Paddy
Member
*Pick up a P..P...P.. Paddy*
Best newcomer 2009
Posts: 19,293
|
Post by Paddy on Mar 12, 2015 9:16:38 GMT 1
Whose he replace?
In other motorsport news: Aus v8 started couple weeks ago at adelaide with clipsol 500. Also btcc starts Easter weekend (looking forward to it as anticipated 21c weather
|
|
|
Post by Panda on Mar 12, 2015 13:09:28 GMT 1
That's the thing. Three contracted drivers for two cars. All a bit of a mess. Though it's rumoured Ericsson will be the one to miss out if Sauber bow to the court's ruling.
One way round it beyond this weekend would be to make sure his car is much slower than his team mate's, then sack him for poor performance. I certainly wouldn't be comfortable getting into an F1 car that I knew the team didn't want me to drive.
|
|
|
Post by Panda on Mar 12, 2015 22:32:49 GMT 1
So the new season is upon us!
A few thoughts and questions: Mercedes look the team to beat once again but the others should at least be closer, with Ferrari and Red Bull showing some good pace in testing. How much will missing out on the title affect Rosberg? The previously mentally-weak Hamilton won the battle of wills last season and with two titles now under his belt, seems supremely confident. Can Williams continue their good progress or will a Red Bull and Ferrari revival damage their chances? Just as I said 12 months ago, what the hell is going on with McLaren? Will the rumours about Alonso's testing crash turn out to be true? Could Toro Rosso's kids be the season's surprise package? Will Verstappen score a point before he starts shaving? Will Lotus bounce back from last year's nightmare season? Will Sauber find a way to get rid of van der Garde? Will they score a point this year or were they running light in testing again? The reliability at least seems good. Will Manor/Marussia make it onto the grid? I can't think of anything interesting to say about Force India.
Title prediction: Hamilton Number of winners: 5 (Hamilton, Rosberg, Ricciardo, Vettel, Bottas) Number of teams scoring points: 9 (I think everyone except Marussia can get a top 10 finish though McLaren could well be the last of those nine to do it)
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Mar 13, 2015 0:14:21 GMT 1
One way round it beyond this weekend would be to make sure his car is much slower than his team mate's, then sack him for poor performance. I certainly wouldn't be comfortable getting into an F1 car that I knew the team didn't want me to drive. That would be followed within seconds by a lawsuit that would kill Sauber stone dead. Which may in fact be van der Garde's aim - his father-in-law might want to take over the team. Sauber has been a disaster area ever since Kaltenborn took charge. Whether that's cause or effect though I don't know. Sauber are the squeezed middle - they can't get sponsorship and don't get the free money Ferrari/Red Bull get. As it is you've got Sutil ready to sue for the other seat, even though he's slower than tectonic drift.
|
|
|
Post by raliverpool on Mar 13, 2015 20:35:51 GMT 1
You might want to participate in: gppredictor.com/league/join/code/34ded42735b17e8640280bbfcf03c461For those of you who think Hamilton will have a walk in the park compared to his team mate need to be reminded how Lewis' F1 Hero did in his second season at McLaren after winning the title in his first against "The Professor" Alain Prost. In many ways last year's 2014 season had many echoes of the F1 season of 1988; then if 2015 is the equivalent of 1989 then things will go nuclear with Hamilton being the loser as I can easily see Rosberg outwitting Hamilton in F1 Politics just as Prost did with FISA's French president Jean-Marie Balestre to cost him the title: Going by the two practise sessions it is clear that Alonso is not going to be missing out on much as the McLaren's are far off the pace.
|
|
Paddy
Member
*Pick up a P..P...P.. Paddy*
Best newcomer 2009
Posts: 19,293
|
Post by Paddy on Mar 13, 2015 22:27:12 GMT 1
Joined
|
|
Paddy
Member
*Pick up a P..P...P.. Paddy*
Best newcomer 2009
Posts: 19,293
|
Post by Paddy on Mar 13, 2015 22:27:34 GMT 1
Will need reminding
|
|
|
Post by paulgilb on Mar 14, 2015 0:55:32 GMT 1
Also this weekend we have Formula E in Miami, where there are 4 driver changes:
Loic Duval replaces Oriol Servia at Dragon Racing Vitantonio Liuzzi replaces Michela Cerruti at Trulli Scott Speed replaces Marco Andretti at Andretti Charles Pic (who drove for Andretti in round 1) replaces Ho-Pin Tung at China Racing
|
|
|
Post by paulgilb on Mar 14, 2015 23:56:14 GMT 1
Grid for Melbourne:
1 Hamilton 2 Rosberg 3 Massa 4 Vettel 5 Raikkonen 6 Bottas 7 Ricciardo 8 Sainz 9 Grosjean 10 Maldonado 11 Nasr 12 Verstappen 13 Kvyat 14 Hulkenberg 15 Perez 16 Ericsson 17 Button 18 Magnussen Stevens and Merhi did not set a time in Q1 (and neither has completed a lap all weekend). There has been no confirmation yet of whether they will be allowed to start the race. There are also doubts over whether Bottas will start due to suffering a back injury.
The new graphics looked OK, but they did have small problem in that they did not show which drivers had and had not crossed the finish line after the end of each qualifying session (the old graphics had chequered flag icons).
|
|
|
Post by paulgilb on Mar 15, 2015 0:13:27 GMT 1
The Formula E race wasn't bad, with Nicolas Prost passing Daniel Abt for the lead (and Scott Speed passing for 2nd at the same time) on the penultimate lap.
|
|
|
Post by paulgilb on Mar 15, 2015 16:25:10 GMT 1
As for F1, not exactly the most exciting race (especially with only 13 cars still running at the end of lap 1). Good to see the new guys (especially Nasr) doing well, though.
|
|
|
Post by Panda on Mar 15, 2015 17:23:05 GMT 1
Quite funny to see some reports mentioning there being "only" 11 finishers. Until a few years ago, before better reliability made everything a bit boring and drivers stopped crashing into each other, under 10 finishers was a regular occurrence at the start of the season.
|
|
Paddy
Member
*Pick up a P..P...P.. Paddy*
Best newcomer 2009
Posts: 19,293
|
Post by Paddy on Mar 15, 2015 17:24:27 GMT 1
Reliability is still pretty good since this was the smallest grid since 1967. Sums up why I preferred the V8 action (non-championship) and look forward to BTCC at Easter.
|
|
|
Post by smokeyb on Mar 15, 2015 20:23:30 GMT 1
It's not so much as a problem with only 11 finishers its that only 15 or 16 started.
I hope the rest of the races are better than this as the best thing all day was Arnold Schwarzenegger on the podium.
I can see mercedes dominating every race by a huge margin.
And how bad is the Mclaren, only 11 finishers 10 got points except Button, and he was about 20 seconds behind 10th.
|
|
|
Post by paulgilb on Mar 19, 2015 23:05:32 GMT 1
Some stats/facts that I discovered/read elsewhere:
First race since Australia 1994 without car #1. First race since Monaco 1994 without car #1 or car #2.
Fewest classified finishers since Australia 2008 (7 cars running at finish including Barrichello who was DQ'd, 2 non-finishers also classified).
First race since USA 2005 in which 3 drivers have scored their maiden points. Previous time before that: San Marino 1991.
First DNS for Williams since Japan 1987 (Mansell injured), although they only entered a single car for Monaco 1994.
0 finishes for Maldonado in Australia (although he was classified in 2012).
Second year in a row in which a team has scored more points in Australia than they managed in the whole of the previous season (Williams managed it last year).
Hamilton keeps alive his record of at least 1 pole and at least 1 win in every season he has competed in.
4th time Hamilton has scored pole in the season opener - equals Moss and M Schumacher.
First season in which McLaren have used Honda power and not scored a podium in the first race.
Most DNSs since USA 2005.
First time that the year of the race consists of the number of cars that entered (20) followed by the number that started (15). USA 2005 comes close.
20th consecutive GP with at least 1 Mercedes on the podium – only trails Ferrari (53 in 1999-2002, 22 in 2003-05).
2 drivers scored points on their debut – also happened in Australia 2014 (Magnussen, Kvyat).
Second time (after 2002) that a debuting driver has finished 5th in Melbourne driving for a team that had not scored a point the previous season. Both races saw lap 1 finish with fewer than 15 cars running.
4th Melbourne pole for Hamilton – equals China and Hungary.
Both of Hamilton’s Melbourne wins have seen him joined on the podium by Rosberg and another German driver.
Vettel keeps alive his record of either finishing on the podium or not finishing at all in Melbourne.
Maldonado’s best grid position since USA 2012.
For every pair of team-mates (excluding the Marussias), the one who qualified higher did better in the race (including Lotus as Grosjean got further than Maldonado).
Magnussen’s first non-finish since Bahrain 2014. Vettel now has the longest unbroken streak (12).
Ferrari keep alive their record of scoring points in every season since the start of the Constructors’ Championship.
35th season in a row in which Ferrari have managed a podium – extends their record.
66th consecutive season (i.e. every F1 season) in which a British driver has scored points, 35th consecutive season in which at least 1 British driver has finished on the podium, and 27th consecutive season in which at least 1 British driver has led – all extend the current records.
9th consecutive front-row lockout for Mercedes – first team to manage this.
First time since Britain 2012 that Button was knocked out in Q1. First time since Brazil 2009 that both McLarens were knocked out in Q1 (although in Malaysia 2010 Button spun in Q1 ruling him out of Q2 but he did ‘reach’ Q2).
90th race in a row without a non-mechanical DNF for Vettel.
The last 2 Australian GPs have both seen a Toro Rosso rookie qualify 8th (although only 1 started there) and finish 9th.
Raikkonen’s first mechanical DNF since Belgium 2013.
Maldonado’s first non-mechanical DNF since Monaco 2013 (!).
And finally - every time a team has managed a 1-2 in Melbourne, both that team and the winning driver have won the championships that season.
|
|
|
Post by Panda on Mar 20, 2015 18:36:14 GMT 1
The FIA has confirmed there will be no German Grand Prix this year. Meanwhile, the BBC kicks itself for not picking it as a live race and missing the chance to save a few quid.
|
|
Paddy
Member
*Pick up a P..P...P.. Paddy*
Best newcomer 2009
Posts: 19,293
|
Post by Paddy on Mar 21, 2015 18:49:56 GMT 1
How very cynical mrh
|
|
|
Post by Panda on Mar 21, 2015 20:14:00 GMT 1
Just an observation based on recent years. They're desperate to cut costs wherever possible, which is why they chose a race a few years ago that was unlikely to go ahead.
|
|
|
Post by smokeyb on Mar 21, 2015 21:01:26 GMT 1
Just an observation based on recent years. They're desperate to cut costs wherever possible, which is why they chose a race a few years ago that was unlikely to go ahead. They will have to cut even more costs if they lose the current income from Top Gear, if the show is cancelled.
|
|
|
Post by -Big Dan- on Mar 24, 2015 13:46:28 GMT 1
It has been confirmed that Fernando Alonso will return to his race seat at the Malaysian Grand Prix next weekend.
|
|