2014 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX

[FaultyMario]

Plenty of updates expected for this race. I hope that, for once, that fucking black car with a 'C' at at the nose cone can finally be faster than Both Marussia and Caterham.

As for the rest of them I don't know which one's on top right now, both being meh teams at the moment, with Indian King of the Booze and the We-are-the-absolute-execution-of-perfection-it's-just-that-our-drivers-suck outfit (http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jun/30/mclaren-jenson-button-needs-to-improve-ron-dennis) in a decent battle for best of the other Mercedes team, all I have to say is: God!, is Ron Dennis such a fucking bore or what?, I'm glad he wasn't around when Red Bull were dominating and his engineers devising creative ways to give more advantage to Horner's boys. And just for that, I hope Force India beat McLaren at the end of the year.

Anyway, for this poll the question is a little different, it comes after I read photographer Darren Heath's blog, he assumes that Rosberg has a better chance of being WDC because he is mentally stronger than Hamilton for the following reason, the kid beat Schumacher for three years. Granted it was old, slower Schu, but it was still a capacity-building, mechanic-friendly, always-on-time, birefcase-in-hand seven time world champion Schumacher. Master of the political games that are always played in Formula 1.

What do you peeps reckon?

[FaultyMario]

I omitted Rosberg and Alonso from the poll, I think they're the toughest competitors on the grid right now. I don't see how they could be mentally stronger.

[Blerpa]

Ron Dennis is awesome and spot on about Jenson.
The boring ones are Horner and Newey.

Rosberg can suck Hamilton's dick. And Alonso's. And Vettel's. And Kimi's. Even Button's and Hulkenberg's ones.

[FaultyMario]

I think Ronspeak is boring and passé. He could be like Stoddart if he wanted to be upfront about all the sewer-shakes they're drinking behind closed doors, he's smart enough, I think he's just comfortable with the money/power he makes.

I personally like Claire's and Monisha's style more; Horner, Wolff, and to some extent Boullier, seem to be reading PR soundbites all the time. The women cited, seem to be polite, clever and direct. Ron just likes to have people guessing as to what he really said. Example: JB, No one in his right mind would rank him in the top 5, even a top 10 is questionable. Why did they renew his contract once it was evident that Whitmarsh was out. Magnussen's is Ron's decision, is he the best rookie, the best young driver, are his mistakes fewer than Bottas', Bianchi's or Gutierrez's? It's not a question of talent, the kid is superb, but was he ready? If Jenson "Mediocre" Button's season continues to be better than Kevin's what does that say about Ron's choices? Many agree that Button cannot raise his game much more, why does Ron ask it then? They have a car that's inferior to the Williams and possibly to the Force India, is that Button's fault? Why put the blame on one of the drivers? Because he's protecting Kevin, we know that much, but what is McLaren going to do next year if Magnussen gets beaten by this generation's Jacques Villeneuve? What if the two drivers they passed up for him qualify better (Hulk), race more intelligently (Perez), attack better (Perez) or defend better (Hulk is a defensive god) than him and score more points than him but less than Button, and thus put their team ahead of McLaren in the final standings... Would that still reflect negatively on the elder driver?

Ron's deluded by his own narrative.

[FaultyMario]

Mattiacci, I don't know enough about the man. But it seems he is a very intelligent team builder, word out is that he got the job because he can rearrange people's habits and have them ready to face new challenges. I hope he can revitalize Ferrari, 3 strong teams is better than 2.

Domenicalli seemed from the outside like a correct bloke who was too much part of the old Ferrari structure. The sport changed with the Neweys and Brawns, Toto/Claire helped Williams transition, Stefano couldn't move the behemont and was thus sacked.

[Blerpa]

See, Mario, I totally disagree. Great to sign Kevin - Gutierrez sucks, badly, and Bianchi is plenty overrated - too bad also Bottas couldn't be signed. Maybe there will be some Sirotkin in the future of McLaren.
More big teams should get youngsters in there, like they did in the past. Right away. I think what McLaren does is commendable. Also what RB did with Ricciardo... I wasn't certain it would pan out decently, but to me it is paying it in spades.

On Jenson I'm not going to even start, since my idea of him is totally the opposite of yours. Perez, now that is a yardstick of mediocrity masked by a very good car. Hulkenberg is very good, to me even better than Rosberg is ever going to be (no matter if he will win this WDC. Stirling Moss never did and to me he is still like 2 mountains higher than Michael Schumacher in quality and talent) but Hulky is in Ferrari's orbit and probably too expensive anyway.

Ron is the dark power (not really, but the useless media gossip around the circus paint him that way) of F1: good, better be feared and hated than being old news.
McLaren will rise again... the deluded side is anyone that think differently.
And meanwhile in a bit Mercedes will leave F1 as all manufacturers do when they get complacent about their wins and feel like they are done with it. That's the real venom of F1, road car manufacturers. Too many of them, not enough pure racing heritage teams.

My compliments to Clarie and Monisha.
I can't stand Boullier and I think he can't race direct a team worth his life, that piggy small sack of shit, so it is enough I've to stand the guy at my own team.

Ferrari sucks as usual. Mattiacci is another Flab. And what Ferrari did initially of positive right after the Mattiacci - Domenicali shuffle was down to Domenicali's staff, not surely by any input of rich salesman with a nice tan.
And Ferrari will continue to suck like that because it has a cumbersome old fashioned structure. And Montezemolo is a complete idiot, let's face it.

[FaultyMario]

I know he is, I'm just saying Ron became just too much like him in his gardening leave.

[FaultyMario]

Pérez, yes I concur, he is limited. But he makes the most out of his talent during the races, he concentrates on his job; he just, hopelessly, sucks at wheel to wheel defense. He is the opposite of Maldonado, so much raw speed, yet so little concentration.

Hulk is the total package, why do they keep looking over him, it must be politics, it must be that there's enough top flight germans racing right now and not enough sponsors. Who knows, he's got the Dekra cap, though.

Kevin, he might be the next Hamilton, the next Häkkinen; or he could end up being distracted by fame like Lewis or yearning for family life, like Mika. Whatever the outcome they seem to have rushed him to a fight with someone who should be a mentor instead, hence the latter options seem more likely than the former.

[overpowered]

Note that in the U.S., the live coverage of qualifying and the race is switched from NBCSN to CNBC because the Tour de France is showing live on NBCSN.

[The359]

Lotus will test with 18-inch tyres at next week's Formula 1 test at Silverstone as part of an experiment by Pirelli.

Following discussions about a change of tyre size for 2017, Pirelli has agreed to run a trial with the larger wheel and tyre size next Wednesday.

The aim is for the test to deliver a proper answer as to whether or not the look of the new tyres is an improvement over the current 13-inch tyres that have been used in recent years.

Pirelli apparently thinks they should go up to 19 inches. This will look weird, I think. Isn't taking away all that sideway going to drastically change the suspension setups on the cars?

[Godson]

Yes it will. They will need radically different spring rates and damper rates.

[GB]

Who is 'Nutcase'? Maldanado?

[FaultyMario]

Romain "First Lap Nutcase" Grosjean (http://youtu.be/ObHXTzLteCM)

[FaultyMario]

And rain spices things up. (http://www1.skysports.com/f1/grandprix/great-britain/results#tab_q3)

Hamilton 6th, Bianchi 12th, Ferraris 19th & 20th.

[Freude am Fahren]

Tough luck (and partly strategy, but really mostly luck) for the Ferrari's and Williams. Opposite for the Marussias. Hamilton was beside himself in the post-qualy interviews. I don't know if it was his idea or the teams to abort the last lap, but I think he looked mad at himself. If it was the team, I think he'd have let us know.

Also, A bit of a lol, bit of a cry for both the first sessions ending under yellow because of the Saubers. What is happening over there?

[IMOA]

Enjoyable race in the end. Feels bad to say it but I'm glad that Nico had a DNF, evens the Mercedes luck out and gives us back a genuine fight for the title. I'm happy to see Williams getting back up the front again, for the first part of the season they seemed to have forgotten how to run at the pointy end but they're starting to put it together now, well, Bottas is anyway.

Awesome battle between Vettel and Alonso, some of the best genuine wheel to wheel racing we've seen in F1 for years. And lol at the crying to mummy antics from both of them, I'm not sure if we're just seeing that because we have so much more access to team radio these days but they both need to shut the f up and drive. Was funny though.

And another great race from Danny Ric :) I've been following him pretty closely since his British F3 title but even as a fan I didn't expect him to be beating Vettel, especially in the two areas where Vettel was considered strong (outright speed/qualifying pace and tyre management)

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, the whining was pretty lame, but the racing was great. Even though we still get the major understeer from the follower, it's much better than recent years it seems, allowing some actual racing.

[Godson]

Fantastic drive between Alonso and Vettel, and they both should just quit bitching and just drive.

[Freude am Fahren]

Hmm, I just remembered about this:

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140406181333-esteban-gutierrez-crash-bahrain-horizontal-gallery.jpg

payback?

http://images.autosport.com/editorial/1404666073.jpg

[FaultyMario]

What do you guys think of the rumoured trade between Mercedes and Ferrari for 2015. Alonso has recently said that he is in F1 to win titles, and Lewis would sure love some of the one-rooster policy.

I'd say Nico's and Massa's retirements have postponed any decision on the matter. I think that it hinges on Hamilton being relegated to second driver, the moment Mercedes decides for Rosberg to be their #1 driver and the team decides to keep Williams at arm's length/prepare for next year's car, that's the moment Lewis gives Luca the call.

[FaultyMario]

I think the season's gonna end like this: Mercedes, Williams, Red Bull, and Force India, McLaren and Ferrari fighting for fourth. What do you think Blerps?

Also, after having registered 47 Gs on impact, I'm not sure Kimi will get the medical nod for Germany. In that case, does Jules get the chance to race? It'd be a favor to Marussia, as they could sell the seat for a race weekend. That should cost the driver somewhere in the neighborhood of a million euros if I'm not mistaken.

[Blerpa]

Mario could very well be, but I'm more thinking about this: Mercedes, Red Bull and Williams going to the photofinish (I will never, historically, underestimate Williams F1 team ability to royally fuck up pitstops and whole wins, if not even whole championships), Ferrari could barely edge over Force India and McLaren battling for fourth and worse. I could also see a totally Ferrari sudden drop in performance and scoring, actually. Force India won't be as good as at the start of the season, but with Ferrari's getting worse and McLaren keeping a pretty inconsistant form they could still bag the fourth, just because of others' shortcomings more than their own merits.

Kimi-wise? No idea, I've to be honest. Bianchi could be an interesting call, I'd love to see him on that car, but, although I don't rate him as high as Hulkenberg, Magnussen, Bottas and Ricciardo (the new young crop of F1 drivers), it could be a moot experiment since Ferrari could really be sucking and not letting him show his talent. Ok, Marussia is nowhere near even Toro Rosso, let's admit it, but remember Fisichella jumping on Ferrari and sucking more than when he was at Force India? Well, that kind of wasted opportunity (but surely Jules could score some points he won't be able to gain on a Marussia).

The 18" wheels? Whatever. Just make up your mind and put some clear and draconian rules on it. I'm more worried about the stupid double-points season finale sticking for next seasons at this point.
I'd rather have 70's really small front tyres and humongous fat big rear tyres, like for the Ferrari 312T4 or the Wolf WR1.

[Yobbo NZ]

Question for those that know.Why are the likes of Marussia and Caterham so slow? Is it their customer engines being detuned ,crap aero,bad designs? The drivers seem capable, but the cars not so much. Surely money can't buy speed when they're limited to the rules and regulations.

[FaultyMario]

Because of their limited budget. Mercedes has between 600 and 700 employees. That means a lot of ideas on how to solve complex issues. Remember that most systems in those cars are interconnected, and they need huge resources to put the ideas into practice. Imagine that on Monday's briefing they find problem X, there's minimally two ways to solve that problem. they have maybe 60 hours to go from the drawing board to the working prototype (in case of some hardware) / practice drill (in case of an organizational process). If they can allow to do it, they'll test both options, so that means two project teams.

Can you Imagine what would happen if it was 3 or more issues that were detected after a race or practice session? What resources would a team need to mobilize? It's a lot of work. It has been said that operations like Toyota and Honda back in the day, were running up to three sites with varying numbers of teams in each place. For example, the R&D for Honda was in japan, the prototyping somewhere in England and the race team was in Brackley. Even after they shut off the race team, they continued to operate the other two sites, with the Japanese office doing mock Exhaust Blown Diffusers as late as 2011, just to understand the technology.

Most teams have between 300 and 400 full time employees. Caterham and Marussia reportedly have around 250. Also, like any other field, you get what you pay for, and if you're Mercedes or Red Bull Racing you're going to have more people trying to work for you. That's one of the problems with Sauber, they're a little in the position of being victims of the success they enjoyed with their smaller investments in 2011-13, their talented personnel were offered better jobs at bigger teams.

[Yobbo NZ]

Thanks,makes it a bit clearer.
Weren't Marussia and McLaren sharing resources at one stage/still are? Shouldn't that have seen a jump in peformance? Or are we starting to see that now,with flashes of speed etc from them.

[Freude am Fahren]

If anything, it worked the other way around :p