Formula 1 2015 Discussion

OGG said:
Three car teams were taken off the table back in November. Bernie wasn't hip on the idea and Bernie gets what Bernie wants.

The Marussia yo yo has gone back down, the new investors planned on running a modified version of last year's chassis, which was previously deemed acceptable, but now The FIA is telling them They can't.

Meanwhile, Force India ownership is making huge public assurances that they will have their financial wonkiness sorted in time to field cars at Melbourne.

I have doubts...

So in summary, as of this moment:

Caterham- toast.

Marussia- toast.

Force India- toast.

Not an encouraging build up to the season.

On a side note, who in the world would have bet that Ferrari would be the team to finish testing in Jerez on top of the time sheets and seemingly far more sorted than everyone else at this early stage?

I wouldn't have.

After the shit sandwich those fuckers saddled Alonso, Massa and Raikkonen with the past few years, I'm gonna be well and truly pissed off if they somehow manage to drop that insufferable little twit Vettel into a winning car right out of the gates.

Given the amount of recent turmoil and personnel changes at Ferrari, it's nearly unthinkable that they could even compete for a podium this year.

Bizarre.
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Ferrari looked fast in Jerez because all of their runs were on low fuel. They never did any stints longer than 10 laps. Mercedes on the other hand was doing full race distance runs the whole time, so we never really saw their true pace. The mileage that Mercedes piled up during that test is frightening, because it means they are working out the reliability issues they suffered from last year. They could very well win every race this year if that is the case.

The real question is how much pace has Mercedes gained over last year? It does look like Ferrari have a better car than they have for the last few years, but are the improvements enough to catch up to Mercedes? What I am hoping for this year is that some of the other teams have at least reduced the pace advantage that Mercedes had last year (over 1 second/lap). It would be nice to see the pace within a few tenths, as this would make the championship very interesting.
 
Flatspotter said:
I really hope Williams can win some races this year.
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Me too. Felipe Massa is my favorite driver and between Ferrari giving him the shaft, and the incredible amount of bad luck (i.e. getting crashed out by no talent ass clowns) it's been a rough few years.

I really like Valteri Bottas too, and would love to see him get some wins.

I also have a mad crush on Susie Wolf. Team Williams gets much love from me all around.
 
OGG said:
After the shit sandwich those fuckers saddled Alonso, Massa and Raikkonen with the past few years, I'm gonna be well and truly pissed off if they somehow manage to drop that insufferable little twit Vettel into a winning car right out of the gates.

Given the amount of recent turmoil and personnel changes at Ferrari, it's nearly unthinkable that they could even compete for a podium this year.

Bizarre.
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Talk about shit sandwiches, how about the cars McLaren has been saddling their drivers with lately? I have never been a ferrari fan, more of a hater than anything else, but have been a mclaren fan since the watson days.

I know they have had their bad times but it seems they are sliding down the constructor's list more every year. Last year they had the engine that (supposedly) won the championship, they have the pedigree, hell; they even got oatley back and their cars sucked.

I hope honda helps them turn their fortunes around, a la the 80's and early 90's teams but I don' t have much hope to be honest.

I don't see Alonso as a savior either.
 
2112 said:
Talk about shit sandwiches, how about the cars McLaren has been saddling their drivers with lately? I have never been a ferrari fan, more of a hater than anything else, but have been a mclaren fan since the watson days.

I know they have had their bad times but it seems they are sliding down the constructor's list more every year. Last year they had the engine that (supposedly) won the championship, they have the pedigree, hell; they even got oatley back and their cars sucked.

I hope honda helps them turn their fortunes around, a la the 80's and early 90's teams but I don' t have much hope to be honest.

I don't see Alonso as a savior either.
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Well they did poach the lead Aero guy from Red Bull, and this years car should have his influence on it. Hopefully that will turn things around if Honda brought a good enough power unit.

I'm a big McLaren fan, and the last couple of years have been painful (but have made Hamilton look like a genius for jumping ship when he did).

The thing is they have had a fast enough car in 2012 to compete for a title, but they were done in by stupid mistakes and reliability issues.
 
2112 said:
Talk about shit sandwiches, how about the cars McLaren has been saddling their drivers with lately? I have never been a ferrari fan, more of a hater than anything else, but have been a mclaren fan since the watson days.

I know they have had their bad times but it seems they are sliding down the constructor's list more every year. Last year they had the engine that (supposedly) won the championship, they have the pedigree, hell; they even got oatley back and their cars sucked.

I hope honda helps them turn their fortunes around, a la the 80's and early 90's teams but I don' t have much hope to be honest.

I don't see Alonso as a savior either.
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I'm not so sure that last year's car was as bad as all that. There were times when it looked like a genuine contender. I love Jensen Button, but the drivers did little to help last year. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, as the bloody Mercedes was just simply in a class by itself in 2014, just as the Red Bull cars had been the previous several years.

It was a chassis deficit that ultimately separated McClaren from the Factory Mercedes. It had the engine to keep up, just not the chassis.

As much as I dislike all things Honda, it's hard to argue with success. They may indeed come up with a power plant that trumps the Mercedes, but if the aero and suspension guys don't work some serious magic, it'll be for nawt.

The good news, is that Alonso can make any car outperform its own limits.
 
Well, it is almost race weekend in Australia. Time for all the speculation to end and the racing to begin!

Interesting to see who will be driving Sauber's car this weekend, as van der Garde sued Sauber because his contract promises him a 2015 seat, and courts in Switzerland and Australia agree with him. Sauber might have to race van der Garde or have their assets in Australia confiscated by the courts while damages for not complying with the contract are decided. What a fricken mess....and Sauber doesn't look very good in the article summary below.

http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/how-one-driver-sued-for-a-sauber-formula-one-drive-an-1690905181/ jasontorch

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3213/36466/Sauber-lose-appeal-against-Giedo-racing
 
Geido is a talented driver, I don't understand Sauber's hesitancy to just put him in the car. They're a mid-pack team, Geido isn't going to change that fact one way or the other. If they had realistic championship hopes, it might be different, but who are they kidding?

What a mess.

I'm bummed that Alonso can't race this weekend. Whatever chance McLaren has in keeping up with the Works Mercedes team is going to be dictated by Fernando's uncanny ability to get the absolute most out of the car. I like Jenson Button quite a bit, but he doesn't have that ability. I would hate to see one race of potentially lost points knock the team down a rung come November.

Ferrari and Red Bull are both still a total mystery. It will be extremely interesting to see how they perform this weekend. I'm not making any bets or predictions either way.

I am most looking forward ti watching what Massa and Bottas are able to squeeze out of the Williams. Felipe is my favorite driver, and I would be thrilled to see both him and the team have a fantastic season. They are both deserving.

Ugh!

Now I'm all anxious. I want it to be Q1 right now!!!
 
Looks like Sauber has opted to not participate in FP1 with hopes of not upsetting the Australian courts with their inability to put van der Garde in the car.
 
So far it looks like Mercedes are the class of the field as their fastest time was 1 sec. ahead of everyone else. We will really know where everything stands in qualifying tonight, but given the gap in times Mercedes will lock out the front row barring any technical problems.
McLaren are in real trouble from the looks of things, and I don't think even Alonso could have helped them this weekend.

It looks like Sauber is about to drop out of F1. This driver issue is going to kill them financially.
 
I'm encouraged by the quick times from some of the non-Mercedes teams. Ferrari looked especially promising. I think Mercedes will be the team to beat, but at least this year the seem to not be 5 seconds ahead of everyone...and a second advantage can disappear very quickly in a season. I hope this year is a little closer in terms of the constructor's title.

Sauber is in the very difficult position of having to break at least one signed contract, and that will certainly cost them in paying off a driver, potential lawsuits, and loss of sponsorship. They will be exceedingly lucky if Sutil doesn't sue them (or threaten to sue them) as well, now that van der Garde paved the way through the courts. I guess they have no one to blame but their management.
 
I don't really pay much attention until Q1 and race day since you never really know what the teams are doing in practice sessions. I'm looking for good things from Williams since like OGG I like both drivers there. Ferrari and RB will be interesting too. Going to miss watching Alonso, he is fantatic to watch drive, hope he gets well fast.

I still have big concerns about F1 overall the Sauber thing just adds fuel. If Sauber is out completely we are down to 9 teams :cry:
 
nuke_diver said:
I don't really pay much attention until Q1 and race day since you never really know what the teams are doing in practice sessions. I'm looking for good things from Williams since like OGG I like both drivers there. Ferrari and RB will be interesting too. Going to miss watching Alonso, he is fantatic to watch drive, hope he gets well fast.

I still have big concerns about F1 overall the Sauber thing just adds fuel. If Sauber is out completely we are down to 9 teams :cry:
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Yeah, a small starting grid does not look well for a race series.
 
nuke_diver said:
I don't really pay much attention until Q1 and race day since you never really know what the teams are doing in practice sessions. I'm looking for good things from Williams since like OGG I like both drivers there. Ferrari and RB will be interesting too. Going to miss watching Alonso, he is fantatic to watch drive, hope he gets well fast.

I still have big concerns about F1 overall the Sauber thing just adds fuel. If Sauber is out completely we are down to 9 teams :cry:
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It looks like Manor isn't going to race this weekend either, so that's 8 teams if Sauber can't pry their heads out of their asses. Van der Garde doesn't have a valid superlicense at the moment, so he can't race no matter what the courts say unless they can fast track his license. Sauber did run Ericsson and Nasr in FP2.
 
Flatspotter said:
It looks like Manor isn't going to race this weekend either, so that's 8 teams if Sauber can't pry their heads out of their asses. Van der Garde doesn't have a valid superlicense at the moment, so he can't race no matter what the courts say unless they can fast track his license. Sauber did run Ericsson and Nasr in FP2.
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Oh wow, I wasn't aware that Geido was without a SuperLicense.

That complicates things immensely.
 
Flatspotter said:
McLaren at the back of the grid! What an embarrassment for Honda. It's great to see Massa in 3rd, though.
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Yeah, the McLaren-Honda everyone hyped pre-season certainly didn't show up for qualifying. I'm not surprised, as a new engine is often met with lots of issues early on. I bet poor Alonso is kicking himself for leaving a very competitive revitalized Ferrari team for McLaren right now.
 
Tiltsta said:
Yeah, the McLaren-Honda everyone hyped pre-season certainly didn't show up for qualifying. I'm not surprised, as a new engine is often met with lots of issues early on. I bet poor Alonso is kicking himself for leaving a very competitive revitalized Ferrari team for McLaren right now.
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I don't think anyone was expecting McLaren to get a podium right off, but dead last is a real black eye for Honda. They had a full year to develop their power unit, and they're something like 250hp down from Mercedes.

Alonso didn't have much choice in leaving, as he and Ferrari had pretty much reached an impasse. I don't think he really wanted to come to McLaren, but there weren't any other decent rides available.
 
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