F1 World Championship 2013 Thread

[philcruicks]

Well I don't think anyone would have predicted Massa in the top 3, good job by him.

I'm still amazed at the difference in performance by Merc between sat and sun, they've gotta sort that out quick.

Also good to see people like Paul getting further up the field these days.

[philcruicks]

ooo...something going on with Alonso's car...its out of Parc Ferme, and back in the garage being taken apart under the supervision of the stewards...

Edit: Seems to be OK car is now back in Parc Ferme.

[Noir Angel]

The tyres are ruining it. I hate having to admit this but Red Bull were right, they do seem to punish the cars that provide good grip, and you could see from the onboards that the drivers really were not attacking. That's not what F1 should be in my opinion.

[TheLegendOfMart]

Get rid of DRS, KERS, make tyres more durable. Racing should be about skill and who develops the car better than who is the fastest from start to finishing without destroying tyres.

I'd rather Vettel win every race than this nonsense.

[Lovell]

It's only the tires I have a problem with, the part when Mercedes were trying to get Hamilton to save his tires even more and he replied he couldn't go any slower, I definitely believe kers and DRS have been a good thing, the only reason for the tires is to get more pit stops which is when most of the strategy happens.

[Noir Angel]

To differing degreed all of the recent moves have been somewhat artificial (apart from KERS as it can be used equally by all) but DRS is, to me, just an aid to boost the possibilities of overtaking. DRS zones do need to be tweaked at some circuits due to how powerful the systems have became but I don't necessarily believe DRS is a bad thing if it's setup in a way to increase taking possibilities without neutering the art of defensive driving altogether. But the tyres have gone beyond their remit of spicing the show up and are now just ruining the spectacle. Drivers that can drive fast shouldn't be penalised, nor should teams that build cars with a lot of mechanical and aero grip. Formula 1 has always been about implementing design challenges within rule confines but it's was still about who could be the fastest. And I just don't feel that is the case any more.

[TheLegendOfMart]

I see mclaren2 has gone quiet.

[JoeC]

I'm in two minds on the tyre issue. On the one hand I'd like to see drivers being able to push flat-out and really cane the tires to get the best performance, but on the other hand I do think you need a couple of pit-stops in a race to make things a bit more interesting. The race today had far too much degradation on the tires - Rosberg had a radio message on about lap 4 telling him to save the tyres!

Also @Legend: He's gone back under his bridge, but Im sure he'll be back shortly :p

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

I see mclaren2 has gone quiet.

He's crying bitter tears because Alonso won the race on merit, not by luck.

[simonlang]

ohhhh do i love my little fanclub here :D

i don't think i have to add anything to what the likes of lauda, marko, horner, most of the drivers and now even bernie eccclestone are saying. luckily for every fan of real races and not farces from silverstone on the 2012 tires will be back. if ferrari has such a great car and alonso was such an amazing driver they would NOT worry about new tires allowing the cars to not race with 60% of power but 80 or 90% of power. oh wait...... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

vettel leading the wdc now in a tire-regulated 3rd best car. just wait till redbull gets tire advantage ferrari is enjoying so far. i predict wdc will be over with 4 races to go. :woot:

[Chasethebase Veteran]

~snip

Wait, so you're saying completely the opposite of what news outlets state? Ferrari aren't complaining about tyres, turns out Red Bull are, a lot. Vettel is leading the WDC after 5 races by a measly gap to Kimi, so it's still all to play for.

[MightyJordan]

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[Noir Angel]

I'd rather see him win another title than see Formula 1 be about who can drive the slowest so the tyres don't give up. Formula 1 is supposed to be about the fastest cars and the fastest drivers combining to win. I don't want to see processional races but I don't want to see races which are being won by purposely driving slowly either.

[metallithrax]

How about 1 set of each tyre type per car per race. And get rid of all driver aids, and make it about who is the best driver and who has the best car.

[HSoft]

How about 1 set of each tyre type per car per race. And get rid of all driver aids, and make it about who is the best driver and who has the best car.

What happens if you get a puncture? Or a complete delamination as we've seen recently?

Sorry but terrible idea IMO. I liked last race as Ferrari showed that you can go the opposite direction and push for whole race, just take more pit stops, and still be competitive.

[Noir Angel]

How about 1 set of each tyre type per car per race. And get rid of all driver aids, and make it about who is the best driver and who has the best car.

That would make the tyre preservation driving even worse :/

[123456789A]

How about removing tyres completely and changing to F-Zero?

[Biohead]

We had the one set of tyres per race scenario a few years back - can no-one remember what that was like? At least the cars still had to pit for fuel then, now they'd only ever be in the pits should a puncture happen or they lose a wing.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

We had the one set of tyres per race scenario a few years back - can no-one remember what that was like? At least the cars still had to pit for fuel then, now they'd only ever be in the pits should a puncture happen or they lose a wing.

The year was 2005. As far as I recall the races were not as entertaining as in recent years then.

[Biohead]

It's surprising how quick 8 years go by :/

But yes, I remember those races were fairly straight forward back then and relatively boring. Save for the European or German GP where Kimi stayed out with a heavily damaged tyre!

In other news - what are people's thoughts now that McLaren-Honda has been confirmed for 2015?

[MightyJordan]

In other news - what are people's thoughts now that McLaren-Honda has been confirmed for 2015?

Considering their form this season so far, all I can say is thank god! I won't go as far to say BTCC won't be the only discipline Honda will be dominating, but hopefully we'll see a little glimmer of their old glory days. Speaking of the old days...

Earlier today McLaren announced an engine supply deal with Honda, starting in two season?s time. Now spies within the Woking team say the rekindled partnership is just the tip of a very retro iceberg which will see the number one driver slot for 2015 occupied by French racing legend Alain Prost.

?We're going really old school with this,? said a team insider. ?And what better way to wind things back to the late ?80s than by getting Alain in the car. He?s quick, he?s experienced and he still has the same hairstyle.?

According to our mole, the shock signing of a 58-year-old driver is just part of a whole raft of extraordinarily retro moves from McLaren including asking Vodafone to make their logo look ?more Marlboro-y? and lobbying for the return of the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Most shockingly, insiders say McLaren is working flat out on a Prost?s 2015 team mate which they intend to be an animatronic recreation of Ayrton Senna. Spies say the Senna robot uses the same technology that allows Ron Dennis to display basic human emotions and will contain a special algorithm that makes it wait until the end of the season before it twats into Prost.

?This new deal with Honda has really inspired us,? our factory insider gushed. ?Although obviously it won't last forever and we're already planning for 2019 when we switch to a generic Ford engine and then 2020 when our MP4-35 will be forced to use a catastrophically crap Peugeot V10. Mind you,? he added. ?It?ll still be faster than this season?s car.?

http://sniffpetrol.c...-mclaren-retro/

And from the small ads...

So that's where it went...

[Noir Angel]

The year was 2005. As far as I recall the races were not as entertaining as in recent years then.

There were a couple of good races that year... Imola, Japan.

As for McLaren - Honda... an interesting move. Having complete autonomy from Mercedes could help McLaren get out from under their shadow, it could also turn them into another of the also-rans. Given that Honda's recent F1 forays have not been as successful as they were in the past it remains to be seen how this will pan out... but McLaren need to do something as they certainly haven't shone since the current rules came into effect in 2009

[Chasethebase Veteran]

Lotus' special livery for this weekend

[MightyJordan]

Lotus' special livery for this weekend

[KiHu]

Hope the lotus pitcrew wears helmets like that.