Formula1

I don't get it why every new track is first driven on by someone from Red Bull. It was mostly done by David Coulthard once he retired from active racing, but is done by their race drivers (often Vettel) lately. They did that here, in Korea, in Austin and probably more. I am sure though that Abu Dhabi was tried in GP2 car by someone else (not sure but I think it was M. Schumacher)
 
Jamezinho said:
No but look at it: pancake flat, no corner is memorable from the last, few redeeming features.
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That's true though. The late artificial tracks (mainly those by Tilke) are disappointingly flat. Many old tracks lived from their up and downs (Imola, Brands Hatch, Nürburgring, Suzuka, Spa, Zandvoort to only name a few), India's circuit tried to cope with as well as Istanbul, but imho they fail to reproduce that feeling. And other new tracks like Korea or Bahrain do not try to include such elevations.
 
Bahrain is not a good example as it is very much up-down circuit. It goes down from T1 to T2, than up to T4, than again down steeper and steeper all the way to T10. from T11 to T13 it is again steep uphill through 2 sweeping corners and again down all the way to the last corner.


But even flat tracks can be good and produce fantastic racing. Just take a look at current Hockenheim. It is one of the flatter tracks in the calendar yet racing there is always fantastic.
 
I love Hockenheim. Flat tracks can be fun if the layout is good with interesting corners and I think Hockenheim has that. The much revered old forest circuit was pretty much flat, remember.

Sochi just looks bland.
 
Cuky said:
Bahrain is not a good example as it is very much up-down circuit. It goes down from T1 to T2, than up to T4, than again down steeper and steeper all the way to T10. from T11 to T13 it is again steep uphill through 2 sweeping corners and again down all the way to the last corner.


But even flat tracks can be good and produce fantastic racing. Just take a look at current Hockenheim. It is one of the flatter tracks in the calendar yet racing there is always fantastic.
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Sorry, but Bahrain hasn't that large ups and downs. There are some steeps and falls, but nothing compared to other circuits.
Jamezinho said:
I love Hockenheim. Flat tracks can be fun if the layout is good with interesting corners and I think Hockenheim has that. The much revered old forest circuit was pretty much flat, remember.
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The famous exchange of a rule. ;)

(although I though we agreed that the new layout is much better than the old one was)
 
Yes, I much prefer the current Hockenheim layout over the old one, but my point was the old circuit was popular and is fondly remembered despite being very flat. Hockenheim has always had character.
 
well, considering their financial status I think he was worth it. They receive, if rumors are true, pretty heavy check for his seat. And due to his driving style he is often seen on TV which gives their sponsors some air-time which again pays nicely
 
well, I am not at this level of complexity. It is just too complicated for drivers to know all the menus and submenus on steering wheel when there is some problem with the car. Even if they can recognize the problem, it is just too hard to remember where all the settings are...hell, they even have "+10" button on the wheel to skip 10 submenus at once...I think it was Brundle who said that Ferrari from 2011 that he had a chance to drive had some settings with more than 100 options to choose from. And those were far simpler cars (internally) than current ones.
 
I see your point, but I'm with Jamezinho, there were many points in the last years where I got the impression that it's merely the race engineer doing the job rather than the driver. I don't think it will be a title deciding difference, but it could lead to some changed situations, because drivers again have to thrust their car and talents and not on how to drive after your engineer instructed you to.
 
well, I agree to some extent with both of you. I am all for that drivers need to find time on track by themselves, but when it comes to actually saving whole power unit or one of its components when they can use maximum of 5 throughout the season (and receive penalties if they use more) I am all for allowing engineers to actually help them save their car with all the details they have in pits that drivers just don't have time to look at in car while driving.


And when I touched that point of allowed power units, next season there will be 20 races (calendar was confirmed by FIA) and they will be allowed 4 power units for whole season.

Calendar that was confirmed includes return of Mexico GP on the same circuit that hosted Mexican GP before it was canceled - Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City
1. Australia, Albert Park, March 15
2. Malaysia, Sepang International Circuit, March 29
3. Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit, April 5
4. China, Shanghai International Circuit, April 19
5. Spain, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, May 10
6. Monaco, Circuit de Monaco, May 24
7. Canada, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, June 7
8. Austria, Red Bull Ring, June 21
9. Great Britain, Silverstone, July 5
10. Germany, Nurburgring, July 19
11. Hungary, Hungaroring, July 26
12. Belgium, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, August 23
13. Italy, Autodromo di Monza, September 6
14. Singapore, Marina Bay Street Circuit, September 20
15. Japan, Suzuka International Racing Course, September 27
16. Russia, Soči Autodrom, October 11
17. USA, Circuit of The Americas, October 25
18. Mexico, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, November 1
19. Brazil, Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, November 15
20. Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina Circuit, November 29
 
Cuky said:
well, I am not at this level of complexity. It is just too complicated for drivers to know all the menus and submenus on steering wheel when there is some problem with the car. Even if they can recognize the problem, it is just too hard to remember where all the settings are...hell, they even have "+10" button on the wheel to skip 10 submenus at once...I think it was Brundle who said that Ferrari from 2011 that he had a chance to drive had some settings with more than 100 options to choose from. And those were far simpler cars (internally) than current ones.
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I want to see this simplified via regulation. The burden on the modern F1 driver has gone too far. It's ridiculous watching the drivers constantly fiddling with settings on the wheel, adjusting the dynamics of the car for different corners and stages of the race. It's too much. F1 needs its rawness back.
 
matherto said:
Far too many races.

Far too many terrible tracks as well, can't believe the likes of Hungary are still on the calendar.
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I'm not sure many would agree with you about Hungary. It's popular with drivers and fans alike for its technical, narrow, street-circuit style. One of Hamilton's favourite venues.

Personally I love Hungaroring. There are at least half a dozen other tracks I would love to see gone.
 
20 is a decent number of races imo, anymore is probably too much, and i also love the hungaryoring, it's a real classic track, & JB won his first race there, also i love to drive it on the F1 games on PC so bernie better not be thinking about taking it out. and i thought the indian GP was back for next season, what happened there?

i think hamilton has got this season sewn up now, 3 points clear of rosberg, and the only thing that can stop lewis winning the WDC is reliability issues. 5 races left i hope everything will be smooth for both mercedes drivers and no more reliability shit. and vergne had another decent drive, he fighting for his career in F1, some of his passes were a bit dodgy though but in his situation he had to go for it..
 
of all the tracks for next season I only want to get rid of Abu Dhabi. I just have never developed a liking for it. Singapore is ok-ish for me, but if better track is available than get rid of it too. Sochi does look Abu-Dhabi-ish but I will reserve my judgement until we have a race there.

But I wouldn't mind having Magny-Cours, Imola, Jerez, Algrave, Le Mans (shorter "Buggati" track used by Moto GP), Paul Richard, or some other European classic instead of those 3 I have mentioned above.
 
PitlaneTalk reports that Alonso's move to McLaren for 2015. is done deal and that Honda (new PowerUnit supplier for McLaren starting with 2015) had already paid $30M to Ferrari which is amount set in Alonso's contract for its canceling.

It could be seen as far stretched, but PitlaneTalk has some good credibility this year. They were first to report rumors that Domenicalli will be replaced by Mattiacci in Ferrari which came true just week or so later. They were also first to report that di Montezemolo will resign from his position as president of Ferrari and after about a month worth of denial he really resigned from his position.

They also wrote that they are putting their credibility on the line with this rumor and that they will apologize if this is shown to be wrong and that they will delete their twitter account (where they report most of their rumors)
 
to replace JB or magnussen? i don't see mclaren giving kev 1 year then tossing him off already, although they did with perez, or maybe alonso wont replace anyone and all the teams will have 3 drivers.
i think it's most probably all bullshit and alonso will stay at ferrari.
 
Jensen had success with Honda so I can see that being a reason to keep him on. I think Magnusen is a proven talent but the McLaren has been a poor car again so I don't think he deserves to be cast aside. They also have Stoffel Vandoorne waiting in the wings who is looking very much the real deal.

Difficult to call the McLaren line-up for 2015 but my feeling is it will be the same as 2014.
 
a bit more on Alonso from @pitlanetalk on twitter

(1/2) We have confirmation from a respectable Italian journalist, who, like us, also knows that Alonso signed with McLaren last week. (2/2) The announcement however might be delayed until November when Ferrari can sort their line-up as well. #F1 #Formula1
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I can see that happening tbh. Since Domenicali and Montezemolo had left the team two of Alonso's strongest supporters from inside are gone. Also Santander president has passed away few weeks ago and maybe their new leadership doesn't want to spend so much money on sponsoring a F1 team just to have their driver in it.

In McLaren JB has his contract valid for next season and I don't see they ditching him now that they have so much trouble with the car and need experience. Magnussen has signed for 2014 only so it would be easier to just get rid of him, or to loan him to Marussia/Caterham/Sauber/FI for a year until JB's contract runs out.
 
It'll be Button if it's anyone leaving at McLaren. He doesn't fit into their future plan and Magnussen does (it's a 3-5 year plan if I remember correctly).

It's a shame cause I'm a massive JB fan.

I mentioned the Hungaroring because although it's good in the sense that the British drivers always go well there, there's barely any overtaking whatsoever because it's so narrow and never ending. The only place to overtake is the first corner and even with DRS that never seems to happen, it's shite.
 
Honda has released pictures of their PowerUnit that will power McLaren cars from 2015
1491715_746106755456371_24994816016775492_n.jpg


It would be wrong to assume that this is a real deal as all manufacturers had released those preview pictures of their PUs and they were pretty much early development pictures as those mounted inside the cars at the start of the season were quite different.
 
BAD, BAD, BAAAAAAD news for Caterham F1 team


Breaking news - impending sale of a Formula One vehicle and equipment

By order of The Sheriffs Office, authorised High Court Enforcement Officers, we hereby announce the impending sale of goods seized and removed from a Formula One team.

The goods include but are not limited to:

-Caterham F1 test car (2013)
-Caterham F1 car parts (due for Japan 2014)
-Full size 6 DOF motion platform F1 simulator
-Caterham F1 steering wheels
-F1 wheels with tyres
-High quality drilling & machining equipment
-Caterham & Lotus F1 memorabilia
-Various pit lane equipment including jacks, pumps and starters
-TVs, monitors and other goods and equipment

We can confirm the goods have been removed from the Leafield enforcement address and are in secure storage.

The goods are to be sold by public auction to the highest bidder.

Sale by private treaty may be permissible with leave of the court.

The date and location of the sale are yet to be confirmed but early indications are mid-October at a UK location. Interested parties should contact auctions@thesheriffsoffice.com to register their interest.

Alternatively please follow us on Twitter @sheriffsonline where updates will be posted as soon as information is received.
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SOURCE - TheSheriffsOffice

A bit about that appeared on twitter before official statement that is quoted above.
thejudge13 @thejudge13
Breaking news re #F1 Caterham coming in now.... It looks very bad

thejudge13 @thejudge13
Bailiffs and police are on site in Leafield #F1 #TJ13

thejudge13 @thejudge13
It's unclear whether Caterham #F1 will now race this weekend #TJ13

thejudge13 @thejudge13
Staff have been asked to turn off servers and leave the premises in Leafield #F1 #TJ13

thejudge13 @thejudge13
Bailiffs have been in every day this week. Arrangements being made for removal of large items, such as the autoclave #F1 #TJ13
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Despite all this they will race at Japan this weekend.
SOURCE - BBC
 
I've always wanted to have one of those steering wheels. :D

Not a good news, but to be honest, I really wouldn't care, Caterham was/is only there to fill places on the grid, you can easily replace them with any other team, that wants to participate in F1.
 
that's true...but what saddens me is to see guys like Marussia and Caterham (and before HRT and Super Aguri) who have people with good ideas but they just can't afford them. Marussia might live for some time more as they could be in for nice prize money if they keep their 9th place in constructors championships till the end.


Just a little interesting fact: Both Arrows and Super Aguri teams had financial problems that resulted in their closure, and both were based in that same base in Leafield in which Caterham currently resides. Arrows built it for themselves, Super Aguri bought it from Arrows together with few 2002 cars (on which their 2006 car was based) and other equipment, while Caterham bought that base from Super Aguri.
 
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