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WHoff78

Except for the money, doesn't let a rookie do the test initial test driving (FI) set you back quite a bit? They'll be using last years car, so no I doubt it Where did you hear this, or is it just an assumption based on last seasons effort - probably fair. Articles seems to suggest it will be the 20...

WHoff78

They will always try to make changes to mix things up a bit, but think it is fairly clear that the priority should be improving the ability of cars to follow others closer, so that with time we can hopefully reduce the DRS and ultimately have an entertaining formula without it. Fail to see that havi...

WHoff78

My best guess now we know who has what engines, and final driver line-ups. 1. Mercedes 2. Ferrari 3. Williams 4. Force India 5. Toro Rosso 6. Red Bull 7. Renault 8. McLaren 9. Manor 10. Haas 11. Sauber See very little between the teams grouped together, and wouldn't be surprised to see Red Bull & Re...

WHoff78

Oh, and he criticised the rules back at the beginning of 2012, too: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/motor/formula1/story/2012-02-06/Sebastian-Vettel-says-rule-changes-hurt-title-defense/52990072/1 Staggeringly inconsistent, isn't he? I don't understand your point with this one, this just once...

WHoff78

I agree with him to some extent, he won his titles in a pretty good car. Yep, it's a bit rich after four seasons in a car 1/2 to 1 second a lap faster while Hamilton was going bananas with frustration and Alonso had the demeanour of a bulldog chewing a wasp. The obvious solution is to make all the ...

WHoff78

Plus the top teams employ around 800 people - if you make it all about the drivers, which part of me would love too, then you may as well cut that to like 50? Maybe less.

WHoff78

If F1 is mainly about the car (and the manufacturers and even the FIA seem to be on board with that) then we will see how much interest there is in that from the public in the years to come. There are many more choices for entertainment today than in the past. That is the beauty of sport though – s...

WHoff78

Stands to reason they give the better car to the person paying for it. Let's go to an extreme here to try and make my point a bit clearer, what would the point of say putting someone like Alonso in the car and him being slower than Stevens because his car is that much slower? How does that do Manor...

WHoff78

When you compare with other sports then I would say no they are not over paid, and there are only actually 6 drivers that earn a lot, that being the drivers employed by Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren, maybe Red Bull are worried about not being able to keep their star drivers because they are so stin...

WHoff78

Could be fairly entertaining if McLaren start to find their feet next season, and then given a more competitive car in 2017 capable of perhaps the odd win but more realistically a few podiums, and Alonso is overshadowed by a rookie. Tough ask of course, but Vandoorne’s reputation suggests at least t...

WHoff78

So, Wehrlein to replace Rosberg in 2017? Oh yes, and Rosberg to replace Räikkönen at Ferrari - and then go on to beat Vettel. That would be a push for the forum's activity ... :lol: Then what happens to Gutierrez? Do you expect him to replace Kimi? I think he would have to impress a lot this year t...

WHoff78

Maldonado does at least bow out holding a few records - most penalties in a season, 10 (2014), and most penalties in one race, 3 (Hungary, 2015). The latter is pretty impressive to be fair. I imagine he is near the top in career penalties too, or at least average no. of penalties per season, but I g...

WHoff78

The change was one of the key concessions made when the manufacturers agreed to cut their prices to customers in 2017. All four now have works teams and will justify their spending in terms of making their own squads competitive, without the cost being passed on to the teams they supply The manufac...

WHoff78

Just watching the second half of 2015 and if last year is considered an improvement for Pastor, then I fail to see how people can defend him. Budapest he takes Perez out despite the latter being significantly in front on corner exit. Could have been worse than a drive through penalty. Spa, he flew a...

WHoff78

If you are talking on track battles, then you have to be careful to differentiate times when a Mercedes is battling with Vettel due the Merc performance advantage perhaps not being so great due to circuit/weather characteristics, from times where a Mercedes is not in the position it should be, hence...

WHoff78

I'm surprised no one has mentioned a Hamilton and Vettel dream team just yet. It'd be interesting to throw them together into the top car team; we'd see another top car, top driver battle, just like we saw with Prost and Senna. Worst driver pairing at the moment is probably Rossi and Stevens. Rossi...

WHoff78

It seems the drivers have presented a proposal to Pirelli with a view to having tyres they can push on: http://www.crash.net/f1/news/226272/1/drivers-pushing-for-maximum-speed-pirelli-tyres.html Apparently there's no truth to the rumours the proposal is called "Project Michelin." Good luck to them ...

WHoff78

Perhaps Manor to crack Q3 in Australia, Super Aguri Style! Otherwise some competition at the front would be a welcome surprise, along with solid development from Honda and Renault.

WHoff78

Let's not forget it is the 21st Century - I imagine if other options were discussed at the time it would have been pretty hard to justify anything but the hybrids, with a large emphasis on the energy recovery systems. The fault is not with the engines. It is in not agreeing a cost cap for supplying ...

WHoff78

Big improvements are almost definitely required with regards to financial aspects such as prize money distribution and various costs for the teams, but it seems that actually compared to the last few years things are relatively healthy in F1. Correct me if I’m wrong but haven’t read many articles la...

WHoff78

Or with a slightly less depressing outlook, we find that after two years and a good deal of investment from Ferrari/Renault/Honda, everyone has a much better grasp on the new PUs, and Ferrari and at least one of the other two has a much more competitive engine at the start of 2016. Yeah probably unl...

WHoff78

Although, perhaps the worst part about not locking down that supply cost at the start relates to new manufacturers. The FIA need to be cautious that the low cost, along with head start that the four current manufacturers have, doesn't completely preclude new suppliers entering the sport. They could ...

WHoff78

The best bet, is perhaps to lock in the engine supply costs (step one), and I agree that should be the supply cost of the current homologated engine else it’s pointless. And then once that is done, push to open up development as much as possible/manufacturer’s will allow. That way any the manufactu...

WHoff78

The thing is I think people did anticipate this - in fact it's what they wanted. They just didn't anticipate how big those differences would be. But that is life, unfortunately. People invest huge amounts of time and money - if you get it wrong you can't just put your hands up and say ah, we know we...

WHoff78

The best bet, is perhaps to lock in the engine supply costs (step one), and I agree that should be the supply cost of the current homologated engine else it’s pointless. And then once that is done, push to open up development as much as possible/manufacturer’s will allow. That way any the manufactur...

WHoff78

I completely agree that things are far from perfect with F1 and that change is required, but at the same time fixing them isn’t exactly straight forward. A while back there was a lot of talk about the fact that the engine made little difference and there was a desire to push towards a more engine o...

WHoff78

This is demonstrably false. In fact, F1 has consistently banned new technology. What was it, the Lotus 78 that brought active suspensions to F1? Result: banned. Do F1 cars use ABS brakes? Nope, banned. The list of technologies that F1 has banned is long and extensive. It’s a little disingenuous to ...

WHoff78

I completely agree that things are far from perfect with F1 and that change is required, but at the same time fixing them isn’t exactly straight forward. A while back there was a lot of talk about the fact that the engine made little difference and there was a desire to push towards a more engine or...

WHoff78

Tough to see beyond Mercedes and Ferrari for the next few years, so there's a good chance that whoever it is will have to be good enough to beat Hamilton or Vettel. So may come down to whether or not they want to risk putting another top driver in the second seat. I'll take a punt on Bottas, but not...

WHoff78

Perhaps this, and their demand for more testing with the new supply contract, suggests that Pirelli (or the new owners of Pirelli) finally realize that they can’t just chalk tire failures and safety concerns up to FIA demands, and that these things will have a negative impact on the brand.

WHoff78

Nice summary of what has lead up to this point, although not too much new information. Hopefully Todt will stick to his principles and they can come out of this with a solution that leaves them and the sport with some credibility.

WHoff78

What a bunch of nonsense. A Mandate? Bernie signed away a lot of is power when the teams threatened to leave. He doesn't get to toss aside the Concord agreement, and Ferrari still has their Veto. What we have here is an old man trying use the media to gain political leverage. It’s a good point – ho...

WHoff78

Identical situations to be honest, both lead to a 2 tier F1. That said, is this years Ferrari honestly going to be any worse than next years Renault or Honda? Maybe, given then bullish statements from both companies in the last few weeks but if the year old Ferrari lump is more competitive than the...

WHoff78

No doubt Hamilton is getting frustrated, but think he needs to have more trust in his ability - he's knows Brazil is tough to overtake, and it's fairly clear Mexico is tough too. I feel he would have had more chance in Abu Dhabi though, with the too long DRS zones one after the other. And it is tru...

WHoff78

With most of the rules & regulation remaining static for 2016, what could be the pecking order according to You? In the order, it could be mainly tricky to predict: Red Bull, Renault, Haas, Manor & McLaren! Otherwise it looks straightforward: Mercedes Ferrari Williams Force India Renault (Tentative...

WHoff78

No doubt Hamilton is getting frustrated, but think he needs to have more trust in his ability - he's knows Brazil is tough to overtake, and it's fairly clear Mexico is tough too. I feel he would have had more chance in Abu Dhabi though, with the too long DRS zones one after the other. And it is true...

WHoff78

Agreed that it was terrible strategy from Mercedes today, but even as a Hamilton fan it’s clear that it’s hard for them to win at this point. Everyone wanted Mercedes to let their drivers race and allow different strategy, yet it was clear today they should have been firm with Lewis and tell him to...

WHoff78

Agreed that it was terrible strategy from Mercedes today, but even as a Hamilton fan it’s clear that it’s hard for them to win at this point. Everyone wanted Mercedes to let their drivers race and allow different strategy, yet it was clear today they should have been firm with Lewis and tell him to ...

WHoff78

Do things like the gap between Raikonnen and Vettel, and Bottas and Massa, and Alonso and Button (even in a terrible car) not raise people’s suspicions as to how Ferrari support their two drivers? Sorry but with the field seemingly as close as ever in terms of ability these days, the superiority (an...

WHoff78

NR slicing DR's tyres at Hungary cost DR potentially a win but at least 2nd (gifting 2nd to DK with DK otherwise potentially only 4th rather than 3rd) Really detailed analysis, but I couldn’t let this point go – DR took Nico on the inside, but Rosberg watched him sail past before cutting back insid...

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