2016 Formula 1 Racing Thread

[Raven855]

We will soon have the new season starting off. Toward the end of the month there will be tire testing. The test and tune sessions will soon start. I thought I would start with a few thoughts and questions about the new season. The latest news has Maldonaldo. Will he keep his seat or will he be replaced at the new Renault team? With oil at extremely low value I don't see money coming in for Maldonado. Even if it did, I don't see him in Formula 1 more than another year. I think he's gone.

I see the season as Mercedes #1, and Ferrari #2. Don't have a good feel for #3 yet. Who's it going to be?

[MikeFleming]

I see the season as Mercedes #1, and Ferrari #2. Don't have a good feel for #3 yet. Who's it going to be? I will go with Williams for slot 3. They made very good progress in 2015, and, if not for Ferrari's unexpected rise during the year, would probably have taken 3rd in the WC.

Don't know yet where to place the new Haas F1 team. With a base in England, Ferrari works engines and some known talent it's difficult to count them out entirely but it's still a major feat to do well (top 3 in WC points) in a first year of F1. Not to mention the current competition as already detailed above.

I'm gonna predict at least one top 10 finish in the first five races for Haas.

McLaren/Honda? Big sigh. I don't think the current rules will allow a redesign of the power plant - and that looks real bad for Honda. If they can sneak trough a new design the tables will flip very quickly. Time for the lawyers to do their work so we can get on with real racing instead of this NASCAR-like approach.

Predictions for the year: Pretty much same as 2015: Merc first for the CC, DC places Hamilton first, Rosberg second, Vettel third. Don't see this changing much until a rule change handicaps Merc.

[Raven855]

There was a change in the merc car last season and Rosberg made a better showing. I think Rosberg will start off leading with Hamilton 2nd, Vettel 3rd. Torro Rosso will start the season beating RB and challenging Williams. Force India will be challenging Williams also. And going out on a limb I will say McLaren will challenge RB and Williams also! The season is near! On another note, how is everyone going to tune in and watch?

[Bob Holmes]

Merc, Ferrari, Williams, Renault, RBR.

Hamilton, Whiney Pants, Vettel.

Haas will flounder around the back. Manor had Merc engines, but I'm hoping Haas does better. At least McLaren will have someone to play with.

[Raven855]

So what's the line right now? A beer or coffee for the winner and the same for McLaren/Hass in the points?

[Bob Holmes]

Works for me. I still owe you a beer.

[MikeFleming]

Two Weeks.
Two Weeks.
Two Weeks.
Two Weeks.
Two Weeks.
Two Weeks.
Two Weeks.
Two Weeks.
Two Weeks.
Two Weeks.
Two Weeks.
Two Weeks.

Coming Soon!

[brsvo]

Enough said

[Raven855]

2 hours left for second testing. After 3500 miles the Mercedes finally broke down with a transmission problem. 3500 miles on 1 engine and 1 transmission up till this point. No other breakdowns. Everyone else has had lots of breakdowns. They are looking very formidable!

[Bob Holmes]

You can't just "reliable" your way to a win.

I bet, this year, that the Merc pilots will take each other out more than once. As long as Nico keeps the stones he found at the end of last season.

[MikeFleming]

I bet, this year, that the Merc pilots will take each other out more than once. As long as Nico keeps the stones he found at the end of last season. Those things shrivel up during the winter, right?

Even if his stones and luck are as good as two years back, there is still this little thing called "Lewis Hamilton" that seems to always put him back in his place no matter how far ahead he gets.

Five levels of tyres? How will that play out? How many will they have to choose from for each race? May give a new meaning to going [to] purple.

[MikeFleming]

Three more days, folks.

Get those DVRs warmed up.

[MikeFleming]

Any predictions for a wet race tomorrow??

[MikeFleming]

Allow me to be the first to say:

This new qualifying format REALLY SUCKS!!!

[Raven855]

Thank goodness that was short lived! I am liking the tire strategy though...

Allow me to be the first to say:

This new qualifying format REALLY SUCKS!!!

[Meotchh]

Qualifying format was STUPID!

Alonso paying tribute to Tony's favorite driver of all time, Maldonado, that was totally unexpected. The fact that he got out of that waded up mess of a Honda on his own, that was astounding. Haas showing up to the game & pulling off one top 10 finish, that was unexpected.

8881888288838884

[Raven855]

46Gs is what the crash was measured at! The wheels didn't break loose from their tethers either. A true testament to Alonso fitness, the McLaren structure and the safety of F1.

I got the first podium right. Mike got Haas in a top ten finish right. Bob gave the title of Whitney pants to the wrong person, it should be Verstapen.

Rosberg was almost retired from the race because of debree in his front rotor. It would be quite an irony if it turns out to be debree from Hamiltons front wing that Rosberg took off at the first corner.

The big thing I took from the season opener is the importance of tire selection and race strategie. It cost Ferrari the top step of the podium, it moved Haas into the top ten, it moved Button out of the top ten, tire choice and a hot head cost Verstapen several positions, and it affected Bottas and Felipa.

I also really enjoyed the comradely. It was good to see Hamilton and Nico, Vettel and Weber, Alonso and Gutierrez play nicely. The only downer was Verstapen...

[MikeFleming]

The race finish was as expected by almost everyone (merc, merc, red car). But all that stuff from the poor start for both mercs to the last couple laps was totally unexpected.

Once Ferrari get the tire selections sorted, they will be a serious competitor to the mercs.

Maldonado would be proud!! I think the steering wheel on Alonzo's car may have survived- I didn't spot it in any of the pics though. Other than that, not much looks unbent. Not Alonzo is down one engine & gearbox for the season. Ouch!

Alonzo has the 2106 season altitude record. So far.

Did I mention that the qualifying format really sucked?

[MikeFleming]

Some reading material:

http://www.autoblog.com/2016/03/25/ferrari-steering-wheel-f1-tech-analysis/

[Bob Holmes]

And we're stuck with the same stupid qualifying system next week.

Aaaaaarrrrggghh

[MikeFleming]

Out of the past!

Was installing some old[er] audio/video equipment and came across an HDD VCR device that has the 2008 Canadian GP on it. Yarno, Nick Hiedfeld, Toyota/Williams, Honda/Mclaren (Hamiton on pole), Nelson Picket Jr, grooved tyres and Flavio to name a few interesting things.

Yep - this is the race where Hamilton crashed into Raikonnen (Ferrari), taking them both out, in the pit lane.

Good times.

If I can figure out how, I'll burn it to DVD.

And 2008 Monaco GP2, and F1 Monaco (wet race)

[Raven855]

And we're stuck with the same stupid qualifying system next week.

Aaaaaarrrrggghh

? The qualifying has been reverted to the old system, not like Australia.

[Bob Holmes]

No. It hasn't. They reversed themselves.

[MikeFleming]

The bastards:


The future of Formula 1's qualifying format remains shrouded in confusion after bosses failed to agree on a change for the next race in Bahrain.
Teams decided at the season-opening race in Australia to ditch the new elimination system and revert to the one that had been in place for 2015.
But when they met on Thursday to discuss possible options, returning to the old format was not one of them.
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says there will be more talks early next month.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/35896875

[Raven855]

I thought the first race was exciting, except for qualifing. It was a great spectical of sportsmanship, except for Verstappen. We have another race day close at hand! Bob's right and we will have the elimination style qualifing again for starting positions. Bahrain is a power track so we should have a good evaluation of where the Ferraris are compared to the Mercs. In my mind the Manors are last and other than that the rest is a bunched up midfield. Toro Rossos are looking pretty strong, are they third best? Will we see Verstappen lose it? What has happened to the Williams? They should have a new front wing, but will it be enough? Red Bull are looking pretty strong but can they fend off the Force India's? The Renaults and Hass were a surprise, but just where do they fall in the pecking order? Can't forget the McLarens. Alonso has cracked ribs and will not be driving and may not be driving by China either. Vanderhorn is taking over duties and is flying in from Japan, he will have jet lag and not have a chance to acclimate. The McLarens have improved but they are some of the slowest through the speed traps and I just don't see them having a good weekend. A top ten finish is looking like a pipe dream. Insights or predictions anyone. Bob buying everyone a beer is the only sure bet!

[MikeFleming]

My predictions for Bahrain:

Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel to place with [at least one] McLaren, Williams and Haas in the points. Kimi and Verstappen will both do something stupid.

BTW - Qualifying results were as expected (although I wasn't expecting a new track record!) while the new format still sucks. There's no way a 90-second elimination will work at Spa.

Why is there no attention being paid to track limits?? When Lewis blew turn 10 on his second to last lap getting way all four way over, he still got a time on the chart. That lap should have not been counted.

[MikeFleming]

I need to make a new hat/shirt run.

8919

[Raven855]

I saw one with a different quote that I liked. Living the American Dream!

I need to make a new hat/shirt run.

8919

[MikeFleming]

^
Back side.

[Raven855]

The China GP!
Thoughts of the upcoming race. This is a track that is hard on the front tires and it also has a very long straight. That should favor the Mercs and Ferraris, not so much the McLaren and Red Bull. We have the duel between Hamilton and Nico. Hamilton does well at this circuit and with a very short run to the first corner he should do well. I see Hamilton first in qualy and on the podium. It's also hard not to see Nico second, especially with the small issues of reliability and pit wall decisions at Ferrari. Vettel will have a fresh engine though and will be extremely focused. I see him third. But what about the next spots? Will Williams get their front spoiler to work? Red Bull has been doing very well, will Richardo beat them? The midfield is really stacking up. Haas, Torro Rosso, Red Bull, Sauber, and even McLaren and Wehrlien of Manor have a chance to fill up the top ten. I see haryanto being dead last. And even though Renault has a much improved package I don't look for much for them at this circuit. I see the top 7 being on the same lap. Here's hoping for a good race!

[MikeFleming]

I will say that the engines (cars?) are louder now. And they do indeed sound sweet.

[MikeFleming]

I will say that the engines (cars?) are louder now. Such a sweet sound too!

[brsvo]

What cars are you listening to? They still sound like something other than true open wheel car IMHO. Last year I thought they were running Geo Metro motors.

[tommyb]

2017 F1 may approach 1000 hp almost the equivalent of 20 Geo Metro's with displacement just a little higher, and quite a few higher revs. Nothin like it!

[Raven855]

P2 has been run with some interesting results. Ferrari is on top, Mercedes second and RedBull third. Hamilton had transmission damage at the last race and will take a 5 place grid penalty, but the early change may benefit him later with some revised ratios that suit the later tracks. McLaren 10 and 11. Everyone of the teams are complaining that tire pressures are to high leading to high temperatures and problems with early graining. Rain is predicted for qualifing. Will we be seeing a Ferrari front row and win?

[MikeFleming]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and predict that Lewis will win the next four races starting with Catalunya.

And after every recent (2016) weekend event I've watched I ask myself several times why Maurizio hasn't been canned by Ferrari. Maybe it'll happen tomorrow. The team has made ZERO progress since he's been there - all of their advances to date (for 2016) such as power, aero, etc. were done by his predecessors. And there have been LOTS of mistakes this year that are far worse than what got the past three team leaders fired. Kimi and Seebas had great starts a couple races back and then lost the top podium spots due to failures in the pits for Ferrari.

For tomorrow on The podium: Hamilton, Verstappen, Rosberg. With a McLaren in the top ten.

[MikeFleming]

Any predictions for Monaco 2016??

I'm going with Hamilton, Verstapen, Vetttel.

[Raven855]

The Canada race is soon and there has been lots of activities going on. Hamilton has his first win and is at a track he loves. He will be on a high. Nico has come off a downer weekend but still leads in points. But there is increasing pressure from Hamilton, Red Bull, and Ferrari. How will he do? Red Bull will have both cars with an upgraded engine. Ferrari comes to the race with a new short nose, front suspension, turbo and fuel formula. Can they fight off RedBull? Can they increase the pressure on the Mercs? Or will they become the third place contender? We have improved performance from Force India, what is going to happen to the midfield? We have 6 races in 8 weeks. Things should happen fast. Hamilton, Nico, Ricicardo on the podium in Canada. Verstappen will crash. For a long shot guess, both McLarens in the top ten.

[MikeFleming]

We have 6 races in 8 weeks. Things should happen fast. Hamilton, Nico, Ricicardo on the podium in Canada. Verstappen will crash. For a long shot guess, both McLarens in the top ten. The McLaren/Hondas have made more progress this year than Ferrari has.

Just sayin.

[Raven855]

I am on a mission! For the Canada race there were 2 broadcasts of the race. The first one was pre emptied by Obama and MSNBC coverage of the Florida shooting. The second was preemptied by Women's Golf. This was AT&T uverse. They did this several times last year for several races and they mess up programming for football games and World Cup soccer. I have had it, they are gone. I have kept UVerse because I just don't watch a lot of movies and watch very few shows. What is everyone using and are you happy with it?

[Rosamond SVO]

I use PlayStation Vue, $40 a month and you can have it on up to 5 devices, don't need a PlayStation just something to put the app on.

[MikeFleming]

I have DV. Mostly worthless. Liars, Cheats and Thieves Inc. Was also interrupted by the 10+ hour shooting report on continuous loop ("Is the head dead yet?"). Like another lost plane on CNN. Then golf. Then wrestling. Attempts to record the next replays only resulted (after the recording time was past) "Your package does not include this channel.". There is another showing of Canada GP on Wed morn on another different channel that I cannot get here. Then I setup DV On-Demand streaming as it listed the Canada GP race. When I got it working - F'ing GOLF!!! Everything was right except the actual content. DOH!

If you're willing to wait until folks upload the show, you can find all the races on youtube. I searched for full races for all but this years Canadian - found this low-res one for Canada last PM. Whole race with commentary from one Brit and a Scaa-ish voice. There were a couple of the usual Internet Pop-over ads, so stay close to the Mute button as the ads are +30dB louder than the race.

Page:
http://totalsportsek.com/f1/canada-grandprix-highlights
Video:
https://youtu.be/44N4uL45m1s

[Raven855]

I ran upto the lake today. Have Dish there, only recently got fiber in the neighborhood. On demand has a reply of the Canada GP on Wednesday and I have it set to record. Since AT&T recently acquired dish I plan to replace it also.

[brsvo]

Had it set to record on NBC but they canceled because of the shooting. Set up to record on NBCSN as a same day replay that night but that wasn't played as they just finished the actual race on NBCSN. They switched it when the shooting coverage was on and I did not know.

[Raven855]

To be fair, they did show the last 1.5 laps after Obama. The second was preemptied by Golf, women's golf and wrestling. Yesterday's showing did not record, as Mike pointed out. Apparently I was not worthy......but the prepaid programming before after recorded with 0 problems!

[brsvo]

Ironically I set up recording of the Indy car race and that recorded the GP. And here I thought I missed it.

[MikeFleming]

Well, I lost big on that one. I was down for two Safety Car sessions. And I was initially worried that was gonna be too few!

[MikeFleming]

If you missed today's Austrian Qualifying, you need to find a way to see it. Excellent session - very exciting.

I'm gonna go for two Safety Car sessions in the race tomorrow with Hamilton taking top podium spot with a Force India on the podium. And a McLaren in the top 5.

And I ask again - after watching Qualy today - WHEN is Ferrari going to get rid of Maurizio?

[brsvo]

So when is Merc going to drop one of their drivers as they dont play well together.

[MikeFleming]

So when is Merc going to drop one of their drivers as they dont play well together. They won't. THey can't. Ever. Cause they're winning races. Still.

Teams want the Constructors title while drivers want the Drivers Title. Different goals. Merc is still leading (by a VAST margin) the Constructors Championship points.

It's rare where one driver is the "lead" driver and the other one is merely the blocker (aka Schumaker/Massa). Every F1 driver thinks they're the best [on the team] and there is some conspiracy in the team that makes their car slower than their teammates. If only they had a better car, they would be champion. Kinda like 17+ Republican hopefuls thinking they're the best candidate to be POTUS. Just like everyone in the Indy "spectacle" thinks they're gonna win (or have a possibility of winning).

That's the breed of drivers today. And in reality if they weren't that self-inflated/self-confident they wouldn't get the job. Unless they bring in tens of millions of dollars to the team.

IMHO - that's the second time this season Rosberg has intentionally taken out [or tried to] Hamilton. He said so in the post-race interview. Team Merc sugar coats it again.

When is Maurizio getting fired? He's a COMPLETE failure. He's taken Ferrari from a competitive team to a middle-of-the-pack team by making some really bad strategic decisions. Like a car salesman, NOT a racer. ANY of his past five predecessors would/could do a much better job.

[MikeFleming]

Silverstone this weekend. Except for tyre failure, a sure Hamilton win.

So Hamilton, Rosberg, Kimi on hte podium with McLaren, Red Bull, Force India and Williams in the points. Verstappen first to crash.

[MikeFleming]

Two days to Hungary.

[MikeFleming]

And another well-driven, well-deserved win for Lewis.

[brsvo]

Was it just me or was the pit crew playing favorites.

[MikeFleming]

Was it just me or was the pit crew playing favorites. Seems more like their stop watch was broken when counting the five (5) seconds. I was surprised there wasn't an official there to mark/observe start/end of penalty period.

In any case Rosberg was not going to be able to pass Lewis.

[brsvo]

The rear jack man was about a second slower than the front for Rosberg but not with Hamilton.

[MikeFleming]

Tyre Torture

9198

[MikeFleming]

It's almost time to close this thread and start a new one for the 2017 Season.

Any last thoughts on the last race this weekend? Will Rosberg get his first WC title and carry #1 on his car next year??

Or will Maldanado (can't rely on Verstappen - he mostly only hits red cars) take out Rosberg and Hamilton will win another WC title?

When will Maurizio Arrivabene be fired for not making Ferrari Winning more? Many much better people at Ferrari have been fired for less.

What will Button and Massa be racing next year?

[Bob Holmes]

Rosberg wins WDC ("Mauldanado" is only racing in his dreams)

Yes, he gets fired. They need the Brits to run a contending team. And the dumbshits parted ways with Allison.

Massa and Button have been mid-field journeymen for all but a few moments in their careers...who really cares where they go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[brsvo]

Should be interesting, they have nothing to stop them from racing. Merc has the constructors title and no matter what will have a drivers WC. What is the points spread. Does Rosberg only have to finish second to win the title?

[MikeFleming]

Current:
Rosberg: 367
Hamilton: 255
Separated by 12 points, with Nico in the lead.

Finish points award list:
1st - 25
2 - 18
3 - 15
4 - 12
5 - 10
6 - 8
7 - 6
8 - 4
9 - 2
10 -1

My rough calcs show for Lewis to win the DC:
if Lewis wins the race, Nico could place no higher than 4th.
If Lewis takes 2nd, Nico would have to place no higher than 8th.
Lewis in 3rd, Nico 9th or lower.
If Lewis placed 4th (collects 12 points), and Nico is outside the top ten, then it comes down to the total number of wins for the season to determine the DC. Right now they're both tied at nine wins for the year. if Nico places 3th or higher, he will win the 2016 DC no mater where Lewis finishes.

I suspect that if neither wins at Yas Marina, and they finishes equal points, since they have the same number of wins, then they start counting second place finishes for the season. Which, I suspect, would then go to Nico. So Lewis needs a really large hat to pull something fantastic out of to win the DC this year.

If I was a betting man, I'd place money on Nico.

Practice is tomorrow!