2014 FORMULA 1 Post Season

[phreezee]

Bits of news and developments from the post season.

Doesn't look like a good start for McLaren/Honda with an electrical problem:

Times at lunch break:
1. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:43.884 38 laps
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:45.132 51 laps
3. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:46.016 36 laps
4. Carols Sainz Jr Red Bull 1:47.079 42 laps
5. Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:48.139 50 laps
6. Will Stevens Caterham 1:48.155 50 laps
7. Jolyon Palmer Force India 1:48.350 18 laps
8. Charles Pic Lotus 1:48.711 42 laps
9. Max Verstapppen Toro Rosso No time 3 laps
10. Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren No time 0 laps

Ferrari appoints Maurizio Arrivabene; the team’s third boss in nine months. Vettel prevented from testing for them by RBR after a change of heart.

[killramos]

Any rule changes or is it just catchup for the non mercedes teams from last year?

[chongkee_]

Originally posted by killramos
Any rule changes or is it just catchup for the non mercedes teams from last year?

Noses have to be changed but other than that nothing ground breaking that I am aware of.
Unless they decide to unfreeze the engines.

[killramos]

Originally posted by chongkee_


Noses have to be changed but other than that nothing ground breaking that I am aware of.
Unless they decide to unfreeze the engines. \

How does an engine freeze work with Honda coming in? Sounds grossly unfair to me :dunno:

[ganesh]

Originally posted by killramos
\

How does an engine freeze work with Honda coming in? Sounds grossly unfair to me :dunno:

How it is unfair? Pls explain

[killramos]

Originally posted by ganesh


How it is unfair? Pls explain

Ok

Every other engine manufacturer builds engine. Gets frozen.

Honda comes a year later. Can learn from everyone else about what is important through the season. Has better engine which can even incorporate technological advances that have occurred in the last year if any.

Other manufacturers cant do that. -> unfair

Honda should have to wait until unfreeze to come in to keep everyone on a playing field.

Its like if Chevy created a 2013 Camaro and then wasn't allowed to update it and Ford builds a 2014 Mustang a year later that's better after seeing what Chevy did... Chevy could improve the Camaro to but isn't allowed. Now apply this to racing and not just sales.

:dunno:

[rage2]

Originally posted by killramos
Ok

Every other engine manufacturer builds engine. Gets frozen.

Honda comes a year later. Can learn from everyone else about what is important through the season. Has better engine which can even incorporate technological advances that have occurred in the last year if any.

Other manufacturers cant do that. -> unfair

Honda should have to wait until unfreeze to come in to keep everyone on a playing field.

Its like if Chevy created a 2013 Camaro and then wasn't allowed to update it and Ford builds a 2014 Mustang a year later that's better after seeing what Chevy did... Chevy could improve the Camaro to but isn't allowed. Now apply this to racing and not just sales.

:dunno:
Who says other manufacturer's can't do shit? The engines are like 90% unfrozen over the winter. The whole engine freeze row is so they can make even MORE changes in season, which is what Mercedes is against. Renault and Ferrari have enough tokens over the winter to revamp their entire ERS system if they wanted to. They're just fighting for in season changes because they don't think they can solve all the issues prior to the engine refreeze before the first race, which is kind of pathetic.

[ganesh]

Originally posted by killramos


Ok

Every other engine manufacturer builds engine. Gets frozen.

Honda comes a year later. Can learn from everyone else about what is important through the season. Has better engine which can even incorporate technological advances that have occurred in the last year if any.

Other manufacturers cant do that. -> unfair

Honda should have to wait until unfreeze to come in to keep everyone on a playing field.

Its like if Chevy created a 2013 Camaro and then wasn't allowed to update it and Ford builds a 2014 Mustang a year later that's better after seeing what Chevy did... Chevy could improve the Camaro to but isn't allowed. Now apply this to racing and not just sales.

:dunno:
In paper what you are saying is correct. However reading through the articles it is not as straight forward as what we think it is.
First of all the Merc engines what were given to Mclaren was sealed and Merc didn't share any of the secrets with Mclaren (According to DC).
Sure Honda was working on the engine for over 2 years but they are not allowed to put it on a chasis and run test on it (With the exception of filming day and the current testing).
To me they have no advantage. Simply because all other engine manufacturers could have done the same thing for the last two years to develop a engine.

[killramos]

Originally posted by rage2
Who says other manufacturer's can't do shit? The engines are like 90% unfrozen over the winter. The whole engine freeze row is so they can make even MORE changes in season, which is what Mercedes is against.

Well its obvious why mercedes would be against it but in that case that sounds fine. I wasn't aware that only a small portion was frozen.

Personally with Caterham and Marussia nearly gone I think they should do open season on development. Make this a real bleeding edge year where teams are constantly improving. The whole point was to lower costs but with the juniors going away i say go to town :dunno:

Teams can weigh reliability versus improvements themselves. Would make things much more exciting and no one team had a better car at the start therefore they win WDC and WCC...

[ganesh]

Originally posted by rage2

Who says other manufacturer's can't do shit? The engines are like 90% unfrozen over the winter. The whole engine freeze row is so they can make even MORE changes in season, which is what Mercedes is against. Renault and Ferrari have enough tokens over the winter to revamp their entire ERS system if they wanted to. They're just fighting for in season changes because they don't think they can solve all the issues prior to the engine refreeze before the first race, which is kind of pathetic.

+1
Listening CH whining over this mkes me laugh.

[ganesh]

Originally posted by killramos


Well its obvious why mercedes would be against it but in that case that sounds fine. I wasn't aware that only a small portion was frozen.

Personally with Caterham and Marussia nearly gone I think they should do open season on development. Make this a real bleeding edge year where teams are constantly improving. The whole point was to lower costs but with the juniors going away i say go to town :dunno:

Teams can weigh reliability versus improvements themselves. Would make things much more exciting and no one team had a better car at the start therefore they win WDC and WCC...

In season testing and development will only increase the cost and will kill the small teams.

[killramos]

Originally posted by ganesh


In season testing and development will only increase the cost and will kill the small teams.

That's what I am saying. and i never said testing. Just development.

The teams are near gone. This would just show them where the door is.

[rage2]

Originally posted by killramos
Well its obvious why mercedes would be against it but in that case that sounds fine. I wasn't aware that only a small portion was frozen.
Mercedes is against it because they feel it will drive up costs. Ferrari says no, and Mercedes told them to get a calculator lol.

But ya, fox sports actually explains the whole situation quite nicely.

http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/teams-fighting-mercedes-to-support-engine-unfreeze-for-good-of-f1-101314

Tidbits:

The rules already allow for quite substantial engine updates over the winter, but Mercedes' rivals want to be allowed to make at least one development step during next season.

“I think it's a bigger issue than just about the teams. It's about what's right for the sport, what's right for the fans. It's easy to take a self-interest position, but when you look at what is the right thing for F1, I think it's to have competition. The rules are the rules, which they are at the moment, but I think we need to be big enough to say let's open a little bit, be responsible on costs so there is no impact for the customer teams, but have that position.”

Horner said that the winter window was not enough: “You've got until February to do that, and then you're locked down again. So it's a very, very small window in order to achieve that. There was an agreement in Singapore, everybody voted unanimously to have one further step in the season, but that seems to have been reneged on.”


Originally posted by ganesh
+1
Listening CH whining over this mkes me laugh.
Horner is a fucking hypocrite. He was pushing for the freeze during the Red Bull domination era. In 2009 Red Bull and Renault was able to sneak in cold blowing (throttle body wide open with no fuel injected while off throttle) into their engine for the sake of reliability, then the true colors came out as to why they wanted that. Blown diffusers. They denied Mercedes and Ferrari that ability when they tried to get it updated under reliability guise (has to be unanimous), and completely dominated the blown diffuser era because other engine manufactures could not cold blow at all. The only thing Merc and Ferrari could do was hot blow, which killed them on fuel consumption.

You wonder why the Red Bulls were so fast at the start of every race the last 4 years? They're running 5-10kg less fuel than teams with other engines because of cold blowing. The advantage was ridiculous.

What's right for the sport... go fuck yourself Horner.

[killramos]

Originally posted by rage2

Mercedes is against it because they feel it will drive up costs. Ferrari says no, and Mercedes told them to get a calculator lol.

But ya, fox sports actually explains the whole situation quite nicely.

http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/teams-fighting-mercedes-to-support-engine-unfreeze-for-good-of-f1-101314

Tidbits:



Horner is a fucking hypocrite. He was pushing for the freeze during the Red Bull domination era. In 2009 Red Bull and Renault was able to sneak in cold blowing (throttle body wide open with no fuel injected while off throttle) into their engine for the sake of reliability, then the true colors came out as to why they wanted that. Blown diffusers. They denied Mercedes and Ferrari that ability when they tried to get it updated under reliability guise (has to be unanimous), and completely dominated the blown diffuser era because other engine manufactures could not cold blow at all. The only thing Merc and Ferrari could do was hot blow, which killed them on fuel consumption.

You wonder why the Red Bulls were so fast at the start of every race the last 4 years? They're running 5-10kg less fuel than teams with other engines because of cold blowing. The advantage was ridiculous.

What's right for the sport... go fuck yourself Horner.

Haha Ferrari will never give a flying rats ass about F1 costs period. Dont they still outspend by an order of a hundred million every year as is? Which is what made this season so funny. Beaten by Williams.

I hope Vettel comes behind Raikonen next year :D

[phreezee]

If everyone has split turbos next year, that should decrease the gap by quite a bit. Then it all comes down to the ERS efficiency and aero.

NuBB2F6IutQ

[phreezee]

Originally posted by killramos

The teams are near gone. This would just show them where the door is.

I hope at least Caterham survives and we return to 22 cars in 2016 with Haas. 24 car grid would be a bonus if Marussia makes it, but I doubt it.
More teams are important just to have more up and coming drivers.

[rage2]

The split turbo is a red herring. Mercedes advantage is all in the ERS systems. If I was to make a guess, it's in the MGU-H unit, because it's unregulated how much energy it can transfer to the electric motor (not ES) over a lap. Everything else is tightly regulated.

The MGU-H is the motor/generator that sits between the turbo's turbine and compressor, and acts as a wastegate to limit turbo rpm's while generating electrical power, as well as powering the turbo at low engine rpm's to eliminate turbo lag. I believe this is what initially failed on Rosberg's car in Abu Dhabi, which dropped his laptimes by 3 seconds a lap. There was a radio call to Rosberg for his 2nd pit stop that says he has no turbo and need to keep the revs up that sort of confirmed this. His laptimes basically dropped by 3-4s a lap, all in the straights, when this failed.

[killramos]

Yea Mercedes advantage this year was largely due to one thing:

A Good Engine and a Good Car, that worked together.

Williams : Good Engine - Decent Car, worked well together and shows

McLaren: Good Engine - Alright car, seemed to be a disconnect somewhere

Ferrari: Bad Engine (:dunno: ) - Good Car, can't win races without horsepower

Red Bull: Bad Engine - Good Car, worked well together but again required much more from the driver to win ( look at Riccardo, wow)

Lotus - :devil:

I think next year will be a fantastic season, regardless of whether my team is winning again :dunno:

I do like the kick in the pants that Ferrari and Red Bull received though :D

They can go back to decent results next year after learning their lesson.

[rage2]

Originally posted by killramos
McLaren: Good Engine - Alright car, seemed to be a disconnect somewhere
A big part of the disconnect was their contractual obligations with Mobil 1. McLaren was the only team to not use Petronas fuel and lubricants for the Mercedes engine, which was designed with their products. The ICE portion of the PU was delivering 30-50hp less using Mobil 1 as it wasn't optimized for that engine, and Mercedes did not help McLaren/Mobil 1 at all in that area due to them switching to Honda next year.

[killramos]

Originally posted by rage2

A big part of the disconnect was their contractual obligations with Mobil 1. McLaren was the only team to not use Petronas fuel and lubricants for the Mercedes engine, which was designed with their products. The ICE portion of the PU was delivering 30-50hp less using Mobil 1 as it wasn't optimized for that engine, and Mercedes did not help McLaren/Mobil 1 at all in that area due to them switching to Honda next year.

Makes sense :thumbsup:

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by rage2




Horner is a fucking hypocrite. He was pushing for the freeze during the Red Bull domination era. In 2009 Red Bull and Renault was able to sneak in cold blowing (throttle body wide open with no fuel injected while off throttle) into their engine for the sake of reliability, then the true colors came out as to why they wanted that. Blown diffusers. They denied Mercedes and Ferrari that ability when they tried to get it updated under reliability guise (has to be unanimous), and completely dominated the blown diffuser era because other engine manufactures could not cold blow at all. The only thing Merc and Ferrari could do was hot blow, which killed them on fuel consumption.



So Horner wanting a freeze when he was on top and Mercedes wanting to keep a freeze when they're on top is different how?

Every team that has an advantage wants to freeze it. Every team at a disadvantage wants to get rid of it. Welcome to F1.

[killramos]

Originally posted by CapnCrunch


So Horner wanting a freeze when he was on top and Mercedes wanting to keep a freeze when they're on top is different how?

Every team that has an advantage wants to freeze it. Every team at a disadvantage wants to get rid of it. Welcome to F1.

Contrary to popular belief Rage is not supportive of Mercedes, he was just pointing out that Horner is a hypocrite. Nothing else.

He is just particularly pissed about what Red Bull did, as are most people do no not think Vettel is number 1 :rolleyes:

[rage2]

Fun history lesson for a Tuesday afternoon. Article at the end of the 2011 season 3 years ago.

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/11/the-cost-of-competing-in-f1/


Caubet also confirms that Renault threatened to pull out of F1 altogether if the new generation 2014 engine wasn’t introduced, “We pushed the FIA to conclude on new regulation – concluded in June. Either the new regulation is clear and we will stay in F1 or we keep the same engine and Renault will stop,” he said.

Renault asked for all this, the V6 Hybrid formula, the engine free to control costs, everything. :rofl:


Originally posted by killramos
Contrary to popular belief Rage is not supportive of Mercedes, he was just pointing out that Horner is a hypocrite. Nothing else.

He is just particularly pissed about what Red Bull did, as are most people do no not think Vettel is number 1 :rolleyes:
Thanks. I'm a die hard McLaren fan, and I didn't really care who won the championship at Mercedes. I'm just sick and tired of Horner and RBR whining and going against what they created themselves in the first place.

[killramos]

Hilarious. Got everything they asked for. But apparently didn't think through the whole engine making thing :rolleyes:

[phreezee]

At least it sounds good/loud. Hopefully we see more running tomorrow.

NGa_VfT7En4

[rage2]

That sounds louder than I thought. It's like there's no turbo on the engine yet or something haha.

[Mibz]

If Honda's engine sounds like that in race trim they're going to have a lot of fans.

[phreezee]

Only 5 laps over 2 days for McLaren.:thumbsdow

[killramos]

Originally posted by phreezee
Only 5 laps over 2 days for McLaren.:thumbsdow

Its so early. Remember how this season started...

http://forums.beyond.ca/st2/f1-2014-car-reveals-winter-testing-thread/showthread.php?s=&threadid=378772&perpage=20&highlight=&pagenumber=1

Even this goody:


This could be McLaren's secret weapon because, if it does work, it is not something that can be copied in five minutes as it is dependent on a number of design parameters at the rear of the car.

:rofl:

Hilariously CapnCrunch was still accusing Rage of supporting Mercedes in that thread. Short memories...

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by killramos


Contrary to popular belief Rage is not supportive of Mercedes, he was just pointing out that Horner is a hypocrite. Nothing else.



Contrary to popular belief, I'm not actually a Vettel fan. I just use his image to troll because everyone hates him.

I was just pointing out that although Horner may be a hypocrite, Mercedes did the exact same thing a few years ago with the diffusers. Same with Ferrari.

I guess what I'm saying is that I don't understand why you would criticize someone you hate for doing the same thing everyone else has been doing for years. Stop making up bullshit reasons for hating the guy. You can just come straight out and say you hate him lol.

[rage2]

Originally posted by CapnCrunch
I was just pointing out that although Horner may be a hypocrite, Mercedes did the exact same thing a few years ago with the diffusers. Same with Ferrari.
Mercedes did not do this. Only Ferrari pushed for the off throttle blown diffuser ban. Mercedes were the first to push to get the ban reversed, with Ferrari and Sauber holdouts until after the British GP in 2011. The only other team to bitch was McLaren, and that was because for the British GP, even though off throttle blowing was banned, Renault was able to get an exemption to run 50% throttle in the guise of reliability, and FIA approved it, which gave Renault powered teams less of a disadvantage.

I hate Ferrari as much as RBR. Ferrari has been whining when they don't get their way for a long time, but RBR has surpassed them in the level of whining.

Prior to this, the last diffuser row was 2009, where Brawn had their double diffuser, and RBR bitched and moaned the loudest, with Ferrari and Renault close behind.

[phreezee]

Likely see Sainz Jr at Toro Rosso next year, as JEV tweets confirmation of his exit.

[phreezee]

Formula 1 teams have agreed to drop double points and standing starts after safety car restarts for 2015:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116953?

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by killramos




Hilariously CapnCrunch was still accusing Rage of supporting Mercedes in that thread. Short memories...

1. Why is being a Mercedes fan so horrible that it's something to be accused of?
2. How exactly did I accuse him of it?

[phreezee]

Unofficial Wednesday times from Abu Dhabi:
1. Pascal Wehrlein, Mercedes, 1m 42.624s, 96 laps
2. Raffaele Marciello, Ferrari, 1m 43.208s, 91 laps
3. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1m 43.763s, 78 laps
4. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1m 44.551s, 112 laps
5. Will Stevens, Caterham, 1m 44.888s, 76 laps
6. Spike Goddard, Force India, 1m 44.944s, 89 laps
7. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m 45.151s, 88 laps
8. Felipe Nasr, Williams, 1m 45.937s, 83 laps
9. Alex Lynn, Lotus, 1m 46.168s, 52 laps
10. Esteban Ocon, Lotus, 1m 47.013s, 34 laps
11. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, no time, 2 laps

[CapnCrunch]

Here's a pretty interesting article.

https://f1metrics.wordpress.com/2014/11/26/2014-model-based-driver-rankings/

[killramos]

Originally posted by CapnCrunch


1. Why is being a Mercedes fan so horrible that it's something to be accused of?
2. How exactly did I accuse him of it?

Nothing wrong with it at all, however accusing someone of liking a sports team they do not? Don't be surprised when you get called out on it. :rolleyes:

and...


Originally posted by rage2

Questions sound about right for a Vettel fan. :rofl:


Originally posted by CapnCrunch

Awww, the runner up taking shots at the Champion. How cute.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Formula_One_season


Pos 1 Red Bull Renault
Pos 2 Mercedes
Pos 3 Ferrari
...

Pretty cut and dry :rofl:

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by killramos


Nothing wrong with it at all, however accusing someone of liking a sports team they do not? Don't be surprised when you get called out on it. :rolleyes:

and...





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Formula_One_season



Pretty cut and dry :rofl:

Well that's quite an intricate pattern you've tied together there. I was referring to all of the other teams being a runner up, but you've caught me red handed on a technicality. Kudos to you sir.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by CapnCrunch
you've caught me red handed on a technicality. Welcome to F1 ;)

[killramos]

Originally posted by Mibz
Welcome to F1 ;)

You can call me Beyond Bernie.

Or not, that's cool to. I hope that doesn't swing me into custom user title territory lol

[Mibz]

If I thought you were intelligent, cunning or an old midget then I might call you that.

[Cos]

.

[killramos]

:poosie:

[phreezee]

Jenson could sign up regardless if he's in F1 or not. :)

http://richlandf1.com/?p=31495



Nico Hulkenberg has been announced as the first driver of the third Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 car, which will be entered in next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Having confirmed last month that he will stay with Force India for the 2015 season, he will become the first active F1 driver since 2009 to compete in the famous endurance event.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by Mibz
Welcome to F1 ;)

LOL. Touché.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by phreezee
Jenson could sign up regardless if he's in F1 or not. :)

http://richlandf1.com/?p=31495



I haven't gotten my fill of Jenson in F1 yet. Hopefully he manages to stick around somehow.

http://media.tumblr.com/6b54cb0d597327feee2832154f3c4fd0/tumblr_inline_mr4broiSsS1qz4rgp.gif

[Mibz]

I would likely get an erection if he joined DC for commentating.

[diamondedge]

Originally posted by Mibz
I would likely get an erection if he joined DC for commentating.

Werd. Jenson and DC would be the sickest team for BBC ever. Just watch this:

Apologies for potato quality.

p_gLpQ_tb6g

[phreezee]

^ great clip, that would indeed be a natural progression. BBC or Sky would love to have him.

Sainz Jr has been confirmed at Toro Rosso.

[CapnCrunch]

http://imgur.com/K7f4sVL

[phreezee]

^bhaha :thumbsup:

Thursday should be the decision day for Jenson.

Caterham was given permission to run the 2014 car next year.

[phreezee]

k_Y47PhY1PY

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Anybody want a car or some tools?

http://cal.cagp.com/event/marussia/

[killramos]

Originally posted by BerserkerCatSplat
Anybody want a car or some tools?

http://cal.cagp.com/event/marussia/


I bid 1$!

http://lindsayslist.co/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Bobbarkerx-large_thumb.jpg

[phreezee]

WTF, I was waiting all week for the decision:


“Today’s board meeting has now concluded and no decision has been taken with regard to our 2015 driver line up,” said a McLaren spokesman.

[Mibz]

WTF

Grats on pissing off both drivers. Whoever they pick is still gonna be bitter for being fucked around for this long.

[Sykes]

Wow... for a high-profile team, they've handled their drivers awfully these past couple of years (I thought this last year too with Checo, even though I'm not a huge fan of him). Kevin has more to lose here as though if he doesn't get a seat, I think.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by Mibz
WTF

Grats on pissing off both drivers. Whoever they pick is still gonna be bitter for being fucked around for this long.

It's no wonder every driver hates that team. I hope Alonso changes his mind and takes a few years off, and Jenson just quits. The cars going to be crap for a long long time anyways.

[ganesh]

Originally posted by CapnCrunch


It's no wonder every driver hates that team. I hope Alonso changes his mind and takes a few years off, and Jenson just quits. The cars going to be crap for a long long time anyways.

Every driver hates that team? Thats news to me.
I agree that they are not doing any good by prolonging the announcement.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by phreezee
At least it sounds good/loud. Hopefully we see more running tomorrow.

NGa_VfT7En4

Winning.

When does the 2015 schedule become final?

[rage2]

Originally posted by flipstah
When does the 2015 schedule become final?
When Korea decides to show they really want the race back for realz, and pay their hosting fees.

[triplep]

looks like someone was bitter

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/12/16716.html


Maybe now I can live out my dream of winning a formula 1 race!

[flipstah]

Originally posted by rage2

When Korea decides to show they really want the race back for realz, and pay their hosting fees.

It's still TBA. If Korea drops out, does that mean the dates get shuffled around?

Either way, I'm going to KL so hopefully Button will be there with the Honda monster.

[rage2]

Dates are pretty much set and won't change. They have to plan shipping and logistics pretty far in advance. If a race is skipped mid season (which I don't remember ever happening), stuff will end up getting shipped to the location of the missed race and sit at the airport.

[flipstah]

Sweet. Off to Sepang then. :burnout:

[Cos]

.

[MGCM]

Originally posted by Cos


Yeah at the Montreal GP a couple years ago they had a info-segment regarding this. It was neat. I can't remember all of the specifics but they have 3 or 4 complete sets of race gear floating all over the world. They get packed up, then shipped to a race 3 or 4 away. They always have 2 ships transporting stuff to another race.

Was kind of neat, then you realize why it is so expensive.

now imagine if they sent it all by air freight :nut: :eek: :nut:

[Sykes]

Jenson drives with Alonso for 2015!

Link (http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/12/16720.html)

[flipstah]

VTEC just kicked in!

[phreezee]

:clap: didn't want to celebrate yesterday before it was official.

[H4LFY2nR]

2 year contract confirmed! :D

http://en.espnf1.com/mclaren/motorsport/story/187265.html

I'm really excited to see how this pairing works out.

[MGCM]

well that sucks for kmag, but after hearing that engine id settle for test/reserve driver too :D

[cloud7]

Magnussen did have flashes of brillance but he really didn't live up to the expectation after his deput result in Australia. In my view, he was too inconsistent... and you need consistency to be contender in a championship.

[phreezee]

Changes at Ferrari for the week:

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/12/19/scuderia-ferrari-staff-shuffle-official/?


Ferrari has fired its veteran engineering director Pat Fry, its chief designer Nicolas Tombazis and its tire guru Hirohide Hamashima.

In their places, Ferrari has named appropriate replacements, and has shuffled some additional staff around. F1 journalist Alberto Antonini, for example, has taken over the press office from Renato Bisignani who will now run the Scuderia's new commercial department. More vital, however, is James Allison, a longtime F1 engineer who previously worked for Ferrari for five years and returned from Lotus last year to take up position as the team's new technical director – too late to influence last season's chassis but now charged with developing next year's.

Jean Eric-Vergne has been signed as a test driver.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/24243/9612906?

[flipstah]

Is Ferrari is doing a major overhaul around Vettel?

[rage2]

They're doing a major overhaul around not winning a race in a season for the first time since '93.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by rage2
They're doing a major overhaul around not winning a race in a season for the first time since '93.

That's a more plausible reason why.

[phreezee]

Haas F1 has bought Marussia Factory: http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/haas-f1-acquires-marussia-factory/?

[phreezee]

Korea has been removed from the 2015 calendar:
http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/korea-nixed-2015-formula-one-schedule?

[phreezee]

Mercedes might not be as dominant next year as a loophole has allowed in season engine development for 2015. But worse off might be McLaren as Honda is exempt from the loophole.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117286?

[chongkee_]

Not really. Here's an excerpt from r/formula1

"... all that it means is that teams do not have to homologate (freeze development) before the start of the season as is usually the case, this means that they can use an 2014 spec engine for the first few races while giving themselves extra development time on the 2015 engine, then they will get the 2015 unit homologated and then bring it into action.
It does not mean that teams can upgrade/spend tokens race to race until the tokens have run out, they need to homologate before they are allowed to race an engine and the definition of that is freezing development for the rest of the year."

This just means that Ferrari and Renault or Mercedes will have to run whatever engine spec they had at 2014 Abu Dhabi so that they can spend more time developing their upgrades before they can race with in 2015. Renault and Ferrari will have to take a hit the first few races if they decide to homologate their 2015 engines at a later date.

There's a chance that Mercedes might not be as dominant if they have hit their development ceiling.

[phreezee]

^Good clarification, thanks.

Nico Rosberg ‏@nico_rosberg 2h2 hours ago
#HappyBirthdayLewis - 30!! Have a great party! This day is good for me. You are old now, so hopefully it will be easier for me this year :-)

:rofl:

[Cos]

.

[rage2]

Originally posted by chongkee_
Not really. Here's an excerpt from r/formula1

"... all that it means is that teams do not have to homologate (freeze development) before the start of the season as is usually the case, this means that they can use an 2014 spec engine for the first few races while giving themselves extra development time on the 2015 engine, then they will get the 2015 unit homologated and then bring it into action.
It does not mean that teams can upgrade/spend tokens race to race until the tokens have run out, they need to homologate before they are allowed to race an engine and the definition of that is freezing development for the rest of the year."

This just means that Ferrari and Renault or Mercedes will have to run whatever engine spec they had at 2014 Abu Dhabi so that they can spend more time developing their upgrades before they can race with in 2015. Renault and Ferrari will have to take a hit the first few races if they decide to homologate their 2015 engines at a later date.

There's a chance that Mercedes might not be as dominant if they have hit their development ceiling.
The fucking rules interpretations are all over the map.

First interpretation was that manufacturers could use their 32 tokens whenever they wanted. Then the above interpretation came out, and every F1 news site went with that interpretation.

With McLaren and Honda bitching, a new rule has come out for Honda, which flips the whole interpretation back to the original interpretation.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117386

Key points:


Whiting stated: "As each of the four 2015 manufacturers will have an homologated power unit at the start of the season, we believe it would be fair to ensure that each of them enjoys equal opportunities for upgrades during the season.

"We will therefore allow the new manufacturer to use the same number of tokens that the other three manufacturers have available to them, taken as an average of the three.

"For example, if the three 2014 manufacturers have eight, seven and five unused tokens respectively at the start of the season, then the new manufacturer will be allowed to use six during the season (the average rounded down to the nearest whole number)."

The current manufacturers have a total of 32 tokens that can be used to improve their engines for this year, although it is likely the upgrades will be split between the winter and later in the campaign.
So now it looks like Mercedes, Ferrari, and Renault are allowed to develop and run differing spec engines throughout the year, as long as it adheres to the 4 engine per driver limit. So none of the 3 existing engine manufactures have to run the 2014 Abu Dhabi spec engine at the first race. Honda gets to use the average remaining tokens from the 3 manufacturers at the first race.

Fucking F1 rules. Nobody knows WTF is going on.

[chongkee_]

Ya after rules were revised for Honda it got even more confusing. I've been reading articles from all over the place trying to make sense of all this.

[rage2]

I'm pretty sure Autosport's initial interpretation was correct all along, which was 32 tokens can be used anytime through the winter + season as long as the 4 "power unit" limit wasn't breached. And by power unit I mean all the separate components that are counted towards it. Example, manufacturers can introduce a new MGU-H in race 2 running the same ICE as race 1, as long as it doesn't use more than 4 MGU-H in a year. You could literally have a completely different spec engine for each race as long as each part doesn't breach 4/year.

The confusion came along when James Allen published his other interpretation, where everything has to come in 1 shot, and everyone jumped aboard because he's James Allen.

[killramos]

I don't know why at this point they don't just de-restrict development this season. Keep the 4 engines per year.

Marrusia is already bankrupt and out of the league, and the risk of mechnical failure goes up so much when the teams are allowed to change so much it would make for a very exciting season.

Or derestrict until Monaco or something i don't know. This just seems like it will be completely open to abuse and bitching form all involved.

[rage2]

Originally posted by killramos
I don't know why at this point they don't just de-restrict development this season. Keep the 4 engines per year.
They can't change this year's rules without unanimous votes, and Mercedes isn't voting that way. This all came about because the rules are written poorly.

If there was a damn date for 2015 in the rules, none of this would've happened. Everyone would be running 2015 spec engines in Australia. Not that it matters anyways, because every manufacturer sneaks in reliability/cost changes throughout the season anyways, so nothing is ever really frozen lol.