The F1 thread

stickyfiddle

Cols said:

simonk said:

Cols said:

stickyfiddle said:

The new McLaren is VERY orange..

Well... there’s plenty of space left on the car for sponsors.  I hope Mclaren’s backers have very deep pockets, they’re certainly not going to have much sponsor or prize income this year.

It’s mostly the Bahrain Royal Family, and they don’t seem to be short of a bob or three.
Be nice to see McLaren further up this year... Nando looks a bit happier than he has done the last couple of years.

There is that; basically McLaren is owned by Mansour Oijeh and the Bahrain sovereign investment fund, who have plenty of money.  However, the Bahrainis have invested in McLaren to make money; as I understand, ditching Honda means the loss of $100 million per year in Honda backing and having to pay for customer Renault engines, which I'm guessing is another $20 million per year.  That's a hell of a funding gap to fill for one year; things will need to turn around quickly and return to sustained profit to avoid the F1 side of the operation becoming a money pit.

I very much hope that, as Alonso says "Good times are coming"... and soon.

That’s all true, but the “cars” side of the business is doing very well and growing rapidly.

Cols

darcym said:

Fretwired said:

McLaren are close to announcing a major sponsor.

any ideas on whom / details ?

Jaffa Cakes.

chillidoggy

Tropicana.

simonk

chillidoggy said:

Tropicana.

Trumpicana

Fretwired

Tango ... when Alonso overtakes someone McLaren can have You've been Tango'd on the back spoiler ... for anyone who is too young ..

Fretwired

Oh dear .. Alonso is off already ... three wheels on his wagon ...

Heartfeltdawn

https://twitter.com/SamarthKanal/status/968045651400577024

https://twitter.com/wbuxtonofficial/status/968048943719469056

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

And in the meantime, the Honda in the back of the Toro Rossi has clocked up about 90 problem-free miles so far! Probably got more laps out of the Honda in one day than McLaren managed in the whole of preseason last year! 

Garthy

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

And in the meantime, the Honda in the back of the Toro Rossi has clocked up about 90 problem-free miles so far! Probably got more laps out of the Honda in one day than McLaren managed in the whole of preseason last year! 

I wonder if it has anything to do with the bigger inlets and vents in the bodywork...

stickyfiddle

Martini not renewing their Williams deal next season. Hopefully Paddy will have built them a good car and they can get something similarly lucrative lined up before christmas. 

Nothing interesting in testing today, but I'm loving the drip feed of pictures either way. 

Look at the sidepods on the Ferrari!  Also, it's really nice that they're finally using a prancing horse again instead of the stupid Marlboro packet Scuderia Ferrari square thing of the last few seasons.

FX_Munkee

Is it me or are some of the teams using aero surfaces on the top edge of the Halo?

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Apparently there's talk of extending the test into Friday, as the teams are struggling to do much productive running due to the cold...
 
Probably even more difficult than normal to get a gauge on who's hot and who's not in preseason.

stickyfiddle

FX_Munkee said:

Is it me or are some of the teams using aero surfaces on the top edge of the Halo?

Yep. At least Haas, Mclaren, Sauber & Ferrari. I'm guessing it's more about getting air to hit the rear wing how you want than generating downforce, but it's mildly interesting either way.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

Apparently there's talk of extending the test into Friday, as the teams are struggling to do much productive running due to the cold...
 
Probably even more difficult than normal to get a gauge on who's hot and who's not in preseason.

It's quite bizarre that they quit doing tests in Bahrain for cost reasons, but conveniently forgot that they started doing tests in Bahrain because it's clear good weather every day so while everyone spends money to get there, they're at least guaranteed to get useful data. 

PC_Dave

This is interesting....

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/2/formula-1-to-launch-f1-tv-a-live-grand-prix-subscription-service.html

chillidoggy

Oooh, that's interesting. Would save on having to pay the Sky ransom for a package of other shite you don't want.

Fretwired

PC_Dave said:

This is interesting....

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/2/formula-1-to-launch-f1-tv-a-live-grand-prix-subscription-service.html

I don't think that will be available in the UK until the Sky deal expires.

Heartfeltdawn

With the Sky deal running from 2019 to 2024, we will be waiting a long time. Unless there's a deal knocked together to release Sky from the contract. In Germany however the pay TV deal ended this year so it's just free to air TV with ads. France right now has a similar deal to Sky and Channel 4, highlights and a few live races. 

Liberty have to do something. Since leaving the BBC, a third of the F1 UK audience have gone. 

https://f1broadcasting.co/2017/12/11/f1s-uk-television-audience-stabilises-in-2017/

Personally I will never pay for Sky's coverage because it's bloody awful. Both the BBC and Channel 4 had a better punditry lineup and all the technical gizmos do not replace decent commentary. 

not_the_dj

Will there be free to air highlights at all from next year....or is Sky the only (above board) option?

PC_Dave

not_the_dj said:

Will there be free to air highlights at all from next year....or is Sky the only (above board) option?

Looks that way.........

stickyfiddle

I assume F1/Liberty will be pushing Sky to let them introduce this in the UK, not least since every rumours points to using the Sky commentary as the primary option within the new service. I would assume Sky will ask for 25% off their price and a contract extension before they'll entertain the idea.