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F1 2015


Jimmy_D
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I see their also going back to the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico for the first time since 1992. It's the sort of thing they need to do, to go back to updated old school tracks that had some character.

 

You can be guaranteed however that the Peraltada will be turned into 2 mundane 90 degree corners.

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Things I'm hoping for next year

 

Button to keep his drive

McLaren to build a competitive car with a decent Honda donkey

Caterham and Marussia to find sound financial backing

Kobayashi to be on the grid

Bottas to win a race

Kimi to beat Vettel

A decent Red Bull which the two Dans can compete for the Championship with

Lewis to win WDC if Jenson is unable to compete for it

Lotus to be competitive again and to find enough investment not to need Maldonado after 2015.

Sutil, Chilton and Gutierez are nowhere to be seen.

Vergne to find a drive. He has basically matched the very talented Ricciardo and Kvyat in his time at STR

Toro Rosso to change their livery. It wont happen but the car just looks like a cheap knock-off Red Bull they bought at a Moroccan market stall.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Great news :)

 

Could be in for a really good season if the Honda engine brings Alonso and JB into contention and Williams continue their improvement.

 

Can't see JB continuing past this season, but one last contest against Alonso wouldn't be a bad way to finish.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Lotus have been quick to troll Williams on Facebook, which is odd considering they built an absolute monster last season. I guess they must be fairly confident in their own design for this season, I just hope it brings them results.

 

Most of the new cars are due for release around the end of next week ahead of the first test.

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Here's the new Force India. I have to say I really like it, certainly compared to last years car which had one of the ugliest noses on the grid.

The colour scheme is fairly similar to McLaren so I hope/assume the latter is going for something new this year.

 

B74s8VLCEAAQQmz.jpg

 

Err, According to the BBC "Force India revealed their livery for the new season on Wednesday, but used a 2014 car to display it."

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I'll be at the first race in Melbourne this year, can't wait.

 

I like the look of the Force India, reminds me of the Hakkinen/Coultard era McLaren but with a tinge of orange.

 

Seriously hope the McLaren is Red/White just like the glory days, would be incredible.

Edited by BlakeySFC
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Err, According to the BBC "Force India revealed their livery for the new season on Wednesday, but used a 2014 car to display it."

 

They probably haven't shown their full hand but that's definitely a new nose to the one they had last season. Their 2014 car had one of the ugliest dildo noses on the grid.

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Here's the new Force India. I have to say I really like it, certainly compared to last years car which had one of the ugliest noses on the grid. The colour scheme is fairly similar to McLaren so I hope/assume the latter is going for something new this year.

 

B74s8VLCEAAQQmz.jpg

It will be easy to tell them apart. The McLaren's will be the ones in front.

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It will be easy to tell them apart. The McLaren's will be the ones in front.

 

Not last season, or at least not convincingly they weren't.

 

Anyway, here is the new Lotus

 

B8R_0BaIAAArbmH.jpg

 

The nose is a bit 'Matt Le Tiss' but again it's a big improvement on last year's Janet Street Walrus. They have taken over McLaren's supply on Merc engines.

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Easy to see why Felipe Nasr got the Sauber drive considering he's brought his Banco do Brasil sponsorship with him from GP2.

 

On first glimse I thought the 2015 Ferrari looked identical to last years but on closer inspection it is a slightly sexier, slightly more svelt looking beast.

Edited by BlakeySFC
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Interesting that Ron Dennis said that the current MP4-30 livery isn't final and the final livery will be revealed at an unspecified later date, said this in an interview with Ted Kravitz after the first day of testing in Jerez according to Ted's Notebook on Sky.

 

McLaren's problems aren't really unexpected, Red Bull had similarly major problems at this time last year and managed to finish the season a distant second behind Mercedes in the end so it may not be too bad, I just hope that car is quick this year, the last thing McLaren need is another season of coming 5th-12th every race with no wins and hardly any podiums.

 

The Ferrari is looking pretty strong far, much stronger than I expected I have to say, James Allison's first Ferrari and it shows. The Sauber is also looking much better than the terrible Sauber of last season too but early days yet.

Edited by BlakeySFC
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  • 1 month later...

From what I've read and seen so far, the pre season buz is that Mercedes are yet again looking very strong, and not just for the first race but for the whole season perhaps. With a new team principle in place and Vettal behind the wheel Ferrari should improve, indeed they and Williams may be the 'best of the rest' in 2015. I heard relatively little talk about Red Bull, but Daniel Ricciardo is such a great driver give him a half decent car and I reckon he'll impress again.

 

As for Mclaren's chances this season ... oh dear.

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After years of wanting Vettel and Red Bull to lose after their domination of both championships, I'd actually like to see both of them competitive this season. The general consensus seems to be a top 4 of Merc, Williams, Ferrari and Red Bull, depending on the circuit and conditions. Lotus are looking better, McLaren will need a few races to get on the pace.

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It didn't take long but the old Rosberg v Hamilton feud at Mercedes is back on again with Nico publicly complaining that Lewis effectively ''backed'' him into the chasing Ferrari's in China.

 

Whether you buy that story or not, if Nico's decision to go so very 'public' with this allegation was a attempt to unsettle Hamilton then it did not seem to work because Lewis refused to bite, merely stating that it was his job to manage his own tyres rather than anybody else's. Nico on the other hand came across rather badly I thought.

 

This season has hardly started so there is obviously a hell of a lot of racing to come. Nevertheless it seems that Lewis is well on his way to that 3rd F1 championship and his rivals are struggling to come up with ways to frustrate him.

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It didn't take long but the old Rosberg v Hamilton feud at Mercedes is back on again with Nico publicly complaining that Lewis effectively ''backed'' him into the chasing Ferrari's in China.

 

Whether you buy that story or not, if Nico's decision to go so very 'public' with this allegation was a attempt to unsettle Hamilton then it did not seem to work because Lewis refused to bite, merely stating that it was his job to manage his own tyres rather than anybody else's. Nico on the other hand came across rather badly I thought.

 

This season has hardly started so there is obviously a hell of a lot of racing to come. Nevertheless it seems that Lewis is well on his way to that 3rd F1 championship and his rivals are struggling to come up with ways to frustrate him.

 

Who cares, just another boring procession anyway. 2 Mercedes in front of 2 Ferraris and then 2 Willams.

Mclaren seemed to have re-invented the 200 million £ Pony and Cart.

Edited by Window Cleaner
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It didn't take long but the old Rosberg v Hamilton feud at Mercedes is back on again with Nico publicly complaining that Lewis effectively ''backed'' him into the chasing Ferrari's in China.

 

Whether you buy that story or not, if Nico's decision to go so very 'public' with this allegation was a attempt to unsettle Hamilton then it did not seem to work because Lewis refused to bite, merely stating that it was his job to manage his own tyres rather than anybody else's. Nico on the other hand came across rather badly I thought.

 

This season has hardly started so there is obviously a hell of a lot of racing to come. Nevertheless it seems that Lewis is well on his way to that 3rd F1 championship and his rivals are struggling to come up with ways to frustrate him.

 

It didn't take long but the old Rosberg v Hamilton feud at Mercedes is back on again with Nico publicly complaining that Lewis effectively ''backed'' him into the chasing Ferrari's in China.

 

Whether you buy that story or not, if Nico's decision to go so very 'public' with this allegation was a attempt to unsettle Hamilton then it did not seem to work because Lewis refused to bite, merely stating that it was his job to manage his own tyres rather than anybody else's. Nico on the other hand came across rather badly I thought.

 

This season has hardly started so there is obviously a hell of a lot of racing to come. Nevertheless it seems that Lewis is well on his way to that 3rd F1 championship and his rivals are struggling to come up with ways to frustrate him.

 

That's because Lewis is the best politicker out there.

 

Hamilton did back Rosberg up, if you watched on Sky the commentators were stating it themselves. Plus the guy on the Mercedes team radio repeatedly warning Hamilton and eventually stating if he didn't speed up they'd hand the best pit stop strategy over to Rosberg.

 

Hamilton can do public allegations himself, he stated at the Belgian GP last year that Rosberg told him he'd driven into him on purpose. If you watched the Russian GP build up the BBC team all but confirmed that Lewis was talking out of his arse. Hamilton knows how to play the press like a violin and knows every trick in the book when it comes winding his rivals up. There's a reason he's fallen out with nearly every teammate he's had in F1.

 

A friend of mine worked at McLaren when Hamilton first came into F1. Said him and Ron Dennis ran the place like a Mafia cult.

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  • 1 month later...

It's been some time since I last saw a team foul up a top driver's race quite so disastrously as Mercedes did at Monaco today. If it wasn't for the fact that they had just given Lewis Hamilton a new 3 year - and highly lucrative - contract, you'd almost suspect some kind of pro German conspiracy was at play here. Almost but not quite I think because that was just a monumental c**k up. Not for the first time those responsible for race strategy at this team look distinctly 'amateur hour' - not good enough.

 

Massive shunt for young Max Verstappen that in a previous era might well have taken his life, or at least very seriously injured him. Great to see this freakishly gifted teenager walk away from it uninjured. If one day he does become F1 champion - and he may - I hope he looks back on that incident and thanks his lucky stars that he was born in the 1990's rather than the 1960's.

 

Daniel Ricciardo is still my favour F1 driver by a mile - that smile and carefree sense of humour is just brilliant.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Choizr91OCk

Edited by CHAPEL END CHARLIE
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  • 3 months later...

Fastest in P1.

Fastest in P2.

Fastest in P3.

Fastest in Q1.

Fastest in Q2.

Fastest in Q3.

Fastest lap of the Race.

Led every second of the race.

 

A perfect Grand Slam this weekend.

 

Looks like none of it will matter as the one tyre they measured was 0.3 psi under a new regulation when it was measured on the grid, after it had initially been inflated by a Pirelli guy in the first place.

 

If it's a safety issue, why were only four cars measured, and why were they allowed to race?

 

Seems harsh, guess we wait and see if he does get disqualified but seems to be the way the wind is blowing.

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Yeah, I couldn't believe that 'no further action' verdict by the Stewards, was expecting at least a 25/50 second time penalty, at most for Lewis to be Disqualified, but for him to come out of that Grand Prix unscathed is pretty damn amazing, I guess Pirelli/the FIA must've f@cked up somehow with their methods they used to measure the tyre pressures or something, Lewis has got a massive lead over Rosberg for the World Championship now as well, lovely stuff.

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  • 1 month later...

Well it's been coming all season frankly, but Lewis Hamilton wasted no time in killing off his competitors (remote) title chances in Texas and thus become only the second Britain ever to be crowned three time F1 champion. This is of course a considerable achievement by any standard. And what a thrilling race it was with plenty of close racing and drama aplenty. Those who consider F1 to be too boring for their tastes should remember that when a little water is added to the mix the sport can become a truly exciting and gloriously unpredictable spectacle. It's a pity that it is not always so - but having spent a lifetime following this formula I well know that a single team/driver being dominant is quite common and overtaking has always been difficult.

 

As for the camp's main challenger this season - Nico Rosberg - you could almost see his sense of resentment towards his Mercedes 'team mate' seeping out of him after the race. As a Brit I'm not entirely unprejudiced of course, but to be fair Hamilton can indeed be a pretty ruthless racer out on the track - all the great drivers are. I hope however that he's not quite as brutal a champ as Schumacher was in his prime. Hamilton will put you on the grass if need be all right, but Schumacher would put you in the wall if you were in his way. Ultimately I think Rosberg needs to look more at his own shortcomings if he wants to understand why Lewis out-drives him so very often.

 

So can Lewis match Vettel and win a fourth F1 title? The immensely wealthy and talented Mercedes team will probably be strong again next season, but so will Ferrari I reckon and nothing lasts forever in F1 ... but I wouldn't be all that surprised if he did.

 

_66317726_hamiltonatmercedes.jpg

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As for the camp's main challenger this season - Nico Rosberg - you could almost see his sense of resentment towards his Mercedes 'team mate' seeping out of him after the race. As a Brit I'm not entirely unprejudiced of course, but to be fair Hamilton can indeed be a pretty ruthless racer out on the track - all the great drivers are. I hope however that he's not quite as brutal a champ as Schumacher was in his prime. Hamilton will put you on the grass if need be all right, but Schumacher would put you in the wall if you were in his way. Ultimately I think Rosberg needs to look more at his own shortcomings if he wants to understand why Lewis out-drives him so very often.

 

F1 is as much about off track politics as it is about the racing.

 

What Rosberg was resentful at was all the politicking behind the scenes. Lewis knew how to get into Rosberg's head when he looked like he could match him, and Rosberg didn't know how to handle it. Various incidents throughout the last couple of years would also strongly indicate Lewis has been heavily protected by his team and by the F1 establishment as a whole (ala Schumacher). Hamilton & Rosberg's friendship has been severely strained since that incident at Spa when Lewis stated to the press that Rosberg told him he drove into him on purpose. (Herbert & Brundle all but confirmed this was a bare-faced lie in the pitlane at the following GP).

 

I actually feel sorry for Nico to a degree, but Lewis has been the better driver over the last two years and he couldn't have called the McLaren to Mercedes move any better.

 

It'll be interesting to see whether the upcoming rule changes shakes it all up again.

 

Meanwhile Mexico is next, and what they have done to the track is just utterly depressing on first impressions.

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Yes F1 is undoutably a very 'political' sport - there is far too much money involved in it for it to be otherwise. However, any team will seek to protect its star driver - it is afterall in both their commercial and competitive interests to do so. That does no mean that the evidence shows that Mercedes have somehow significantly favoured Hamilton over Rosberg. From my perspective Mercedes appear to have been scrupulously even-handed in the main.

 

On his day Nico Rosberg has the sheer pace to match Hamilton I think, his qualifying performances do tend to show that. What he lacks perhaps is the mental strength to match the world champion over the course of a long season or indeed a race on occasion. I might speculate that because Hamilton over the course of his career has had to overcome some very public personal problems, and terrible McLaren cars too at times, this 'school of hard knocks' experience has gifted the British driver more robust and mature personality than his German team mate.

 

Be that as it may, having (for once) watched both the live Sky TV coverage from Austin and the BBC's later recorded broadcast programme, I have to say that the BBC coverage was notably superior I thought in terms of both its analysis and commentary. Suzy Perry is both likeable and knowledgeable while her male Sky counterpart is a total nonentity in comparison. David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan (when present) also form a admirable 'double act' that Hill and Herbert struggle to match despite all Sky's substantial financial and technical resources. I have always liked Martin Brundle, but the fact that David Coulthard also has much more recent experience of actually racing a F1 car may be a distinct advance for the BBC team too.

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Good drivers and bad drivers are separated by judgement. That's the same for the F1 track or the M27. Anybody can press a pedal and turn a steering wheel.

 

Hamilton makes better decisions than Rosberg, that's why he's world champion.

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Yes F1 is undoutably a very 'political' sport - there is far too much money involved in it for it to be otherwise. However, any team will seek to protect its star driver - it is afterall in both their commercial and competitive interests to do so. That does no mean that the evidence shows that Mercedes have somehow significantly favoured Hamilton over Rosberg. From my perspective Mercedes appear to have been scrupulously even-handed in the main.

 

On his day Nico Rosberg has the sheer pace to match Hamilton I think, his qualifying performances do tend to show that. What he lacks perhaps is the mental strength to match the world champion over the course of a long season or indeed a race on occasion. I might speculate that because Hamilton over the course of his career has had to overcome some very public personal problems, and terrible McLaren cars too at times, this 'school of hard knocks' experience has gifted the British driver more robust and mature personality than his German team mate.

 

Be that as it may, having (for once) watched both the live Sky TV coverage from Austin and the BBC's later recorded broadcast programme, I have to say that the BBC coverage was notably superior I thought in terms of both its analysis and commentary. Suzy Perry is both likeable and knowledgeable while her male Sky counterpart is a total nonentity in comparison. David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan (when present) also form a admirable 'double act' that Hill and Herbert struggle to match despite all Sky's substantial financial and technical resources. I have always liked Martin Brundle, but the fact that David Coulthard also has much more recent experience of actually racing a F1 car may be a distinct advance for the BBC team too.

 

while you talk about a school of hard knocks for Hamilton. Remember that whilst most other drivers have to work their way up the teams in order to get a decent drive, hamilton's first season was in a championship winning level car. He nearly won the titile in his first year and then did in his 2nd (before the car went a bit down hill). He has never ever had to slug it out with a Sauber, Toro Rosso, Force India and such like

 

F1 is very much about the car. More so than ever before and because of that the excitement over hamilton (who started off at in a title winning car) is not as it could be.

He is a class driver, no doubt but F1 is nearly all about the car. More so as Rosberg isnt even the 2nd best driver in the field..probably not even the 3rd or 4th best. But he is in the top 3 (will probably finish runner up) thanks to his car

 

 

F1 is such a dull event

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