Formula 1 2015: General Discussion Thread

Joeseph Balls

twincamman wrote: »

are the teams running turbo engines again this year,,i watched 3 laps last year..i couldn't stick the drone noise..

At least you gave it a good chance

Jordan 199

OSI wrote: »

I can't stand Vijay Mallya. I wish he'd just be done with it and sell the team like he's been threatening to since pretty much day one.

Don't worry. I'll send a signed photo of Vijay to you in the post.

Myrddin

OSI wrote: »

I can't stand Vijay Mallya. I wish he'd just be done with it and sell the team like he's been threatening to since pretty much day one.

You're just jealous of his hairstyle....

counterlock

OSI wrote: »

Thanks. Just make sure it's one where he's wearing his knuckle sized diamond earrings that's he struggles to afford.

I'm with you on this, I can't stand the guy. When they do go bust, he'll leave a lot of people out of pocket. There is no reason to believe that he will run his F1 team any differently than he runs any other business.

christy c

JPF82 wrote: »

I would have some concerns for Force India. Vijay Mallia has been in some financial trouble for a while now

Is he? I don't know of trouble other than Kingfisher airlines which is/was a smallish part of his empire

smellslikeshoes

The rumours about Renault and Force India are pretty unexpected, I wonder would they ask for the trophies from lotus if it actually happened :pac:

MortGoldman

My take on the whole Force India/Mallya/Renault rumours.

JPF82

christy c wrote: »

Is he? I don't know of trouble other than Kingfisher airlines which is/was a smallish part of his empire

Well kingfisher is part of it, but supposedly he had used his shareholding in other companies, such as his drinks company, as security on other loans and this has led to him being at risk of losing a lot of his shares in his businesses as things haven't gone well. Kingfisher had sizeable debts so I think the risk to his other companies comes from there.

aphex™

What about Ray Sahara's bail being set at $1.6bn in India?

Anyway, Force India have taken all the Mexican sponsors off Sauber.
They are sponsored by the 2nd richest man in the world.
There's a Mexican GP this year, whom I'm sure want them on the track.
Even Red Bull are struggling to make the first test and haven't yet completed their car for Sunday.

I think they'll be fine...

Standard Toaster

http://www1.skysports.com/live-blog/12433/9685853/mclaren-mp4-30-launch

12:00 GMT as far as I can tell.

Brendan Flowers

Heard rumours that it'll only be the car launch today with a 'test livery' (possible black) being used. Then the livery launch will happen at a later date. Hoping that isnt true...really looking forard to seeing McLarens new colours!

Joeseph Balls

Lads, anyone have a link to it?
Edit, i realise now, the blog above is showing

Joeseph Balls

GT_TDI_150

For a split second I though YEAH, White and Red Mclaren ....


Very dissapointed with the colour scheme, the silver should have been white

Mike Litoris

Not much new except the red stripe. Back of the car looks a lot more streamlined compared to last year and no penis. Looks nice if a little bare.

recyclebin

I like that they brought back the red but the mirrors need to be black or grey.

Gillespy

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152962580156413

Ghost Train

I think it's a pity they didn't switch to white and differentiate themselves a bit from the Mercedes silver. Car looked very plain last year, hope they get some more sponsors this year

Mike Litoris

New Merc! Dont have access to Twitter in work but it looks like a lot of pics are being uploaded. The nose looks totally different to last years.

JPF82

Mercedes have released a few sneak preview clips of the new car on Twitter. Rosberg doing a shakedown run similar to last year. Wet tyres on dry track so mileage is likely classified as a filming day.

Gillespy

Decent sound.
https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/560822477987659776

ricimaki

Picture of the nose

Mike Litoris

Gillespy wrote: »

Decent sound.
https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/560822477987659776

Thats a lot more throaty than last year. That said, they sounded awesome at those early tests so I aint getting excited.

Mike Litoris

Some more pics of the Merc

Cookie_Monster

why didn't McClaren use the red text tyres to keep in theme with the rest of the car, do they HAVE to use yellow ones for all promo stuff?
It's a pretty disappointing livery.

Ghost Train

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

why didn't McClaren use the red text tyres to keep in theme with the rest of the car, do they HAVE to use yellow ones for all promo stuff?
It's a pretty disappointing livery.

I think the williams had white text on the tyres, maybe yellow is what pirelli prefer, don't know

I'm hoping the mclarens livery will look better once it's out on the track

Charlie-Bravo

Gillespy wrote: »

Decent sound.
https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/560822477987659776

ha ha, that's so funny at the end. Was that setup?

mb1725

Ferrari 2015:

Zcott

astrofluff wrote: »

ha ha, that's so funny at the end. Was that setup?

I'd say so.

The Merc is a fine looking car apart from those stupid ears on the nose...

Mike Litoris

Ah Jaysus

Going Strong

Given Sauber's parlous financial situation, I'd say Banco de Brasil got the entire livery package for the princely sum of fifty Swiss Francs and half a packet of Polo Mints. It looks like whoever did the design got the mints as payment as it looks terrible.

Mike Litoris

That's an awful shade of blue and what a whopper of a dong sticking out the front.

recyclebin

The new Sauber is similar to the Carlin GP2 except a lot uglier

v3ttel

All it's missing is a Tipp GAA crest

youreadthat

The blue is fine, it's just that yellow and blue are a terrible colour combination.

Robbo

youreadthat wrote: »

The blue is fine, it's just that yellow and blue are a terrible colour combination.

No love for the 1992-93 Williams'?

counterlock

I don't think it's that bad, it could do without the red and white on it, but at least it's unique

zombieHanalei

youreadthat wrote: »

The blue is fine, it's just that yellow and blue are a terrible colour combination.

I disagree, the blue BAR was fairly nice! Pity they never raced it. And the 555 liveried Subaru's in the WRC were pretty sweet too.

JPF82

youreadthat wrote: »

The blue is fine, it's just that yellow and blue are a terrible colour combination.

As a Roscommon man, that hurts! 😛 No but seriously, Sauber are in for a tough season no doubt. The car hasn't changed much. The higher weight limit this year may help them as they had an overweight car last year. Other that that, the nose is longer as it is easier (for that read cheaper) to pass the crash test with the longr nose.

Just saw the new Ferrari, mmm, that nose...

Going Strong

youreadthat wrote: »

The blue is fine, it's just that yellow and blue are a terrible colour combination.

I quite blue and yellow as a combination. It's just that Sauber's blue is a bit 'off'. It looks very 'flat' in all the pictures I've seen so that the car looks like it's made from plastic like a child's toy version of the carbon fibre real thing. All in my own opinion of course.

christy c

Ferrari ' new car also unveiled:

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/1/16786.html

youreadthat

Nah lads don't get me wrong, if you attach fond sporting memories to certain colours then they'll evoke fond memories but in general blue and yellow are kept apart.

Peanut Butter Jelly

That nose looks weird head on.

aphex™

Here's the Sauber from another angle.

Slightly more aerodynamic in this view

Jordan 199

OSI wrote: »

Alfa Romeo logos on that Ferrari?

Yes indeed. Those Alfa logos took me by surprise. Last time that name was seen in the sport was 1985.

Benetton Alfa 185T:



Riccardo Patrese said that was the worst car he ever drove.

Peanut Butter Jelly

OSI wrote: »

Alfa Romeo logos on that Ferrari?

My only guess is that Fiat (who own both Ferrari and Alfa Romeo) requested it to be put on there, although I'd be surprised if that was the case. I don't think Alfa would have had any part in the making of the car so that's the best guess I can give.

lolie

Some of the noses look a bit weird alright but although thankfully not near as bad as some of last year's.
It's good to see all the teams using different designs as apposed to the same 1 or 2 designs.

H3llR4iser

Peanut Butter Jelly wrote: »

My only guess is that Fiat (who own both Ferrari and Alfa Romeo) requested it to be put on there, although I'd be surprised if that was the case. I don't think Alfa would have had any part in the making of the car so that's the best guess I can give.

Fiat has Alfa, Ferrari and Maserati lobbied together in the "sporting" pool, even 'though Alfa Romeo doesn't race anywhere since the early 2000s. Some of the facilities that deal with road cars are shared.

The logo is the group's way of letting this known, as they are (finally) trying to do something about Alfa Romeo in 2015.

Many many years ago an idea circulated about renaming Ferrari customer engines as "Alfa Romeo", but it never took off as Ferrari's management didn't want it to happen (yet, they renamed their engines "Petronas" for Sauber).

Now that Ferrari is back again under the full control of Fiat in the guise of Marchionne, they clearly took the opportunity to give another brand of the group some visibility - through the '80s and part of the '90s, Ferrari sported a very prominent "FIAT" logo that disappeared as soon as the Scuderia was given some degree of independence from the main company:




Also, Ferrari started their history as an Alfa Romeo customer team - they raced Alfas with the prancing horse on the side. It is a throwback to their origins, which I am sure are unknown to many of the younger generations. Quite clever strategy marketing-wise ; it actually is absurd they didn't use it before.

H3llR4iser

Jordan 191 wrote: »

Yes indeed. Those Alfa logos took me by surprise. Last time that name was seen in the sport was 1985.

Benetton Alfa 185T:



Riccardo Patrese said that was the worst car he ever drove.

Interesting fact: this team was an official Alfa Romeo team just like Mercedes and Ferrari are today; "Benetton" was just the title sponsor and the similarity of liveries gets it often called a "Benetton F1" - a fate common with the fashion-brand sponsored Tyrrell from 1983.

Benetton Formula started racing in 1986, after the family bought out the Toleman team (drivers et all).

Robbo

aphex™ wrote: »

Here's the Sauber from another angle.

Slightly more aerodynamic in this view

Chipboard and dowel construction will mean they're within spitting distance of the weight limit this year.