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One of a few older threads I'm inclined to preserve.

Could be a funny topic, this. A piccy of an old F1 livery no longer in use, or modified so that it's all ugly. Immah start with the yellow Jordan cars, I loved their colour!

The Marlboro McLaren was F1 from the mid-eighties to v. early nineties... until those damn self-levelling Williams came along.

Swedish Ronnie Peterson around Anderstorp in 1973. Gotta hand it to em, tobacco sponsorship isn't always a bad thing. Renault failed to reboot this livery for sure

Beautiful shot.  Both John Players and a Tyrell in the background - I even prefer that simple blue livery to most (perhaps all?) of the current crop.  Is it just me or are the tones on these old cars easier on the eye than those of our modern paints?

Very true. Just compare the Ferrari of the 80s/90s to that of today. It is brighter now, is it not?

1987:


2011:


Hmm.. Maybe not...?

I was thinking older than that.  Paint jobs from the Seventies (and before) rather than eighties.  Not taken in sunlight, but doesn't this 1976 Ferrari 312T look muted:




Or Scheckter's '79 312T4:

True. Then again, it is easier to see sponsors on a brighter car. Just look at Renault.

No, one of the prettiest liveries of 2011 is Williams. I love it.

First driver: Vettel
Second driver: Massa Ocon from Hungary

Australia: Ericsson
China: Hulk
Bahrain: Massa
Russia: Magnussen
Spain: Sainz
Monaco: Button
Canada: Vettel
Baku: Perez
Austria: Grosjean
United Kingdom: Kimi
Hungary: Alonso
Belgium: Palmer
Italy: Stroll
Singapore: Ricciardo
Malaysia: Ocon
Japan: Verstappen
U.S.A.: Bottas
Mexico: Hartley
Brazil: Vandoorne
Abu Dhabi: Hamilton

Great driver/rider and by all accounts a great man as well.  Here's a brief overview of his career: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/03/10/john-surtees-1934-2017/

For comparison with how we score in a '2017 Season - Rate the Drivers' thread, should there be one.

Come on, then. This could be fun. On a scale of 1-10, rate the drivers involved in the previous GP. By the end of season, I will compile these stats to get the average rating for the driver overall (and therefore a Driver of the Season) and the average rating for the drivers per user (thus giving us YOUR Driver of the Season).


Chrill - Monaco:

Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton – 9/10
Nico Rosberg – 5/10

Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel – 8/10
Kimi Räikkönen – 4/10

Williams:
Valtteri Bottas – 5/10
Felipe Massa – 6/10

Red Bull:
Max Verstappen – 4/10
Daniel Ricciardo – 10/10

Force India:
Sergio Perez – 9/10
Nico Hülkenberg – 8/10

Renault:
Kevin Magnussen – 4/10
Jolyon Palmer – 3/10

Toro Rosso:
Daniil Kvyat – 2/10
Carlos Sainz Jr – 8/10

Sauber:
Marcus Ericsson – 4/10
Felipe Nasr – 3/10

McLaren:
Jenson Button – 7/10
Fernando Alonso – 9/10

Manor:
Rio Haryanto – 4/10
Pascal Wehrlein – 7/10

Haas:
Romain Grosjean – 5/10
Esteban Gutierrez – 6/10

Just the race or qualifying performance also?  I'll do mine on a combined Saturday/Sunday showing:

Penfold - Monaco:

Merc:
Ham - 9
Ros - 6

Ferrari:
Seb - 8
Kimi - 3

Williams:
Bottas - 6
Massa - 7

RB:
Max - 2
Dan - 10

FI:
Perez - 9
Hulk - 7

Renault:
Son of Magnus - 4
Son of Palmer - 2

TR:
Kvyat - 2
Sainz - 8

Sauber:
Chrill's mate Marcus - 3
Oates - 4

McLaren:
Alonso - 8
Button - 6

Manor:
Wehrlein - 6
Harry - 4

Haas:
Grosjean - 5
Guti - 6

Yes, I was rating over the weekend as a whole. For example, Rosberg's race was a 3 or 4 but his quali was good, so I bumped him up to 5

Hmm, need to do Montreal & Baku... wish I'd paid more attention to the Canadian highlights.  Might do this tomorrow.

OII I FORGOT.

European GP - Baku

Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton – 5/10
Nico Rosberg – 9/10

Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel – 8/10
Kimi Räikkönen – 6/10

Williams:
Valtteri Bottas – 7/10
Felipe Massa – 4/10

Red Bull:
Max Verstappen – 6/10
Daniel Ricciardo – 6/10

Force India:
Sergio Perez – 9/10
Nico Hülkenberg – 6/10

Renault:
Kevin Magnussen – 7/10
Jolyon Palmer – 3/10

Toro Rosso:
Daniil Kvyat – 7/10
Carlos Sainz Jr – 6/10

Sauber: (hurts to write these two!)
Marcus Ericsson – 4/10
Felipe Nasr – 8/10

McLaren:
Jenson Button – 7/10
Fernando Alonso – 7/10

Manor:
Rio Haryanto – 4/10
Pascal Wehrlein – 5/10

Haas:
Romain Grosjean – 5/10
Esteban Gutierrez – 4/10

Canadian GP - Montreal

Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton – 8/10
Nico Rosberg – 5/10

Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel – 9/10
Kimi Räikkönen – 5/10

Williams:
Valtteri Bottas – 9/10
Felipe Massa – 5/10

Red Bull:
Max Verstappen – 8/10
Daniel Ricciardo – 7/10

Force India:
Sergio Perez – 5/10
Nico Hülkenberg – 6/10

Renault:
Kevin Magnussen – 5/10
Jolyon Palmer – 4/10

Toro Rosso:
Daniil Kvyat – 5/10
Carlos Sainz Jr – 8/10

Sauber:
Marcus Ericsson – 8/10
Felipe Nasr – 3/10

McLaren:
Jenson Button – 5/10
Fernando Alonso – 7/10

Manor:
Rio Haryanto – 4/10
Pascal Wehrlein – 7/10

Haas:
Romain Grosjean – 5/10
Esteban Gutierrez – 6/10

These are slightly memory based and slightly "Google the race review" based, since Montreal was 10 days ago.

Baku

Merc:
Ham - 6
Ros - 10

Ferrari:
Seb - 8
Kimi - 7

Williams:
Bottas - 7
Massa - 5

RB:
Max - 7
Dan - 6

FI:
Perez - 10
Hulk - 5

Renault:
Son of Magnus - 7
Son of Palmer - 4

TR:
Kvyat - 6
Sainz - 6

Sauber:
Chrill's mate Marcus - 4
Oates - 7

McLaren:
Alonso - 7
Button - 7

Manor:
Wehrlein - 7
Harry - 5

Haas:
Grosjean - 6
Guti - 5


Memory blank on Canada so I'll have to skip it.

How's that for "too much free time"? Yup, an Excel document to do the math for us!!!

Some early stats!

Chrill's best: Sebastian Vettel, 25 (8.3 avg)
Chrill's worst: Jolyon Palmer, 10 (3.3 avg)

Penfold's best: Sergio Perez, 19 (9.5 avg)
Penfold's worst: Jolyon Palmer, 6 (3.0 avg)

I'm sure this will develop over time, with just 3 and 2 races rated so far.

Austrian GP

Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton – 8/10
Nico Rosberg – 5/10

Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel – 5/10
Kimi Räikkönen – 6/10

Williams:
Valtteri Bottas – 5/10
Felipe Massa – 4/10

Red Bull:
Max Verstappen – 9/10
Daniel Ricciardo – 6/10

Force India:
Sergio Perez – 6/10
Nico Hülkenberg – 6/10

Renault:
Kevin Magnussen – 5/10
Jolyon Palmer – 6/10

Toro Rosso:
Daniil Kvyat – X/10
Carlos Sainz Jr – 6/10

Sauber:
Marcus Ericsson – 4/10
Felipe Nasr – 5/10

McLaren:
Jenson Button – 8/10
Fernando Alonso – 5/10

Manor:
Rio Haryanto – 3/10
Pascal Wehrlein – 10/10

Haas:
Romain Grosjean – 7/10
Esteban Gutierrez – 6/10


I can't really rate Kvyat. He crashed in qualifying and then his car broke down basically at the start of the race. Giving him a 0 felt unfair so I'm simply excluding him from ratings overall.

Good idea for Kvyat, I'll do the same.

Austria:

Merc:
Ham - 8
Ros - 6

Ferrari:
Seb - 6
Kimi - 8

Williams - can barely remember seeing them all race!:
Bottas - 5
Massa - 5

RB:
Max - 10
Dan - 7

FI:
Perez - 7
Hulk - 5

Renault:
Son of Magnus - 4
Son of Palmer - 5

TR:
Kvyat - X
Sainz - 7

Sauber:
Chrill's mate Marcus - 4
Oates - 5

McLaren:
Alonso - 6 - Battery issues from lap 3 or 4 hindered his performance
Button - 8

Manor:
Wehrlein - 10
Harry - 4

Haas:
Grosjean - 8
Guti - 7

Great, I'll add Austria to the table.

I shall be in London during the British GP, so I'll try to find a decent pub showing the race.


ZE GRAND PRIX OF ZE BRITANNIA

Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton – 9/10
Nico Rosberg – 5/10

Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel – 4/10
Kimi Räikkönen – 8/10

Williams:
Valtteri Bottas – 4/10
Felipe Massa – 6/10

Red Bull:
Max Verstappen – 9/10
Daniel Ricciardo – 7/10

Force India:
Sergio Perez – 7/10
Nico Hülkenberg – 8/10

Renault:
Kevin Magnussen – 5/10
Jolyon Palmer – 4/10

Toro Rosso:
Daniil Kvyat – 5/10
Carlos Sainz Jr – 6/10

Sauber:
Marcus Ericsson – X/10 (no quali, only a few laps before retiring with car problems. I'm doing a "Kvyat X" here.
Felipe Nasr – 6/10

McLaren:
Jenson Button – 6/10
Fernando Alonso – 5/10

Manor:
Rio Haryanto – 4/10
Pascal Wehrlein – 3/10

Haas:
Romain Grosjean – 5/10
Esteban Gutierrez – 5/10

LET US RATE THE MAGYAR NAGIDYJ!

Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton – 7/10
Nico Rosberg – 6/10

Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel – 7/10
Kimi Räikkönen – 8/10

Williams:
Valtteri Bottas – 6/10
Felipe Massa – 3/10

Red Bull:
Max Verstappen – 6/10
Daniel Ricciardo – 7/10

Force India:
Sergio Perez – 5/10
Nico Hülkenberg – 6/10

Renault:
Kevin Magnussen – 4/10
Jolyon Palmer – 7/10

Toro Rosso:
Daniil Kvyat – 4/10
Carlos Sainz Jr – 8/10

Sauber:
Marcus Ericsson – 4/10
Felipe Nasr – 6/10

McLaren:
Jenson Button – 6/10
Fernando Alonso – 8/10

Manor:
Rio Haryanto – 5/10
Pascal Wehrlein – 6/10

Haas:
Romain Grosjean – 6/10
Esteban Gutierrez – 5/10

Very low scoring round because nobody did anything exceptional. Rating Alonso high because he brought that McLaren to P7 and beat Button by a lot all race long. Rated Raikkonen highly because he took advantage of his harder tyre compound to elevate himself to an acceptable 6th. He should have beat Verstappen though. Rated the Mercedes boys low(ish) because they were complaining and struggling and driving close to the Red Bulls all day long. Hamilton one point over Rosberg thanks to simply taking the lead during the start. That is all.

Felipe Massa finished an abysmal P18 so he's the lowest ranked this weekend. Shoutout to Palmer for a decent run in the Renault which he sadly messed up by turning in too late and spinning on the dirty tyre leftovers at turn 4.

I'll swing back round and do Silverstone later, but first to quickly score yesterday's excitement in case it somehow slips from my memory.

Hungary:

Merc:
Ham - 6
Ros - 5

Ferrari:
Seb - 6
Kimi - 8

Williams - almost at a loss how to score Massa, he (his car?) was so slow:
Bottas - 5
Massa - 2

RB:
Max - 6
Dan - 8

FI:
Perez - 5
Hulk - 5

Renault:
Son of Magnus - 3
Son of Palmer - 7 - lost some because of spin

TR:
Kvyat - 3 - just terrible... again.
Sainz - 8

Sauber:
Chrill's mate Marcus - 3
Oates - 5

McLaren:
Alonso - 9
Button - 5 - tricky to score due to car issues

Manor:
Wehrlein - 6
Harry - 5

Haas:
Grosjean - 5
Guti - 6 - one bonus point for naughtily delaying Lewis, one of the few memorable moments of race.

You made me edit Sainz. Kvyat really was awful, and Sainz was fantastic.

Wonder what Kvyat will be doing in 2017... because he sure as hell won't be driving for Toro Rosso.

Wonder what Kvyat will be doing in 2017... because he sure as hell won't be driving for Toro Rosso.

The way he's been driving since joining Toro Rosso implies an inability to handle setbacks. F1 drivers must be able to handle setbacks. I don't see why any team would want to sign him. Damaged goods, you know. I see Camara or Gasly getting a drive at Toro Rosso alongside Sainz.

I'd rather see Toro Rosso sign someone else though. Someone outside Red Bull. Their current youth isn't really good enough. I'd quite like to see Maximilian Günther (GER) or Ralf Aron (EST) (yes. Estonia) drive Toro Rosso next year.

EDIT: Or Joey Mawson, 2nd year in Formula 4 and the only one beating Mick Schumacher.

This is all true... But it's not the 2017 Drivers topic.

This is all true... But it's not the 2017 Drivers topic.

True. Where's your ratings?

Right. Let's give it. the GROSSER PREIS VON DEUTSCHLAND.

Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton – 8/10
Nico Rosberg – 5/10

Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel – 6/10
Kimi Räikkönen – 6/10

Williams:
Valtteri Bottas – 7/10
Felipe Massa – 3/10

Red Bull:
Max Verstappen – 5/10
Daniel Ricciardo – 8/10

Force India:
Sergio Perez – 6/10
Nico Hülkenberg – 7/10

Renault:
Kevin Magnussen – 6/10
Jolyon Palmer – 5/10

Toro Rosso:
Daniil Kvyat – 5/10
Carlos Sainz Jr – 6/10

Sauber:
Marcus Ericsson – 7/10
Felipe Nasr – 4/10

McLaren:
Jenson Button – 7/10
Fernando Alonso – 5/10

Manor:
Rio Haryanto – 5/10
Pascal Wehrlein – 7/10

Haas:
Romain Grosjean – 6/10
Esteban Gutierrez – 7/10

I am appalled by the penalty handed to Rosberg. Verstappen has moved under braking twice. This clearly means that the stewards deem such a move OK. I cannot believe it. Even worse when Rosberg got 2 penalty points for his move. Sure, he turned in unnecessarily late and he did so in part to show Verstappen. Then again, his line through the corner was badly affected by Verstappen moving about after hitting his brakes. Absurd. Absolutely absurd. This stewards decision is among the worst since I started watching, that's for sure.

Driver of the weekend is a tie for me, Hamilton and Ricciardo. Shoutouts to Jenson Button, Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson. Finally a good race for the Swede. One advantage of watching the Swedish broadcast is that the commentary focuses on Marcus and therefore inevitably focuses on the drivers around him. Makes it a lot easier for me to grade the backmarkers every week.

Felipe Massa takes the Worst Driver of the Weekend score once again, with a really bad race.

EDIT: Allow me to add a comment on the Rosberg-Verstappen incident. Penalising Rosberg was correct. Not penalising Verstappen is the absurd bit.

No, not a compendium of upcoming 'F1 Rocks' performances (sorry), instead join me in welcoming an exclusive home for the interminable story that is F1's proposed 2013 engine regs.  Previous coverage has been haphazardly dumped into the 'News Snippets' thread (or elsewhere, I forget), but given that the sport seems determined to drag this story out I've decided to cram all pertinent developments into one spot.  Right here.

Beginning with differences in opinion between various parties: http://www.motorsportmagazine.co.uk/2011/06/17/f1-engine-debate-rages-on/

I have to side with that McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh said not long go; Turbocharged V6 engines. It's a downgrade, but not to a 1.6 litre straight four. You find those engines in a Ford Mondeo, damnit. I would personally support a move back to the V10s of past times, but I know it will never happen. Formula 1 has lost its soul with all these damned rule changes..

Yep.  I'm hoping a V6 turbo-shaped compromize will be reached.  Although I'd still like to see a limit put on fuel consumption (not too low!) and give the engineers pretty much free rein on engine size, configuration, etc.


And here it is, a V6 turbo-shaped compromize (with a one year delay included as a Brucie bonus): http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/13878359.stm

For 2014 as well. Gives us two more years of these engines. Will this postpone all the other rules for 2013, or will we have 3 major rule overhauls in four years? (2011, 2013, 2014)

I believe the delay affects only the engines, with upgraded KERS & aero revisions kept on the 2013 schedule.  I'm sure the Beeb presenters will discuss the issue this weekend, will report back if all rule changes have shifted.

I hope that they dooo have a sports bar in Skala! If they do, I hope my friends bother joining me into town on Sunday around 3pm local!

Guess that depends on how much 'quiet recuperation' they require after Saturday night.  And whether they're F1 nuts.


Engine delay & shift to V6 design confirmed by FIA: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/13878359.stm

Good to see max revs have been upped from the proposed 12,000 to 15,000.  Done to allay concerns over damaging the aural experience of F1.


Dear reader, I imagine that, like myself, barely an hour passes when you don't throw back your head & wail at the top of your lungs: WHY, OH GOD, WHY DID THEY NEARLY RUN WITH 4-CYLINDER TURBOS.  Well now we have an answer... Audi committed itself to entering F1 providing that was the direction taken: http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/52832.html

Audi then promptly backtracked on its threatened foray into F1, leaving us with an engine proposal almost universally unpopular.


Reporters get a sneak peek of Merc's V6 turbo: http://www.yallaf1.com/2013/01/13/mercedes-f1-turbo-engine-breaks-cover-and-it-sounds-sweet/

So it's slightly quieter but with a deeper sound.

First I've read of the 100 kg (about 140 litres) fuel allowance for 2014; quite a substantial drop from the 150-odd kilos of fuel they load up with under current regulations.

Well then, need to make the engines a lot more fuel efficient. I guess they weren't REALLY made with that in mind at first.

They'll be loaded up with energy recovery systems (kinetic & exhaust heat) to aid them in this task, plus of course they're down-sized turbos to begin with.

Another hint that Honda engines could make a welcome return: http://www.yallaf1.com/2013/02/26/honda-may-have-secret-f1-turbo-engine-project-in-progress/

McLaren-Honda? Yes please.

Has a lovely ring to it.  Now if we could just get them to run in the old Marlboro livery....

Some say booze is just as addicting as cigarettes.  Oh well rules are rules.

I support a turbocharger idea.  But I want it on the current V8's .

I fail to see why cigarette and alcohol branding would be any different. Ban both or ban none, really. If we're on that sponsorship topic again

I'd say neither, but I'm sure the EU will get around to banning alcohol advertizing during this decade - and presumably gambling ads; and they are the people who run our countries now....

So, we'll end up with silly telecom and bank marketing. Vodafone, Santander, etc.? I can't even begin to imagine those brands on F1 cars..

I take your (sarcastic) point in the spirit intended but I will casually mention that F1 is not exactly overburdened with sponsorship cash these days, so let's hope no other revenue streams (e.g. from alcohol brands) are denied to the teams.

You are indeed right. I'LL START A SWEDISH TEAM, BACKED BY IKEA. Yup. They're all rich and such. Engines manufactured by Koenigsegg. Minor sponsors include H&M and Absolut Vodka. Or Kopparbergs Cider.



This is only slightly Photoshopped. Believe it or not, I based this car on the Williams car. I know, it's hard to see.

What remarkable skills you possess; that photoshopping blends seamlessly onto the, what did you say it was, Williams?

Just need a fancy, headline-grabbing name for your team....

Yes. The name is a work in progress.


FlatpaCabba Racing? Hint to Ikea and to Abba. Very good.
IKEABBA?
Svea Rike F1...

[Michael Schumacher]

Well, I was bored, and procrastinating since I have my history final tomorrow. I entered the topic of "2008 Formula One Season" and took a look at the reserve/test drivers of that year. Out of all test/reserves of 2008, all these have gone on to race in Formula 1 at least temporarily:

Luca Badoer
Michael Schumacher
Christian Klien
Romain Grosjean
Lucas di Grassi
Sakon Yamamoto
Nico Hülkenberg
Sébastien Buemi
Kamui Kobayashi
Vitantonio Liuzzi
Pedro de la Rosa

11 drivers from 2008, 4 of which are permanent F1 race drivers in 2011!!

Anyone else finding some weirdo facts, or am I the only one crazy enough? Probably so

Yeah, probably just you.  Just 11 test/reserve drivers in '08 - give Renault another couple of years and they'll have a dozen of their own.

If only that exam was on the history of F1....

I know F1 history fairly well from around 2004 to today, but the further back the less I know. I'd say I have merely a general understanding of the 90s

... but 'History of F1' would've made for an interesting course.  How went the actual history exam?

It went well, I got an A in that class (had I actually been studying at University, I'd have a GPA of 3.92 )


Hey hey, I renamed this topic to fit this in:

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/50699.html?CMP=OTC-RSS

Not actual important news, but hey, who gives a bloody ?

HA!  What a muppet.  Looks like he was trying to leap the car....

Oh yeah, I've no idea what a GPA of 3.92 equates to, but based on your choice of smiley it's obviously pretty good.  So well done with that.

Heh, well.. I had 6 A's (2 of them A-), 1 B+ and 1 C+. The GPA of 3.92 was for the second semester only, where I had all A's (one A-)

So... a 3.63 overall?

Hmm, I'm looking up my WebPortal stuffs grading...  3.62 overall!

Force India is to auction off a hand-painted VJM01 (their first car), with money raised split between Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Force India's Academy - which supports motor racing initiatives for Indian children.  The car was lovingly painted by Dexter Brown, pictures of car below:

- Dead links to dead pic host -

Too bad he didn't go with scenes of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the African plains, at least on one side of the car - perhaps elephants on the other.

If someone allowed me to paint anything I liked on an F1 car, I'd paint boobies.

Didn't doubt that for a second. 

Dunno where to put it, but it's so brilliant I have to share it. Today's best line from our commentator: "Tyres for dry rain."

Sounds like you have a Slovenian Murray Walker - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Walker - on your hands. Cherish it.

Some on-air Murray quotes:

"Do my eyes deceive me, or is Senna's Lotus sounding rough?"

"Alboreto has dropped back up to fifth place"

Murray: "What's that? There's a BODY on the track!!!"
James: "Um, I think that that is a piece of BODY-WORK, from someone's car."

"I don't want to tempt fate but Damon Hill is now only half a lap from his first Grand Prix win and..and HE'S SLOWING DOWN, DAMON HILL IS SLOWING DOWN..HE'S..HE'S STOPPED."

Murray: "And look at the flames coming from the back of Berger's McLaren."
James: "Actually, Murray, they're not flames, it's the safety light."

"...and there's no damage to the car.....except to the car itself."

"This is an interesting circuit because it has inclines, and not just up, but down as well."

"Only a few more laps to go and then the action will begin, unless this is the action, which it is."

"Andrea de Cesaris...the man who has won more Grand Prix than anyone else without actually winning one of them."

Ah, we have our very own take on that. The difference is, Murray Walker just found the wrong words and our commentator is just completely incompetent and useless and rubbish. Take this race at the Hungaroring: When it started raining and Hamilton spun, they said (after Button had passed Hamilton and after the two lapped the Force India) "I'm hearing reports about rain on parts of the track". Meanwhile, it had been pouring for at least 10-15 seconds on camera. I can't believe they don't just WATCH the damn race, I could spot the rain despite using a stupid proxy stream

Ah, so you're burdened with an idiot rather than an intelligent but occasionally tongue/brain-tied M. Walker type.  You know I do miss the Murray moments... although he was getting worse as the years went by.

Indeed. The same guy has been doing the commentating since forever. He's got the perfect TV voice but he's a retard (The Hangover movie pronunciation)

Ah, sounds familiar Chrill. Same situation here. The man's jumping around in his little commentator's room (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sgpe2pdNZI), shouting and generally missing all the action on the track; always very slow, etc. etc. He's kinda good as a journalist(?), but he's just not doing his job on commentating. Plus, he just won't shut up when there's 'team radio'. Then when he's supposed to translate it, he's all like "I didn't here that well." Of course you didn't, you were talking. At least he manages to say something funny often enough.

The man's jumping around in his little commentator's room (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sgpe2pdNZI), shouting and generally missing all the action on the track;

Good grief.  He would drive me mad within 15 minutes; I prefer my commentary on the calmer side.

I absolutely love the Brundle-Coulthard line-up. They are amazingly entertaining. During the Canadian GP a few months back.. Heck, they kept doing commentary during that break and I was never bored. Talking about birds and boats and all. It was entertaining even then because they're just great

Echoes my feelings exactly.  Sadly we must enjoy them while we can - I'm almost certain Sky will poach Brundle (in the sense of luring him over as presenter rather than what one might do to an egg), but suspect they may pair him with one of their own over DC.  Though whether or not he follows Brundle is kind of irrelevant unless you have Sky Sports....

Well.. I heard some Tweets from Brundle about the Sky deal. He was "not impressed"

Yes, not impressed to find out with the rest of us poor slobs that the BBC walked (ran?) from its exclusive F1 deal.  I'm sure the number of noughts on a BSkyB offer to Brundle will impress him in a more positive manner.

[GP2]

Right. Rumours say Ferrari and Red Bull will race a third car in 2015. There is no confirmation since there are lots of rules to deal with. Will they score points? If yes, unfair in terms of constructors. If no, why spend extra money on the car? Livery, sponsorship, logistics?

There is a lot of work to be taken care of. One way would be to let the third car be earmarked as a non-constructors points car but still let it score driver's points. The increased sponsorship alongside more money from Bernie would make it worth the investment for the two teams.

Who would drive it, then?
Well, at Red Bull the logical option is to let another teenager in. Carlos Sainz Jr. I would still let Vergne stay in Toro Rosso to mentor Verstappen for a season.

Ferrari, then. Davide Rigon perhaps. Esteban Ocon has tested a Ferrari but belongs to Lotus. Jolyon Palmer is looking for F1 options and is the reigning GP2 champion. They clearly wanted Bianchi for a third seat but... yeah.

This topic can be a space for us to name all the talents outside Formula 1. The next superhero. Who do we have in various junior formulae?

Right, GP2 guys who seem to be capable of F1 decency:

Jolyon Palmer, UK
Stoffel Vandoorne, Belgium
Mitch Evans, UK
Marco Sørensen, Denmark
Raffaele Marciello, Italy
Arthur Pic, France

GP3 guys:
Alex Lynn, UK
Dean Stoneman, UK
Marvin Kirchhöfer, Germany
Jimmy Eriksson, Sweden
Richie Stanaway, New Zealand
Dino Zamparelli, UK
Patric Niederhauser, Switzerland

Formula Renault 3.5 guys:
Carlos Sainz, Jr., Spain
Pierre Gasly, France
Roberto Merhi, Spain
Oliver Rowland, UK
Sergey Sirotkin, Russia

Formula 3 guys:
Esteban Ocon, France
Tom Blomqvist, UK/Sweden (races under UK flag today, Swedish flag earlier in his career)
Max Verstappen, Netherlands (well.. yeah)
Antonio Fuoco, Italy
Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy
Felix Rosenqvist, Sweden
Jake Dennis, UK

Ugh... So many British people. At least I did find two Swedes. Woo.

Any leftovers?
Robin Frijns, Netherlands
Mirko Bortolotti, Italy (his career has stalled in terms of Young Driver's programmes but he is still winning the series he competes in. He has reached 24 years though.)
Lance Stroll, Canada (current Italian Formula 4 champion in his first year. 16 years old, backed by Ferrari)
Alice Powell, UK (one of few females in supporting categories. She is the first female to score points in GP3 for example. Already "old" at 21 years and still in GP3.)
Martin Cao, China (British Formula 3 champion)

Think you got them all.  Hopefully three car teams won't happen, but yeah, Carlos Sainz Mk. II is the obvious RB candidate; really no idea who Ferrari would favour, possibly one of their academy guys such as Raffaele Marciello?

F1 or off topic....

Come on! This requires some dedication but it could be good fun. We know Hermann Tilke is GREAT at designing circuits. We now Formula 1 is always looking for new STREET CIRCUITS to race in. We have Baku, we have Las Vegas, we have New York. IT NEVER STOPS! For this reason, I want you to grab a map (Google Maps, Google Earth, etc.) and design your OWN STREET CIRCUIT. Might be difficult. Here are a few recommendations of cities:

1. London
2. Paris
3. Los Angeles
4. Tokyo
5. Your country's capital

Create a diagram of the circuit and let's work out a few nice street circuits. I'm currently working on a race in central Stockholm, I have two lay-outs and I'm not sure about either.

Circuit 1:

This feels like a bit of a Tilke design really. A few long straights with heavy braking. The North-West section is rather interesting as the track first climbs up a smaller road before flying across the bridge and down to a decent overtaking spot. Still, quite a lot of 90 degree turns. Hard to avoid in a city.



Circuit 2:

This circuit is a bit longer and could possibly provide a more flowing circuit. In addition, it passes several sights such as the House of Parliament, the Royal Castle and many more. The southern island is the "Old Town" is Stockholm. Near the center of the track, you'll find a very long right-hander. This track features fewer obvious overtaking spots but several potential spots.


Fire away!

OK, the first track is too short I see now. The second is almost a bit too short also. I SHALL RETURN WITH MORE. How about combining the two? Hmm.

EDIT:
Here we go! This track combines elements of both previous tracks. Super massive straight leading to the first corner though. Very Tilke. Otherwise I think it's done a good job of avoiding too many 90 degree turns.

I prefer your second attempt to no. 3, particularly the cleaner Western half, but pair it with the Eastern-most bridge crossing from your third effort - that central route with roundabout is too fiddly.  Going to cut the track to under 2.5 miles, but nothing wrong with short street circuits.

Said to be discussions about Vegas hosting a GP: http://www.grandprix247.com/2014/10/18/las-vegas-set-to-return-to-host-f1-grand-prix/

So with that in mind, I shall grab a map and see how easily the city lends itself to a circuit - can't do worse than the Caesars Palace (car park) GP.

Ah, good idea. Vegas circuit. I shall try it too.

After a quick(ish) first go, I wouldn't necessarily say that Vegas roads are a natural choice for an interesting GP circuit - especially as any track must include a chunk of the strip, and corners which aren't 90 degrees are kind of scarce.  Anyway, 4.5 miles of uninspiring tarmac (start/finish in front of the Bellagio):

Where once there was a valiant effort to one-up modern-day track designers, now lives only a dead link to a defunct image hosting site.  So sad.  So sad.


Another attempt later, and then perhaps we should try Madrid: http://www.grandprix247.com/2014/10/21/plans-emerge-for-madrid-f1-race/

Well, your attempt looks better than what I managed to create. Las Vegas definitely isn't good for a street circuit. I'll go Madrid.

EDIT: Madrid does lend itself to F1 better. There are tighter corners, less 90 degree roads and quite some open wide roads. This is just a very first attempt. I'm using a small portion of "Gran Vía" which is pretty much the Madrid equivalent of the Strip. There are many areas to use, it's difficult to know what part of town you actually wish to go by!!

Oh, what fun: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/38530855

Good morning to the fine folks at Liberty Media.  So there are these two tiny, but somewhat pressing, problems with the F1 business you just bought for a crazy sum of money: circuits which host sell-out races still lose money on the endeavour; and any team that finishes outside the top ten in successive years gets zero prize money, and promptly collapses into bankruptcy.

Time for a cunning plan?

Didn't I say this would happen when Nasr scored points? That Brazilian can do NOTHING right!

Also Nasr scored points. That shunts Manor out of the top 10  and away from a cool 30 million Euros.

Did Nasr just kill Manor? That money may have been vital for them.

Yup I did say that.

Search for a buyer continues: http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/10726908/manor-administrator-in-talks-with-interest-parties-as-rescue-bid-continues

Staff paid only until end of January so take that as the deadline to find new owners.

The deadline appears to be a week from now. If they start building the car by then, they will be able to get to Australia. Any later and they will probably miss the first race.

FIA rules let them miss up to three races, so not terminal if they couldn't make it to Oz... but obviously not ideal either.


God knows why, but someone out there is interested in buying the cash-sucking creature called Manor Racing: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/127754/offer-made-to-save-manor-for-2017

How lovely. I wouldn't mind keeping that team around.

Motorsport Manager has been out on Steam for a while. It's 50% off today through Friday. I just bought my copy, it could be worth giving it a go. I'll get back to you when I've tried it out to let you know if it's any good. Reviews are positive though.

Cheers for the heads up.  Be interested to hear your thoughts.

[44. Lewis Hamilton]

It is about time. I mean, we've already had a race this year.

The fact is, silly season is already starting with rumours linking Max Verstappen to Red Bull and Ferrari. In turn, Ricciardo is rumoured to join Ferrari too. How about a Vettel-Ricciardo pairing at Ferrari and a Kvyat-Verstappen at Red Bull? Will post a decent chart later. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe in June.

EDIT: Right, here we go. Order as based on current standings:

Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team:
44. Lewis Hamilton (source)
14. Fernando Alonso (source)
19. Felipe Massa (source)
46. Valentino Rossi (source)
77. Valtteri Bottas (source)
94. Pascal Wehrlein (source)

Red Bull Racing:
3. Daniel Ricciardo (source)
33. Max Verstappen (source)

Scuderia Ferrari:
5. Sebastian Vettel (source)
7. Kimi Raikkonen (source)

Sahara Force India Formula One Team:
11. Sergio Perez (source)
31. Esteban Ocon (source)

Williams Martini Racing:
18. Lance Stroll (source)
77. Valtteri Bottas (source)
19. Felipe Massa (source)

McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team:
2. Stoffel Vandoorne (source)
14. Fernando Alonso (source)

Scuderia Toro Rosso:
55. Carlos Sainz, Jr. (source)
26. Daniil Kvyat (source)

Haas F1 Team:
8. Romain Grosjean (source)
20. Kevin Magnussen (source)

Renault Sport Formula One Team:
27. Nico Hülkenberg (source)
30. Jolyon Palmer (source)

Sauber F1 Team:
9. Marcus Ericsson (source)
12. Felipe Nasr (source)
13. Pastor Maldonado (source)
94. Pascal Wehrlein (source)
?. Antonio Giovinazzi (source)

Manor Racing MRT:
12. Felipe Nasr (source)
13. Pastor Maldonado (source)
21. Esteban Gutiérrez (source)
88. Rio Haryanto (source)
94. Pascal Wehrlein (source)
?. Jordan King (source)

I like to give a season at least two races before speculating wildly about the next year....

No. You're wrong.

That there be fighting talk!

Chrill just can't wait to predict that Button will lose his seat. Eventually he'll be right...

It will happen some day.

Might even be next year given Stoffel's performance in Bahrain.

Here's a very first edition of the 2017 Drivers table. I've only added drivers as Confirmed if the source is reliable enough, and I've only added rumours to which I've found a good source. Grosjean or Bottas to Ferrari isn't on the list for that reason.


Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team:
44. Lewis Hamilton (source)
6. Nico Rosberg (source)

Scuderia Ferrari:
5. Sebastian Vettel (source)
7. Kimi Raikkonen (source)

Red Bull Racing:

Williams Martini Racing:
22. Jenson Button (source)

Haas F1 Team:

Scuderia Toro Rosso:

Sahara Force India Formula One Team:
27. Nico Hülkenberg (source)

McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team:
47. Stoffel Vandoorne (source)

Renault Sport Formula One Team:
20. Kevin Magnussen (source)

Sauber F1 Team:

Manor Racing MRT:

Here we go again. My boss, who once said "Marcus Ericsson has a 2 year contract with Sauber" t way before media said anything about it has told me more stuff. You'll be surprised to hear Marcus is getting attention from 3 teams currently in the paddock:

Sauber (not strange, I suppose)
Williams (perhaps a bit more surprising)
McLaren (wait what?)

Sauber is apparently keen to maintain at least one of the two boys for 2017, preferably both considering their sponsorship. This is not a major surprise.

Williams is looking around in case Massa retires or Bottas moves on. If that happens, Ericsson and his money is supposedly one of the drivers they are looking at.

McLaren is apparently expecting Button to retire by this season and is worried Alonso may re-return to Renault. This would of course hand Stoffel one seat, but Marcus is possibly looking at the second one.


In addition to this, I would assume he would start negotiating for a reserve seat in a team if Sauber were to fold.

EDIT: And then there's the obvious link to Ferrari I made a few weeks ago.

Added the following:

Rosberg to Ferrari
Alonso to Mercedes
Verstappen, Ricciardo confirmed for Red Bull


Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team:
44. Lewis Hamilton (source)
6. Nico Rosberg (source)
14. Fernando Alonso (source)
94. Pascal Wehrlein (source)

Scuderia Ferrari:
5. Sebastian Vettel (source)
6. Nico Rosberg (source)
7. Kimi Raikkonen (source)

Red Bull Racing:
3. Daniel Ricciardo (source)
33. Max Verstappen (source)

Williams Martini Racing:
22. Jenson Button (source)
?. ---

Scuderia Toro Rosso:
?. ---
?. ---

Haas F1 Team:
?. ---
?. ---

Sahara Force India Formula One Team:
27. Nico Hülkenberg (source)
?. ---

McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team:
47. Stoffel Vandoorne (source)
?. ---

Renault Sport Formula One Team:
?. ---
?. ---

Sauber F1 Team:
?. ---
?. ---

Manor Racing MRT:
?. ---
?. ---

Added Pierre Gasly to Toro Rosso.

Werlhein tested again for Mercedes in Barcelona, reckon that they'll slot him in if the Rosberg / Hamilton partnership becomes untenable?

Very possible, just need a source saying it is a possibility

EDIT: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/05/19/f1-fanatic-round-up-1905-2/
And there's the source. Wehrlein added to Mercedes.

Are these pre-season times largely meaningless?  Well, maybe, but anyway let's have a gander at who managed what in the first four days of circling Barcelona: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/03/03/2017-test-one-best-driver-times-and-tyres-used/

Or... the dregs that don't warrant their own thread.  You decide.

Just a fraction of the old thread (starting late Nov. 2013):

Drivers to keep numbers throughout career! Huzzah! A proposal anyway, but there seems to be general approval all around. So each driver would have their own personal number and would only swap for #1 in case of winning the championship. FIA/Bernie also asked teams for larger numbers on the car, but teams are reluctant.

I'm not too happy about this. I like the numbering we have now. It gives me as a viewer some sense of what the team has achieved. Running 1-2 on your car is good. Running 18-19 is not all that funny. I like it.

Then again, if at least number 1 is for the current world champion, then I'd be OK with it. I'd want number 69.

Oo-er!

I'm fine with the numbers as they stand.  I mean, am I likely to memorize the 22 driver/number combinations when we have only two drivers per (easily-identifiable) car, and they each wear a uniquely(ish) coloured crash helmet?  That said, I would be happy to see drivers limited to one helmet design per season (preferably they keep it their entire career, but I'll settle for one a year); also some variation between team-mates wouldn't go amiss - don't both pick designs of predominantly the same colour.

They do it in the US and people associate numbers with drivers there I am sure. In Europe, I only know Valentino Rossi.

Perhaps the sport could abandon tiresome names completely... come in Number Six, your time is up.


Moving on seamlessly from that nod to 1960's British TV... I see Williams is further strengthening its aero department with a pair of acquisitions: http://grandprix247.com/2013/12/09/williams-announces-new-recruits-from-red-bull-and-lotus/

Drivers to receive double points on final race from 2014 on! Meaning winner gets 50, 2nd place is worth 36 points, etc. on final race, other races the points stay the same. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111795

Is this some kind of joke? Are they bloody serious with this? I'm no longer watching F1, screw 'em all!
Apparently there's already a petition against it (not that those ever worked, anyway, but worth a shot?) http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/formula1

Oh for fuck sake.  So you build up a 49-point lead over 18 rounds only to suffer an unfortunate mechanical failure/get taken out by another driver/run over tyre-ripping debris etc in Abu Dhabi and see the title snatched away, because apparently this one race is worth twice any other.  Do the people who come up with this stuff actually like Formula One?

Signed the petition and I shall now (well, later today) e-mail the FIA to express my displeasure.

Signed it and used the Penfold outrage as my comment.

So you build up a 49-point lead over 18 rounds only to suffer an unfortunate mechanical failure/get taken out by another driver/run over tyre-ripping debris etc in Abu Dhabi and see the title snatched away, because apparently this one race is worth twice any other.

This. Hah.

Omitted my first four words? 

A fourth place at Yas will earn just one point less than a victory at any other circuit.  Seems reasonable.  I honestly didn't think the FIA would ever out-gimmick DRS, of course I should've known better.

The first thing when I did when I spotted this was look at the calendar. Couldn't quite believe it wasn't the 1st of April.

Omitted my first four words? 

A fourth place at Yas will earn just one point less than a victory at any other circuit.  Seems reasonable.  I honestly didn't think the FIA would ever out-gimmick DRS, of course I should've known better.

With this new change, I think even "fake rain" would make more sense than this. Bernie's idea of random rain to spice it all up.

I will make the last MF1 round worth half as much to compensate.

Artificial rain, shortcuts, "turbo" button which you have, but the guy in front doesn't, double points on one race. Sounds like sport alright. Should perhaps put a joker instead, Jeux Sans Frontières-style. Or, might be an idea for MF1. Have a chance to win double points on any one race in the season, must be decided before qualifying.

Well, at least Vettel is with us: http://grandprix247.com/2013/12/10/vettel-this-is-absurd-and-punishes-those-who-have-worked-hard-for-a-whole-season/

Helmut Marko saying that the original idea was to have double points for the final four races but that it got whittled down to just one: the thrill-fest that is Abu Dhabi - a venue which has co-incidentally just paid a sizeable fee for the privilege of closing out the season.

co-incidentally

yeah

[Felix Rosenqvist]

I couldn't find a topic dedicated to the series below F1, but we need one because I'm going on a rant.

Felix Rosenqvist should be in Formula 1!!

He has kicked everyone's ass in Formula 3 this year, he beat the second placed guy (Antonio Giovinazzi, a highly rated Italian driver) by over 100 points:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_European_Formula_3_season#Drivers.27_championship

He won the 2014 Macau GP, he finished second in Macau 2013. He has won the Pau Grand Prix, Master of Formula 3, and most lower series he raced in. He lacks the cash to go higher than F3 though. Looking possible he is moving to the Japanese Super Formula in 2016. GRRRR. He should be in F1.

EDIT: Oh, he pre-qualified 1st for the 2015 Macau GP too with a new lap record just minutes ago.

... and it could've easily been well over 100 points if his competitors hadn't taken him out of so many races.  If only he had a fabulously wealthy father like Master Lance Stroll, who has somehow bagged a testing role with Williams.

On the plus side, I can watch the Macau GP on the freeview channel Motors TV... so that's something.

I believe he was part of the Mercedes club (and still is) but they're backing Pascal Wehrlein. Felix might end up in DTM but that's not really likely either. I might be watching the Macau GP too, it's not usually all that entertaining to watch though. Too narrow. Like Monaco with less glamour and more grit.

What a way to end the GP2 tests. Number 1, Swedish GP2 rookie Gustav Malja. Number 2, Swedish GP2 rookie Jimmy Eriksson. Very good.

Ferrari angling for Mick Schumacher, who otherwise appears to be more well connected with Mercedes:

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ferrari-would-welcome-schumacher-to-fda-with-red-carpet-865196/?s=1

Which leaves only the small matter of impressing either party with his F3 efforts.

I mean, seriously, how is there not a topic discussing circuits?

I figured I needed a good place to discuss the Port Imperial Street Circuit (New Jersey/New York 2013) and a circuit topic would do it.

(Click for larger view)


What are your opinions? I mean, the start/finish straight is basically non-existant, see here:

This would run better in the other direction, that is counter-clockwise I guess. Still, seems like a lame copy of Monaco with wanted some fake Montreal effect. Dunno, dunno. Would have to see it raced, for better judgment. But it seems just too narrow, many slow corners, almost no straights, no fast corners. Or maybe I'm mistaken, the track is over 5 km long after all.

I still can't lose the Monaco impression, however. OK, chicane right after start is just plane stupid, than we have some corners like st.devote/la source/rascasse. Actually 3/4 is totally rascasse. 5-11 looks bit like Beau Rivage or maybe fake Eau Rouge into Kemmel complex. 13 is Massenet from Monaco. Then there's obvious standard trademark Tilke hairpin aka Loews. Followed by long "straight" like in Monaco, except without chicanes. Then 18/19 and 1/2 is again like Piscine in Monaco.
Of course Montreal also have those straight/chicane/hairpin things bundled.

You know my immediate thought on first sight of the track diagram was 'Detroit'; a circuit disturbingly familiar from too many hours on Geoff Crammond's epic F1 GP game.  Now that I've actually gone and grabbed an image of that long dead layout I see the New Jersey take as thankfully less stop-start and, as Ljud has elegantly covered, tilting heavily to Monaco & Montreal.

One thing, the 'straight' running from turn 15 to 18 must be at least 1km.  Anyone else find the proliferation of such lengthy strips of tarmac a little depressing?  Of the recent(ish) additions to the calendar we have Shanghai, Yas Marina, Yeongam, Buddh, and PISC (to abbreviate the New Jersey track name) each with a 1km plus straight - I guess this is where F1 finds itself, reduced to the 'long drag' to provide any possibility of overtaking.  Well, that and tyres that fall apart.   

Detroit layout as raced in the mid- to late-eighties:

I mean, seriously, how is there not a topic discussing circuits?

We're plainly terrible at this whole F1 forum thingy.

I think Tilke compared the PISC (I love the abbreviation) with Spa-Francorchamps, Montreal and Monaco all bundled into one. Which, be honest, SOUNDS amazing. It just, probably, isn't...

I'd rather see a Central Park race, shame that's not in the slightest possible

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96412

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix will see a heavy revision of the final section, since two separate stock car accidents back in April both caused a fatality. Bigger pit entry, bigger run-off, generally more safe and modern final few corners. No major revisions for this weekend though.

So long as that fast, narrow section of track remains unchanged I'm all for the plan


Seeing as you (Mr. Chrill) went to the effort of forming this rather delightful F1 circuit-themed haven, t'would be rude not to use it.  With that in mind comes this news snippet/F1 track story... Germany's Speed Week reports that "leading representatives" of Mexico's motor racing federation are "very confident" an F1 race is viable, with the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in pole position as the venue.


And here's a photo of said circuit:

From what I've heard, a new circuit is to be built if Mexico gets the nod. A new race circuit, not some lame street circuit in Guadalajara as has also been reported.

Just what the World has been crying out for, an all new F1-specced race track.  Surely by now the planet has sufficient for at least two entire championships - quite useful were you planning a breakaway series.

I'd like to see a return to Imola. Shame it's in the wrong country. Had Imola been located in Abu Dhabi, I'd LOVE for F1 to go racing there.

New F1-spec track under construction in Argentina.  The Velociudad SpeedCity circuit lies approx 80km from Buenos Aires and is due for completion in early 2014; it will measure aprox. 4.7km and has been designed by Populous, the people behind Silverstone's recent revamp.

That's all I know.

In other words, not Tilke. HALLELUJAH

My first thoughts also.  Soon replaced with, ahh, I bet it won't host F1 anytime soon as Bernie's sights seem set on S. Africa and/or Mexico. Two more for Tilke?


French Govt. says plans to alternate a GP slot with Spa are "on track".  Le Figaro reports Paul Ricard in September 2013 will mark F1's return to France.

Also in 'track' news this fine (overcast) day:  Valencia's officials want a friendly chat with Bernie over reducing their race fee, which stands at 21 million Euros and runs until 2014.  Apparently Spain doesn't have a lot of cash right now... who knew?

The same goes for Circuit de Catalunya. They are "reconsidering" their continued participation in both Formula 1 and MotoGP.

Yep, bankruptcy all round.  So then, Bernie has suggested the two Spanish tracks alternating as a possible solution.  Which to me seemed likely quite some time ago.

Magny Cours battling it out with Paul Ricard to host the French GP in 2013.  Patrice Joly, president of the conseil general of the Nievre department, has said that a theme park proposed for Magny Cours could raise enough money and sufficiently develop the surrounding area in order to bring the grand prix back to the track.  Joly said the project, to cost EUR 50 million, would be completed by the summer.

Well, the problem with Magny-Cours never was the track, rather it was the rural setting. Build a goddamn city and we'll be fine.

Agree with you there, but sadly for the Magny-Cours people negotiations between Bernie and Paul Ricard's management are imminent: http://www.yallaf1.com/2012/01/25/paul-ricard-set-to-host-2013-french-gp/

Two-into-one Spanish/European GP plan actively pursued by Valencia side: http://www.yallaf1.com/2012/01/25/valencia-pushing-barcelona-for-f1-alternation/

I'd rather push for a new venue in Spain. Or for a move to Portuguese Estoril...

Portugal's economy is busy following Greece's into the abyss.  Sadly I don't see an Estoril revamp and handing $20 million/year to Bernie as a high priority for their Government.

I figured there wasn't a great topic to discuss the upcoming changes to Formula 1. Allow me to create this topic. And post this image:



Now take a look at those 2017 Pirelli tyres. Oh mama. I like.

Good chance I posted this on another thread a couple of months back, but it's a handy reference to have here for how the cars are changing: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/05/10/side-side-compare-f1-cars-2016-2017/

And yes, the tyres do look pretty tasty.  Just irritated they didn't go down the 'minimal front-wing + ground effects - DRS' route.

Thought this was maybe a thread to keep track of all the rule changes we will have during 2017...

A quick look at what the regulations will require by the time we get to 2017:

I... don't understand.

And yes, the tyres do look pretty tasty.  Just irritated they didn't go down the 'minimal front-wing + ground effects - DRS' route.

I sort of agree. I don't mind DRS really, but it should be toned down. I'd love a more simplistic approach to front wings, akin to what was used back in the early 2000s such as here:

Red Bull now testing the tyres too.


One more photo. I like these tyres OK?

New rules covering use of power unit components above and beyond the five per year limit: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/09/28/fia-prevent-repeat-hamiltons-power-unit-stockpiling/

Which I believe I complained about. Perhaps not here, but yes. Only the most recently introduced engine may be used. If they introduce engine 7, then engine 6 is no longer usable. If they introduce engine 8, then engine 7 is no longer available. This is good.

[electric dream]

I'm fairly certain this isn't some elaborate April Fools: http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2011/motorsport-big-push-for-electric-car-racing-24330

Electric cars drink battery life at high speed, so how far on one charge?  Do we get short races or pitting to 'refuel' - which would be an exciting wait even with ultra-capacitors.  And then there's the sound... my god, it will be a struggle to keep the crowds at bay.

It does not have to replace Formula 1 though. We have A1GP, which never got very popular, and some other series (what's the one with soccer teams?). This could just be a new series with no viewership, because Formula 1 won't turn to electric engines in 2013 for sure.

A series with no one watching... a sponsor's delight!

Is the football team one still going?  Been to Google, did some 'Googling', now back with important info.: It's the Superleague Formula, and its 4th season gets underway in Estoril at end of May - appears to visit just 6 tracks (2 races per weekend?) http://www.superleagueformula.com/races

Huge names in the series as well, such as (and this is 2010) Narain Karthikeyan, Chris van der Drift (Brilliant name), Franck Montagny, Robert Doornbos and Sébastien Bourdais. Previous drivers include Enrique Bernoldi, Antonio Pizzonia and Ho-Pin Tung!

Wow.  Star-studded.  Perhaps get a few to double up with this all-electric extravaganza.

Look at you with your 1010 posts.  At this rate you should surpass my tally no problem.

I post 45% of this forum's posts, you post 45%, and everyone else combined makes up about 10%. How am I catching you?

Higher daily rate???

All I know is you're now approx. 100 behind - first time gap has been so small.

A few others posting would be welcome.  Save Chrill from this dangerous habit of talking to me....

I love you, Penfold. You are my electric dream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9foZ7KVSng

Good grief, the FIA is actually pressing on with the wacky notion of electric racing: http://www.yallaf1.com/2012/08/28/formula-e-the-long-term-alternative-to-formula-1/

Presumably stems from the misplaced belief that electric-only cars have a useful role to play in mainstream transport, which with current battery technology they clearly don't.  The most promising 'electric' cars in development have a small petrol/diesel motor to keep the wheels turning when you want to do more than 100 miles in a day.


Formula E presses on, organiser believes top F1 teams will eventually join in the fun: http://grandprix247.com/2013/07/12/formula-e-expected-to-attract-top-formula-1-teams/

Electric racing cars... sounds exciting to me.

We'll always be together,
together in electric dreams!

Great, now that song is stuck in my head....

Renderings of the new Williams: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/02/17/compare-williams-new-fw40-with-their-2016-car/

LOOK AT THIS HANDSOME LITTLE CAR. LOOK AT THE SAUBER.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/02/20/pictures-sauber-reveals-first-images-of-its-2017-car/sauber-c36/

More images here.

Liking the gold stripe on that blue, puts me in mind of some of the old tobacco era liveries.  White is a tad stark down the sides though - perhaps some sponsor logos would help soften it.  Also not sure about shark fins rearing their ugly heads, but those minor gripes aside I must agree it's a fine looking motor.  Seems to have a good level of aero detail for an initial launch, let's hope that bodes well for the year.

I really like shark fins, so I don't mind it one bit. The lack of sponsors is a concern. The wings, side pods, barge boards and so on should all be place holders right? They don't want to give up any secrets they may have found.

Assuming car will be broadly similar to this for start of testing and then finessed aero pieces ready for final tests/Melbourne.  Guess I'm just hoping this already provides a good base level before any fancy bits get added.  Quite small intakes on the sidepods, and a chunkier one on the engine cover - some expecting this approach across the field for aerodynamic benefits.

Paint the shark fin blue and it won't bother me so much.


Just one quick shot of the Renault - shark fin much improved with suitable colouring.

That's an interesting barge board on the Renault. Other than that, it looks very similar to the Sauber but the black colors on rather poor picture quality makes it difficult to pick out details. The Williams looks most different so far, but that was just a render.

I like both the shark fins and the angled rear wing endplates. On the livery side, both of these are improvements from 2016. Both of them are above average, arguably even good. What's not good is the lack of sponsorship on both cars.

Full range of hi-res renders here: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/02/21/pictures-renaults-new-f1-car-for-2017-breaks-cover/

That's a better picture. I'm not too fond of the half yellow half black design they are sporting. The two don't go well together, the front looking more like the 2016 car and the rear looking like an unfinished painting.

I'm sure there's a better way of moving a thread to this new site, but I'm just going to copy & paste the posts of a few into manageable chunks of text.

I swear these threads are getting earlier every year - perhaps next time it will sneak in before Abu Dhabi - but the FIA has gone and ratified next year's calendar and it needed a good home to overwinter:

March 26 - Australia (Melbourne)
April 9 - China (Shanghai)
April 16 - Bahrain (Bahrain)
April 30 - Russia (Sochi)
May 14 - Spain (Barcelona)
May 28 - Monaco (Monte Carlo)
June 11 - Canada (Montreal)
June 25 - Azerbaijan (Baku)
July 9 - Austria (Spielberg)
July 16 - Great Britain (Silverstone)
July 30 - Hungary (Budapest)
August 27 - Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
September 3 - Italy (Monza)
September 17 - Singapore (Singapore)
October 1 - Malaysia (Sepang)
October 8 - Japan (Suzuka)
October 22 - USA (Austin)
October 29 - Mexico (Mexico City)
November 12 - Brazil (Sao Paulo)
November 26 - Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi)

Brazil is provisional as Bernie is still in discussions with that country's President.


Renault bringing new engine design for 2017 - complete with concepts not seen in F1 (probably); unit's output will be dialled back at start of season to ensure reliability, but is said to offer much scope for improvement: http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/renault-expects-cautious-start-with-all-new-2017-f1-engine-861660/

It seems Renault is gunning for 2018, yeah? Their current engine is nearing the end of its development life so this is a good idea. It might mean Mercedes will secure the championship before Red Bull get up to speed though.

That's it in a nutshell.  Clearly essential development for Renault's future success but, as you say, it may simply mean Merc. can sprint ahead in the 2017 contest - unless Newey & team can produce a car of astonishing brilliance; or if Ferrari turn out a... nah, forget it, not going to happen.

Exactly.

So how about Honda getting everything right? Or, Mercedes getting it pretty wrong on aero but maintaining a dominant engine? That would push Force India up there.

I wouldn't bank on Merc getting any aspect wrong....

I can imagine McLaren being right up with Ferrari, or even ahead depending how the prancing horse guys adapt to these new regs, but challenging Mercedes?  I just can't see them closing such a huge gap in one bite; frankly if they can be consistently within half a second in qualifying, and just a few tenths off on race pace, then I'd be more than a little impressed.

I hadn't noticed but the Baku Street Circuit is labelled as the "2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix" instead of the European Grand Prix. That actually makes me a bit happy. Also does not clash with Le Mans.

Both positives.  Not exactly of earth-shattering importance, but as Plato was fond of saying: it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick....

Here's one chap not overly optimistic about 2017's rule changes: http://en.f1i.com/news/88555-new-rules-not-change-better-says-f1-designer-furbatto.html

Bah. Without reading Mister Pessimist, my gut feeling tells me that we might well see fewer overtakes under braking or due to significantly different tyre wear levels, but we will see more overtakes caused by driver error.

Mika Hakkinen's magnificent move on Schumacher at Spa was helped by his ability to stay close through Eau Rouge. With new rules, drivers can go flat out there (Even when trailing someone else) which effectively makes the whole run after Eau Rouge more closely packed. The ability to stay closer behind others in medium-to-high-speed corners will open up for slipstreaming battles on the following straights.

I can picture drivers making stupid rookie errors over the final 10 laps of GPs, Singapore in particular, simply due to exhaustion. This opens up for unusual finishing positions for the lucky guys. Yes, luck might matter again. That can cause upsets and surprises which we want. I'd love to see a podium with a Toro Rosso, a McLaren, and a Williams (as opposed to a Mercedes, another Mercedes, and a Red Bull).

I'm definitely more with your optimism than that guy's pessimism.  For one thing, we have the prospect of tyres that allow drivers to push even when close to another car - imagine that!  And if they do overheat you should be able to drop back for a time and regain performance ready for another attack.  And there's the two points you make: being better able to stay in contact through high-speed corners; and added driver fatigue courtesy of faster cornering speeds, more violent braking, and those (hopefully) durable tyres.  I assume there will also be a bump in the benefits of slip-streaming, what with the chunky new wheels dirtying the air.

I assume there will also be a bump in the benefits of slip-streaming, what with the chunky new wheels dirtying the air.

Quite true. The car in front will have to punch through more air (wider car) and the air will be dirtier (bigger tyres) which will give an increased advantage to anyone stuck behind. The negative may of course be a difficulty staying behind a car through slower or medium speed corners.

Crazy enough, Monaco may become easier to overtake at. You could get a good run of the car in front through the right hander in the tunnel. It's possible.