F1 2023 thread

artanevilla · 07-02-2023 3:53pm

The marketing aspect of having colours in the livery probably outweighs (no pun intended) the weight loss speed gains.

Frank Bullitt · 07-02-2023 4:58pm

They have gone in on the RB style sidepods as well, and the rear looks much different also.

artanevilla · 07-02-2023 6:15pm

And it's for sale already, currently at auction.

AMKC · 07-02-2023 6:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120212223#Comment_120212223

What is?

PsychoPete · 07-02-2023 7:44pm

https://www.f1authentics.com/collections/f1-race-show-cars/products/official-alfa-romeo-f1-team-stake-2023-c43-launch-car-signed-chassis-no-1

..

quokula · 07-02-2023 9:32pm

“The 2023 Launch Car has been specifically designed for show car purposes and not for competition” the description on the auction page kind of invalidates any real analysis of the car design.

artanevilla · 08-02-2023 10:31am

Could be a double bluff. Sauber didn't even build the model.

AMKC · 08-02-2023 12:51pm

Who is next to reveal there Livery?

artanevilla · 08-02-2023 12:55pm

Alpha Tauri on the 11th.

LIGHTNING · 08-02-2023 5:56pm

Williams looks decent but that wont mean anything if its still miles off the pace.

Jordan 199 · 08-02-2023 10:29pm

My 2023 F1 Prediction Thread is still going. If anyone wants to join in, do it as soon as possible as the thread will be locked before pre-season testing. Thread here.

dulpit · 09-02-2023 7:54pm

McLaren/Honda possible link-up again? You'd have to feel that a customer deal with Mercedes won't give them the long term success they want, a works deal is what's needed...

https://the-race.com/formula-1/initial-contact-made-over-possible-mclaren-honda-f1-reunion/

mickdw · 09-02-2023 8:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120221218#Comment_120221218

I remember Ron Dennis making that very comment the last time around.

dulpit · 09-02-2023 8:04pm

They got burned by **** hondas at start of turbo hybrid era, but missed out on the championship engines as a result...

You'd wonder if Aston Martin would also be interested here as a works partner? Stroll is very ambitious...

quokula · 09-02-2023 9:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120221262#Comment_120221262

Both Mercedes Benz and Toto Wolff own stakes in Aston Martin and a number of their road cars have Mercedes engines so it's unlikely they'll be switching without a lot of major restructuring beyond F1.

McLaren Honda does make sense. They were burned last time of course but the upcoming engine rules are so much better than the ones in 2014 that were designed to hobble any new manufacturer coming in. Simpler, more sensible engines and none of the absolutely ridiculous token limits that were designed to stop anyone from losing their head start. And Honda are in from the beginning this time too of course, with recent experience of winning titles behind them, so there's no reason to think they won't perform.

And it's as true today as it was when Ron Dennis said it, that as Mercedes customers they are guaranteed to never fight for a title. Continuing on their current path means they'll almost certainly fight consistently for respectable points behind the top teams. With a works partnership they might crash and burn, but they might fight for titles again.

mickdw · 09-02-2023 11:01pm

Obviously the traditional thinking is that you won't compete with the works team as customer. Thats true but Mercedes are reducing the ownership in the team and if they are not right up the front this year and their customers are as competitive as them, who knows what could happen. Mercedes will not hobble a front running McLaren if they are not in the fight themselves. Who knows, Mercedes could just be an engine supplier in a few years.

Honda were treated terribly by McLaren. They continually got 100 percent of the blame for the performance when it is now clear there were alot of problems at McLaren back then.

Honda would be foolish to touch McLaren again.

flazio · 10-02-2023 6:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120221974#Comment_120221974

Very different McLaren now, Honda joined towards the end of Dennis's era. We're now firmly in Zac Brown's era, and while Brown was involved back then he wasn't occupying the top office and would well remember what mistakes were made back then and would be keen not to repeat them. I dare say Honda are also a different outfit now.

I do wonder though how much of Hondas current operation is based at the moment in the "Webbhard"* building at Red Bull. Because clearly they'll have to move out once Ford move in. Will any team Honda joins up with be able to provide them with space to develop the power train.

*Webbhard is a joke name for the, at the time still under construction, Power train factory given to it by Red Bull when Channel 4 did a tour of the factory during their highlights of the 2021 Russian weekend. Webber and Coulthard

flazio · 10-02-2023 2:37pm

Got some funny looks when I laughed so loud.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Coe5LZCrgAZ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Brief_Lives · 10-02-2023 3:00pm

and a super strange voice...

quokula · 10-02-2023 3:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120221974#Comment_120221974

As someone else mentioned, McLaren are a very different team now with Ron Dennis a distant memory so I don't think past relationships would be a stumbling block.

But on the other point - it's not that Mercedes would intentionally hobble their customer teams, but rather that by its very nature being a customer team puts you on the back foot compared to the works team. The works team builds chassis and power train in parallel and they work symbiotically. Customer teams are generally a long way into the design of their car before they have a physical power unit. They will be provided with specs as early as possible for sure so all the mountings and positioning is correct, but everything is so precise in F1 that variations in weight distribution, in rigidity, in vibrations etc can make all the difference.

With newer simpler engine rules we may see less of this once they're bedded in - in the pre-hybrid era for example it wasn't so pronounced because the engines were lighter and simpler and were all pretty similar, while designs were pretty much frozen for years. But at the very least at the start of a new formula there's going to be a lot of unknowns that customers will be making assumptions about.

Frank Bullitt · 10-02-2023 8:53pm

https://twitter.com/redbullracing/status/1624091799835881489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1624091799835881489%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=

It's alive.

Killinator · 12-02-2023 12:16am

Alpha Tauri unveiled:

https://twitter.com/AlphaTauriF1/status/1624539274589634560?t=ojGVj9Jx2YWx3oA68vc77Q&s=19

AMKC · 12-02-2023 12:41am

I like it. Maybe the nose livery at the side looks a bit lost but otherwise I like it.

Jordan 199 · 12-02-2023 10:32am

Car launches for four days in a row this week.

Aston Martin and McLaren on Monday.

Ferrari on Tuesday.

Mercedes on Wednesday.

Alpine on Thursday.

El_Duderino 09 · 12-02-2023 11:33am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120231209#Comment_120231209

Assuming they're just livery launches, the AM and Alpine should be interesting. I know AM wants to keep the British racing green but it qould be nice if they made it a bit brighter.

Alpine was lovely last year. Hope they can build on that.

More of the same for Ferrari, mclaren and Mercedes.