OT: Racing 2015 (Spoiler Alert)

[Rodster]

Force India just launched their car. Stunning livery

What's interesting is the front wing on the Force India. I don't recall ever seeing a vertical fin front spoiler.



Williams released pictures of their car.

[Rodster]

This is what the Force India looks like from the front.

[pk500]

Thank God for the elimination of the "anteater" nose this year.

[Rodster]

Ferrari is teasing it's car. From the silhouette the nose appears to be much different this year. Supposedly this is Allison's creation. We'll see if he can turn the Prancing Mule into a Horse.

[XXXIV]

This is what the Force India looks like from the front.

Looks good. when do we race?

[Rodster]

Melbourne is the first race on 3/15

[Rodster]

The new front wing similar to Force India

[Rodster]

McLaren-Honda

[pk500]

McLaren continues its tradition of building one of the sleekest, most-attractive cars on the grid.

[Rodster]

Someone snapped a pic of what appears to be the new MB.

[Rodster]

[XXXIV]

Car porn.

Cool.

[Rodster]

The 2015 Sauber....meh

[Rodster]

And up next is MY favorite team and color, now that Capt Morgan is off the team.

"The SF15-T is the first Ferrari to be fully designed under technical director James Allison. Both the car and the power unit will need to be a dramatic step forward if the Italian team is to close the gap to Mercedes at the front of the field, but the car looks certainly different to the 2014 with a new longer nose to conform to new regulations and tighter bodywork towards the rear.

"The back of the car is something which is noticeably different to the 2014 car because we've been successful in pulling the bodywork much tighter to all the stuff underneath the skin," Allison said. "That's been done through a lot of work not only in the wind tunnel but also in the design part of the company to find radiator designs that were fundamentally more efficient. So for every square centimetre of radiator we are able to extract more cooling this year than last and able to close the car down at the back as a consequence."

[GB_Simo]

For the first time in who knows how many years, I can't break out my ugly-tree-atop-Minger's-Hill speech. These are all good-looking machines. My only chance now is Toro Rosso, who probably haven't modelled their sidepods on the front of a Ford Edsel for my benefit. There's still hope, though.

Looking at that Sauber - and even more alarmingly, the McLaren, whose drivers currently wear the overalls of a bankrupt mid-grid Formula Ford 2000 outfit - almost makes me forget there was ever a time when Formula 1 cars carried visible sponsorship. Sauber's NEC and Claro sponsorship has gone where the Mexican market is and without any obvious replacement, the car looks bare. Very pretty, though, thanks to Felipe Nasr's Banco Do Brasil dollars (15 million of them when last I heard).

There's a lot of talk that McLaren haven't yet unveiled the livery they'll actually race in. There was the same talk last year, mind, so we shall see.

[Rodster]

Toro Rosso

[Rodster]

Mercedes Benz W06

[Rodster]

Day 1 of pre-season testing begins and an ominous sign as McLaren has completed just 6 laps and is a little over 16 secs off the pace. That should improve I guess but the story so far is the camouflaged Red Bull.

[Rodster]

Another ominous sign is the hammer Mercedes Benz has dropped. I sure as hell hope it's not another snoozer of a season. It's pre-season but Nico has done over 100 laps on his car and the lap times have been consistent in the 1:23's on supposedly the same tires. Ferrari shows some encouraging signs as they currently are in the top three. Williams is 2nd

.

[GB_Simo]

Honda are now where every other engine manufacturer was last year, mate, so their lack of mileage on day one is to be expected. Standard winter testing drill applies when it comes to assessing any lap times, though I suspect we did just learn, via Marcus Ericsson's soft-tyred besting of a Mercedes, that Sauber are actively seeking additional sponsorship.

[Rodster]

I'm wondering how long it will take before Capt Morgan goes ballistic. It doesn't help when you're car is 33 secs off the pace and the team you just left and it's new star driver are topping the team sheets, even if it's just a feel good time. At the very least even if the Ferrari times are just a smoke screen, I think they as a whole are better off without him even if he's the best driver on the grid.

[XXXIV]

I think they as a whole are better off without him even if he's the best driver on the grid.

Why?

Seriously. Newb question.

[Rodster]

I think they as a whole are better off without him even if he's the best driver on the grid.

Why?

Seriously. Newb question.

Adam may disagree with me but there are many reasons they are better off without him. He's disruptive, he's not a team player although he plays the PR game to his advantage and makes others think he is. When he arrives to a team, it's all about him and therefore the car is designed around his driving style so if his teammate has a different style like Felipe or Kimi, both are up sh*ts creek without a paddle.

Kimi complained to Ferrari that he likes a car with a lot of front end bite into the corners and a predictable rear end coming out of the corners. The car they produced last year was the opposite so Kimi suffered the most. James Allison who is the new technical director at Ferrari realized what the problem was last year and supposedly fixed it in the 2015 car. Supposedly "Finger Boy" and Kimi have similar driving styles which is why Vettel suffered last year with his car. The first two days saw Vettel top the times charts. It doesn't say anything other than the car suits his style and if Kimi does the same then Ferrari is headed in the right direction. The only other thing they need is a little bit more horsepower.

If Alonso was still on the team, nothing would have changed and the previous mgmt would still be in charge. So yeah, Ferrari is better off without him but that doesn't take away from his talents.

[XXXIV]

Thanks for the insight and perspective Rod.

I dont have a team but I do appreciate a good fan.

[Rodster]

It looks like another F1 team maybe biting the dust. Force India looks to be in huge trouble. Their 2015 car isn't ready and the rumor is, they don't have the money to pay it's suppliers although they keep denying it. Then Force India said they would be at the next test in Barcelona with their 2014 car and now it's looking like they've scraped those plans and say they'll be at the last test and they'll be on the grid for the 1st race. Not looking good for Force India.

So we have 2 teams lost and possibly a 3rd team out before the season starts. And in either 2016 or 17 the FIA further wants to bankrupt the small teams by changing the engine rules which includes 1000 bhp engines.

I think Sauber last year were saying they could be in trouble if cost continue to rise.