The F1 thread

Brio · March 4

“I AM playing the right notes. Just not necessarily in the right order.”

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · March 4

Porsche/VAG eyeing up a potential F1 entry, depending on the announcement of the new engine regs...

Formula 1: Porsche & Volkswagen Group considering entering F1 - BBC Sport

Would love to see it!

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · March 5

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · March 7

I think of all the F1 car launches over the past couple of weeks, these are by far the best looking ones...

stickyfiddle · March 7

Between these and the team kit having lime/yellow zips & trim I'm very confident the original AM livery had lime instead of pink...

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · March 11

Looks like Silverstone is due to be announced as the first of the Saturday Sprint Race trial circuits. I hope they're allowed fans through the gates this year, I'd bloody love to see it in person!

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12242649/f1-sprint-race-plan-for-british-gp-weekend-welcomed-by-silverstone-as-final-decision-nears-on-radical-concept

Looking forward to 1st day of testing tomorrow!

thumpingrug · March 12

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

Looks like Silverstone is due to be announced as the first of the Saturday Sprint Race trial circuits. I hope they're allowed fans through the gates this year, I'd bloody love to see it in person!

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12242649/f1-sprint-race-plan-for-british-gp-weekend-welcomed-by-silverstone-as-final-decision-nears-on-radical-concept

Looking forward to 1st day of testing tomorrow!

I keep getting emails and adverts for tickets. theoretically its after restrictions are due to end so it may go ahead with an audience.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · March 12

Well one third of the way through pre-season testing, and Verstappen/Red Bull are the winners of the inaugural sandstorm GP. Looked like a bit of nightmare trying to drive in those afternoon conditions, the air filters must have looked like Pendine Sands by the end of it!

F1 Testing Day One: Mercedes hit early stumbling blocks as Red Bull, McLaren start fastest in Bahrain | F1 News (skysports.com)

Day looked to be a bit of a write-off for Mercedes, will be interesting to see how quickly they can get back on the pace tomorrow.

goldtop · March 12

If Mercedes are still on the back foot by the time the season starts, it'll be a lot more interesting.

chillidoggy · March 13

My first thought was how much life is taken out of the engines ingesting all that dust. Mercs might have decided to wait it out.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · March 13

Especially the Alpine with it's weird, bulbous airbox design. Looks like it must have been hoovering up the sand like a basking shark...

Image: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EwRdoWIWQAEyqNn?format=jpg&name=large

Cols · March 13

chillidoggy said:

My first thought was how much life is taken out of the engines ingesting all that dust. Mercs might have decided to wait it out.

All the teams run uprated air filters for the desert circuits. Apart from anything else, testing doesn’t use any of the season’s allocation of engines; they can use as many as they like.

From what I understand yesterday’s problems were gearbox related, so the Merc pace wasn’t indicative of true performance.

Brio · March 13

I know it’s only testing but seeing Danny Ric and Fernando at the top of the timings makes me happy.

Cols · March 13

Brio said:

I know it’s only testing but seeing Danny Ric and Fernando at the top of the timings makes me happy.

At least there’s one Merc-engined car doing well!

Hamilton’s beached the car in the gravel, and Vettel’s confined to barracks with... gearbox problems.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · March 13

Rumours that McLaren have stolen a march on the others with their new diffuser design to get around the new aero regs...

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mclarens-clever-trick-to-get-around-diffuser-limits/5708830/

Seems subtle so I doubt it'll be a "Braun F1 2009" kinda scenario, but will be interesting to see if other teams come out with something similar in the coming weeks.

wibble · March 13

Some nice footage of the safety cars...

chillidoggy · March 13

Sounds better than the F1 cars!

stickyfiddle · March 13

Same Merc engine in the AMG and the Vantage, but the Aston gets a better exhaust

Great to see McLaren consistently reliable and looking quick. They should be at least as good as last year. Williams apparently very quick in the twisty sector 2, so maybe some hope of a more competitive midfield spot?

fretmeister · March 13

Brundle has just announced Murray Walker has died.

RIP.

thumpingrug · March 13

Just seen the news about Murry Walker. Very sad indeed. I grew up listening to Murry and his enthusiasm and knowledge drew me in. Great Guy.

gumbothewiddler · March 13

Very sad to hear about his passing. A genuine legend and the voice of F1. RIP

Boromedic · March 13

RIP Murray, sorely missed from his commentating days.

Brio · March 14

Oh that’s a shame. He really was big part of my F1 memories. Is it bad to say I thought he was already dead?

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · March 14

So that's testing wrapped up for the year. Anyone taking a punt on Max for the title?

I don't really know what to make of Mercedes after testing, but I'm hoping that if they are still ahead of the game then at least they won't be as far ahead as they have been in recent years.

I'd love to see a really good battle for the title between Lewis and Max, with perhaps Leclerc and maybe even a McLaren throwing in the odd surprise race victory to mix things up.

Roll on the 28th!

Cols · March 15

Red Bull look like the team to beat, and Mercedes look like they’re in a lot of trouble. They didn’t show anything over the past 3 days to suggest fundamental underlying pace.

Aside from that, McLaren and Alpine both look strong and Alonso appears to be as murderously fast as ever.

stickyfiddle · March 15

Cols said:

Red Bull look like the team to beat, and Mercedes look like they’re in a lot of trouble. They didn’t show anything over the past 3 days to suggest fundamental underlying pace.

Aside from that, McLaren and Alpine both look strong and Alonso appears to be as murderously fast as ever.

I don't buy that. Bottas had the second quickest lap overall, and Mercedes always sandbag in testing. It certainly looks closer than the last couple of seasons, but Merc will be there or thereabouts. Hey, maybe we'll get a title fight involving more than 1 team!!

thumpingrug · March 15

I agree that its difficult to tell what the Mercedes is really like at this stage due to previous years of running the engine conservatively in testing. What is nice to see is the progress the mid range teams have made. The Alpha Tauri looked good, and Kimi drove the Alfa higher up the finish position than I was expecting. Whilst I want to see Lewis get another championship hope its a close battle this year.

TimmyO · March 15

The only reliable conclusion that can be drawn from testing is who managed to get laps in and who didn’t.

sweepy · March 15

I’d put a few £ on Norris grabbing a few podiums this year

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · March 15

TimmyO said:

The only reliable conclusion that can be drawn from testing is who managed to get laps in and who didn’t.

Oh I dunno, I reckon I can reliability conclude that the Haas car is gonna be an absolute dog. Again.

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