FRIC ban: yet more FIA fail. 5 and a half years to decide something is illegal, and then 2 weeks notice that they ban it. It doesn't sound like any decision will be made until the German F1 weekend either, so presumably everyone will turn up without FRIC rather than risk having a car that is deemed illegal with no time to alter it? If they decide it's illegal and ban it, fair enough. The issue here is the way the FIA go about applying their rules.
Can the teams actually take it out that easily? Surely its an intrinsic part of the chassis?
In most cases teams seem to leave x in and fight the rule, rather than taking it would straight away. (eg double defuser, Im sure there are many more recent examples, I just cant think of one lol)
totally agree its another way of backwards thinking by the FIA though.
Mercedes power advantage: I don't get this? Apparently the V6s are on a par, but the ERS in the Mercedes gives them 110-130bhp more? How can that be possible with the output of the MGUK so tightly regulated? The motor can put out 120kw, or 160bhp. For Mercedes to have a 110bhp advantage either they are massively breaking the rules, or everyone else only has a 50bhp motor, which seems unlikely. I expect the reality is that the V6s performance is enhanced by the ERS better in the Mercedes. The difference can't be in the ERS alone, it's so tightly regulated the output of all 3 systems will be pretty much identical. Plus the whole thing whiffs of sour grapes that Mercedes are winning, just like the attention RBR got in recent years, and Ferrari before that, etc. F1 wouldn't be F1 if someone wasn't complaining that the team winning was cheating or somehow getting an advantage.
For right or wrong the thing (for me anyway) that made RBR so untrustworthy is that everyone could see the questionable firmness of the front-wing
While everyone can see the speed differential between the Merc and every other car, thats not necessarily illegal (of course it could well be, but no one can tell that just from looking at the car like with the RBR)
As with everything in F1 its probably a bit of both, other teams needing to suggest there is something dodgy as well as Merc possibly being in a grey zone in the rules in one or two areas which is really benefitting them currently.
Massas "Mercedes go to slow on the formation lap" rant: lol, wut?.
A driver comes out with this every year or so, its nothing that new (although Massa was worth an hearty laugh admittedly).
Massa has always been and will always be a No2 driver, yes he was unlucky not to win the CWC in 2008, and it was terrible about the Brawn spring hitting him so severely, but he has always been a bit of a "meh" driver to me.
I love Williams as a team, ever since the early 90's when I started following f1 but my heart sank slightly when they hired him.
Exhausts: have we had any feedback from the Ferrari twin exhaust test? The FIA seem keen to keep trying, but I expect it will be like the big wings and stepped noses, and most people will stop caring before the FIA find a solution, making their efforts pointless.
Its too late now imo - everyone will know its fake and so it will never be the same.
IF they had done something over the winter and "hidden" it in the regs - yes people would have known, but this imo would have been forgotten quicker than "no noise" followed (possibly) by "oohh look we have found it again".