Formula 1 2015

[Missileman]

the only racing yesterday was between nico and homo, totally enthralling stuff

[Missileman]

lol...RBR couldn't even catch the lead Sauber let alone overtake

Edited March 16, 2015 by Missileman

[djr81]

F1 is dominated by one team with the others trying to catch up anyway.

Therein is the problem this year. Four engines and a few tokens doesn't give much of a chance for people to catch up on the engine side.

On the chassis side too few teams have any money to do anything good their either.

Not to say MB don't deserve their advantage, just that the immense costs, the limited scope for gains and the week to week belting would give the likes of Renault cause to think why bother? Teams like Sauber and Lotus will be happy to survive the year in half reasonable financial shape - something that would be a massive improvement from where they are now.

[hrd-hr30]

well unlimited development didn't help the others catch red bull all those years... or ferrari all the previous years, etc etc...

[hrd-hr30]

lol...RBR couldn't even catch the lead Sauber let alone overtake

the thing is "racing" does not mean "overtaking"

there were races going on between all the Ferraris and the Williams, Nasir and Dan and Jenson and Perez which was kinda lol-worthy

Edited March 16, 2015 by hrd-hr30

[djr81]

well unlimited development didn't help the others catch red bull all those years... or ferrari all the previous years, etc etc...

No but atleast they had half a chance - tyre supply and the FIA aside.

[hrd-hr30]

Can't really blame the token system. Ferrari caught up with the Mercedes powered Williams under the token system. Renault just aren't getting the job done!

Edited March 16, 2015 by hrd-hr30

[warps]

I was thoroughly enjoying Kimi's race. Different (forced) tyre strategy meant that he would have been interesting to watch in the closing stages, when others were conserving tyres (assuming that fuel wasn't going to be an issue). Of course he wouldn't have challenged for the top 2 spots, but he might have given the next few places a shake up.

Until that muppet forgot to tighten his wheel nut.

[djr81]

Can't really blame the token system. Ferrari caught up with the Mercedes powered Williams under the token system. Renault just aren't getting the job done!

You mean Ferrari made an actual improvement, as opposed to Renault.

[Roy]

My problem is that the limited supply of engines and the freeze are rather silly. The cost of trying to get an engine to last 1500kms is going to cost mega vs being abe to rebuild/life components at 450kms or whatever. And then locking in an advvantage for 12 monhs?

The tech around the engines cost a fortune, but the countless CFD hours and wind tunnel hours add up to far more in design and construction costs of new floors, wings for every 1-2 races. I dont see FIA freezing aero specs at the start of the season.

Everything is a compromise, and at the moment it is rather stupid to have a new engine manufacturer like Honda looking so stoopid. Renault struggling and leaving Merc GP cruising as its advantage is locked in by regs

[dezz]

As for Ferrari vs Williams. Ferrari has more money. Money wins.

Toyota didn't get that memo

[Gts-t]

Whats the penalty for running a 5th engine, ten place grid im guessing, it may be worth runnning 5 engines hard and taking a penalty at some point than running 4 engines soft.

Merc has already used like 80% of their tokens, id say ferrari have used alot too given they were topping the speed traps and the car is much faster already this year. Renault have only used about 20-30% of their tokens they just arent delivering.

Was suprised to see the mlcaren-honda qualify dead last, but then again not really they had a woeful time in testing. Id say by the time that car can win races it will be time for button and alonso to retire lol.

[89CAL]

I read something about Renault saving all their tokens so they can work on next years engine or something along those lines. It's a pretty vague recollection I know, but it was something along the lines of pooling all their tokens for next years engine (maybe using tokens they will get next year along with this years)

It's great to see Kimi in a competitve car again, with any luck it will all come together and will see some nice driving. I'm a bit worried by Seb's pace but. He seems to have wrapped his head around the Ferrari very quickly

[dezz]

Kimi was flying, would've loved to see the fight between him and Vettel if he hadn't got hit into turn one.

[Roy]

Mercedes has used 78% of their tokens and Renault 62%. They are talking about leaving them largely for the second half of the season when Mario Illien has had a chance to work on the engine and identify improvements.

So really, a few software tweaks for Renault to help drivability and then mid year use the coupons to catch up

Token summary remaining for the year:

Renault 12 of 32
Ferrari 10 of 32
Honda 9 of 32
Mercedes 7 of 32

[Juan_2_3]

they should at least bring back refuelling

[hrd-hr30]

As for Ferrari vs Williams. Ferrari has more money. Money wins.

Toyota didn't get that memo

Ferrari had more money last year too...

Ferrari will beat Williams, because Williams can't strategy. And they have a much stronger driver pairing.

I really feel for Alonso. Toughed it out with Ferrari for years and put in some incredible performances in a dog of a car, then they push him out and all of a sudden the Ferrari is quick. The only 'big' team left for him to get a seat with turns out to be the slowest car on the grid, which is no real surprise - they were the slowest Mercedes powered team last year by a long way. He has a big stack in pre-season practice. And now he's down one engine without even having driven the car yet this season!

[dori34]

have a cry RBR

http://www.news.com.au/sport/motorsport/mercedes-boss-rips-into-red-bulls-christian-horner/story-fnec578q-1227265679600

[djr81]

Ferrari had more money last year too...

Ferrari will beat Williams, because Williams can't strategy. And they have a much stronger driver pairing.

I really feel for Alonso. Toughed it out with Ferrari for years and put in some incredible performances in a dog of a car, then they push him out and all of a sudden the Ferrari is quick. The only 'big' team left for him to get a seat with turns out to be the slowest car on the grid, which is no real surprise - they were the slowest Mercedes powered team last year by a long way. He has a big stack in pre-season practice. And now he's down one engine without even having driven the car yet this season!

Having more money doesn't mean you always win. Just that when you get behind you can throw a heap of cash at the problem and hire the best people available. Which clearly if you aren't Ferrari/MB/RedBull you have trouble doing.

[Roy]

Hockenheim turning up the pressure on Bernie. More circuits should get together and say "get farked" not paying your ransom money race fees.

Would be interesting to see how the demands would drop if Spa, Monza, Ring, Hockeheim an Barca all said that FOM had to be more reasonable or go find more dictators in developing cpuntries to pay your fees

Teams can't afford F1, circuits cant afford F1 and many fans can't afford F1. Hello WEC I was only looking at the Spa or Japan round this year and now looking at doing Le Mans again