Most liked posts in thread: 2014 - F1

Nathan · Nov 14, 2014

I'm more a Breitling fan than Rolex.

Steve · Nov 15, 2014

Sniff Petrol getting in on the latest Bernie Bashing:

Ecclestone: F1 doesn’t need cars

Friday, November 14th, 2014

Formula 1 does not need cars, or so claims the sport’s 107-year-old overlord, C. Montgomery Ecclestone.

‘I don’t understand these new fangled things such as cars and autogiros and the electronic videogram machine,’ Ecclestone said yesterday in an interview with Minted Old **** magazine. ‘Formula 1 doesn’t need them. Having a car on the track doesn’t sell advertising. Having an advertisement on the track, that’s what sells advertising.’

‘I simply don’t care about people who are watching Formula 1 for the cars,’ the talking scrotum continued. ‘I’m only interested in people who watch for the adverts. They’re the ones who make me money. And that’s what Formula 1 should be about. Making me even richer. Get rid of the cars, I say. They get in the way and you can’t fit enough Rolex adverts on them.’

‘Money is what keeps me going,’ Ecclestone later admitted. ‘Well, that and the nutrients I extract from orphans.’
Click to expand...

Steve · Nov 21, 2014

B.A.D. said: ↑

New Blipshift shirt

Click to expand...

I like that one. I particularly like fun things like this that make most people think "huh?" and then hope no one noticed the blank, confused look on their face while they were staring, trying to figure it out.

mrntd · Nov 21, 2014

I'm rooting for Rosberg. But I'm resigned to Hammy taking it.

At least this one is legit.

B.A.D. · Nov 21, 2014

I'm rooting for Lewis, but am not sure that he will be content to play it safe and stay one spot behind Nico. With that said, I would be totally fine with Nico winning if Lewis does something stupid. Really all that is important is that it is not Sebooostian in contention for the title.

Crashton · Nov 21, 2014

For my money Lewis wants a win, not a second. I hope he doesn't do something stupid. By this time he should have the maturity to hand the pressure. :fingerscrossed:

Stinker · Nov 23, 2014

You maybe fast for one lap, but he who gets to the first turn is faster for the whole race.

HAMMY for the WIN and CHAMPIONSHIP!

Steve · Nov 27, 2014

Aim high!

Williams: Next year is about taking the fight to Mercedes (grandprix247.com)

27 November, 2014

Williams are back among Formula Oneâ€™s top trio of teams but deputy principal Claire Williams does not hesitate when asked whether she senses a return to the Williams of old.

â€œNo, it feels like a new Williams,â€ the daughter of founder Frank told Reuters at the end of a season that saw the former champions finishing third overall in their best performance since 2003.

â€œItâ€™s not that I donâ€™t love the old Williamsâ€¦ But I think for a number of years weâ€™ve been kind of static, kind of held down and the brand not really knowing where it was, the team not really knowing where it was going.â€

Last year, Williams scored just five points and finished ninth overall. The once-dominant team, winners of nine constructorsâ€™ and seven driversâ€™ championships between 1980 and 1997, also scored only five points in 2011 and had not finished higher than sixth overall in the last six years.

So far was the fall from grace that some had begun wondering whether Williams might be headed the same way as now-defunct ex-champions Tyrrell.

This season has highlighted the importance of the switch from Renault to dominant Mercedes engines but the marked improvement in performance comes down to much more than just bolting a different power unit into the back of the car.

The arrival of technical head Pat Symonds, who won championships with Benetton and Renault, as chief technical officer in July 2013 was one key moment as were the signings this year of engineers Jakob Andreasen and Rob Smedley from Force India and Ferrari.

The arrival of title sponsors Martini has also freshened up the image, Williams explained, â€œI think thatâ€™s played a real part mentally and culturally for a lot of people at Williams and that this is a new, bright fresh future for the team. Itâ€™s about a new generation and taking it to recreate the glory days, but in a different way.â€

â€œThatâ€™s really exciting for me. I donâ€™t think weâ€™ve heard one conversation about this may be a fluke for Williams. Itâ€™s a new path, a new start.â€

Williams signed off in Abu Dhabi with Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finlandâ€™s Valtteri Bottas second and third to Mercedesâ€™ race winner and champion Lewis Hamilton. Massa had led the race during pitstops and looked threatening throughout.

It would not have come as a massive surprise, in a season that saw Massa on pole in Austria and the team take nine podium placings, if the former Ferrari driver had gone on to win and that has to be the ambition for 2015.

â€œItâ€™s the next step thatâ€™s going to be the hardest piece of work,â€ recognised Williams. â€œNext year itâ€™s got to be making that step up and closing the gap to Mercedesâ€¦ winning races and taking the fight to them.â€

â€œItâ€™s down to us to challenge them and to take victories away from them. And thatâ€™s really what we want to do. And not to do it flukily, but because weâ€™ve got the competitive advantage.â€

Williams, whose tetraplegic father has been in hospital in England for the past month for treatment to a pressure sore, said the success on the track was also being reflected in sponsor interest.

â€œIt really is picking up. People want to be a part of it,â€ she said. â€œWeâ€™ve got lots of really positive conversations going on in the pipeline. Success breeds success, doesnâ€™t it?â€

Some of those brands, she said, were more youth-oriented than in the past and that too was a testament to how Willims had re-positioned themselves, â€œItâ€™s not just a team that had great success in the 90s but a team with a future.â€ (Reuters)
Click to expand...

Steve · Sep 21, 2013

GP penalty shake-up approved (racer.com)

Jonathan Noble, Dieter Rencken | September 21, 2013

Formula 1 teams have backed a new plan for more lenient penalties to be handed out during grands prix.

From 2014, stewards will, for example, be able to hand out five or 10 second penalties, which will be taken at a driver's subsequent pit stop. If the driver does not stop again, then the penalty will be added to his race time.

The new system has been proposed to ensure drivers are not punished by a hefty drive-through for a minor infringement. It was agreed during a meeting of F1's Sporting Working Group in Singapore this weekend and will now be put to the FIA World Council for approval.

Teams have also agreed that Pirelli can tweak the front and rear tire compounds next season to balance out the car demands of the new 2014 engine regulations. There will still be only four compounds available for the season -- super-soft, soft, medium and hard -- but within each of those the front and rears no longer needs to be identical as is currently mandatory. The new turbo engines are set to deliver more torque over the current V8 power units, which will put a heavier demand on the rear tires.

Further matters that were approved include tighter pit stop safety rules, which include mandatory over-ride facilities for pit crews, and the ratification of penalties for unsafe pit stop releases.

The exact details of the changes are set to be confirmed following the FIA's WMSC meeting next week.

This article originally appeared in Autosport.com
Click to expand...

minimark · Sep 22, 2013

Report during the Singapore race is that the papers and money have been filed for the New Jersey race by the deadline....

Could New Jersey really happen?

Steve · Sep 27, 2013

minimark said: ↑

Could New Jersey really happen?
Click to expand...

Hmmm, maybe.

New Jersey GP gets provisional FIA approval for 2014 (racer.com)

September 27, 2013

The FIA released an amended 2014 Formula 1 World Championship calendar Friday, with the inaugural Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial listed as a provisional addition to a 22-race calendar.

The race, which had been off a provisional calendar circulated earlier this month, is set for June 1 date, a week before the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

"The entire Grand Prix of America team is thrilled to join the 2014 FIA calendar and we look forward to bringing world-class Formula 1 racing to New Jersey," race promoter Leo Hindery Jr. said.

The Grand Prix of America will run on a 3.2-mile temporary street circuit along the Hudson River in Weehawken and West New York, N.J., with the New York City skyline as a backdrop. The 19-turn course includes an elevation change of 160ft from sea level to the top of the Palisades cliff.

The Korean Grand Prix, which moves to April 27, and a return of Mexico City on Nov. 16, were also listed as provisional. Russia will make its debut with a race in Sochi on Oct. 5. while an Austrian GP returns on June 22.

2014 Formula 1 schedule:

March 16 Grand Prix of Australia
March 30 Grand Prix of Malaysia
April 6 Grand Prix of Bahrain
April 20 Grand Prix of China
April 27 Grand Prix of Korea (provisional)
May 11 Grand Prix of Spain
May 25 Grand Prix of Monaco
June 1 Grand Prix of America, New Jersey (provisional*)
June 8 Grand Prix of Canada
June 22 Grand Prix of Austria
July 6 Grand Prix of Great Britain
July 20 Grand Prix of Germany (Hockenheim)
July 27 Grand Prix of Hungary
August 24 Grand Prix of Belgium
September 7 Grand Prix of Italy
September 21 Grand Prix of Singapore
October 5 Grand Prix of Russia (Sochi)
October 12 Grand Prix of Japan
October 6 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi
November 9 Grand Prix of USA (Circuit of The Americas)
November 16 Grand Prix of Mexico (provisional*)
November 30 Grand Prix of Brazil

* Subject to circuit approval
Click to expand...

Zapski · Sep 27, 2013

May 25 Grand Prix of Monaco
June 1 Grand Prix of America, New Jersey (provisional*)
June 8 Grand Prix of Canada
Click to expand...

Wait, Monaco to Jersey to Canada in three consecutive Sundays?

Logistics for that will be hell.

Steve · Sep 27, 2013

Yup, particularly Monaco to NJ in less than a week. Teams are already saying impossible.

Steve · Sep 27, 2013

Sauber â€˜convincedâ€™ by Sirotkin potential (GPUpdate.net)

27 September 2013

Sauber Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn says that she is â€˜convincedâ€™ by Russian youngster Sergei Sirotkinâ€™s talent, and that she fully intends to promote him to a race seat in 2014.

Sirotkin, 18, joined Sauberâ€™s driver development programme earlier this year following extensive Russian investment in the Hinwil-based outfit, and has since had his first taste of Formula 1 machinery at a demonstration run in Sochi, as well as undergoing a seat-fitting.

Currently competing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, Sirotkin sits eighth in the points standings, having reached the podium once during 2013. Nevertheless, Kaltenborn says that she is impressed by the qualities he has shown so far.

"We have Sergei Sirotkin under contract and it is our intention that in 2014 he will be one of our drivers," she told Formula 1â€™s official website. "We are convinced by him: he is a young and talented driver. Of course, to say now how he will really do on the track would be mere speculation, but we feel that from the ingredients he brings - and from what everybody could see in Monza - the basis is good.

"With all this we have a good feeling about preparing him for his super license and then to get him in," she concluded.
Click to expand...

Minidave · Sep 27, 2013

I hear they are bringing Barry Chello in to drive too, and to mentor the young'un....plus he's bringing XXmillion with him in a suitcase....

Nathan · Sep 28, 2013

Bernie really wants a Brazilian in a drivers seat, if Massa can't get one he intends on bringing Rubens back. Wonder if Bernie is writing the check for his return.

Zapski · Oct 1, 2013

Sound's like McLaren's game for the Monaco-Jersey-Canada three week run next year.

22 races and triple-header weekends possible - McLaren - F1 Fanatic

Formula One teams could cope with a triple-header weekend and a 22-race schedule according to McLaren’s sporting director Sam Michael.

The FIA’s proposed 2014 F1 calendar includes 22 races with three on consecutive weekends in Monaco, New Jersey and Canada.

Asked if F1 teams could cope with the logistical demands of racing on three weekends in a row, Michael said: “We’ll just need to adapt if that’s what’s required.”

“Obviously we can do a double-header so once you do a double-header you can do a triple-header, can’t you?”

Speaking during a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in, Michael said the biggest challenge would be fatigue among the team’s personnel.

“Equipment and planes and things don’t get tired, people do,” he said. “So it means that you have to consider the support crew that comes to set up at a grand prix, perhaps they won’t always necessarily be the same people.”

“At the moment with a two-week break you can use your race crew to do a lot of set-up of garages and things. If you get into triple-headers what you might have is a crew – which is not necessarily a big crew – maybe a handful of people – to go out and set up a race structure before a proper race team arrives.

“You may actually get to the point where you have separate crews that crew the cars or even engineer the cars. I’m not sure we’re quite at that point yet, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Michael added that for McLaren the cost of bringing more staff to do set-up work could be minimised by using existing employees who run the team’s heritage cars at other events.

“Those costs of additional people would be marginal compared to the costs of additional grands prix, because teams get income from doing races,” he said.

However he admitted that the coming run of three pairs of double-header races is “the most tiring part of the season”.

“It’s really where from a human point of view you put all of your energy in the 12 months before this to make sure people are fit and healthy to not just and covered properly to not just do their job and cope with jet lag and normal 16 to 18 hour days that the race mechanics do.

“In the case of the pit crew they’ve got an athletic job to do on Sunday with the pit stops so we need to make sure they’re fit and healthy for that as well.”
Click to expand...

Steve · Oct 3, 2013

Heavier F1 drivers want weight limit increase for 2014 (autosport.com)

By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, October 3rd 2013, 11:50 GMT

Nico Hulkenberg expects the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) to look into growing concerns that heavier drivers will be hindered next year unless the minimum weight limit for cars is lifted.

As teams begin to finalise their car designs for 2014, it is emerging that a number of outfits are struggling to get near the minimum 690kg that the car and driver must weigh.

That means that taller drivers like Hulkenberg face the risk of being overlooked for competitive seats simply because they are too heavy.

Hulkenberg, whose weight and height has been a factor in his career, says the new 2014 regulations with heavier power units means the issue is now pressing.

"I think there was a similar situation in 2009 when KERS was first introduced and drivers had to lose a lot of weight," he said. "Unfortunately I am what I am - I am tall and therefore on the heavier side, but not as heavy as some other drivers.

"It is not under my control but maybe in terms of regulations you have to raise the weight a bit more to make it fairer for different weight levels. You can really get an advantage with your weight distribution if you are 10-15kg lighter."

When asked by AUTOSPORT if he felt the matter should be raised in a GPDA meeting, he said: "I think it will come up... I am pretty sure it will."

GPDA director Jenson Button, who even at 74kg has struggled this season to make the weight limit at times, thinks the situation needs looking at.

"It is a big problem, and next year we don't know how bad it's going to be, but it's going to be very tricky," he said.

"Every year we start with ballast, and throughout the year, because you add parts to the car, the car puts more weight on.

"Whereas at the start of next year already, every team is not going to have ballast on the car and it's only going to get worse through the season.

"It does hurt the heavier driver, and it's very unfair to say 'lose weight' because some of us can't lose any more.

"You need to have skin on your bones, and a little bit of muscle to drive a Formula 1 car, so it is unfair."

He added: "I can't see a reason why we can't put the weight limit up by 10kg.

"It wouldn't penalise half of the grid next season. It's one of the easiest things to put right - and it could save a driver's career, or make a driver's career. It's definitely something worth pushing for."

F1's minimum weight limit is currently 642kg for car and drivers. It is going up to 690kg in 2014 because of the extra weight of the new power units, but indications are that the current engines are already heavier than anticipated by the rules.
Click to expand...

Crashton · Oct 3, 2013

Hope they give them a break. That's the only thing that has been holding me back from a top tier F1 ride.

minirab · Oct 3, 2013

Crashton said: ↑

Hope they give them a break. That's the only thing that has been holding me back from a top tier F1 ride.
Click to expand...

I was just going to say that about myself!!:beer

Forums

Most liked posts in thread: 2014 - F1

Nathan Founder

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

mrntd Well-Known Member
Supporting Member

B.A.D. Club Coordinator

Crashton Club Coordinator

Stinker Active Member

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

minimark Well-Known Member

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

Zapski Well-Known Member

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

Minidave Well-Known Member
Lifetime Supporter

Nathan Founder

Zapski Well-Known Member

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

Crashton Club Coordinator

minirab Well-Known Member

Useful Searches

Most liked posts in thread: 2014 - F1

Nathan Founder

Steve Administrator Staff Member Articles Moderator

Steve Administrator Staff Member Articles Moderator

mrntd Well-Known Member Supporting Member

B.A.D. Club Coordinator

Crashton Club Coordinator

Stinker Active Member

Steve Administrator Staff Member Articles Moderator

Steve Administrator Staff Member Articles Moderator

minimark Well-Known Member

Steve Administrator Staff Member Articles Moderator

Zapski Well-Known Member

Steve Administrator Staff Member Articles Moderator

Steve Administrator Staff Member Articles Moderator

Minidave Well-Known Member Lifetime Supporter

Nathan Founder

Zapski Well-Known Member

Steve Administrator Staff Member Articles Moderator

Crashton Club Coordinator

minirab Well-Known Member

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

mrntd Well-Known Member
Supporting Member

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator

Minidave Well-Known Member
Lifetime Supporter

Steve Administrator
Staff Member Articles Moderator