The F1 Thread

[Nando]

Vettel was rumoured to have signed the option with Ferrari after Monza. I agree with regards to PDR, but only if Seb stays at Red Bull.

 

[Law's Bus]

It's a bold move from Lewis as going back through Brawn GP and Honda the working group there have only produced one top top car and then they ran out of cash and faded. Honda were an absolute farce really considering their expenditure in the sport and Mercedes have a budget akin to Ferrari and are now being trumped.by the Force India's.

There was a couple of decent BARs in around 2003/4. Before that, mmm, you have to go back to the Tyrrell days, and there's no-one left there from that long ago.

 

[Law's Bus]

The engines all have to be identical now don't they? Regardless of whether you're the parent company or the customer.

Yes, they do.

 

[FrankMunro-371]

Will Button be number 1 driver over Perez in the McLaren team?

 

[Law's Bus]

Will Button be number 1 driver over Perez in the McLaren team?

No. McLaren operate a strict "equals" policy.

 

[Kenny]

Will Button be number 1 driver over Perez in the McLaren team?

Do McLaren do "No 1" drivers?

They always seem to let them do their things and worry about team orders if one of them is heading towards the title

 

[The Bear]

The engines all have to be identical now don't they? Regardless of whether you're the parent company or the customer.

They all have to be homologised at the minute but not when the regs change in 2014. Many are predicting an arms-race in the engine department including Adrian Newey who has said it will be an "engine formula".

This is from the excellent ScarbsF1 technical site:

Even though the 2014 engine regulations are very prescriptive in a lot of the specification of the engine, we will see some variation in turbo installations and the key factor will be in ‘energy management’. That is the power generated from the petrol, the KERS and the TERS (Turbo Energy Recovery System) to get the best laptime. Peak power will not be the critical factor, but how the energy is harvested and redeployed. Unfortunately this will be invisible to the fans and the engine suppliers aren’t likely to be very public about their Energy Recovery methods. So 2014 may be a hard year to the public to understand from a powertrain perspective.

 

[The Bear]

That Newey interview:

Adrian Newey expects engine performance to become the dominant differentiator between teams when the new V6 turbo engines are introduced in 2014.

The Red Bull chief technical officer fears that the combination of tighter chassis rules and potential differences between the performance of the engines could lead to one group of teams sharing one supplier having a big advantage.

"In 2014, you will have the variation in engine performance," Newey told AUTOSPORT. "That means the engine power unit itself, which is not only the internal combustion engine but also the various recovery systems bolted to it.

"It is possible that one manufacturer will do significantly better than the others, at which point you might end up with that manufacturer's cars at the front of the grid.

"You could end up with an engine manufacturers' championship."

Newey has long been critical of how restrictive the chassis rules are in F1 and believes the 2014 rules to be even tighter.

He expects this to further swing the balance in favour of engine performance, with the main scope for innovation potential coming in terms of the way that the engines are used.

"The chassis regs, aero wise, are a more restrictive version of what we have already," said Newey.

"The installation of the engine is obviously something that the teams will work on with their engine manufacturers. It remains to be seen whether someone comes up with something novel there and steals an advantage."

You'd have to assume if that were to happen, then Mercedes would possibly have an advantage over McLaren.

 

[spencer13]

Number 1 driver status for Jenson now, Perez will do well driving for a team capable of winning a championship, Hamilton has made a big mistake in his move for me, hes become too big for his boots!

 

[Nando]

I'll stick my neck out and say that Perez will beat Button.

They are lacking one of the real big guns now, so I'm interested to see how they'll do next year.

 

[Carrotdude]

Next season will be fascinating for sure. I would expect Hamilton and Button to outperform their teammates but the Mercedes will, you assume, not be as quick as the top 2 or 3 or even 4 cars so Lewis will struggle to mount a challenge unless significant improvements are made. Having said that it's not like Ferrari have had anything like the best car this year but are sitting at the top of the standings thanks to consistency, reliabilty and a brilliant driver. I'm glad Mclaren have got Perez as I didn't want him to 'do a Rubens' and end up spending a career playing second fiddle to Alonso.

 

[The Bear]

Mercedes could well put out a competitive car next year. I wouldn't erite them off yet. 2013 will be the first time all their new technical lineup of designers have fully designed a new car from scratch. They are people with very good records in F1 (Also Costa, Geoff Willis, etc) so they have a better than average chance of doing well.

Also, it's not as if McLaren have designed a decent car from the off in the last few seasons. They've had to develop their car to be competitive for a while now.

 

[jlo]

Greece are strange...could you imagine the uproar if they had an F1 track built now?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102997

 

[Nando]

Now rumours that Hulkenberg will be joining Ferrari next year.

 

[Law's Bus]

Now rumours that Hulkenberg will be joining Ferrari next year.

Di Resta will be utterly gutted if this turns out to be true. Second choice for Mercedes and McLaren, and misses out at Ferrari to his team-mate...

 

[Kenny]

Massa, Hulkenburg or Di Resta

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19789183

 

[jlo]

I think we'd all like Di Resta to get it, but for me more importantly is that Massa doesn't keep it. In my opinion of course, I just want too see a driver in there who may challenge for a win sometime soon.

 

[Nando]

I prefer Hulkenberg to be honest, but then again I don't think anybody on the grid bar Hamilton would have been able to get near Alonso as a team mate this season. Massa has been quick when the car has showed signs of being well balanced.

 

[Kenny]

Did McLaren fuck up with Lewis?

McLaren say they have no regrets over their handling of contract discussions with Lewis Hamilton, who is moving to Mercedes next season.
McLaren initially offered Hamilton a pay cut, before raising their offer when they realised they might lose him.

Surely, if you want to keep hold of someone or show them your desire to do so you don't offer them less than their current pay, even as a starting point for negotiations

 

[Wombat del combate]

Schumi retires.