OT: Racing 2015 (Spoiler Alert)

[Rodster]

Even Martin Brundle says events with the Alonso incident are quite strange and that things don't add up.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/brund ... y-strange/

[Rodster]

Well I guess this could get a driver to miss the Australian GP. "My name is Fernando, I drive go karts and one day I want to be a Formula 1 driver".

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/for ... w--;_ylv=3

[pk500]

This is beyond cool -- A printable, color PDF wall calendar featuring dates of every major racing series of the world in 2015:

http://www.spotterguides.com/portfolio/15-wall-planner/

Enjoy!

[Rodster]

It appears that Ferrari has installed the PU's with less horsepower because of reliability concerns. Supposedly they'll be using those engines for the first 5 races. I would have done the opposite. They had a sh*t season last year, nothing to lose at this point. Fix the problems if they arise in the replacement engines with additional horsepower. Might as well put those tokens to use.

[Rodster]

Gotta love Formula 1 more so for it's politics and off track drama. So up to speed Van Der Garde sues Sauber claiming he had a contract to race this year. Sauber sacks him and puts in two rookies. Van Der Garde takes them to court in Switzerland and wins. Then he takes them to court in Victoria and they uphold the previous courts ruling and say HE MUST RACE THIS SUNDAY in Melbourne.

Team principal for Sauber says he's a threat to other racers because he hasn't driven the 2015 car. The only way out is if Sauber settles and pays him not to race. But wait they are in financial trouble. The outcome will probably be better than the race on Sunday.

[GB_Simo]

Adam Cooper is in court live blogging today's proceedings via his Twitter @adamcooperf1 - https://mobile.twitter.com/adamcooperF1

What a mess. Sauber have binding contracts with 3 drivers, their lawyer is making a terrible mess of things and so far, the judges don't seem to be buying it...

[Rodster]

The crazy thing about this whole affair is that Monisha Kaltenborn was Sauber's lawyer back when Peter Sauber was running the team. How in the hell could she botch things up so badly?

[Rodster]

Sauber loses its appeal, wow ! Melbourne will be an interesting race for sure. Will his car be sabotoged or will he get paid off? Where's Peter Sauber? She certainly has made a mess of things. AR1.com has posted a rumor that says Van Der Garde doesn't have a Superlicense to drive an F1 car.

In other news, the FIA is now looking into the Alonso crash. There's a theory that he might have passed out or could have been shocked while in the car. There's camera footage from Vettel's car which indicates he drove straight into the wall and did not steer away from impact while the McLaren telemetry shows the opposite and that he down shifted and tried to brake before impact. That's what's weird about this whole incident/crash.

[Rodster]

So what was learned from yesterdays qualifying? Merc is even faster than last year. The only hope a rival team has if either of their cars suffer some sort of failure, excessive tire degradation, they hit each other on the track or either driver crashes their car.

Ferrari FINALLY shows pace. Seb said yesterday that if it were not for a mistake in Q3 he would have been behind Nico. Lets see if Ferrari can leapfrog Massa in the race. Merc is simply untouchable at this point and they have a bigger gap to the rest vs last year.

I still don't understand the clusterphuck "engine tokens", although Ferrari has 10 tks, Honda 9 tks and Renault has 12 tks.

[Rodster]

Easy won for Merc, nice to see finger boy energized and use his talents to leap frog Massa for third even if it meant putting in hot laps prior to a pitstop.

Something is clearly wrong with Formula One and I think it might have been PK and others who critized the FIA for always finding a way to screw things up. They have gotten things right in the past. The qualifying format after years of trying is solid but in other things they keep changing the rules just to shuffle the grid order when one team is too dominant.

Clearly that's the current problem NOW because they have made a mess of things. Only 15 cars on the grid yesterday for the start of the race and several teams are hurting financially, AGAIN.

Christian Horner while someone being objective could call him a hypocrite for demanding the FIA rein in Mercedes domination after his team won four Championships in a row but his comment below IMO reflects how badly the FIA's rules have so screwed everything up and this has been on going since the 2000-2004 Ferrari domination.

"Horner said there is no magic bullet to catch up to Mercedes but believes the problems that McLaren-Honda and Manor faced this weekend are proof that something is wrong.

"I think they have a very reliable and a very together car. The power unit is so complicated. Looking at a company the size of Honda and the preparation time they've had, to come here and be so far off the pace at the back of the grid - it demonstrates how hard it is. Maybe these things are just too complicated. We've made life complicated and off the back of that is cost and off the back of that is why teams are in trouble - Manor couldn't even start their car. How right is that?"

[F308GTB]

Terrible display this weekend. 15 cars on the start, 11 at the end, the Mercs almost lapping the 5th place car. Too bad the Manors didn't get to the grid. The way things went they would have had a chance at some points.

[XXXIV]

First off Im happy I didnt once again stupidly to click this thread til after the race replay.


Mercedes looking even more dominant than they were last year. Somebody explain this to me. How can the cars be this much better? Crazy gap got crazier.

Rod. Why is Vettel finger boy? ferrari with a good ride for the first time in a while.

Gratz to Hamilton. Hes pretty f***in awesome!

[Rodster]

More Formula One drama. Red Bull is threatening to leave Formula One and will decide by this summer. What's interesting to note is that there are two rumors floating around.

1) Renault has interest in buying Toro Rosso (sister team of Red Bull)
2) Stefano Domenicali joined Audi to explore new business interest.

So it's possible we could have 2 new factory teams join F1.

[F308GTB]

While the races are boring with a dominant Merc, WAHHHHHH. Red Bull didn't have any issue with being dominant for 4 years straight. I like guys like Webber and Ricciardo who were/are bright spots on the team, but Horner can stuff it.

[GB_Simo]

Red Bull are committed until 2020 to the best of my knowledge, as is everyone else among the established teams. Mateschitz has had everything he wanted from F1 team ownership, though, and doesn't want to keep chucking money at it to finish a lapped 6th behind a Sauber. RBR's success and consequent value means it's more likely to be a viable purchase for a major manufacturer than a wealthy individual, which is where the Audi link comes in.

Domenicali is at Audi and is keen on the brand entering F1, where they could apply some of the hybrid knowledge learned in WEC and reach a far wider audience for the money spent, but Ferdinand Piech has maintained that the VW group won't be in F1 until either he or Bernie dies. The VW to F1 rumour is an old favourite but doesn't tend to stick around for quite this long, so whether Herr Piech might be softening is open to debate.


Regarding Sunday, I don't find the fight at the front boring as long as there is one. I have a suspicion that had he really wanted to, Lewis could have won the race by a rather larger margin than he ultimately did. If the spectacle behind Mercedes, with 13 cars left after 1 lap and only some of those cars occasionally meeting another, doesn't act as a wake-up call over the health of this sport, then nothing will.

[pk500]

Red Bull are committed until 2020 to the best of my knowledge, as is everyone else among the established teams. Mateschitz has had everything he wanted from F1 team ownership, though, and doesn't want to keep chucking money at it to finish a lapped 6th behind a Sauber. RBR's success and consequent value means it's more likely to be a viable purchase for a major manufacturer than a wealthy individual, which is where the Audi link comes in.

A contractual commitment means nothing to Mateschitz, especially since any fine levied by the FIA or Bernie for early withdrawal would be pocket change for him, I would think.

[GB_Simo]

A contractual commitment means nothing to Mateschitz, especially since any fine levied by the FIA or Bernie for early withdrawal would be pocket change for him, I would think.

True enough, and I wouldn't mind being a couple of pounds behind his bank balance. I still suspect that the plan is to sell RBR and STR rather than withdrawing full stop, particularly because he'll have a bear of a time selling tickets for the races at Red Bull Ring if there are no cars left to enter them, but whatever penalty a withdrawal might carry would probably still be nothing compared to RBR's annual budget.

It's going to be a horribly political year, this, isn't it?

[Jimmydeicide]

They can change the name to F1 parade instead of racing.

[Rodster]

Hopefully if RBR is sold to Audi they can keep Dani Ricciardo and Danii Kyvat. It's too bad that American OW Racing is such a weak product. They could have capitalized off some of the Formula 1 bumbling.

[Rodster]

Well that didn't take long. Ron Dennis said there were no issues with the car and Capt Morgan is saying his steering failed to the right and he had to brake and downshift. McLaren is standing by it's story that it's a mystery as to why the Capt went straight for the wall. 2007 all over again?

[Rodster]

Anyone here follow Moto GP? I'm trying to figure out the qualifying format. All i've been able to figure out is that Q1 is made up of 15 riders and the top two riders go on to Q2 but the riders in Q2 have been selected from where? That's my question.

I'm watching the qualifying sessions from Qatar and I wish F1 cars sounded as badass as Moto GP bikes.

[Rodster]

[GB_Simo]

Terrific - a great antidote to the post-Melbourne complaints, driven largely by folk who seem to think Melbourne always produces great racing, which is news to me.

You're not going to see track temps that high at Silverstone, mind, but that Ferrari was perfectly tuned in to the circuit this weekend. What I'd have loved to see is where Kimi would have ended up with a clear run - his long run pace on Friday was quicker than both Mercs.

Button's "I'm a bit surprised - we're actually catching cars!" charted high on my list of favourite driver radio calls, but the McLaren is clearly getting there steadily. Honda put the retirements down to "harsh power unit usage in racing conditions", which I think means letting the engine produce more power than a Civic Type R for once and hoping for the best.

Max Verstappen's going to stick around for a bit, isn't he? Tough, uncompromising stuff from the lad but all completely fair.

[F308GTB]

A great day to be a Ferrari fan. Felt bad for Kimi - first getting the bad luck in qualifying with the rain and then the puncture just after pit entry. He probably had the drive of the day to get to 4th.

[pk500]

Now that's more like it. Gentlemen, we have a race this season!

A far more entertaining show than the IndyCar race so far in St. Pete, where the debris cautions caused by contact with the fragile Venetian blinds disguised as the new aero kits are disrupting the show far too often.