F1 Winter Testing / Driver Line-Ups for 2007

Alibaba99 · 24 Jan 2007 at 18:26

Thats their championship scuppered then. Cars with dodgy liveries just don't win.

Duke · 24 Jan 2007 at 18:39

Awful

Alibaba99 · 24 Jan 2007 at 18:58

and how many times have they got 'ING' written on the car :confused:

JonnyT · 24 Jan 2007 at 19:07

Lol that really does look bad! It reminds me of the 1998/99 Red/Orange Williams (the Winfield branded one after Rothmans pulled out) but looking at that livery again even that was a better all over livery than this

As Alibaba99 says, this should be their championship scuppered as it doesn't follow the old maxim of 'If it looks right, it is right'. Looks like we're relying on good looking cars from Honda and McLaren then...

NicktheNorse · 24 Jan 2007 at 20:06

At the end of the day the livery has to please ING, otherwise they don't give us the money required to run this whole shibang

Johnz0r · 24 Jan 2007 at 20:10

NicktheNorse said:
At the end of the day the livery has to please ING, otherwise they don't give us the money required to run this whole shibang

Very true - still they could have done a better job

JTrickle · 24 Jan 2007 at 20:19

Liking that a lot.

Type_R · 24 Jan 2007 at 22:46

Johnz0r said:
Very true - still they could have done a better job

Yep, lets see what Honda have up their sleeves tomorrow!

DanTheMan · 24 Jan 2007 at 22:58

Nevermind ING, it should say ****ING ugly.

rpstewart · 25 Jan 2007 at 11:30

Type_R said:
Yep, lets see what Honda have up their sleeves tomorrow!

Not very much by the look of things. The new R107 has been launched but it's going to be running in an interim all black scheme until the full colours are launched next month.

I think the pictures on Autosport are available without subscription -http://www.autosport.com/gallery/index.php/id/826

The car itself looks pretty similar to last years with the flow conditioners on the sidepods, the front wing is very conventional with no extra bi-plane elements although these will no doubt appear later. The front suspension is the now familiar zero keel layout which could prove restrictive while the team learns the new tyres.

Dup · 25 Jan 2007 at 12:14

I can't help but feel they all look a little serious and worried in those pics.

Lunatic Dreyfus · 25 Jan 2007 at 15:17

That new Renault livery does have a certain midfield look to it.

el_dazza · 25 Jan 2007 at 16:34

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6299627.stm

Hamilton's stuffed the car already

Type_R · 25 Jan 2007 at 17:35

el_dazza said:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6299627.stm

Hamilton's stuffed the car already

Not surprising tbh, he needs to work out the limits of grip, car etc. Give him a few races and I think he might even be challenging Alonso, as long as the Mclarens can turn more than a handful of laps /race

NicktheNorse · 25 Jan 2007 at 17:39

Awesome, he's totalled it. Button's Honda stopped out on track, and Kimi's been driving last year's Ferrari in the wet.

Can't hurt our testing progress!

rpstewart · 25 Jan 2007 at 17:39

Ahh the Gilles Villeneuve approach - easier to go too quick and slow down than be cautious and try and speed up.

I would suggest that dropping the car now is a good thing, plenty of time to get back on the metaphorical horse and get his confidence back before Melbourne. The last thing he would have needed was to have his first big crash in public.

Type_R · 25 Jan 2007 at 17:45

NicktheNorse said:
Awesome, he's totalled it. Button's Honda stopped out on track, and Kimi's been driving last year's Ferrari in the wet.

Can't hurt our testing progress!

You need all the help you can get, what with one slow driver and one novice (difficult to decide which one is which)

rpstewart · 25 Jan 2007 at 18:07

Don't knock Hiekki K, remember he beat Schumacher et al in the Race of Champions the other year. I could see him being the surprise showing especially with all the attention being on Hamilton v Alonso.

Just read a potentially worrying (depending on who you support) piece in this week's Autosport. It seems that the new Ferrari has gone in a completely different design direction from everyone else. They've gone for a relatively long wheel base with a rearward weight bias when everyone else has gone for short cars with more weight to the front with the conventional wisdom saying that this is the way to get the most out of the tyres. Now while we have a single tyre supplier and everyone is equal some are (by dint of contracts which run to the end of this year) more equal than others...

So have Ferrari made an uncharacteristic blunder or has their relationship with Bridgestone allowed them an insight into the new tyre which was unavailable to everyone else?

NicktheNorse · 25 Jan 2007 at 18:58

rpstewart said:
Just read a potentially worrying (depending on who you support) piece in this week's Autosport. It seems that the new Ferrari has gone in a completely different design direction from everyone else. They've gone for a relatively long wheel base with a rearward weight bias when everyone else has gone for short cars with more weight to the front with the conventional wisdom saying that this is the way to get the most out of the tyres. Now while we have a single tyre supplier and everyone is equal some are (by dint of contracts which run to the end of this year) more equal than others...

Didn't I read that Ferrari have moved their engine further forward?

tonyyeb · 25 Jan 2007 at 19:28

rpstewart said:
Don't knock Hiekki K, remember he beat Schumacher et al in the Race of Champions the other year.

Since when has the race of champions been any yard stick???!! That american was beating people left right and centre... which was a HUGE shock to everyone! Lol!