formula 1 Formula 1 World Championship 2015 Season Discussion

[123456789A]

Did Maldonado crash?

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Did Maldonado crash?

Yes.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Javascript is not enabled or refresh the page to view.

Click here to view the Tweet

Man of the race: Felipe Nasr

Reject of the race: The Ferrari mechanic who prepared the wheel gun for KR's pit stop.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Schwarzenegger conducting the podium interview?!?

I can't even...

[CloudEngineer]

It's funny looking at photos of the course when you drive that road daily to get to work

[123456789A]

Schwarzenegger conducting the podium interview?!?

I can't even...

 

Arnold: Who is your daddy, and what does he do?

[Noir Angel]

After all the buildup the race was a bit of a damp squib really, though I don't really agree that it was a bad weekend for F1. Most of the retirements were down to the poor quality of the Renault engine, Sauber's troubles were self inflicted, and Manor just didn't get ready in time.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Red Bull could quit Formula 1 over current rules - Helmut Marko

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has warned that the Austrian firm could pull out of Formula 1, claiming that the current regulations "will kill the sport".

Four-time world championship-winning outfit Red Bull endured a tough weekend in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, with Daniel Ricciardo coming home a distant sixth and Daniil Kvyat's car failing before the start.

Its team boss Christian Horner claimed after the race that F1 chiefs should consider taking action to equalise the performance of the current engines, and Marko said that Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz could lose interest in the sport.

"We will evaluate the situation again [in the summer] as every year and look into costs and revenues," Marko told Austrian media in Melbourne.

"If we are totally dissatisfied we could contemplate an F1 exit.

"Yes, the danger is there that Mr Mateschitz loses his passion for F1."

Marko hit out at the state of the current regulations, which Mercedes has dominated since they were introduced for 2014.

"These power units are the wrong solution for F1, and we would say this even if [Red Bull supplier] Renault were in the lead," he added.

"The technical rules are not understandable, much too complicated, and too expensive.

"We are governed by an engineers' formula. We wanted cost reduction too, but it is not happening like this.

"A designer like Adrian Newey [who is stepping back from F1] is castrated by this engine formula. These rules will kill the sport."

Red Bull's exit would have serious ramifications for F1 as Mateschitz owns the Toro Rosso team as well.

However, the Austrian firm has a contract with the sport's bosses that commits it to the world championship until at least 2020.

 

Source: Autosport

 

In addition to the news item above there's the rumour that Audi could buy Red Bull Racing and turn it into a works team. The silly season is starting at the first GP of 2015 already, folks. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.

[Skiver Veteran]

Source: Autosport

 

In addition to the news item above there's the rumour that Audi could buy Red Bull Racing and turn it into a works team. The silly season is starting at the first GP of 2015 already, folks. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.

The whole RBR could quit over engines is ridiculous, they might want to start throwing the tantrums towards Renault not F1 or Mercedes. 

 

In 2009 RBR finally got into its stride and only because of Brawns early dominance did they lose that year, they then pretty much had the championships done and dusted for four years straight and now things aren't going their way they threaten to quit?

 

If Mercedes PU was soooo OTT then why did a Ferrari end up on the 3rd step of that podium and not the Williams? I said this so many times last year, If Mercedes Engines were so good, then why was the championship table not lined with Merc engines at the top. Look at yesterday, if anything, Ferrari as a power unit had most success.

 

Someone needs to pickup the toys RBR keep throwing around and tell them to grow up.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Or as Toto Wolff suggested - instead of moaning they should make their complaints at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

[Skiver Veteran]

Its not just RBR moaning about Mercedes....

 

 

Massa suspects Williams is not getting equal engines
 

Felipe Massa suspects the Mercedes works team has an engine advantage over his Williams and claims it is only serving to help Ferrari.

 

Massa finished off the podium at the Australian Grand Prix after Mercedes dominated and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel snuck past him at the pit stops to finish third. Williams' deficit to Mercedes was over a second in qualifying and 38 seconds over the course of the race, leading Massa to suspect the works team has more than just a chassis advantage.

 

"We're pushing hard with the engine which I'm sure has some improvements that we can have and are pushing to have, because for sure the difference is too big," he said. "So I really hope that we really have the same engine, which I really don't see why we don't have.

 

"Why would Mercedes help Ferrari? So we need to have the best they can give, and we will work on that. On the car we know that every race and whatever points you're not getting, it counts."

 

"If we don't have the same engine - which I cannot say 100% because it's very difficult to say - but if we don't have it then we want to have it because it's not nice that we don't have it."

Read more at http://en.espnf1.com/australia/motorsport/story/194771.html#T2vTI8moqs5kVPh2.99

[123456789A]

Do we need to wait for DirectX 12 for improvement in the engines or is it more of a driver issue?

[XorpiZ]

Wasn't McLaren speculating about the same thing last season?

 

With regards to not getting the "same" engine as Mercedes themselves were using, that is.

[Skiver Veteran]

Wasn't McLaren speculating about the same thing last season?

 

With regards to not getting the "same" engine as Mercedes themselves were using, that is.

 

I think you're right, I think Ron Dennis didn't necessarily accuse them of holding back the goodies, but more implied that as long as an Engine manufacturer had a works team, then customer teams with the same engine didn't stand a chance.

 

Maybe that is true, but I would imagine that would be against any rules, and if found out, Merc would be in a lot of trouble. Of course under hand techniques are common in F1 but this is a little far imo.

[XorpiZ]

I think you're right, I think Ron Dennis didn't necessarily accuse them of holding back the goodies, but more implied that as long as an Engine manufacturer had a works team, then customer teams with the same engine didn't stand a chance.

 

Maybe that is true, but I would imagine that would be against any rules, and if found out, Merc would be in a lot of trouble. Of course under hand techniques are common in F1 but this is a little far imo.

 

I'd assume it would be easy for Mercedes to "forget" to inform McLaren (and Williams?) a few details about the engine.. or perhaps not inform them of recent improvements etc.

 

Anyways - what did the message on the grid mean? "Ron, I will miss you - Bernie"?

[Skiver Veteran]

I'd assume it would be easy for Mercedes to "forget" to inform McLaren (and Williams?) a few details about the engine.. or perhaps not inform them of recent improvements etc.

 

Anyways - what did the message on the grid mean? "Ron, I will miss you - Bernie"?

 

Yep I didn't get that at first, immediate thoughts were that I had missed a Ron Dennis announcement but...

 

 

Its basically the chairman of the Aus GP Ron Walker has stepped down (it was his last F1 Aus GP) this weekend.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/formula-one-melbourne-grand-prix-race-supremo-ron-walker-beats-cancer-20150312-142bh2.html 

[XorpiZ]

Yep I didn't get that at first, immediate thoughts were that I had missed a Ron Dennis announcement but...

 

 

Its basically the chairman of the Aus GP Ron Walker has stepped down (it was his last F1 Aus GP) this weekend.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/formula-one-melbourne-grand-prix-race-supremo-ron-walker-beats-cancer-20150312-142bh2.html 

 

Thanks.

 

We were confused as well and thought Ron Dennis had died. Fortunately it wasn't that.

[MightyJordan]

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

It's amusing how times change.. I never expected I would be happy to see Ferrari or Vettel getting a podium but after the dominance of Mercedes last season, I was quite happy for him that he was off to such a good start for Ferrari this season.

 

I'm curious to know what everyones thoughts are on the situation with Honda / McLaren? Is McLaren willing to write off this season already in the hope that they'll be competitive next season.. or did they expect to be competitive from the very start of this season? If so, how did they get it so wrong?! 

[XorpiZ]

It's amusing how times change.. I never expected I would be happy to see Ferrari or Vettel getting a podium but after the dominance of Mercedes last season, I was quite happy for him that he was off to such a good start for Ferrari this season.

 

I'm curious to know what everyones thoughts are on the situation with Honda / McLaren? Is McLaren willing to write off this season already in the hope that they'll be competitive next season.. or did they expect to be competitive from the very start of this season? If so, how did they get it so wrong?! 

 

I don't think they expected to be up there with the best.. but being this far behind was probably a surprise to everyone. When it's a small victory to have a car complete the race, you know there's something seriously wrong with the engine.

 

They kinda have to write off the season.. they have no other choice.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

Indeed. I certainly can't imagine it's the start to the season they expected, and I'm very sorry for any McLaren fans having to watch this debacle continue to unfold. 

[Skiver Veteran]

I agree, I would imagine they were under no illusion and expected to be running at the sharp end from the start, but to be qualifying 4-5 seconds off the pace is far from where they should be. I think Frank posted earlier in this topic, who would come top Mclaren or Manor and I shrugged that off as an exaggerated evaluation of their pace, but in all honest I'm not questioning it.

 

The biggest problem for them is that everyone seems to have found around 2 seconds/lap of pace by racing one season, so they have a lot of work to do.

 

However, Mclaren of old were always good for their development throughout the year, so I could see that deficit reduce 0.5-1 second every 4 races so maybe by the end they may be realistically challenging for the lower points.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Keep in mind that McLaren-Honda had detuned the engine for the Australian GP. The gap won't be as big anymore once they crank up the horse power. 

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Toro Rosso leading choice if Renault decides to run its own F1 team

Toro Rosso has emerged as the leading candidate to be taken over by Renault should the French manufacturer decide on a return as a fully branded Formula 1 works effort.

Renault has visited a number of teams, including Sauber and Force India, while it is also understood to have had discussions with Lotus as it continues to evaluate whether being just an engine supplier for two teams - Red Bull and Toro Rosso - delivers maximum benefit for the brand.

AUTOSPORT revealed last month that the firm was considering a return to full factory entrant status.

Four-time world champion Alain Prost, who is a Renault ambassador, is understood to have convinced the board and CEO Carlos Ghosn that a works team is the way forward.

Toro Rosso is top of the list as Force India or Lotus would be more expensive because of taking over their debts, whereas the Faenza-based squad is debt-free.

Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko told reporters in Melbourne: "We might sell STR, but we do not have to."

And Marko denied that Red Bull's junior programme would be in doubt should a sale go through: "Even if Renault takes over STR, we will have cooperation."

Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost told AUTOSPORT the team would be open to becoming a works outfit.

"It would be a next step for us," he said. "It would be good for Toro Rosso to be together with a manufacturer.

"For me it would be positive and for the team it would be positive."

Tost added that Renault visited the factory "three or four weeks ago" and "they just looked at everything but there have been no negotiations so far".

Renault F1's managing director Cyril Abiteboul declined to comment specifically on whether the French manufacturer had visited Lotus, Sauber, Force India and Toro Rosso.

"My only comment is that we are visiting Toro Rosso on a regular basis because they are a customer team," he told AUTOSPORT.

When asked whether Renault was considering buying into one of the teams Renault has visited, Abiteboul said: "We are considering expanding our marketing story.

"What we are looking into is improving our return on investment from F1.

"We will do that in the course of the year but it is not a short term future.

"It's an important decision that should not be taken lightly. Anyway, that's not for this year so we still have a bit of time.

"We have a two-year contract with Red Bull which we want to honour in a better manner than what we are doing.

"The priority is to get it right for Red Bull and Toro Rosso."

 

Source: Autosport

[theyarecomingforyou]

The whole RBR could quit over engines is ridiculous, they might want to start throwing the tantrums towards Renault not F1 or Mercedes. 

 

In 2009 RBR finally got into its stride and only because of Brawns early dominance did they lose that year, they then pretty much had the championships done and dusted for four years straight and now things aren't going their way they threaten to quit?

 

If Mercedes PU was soooo OTT then why did a Ferrari end up on the 3rd step of that podium and not the Williams? I said this so many times last year, If Mercedes Engines were so good, then why was the championship table not lined with Merc engines at the top. Look at yesterday, if anything, Ferrari as a power unit had most success.

 

Someone needs to pickup the toys RBR keep throwing around and tell them to grow up.

Exactly. RBR was utterly dominant and never during that time did they whine about the rules being bad for the sport. Even last year CH stated that it was other teams job to catch up with Mercedes. Now they're threatening to quit the sport again (they made the same threat last year) and calling for Mercedes to be disadvantaged by the FIA. Williams, on the other hand, has praised Mercedes and said they'll be working hard to close the gap.

 

If RBR is only interested in the sport if they can win and intend to quit then good riddance. What RBR is doing, all the moaning about the regulations and Mercedes, is bad for the sport. Ferrari hasn't won the WCC since 2008 but rather than quit the sport they've worked hard and look to have a decent car this year.