Motorsport Off Topic Thread

[JRS]

Alternatively, there's a really radical idea that they could pursue.

Maybe, just maybe, they could fix the actual problem with the sport (the car construction rules, with how forcing everyone into an ever tighter box has raised costs and lowered the quality of the racing). Then everything else would take care of itself.

Or is that too much to ask?

 

[MissChief]

Alternatively, there's a really radical idea that they could pursue.

Maybe, just maybe, they could fix the actual problem with the sport (the car construction rules, with how forcing everyone into an ever tighter box has raised costs and lowered the quality of the racing). Then everything else would take care of itself.

Or is that too much to ask?

I think your glasses have a definite pink hue to them. The Regulations have been consistently tightened down as one car often came up with a legal but highly advantageous solution which then forced all the teams to spend millions developing similar which, as a works team, isn't a huge issue. As a smaller privateer team it's HUGE issue.

Costs have been raised by manufacturer teams spending huge amounts of money for 0.01s or 2BHP over a 1k rev range, especially in the old NA days when the engines were at their development zenith.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

I thought we were trying to save money in F1. I assume they will get extra parts for this and tightly regulated specs or we’ll soon have Saturday and Sunday spec cars.

 

[UTmaniac]

"Mattia Binotto: Teams agree "mini-race" on a Saturday to determine grid positions"

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/4554...n-a-saturday-to-determine-grid-positions.html

Another stupid idea.

So many things can and will go wrong.

Glad I'm losing interest in F1

Let's decide the grid for the proper race by doing a sprint race, in a car series where overtakes happen far less. How are the grid positions for the sprint race going to be delivered fairly for grid position critical circuits such as Monaco?

I'd rather they base qualifying off multiple laps, whether that's say three consecutive laps in a single run, or three runs of a single flying lap per qualifying sesssion (q1/2/3).

 

[MissChief]

Ross Brawn has said to Autosport that they have no real plans to make any weekend schedule changes at the moment. Take from that what you will.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

https://www.planetf1.com/news/newey-heading-for-extreme-e-championship/

Good luck red bull! Max will want to leave soon.

 

[UTmaniac]

Kubica to leave Williams at end of season.

Such a shame that his talent was curtailed by that rally accident, as much as his eventual return to F1 was inspirational, he is sadly some way off the benchmark of his team mate.

Maybe an opening for Hulk after the Haas happenings?

 

[Mr Jack]

Good luck red bull! Max will want to leave soon.

Good luck in the new sport, Adrian

While I have no doubt that Newey is an extremely capable aerodynamic designer, I get the feeling that his genius is exaggerated. There are other very talented designers out there, and I think that Newey's star status actually held Red Bull back of late. Rather than making the appropriate compromises to get the best out of the whole package, they seem to have followed a route of making aerodynamics king even when that meant compromising engine reliability, for example. Having a less famous head of aerodynamics may help the team make better choices when it comes to balancing the different demands on car design.

 

[Greboth]

No F1 team gets anywhere with just one person, it has to be a team effort. I don't think there is any doubt he is a very smart man but maybe Newey's secret to success isn't he is an aero savant but his ability to work with other cohesively. You don't get a reputation that he has without also getting the result he has. I was reading any article a few years ago and was something like, 14 of the last 17 championships were won by either a Newey or Brawn car. These days that will be skewed a little by Merc but that is still a massively impressive record.

 

[timmeh]

Looks like McLaren are teaming up with Mercedes again. Hopefully it puts them back at the front of the grid, although this whole Honda thing has shown that the issue wasn't really with the engine...

 

[Yaayuh!]

Looks like McLaren are teaming up with Mercedes again. Hopefully it puts them back at the front of the grid, although this whole Honda thing has shown that the issue wasn't really with the engine...

Should be good!
Looking at how well they’re doing this season, they have really sorted their **** out. Not fully, still some reliability issues, but best of the rest.

 

[MissChief]

As expected it'll be McLaren Mercedes from 2021 onwards. This also means Renault only running themselves as Engine suppliers. McLaren have even said they'll save money this way as the engines are cheaper than Renault's and Mercedes also stand to gain via economies of Scale and may even make a profit on their engine division.

 

[Mr Jack]

Looks like McLaren are teaming up with Mercedes again. Hopefully it puts them back at the front of the grid, although this whole Honda thing has shown that the issue wasn't really with the engine...

McLaren will never beat Mercedes with their engine.

 

[timmeh]

McLaren will never beat Mercedes with their engine.

Good to know, mystic Meg

 

[Steampunk]

McLaren will never beat Mercedes with their engine.

If they build a better chassis and aero, and get a better driver than Mercedes, they will. Really from all reports, the problems Mclaren has on the track and in the car can be directly attributed to the problems they have in the company and at the factory.

 

[KiNgPiN83]

McLaren will never beat Mercedes with their engine.

Oddly enough that was the reason they left them?! I never thought i'd see them go back to Mercedes though. Also you say that but Renault always get beaten by one of their suppliers at least. Haha!

 

[MissChief]

Oddly enough that was the reason they left them?! I never thought i'd see them go back to Mercedes though. Also you say that but Renault always get beaten by one of their suppliers at least. Haha!

You can’t win with a a customer engine Ron Dennis said. But that was years ago when the regulations were different. These days engine manufacturers have to supply the same equipment and software to all teams should they want it. The only exception is production capacity but I’m unsure how they check this, I’d imagine there’s a timescale built into the regulations.

 

[Mr Jack]

You can’t win with a a customer engine Ron Dennis said. But that was years ago when the regulations were different. These days engine manufacturers have to supply the same equipment and software to all teams should they want it. The only exception is production capacity but I’m unsure how they check this, I’d imagine there’s a timescale built into the regulations.

The problem isn't just what they're getting. It's how it fits to the car they're building. Mercedes build as a unit. Everyone else gets seconds.

 

[JRS]

Not sure how/why this only just broke on el Beeb given that it happened in August , but Mercedes have sacked four people for discrimination. Says "racist or religious" discrimination, you'd sort of hope they weren't dumb enough for either working for a Formula 1 team. Hey ho. Maybe they were only in PR or marketing.

 

[GravyMonster]

That BBC article is shockingly light on the details. It's in the news now because although they were dismissed in August, their final appeal was last week, and they lost it. The Guardian's article is far more comprehensive: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...am-sack-four-racist-bullying-muslim-colleague

the abuse at the Brackley site included a member of staff allegedly being referred to as a “Muslim terrorist ****”. During Ramadan the sacked workers, believed to be from the IT department, were reported as putting up a poll on which they signed and dated guesses of when their co-worker would break his fast.

A source told the paper: “This was a really horrible case of racist bullying. They had been picking on one Muslim guy for years. It all came to light when they pinned up the poll. The guys who were sacked had all signed and dated it. It’s outrageous, especially with Lewis being so outspoken about racism.”