Austrian Grand Prix 2015, Spielberg - Race 8/19

Man of Honour
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Wow both spun.

So all round good records.

1 year of poles for Mercedes
First brit since James Hunt - 1976 to get pole here
45 poles for Hamilton, which moves him to 3rd all time qualifier joint with Vet.
 
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Soldato
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Interesting how Lewis didn't celebrate that pole, knowing he was lucky. Rosberg would have jumped up and down like he deserved it.

Was a pretty interesting end. Can Vettel keep up in the race tomorrow and cause them some worries?
 
Soldato
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A raft of updates across teh car this weekend on Alonso's side... new floor, sidepods, rear wing, new nose, need everything to come together with the PU side of things too now.

I just checked the qualifying times and he was a full 0.15s faster than Button (using the old car).

By my reckoning, with all their new updates, McLaren have gone backwards.

McLaren should video tape all the goings on in their factory. This video can be played in years to come to the new management of how NOT to run an F1 team. They need to learn from this diabolical season.

They basically have an engine/drive-train which is about 2-3 years behind their rivals. I'd say that Honda need to go back to the drawing board and return to F1 in about 2 years time in a low-grid team (Manor will be fine). They can test their engine, make it competitive and then sign up with a top team or return as a Works team in 3-5 years. I cant see this engine being capable of winning a race, even in Alonso's hands, for at least 3 years.

I know that there are a lot of politics involved, but is it possible for them to jump ship to Merc engines, mid-season? They could redesign their car to accept Merc engine, and at least have it ready for the final few races of this season, so that next year, they can hit the ground running.

I think that R.Denis has to make a decision quickly, otherwise next year will also be a write-off.

Austrian GP
As for today's qualifying - I think we all knew that the Mercs would be on the front row. I think we also know that in the next race, they will also be on the front row. F1 really has become a predictable borefest and using the number of pages of this F1 thread as a barometer, I'd say many F1 fans have lost interest.

Will I be watching the race tomorrow - probably not. I know a Merc will win - probably Hamilton - and it will be a procession. For the sake of F1, lets hope I am wrong about all this.
 
Caporegime
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I think that R.Denis has to make a decision quickly, otherwise next year will also be a write-off.

Mclaren making a quick decision? There's at least 74 meetings to be held first, then another 150 people have to sign a piece of paper acknowleding the decision. Honda should **** off and stick to redesigning the civic by 2% every 6 or so years and making bullet proof engines for the honda jazz.

If Honda win the title inside of Lewis Hamiltons racing career I will be amazed, let alone Alonso and Buttons.
 
Man of Honour
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I just checked the qualifying times and he was a full 0.15s faster than Button (using the old car).

By my reckoning, with all their new updates, McLaren have gone backwards.

The aero will only help them so much with the lack of power. If the power was increasing each race at the same pace the aero parts come through then you'd see the expected results.

The biggest hindrance has been the lack of another team or two to be testing their engines as well. The lack of testing inside and out of the season really hurts the teams with poor engines (Honda & Renault) or significant aero issues (Lotus last year).
 
Soldato
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The step change in complexity coupled with the limit on development could almost have been planned to end up in wildly varying engine performance and the consequent disparity in teams. They should have allowed 3 or 4 years of unlimited development before capping it. I don't see how it suits anyone other than Mercedes to be in the current poition.
 
Soldato
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...

The problem is that primarily this current state of formula 1 is an engine formula. Honda/Mclaren look to have done what ferrari did last season, focused way too much on achieving an aero package primarily and designing the PU to fit into that scheme. No good having a tight rear end if you don't pack the heat to make use of it ;)

I don't blame Honda, on the face of it, they are being restricted by the package they are working with. Look at the lengths they are having to go to in order to keep the engine small and using water cooling etc.

I don't like mclaren but the lack of big teams pushing mercedes is getting tiresome. Obviously as a supporter I'm glad Ferrari are doing better but they're still only pushing mercedes in certain conditions.

Doesn't help when one of the ferrari drivers is clearly not up to par anymore.
 
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