Formula 1 2015: General Discussion Thread

counterlock

H3llR4iser wrote: »

It's quite funny really...Button aged 34 (35 now) is old, Alonso who is one year younger is not. Talk about two weights, two measures.

Also, as I have said many times before, McLaren would have been better off keeping Button and Magnussen for this season - it was clear it was going to be a struggle, and Alonso isn't exactly known as the best guy to roll up his sleeves and get down to the dirty business when things go pear shaped. Ask Ferrari.

He carried Ferrari for four years and nearly win a couple of championships with them?

Harika

As FIA has opened team applications, I assume we might see something like Super Aguri racing again, that works together closely with McLaren and Honda engines, where young drivers might be parked. Or Manor switches to Honda and Vandorme/Magnussen get race experience there.

H3llR4iser

counterlock wrote: »

He carried Ferrari for four years and nearly win a couple of championships with them?

But also put himself in the middle of a political game that, ultimately, created an internal split inside the team; When such split made the team slip down the order, he also started pointing fingers. Hardly a team player, and certainly not what you need when you know you're going to steel up for a torrid season.

And that's not just me; if it wasn't for Honda's wish to sign "a big name", he wouldn't have had a contract this year and the problem certainly wouldn't have been that he isn't quick...

challengemaster

astrofluff wrote: »

And now talk of Aston Martin looking to get into the sport with a Merc-engined team (Williams or Force India). Merc own 5% of Aston Martin and are believe to have given the nod for them to enter the sport using a Merc engine.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/119869

It is also rumoured that Aston Martin may take Red Bull but there may be complications with engine supplier there. And with Adrian Newey working on a road car with Aston Martin, it gets all very interesting as to what will happen next between Merc & Red Bull!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/119879

Silly season is amoung us!!

You're a bit slow on the uptake - Aston already knocked it on the head and said they don't have anywhere near the money to enter F1

http://formulaspy.com/formula-1/formula-1-news/aston-martin-say-f1-deal-improbable-amid-red-bull-links-16634

Charlie-Bravo

Sorry I didn't see it discussed here and thought it was worth a mention. I don't read every single article online and wasn't aware. So your news is brand-new news. Kudos to you Mr Challenge.

flazio

Random question, back in the day when McLaren were Mercedes Benz works team, Mercedes used to be represented at Grand Prix by this burly German with a typically German tache. Can anyone remember his name and what's he up to these days?

JPF82

flazio wrote: »

Random question, back in the day when McLaren were Mercedes Benz works team, Mercedes used to be represented at Grand Prix by this burly German with a typically German tache. Can anyone remember his name and what's he up to these days?

Norbert Haug I believe.

mickdw

JPF82 wrote: »

Norbert Haug I believe.

Yep. Lost alot of Weight in latter years so he wasn't the man mountain he used to be.
I believe he was motorsport director with mercedes benz and I may be wrong but I believe Toto Wolff took over that role originally before taking direct control of the f1 operation.
Haug was a very powerful man in motorsport having a brief covering all motorsport for mercedes and as such he made many of the superstars of motorsport by giving them mercedes support.

Tea 1000

challengemaster wrote: »

You're a bit slow on the uptake - Aston already knocked it on the head and said they don't have anywhere near the money to enter F1

http://formulaspy.com/formula-1/formula-1-news/aston-martin-say-f1-deal-improbable-amid-red-bull-links-16634

They didn't knock it on the head though. From that link they said "improbable". That's not a no! Take a look here.
http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/motorsport/aston-martin-f1-red-bull-and-mercedes-%E2%80%93-why-we-put-them-together

Harika

The talk was not about entering as manufacturer like Mercedes or Renault but as sponsor like Infinity. When Andy Palmer talks he is clearly talking about starting an own team or building an own engine, what might be out of their reach, but looking at their numbers and that Infinity is paying 40 Million a year to RedBull, this could work out for them. Williams Aston Martin with Martini sponsoring, would work fantastically from a PR side imo. http://gt-italiamod.drivingitalia.net/GTR2/Render/download/Martini%20Racing%20Aston%20Martin%20DBR9.jpg

flazio

At this rate, they might as well badge those engines as Dacias.

Zcott

flazio wrote: »

At this rate, they might as well badge those engines as Dacias.

I'm not sure what happened to the rumoured Team Romania entry, but they were supposed to have Renaults branded as Dacias...

Joeseph Balls

Zcott wrote: »

I'm not sure what happened to the rumoured Team Romania entry, but they were supposed to have Renaults branded as Dacias...

Was that not a joke doing the rounds?

mickdw

Would be funny if renault bought out lotus and ran it as a renault works team then branded all customer units dacia just to piss off redbull for the abuse they have been giving them.

tripperman

Has anyone heard anything from hass f1 lately, I'm very sceptical on them after usf1 in all honesty

Anesthetize

tripperman wrote: »

Has anyone heard anything from hass f1 lately, I'm very sceptical on them after usf1 in all honesty

A quick Google search taking all of 3 seconds reveals:
http://www.planetf1.com/driver/55667788/61276/Haas-F1-want-experienced-drivers

mickdw

tripperman wrote: »

Has anyone heard anything from hass f1 lately, I'm very sceptical on them after usf1 in all honesty

Weren't they flat out in the ferrari windtunnel 'renting' time there to work on their f1 aero. As they are not a current f1 team, there is no restriction on windtunnel hours etc so they beavered away.
It's ok tough because when the fia official called in to inspect, it was confirmed that no ferrari staff were present and only Haas aero work was being undertaken.
Rumours that all ferrari overalls are reversible and have Haas branding on the inside are of course not correct.
It would appear that Haas are most beneficial to ferrari as a non entrant and as such can keep the ferrari windtunnel running flat out. Expect to see new future entrants renting time in the mclaren, redbull, mercedes facilities shortly.

Cool_CM

flazio wrote: »

At this rate, they might as well badge those engines as Dacias.

They've lowered the bar before:

HighLine

Another reason to like Ricciardo...

https://twitter.com/danielricciardo/status/619675424105197568

Charlie-Bravo

He was doing so well right up until the cliché.

AMKC

Anyone heard anything about Lotus being giving a court order to wind up as they have not being paying there suppliers or creditors.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/119877

It was on the F1 show that I heard it.

mickdw

I think lotus are a disgrace. They are not paying people correctly for years.
Still all will be ok, mansoor Ijaz is coming to the rescue. The funds are in place just another few days till he can get the money transferred.

Frank Bullitt

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/tennis/33501951

Hamilton was refused entry to the Wimbledon final at the weekend because of his clothing, it didn't met the rules at the club.

Thats a decent reason to not take notice of them fashion shows he goes to.

Jordan 199

Bottas. Does anyone here think that he will drive alongside Vettel at Ferrari next year?

Cookie_Monster

Gintonious wrote: »

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/tennis/33501951

Hamilton was refused entry to the Wimbledon final at the weekend because of his clothing, it didn't met the rules at the club.

Thats a decent reason to not take notice of them fashion shows he goes to.

just goes to show that F1 isn't the only sport full of stupid pointless rules

Mitch Connor

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

just goes to show that F1 isn't the only sport full of stupid pointless rules

I don't see the problem. You want to sit in the Royal Box at wimbledon, you match up to the dress code that has been stated. It is hamiltons fault for thinking he is above it. I'm a hamilton fan, but this is his problem and nothing Wimbledon should be mocked for or apologise for.

Charlie-Bravo

Wimbledon is a class event in every way. Hamilton just lacks that sense of class (dress sense) and the common sense of knowing your position with respect to your surrounding environment. I prefer EJ's clothing over Hamilton's!

Zcott

You could even say Hamilton was in the wrong gear...

I'll get my coat.

Frank Bullitt

Zcott wrote: »

You could even say Hamilton was in the wrong gear...

I'll get my coat.

*I liked it anyway.

flazio

Jordan 191 wrote: »

Bottas. Does anyone here think that he will drive alongside Vettel at Ferrari next year?

I'd say Bottas and Hulkenberg will be the Haas line up next year.

ScumLord

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I don't see the problem. You want to sit in the Royal Box at wimbledon, you match up to the dress code that has been stated. It is hamiltons fault for thinking he is above it. I'm a hamilton fan, but this is his problem and nothing Wimbledon should be mocked for or apologise for.

I wouldn't just assume he thinks he's above it. Maybe he just didn't know or thought what his wearing was appropriate?

I don't read celebrity mags so I don't know much about his personal life but he doesn't seem like an arrogant man despite being so far ahead in his profession. He's always struck me as fairly humble and shy. I haven't heard any stories of him going off the rails like other people that go from a humble background to super stardom. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders for such a young lad thrown into the limelight as he has been.

mickdw

ScumLord wrote: »

I wouldn't just assume he thinks he's above it. Maybe he just didn't know or thought what his wearing was appropriate?

I don't read celebrity mags so I don't know much about his personal life but he doesn't seem like an arrogant man despite being so far ahead in his profession. He's always struck me as fairly humble and shy. I haven't heard any stories of him going off the rails like other people that go from a humble background to super stardom. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders for such a young lad thrown into the limelight as he has been.

But he just continually keeps handing people new reasons to dislike him plus he tends to throw the team under the bus at first sign of trouble.
Take The Wimbledon incident. Button would have turned up in a sharp suit.
Kimi would likely have arrived in t shirt if invited. The difference between that and hamilton is that Kimi would have given zero thought to his clothes and would have happily sat somewhere else in the crowd if there was an issue whereas hamilton no doubt was styled by his team for the event, he was even tweeting photos of himself at wimbledon wearing a hat. They got it completely wrong and lewis clearly wasnt going to sit anywhere else so he missed the match.

Myrddin

All I took from it was that he's not even really into Tennis, or he would have known about the dress code. He got an invitation to watch from the royal box, & didn't want to turn it down so went along, & the rest we know. If that then turns into 'yet another reason to dislike him', I think the people picking up on these things need to stop scraping the barrel. The summer break in F1 tends to be painful enough without adding in the "look what Hamilton got up to", "How dare Lewis attend a non F1 related event" type hyperbole into the mix.

Myrddin

flazio wrote: »

I'd say Bottas and Hulkenberg will be the Haas line up next year.

Really? Do you think Haas will be immediately competitive....mid field wise?

Adamocovic

Myrddin wrote: »

All I took from it was that he's not even really into Tennis, or he would have known about the dress code. He got an invitation to watch from the royal box, & didn't want to turn it down so went along, & the rest we know. If that then turns into 'yet another reason to dislike him', I think the people picking up on these things need to stop scraping the barrel. The summer break in F1 tends to be painful enough without adding in the "look what Hamilton got up to", "How dare Lewis attend a non F1 related event" type hyperbole into the mix.

It is off topic but I'm pretty sure in the invitation it states that jacket, tie and shoes must be worn. Also if you do not have them I'm pretty sure they do have ones they can give you to put on, maybe Lewis wasn't too interested, maybe he didn't want to wear the ones they offered to him, maybe he didn't read the invitation right maybe he did and thought he'd get away with it, who knows.

I agree that the break brings out a lot of these stories to fill up the time but it's better than nothing I suppose.

With Hamilton opinions will always divided due to his off the track presence. Now I'd be lying if I said I'm his biggest fan, I don't hate him or anything (which it appears some do) I just don't follow or like him. Outstanding driver no doubt, just not my cup of tea.

My favourite current drivers at the moment are Button, Bottas and Hulkenburg. No doubt other people hate the ones I have mentioned. But with Hamilton being such a big named driver in terms of winning and off the track of course he will gain a lot of people who dislike him.

tripperman

Myrddin wrote: »

Really? Do you think Haas will be immediately competitive....mid field wise?

For me no not on mid field pace, but should be a lot closer then manor currently are, all depends on the Ferrari engine and how much backing on design they get from them as well, I see could Jev in a Haas car next season, anyone else read about manors potential American buy out by the guy over Mexico gp and a group of investors

Myrddin

Adamocovic wrote: »

With Hamilton opinions will always divided due to his off the track presence. Now I'd be lying if I said I'm his biggest fan, I don't hate him or anything (which it appears some do) I just don't follow or like him. Outstanding driver no doubt, just not my cup of tea.

Indeed It's just those who dislike him seem to be becoming increasingly desperate to find something, anything, they can to use against him. His non attendance at the festival of speed, his twitter pictures, his dress sense, & now this tennis thing. It's really boring at this stage, & it'd be a whole lot better if people could critique him on the track instead of his personal life. Sure, I take the point he exposes himself to a lot of this because of how he has embraced social media, & that's a fair point...but it really is scraping the barrel stuff, exposing peoples own personal feelings rather than anything else.

The 'throws the team in the fire' thing I don't buy into either. The Monaco thing for example, shock horror was more the teams fault. How do I know this? Simple...if this was said to Lewis over the radio "You don't have enough of a gap built up to get a free stop, & there's no signs of any pit activity"....does anyone think he'd really have stopped? The team were shockingly bad with relevant information, forcing Lewis to gamble on a stop that they really should have known better not to do.

My favourite current drivers at the moment are Button, Bottas and Hulkenburg. No doubt other people hate the ones I have mentioned. But with Hamilton being such a big named driver in terms of winning and off the track of course he will gain a lot of people who dislike him.

Hard not to love Button, he's the sports best ambassador if you ask me. Hulkenberg too, always comes across as a stand up guy. Also Bottas seems very likeable too. I'm not a fan of Rosberg really, he comes across as someone who places far too much emphasis on PR rather than his own feelings, but perhaps that's more a flaw of the culture & mechanic of F1...he could be very different in his personal life.

Harika

tripperman wrote: »

For me no not on mid field pace, but should be a lot closer then manor currently are, all depends on the Ferrari engine and how much backing on design they get from them as well, I see could Jev in a Haas car next season, anyone else read about manors potential American buy out by the guy over Mexico gp and a group of investors

Just read it here: http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/two-us-teams-on-the-f1-grid-in-2016-it-could-happen/

For Haas I would be highly surprised if they would immediately be in the mid field, I can't think of any team that started new in the last 15 years that was there.

Myrddin

Harika wrote: »

Just read it here: http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/two-us-teams-on-the-f1-grid-in-2016-it-could-happen/

For Haas I would be highly surprised if they would immediately be in the mid field, I can't think of any team that started new in the last 15 years that was there.

Agreed, which makes a Bottas/Hulkenberg move seem really unlikely

Zcott

Myrddin wrote: »

Agreed, which makes a Bottas/Hulkenberg move seem really unlikely

Bottas is worth way more than a Haas drive. He's rumoured to be off to Ferrari if Kimi goes, so we'll just have to wait and see. That opens up a good Williams seat too...

Myrddin

Zcott wrote: »

Bottas is worth way more than a Haas drive. He's rumoured to be off to Ferrari if Kimi goes, so we'll just have to wait and see. That opens up a good Williams seat too...

Agreed, I'd give Hulkenberg more stock than a Haas drive too. Either way, I can see Kimi leaving F1 in November, opening a seat for Bottas. I'd love to see Hulkenbeg move up towards the front & take the Williams seat. If I could choose though, I'd put Button in there. I feel he still has much to offer the sport, & it's beyond a shame to have Button & Alonso where they are currently.

Joeseph Balls

Jordan 191 wrote: »

Bottas. Does anyone here think that he will drive alongside Vettel at Ferrari next year?

Yes and I have for a while

Zcott

There are rumours both Hulkenberg and Button are in the running for the Williams seat, and an added rumour that Button might be doing Le Mans for Porsche next year.

ScumLord

Kind of surprised Button isn't already a regular at Le Mans, he seems like the perfect type of driver to do well at it.

Frank Bullitt

Button is tailor made for LeMans or any type of endurance racing.

flazio

So, with Bianchi laid to rest this week, will the podium drivers be expected to forgo the champagne spraying or will they go on as usual?

Charlie-Bravo

I hope they have a low-key gesture before the race and get on with racing and celebrate his life by having a proper champagne celebration afterwards!

Joeseph Balls

astrofluff wrote: »

I hope they have a low-key gesture before the race and get on with racing and celebrate his life by having a proper champagne celebration afterwards!

I doubt it. Think it will be a quiet affair, can't see them celebrating all smiles and then interviews will surely mention him.
Re Alonso being too upset to attend funeral. I'm sure there was another reason. I find that one difficult to believe.

AMKC

There will be a minutes silence before the race to remember Jules.

http://formulaspy.com/formula-1/formula-1-news/minutes-silence-confirmed-by-hungarian-race-organisers-16887

Harika

Nasr and Ericsson confirmed for Sauber for 2016. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/120062
So far both did not really convince me or is it because Sauber is just going backwards since the start of the season?