The F1 thread

TimmyO

stickyfiddle said:

Bahrain to be run but without spectators. Though with the Italian lockdown it's quite possible that some of the Ferrari/Alfa/AlphaTauri/Haas guys won't be able to travel at all. I can see having 22 races but only ending up with about 16 championship rounds this year

Yes it could all become a bit of a shambles - so much money tied up in the events you can see some of them happening but being limited in some way 

Cols

stickyfiddle said:

Bahrain to be run but without spectators. Though with the Italian lockdown it's quite possible that sofme of the Ferrari/Alfa/AlphaTauri/Haas guys won't be able to travel at all. I can see having 22 races but only ending up with about 16 championship rounds this year

Pretty much the same as normal then?

stickyfiddle

Cols said:

stickyfiddle said:

Bahrain to be run but without spectators. Though with the Italian lockdown it's quite possible that sofme of the Ferrari/Alfa/AlphaTauri/Haas guys won't be able to travel at all. I can see having 22 races but only ending up with about 16 championship rounds this year

Pretty much the same as normal then?

I lolled

I've been tempted to go a couple of times as it's only an hour's flight from here. Not this year tho!!

prowla

Well, I debated subscribing to Sky Sports so I could watch the races rather than pick up on the late-night highlights next day after the race is all over and everybody's gone home.

However, £20 a month is a bit steep - that works out at about £10 a race.

So I guess I'll just watch the occasional one.

boogieman

prowla said:

Well, I debated subscribing to Sky Sports so I could watch the races rather than pick up on the late-night highlights next day after the race is all over and everybody's gone home.

However, £20 a month is a bit steep - that works out at about £10 a race.

So I guess I'll just watch the occasional one.

Channel 4 have extended highlights of races this season... an extra 30 minutes or so each one, plus the whole British GP live. That’ll do me. 

Fretwired

Haas and McLaren report that team members (not drivers) in Australia have the Coronavirus. Now the WHO have declared a pandemic how much longer can F1 go on?

stickyfiddle

If those guys are showing symptoms now then half their teams probably have it. They’d be better writing off the first 3 or 4 races and starting the season in Barcelona when (hopefully) this might be a little bit more under control. 

I suspect that 2020 as a whole will become a defining point in case law surrounding application of Force Majeure clauses in contracts.

stickyfiddle

Doom & gloom all round but DannyRic has a cool new lid

Cols

Vietnam GP is dead in the water, the government are banning entry to anyone who has been to Italy in the previous 14 days unless they are on official government business.  So no Pirelli, Ferrari, or Alpha Tauri.

PC_Dave

Cols said:

Vietnam GP is dead in the water, the government are banning entry to anyone who has been to Italy in the previous 14 days unless they are on official government business.  So no Pirelli, Ferrari, or Alpha Tauri.

And the majority of the FIA

Fretwired

Hamilton has just blasted the FIA for letting the Australian GP go ahead.

Dodge

McLaren have just pulled out of the Aussie GP:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/51849163

Fretwired

From TV in Oz:

The Australian Grand Prix is expected to be cancelled if one of the eight Formula One crew members being tested for coronavirus returns a positive result.

Statement imminent.

Edit:

Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton warned that positive tests at Albert Park could stop the race from being held.

Fretwired

stickyfiddle said:

Doom & gloom all round but DannyRic has a cool new lid

The FIA have banned it ... :-(

It's in breach of the rules ..

Fretwired

Top drivers in open revolt. The Formula One season opener is under threat after Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel said the drivers were prepared to pull out of the event if the coronavirus threat escalated. Vettel's comments came as other world champions Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen also said the season-opening event should not be going ahead.

breakstuff

First world problem, I know, but not holding out much hope of getting a rebate from Sky for my F1 channel subscription if some races get cancelled. 

Fretwired

From the Telegraph:

This, just in from Oliver Brown, who is in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix, which is set to go ahead despite McLaren's withdrawal because one of their staff members has coronavirus. 

Another potential coronavirus case is being investigated from Melbourne F1 paddock. One positive, seven negative from the eight test results so far. Very difficult to see how Australian race can go ahead on Sunday given McLaren's withdrawal. Ross Brawn has said the participation of all 10 teams required for grand prix to happen. Suggestion that media will be kept out from Bahrain, as well as fans. Bahrain and Vietnam could both be abandoned very soon. The huge money involved in both helps explain the delay.

prowla

The 4 Haas team members who were tested did not test positive.

Fretwired

Boromedic said:

Banned from next season: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/51584557

Remains to be seen if it offers an advantage, but we'll have to wait until Oz to find out. 

Mercedes were planning to use it in qualifying. If they get pole Ferrari and co will likely protest the legality of the team’s innovative Dual Axis Steering (DAS) system (source: F1 official website).

stickyfiddle

Mercedes have been talking to the FIA about it for 6 months so are clearly 100% sure it's legal. 

Based on the regs I've seen, I agree. It's not suspension because it uses the steering components (steering arms themselves, presumably) to adjust the toe angle. And the lateral direction of the wheels is entirely defined by the position of the steering wheel and doesn't move without moving the steering wheel. 

But Marko won't let it drop until he's been in the papers at least 6 more times over it...