F1 2023 thread

flazio

(wrong thread)

Jordan 199

Four weeks to the first qualifying session of the season.

shanec1928

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120197558#Comment_120197558

That’s the car for auction that he done.

SimpleDimple

Does anyone use a vpn for f1tv with any success?

Looking at renewing now tv for the season ahead and it’s gone up to €40/month for the sports package which is way more than I was paying last year

furiousox

Yeah, I subscribed using a nordvpn server via the Netherlands.

I signed up for a month to see if it would work, all ok so far.

8 quid per month, cheaper if you take an annual sub.

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120206889#Comment_120206889

Is this one where you need vpn to watch it?

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120207184#Comment_120207184

Yes, there is a basic version of F1TV you can subscribe to for stuff like weekend debrief, Jolyon Palmer's analysis and replays of their pre and post qualifying/race shows (the post race show is free on YouTube anyway) but no access to live races except in certain territories, hence the VPN to move to those territories.

PsychoPete

Have a look for codes on the Now TV thread, can get sky sports for €10-15 a month

Jordan 199

Williams launch at 2PM today.

Saw this lovely Williams concept livery:

Idleater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120207184#Comment_120207184

I don't actually need to activate the VPN to watch, it loads fine without. (I have the Dutch Pro version, and Surfshark).

That said, i found that F1 detects my VPN and won't open until I disable it. I couldn't actually sign up via VPN.

Jordan 199

Williams FW45:

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120208139#Comment_120208139

Uninspiring livery...

Killinator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120208608#Comment_120208608

If only they had a new major sponsor with an associated livery that has been attached to a large assortment of historic racing cars that they could have used for inspiration and attention....

At the very least they should have changed the red parts to orange

Ghost Train

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120208608#Comment_120208608

I like the Duracell bit up at the airbox

Hard to judge it really based in the blue lighting or rendering

They say it's now a matt finish which maybe will make it look different on the track. Last year they ran with a lot of unpainted carbon fibre to save on weight, maybe it's one reason they'll keep it darker blue, would have been nice to see a bit more of the pale blue

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120208628#Comment_120208628

The mclaren Gulf livery was lovely last year. I suppose they're trying to build the new brand identity for the new owners.

Nothing wrong with it. It's a nice colour scheme.

Ghost Train

This would have been good

Edit: I see already posted above sorry

quokula

The Williams looks nicer than last year but as someone else said, I'm not sure if that's just the lighting they've used and how it will actually compare on track.

A Gulf livery would be lovely but the teams are obviously working under a lot more constraints than concept artists, branding will be relative to the level of coverage that different sponsors have paid for. Wouldn't be surprised to see them do a one off livery at some point like McLaren did though.

Killinator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120208683#Comment_120208683

I agree to a point, if they are trying to create a brand but the blue, to my knowledge, doesn't represent anything so far, unless they are just going for the 'Ferrari are red, Merc are Silver (or black!) and we are blue'.

Was just a bit annoyed by the flashing blue and orange lights and imagery for the announcement which didn't translate at all into the final livery. It doesn't help that my favorite liveries of all time are the Le Mans Gulf McLaren GTR and the Rothmans Williams of the mid 90s that Hill drive. This was a chance to combine Williams and Gulf 😛

Jordan 199

Alfa Romeo launch at 9 am.

Killinator

https://twitter.com/SkySportsF1/status/1622890661480660993?t=f7v7jZrbCx07dD1MwT--LQ&s=19

Tasty!

flazio

Let's hope Ferrari have something on their car that stands out otherwise commentators are going to have a nightmare.

kksaints

That looks far too similar to last year's ferrari.

El_Duderino 09

I wonder if it means this year's Ferrari will have more white. It would be a bit of a faux pas to upstage their engine supplier. Wouldn't be surprisednof there was some level of coordination between them.

artanevilla

The top down view in particular is very Ferrari.

Maybe is a gradual bleaching out of the Alfa Rosso into Audi black.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120210384#Comment_120210384

That's nice. Is it there actual car or just a livery again?

Killinator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120211112#Comment_120211112

I thought I saw it somewhere that it was their car, may be mistaken.

It'll be different come start of season one way or another

Jordan 199

Frederic Vasseur: Bonjour Andreas, would you like the remains of the paint we used to paint our Ferrari's last year?

Andreas Seidl: That will be brilliant, danke! We can paint the Alfa's this year with that paint!

Frederic Vasseur: Merci! We will conclude the transaction in a supermarket carpark somewhere.

😉

thefa

Was always going to be a downgrade on the looks of the 2022 car.

chicorytip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120164225#Comment_120164225

He's driving with the WRT team in the World Endurance Championship this season still sponsored by Orlen.

dulpit

I like the Alfa. I saw someone on twitter point out that most cars have lots of black because it means they don't need paint there (just exposed carbon fibre) to save weight. Hopefully we'll have some colour on the grid...

artanevilla

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

Frank Bullitt

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

artanevilla

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

AMKC

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

What is?

PsychoPete

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

..

quokula

“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

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

AMKC

Who is next to reveal there Livery?

artanevilla

Alpha Tauri on the 11th.

LIGHTNING

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

Jordan 199

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

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-hondaJesus Faithful Stagecoachreunion/

mickdw

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

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

dulpit

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

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

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

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

Got some funny looks when I laughed so loud.

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

Brief_Lives

and a super strange voice...

quokula

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.