming the cold grid/pits providing general schedule/track/series information?

Edit: I want to edit to clarify that I understand that you're not saying it's a big win for feminism, either, but the easiest way I know how to say that is to just write this edit :)

[dodint]

I'm moving away from this discussion. I tend to get overly flippant when arguing stuff for fun and I apologize if I alienated anyone. No harm intended, I'd rather just withdraw at this point that spend any more time on it.

[FaultyMario]

From someone in the business, McLaren Technology Group's Communications Director.


Opportunities galore for F1 to create positive legacies in every race market by being inventive in replacing grid girls. Give national charities a chance in the sun, give super fans a moment they’ll never forget, give kids having a tough time an uplifting experience.
Just a few ideas but there’ll be many more. What happens next is the other half of this story and that’s the conversation we need to move on to.

[Alan P]

The teams could easily employ someone to stand at the front of the driver's car rather than letting the circuits decide.

[Kchrpm]

The replacement has been announced: local kids in youth racing programs.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/2/formula-1-and-fia-in-new-grid-kids-partnership.html


The joint initiative will involve the local Grand Prix promoter working alongside ASNs – the FIA-recognised national sporting authorities – who will provide a unique opportunity to youngsters and their families to be part of one of the most exclusive and exciting moments of the whole race weekend.

The youngsters will be chosen by their motorsport clubs on merit, or by lottery, and will already be competing in karting or junior formulae. The lucky few will then be able to accompany and stand alongside the 20 best drivers in the world on the grid as they prepare for the race.

Sean Bratches, F1 Managing Director of Commercial Operations said: “This will be an extraordinary moment for these youngsters: imagine, standing beside their heroes, watch as they prepare to race, the elite of the elite in motorsport, to be there, alongside them in those precious few minutes just before the start. What an unforgettable experience, for them, and their families. An inspiration to keep driving, training and learning so that they can dream of one day being there themselves. What better way to inspire the next generation of Formula 1 heroes.”

[MR2 Fan]

See, if they had announced that way in the beginning, the perception wouldn't be as bad IMO.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yep. Never ban anything outright without some sort of substitute. I think the act of banning anything probably don't go well with most people... even if the intention is good. Letting aspiring kids to the grid area is certainly a great idea! Good thing somebody thought of it.

[Kchrpm]

See, if they had announced that way in the beginning, the perception wouldn't be as bad IMO.

Agreed. I don't know if that's some tenant of modern/international/whatever PR, to put out bad news first as a separate release, then the good news after the initial reaction to the bad news is over. I'm not sure it has the intended effect.

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DU9ENigX0AAtDJg.jpg

I hear there's been a change of heart over banning the grid girls. Here are the Australian GP girls training in Melbourne earlier today. @f1bastard (https://twitter.com/f1bastard/status/959060284592836610)

[Kchrpm]

I like Bernie's new style.

[FaultyMario]

ESPN will provide Sky's coverage instead of their own. Sky's team will also provide exclusive content for ESPN/ABC's platforms.

It was ESPN who asked for the 10 minute delay of the start time.

They have been so accommodating because Liberty brought over a bunch of ex-ESPN staff.

[FaultyMario]

It looks like the people at Haas are fans of Showtime's Dexter... surprise car launch! (https://twitter.com/HaasF1Team/status/963790294222344192)

[Alan P]

ESPN will provide Sky's coverage instead of their own. Sky's team will also provide exclusive content for ESPN/ABC's platforms.

It was ESPN who asked for the 10 minute delay of the start time.

They have been so accommodating because Liberty brought over a bunch of ex-ESPN staff.

For channels and stations that don't have extensive build up shows it makes sense because they can start the show on the hour and then within ten minutes the race starts.

[Reynard]

and that's just the way I'd like it to be honestly. Pre-race shows do nothing for me but I fear for the fans that record the races as I do. I have no problem setting the dvr to record 2 or 3 hours over scheduled end time (and do often for live events) but the thought of ESPN pulling a last minute channel swap because of another 'game' running long etc. is my worry. But then I don't really know what to expect as the only thing I've watched on ESPN in the last 5 years is the DRL. Yes I like drone racing. :o

Regarding the new Haas, very clever of them to use the black backdrop and low lights to hide the halo & sail. A comment I'm stealing from another site summed it up perfectly in my mind by using a Seinfeld quote... from Morty Seinfeld, "Dim lighting and cheap fabric that's how you move merchandise." :D

[Freude am Fahren]

I loved the grid walks with Buxton, but always skipped everything else, unless there was some drama going on with one of the cars or something.

But I was always annoyed when as soon as the program started the lights were going out. Not enough time to explain if there were penalties or mechanical issues overnight. 10 minutes is good.

It also basically confirms ESPN won'e be doing any pre-race other than that (at least for most races).

[dodint]

I came across a somewhat conspiratorial observation today. In 2011, McLaren started making road cars. That year they won six F1 races, then seven F1 races the following year. Since then they have only 2 podium finishes, both in the same race in 2014.

Strange coincidence

[FaultyMario]

Coincidence? I think that explains some of the power struggles between Ron and the other board members that went on until late '16 when that marketing guy took his place as CEO.

[dodint]

I was leaning more towards F1 throwing some advantage McLaren's way so they could point to on track success while marketing the road going MP4-12C to a bunch of rick folk.

[FaultyMario]

Be advised, it's from reddit.


2012 GP, not the inaugural race. Also the situation was a bit more complicated. The stakes were high. On a number of levels. Mclaren's strategic partnerships- trade, ownership and sponsorship (Vodafone)- were finely balanced on its decision to race in Bahrain. F1's reputation hanged in the balance. Jean Todt's and Ecclestone's position of power going forward was centered on the race going ahead; they'd nailed their colours to the mast having accepted Bahraini influence and money, respectively, in their respective organisations. Were the race to have been cancelled, following its cancellation the year before, it would've been banned from the calendar for a set number of years per FIA rules. Dennis reportedly sought not only for the racing team to miss the race but to push for its cancellation. He was in effect calling a no confidence in Mclaren's ongoing relationship with Bahrain; he was angling to sever the Bahraini's influence and, ultimately, ownership of the organisation.

The vote was important, then; it was not a vain quibble. A decision by Mclaren not to race presented potential for other teams to decide in turn not to race; and would have publicly called into question the FIA and FOM decision to race, regardless. There being a very real possibility of such a scenario- where the race would most certainly have been cancelled- would have been a pr disaster for the ruling Bahraini regime; it used F1 to present the kingdom as a place of business and not as the place of brutal repression, civil unrest and human rights abuses that it was/is.

So over at Mclaren in the immediate weeks prior to the scheduled race (about two and a half), a board meeting comprised of the shareholders- Dennis, Ojjeh and Mumtalakat (the investment arm of the kingdom, run by members of the royal family)- was held. Throughout their time at Mclaren, Ojjeh worked to an agreement that he'd vote in lockstep with Dennis; Dennis in effect making the major decisions and determining the company's projectory. It stemmed from since the Mercedes' part ownership of the company; it was to preserve their will over the company. Dennis and Ojjeh would occasionally alternate chairing the meeting; the former normally holding the position. This time Dennis was away on business, Ojjeh represented both men and instead of carrying Dennis' vote forward, he vetoed him.

This was unprecedented; the pact had never been broken before. Voting to overrule Dennis sidelined him and stepped away from Dennis' way of running the organisation. It set about his downfall (given that Dennis' decision conflicted with the majority shareholders, the Bahraini investment company run by the royal family...); it effectively nullified him lest he either audaciously enact a hostile takeover of the companies, buy back in to a majority shareholding or brush Ojjeh aside- all of which he was unable to do. A lot of company policy and direction went against Dennis' philosophy thereafter. This explains Dennis' sudden sacking of Whitmarsh- an Ojjeh ally- during Ojjeh's lung transplant; his attempt at buying out Ojjeh whilst the latter was in ill health; and his in turn being forced out by the Bahrainis and Ojjeh, lest he buy them out within a set time frame.

If you've watched Amazon's Grand Prix Driver, it's evident the company is no longer run in The Ron Way.

[dodint]

The Amazon series is what started the discussion that prompted the observation I brought here, heh.

[Alan P]

Be advised, it's from reddit.



If you've watched Amazon's Grand Prix Driver, it's evident the company is no longer run in The Ron Way.

Then there was the time when Ron tried to oust Ojjeh from the board while he was laid up in hospital after a double lung transplant for a pre-existing condition. And then the rumour is that Ojjeh slept with Ron's wife at some point after Bahrain. Ojjeh's 'man' Whitmarsh was then ousted by Ron which pissed off Ojjeh even more.

[FaultyMario]

The version I've read is that ojjeh's wife is really close to Linda Dennis and Mansour has really conservative family views, so they sided with the ex instead of him.

It was basically broken friends going hard at each other.

[Rare White Ape]

Are you guys trying to say that a Formula 1 business man was ousted by political and personal beefs?

Say it ain't so!

[Freude am Fahren]

Meh, McLaren's road cars kick ass. I'm not that mad.


But it'd be nice if they could do both.

[Blerpa]

I've yet to see the series, but I will always side by Ron. Fuck the Bahrainians, every year now I've this cringe feeling of an impending doom on the team and the company.

[FaultyMario]

cringe feeling

Don't watch it then.

:assclown:

[Alan P]

I've yet to see the series, but I will always side by Ron. Fuck the Bahrainians, every year now I've this cringe feeling of an impending doom on the team and the company.

I've heard/read that Ojjeh and the Bahraini's actually put in substantial capital into the team over the past three years when results reduced the income from FOM and the FIA. No title sponsor again this year though apparently and as FOM 'success' money is paid out a year behind it's only really been this year and last that income has been down. Next year is going to be difficult again as even if they do well this year, it's last years money they'll be getting from FOM. Even with their Historic payment it's going to bite them hard for another 12-18 months. Hopefully they can get some success this year and get a few more sponsors.

[FaultyMario]

The title sponsor is apparently going to be Dell.

[Freude am Fahren]

https://boygeniusreport.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/dell-dude-1.jpg?quality=98&strip=all

[FaultyMario]

RB14 on track at Silverstone, today. (http://soymotor.com/sites/default/files/usuarios/redaccion/portal/avazquez/rb14-silverstone-soymotor_0.jpg)

Intricate! (https://static.motor.es/fotos-noticias/2018/02/min652x435/analisis-tecnico-red-bull-rb14-f1-2018-201843857_7.jpg) and ugly! (https://static.motor.es/fotos-noticias/2018/02/min652x435/analisis-tecnico-red-bull-rb14-f1-2018-201843857_3.jpg)

That gurney flap on the front wing takes the inception to the Xzibit.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Nose looks kinda dumb and halo seems out of place. Otherwise, I like it. Hope they can finally challenge MB this year...

[DelSolMan]

I'm really digging the matte look

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, they've done the camo/matte look before in winter testing, I suspect we'll get a more traditional livery in Melbourne. (though maybe still matte, like last year)

I really like this one though.

Remember when McLaren used to tease every winter with Papaya test cars, then show up in black and silver? Now they're orange and slow :(

[FaultyMario]

A red team that is ditching (been ditched by?) a spanish bank will return to cigarette-brand orange-ish.

Stupid coincidence: The 2018 Red Bull that Max Verstappen is going to be driving reminds me a lot of 1997's Tyrrell 025 which was driven by his dad.

http://cdn-3.motorsport.com/static/img/mgl/12200000/12270000/12278000/12278000/12278063/s8/f1-argentinian-gp-1997-jos-verstappen-tyrrell-025-ford.jpg
http://i.pinimg.com/originals/55/f4/b5/55f4b5213038191bb01ba1c3c8d77128.jpg

[FaultyMario]

Sauber Alfa Romeo C37

http://cdn-2.motorsport.com/images/mgl/2yZJMlgY/s8/f1-sauber-c37-launch-2018-sauber-c37.jpg



* * * * * * * * * *


Renault RS18

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/DWfLoPyX0AAq_8q.jpg:large

[Crazed_Insanity]

Sauber has the best nose job!

[FaultyMario]

I hate that Castrol's people pushed for that white fill box around their logo, if a box was so necessary they should have accepted a "transparent" one. Estrella Galicia forewent their colors and it blends in much better (http://www.racefans.net/2018/02/20/renaults-new-f1-car-2018-revealed/motor-racing-formula-one-launch-renault-sport-formula-one-team-r-s-18-launch-london-england-10/), IMO.

[Rare White Ape]

Castrol has done it in the past.

http://oumma-city.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2011-audi-r18-11-winner-by-dany-art.jpg

I’m sure that the subject hasn’t escaped the minds of the graphic designers and the accountants, so Castrol would be paying a bit extra to stand out more.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, based on the low res pic above, there's no way I can make out that it's an castrol logo if they only use the black and white design. Likewise on a speeding car on camera, one probably couldn't tell all those logos apart...

So it's probably worth the extra money they paid to make it stand out.

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DWbDFv9UMAAFv3u.jpg

#F1: Ricciardo gives RB14 first track outing at Silverstone http://www.racer.com/f1/item/147515-ricciardo-gives-rb14-first-track-outing-at-silverstone … My suggestion for immediate implementation with the halo: handlebar streamers. @marshallpruett (https://twitter.com/marshallpruett/status/965673840746545152)

[Rare White Ape]

Yeah, based on the low res pic above, there's no way I can make out that it's an castrol logo if they only use the black and white design. Likewise on a speeding car on camera, one probably couldn't tell all those logos apart...

So it's probably worth the extra money they paid to make it stand out.

In defense of the point that my Mexican colleague is making, the logo on the Renault is white on black, while the logo on the Audi is dark grey on silver. The white stands out enough to be noticeable.

[FaultyMario]

Clarifying, I'm not against the castrol logo being colored, it's the white box behind the logo that i find unnecessary.

[Freude am Fahren]

Probably wouldn't work. Red and green don't stand out well against black.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Anyway, I'm sure Renault can find a way to make a colorless Castrol logo work on their car..., but I suspect Castrol is probably one of their major sponsors... since there's no real estate big enough for a much bigger logo, the compromise ended up being a color logo printed at 2 places?

IMHO, having the same logo appearing twice both facing the same direction is more stupid than what Mario's complaining about... :p

[FaultyMario]

I'm willing to bet the advertising surface is diagrammed and prorated even before the car is sketched.

BP is effectively paying for two slots bc they think it suits their marketing goals better.

[FaultyMario]

STR was caught being tested in the wet at Misano in the hands of that lanky kiwi. picture was snapped and published to twitter. STR then released an official photo.

They're both horrible pictures. But hey, it's February and there's a Honda engine moving a GP car!

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DWlGnpEX0AExGvM.jpg

a han empezado.... La fiesta de memes no parará @CoandaF1 (https://twitter.com/CoandaF1/status/966381266177331200)

[Crazed_Insanity]

Man, that's cold, though depicting a flame...

At least Honda is still committed and didn't just bail like last time.

[Freude am Fahren]

A wing on the Halo???

[Alan P]

A wing on the Halo???

Most teams will likely have something. They're allowed to add anything that's no bigger than 20mm of the Halo itself

[FaultyMario]

https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/1358867049.jpg

The color has been named "papaya spark".

I miss Ronspeak.

[FaultyMario]

I think the rb14 is going to run circles around it.

[The359]

That's even more blank than the last McLaren...

[Crazed_Insanity]

Dell is the title sponsor?

[Alan P]

Dell is the title sponsor?

No title sponsor was mentioned in the release. Dell is just a sponsor.

Those 'in the know' have said the McLaren, while looking plain, actually has many neat touches that are different to the last car and the other cars.

[XHawkeye]

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

[Blerpa]

Those 'in the know' have said the McLaren, while looking plain, actually has many neat touches that are different to the last car and the other cars.

And Ferrari has already copied the front nose side gills from McLaren.

[FaultyMario]

Goodie, the Ferraris and the Bulls do look planted in that video!

I fear for another terrible season from McLaren, as was their last year with Mercedes. Alonso's early crash was spun by them as a wheel nut failure and "no big deal". However Tech commentator, Craig Scarborough, wrote on twitter, in response to camera's lcd photograph of Alonso holding something after the crash, and he concluded that it was an axle stub, hence a failed axle. The implication was that it was not "no big deal".

[FaultyMario]

Also from that video, It looks and sounds like the Mercedes and Ferrari PUs are still the most driveable, with the Renault coming third, but also my impression, and the Honda having more peak power with much worse output management (relative to the Renault, of course!).

So I guess those kinks can be ironed out with clever software as the season progresses, and If Horner gets his way, about oil burning being more heavily scrutinized during qualifying, maybe we'll have more mixed grids which should give us more entertaining races when faster racers are outqualified.

[Blerpa]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/134563/renault-has-deadline-for-red-bull-honda-call

"Renault Formula 1 boss Cyril Abiteboul says he will give Red Bull a May deadline for a decision over its 2019 engine supply, respecting the FIA regulation on the subject.

Red Bull's current contract with Renault only covers the 2018 season, and the team is keeping a close watch on how Honda performs with sister F1 team Toro Rosso.

If Red Bull decides to switch to Honda, Renault will only have McLaren as a customer next season.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner confirmed in Barcelona that the team is keeping its options open.

"All things are open for 2019 onwards," he said. "We will play close attention to how things develop at Toro Rosso, but there are no preconceptions as we head into the season."

But Renault is not willing to wait for Red Bull to make its mind up, and wants the team to comply with Appendix 9 of the FIA's F1 Sporting Regulations.

That covers engine supply in some detail, including the obligation of manufacturers to supply a minimum number of teams if required, and details a May 15 deadline for the following season's engine supply deals to be confirmed.

Although that requirement is flexible - McLaren's switch to Renault and STR's move to Honda came much later last year - Renault sees it as a logical deadline for a Red Bull decision.

"We are not going to hang around forever," Abiteboul said. "I know what Christian is referring to when he says that he has options.

"He's absolutely right. Like him I read contracts, and I know the obligation we have towards the sport.

"There is one thing that is clear, and that is planning, and there will be a deadline for Red Bull Racing to define what they want for the future. It's available, it's in the sporting regulations.

"I believe that by the end of May there needs to be some clarity as to who is supplying which team - which supplier is supplying which customer team.

"As far as we are concerned, that will be the deadline."

Abiteboul confirmed Red Bull only had to commit to Renault by that date, not necessarily finalise details of a new contract.

"I guess that will be the baseline for any discussion," he added.

"Then there are still a number of specific services that they want to have - do they want to have their own petroleum company, do they want to have specific dyno test programme? And so on and so forth.

"The fact that we have that framework in the regs will not prevent any more bespoke services, or commercial discussion, between our two companies."

Asked about the financial impact on Renault of dropping back to a single customer for 2019, Abiteboul replied: "We have always said that being an engine supplier is a very bad business."

[FaultyMario]

If the Honda is a mediocre proposition, much like the Renault is, but if the Japanese sweeten it with a publicity contract and throw some freebies for STR, i don't see why RBR wouldn't latch onto it for two years.

[FaultyMario]

http://e00-marca.uecdn.es/assets/multimedia/imagenes/2018/02/27/15197434230986.jpg

An exhaust design problem cuts McLaren's Day 2 session short.

The team adduces a setup problem. What do you make of this, Blerpa?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Overcooked body panel?

[FaultyMario]

I think the bodywork was only smoked, what was cooked was the exhaust tubing. Still, Vandoorne only managed to drive for 37 laps when the average for all teams was 67.

[XHawkeye]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SdGtDPx8KQ

[Kchrpm]

Anyone planning on getting the monthly video subscription that F1 is going to offer this year? I rarely watch the full races, live or otherwise, but the choice of cameras and commercial free replays are enticing.

[FaultyMario]

I was going to say, the U.S. made it to F1TV Pro, live streaming of the world feed or any of the 20 onboard cameras.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I've cut my cable tv for years..., been relying on YouTube for race highlights...

For around $10/ mon, sounds enticing...

[dodint]

I'm going to do it once they get off of PC/mobile only and onto the PS4 or my FireStick. They said Amazon is on the way so I'll jump on at that point. So long as I can start the race when I wake up and not when its live I'm good.

Watching commercial free F1 in Afghanistan was one of the few pure joys I had there.

[Blerpa]

Today Vandoorne is doing most laps than anyone, without any problem.
The reality is... if the car will struggle during the season everyone will say "Oh, it was clear during the pre-season tests", if the car will do good everyone will forget about pre-season stuff.

[Blerpa]

At 13:41 this is the lap count list for the day:

Vandoorne 81
Hulkenberg 49
Bottas 60
Vettel 45
Ericsson 79
Gasly 49
Verstappen 20
Perez 14
Sirotkin 47
Magnussen 25

update at 16:08

Vandoorne 110
Hamilton 37
Vettel 80
Alonso 8
Magnussen 82
Sainz 20
Stroll 20
Perez 43
Gasly 85
Hulkenberg 49
Bottas 60
Leclerc 26
Verstappen 32
Ericsson 79
Sirotkin 47

[FaultyMario]

Taking tire compound into account and correcting times accordingly, STR are not off to a bad start.

Also, only the big 3 posted respectable times on the mediums, which is supposed to be the benchmark compound. They and Renault. Although the Renault engine has some issues with operating temperatures for their turbos and neither Renault nor Mac ran race simulations. If they can find solutions to that, and there's no reason why a factory team shouldn't, 4th place in the WCC is looking closer for them than for any other team.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Anyway, all I know is that Hamilton on medium compound posted faster time than all others with softer compounds.

Bracing for another boring season? Can only hope Bottas will up his game and steal another championship away from Hamilton?

[FaultyMario]

Anyway, all I know is that Hamilton on medium compound posted faster time than all others with softer compounds.

That's kind of a pointless comparison. If Hamilton had done so in a race simulation while everyone else did so only carrying marginal fuel and while much better conditions were present for everyone else except him, then you could conclude that Boringest.Season.Ever. is on the horizon but, no, track was very green, conditions were not representative and top three are sandbagging whilst everyone else is only figuring out their cars.

One other thing of note, the Red Bull gearbox does not rattle things to pieces when mated to the Honda ICE. In the Mclaren era many ERS components were lost in such match.

[Yobbo NZ]

Crossing my fingers that Honda want to pummel McLaren and Hartley can show how good he is.

[Reynard]

Anyone planning on getting the monthly video subscription that F1 is going to offer this year? I rarely watch the full races, live or otherwise, but the choice of cameras and commercial free replays are enticing.

I'm on the email list for it and I'll likely give it a whirl for a month at least (it's cheap enough) so I'll have something to allay my fears of how ESPN might hold up their end. Also because I want to see if it's as good as the MGP service. And they better have a good archive of the older races to watch on demand... as every time I tried to upload one of mine to the tube I'd get a suspended account for a month thanks to F1M. Needless to say I finally gave up trying.

[XHawkeye]

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

[Crazed_Insanity]

Crossing my fingers that Honda want to pummel McLaren and Hartley can show how good he is.

Alonso probably has such luck.

Developed the Ferrari and hand it to Vettel.

Developed the Honda engine and now hand it to RB.

But then again he's always been lucky with Renault... so hopefully his luck will finally change this season?

[FaultyMario]

http://e00-marca.uecdn.es/multimedia/graficos/motor/2018/equipos-neumaticos/desktop.jpg

[Alan P]

I just love that Toro Rosso did the most laps. With a Honda engine!

[DelSolMan]

I noticed that Ferrari has the quadrifoglio/4 leaf clover on their car as well as the Alfa/Sauber team. I always thought this was associated to Alfa. Maybe it has something to do with history and Enzo.

[The359]

Alfa is sponsoring the team, and they sponsored Ferrari last year as well.

[Freude am Fahren]

Interesting, I figured they'd get rid of it on the Fezza with Alfa coming in as a "manufacturer" with Sauber.

[dodint]

Seems that standing resart practice didn't go well today.

[FaultyMario]

Even Grosjean thinks the drop in tire performance after a red flag makes the whole thing a safety concern.

Here are the results from Testing Day 6

http://e00-marca.uecdn.es/assets/multimedia/imagenes/2018/03/07/15204467063773.jpg

[FaultyMario]

And speedtrap measurements:

http://e00-marca.uecdn.es/assets/multimedia/imagenes/2018/03/07/15204465529069.jpg

I confirm my suspicion that Renault is going to be fighting for 4th, maybe even 3rd place in the WCC.

[Yobbo NZ]

Hell, look how quick the Honda is compared to when it was in the McLaren!
And it's proving reliable at the moment too.
Makes you wonder what was going on at McLaren...

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXsVVHbV4AEcvvi.jpg

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXuisnYWsAAAarr.jpg

New McLaren sponsor? 😉 #F12018 #F1

[FaultyMario]

Vettel chops 9/10s off Ricciardo's time on Day 7.




Driver Team Test Day Tyre Lap Time
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Seven Hypersofts 1:17.182
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Six Hypersofts 1:18.047
Kevin Magnussen Haas Seven Supersofts 1:18.360
Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso Seven Hypersofts 1:18.363
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Six Ultrasofts 1.18.400
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Six Ultrasofts 1:18.560
Nico Hulkenberg Renault Seven Hypersofts 1:18.675
Carlos Sainz Renault Seven Hypersofts 1:18.725
Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Seven Hypersofts 1:18.855
Marcus Ericsson Sauber Seven Hypersofts 1:19.244
Robert Kubica Williams Seven Supersofts 1:19.629
Sergio Perez Force India Seven Hypersofts 1:19.634
Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso Six Hypersofts 1:19.823
Max Verstappen Red Bull Seven Softs 1:19.842
Fernando Alonso McLaren Six Hypersofts 1:19.856
Romain Grosjean Haas Six Softs 1:20.237
Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Six Softs 1:20.242
Lance Stroll Williams Seven Ultrasofts 1:20.262
Esteban Ocon Force India Six Softs 1:20.805
Charles Leclerc Sauber Six Supersofts 1:20.918
Sergey Sirotkin Williams Five Softs 1:21.588
Nikita Mazepin Force India One Mediums 1:25.628

Courtesy of Sky

[Crazed_Insanity]

Honda is still ahead of McLaren!

Alonso must be feeling sick...

[FaultyMario]

Team Number of laps
Mercedes 839
Ferrari 772
Renault 770
Sauber 711
Red Bull 691
Williams 687
Toro Rosso 666
Force India 548
Haas 513
McLaren 506

[Freude am Fahren]

So, what's up with the red flag restarts? They'll do a standing start instead of rolling? But people are complaining about the tires being cold and old? Can they not under the new rules change and/or heat the tires during the red flag?

[balki]

On top of Ferrari and Red Bull the following finished with faster lap times then Mercedes after eight days of testing:
McLaren, Renault, Haas and Toro Rosso

This is a whole new level of sandbagging (or the Mercedes just doesn't work well with the softer tires)

[FaultyMario]

Pos Car# Driver Team Set on Best Time Laps
1 7 Rai Ferrari Hypers 01:17.221 157
2 14 Alonso McLaren Hypers 01:17.784 93
3 55 Sainz Renault Hypers 01:18.092 45
4 3 Ric RedBull Softs 01:18.327 92
5 8 Gros Haas Ultras 01:18.412 181
6 77 Bottas Merc Mediums 01:18.825 104
7 28 Hartley T Rosso Hypers 01:18.949 156
8 31 Ocon FI Hypers 01:18.967 163
9 16 LeClerc Sauber Hypers 01:19.118 75
10 35 Sirot Will Softs 01:19.189 105
11 44 Ham Merc Supers 01:19.464 97
12 18 Stroll Will Softs 01:19.954 27


Does Hamilton's time mean Mercedes have 6 tenths on RB?

[FaultyMario]

Team Number of laps
Mercedes 1,040
Ferrari 929
Toro Rosso 822
Williams 819
Renault 815
Sauber 786
Red Bull 783
Force India 711
Haas 694
McLaren 619



Best Laps per compound
Hypersofts 01:17.2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Day Seven
Ultrasofts 01:18.1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Day Seven
Supersofts 01:18.3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Day Eight
Softs 01:19.2 Sergey Sirotkin Williams Day Eight
Mediums 01:18.9 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Day Eight


Technological tendencies include hot blowing of the underside of the rear wing to "seal" it (Renault) and having the engine breather (It's some lower volume of steam or hot gas) work with the rear aerodynamic elements (All Ferrari engine teams) AFAIU this technique takes over the function of the monkey seat, which has been banned for 2018, and in the case of Ferrari (who obviously have a more advanced model) they use the heat or the difference of pressure provoked by the hot gas to channel it to a part of the diffuser and make it keep its efficiency at lower speeds.

There's also floor advancements from McLaren and some rear suspension techniques, as most cars have longer wheelbases compared to 2017, that is particularly evident in the Sauber and in the rake the McLaren is sporting.

[XHawkeye]

Will Buxton (https://twitter.com/wbuxtonofficial/status/972442559355203584)
‏

Sure. But keep in mind this is only my opinion based on what I’ve seen trackside, times on the clock, speaking to the drivers and watching their body language. Lots will change before Oz. Even more before we return to Spain.

Mercedes: Fast and bulletproof. Costa told me she isn’t a diva this year but might be a princess. Lewis said he doesn’t know her well enough to say. Bolted on track, reliable and we’ve not even seen it on hypers yet. Could be brutally quick and hard to beat.

Red Bull: Probably the best launch car for them in at least the last three years. Looks amazing through fast change of direction and is really good on its nose. PU only potential hold back but that will affect most in quali. Racing from 2nd row it may have the legs to match Merc

Ferrari: Headline times are all well and good but neither Seb nor Kimi seemed overly effusive in their hope for the year. Longer wheelbase mixed with high take may cause aero headaches. Still question marks over race pace. Few think it on the same level as the Merc or Red Bull.

Renault: Looked really stable trackside and for the most part ran reliably throughout testing. Some big upgrades already in the mix (front wing trialled on final days). Big push from team this year. Have to make leaps forward in aero as PU still comparatively weak.

Haas: The surprise of testing. Rival drivers say it looks very, very good out on track and tyre corrected lap times put it less than half a second off the Ferrari mothership. If that plays out to be true, Haas could be in the hunt for P4 in championship and podiums.

Toro Rosso: Highest mileage in the disrupted first week. Just 4 PU used in testing and 3 of those in week 1. Honda is coming good as many predicted with STR a de facto factory team. Mix that to a James Key car, and they could be right in the mix at the top of the midfield fight.

Force India (or whatever they’re going to be called): Car looked solid on track but unimpressive. Drivers didn’t seem overjoyed either. It’s basically a 2017 upgrade with both drivers saying they hoped a proper new car is online for Australia. Pips McLaren on reliability alone.

McLaren: Wretched testing. Whether small issues creating big delays of big issues hidden as small you can’t get back lost time. And when car was running, pitstops a shambles. Headline quick laps on hypers fooling nobody. Boullier was short and clipped in interviews. He’s worried.

Williams: The car is reportedly an absolute dog to drive. It looks horrible on track, heavy, lazy and unresponsive. Can’t turn the tyres on. Drivers look brow beaten. It’s going to be a very hard season. Kubica, however, a breath of fresh air. Insight and experience could be key.

Sauber: New engine made Marcus very happy. Wider power band and more play on the throttle. Brand new aero and suspension concepts taking time to understand however. As such, important to stay on track and Leclerc too many offs. Potential is there but big work to understand car.

Anyway, that’s my take on it. Ultimately we won’t know for sure until we get to Australia and even then the frequency of upgrades means that the competitive order is likely to fluctuate from weekend to weekend. Overall I’m really excited about the season. You should be too.

[FaultyMario]

I agree 80% with above statements.

I have some deep seated faith on the Renault will be this season's 2012 Lotus, however I did not see it as planted on track as the top 3. But with the caliber of their drivers I'm sure they'll soon figure the car out. Which is a similar position to Sauber, lots of potential in the car but he difference is that there's not that much talent to tap onto it.

[FaultyMario]

http://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/top-1521209188.jpg

[MR2 Fan]

:lol:

[Freude am Fahren]

Not only is that fantastic enough, it's apparently a sponsorship for charity. :up: :up:


McLaren has announced a new partnership with Gandys, a British lifestyle brand founded by brothers Rob and Paul Forkan after their parents died in the December 2004 tsunami that struck southeast Asia.

Gandys’ success enabled the Forkan brothers to open a charitable foundation called Orphans For Orphans in Sri Lanka, where their parents were killed, and the company and its charity work has continued to grow since.

[...]

Gandys will also produce a special McLaren-inspired flip-flop, dubbed a “halo edition” by the team, with 100% of profits going to the Orphans For Orphans foundation.

Brilliant.

[Freude am Fahren]

ABC/ESPN has release the full schedule for broadcast this season (Note, ESPN3 is their online stream service).

Interesting points:

They've chosen to broadcast P3 instead of P2 like NBCSN and Speed/Fox. So no Friday broadcasts except USGP, Mexico, and Moncao (Thursday in this case).

Qualifying goes back and forth between ESPNEWS, and ESPN2. Make sure to check each weekend.

ESPN races: Monaco (gets ABC encore at 3:30 pm, which is interesting since ABC covers INDY 500, so we'll be showing it right after, meaning racing from noon till 6'ish. :up:), Britain
ABC races: Canada, USA, Mexico, Brazil

All others on ESPN2

US Qualifying IS NOT LIVE. TAPE DELAY ONLY! LISTED AS TBD! :rolleyes: Same goes for Brazil. Only sessions all year not listed as live, and no indication if it will be live on ESPN 3, but probably.

Full TV Schedule:

(subject to change)

Rolex Australian Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Thursday, March 22, 9:00 PM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, March 23, 1:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Friday, March 23, 10:00 PM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, March 24, 2:00 AM - ESPN2
Race - Sunday, March 25, 1:00 AM - ESPN2

Gulf Bahrain Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, April 6 7:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, April 6 11:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, April 7 8:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, April 7 11:00 AM - ESPN2
Race - Sunday, April 8 11:00 AM - ESPN2

Heineken Chinese Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Thursday, April 12 10:00 PM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, April 13 2:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Friday, April 13 11:00 PM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, April 14 2:00 AM - ESPN2
Race - Sunday, April 15 2:00 AM - ESPN2

Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, April 27 5:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, April 27 9:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, April 28 6:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, April 28 9:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Race - Sunday, April 29 8:00 AM - ESPN2

Spanish Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, May 11 5:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, May 11 9:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, May 12 6:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, May 12 9:00 AM - ESPN2
Race - Sunday, May 13 9:00 AM - ESPN2

Monaco Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Thursday, May 24 5:00 AM - ESPN2
Practice 2 - Thursday, May 24 9:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Practice 3 - Saturday, May 26 6:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, May 26 9:00 AM - ESPN2
Race - Sunday, May 27 9:00 AM - ESPN
Encore - Sunday, May 27 3:30 PM - ABC

Canadian Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, June 8 10:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, June 8 2:00 PM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, June 9 11:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, June 9 2:00 PM - ESPNEWS
Race - Sunday, June 10 2:00 PM - ABC

French Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, June 22 6:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, June 22 10:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, June 23 7:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, June 23 10:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Race - Sunday, June 24 10:00 AM - ESPN2

Austrian Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, June 29 5:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, June 29 9:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, June 30 6:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, June 30 9:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Race - Sunday, July 1 9:00 AM - ESPN2

Rolex British Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, July 6 5:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, July 6 9:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, July 7 6:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, July 7 9:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Race - Sunday, July 8 9:00 AM - ESPN

Emirates German Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, July 20 5:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, July 20 9:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, July 21 6:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, July 21 9:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Race - Sunday, July 22 9:00 AM - ESPN2

Hungarian Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, July 27 5:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, July 27 9:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, July 28 6:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, July 28 9:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Race -Sunday, July 29 9:00 AM - ESPN2

Belgian Grand Prix
Practice 1 Friday, August 24 5:00 AM ESPN3
Practice 2 Friday, August 24 9:00 AM ESPN3
Practice 3 Saturday, August 25 6:00 AM ESPNEWS
Qualifying Saturday, August 25 9:00 AM ESPN2
Race Sunday, August 26 9:00 AM ESPN2

Heineken Italian Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, August 31 5:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, August 31 9:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, Sept. 1 6:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, Sept. 1 9:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Race - Sunday, Sept. 2 9:00 AM - ESPN2

Singapore Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, Sept. 14 4:30 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, Sept. 14 8:30 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, Sept. 15 6:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, Sept. 15 9:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Race - Sunday, Sept. 16 8:00 AM - ESPN2

VTB Russian Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, Sept. 28 4:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, Sept. 28 8:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, Sept. 29 5:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, Sept. 29 8:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Race - Sunday, Sept. 30 7:00 AM - ESPN2

Japanese Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Thursday, Oct. 4 9:00 PM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, Oct. 5 1:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Friday, Oct. 5 11:00 PM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, Oct. 6 2:00 AM - ESPN2
Race - Sunday, Oct. 7 1:00 AM - ESPN2

United States Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, Oct. 19 11:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Practice 2 - Friday, Oct. 19 3:00 PM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, Oct. 20 2:00 PM - ESPN3
Qualifying - Saturday, Oct. 20 TBD - ESPNEWS (delayed)
Race - Sunday, Oct. 21 2:00 PM - ABC

Mexican Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, Oct. 26 11:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, Oct. 26 3:00 PM - ESPNEWS
Practice 3 - Saturday, Oct. 27 11:00 AM - ESPN3
Qualifying - Saturday, Oct. 27 2:00 PM -ESPNEWS
Race -Sunday, Oct. 28 3:00 PM - ABC

Heineken Brazilian Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, Nov. 9 9:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, Nov. 9 12:00 PM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, Nov. 10 9:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, Nov. 10 TBD - ESPNEWS (delayed)
Race - Sunday, Nov. 11 12:00 PM - ABC

Ethiad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Friday, Nov. 23 5:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, Nov. 23 8:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Saturday, Nov. 24 5:00 AM -ESPNEWS
Qualifying -Saturday, Nov. 24 8:00 AM - ESPNEWS
Race - Sunday, Nov. 25 8:00 AM - ESPN2

[Crazed_Insanity]

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180130144240-formula-e-car-gen2-front-facing-exlarge-169.jpg

Just noticed that Formula E integrated the halo into their cars pretty nicely!

[balki]

That's what Formula E look like now?
Is that even considered open wheel anymore?

FaF, thanks, looks like ESPN may not disappoint.
Knew races were starting 10 minutes past the hour, didn't know the European ones are an hour later as well

[Alan P]

That's what Formula E look like now?
Is that even considered open wheel anymore?

FaF, thanks, looks like ESPN may not disappoint.
Knew races were starting 10 minutes past the hour, didn't know the European ones are an hour later as well
It's the 2019 car. And full race with no car swap halfway through either! Now they just need tog et rid of Fan Boost and we'll be sorted.

[Freude am Fahren]

And find better circuits. I know the city course is vital, but some of them are so shit.

[Blerpa]

That 2019 FE car is awesome looking, seems pretty openwheel to me (albeit barchetta-ish), and if they get rid of fan boost and start racing proper circuits it will be almost perfect.

[Crazed_Insanity]

EVs do better in city driving than on highways! ;) So I kinda doubt Formula E can race on high speed tracks for very long...

I thought the idea of fan boost is pretty cool considering we're in the age of social media... imagine epic battle in the same car similar to the ones between Senna and Prost and fans can decide which one they want to boost and help out..., that just might help avoid them from colliding into each other... ;)

[Godson]

Fan boost is fucking stupid.

[Rare White Ape]

The motor racing purist in me dislikes the idea of fan boost, but wholly supports the idea of free and open development (within reason) in order for one team to gain an advantage.

[FaultyMario]

Vettel looks like a friggin' Bert.

[Freude am Fahren]

What's a Bert?

Well, clearly something terrible.
http://e2.365dm.com/18/03/16-9/20/skysports-f1-sebastian-vettel_4261560.jpg?20180322061451


P1 starts in 15 minutes!

[Rare White Ape]

The bowl didn't go down far enough?

[Rare White Ape]

Hmmm.

Initially I was ambivalent on the halo. I don't mind the idea, in fact I support it. But now I hate it.

Why?

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/792/40068892845_04a6583ac2_c.jpg

Just look at the onboard cam view from the Red Bull. On the other side of that mass of titanium and carbon fibre is Melbourne's turn 1. You can't see a damn thing! The view from the higher roll hoop camera is not a bad as this, but it still blocks a portion of the image.

The halo is not going away, so here's hoping that the concept keeps evolving towards something that is more aesthetically pleasing to TV viewers at home. In the coming years it might turn into something slimmer, or lower, or higher, or cooler looking. But until then, we have to put up with this.

[Freude am Fahren]

Mybe they need to mount a camera ON the Halo.

That side of the airbox camera has usually been the best, now it's useless.

[Rare White Ape]

I've always dreamt of a micro helmet chin camera that sits roughly where the driver's nose is.

1080p, optically stabilised, 60fps.

Surely that's possible.

[Rare White Ape]

Here's a comparo with the top camera.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4795/40253443824_cb50c293d9_c.jpg

[XHawkeye]

What's a Bert?

Well, clearly something terrible.
http://e2.365dm.com/18/03/16-9/20/skysports-f1-sebastian-vettel_4261560.jpg?20180322061451

P1 starts in 15 minutes!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DY6of4NXcAA4SAU.jpg

I knew Sebastian Vettel’s new haircut seemed familiar... (https://twitter.com/robwattsf1/status/976903448410116096)

[FaultyMario]

The T-camera is useless, why show it Liberty? You're supposed to be the media experts!!

[SkylineObsession]

Here's hoping they show the New Zealand flag instead of Australian one for Brendon Hartley this time. Unless i'm thinking of WRC and Hayden Paddon. I just remember one of them in the news/on TV with the graphics etc or maybe even a real flag which was Australian, not NZian.

[CudaMan]

Is that hair style catching on in Germany? Did Vettel lose a bet? :lol:

[Blerpa]

I still think F1 should go Indycar with those transparent canopies.
Anyhow... oh, look Toro Rosso and Honda are fighting for podium positions, eh? Uhahahahahaha
EDIT: Ricciardo get 3-grid spot penalty for the race, he didn't slow down enough during red flag period.

[Freude am Fahren]

BIG SURPRISE! Already, ESPN's first broadcast aired session isn't on yet because ESPNEWS is airing a daily talk show that originally aired 8 hours ago on ESPN :rolleyes:

(Being pushed back to 10:55, can't even stream. Is there a delay in Australia? Or just ESPN making a GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION?)


EDIT: Yes, ESPN fucked up, not by delaying converge, but by getting the damn time wrong! lulz. FP3 doesn't start until 11p.m. EDT They clearly messed up, not just my guide, because they're airing a crawl, noting coverage starts at 10:55.

Time to check the schedule vs DVR for the rest of the season...

[Freude am Fahren]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DY9OfVYWsAEZnfr.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DY1IY_HX4AEYQAl.jpg

[balki]

F1Countdown.com says FP3 started (http://www.f1countdown.com/) and that Qualy is an hour earlier then ESPN's schedule (race time matches)
UniMás is always an option for the races

[Freude am Fahren]

Something is definitely wrong with that. According to F1's website, Qualifying is at 1700 local, and race at 1610 local. That countdown has them both at 1600/1610.

F1.com has FP3 at 1400 AEDT, which would be 11p.m. here in the east coast US.

Is Australia changing daylight saving this weekend or something? Everyone seems confused.

edit: F1 just tweeted 30min to FP3.

And ESPN just tweeted their apology for the scheduling mistake.

[Rare White Ape]

FP3 is on right now, and quali starts in about three hours from now (check the timestamp of this post). The time is 13:13 for me, but I'm not in the same time zone.

[Blerpa]

How is that Honda package serving you, Toro Rosso?

[FaultyMario]

Thoroughly impressed by the Haas.

[FaultyMario]

The macca looks good in action.

[FaultyMario]

Verstappen reckoned they needed 4 tenths they're about a second off.

[FaultyMario]

Incredible lap from Hamilton and the Merc.

[Blerpa]

Astounding. He just went for it.
Haas impressing, Kimi delivering, Renault trying, Verstappen could have been up there with the red ones, if he didn't fuck that corner.
Bottas' accident looked bad, he is probably getting a gear box change penalty tomorrow.
What was about Grosjean overtaking Sainz in the pit straight going over the pit workers' area? I hope he get penalized for that shit.

[FaultyMario]

I think there's some harmonic distortion in the merc. Valtteri's car kept vibrating. It needs surgeon precision to extract a Hamiltonian advantage.

[Fogelhund]

Oh Kimi.... LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfZ94OPcUv4

[Blerpa]

So, it's on, gloves off!

[JoeW]

That interview was hilarious. Kimi just stone faced just increased the hilarity for Hamilton.

[FaultyMario]

Max doesn't walk on water after all.

That put a smile on my face.

[XHawkeye]

Was it 'party mode' or Hamilton that claimed such an impressive pole? @SportmphMark reports from Melbourne: https://t.co/qjIilztzFj #F1

[Freude am Fahren]

Haas WTF? :mad:

[balki]

missed the first half of the race, only saw from the safety car onward; were the first 26 laps as uneventful as the last 26?

[Freude am Fahren]

A little more eventful. Magnussen got the jump on Verstappen in turn 1, who was looking inside Vettel, not paying attention you the Haas behind. Max couldn't get by, overdrove the car and spin losing more positions.

Both Haas cars had bad stops, being released despite wheelmen saying they weren't ready, and both had to stop on track causing the VSC. They were running 4-5 at the time. They'll need to take a look at their lollipop system.

Hamilton and Kimi had already pitted when the VSC came out. Vettel took advantage of the VCS split timing system ignoring pit stops essentially to gain time. He was able to go much faster in and out of the pits since the time spent stopped would put him back in line with his min time for the split. Or something like that. Then they called out the real SC.

[Crazed_Insanity]

It was unbelievable Haas cars were so fast to the point that they both ran their wheels off!

I hope they don't have a secret deal with Ferrari. Things just worked out for Vettel so well. Of course it'd be insane for Haas to sacrifice both top running cars for Vettel... most likely they just got too excited and botched their pit stops...

[FaultyMario]

Something wrong about the wheel nuts and not an error by the wheelmen. Apparently.

Gutting, nonetheless.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, I guess they cross-threaded. But there also seems to be an issue with their system, since it looked like the first stop, the rear guy was giving the no good and the car was still let go.

[Blerpa]

Ok race.
It's interesting to see a rule that is imposed to avoid anyone to gain an advantage during the race (VSC) to have such an idiotic loophole and clear and cristalline advantage, both Vettel and Alonso did that.
I hope they clarify this crap, it is stupid, and to be able to race pedal-to-the-metal just in pit entrance and exit under VSC is totally illogic.

[Rare White Ape]

Well Blerps, one of the objectives of F1 is to outsmart the rule book. It has always been thus.

That the other teams didn’t think of it is their failure, but now they’ll be learning their lesson.

And next year the rules will change. Again.

[FaultyMario]

Where do these people who think that Haas took part in a conspiracy come from?

What were they hauling before the pit stops, 18 points? Isn't that like 8 figures in competitor prize money at the end of the year?

[FaultyMario]

I like the simpler explanation, a race outfit with a total of 212 employees will get things like these wrong.

[Blerpa]

Well Blerps, one of the objectives of F1 is to outsmart the rule book. It has always been thus.

That the other teams didn’t think of it is their failure, but now they’ll be learning their lesson.

And next year the rules will change. Again.

Next year? They should fix it like before next race.
And that's the part I don't like in F1, dear lord, they are a sack of ineptitude to not have thought of that.

EDIT: Anyone thinking Haas conspired in order to give an advantage to Ferrari or something like that... it's a plain idiot.

[FaultyMario]

I think both the Ferrari and the RB are better racecars than the W09. Lewis and Valtteri were doing delta laps at different stages of the race. It was most noticeable with Bottas who spent more time in traffic and had to back off more often, I think their cooling is more affected by dirty air than the two other competing teams. Also, it loos like the RB is better at staying in touch with the car ahead than the Ferrari but the latter is easier on the tires. The Red Bull suspension is magical but it needs super low tire pressures and that affects tire life. It should be mega under cool conditions.

As long as Mercedes keep with the Brawn/Schumacher philosophy of going all out on saturdays and then just staying ahead on sunday they will be fine. This generation of cars can't race together. I think the Mercedes 'party mode' will dominate the season.

All in all it was fun to watch the drivers fight the cars in the high speed corners, so hopefully the historical tracks will provide some quality driving and set the men apart from the children. Because I'm certain we ain't going to be watching races this year.

[JoeW]

The Ferrari red color looks a lot better this year btw. Looks like a deeper shade.

Really excited for HAAS’s future this year. Even before anyone major dropped out they were up there running with RB. Even if they end up “best of the rest” it will be huge for such a new and small team. No more nut crossthreads please :)

[Tom Servo]

I enjoyed the race. Nice having the top four that close together, and I think they would still have been close together even without the VSC shenanigans, just in a different order.

ESPN, however, sucked balls. I don't remember an F1 broadcast that shit since I was a kid and it was an abbreviated version on ABC's Wide, Wide World of Sports.

[Rare White Ape]

Where do these people who think that Haas took part in a conspiracy come from?

What were they hauling before the pit stops, 18 points? Isn't that like 8 figures in competitor prize money at the end of the year?

A conspiracy was jokingly mentioned by Martin Brundle on the British Sky Sports commentary. I’m guessing that was the magic bullet.

[Yobbo NZ]

God damn it, tried editing twice only for the forum to select delete!
Short, Hartley, well pleased, slow start, flat spotted tyre, puncture later on which damaged some aero/body work.
Set 13th fastest lap on lap 57, only 2 tenths slower than Sainz and faster than Stroll.
Hoping he wipes the floor with Gasley.
No more trying to edit.
The end.

[Kchrpm]

Editing on mobile always results in a delete. Has since the forum's creation.

[Crazed_Insanity]

At least you didn't cross threaded your points hauling cars during the race.

[balki]

Just noticed that in 61 GPs since he came back to McLaren P5 has been Alonso's highest finish and that this is the first time he's reached 10 points within the first five races of a season.

ESPN, however, sucked balls. I don't remember an F1 broadcast that shit since I was a kid and it was an abbreviated version on ABC's Wide, Wide World of Sports.
What was it like? Guessing it wasn't Sky's broadcast.
Who are the commentators? What kind of zany things did they say?

[dodint]

Sky's broadcast but with commercials cutting off the commentators and no replay for what you missed.

[balki]

Thanks, I forgot about the commercial-free to commercial broadcast issue.
Honestly, it sounds like one of the more optimistic outcomes of an ESPN broadcast, I was expecting to hear something much worse. For races only you can switch to over to UniMás for the commercial periods (I guess it wouldn't be much of an issue for qualifying).

[dodint]

NBCSN having their own replay crew is the really big missing piece here. I expected this to be covered in the same kind of way a Blancpain GT race is broadcast here, and I was right, except the F1 is in real time so they can't even edit it to be coherent.

I read today that ESPN paid $0 for the rights, so they don't have any stake in how good it is. Shame.

[JoeW]

Trying to remember the exact part of the race but they were talking about tire wear during the race and he started by saying something about how they are trying keep the tires from overheating, then saying as they wear off material they get hotter, then going back on it saying get cooler as they lose material, then saying they need to keep the tires at optimum temperature etc etc. He just kept bouncing around like he was saying it as it popped into his head.

Just nowhere near as concise or informative as nbcsn. Definitely disappointed.

[Rare White Ape]

Editing on mobile always results in a delete. Has since the forum's creation.

I’ve never had a problem with that. Tested it just now, as well.

[Rare White Ape]

saying as they wear off material they get hotter, then going back on it saying get cooler as they lose material

It seems counter-intuitive, but both can be true. I’d love to hear it myself, though.

[JoeW]

I’m not quoting verbatim (or even accurately) but it was awhile after Verstappen spun and they were talking about pit stops. He just didn’t seem like he knew what the hell he wanted to say. Contradicting himself a couple of times.

I just want my nbcsn back.

[Rare White Ape]

We’re they the British commentators?

[dodint]

Yes. I remember the conversation.

[XHawkeye]

Damon Hill stirring the pot


The sooner @MercedesAMGF1 and @ScuderiaFerrari breakaway the better as far as I’m concerned. These massive industrial complexes are ruining the sport. They don’t want to play. They want it all, and all the time. The @fia have lost grip of @F1 @SkySportsF1 #f1

https://twitter.com/HillF1/status/977677574653599744

[FaultyMario]

<3

[balki]

If Mercedes left it'd be a black eye for the sport, if Ferrari left it'd never recover.

Don't know how a budget cap could be enforced (ie; Mercedes can spend a few billion on their Project ONE car and not have that money go against their F1 budget, Ferrari will just create a 1.6L turbo hybrid supercar as their F1 testbed as well)

[FaultyMario]

If the Cambridge Analytica fiasco has shown us anything is that a fair competition needs regulated data flows.

[balki]

You can't keep costs down then ask to build complex hybrid systems that last 7 races.
Maybe they'll just say that 6L NA V12s with 9k rpm limits are the 2021 engines :D

[Crazed_Insanity]

It'd be totally boring without real car companies involved in the sport.

Maybe there should just be some sort of cap for factory teams to develop further if their customer teams are lagging behind. Disparity between Mercedes and Williams and FIs are just too great. Development should cease for the factory team... or perhaps Mercedes can help develop at least one of their customer teams to narrow the gap so they can all advance together!

For Renault, the factory team should be allowed to develop without caps since they're behind Red Bull.

We should have more team relationships like the ones with Ferrari and Haas.

If the factory team is really rich and want to spend, encourage them to spend the money to help out other teams as much as possible.

For Honda or any new comer without any 'customers', they should not be capped.

Non-manufacturer teams will also have no caps, but rules should allow factory teams to dial down the engines they supply... if Adrian Newey's design is just too fast for the factory! ;)

I think as long as teams help each other out financially, there's really no reason to cap budget. Just let them spend as much as they want... as long as we have rules that also encourage them to spend the money on other teams as well.

[Blerpa]

It'd be totally boring without real car companies involved in the sport.

Brrr. The most famous and winning F1 teams are racing teams, not bloody big manufacturers.
Ferrari (which was for quite a long time independent), McLaren, Williams, Brabham, Lotus, BRM, Cooper, even Red Bull.
Fuck this bullshit about car companies. F1 has as much to do with road car companies as a wooden cart to a McLaren F1.
Car manufacturers have come and gone to F1 and often (but not always, yes) got the shaft on the track by real racing teams... or did we forget about Renault in 80s? Honda and Toyota in the 2000s? Alfa Romeo in the 80s too...

Ban every single aero detail, EVERY single one. Single wing front, single wing back, slick continuous aero (like 2019 F-E) and not a gill, a leaf, a winglet, a razor, a split allowed.
Also fuck this endurance rethoric with 3 engines per season: only thing it did was to steal F1 from its heritage and not cut costs; it actually levitated expenses.

So ban any aero and let them go all mental on engine and mechanical grip. We have said for decades, but noone listens.
And fucking trasparent open canopies like in Indy prototype; Halo is dumb and useless even for TV viewing.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I don't know about you, Ilmor and Cosworth just don't connect with fans like me as well as Chevy, Mercedes or Ford.

Recognizable car badge is kinda important to me. Besides battle of the best driver, there ought to be a battle of technology as well... with well known car companies. (or perhaps for an unknown new company to make a name for itself.)

Ferrari and McLaren have also established some sort of name for themselves with their super cars. I think they will be able to survive even without F-1.

If Williams Tag Heuer becomes the next championship car, while I can be happy for them, but where will all the lessons learned be applied to regular cars on the road?

If pure racing is all it's about, then we might as well just race virtually in Gran Turismo. Super cheap. Fastest driver wins.

[Rare White Ape]

Getting back to Damon Hill’s comment, about letting Ferrari and Mercedes et al split from F1; in response I say this:

1. The same is said every time someone comes to dominate and ‘ruins’ the sport. This happens a lot, like, every decade. The problem is, the rules change far too often and allows for someone to find the magic bullet, while the cheaper teams struggle to keep up.

2. Every time I’ve seen a split from a sporting entity, be it within ball sports or motor racing, it hasn’t gone very well for the sport that everyone has split from, and usually signals the death knell for the originating sporting organisation. Imagine Formula One without Ferrari. It would be F1 in name, and would probably carry the world championship for a while, but it would not attract the money and prestige and eventually it would wither and die. Then the FIA would take its championships and grant them to whatever fills the void left by the old F1, and it will be exactly the same as what it was before.

[FaultyMario]

Brrr. The most famous and winning F1 teams are racing teams, not bloody big manufacturers.
Ferrari (which was for quite a long time independent), McLaren, Williams, Brabham, Lotus, BRM, Cooper, even Red Bull.
Fuck this bullshit about car companies. F1 has as much to do with road car companies as a wooden cart to a McLaren F1.
Car manufacturers have come and gone to F1 and often (but not always, yes) got the shaft on the track by real racing teams... or did we forget about Renault in 80s? Honda and Toyota in the 2000s? Alfa Romeo in the 80s too...

Ban every single aero detail, EVERY single one. Single wing front, single wing back, slick continuous aero (like 2019 F-E) and not a gill, a leaf, a winglet, a razor, a split allowed.
Also fuck this endurance rethoric with 3 engines per season: only thing it did was to steal F1 from its heritage and not cut costs; it actually levitated expenses.

So ban any aero and let them go all mental on engine and mechanical grip. We have said for decades, but noone listens.
And fucking trasparent open canopies like in Indy prototype; Halo is dumb and useless even for TV viewing.

I agree in principle.

Formula 1 must be a high tech, garagista sport. Brawn, codify that.
It is unsustainable to link F1 as a sport to car manufacturers' interests, they are incompatible. It must be limited to commercial relations, they can be engine suppliers, they can be technology partners, but they have far too much to lose if they're not winning. And they'll eventually win everything.
Current F1 is boring because they've algorithm'd the shit out of every variable imaginable, hence they've got to put bottlenecks to the data. Teams can't have rooms full of statisticians telling the drivers what the optimal ROI is for every lap, let the drivers figure that out.
Same goes for sensors, let the drivers cope a feel of the cars balance, tire wear, etc. Give some control back to the drivers. As you can't ban radio communications, nor do we want that, limit the amount of Real Time information the wall can have access to.
Simplify the aerodynamics. It shouldn't be that hard.
Put limits to the interconnected-ness of suspensions to aerodynamic loads. You're rocket scientists, you know how to do it.
Ideally they should be the best drivers in the world working hard everylap, make them be at >95% most of the race, and if they go beyond their skill they should lose positions, get stuck in the gravel, limp back to pits, whatever. We want to see gladiators suffer, we wan to see heroes in disgrace, we don't want see drivers get hurt.

Finally I think in its quest to be the fastest, F1 has lost focus. It's not about being the fastest. The brickyard should always be the fastest open wheel race. I think something akin to Group B happened to F1 cars, they became too fast and too dangerous, and instead of moving away from that formula, F1 tried to stay near that level of performance but with a reduction of risk, and that is too hygienic to be an easy to sell product. They're practically astronauts, and the only fun they provide is the countdown and the takeoff.

[Reynard]

Don't forget about Ken Ang! ;)

So much for F1TV to be available before the first race... pfffffttt! Plenty of complaints about ESPN but none about Sky from me. I really liked Paul DiResta's commentary/analysis.

[SkylineObsession]

I think that the screaming V10's need to come back, the cars need less aerodynamics/downforce, and that the development of the V10's is shared among the teams maybe with perhaps (or perhaps not) a couple of little things teams can do to it to make it unique to them. Something along those lines anyway, then we won't have teams struggling with a shitty engine that is down on power and reliability while those with the most money and best engines lap them race after race.

But the sport is dead to me without a distinctive V10 or V12 sound, that's where the magic was. I keep seeing old F1 cars pop up in YouTube clips i watch and you almost get chills hearing the V10/12's scream along a track/closed road event. You usually KNOW that the car is an F1 car before you see it... V8's and whatever the shite they have now just put you to sleep.

[Freude am Fahren]

I love those sounds, but to me F1 is not the sound. Sure it's a part of the sport that is missing, but it's just a small portion.

Considering I've watched hundreds of races on TV, and only two in person, it doesn't bother me that much. When I went to see them in person, it was more disappointing, but on TV, it's not a huge deal.

Kinda funny thought, back in the early 2000's one of the neatest things in Sportscar racing was how quiet the Audi's were. They were the first race car I'd ever seen that you could actually hear what the tires/undertray/air were doing. It was kinda cool.

As for manufacturers vs. teams, I like having manufacturers there, but I don't think they are necessary. In F1, Williams and McLaren mean more to me than Honda or Mercedes. When I think Renault, Honda, Mercedes, etc., I think engines, not teams. Ferrari is unique that they aren't a manufacturer than went racing, nor are they really a team that decided to make cars. They are basically 50/50. Or at least closer than anyone else.

Mercedes could leave F1. McLaren and Williams could fold, but sadly I think as goes Ferrari, goes F1.

My opinion on the rules?

Gearboxes should be changed without penalty if it's because of contact with a car or wall in a session.

Assuming we're not going back to ICE only, PU component numbers should be upped, or even unrestricted (but no changes from the start of Qualy without penalty in race). However, cost for customers should be fixed somehow. If Mercedes wants to spend $100M to make a PU, and Ferrari only $25M, Force India and Sauber still pay the same amount, and get the same equipment as Ferrari and Mercedes proper.

Chassis rules should be researched to allow better following, however that is achieved. Clearly less downforce, more mechanical grip is key. Ideally we can get ride of DRS, but if not, I think we need to reevaluate the detection zones vs. activation zones. Alternatively, maybe a 'push to pass' or something like Indycar has might be good. Maybe you have 100sec a race where you can exceed the fuel flow limit or something. This would allow more strategy, in that you could utilize it more out of corners rather than just at the end of the main straight. But again Ideally, the chassis rules would eliminate any need for artificial advantages.

Refueling should come back.

Two tire compounds per weekend. No forced use of either. Each "pair" is suited to track (so Pirelli, or whoever, would still need to make 5+ compounds suited to the various circuits for the year, but who cares how the option at Monaco compares to the option at China). They should have considerable gaps in performance and durability. Neither should last 50% of race at full performance.


Just thoughts off the top of my slightly inebriated head.

[Rare White Ape]

I've said this a lot, and I'll say it again, these are my ideal rules for F1:

- Give all teams a limited fuel allocation for each race weekend, or restrict fuel cell sizes (with no refuelling allowed during the race).

- Over time, balance the need for speed against the need to produce gains in fuel economy. If the average speed/laptime/whatever over a season reaches a certain amount, then take some fuel away to lower that average again and slow the cars down.

- Any tyre manufacturer may enter, but they must supply the same tyres to all teams - no preferences should be given certain teams for better tires. Teams may pick whichever brand they want, and are allowed to change brands once throughout the season.

- Cars must be RWD with open wheel bodies and a minimum weight. No underbody aero (i.e. skirts) or fans. All other rules other than sporting and safety considerations are free and open.

With those four rules in place, we would see some amazing gains in technology, and some unique designs. Eventually the cars will be so good at managing fuel and energy resources that it is inevitable that tech crossover to real-world motoring would happen, possibly at a faster pace than it is at the moment. And yeah, I fully support unlimited budgets for those that have the backing. F1 has always had a budget 'problem' and nothing in the world will fix that.

The only downside I can see is that cornering speeds will get higher and higher even though straight line speeds stay roughly the same. This is happening in F1 now as it stands, and could lead to a dangerous situation when a car loses traction as the energy is much higher. How to fix that? I have no idea.