F1 2015 Megathread

[alchresearch 214]

Totally agree. Nothing exciting at all.

 

Did you catch Formula E at Monaco? Much more action.

[truman 10]

Totally agree. Nothing exciting at all.

 

Did you catch Formula E at Monaco? Much more action.

 

I just can't get on with the lack of noise with Formula E.

[alchresearch 214]

Same here, it just seems like a poor knockoff. Although it did come across better in Monaco.

[Bladesman 10]

Red Bull are going to their toys and go home because they are not winning anymore. It could be worse surely? I mean they could be McLaren.

 

Red Bull say they will pull out of Formula 1 if they cannot get a competitive engine or Audi do not join forces with the team.

 

Red Bull are frustrated with partner Renault's failure to master the hybrid engines introduced into F1 last year.

 

Motorsport adviser Helmut Marko said Red Bull were interested in doing a deal that would see Audi enter F1.

 

"If we don't have a competitive engine in the near future, then either Audi is coming or we are out," said Marko.

 

But he denied Red Bull had already been in formal talks with the German company, which is part of the Volkswagen Group.

 

Marko told BBC Sport: "There are so many rumours. Officially there was no request or talks. The VW Group first has to sort out who will be the new chief of support, who will run the brand of VW, and when they have sorted all these things maybe then they can think about what they are doing in motorsport.

 

"I was on the phone but not to the people you think."

 

Like all teams, Red Bull have a contractual commitment to race in F1 until 2020. They also have a contract with Renault at least until the end of the 2016 season.

Marko's remarks are a reference to a power struggle taking place at the very top of the VW Group, which also has Porsche, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Skoda and Seat among its brands.

 

Helmut Marko has been rumoured to be in talks with Audi

Ferdinand Piech, who had led the German giant for more than 20 years, resigned as chairman last month.

 

The 78-year-old was a staunch opponent of any of VW's brands entering F1, partly because of his personal antipathy towards F1 commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Uncertainty continues to surround the senior management of Audi as a replacement for Piech has not yet been announced. His two nieces were appointed to the board to replace him and his wife, who resigned at the same time.

 

Senior sources in the German car industry believe Audi chairman Rupert Stadler is keen on an F1 entry, but that idea was vetoed in January by Piech.

 

The team had further trouble with their Renault engines at the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend.

 

Reliability problems mean Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo has already used four engines this season - which is as many as each driver is allowed to use throughout the year.

Red Bull, whose other driver Daniil Kvyat has also suffered engine failures, know it is inevitable they will be hit by grid penalties for using extra engines.

 

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, by contrast, have used only one engine for all five races so far.

 

Daniil Kyvat has used the maximum number of engines permitted in a season

Marko said: "I hope the reliability issues are solved pretty soon because it is really depressing how much we are losing on the straights."

 

He added: "Renault see the problems themselves and we have to try and find out these problems together. It is not only reliability, it is also that we did not run most of the practice sessions because of other issues. It is also a quality problem. "

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/32688667

 

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[truman 10]

Red Bull are going to their toys and go home because they are not winning anymore. It could be worse surely? I mean they could be McLaren.

 

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/32688667

 

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

 

It's sour grapes isn't it...they were ok when they were winning but now it's a bit more difficult for them they don't want to know...do you reckon it's a ploy to try to get Bernie to change the rules...?

[Bladesman 10]

It's sour grapes isn't it...they were ok when they were winning but now it's a bit more difficult for them they don't want to know...do you reckon it's a ploy to try to get Bernie to change the rules...?

 

Looks like there will be some rule changes.

 

Refuelling is returning for 2017, so expect some fire.

 

Formula 1 bosses have agreed to bring back refuelling in 2017 as part of a range of measures aimed at making the sport more exciting.

 

There will also be higher revving and louder engines and changes aimed at making cars "five to six seconds a lap faster", governing body the FIA said.

 

For 2016, bosses have approved a plan to allow teams free choice of the four available tyre compounds for each race.

 

The changes still need to be approved by two further legislative stages.

 

The changes were agreed on Thursday at a meeting of the F1 strategy group, which comprises FIA president Jean Todt, commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone and the Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull, Williams and Force India teams. The engine manufacturers were also represented at the meeting.

 

The FIA statement added that a "comprehensive proposal to ensure the sustainability of the sport has emerged".

 

This, it said, would be refined by the teams in the coming weeks.

 

There has been criticism of the spectacle provided by F1 in recent years

 

The engine rules, which saw the introduction of turbo hybrid engines and a fuel restriction last year, will remain stable.

 

This is to give clarity for any potential new manufacturers who may be considering entering the sport.

 

But it is the return of refuelling which will attract the most attention - the practice was last permitted in 2009.

 

The FIA said a "maximum race fuel allowance" would be retained. A spokesman said there had been "no agreement to change" the current 100kg limit but added: "This could evolve." However, he added that the maximum fuel-flow rate of 100kg per hour would stay.

 

There has been mounting criticism of the spectacle provided by F1 in recent years and the developments are a clear attempt to address that.

 

Drivers have been critical that the cars are too slow - in some races they are up to 10 seconds slower than in 2004.

 

The FIA said this would be addressed for 2017 by "aerodynamic rules evolution, wider tyres and a reduction in car weight".

 

Tyre supplier Pirelli currently chooses two types of tyre for each track out of the four compounds they supply

 

The first step in improving the show will come with the freedom of tyre choices by teams next year.

 

Tyre supplier Pirelli said at the weekend that it had reservations about the idea but bosses have ignored this and voted it through.

 

They feel that providing free tyre choice will introduce variety and uncertainty into race strategy.

 

The FIA statement said: "All parties agreed to work together with an intention to firm up these proposals and submit them to the approval of the F1 commission and the World Motor Sport Council of the FIA as soon as possible for implementation."

 

A plan to allow drivers to use a fifth engine this season, one up from the current limit of four, has been rejected.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/32751118

[alchresearch 214]

In the absence of F1 news, Christian Horner's wedding:

 

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/see-geri-halliwells-wedding-album-094236849.html#9MWADlt

[truman 10]

In the absence of F1 news, Christian Horner's wedding:

 

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/see-geri-halliwells-wedding-album-094236849.html#9MWADlt

 

"Old Spice" ...isn't that what your grand-dad used..?

[Bladesman 10]

Mercedes shaft Lewis again.

 

The only comfort is he is taking 27million a year off these muppets.

[alchresearch 214]

Spectacular dummy spitting from him though - ramming the P3 marker board and walking off with his champagne bottle.

 

And in other news:

 

Maria de Villota F1 Duxford crash: No health and safety action by HSE

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-32845139

[Bladesman 10]

Spectacular dummy spitting from him though - ramming the P3 marker board and walking off with his champagne bottle.

 

And in other news:

 

Maria de Villota F1 Duxford crash: No health and safety action by HSE

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-32845139

 

Came across well in the interviews though. Blatantly shafted by his team yet again.

 

Id be less restrained than he was after that race and certainly asking questions of the team.

[*_ash_* 88]

Spectacular dummy spitting from him though - ramming the P3 marker board and walking off with his champagne bottle.

 

And in other news:

 

Is it dummy spitting though?

 

Are you one of the best in the world at something?

 

If you were, and it was after spending your life trying to prefect and someone was paying you millions on top of that, would you not give everything to win and be upset if you didn't?

 

It surprises me that you don't see it. I remember when I was watching a premiership footy match once with company () and when a player was seriously injured after a tackle, she said, well, he can put his feet up and get £100k a week for doing nothing

 

Came across well in the interviews though. Blatantly shafted by his team yet again.

 

Id be less restrained than he was after that race and certainly asking questions of the team.

 

Me too. Though I think with millions watching these days and everything under scrutiny, he's had to learn restraint.

 

If you watch the reaction of drivers on films of 60's 70s 80s races when they weren't on stupendous money, and before the internet was around, you saw a lot more real emotion.

 

It was the same with Rosburg's interview but in another way. If he meant what he said (which I think he did to a large extent), I thought it was a good interview.