The F1 thread

stickyfiddle

Fretwired said:

stickyfiddle said:

boogieman said:

Fretwired said:

boogieman said:

I'd actually love to see a swap of cars as an experiment to see how the top drivers cope with a Manor and if they could get significantly better lap times out of it. And vice versa: if Ochon et al could wring the similar performance times out of the Merc as Hamilton. 

We already have that .. the team's called McLaren and they have two ex-world champions as drivers .. :-)

Alonso driving for McLaren is a criminal waste of talent.

Indeed. 

 I do wonder how Alonso keeps his motivation going. Maybe it's the thought that he's getting reasonable results (lately) out of a dog of a car and not many others could achieve that? I would love to see him getting another crack at the championship with a decent car. Anyone know if McLaren are going to be anywhere near competitive next year?  

Next year removes the token system from engines, and changes the aero rules, so it's anyone's guess. Honda apparently already have next year's engine working well on a dyno, but whether they have it spitting 1000bhp and working the energy side perfectly is fairly unlikely.

And despite Prodromou's talents it appears their chassis has been pretty average all year as well. 

We're all hoping but I can't see anyone but Mercedes and RB getting it right.

I thought the McLaren chassis is highly regarded ...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/124354

It might be on par with Ferrari, but if it was close to the quality of the RB or Merc they wouldn't have had such a nightmare at Spa. I wonder if it's actually got potential to be really really good but they don't fully understand how to set it up, so sometimes it works beautifully and sometimes it's shit.

Fretwired

stickyfiddle said:

Fretwired said:

stickyfiddle said:

boogieman said:

Fretwired said:

boogieman said:

I'd actually love to see a swap of cars as an experiment to see how the top drivers cope with a Manor and if they could get significantly better lap times out of it. And vice versa: if Ochon et al could wring the similar performance times out of the Merc as Hamilton. 

We already have that .. the team's called McLaren and they have two ex-world champions as drivers .. :-)

Alonso driving for McLaren is a criminal waste of talent.

Indeed. 

 I do wonder how Alonso keeps his motivation going. Maybe it's the thought that he's getting reasonable results (lately) out of a dog of a car and not many others could achieve that? I would love to see him getting another crack at the championship with a decent car. Anyone know if McLaren are going to be anywhere near competitive next year?  

Next year removes the token system from engines, and changes the aero rules, so it's anyone's guess. Honda apparently already have next year's engine working well on a dyno, but whether they have it spitting 1000bhp and working the energy side perfectly is fairly unlikely.

And despite Prodromou's talents it appears their chassis has been pretty average all year as well. 

We're all hoping but I can't see anyone but Mercedes and RB getting it right.

I thought the McLaren chassis is highly regarded ...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/124354

It might be on par with Ferrari, but if it was close to the quality of the RB or Merc they wouldn't have had such a nightmare at Spa. I wonder if it's actually got potential to be really really good but they don't fully understand how to set it up, so sometimes it works beautifully and sometimes it's shit.

I though McLaren's problems at places like Spa were caused by a lack of power in the engine which is often caused by the fact it is turned down for reliability .. not enough power to get the best form the chassis design. That's what I've read ..

stickyfiddle

Fretwired said:

stickyfiddle said:

Fretwired said:

stickyfiddle said:

boogieman said:

Fretwired said:

boogieman said:

I'd actually love to see a swap of cars as an experiment to see how the top drivers cope with a Manor and if they could get significantly better lap times out of it. And vice versa: if Ochon et al could wring the similar performance times out of the Merc as Hamilton. 

We already have that .. the team's called McLaren and they have two ex-world champions as drivers .. :-)

Alonso driving for McLaren is a criminal waste of talent.

Indeed. 

 I do wonder how Alonso keeps his motivation going. Maybe it's the thought that he's getting reasonable results (lately) out of a dog of a car and not many others could achieve that? I would love to see him getting another crack at the championship with a decent car. Anyone know if McLaren are going to be anywhere near competitive next year?  

Next year removes the token system from engines, and changes the aero rules, so it's anyone's guess. Honda apparently already have next year's engine working well on a dyno, but whether they have it spitting 1000bhp and working the energy side perfectly is fairly unlikely.

And despite Prodromou's talents it appears their chassis has been pretty average all year as well. 

We're all hoping but I can't see anyone but Mercedes and RB getting it right.

I thought the McLaren chassis is highly regarded ...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/124354

It might be on par with Ferrari, but if it was close to the quality of the RB or Merc they wouldn't have had such a nightmare at Spa. I wonder if it's actually got potential to be really really good but they don't fully understand how to set it up, so sometimes it works beautifully and sometimes it's shit.

I though McLaren's problems at places like Spa were caused by a lack of power in the engine which is often caused by the fact it is turned down for reliability .. not enough power to get the best form the chassis design. That's what I've read ..

lol, sorry I meant Suzuka, not Spa. Brainfart...

An element of power but it's all about cornering in the esses and 130r

sinbaadi

When they're so down on power they have to take out some downforce or else they are sitting ducks on the straights.  I agree that it's highly unlikely that the chassis is on a par with Mercedes or RBR but I think with a proper power unit you will see improvements to more than just the acceleration.

Speaking of straight line performance, though, those top speeds this weekend were prodigious.

Hamilton didn't deserve a penalty, there is no precedent for penalising in those circumstances.  You have to gain an advantage (above and beyond the obvious advantage) and he locked up the inside front.
If you cut to maintain or gain a place, then you deserve a penalty.  Apart from that only repeat cutting should be penalised.  Personally I'd rather they just put some gravel traps back in.

Vettel was being petulant and deserved it.

fretmeister

Ha ha ha

Fretwired

fretmeister said:

Ha ha ha

Genius ... :-)

Heartfeltdawn

sinbaadi said:

Hamilton didn't deserve a penalty, there is no precedent for penalising in those circumstances.  You have to gain an advantage (above and beyond the obvious advantage) and he locked up the inside front.
If you cut to maintain or gain a place, then you deserve a penalty.  Apart from that only repeat cutting should be penalised.  Personally I'd rather they just put some gravel traps back in.

They don't need to do that. All you need are race officials prepared to a) warn drivers that they are cheating and b) enforce drive through penalties when they ignore that. 

Heartfeltdawn

boogieman said:

I'm not that convinced by Nico tbh. He's winning because he's got the best car, same as Jenson's winning season in the Braun car IMO. Undoubtedly he has had the better luck this season too, very few mechanical glitches or meaningful penalties. 

I'd actually love to see a swap of cars as an experiment to see how the top drivers cope with a Manor and if they could get significantly better lap times out of it. And vice versa: if Ochon et al could wring the similar performance times out of the Merc as Hamilton. 

Button showed enough ability prior to his Championship winning season and more so afterwards with McLaren. There's also the small matter of that drive in Brazil to secure his title. Astoundingly good race, Button's ability demonstrated for all to see, and exactly the sort of race that Rosberg won't be having on his mostly processional way to the title this year. 

stickyfiddle

Bild reporting Brawn will replace Ecclestone. Fingers crossed!

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/11/01/f1-fanatic-round-up-0111-3/

https://thejudge13.com/2016/11/01/breaking-brawn-to-replace-ecclestone/

Fretwired

stickyfiddle said:

Bild reporting Brawn will replace Ecclestone. Fingers crossed!

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/11/01/f1-fanatic-round-up-0111-3/

https://thejudge13.com/2016/11/01/breaking-brawn-to-replace-ecclestone/

That's been floating around for a while .. I doubt he will replace Eccelstone as he has no experience in negotiating the big deals that make the sport wealthy. Chase Carey from Liberty Media is the obvious choice - he has a media background and works on these sort of deals all day. He won't want Eccelstone around as Eccelstone's not a team player.

From what  I've read the new owners want someone who understands F1 to work with the teams and focus on the technical side of the sport to make it more exciting for fans and more competitive. Brawn would be good at that ... 

stickyfiddle

Fretwired said:

stickyfiddle said:

Bild reporting Brawn will replace Ecclestone. Fingers crossed!

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/11/01/f1-fanatic-round-up-0111-3/

https://thejudge13.com/2016/11/01/breaking-brawn-to-replace-ecclestone/

That's been floating around for a while .. I doubt he will replace Eccelstone as he has no experience in negotiating the big deals that make the sport wealthy. Chase Carey from Liberty Media is the obvious choice - he has a media background and works on these sort of deals all day. He won't want Eccelstone around as Eccelstone's not a team player.

From what  I've read the new owners want someone who understands F1 to work with the teams and focus on the technical side of the sport to make it more exciting for fans and more competitive. Brawn would be good at that ... 

I can see them going that way. Clearly there's no need (or advantage) to have one guy be the sole figurehead. One guy doing technical stuff (and binning Charlie Whiting..) and another doing the commercials makes absolute sense. 

Modellista

Fretwired said:

Rosberg deserves the championship based on the number of wins

This makes no sense to me.  Firstly, if Hamilton wins the next two races he will end up with 10 wins to Rosberg's 9, and still lose the championship.  Secondly, it's looking like Rosberg will win the championship by only a handful of points, far less than he was gifted by Hamilton's retirement in Malaysia, not to mention the other technical difficulties he's had all season.

Does a man with fewer race wins and a points advantage entirely down to luck really "deserve" to win the championship?

I agree it does look like Rosberg's year though - the F1 gods are smiling on him, that's for sure.  But it will be entirely down to Lewis dropping the ball on starts, and the team dropping the ball in preparing his car, rather than any particular racing dominance from Rosberg.  The few racing overtakes he's had to make have been woeful. 

Personally I find Rosberg the least appealing of any of the current drivers, both in personality and driving style, and even his silly rich-boy face.  He can be fast on a clear circuit but I don't believe he's much of a racer.  It's a shame Mercedes have stuck with him all these years.  I'd love to see someone else challenge Hamilton - Hulkenberg would be a good choice.  Now there's a racer who's never had a chance to show his true potential in F1.  Maybe Renault will come good just in time for him?

Fretwired

@modellista .. Nico's dad won the championship with a single win ... :-)

fretmeister

 

Fretwired

fretmeister said:

 

Ha ha ... :-)

HAL9000

Heartfeltdawn said:

...there's still no clarity on what is and what isn't allowed.  

Hey! There's someone here who expects clarity in F1!

Fretwired

HAL9000 said:

Heartfeltdawn said:

...there's still no clarity on what is and what isn't allowed.  

Hey! There's someone here who expects clarity in F1!

More fun when they make it up as they go along .. I see Vettel's in trouble with the FIA. They could ban him from Brazil.

fretmeister

No further punishment for Vettel after repeated apologies 

Bollocks.

Norwegian_Blue

Edit... shit, somehow missed the one post where this was already up here!

Fretwired

fretmeister said:

No further punishment for Vettel after repeated apologies 

Bollocks.

That's not good .. there seems to be a campaign against Max which is unfair. Vettel's a twat.