The F1 thread

Garthy

To be fair most of Mclaren's decisions since 2012 have been dubious at best and utterly shocking at worst, so giving the lad a drive wouldn't be out of character for them. The race team also desperately needs the cash.

stickyfiddle

At this point Latifi Jr doesn’t even look like he’ll ever get a whiff of a superlicense so I don’t think its a big issue!

Heartfeltdawn

He's got 20 points for coming fifth in F2 . Currently he's 9th and Norris is leading the championship. There are plenty of better drivers ahead of Master Latifi and that fifth place that he needs to get his Super Licence. I doubt that McLaren are pinning their hopes on him for 2019. Maybe a practice day or two, I presume there's going to be some young driver events later in the year, and maybe he'll be test driver next year. 

One hopes the rumours of McLaren going into WEC in the future after some rule changes for LMP1 are true. 

PC_Dave

From the Beeb:

Investigation into Ferrari

Behind the scenes, there is an investigation by governing body the FIA into the Ferrari hybrid system.

The FIA has been trying to understand how the energy store delivers electrical power to the car and had concerns that the way it was set up meant it could be used in an unscrupulous way. There is no evidence, however, that this has happened.

The investigation is ongoing but the two parties are said to be converging on a solution by which the FIA will be satisfied the energy store cannot be used in a way it should not be.

There have been no changes made to the energy store yet, but some are expected in the future.

Rivals are known to be unhappy but will have to put in an official protest if they want to test its legality.

Fretwired

PC_Dave said:

From the Beeb:

Investigation into Ferrari

Behind the scenes, there is an investigation by governing body the FIA into the Ferrari hybrid system.

The FIA has been trying to understand how the energy store delivers electrical power to the car and had concerns that the way it was set up meant it could be used in an unscrupulous way. There is no evidence, however, that this has happened.

The investigation is ongoing but the two parties are said to be converging on a solution by which the FIA will be satisfied the energy store cannot be used in a way it should not be.

There have been no changes made to the energy store yet, but some are expected in the future.

Rivals are known to be unhappy but will have to put in an official protest if they want to test its legality.

Mercedes complained but have no evidence Ferrari had misused their system. I guess it's linked to the strange button on the steering wheel and the performance boost Ferrari suddenly gets come Q3 and the race. Ferrari are off the pace in Monaco but come Saturday they'll probably be on pole.

chillidoggy

Dunno about that, I'm thinking the Bulls will just about pip them. Whatever, it's going to be a fascinating quali.

PC_Dave

chillidoggy said:

Dunno about that, I'm thinking the Bulls will just about pip them. Whatever, it's going to be a fascinating quali.

Certainly more interesting than the actual race....

stickyfiddle

Max will be on pole if he doesn't crash. But he'll bin it in the race either way. Seb will win because RB will fuck something up for Ricciardo again. 

Though personally I'm rooting for Bottas (mostly for his Monaco-special Hakkinen-lid this weekend) and DannyRic because I'm always rooting for DannyRic.

Fretwired

Max crashes into another car in FP2 ... damaged his front wing end plate .. :-)

Garthy

The suspicions around the Ferrari hybrid system stem from them being missiles on the straights.

I notice that Merc aren't behind Haas.

Fretwired

Garthy said:

The suspicions around the Ferrari hybrid system stem from them being missiles on the straights.

I notice that Merc aren't behind Haas.

Haas are having a nightmare .. McLaren are 1 second behind Red Bull ....

Boromedic

I dunno for Ferrari, turning up the wick at Monaco won't necessarily improve their laptimes much, if at all. Short of errors it's Max or Dani Ric (hope it's Dani) on pole I reckon and RB lockout I think. Ferrari looked to be struggling with tyre wear in P1, haven't watched P2 yet so not sure if they are still struggling. Red Bull looked great on tyre life, potentially might be able to extend their stint on the Hypers.

We shall see as the track rubbers in, they all looked insanely fast today though through the streets!! Could be some big crashes and a large number of safety cars during the race, don't think we will see 2 Williams, or Grosjean at the end!

Fretwired

Seen the Monaco expansion plans? Monaco is expanding via reclaimed land and there are plans to expand the race track with a proper straight or two.

Boromedic

No, not seen that Fret. I heard them on the commentary mention that they're reclaiming land where the tunnel starts so it will no longer be sea front. Didn't realise it could mean the racetrack gets extended. Exciting stuff if it happens!

Fretwired

Boromedic said:

No, not seen that Fret. I heard them on the commentary mention that they're reclaiming land where the tunnel starts so it will no longer be sea front. Didn't realise it could mean the racetrack gets extended. Exciting stuff if it happens!

Yep .. a redesign to make it more exciting. I guess being a street circuit the roads will support the new developments but with one eye on the F1 race. More news over the weekend apparently.

Boromedic

Fretwired said:

Boromedic said:

No, not seen that Fret. I heard them on the commentary mention that they're reclaiming land where the tunnel starts so it will no longer be sea front. Didn't realise it could mean the racetrack gets extended. Exciting stuff if it happens!

Yep .. a redesign to make it more exciting. I guess being a street circuit the roads will support the new developments but with one eye on the F1 race. More news over the weekend apparently.

That would be awesome if they could squeeze in a new straight with a sensible but not stupidly artificial overtaking opportunity. If they do it right it could be the best of all worlds, all the glitz and glamour, super tight crazy fast street racing, plus a chance to overtake. 

chillidoggy

Haven't seen that either, that sounds very interesting! Have you got a link, Fret?

Fretwired

chillidoggy said:

Haven't seen that either, that sounds very interesting! Have you got a link, Fret?

Early stages but here you go .... there will be more on this over the race weekend.

A €2 billion expansion project could stretch the tight, winding circuit of Monte Carlo into new territory

Prince Albert II, the prestigious Automotive Club of Monaco and it’s government are all toying with the prospect of altering the track layout of the Monaco Grand Prix from 2025 should the construction of the new ‘Portier Cove’ area in the city offer such an opportunity.

Prince Albert wanted to express that it isn’t a plan set in concrete, but could offer the opportunity to change the layout of the track. Speaking to Forbes, Prince Albert said:


“We always look, every once in a while, at different possibilities of extending the track, and certainly something to think about is that we are building the new land extension. There are no plans or anything yet, it is just in the back of all of our minds - people in the Automobile Club but also in the government - that there could be.

“I am not saying that it will happen necessarily, but at some point we are going to put our minds together and say, how can we not only improve this, but how can we make it a little more exciting by maybe changing the course slightly?”

https://wtf1.com/post/monaco-could-end-up-changing-the-track-layout-in-future/

ESchap

"isn't a plan set in concrete" …. lol!

stickyfiddle

I found this on F1Technical from a while back... basically, the right-hand immediately after the hairpin would be a right/left chicane, then they'd bomb across a bridge onto a new islandy bit, do a quick loop (potential overtaking spot there if they don't fuck the road layout up), then back over the same bridge/land bit towards Portier, then another left into the tunnel to continue as before, I think?

This is a bit old, so I assume the real estate master plan will have changed, but the concept is the same as far as I can tell.

I guess it would be fine to have a longer lap too - Vettel's average lap from last year's race was only 1:20, so an extra 20 seconds and a few fewer laps would be no issue.

I'm all for it.