Formula 1 2015: General Discussion Thread

Frank Bullitt · 16-10-2015 12:28am

Also, engine development has been opened up for next year, still using the token system but areas of the engine that were frozen are opened.

Harika · 16-10-2015 8:58am

Pirelli has also been extended in principal. Also interestin insights in their design process.
http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/10027386/pirelli-rethink-tyred-out-formula

mickdw · 16-10-2015 11:07am

Ghost Train wrote: »

Finished 11th in his last GP... finished 2nd in his his first ever F1 race
One of the best F1 debuts ever (Jacques Villeneuve also came 2nd in first race, Giancarlo Baghetti won debut race back in 1961)
Probably does deserve bit more time in an f1 car if a team wants to take chance with him

I was talking about his race for McLaren Honda where it expired before the start.

HighLine · 16-10-2015 2:39pm

Magnussen found out about him parting ways with McLaren via an email from Ron's PA...... on his birthday. Just a tad cold from McLaren, surely Ron could have set aside 5 minutes to make a phone call.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/magnussen-q-a-mclaren-split-was-on-my-birthday-via-email/

Uno my Uno. · 16-10-2015 2:45pm

HighLine wrote: »

Magnussen found out about him parting ways with McLaren via an email from Ron's PA...... on his birthday. Just a tad cold from McLaren, surely Ron could have set aside 5 minutes to make a phone call.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/magnussen-q-a-mclaren-split-was-on-my-birthday-via-email/

I think Ron is like Frank Williams, old school and cold. To Principles like them drivers are just another factor of production, Once he decides he doesn't need them he casts them aside. I don't mean to be critical, that's just the impression I get.

PopePalpatine · 16-10-2015 6:28pm

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

I think Ron is like Frank Williams, old school and cold. To Principles like them drivers are just another factor of production, Once he decides he doesn't need them he casts them aside. I don't mean to be critical, that's just the impression I get.

It's worth noting that back when Ron Dennis's Project 4 team merged with McLaren, motorsports was far more dangerous than today. It would have been a bad idea back then for team principals to get emotionally attached to drivers.

AMKC · 16-10-2015 9:33pm

PopePalpatine wrote: »

It's worth noting that back when Ron Dennis's Project 4 team merged with McLaren, motorsports was far more dangerous than today. It would have been a bad idea back then for team principals to get emotionally attached to drivers.

Still he could have at least let the lad enjoy his birthday and then send the E-mail. I do think he deserves to get a seat with a team in F1 be it Renault or Haas. If I were the team boss at Renault I would be ringing him now. Have heard that Maldonado wants someone with experience do so maybe he might not be keen on Magnussen even do he would probably still finishes more races than him.

mickdw · 16-10-2015 10:24pm

Poor form from Ron.
Can't help thinking Martin Whitmarsh would have abit more class.

tigerboon · 16-10-2015 11:35pm

AMKC wrote: »

Still he could have at least let the lad enjoy his birthday

Maybe he forgot to mark the lads birthday on the calendar

17-10-2015 1:12pm

Ron is an arsehole who has no qualms about lying to suit his own agenda and to undermine people when they have something shiny he wants.

boardsuser1 · 17-10-2015 1:20pm

is Ron Dennis the only team principal to have gotten rid of 2 drivers from the same team that were father and son i.e Jan and Kevin Magnussen

Myrddin · 17-10-2015 4:23pm

It's funny though, it just goes to show how brightly one can shine in GP2, and have a whole career ahead....to ending up in obscurity, through no fault of your own, a mere season or two later.

Uno my Uno. · 18-10-2015 4:05pm

Ron doesn't give a fcuk about birthdays, nor should he. He doesn't give enough of a sh1t to even email himself, he's already on to the next issue. Maybe he didn't intend it to be so harsh but he has much bigger problems.

Myrddin · 18-10-2015 6:09pm

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

but he has much bigger problems.

Indeed, though a simple one to one call is never asking too much - no matter the circumstances. F1 really can chew up & spit people out sometimes, if that's happening, I think it's at least the decent thing to do to ensure their exit is a courteous and professional one.

HighLine · 20-10-2015 10:28am

Possibility of a multi engine type Formula 1? Sounds crazy but the situation with RedBull is fairly critical at the moment....

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ecclestone-still-pushing-for-alternative-engine-for-red-bull/?v=2&s=1

Harika · 20-10-2015 10:45am

I just can't see that the other engine manufacturers would agree to a different design that is also competitive. To give RedBull a lifeline sure, but to have them fight for the championship with an engine outside of the rules I simply cannot see. And this is why RedBull split with Renault, to get a competitive engine. IMO we will see them reunited with Renault. And when Horner states that we had turbo and normal aspirated engines at the same time, this was a transition period and the normal aspired engines were mostly not competitive. Except I think one race in general, because of the layout and in the rain.

tigerboon · 20-10-2015 11:26am

from Motorsport.com

"The latest Formula 1 calendar, ratified by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council earlier this month, has the inaugural European Grand Prix at Baku scheduled for the 18/19 June weekend, clashing with the Le Mans 24 Hours"

Le Mans so!

tigerboon · 20-10-2015 11:26am

from Motorsport.com

"The latest Formula 1 calendar, ratified by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council earlier this month, has the inaugural European Grand Prix at Baku scheduled for the 18/19 June weekend, clashing with the Le Mans 24 Hours"

Le Mans so!

Zcott · 20-10-2015 2:52pm

Poor form, especially for someone like Hulkenberg who just loves racing.

Frank Bullitt · 20-10-2015 5:23pm

http://planetf1.com/news/bernie-ready-to-force-teams-to-return-to-v8/

Bernie is ready to force teams to use V8's again according to this. No chance of it happening.

Myrddin · 20-10-2015 5:29pm

Gintonious wrote: »

http://planetf1.com/news/bernie-ready-to-force-teams-to-return-to-v8/

Bernie is ready to force teams to use V8's again according to this. No chance of it happening.

It's all a game really, & a tiring one at that. The 2016 V6's with ERS will be on the grid in April, & that's that.

Frank Bullitt · 20-10-2015 5:30pm

Myrddin wrote: »

It's all a game really, & a tiring one at that. The 2016 V6's with ERS will be on the grid in April, & that's that.

Agreed, couldn't see it any other way at all.

boardsuser1 · 20-10-2015 5:41pm

Bring back the V10's or even the Ferrari V12's my god the noise was brilliant

Myrddin · 20-10-2015 5:45pm

KC161 wrote: »

Bring back the V10's or even the Ferrari V12's my god the noise was brilliant

More chance of sprinklers I'd say

Ghost Train · 20-10-2015 5:58pm

The sport really is a mess sometimes... do wonder are his comments an attempt to try and get redbull an engine deal, threaten everybody elses engines and see if the teams agree something to sort redbull out for next year

Going Strong · 20-10-2015 9:58pm

Myrddin wrote: »

It's all a game really, & a tiring one at that. The 2016 V6's with ERS will be on the grid in April, & that's that.

Bernie couldn't even make Mercedes and Ferrari sell a 2016 engine to Red Bull. What chance does he have with this nonsense?

There's a power struggle going on right now between the major manufacturers and FOM and the latter are losing. It's been pretty obvious with the whole Red Bull quitting or not saga that the big teams aren't afraid of Bernie in the slightest.

Ghost Train · 20-10-2015 11:00pm

It might also have something to do with the possibility of Chinese investors taking over majority share of sport
CNC replaces CVC. Much of the same I guess, try and squeeze a bit more money out of the sport.

Maybe Bernie want's to pretend he's still in control if a buyer wants to come in and make changes.
http://news.sky.com/story/1570686/chinese-eye-biggest-f1-stake-in-8-5bn-bid

Uno my Uno. · 21-10-2015 4:20am

Ghost Train wrote: »

The sport really is a mess sometimes... do wonder are his comments an attempt to try and get redbull an engine deal, threaten everybody elses engines and see if the teams agree something to sort redbull out for next year

It's always been a mess, I've been watching. For 30 years and I've lost count of the amount of times we were told the sport was at crisis point and might not be black the following year. My old man has been watching for at least the 20 years before I was and he says the same, in fact himself and a mate went to the British Grand Prix on year in the early 80s because all the news said there probably wouldn't be another for the foreseeable future because of a dispute.

Going Strong · 21-10-2015 8:39am

Too true. I was watching Sky F1 the other night where they showed the whole of the 1981 US Grand Prix from Las Vegas. Murray walker was commenting that the teams had been up all night in a meeting to decide F1's future but nothing came of it and, as a result "The future of the sport is in doubt."

christy c · 21-10-2015 10:31am

Going Strong wrote: »

Too true. I was watching Sky F1 the other night where they showed the whole of the 1981 US Grand Prix from Las Vegas. Murray walker was commenting that the teams had been up all night in a meeting to decide F1's future but nothing came of it and, as a result "The future of the sport is in doubt."

Off topic but what was that race like? I've heard reports that it was in a car park and not great

Harika · 21-10-2015 10:57am

christy c wrote: »

Off topic but what was that race like? I've heard reports that it was in a car park and not great

Yes it was in a car park, but quite entertaining race I thought as cars broke down, slowed down, recovered and the championship was decided basically on the finish line. For the race win itself,

I think you need it to show to the people, that think, that earlier everything was better, as it was a start to finish win, not ever challenged by anyone. The only nail biter: Will the lead car break down, while never shown any signs of it.

Going Strong · 21-10-2015 11:06am

The most shocking thing was Patrick Tambay's crash. The entire front section of his Ligier was torn off, leaving his legs exposed. He limped away from it while James Hunt and Murray Walker were extremely sanguine about it in a "Sure, he's still able to hop on one leg, what's the problem?" manner.

Agreed regarding cars just stopping for no apparent reason. That and 'Handling Issues' being a cause for a car to start going backwards through the field.

They showed highlights from the 1982 race last night. It's great to see the cars being driven in anger as well as hear all the "Of its time" paddock gossip about who's going where and what have you. This past week has been a feast of F1 nostalgia on Sky F1. They had the British GP from 1987 the other day with Mansell selling Piquet the dummy on Hangar Straight. Belgium 1985 was a cracker as well with Senna somehow keeping his Lotus Renault on the track during changeable conditions to win.

HighLine · 21-10-2015 11:08am

Mexico track looking near complete now. Reminds me a lot of Albert Park. Probably best watched on mute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38zR1UEsNQQ

Jordan 199 · 21-10-2015 2:48pm

I see that Peraltada is now known as the 'Nigel Mansell Turn'

21-10-2015 5:22pm

So much tarmac.

Frank Bullitt · 21-10-2015 7:16pm

In slightly F1 related news. Montoya will take Hulkenbergs race seat at Porsche for LeMans next year.

Going for the triple crown.

Myrddin · 21-10-2015 7:19pm

Did I hear right in that if Lewis wins the next race, & Vettel finishes third or lower then Lewis takes the title?

Frank Bullitt · 21-10-2015 7:29pm

Myrddin wrote: »

Did I hear right in that if Lewis wins the next race, & Vettel finishes third or lower then Lewis takes the title?

Yeah something like that. The sooner its over, the better.

Cookie_Monster · 22-10-2015 2:58am

Myrddin wrote: »

Did I hear right in that if Lewis wins the next race, & Vettel finishes third or lower then Lewis takes the title?

not hard to believe to be fair.

Deleted User wrote: »

So much tarmac.

indeed, so much space to put gravel traps in!!

donspeekinglesh · 22-10-2015 8:43am

Gintonious wrote: »

In slightly F1 related news. Montoya will take Hulkenbergs race seat at Porsche for LeMans next year.

Going for the triple crown.

Hasn't been confirmed yet, but he will be testing the car.

Cookie_Monster · 22-10-2015 9:30am

OSI wrote: »

True, but I don't know how fond I am of gravel traps. I agree drivers need to be penalised for overcooking a corner, but ending their race beached in gravel for having the balls to outbreak someone shouldn't happen. The likes of the speed bumps and mandatory exit paths they've introduced are a better idea in my book.

or fire pits. Fire always makes thing better

Andrew76 · 22-10-2015 10:03am

Myrddin wrote: »

Did I hear right in that if Lewis wins the next race, & Vettel finishes third or lower then Lewis takes the title?

If he outscores Vettel by 9 points and Rosberg by 2 he'll be champ.

boardsuser1 · 22-10-2015 12:11pm

I don't know which was better,Schumacher-Ferrari dominance,Vettel-Red Bull or Hamilton-Mercedes

Vegeta · 22-10-2015 12:17pm

OSI wrote: »

True, but I don't know how fond I am of gravel traps. I agree drivers need to be penalised for overcooking a corner, but ending their race beached in gravel for having the balls to outbreak someone shouldn't happen. The likes of the speed bumps and mandatory exit paths they've introduced are a better idea in my book.

Got it covered:

boardsuser1 · 22-10-2015 12:20pm

Andrew76 wrote: »

If he outscores Vettel by 9 points and Rosberg by 2 he'll be champ.

basically if Hamilton heads a Mercedes 1-2 with Vettel 3rd it's all over

SamAK · 22-10-2015 12:43pm

Struggling to be at all interested in what's going to happen in this weekend's race.

A Merc procession at the front (Lewis winning, of course), Ferrari playing catch up (Raikkonen to underperform, again!). Williams just behind them, Red Bull in the midfield moaning about Renault, Manor at the very back, not far behind McLaren....

And the entire Sky F1 team trying to make mountains out of molehills and make everything appear drama filled and exciting.

And that **** Ecclestone being a wizened old money-grabbing dick...argh!

El_Duderino 09 · 22-10-2015 2:11pm

KC161 wrote:

I don't know which was better,Schumacher-Ferrari dominance,Vettel-Red Bull or Hamilton-Mercedes

Is it likely that the engines will balance out in the next year or 2? The ground work is done and merc staff are probably getting offers from Renault ferrari and honda (and VAG?)

I really hope so. Hamilton was good this year and beat Rosberg hands down. Hope the Ferrari is a real challenger next year.

Uno my Uno. · 22-10-2015 2:24pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

not hard to believe to be fair.

indeed, so much space to put gravel traps in!!

Gravel Traps are out of vogue now on safety grounds, at high speeds cars had a tendency to skim over the surface before either burying themselves in the tyres or digging in and flipping over.

I'm looking forward to the next two weekends because not only will I get to watch them at a reasonable time in the afternoon but they are two interesting circuits. What I am not looking forward to is the procession at the front and seemingly endless fuel and tyre saving.

I think F1 needs a major overhaul to its rule book, whatever about wanting to see passes and close racing I want to see cars driven in anger, top speeds are way down and race paces are 2, 3 or even 4 seconds off what they were 6 or 7 years ago, when the pole time in GP2 is faster then the back row of the F1 grid, something is very wrong.

My own preference would be for low downforce high horsepower cars with fewer driver aids, much like CART was back in the late 90s, it was fast it was close and it was great to watch. I'd say there are two hopes of that happening and one of them is a deceased comic entertainer.

22-10-2015 3:47pm

OSI wrote: »

True, but I don't know how fond I am of gravel traps. I agree drivers need to be penalised for overcooking a corner, but ending their race beached in gravel for having the balls to outbreak someone shouldn't happen. The likes of the speed bumps and mandatory exit paths they've introduced are a better idea in my book.

Speed bumps are dangerous and they got rid of the path in Russia because some clown in a lower formula hit the wall trying to carry too much speed. They complain about the cars not being challenging to drive yet constantly run off track. Need some proper punishments for mistake, tired of their whinging.

Myrddin · 22-10-2015 4:33pm

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Rosberg has had a number of mechanical failures this year but in any-case I don't think he deserves the seat anymore.

Lewis had most of the unreliability last year and still won. I'd almost argue the point that Nico is perfectly suited in that seat, as a clear number two - he's quick & reliable, but to me just lacks that killer ruthless edge that the greats seem to have. I say almost because Seb is ahead of him...& in that Mercedes this season, that's just unacceptable.

Formula 1 2015: General Discussion Thread

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