Soldato
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If he is looking at other options then it makes you wonder what Mercedes are planning on doing? Pack it in etc?
Motorsport Off Topic Thread
- Thread starter Shimmy
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Man of Honour
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I would love to see it. 2021 is quite uncertain as to whether toto ad/or Mercedes will be there. Even if they are they may well not be at the front. By then Hamilton will probably have equaled Schumachers record. If he could win with Ferrari he would easily be considered the greatest ever. I’d love to see the Tifosi suddenly worshipping him too.
Indeed, there must be some uncertainty.
Soldato
As before, rumours that Toto is off and Mercedes considering supplying McLaren as a works team again. F1 never sits still for long.
Soldato
I think it would be severely tested. Let’s see. It could be hugely beneficial to shift some old opinions.
Soldato
Lewis only got P2 and fans annoyed...
https://www.gpfans.com/en/articles/...milton-misses-out-on-top-british-award-again/
Also,
Lewis Hamilton says he sees 2020 as a fresh start and another chance to prove himself against Formula 1's new generation of drivers. And he will be expecting a renewed challenge from Ferrari, after the Italian team's disappointing year in 2019, in which they won only three races and faced questions about the legality of their engine. Ferrari will be dialling in the downforce.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/50809366
https://www.gpfans.com/en/articles/...milton-misses-out-on-top-british-award-again/
Also,
Lewis Hamilton says he sees 2020 as a fresh start and another chance to prove himself against Formula 1's new generation of drivers. And he will be expecting a renewed challenge from Ferrari, after the Italian team's disappointing year in 2019, in which they won only three races and faced questions about the legality of their engine. Ferrari will be dialling in the downforce.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/50809366
Soldato
If only is was so easy just to add downforce. After Ferrari went for the low drag option in 2019 they're now a year behind the development of Mercedes so they'll either have to stick to the low drag philosophy and hope they can improve it sufficiently (very unlikely given it severely impacted their long-run tyre degradation) or they switch back and still be almost certainly behind anyway.
While Ferrari improved a lot after the summer break, they were still miles behind on race pace in all but one race that I can recall. And Red Bull seem only capable of performing in the second half of a season in the hybrid era.
The best option for both is to just focus on 2021. 2020 is almost certainly out of reach in terms of the championship.
While Ferrari improved a lot after the summer break, they were still miles behind on race pace in all but one race that I can recall. And Red Bull seem only capable of performing in the second half of a season in the hybrid era.
The best option for both is to just focus on 2021. 2020 is almost certainly out of reach in terms of the championship.
Isn’t that a bit of a depressing statement for the current state of F1? The 2nd and 3rd best teams on the grid are better off just writing off a season that doesn’t even start for 4 months instead of trying to be competitive with Merc. I suppose not much has really changed for over a decade.
If they are not competitive in 2021, when’s the next set of rule changes to give it another go? 2025/6?
If they are not competitive in 2021, when’s the next set of rule changes to give it another go? 2025/6?
Soldato
A little old news, and I can't be arsed to make a new thread for the new season, but Ferrari have gone very early with their 2020 reveal date.
11 February https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ferrari-launch-date-very-early/4612427/
A week before testing.
11 February https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ferrari-launch-date-very-early/4612427/
A week before testing.
Soldato
Possibly not a name that will resonate with many on here, but Junior Johnson has died aged 88.
Born Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. in Wilkes County, North Carolina. He came from a bootlegger family - at one point the family home was the subject of the largest alcohol raid in US history, revenuers seizing 400 gallons of moonshine
He himself was never caught transporting 'shine, doing so at high speed on the back roads of rural NC. Which is presumably why he was able, like many of his contemporaries, to turn his hand to NASCAR racing in 1953. Unlike a lot of those contemporaries though, he was incredibly good at it.
His first full NASCAR season saw him win five times. And he kept winning races, though his career was interrupted for a year in '56-'57 by a stint in prison for operating an illegal still. By the end of the '50s he was regarded as one of the best short-track racers in the business, not just on the paved tracks that were taking over the majority of the calendar but on the dirt tracks as well. It took until 1960 though to get a win on the superspeedways (the larger tracks), and it came at what was then the biggest and fastest in NASCAR - Daytona. That race (only the second Daytona 500, though it wasn't called that until '61) was the moment that 'drafting' (slipstreaming in our money) became a thing in NASCAR. Johnson's car wasn't the quickest there that race weekend, more than 20mph down on the fastest cars in practice. But he noticed when he got behind someone that he could pick up speed, and use the momentum gained to slingshot past them. He repeated the trick in the race, taking the win in a car much slower than those of his opponents. Very quickly everyone else caught on to what he had done, and drafting has been a staple of the sport on the big tracks ever since.
Johnson retired as a driver with 50 wins and 148 top 10 finishes to his name. He ran a team in NASCAR for many years (Junior Johnson & Associates) which produced six drivers' championships and 132 race wins, and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1990), the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1991) and the NASCAR Hall of Fame (2010). In 1986 he received a presidential pardon from Reagan for his moonshining conviction, and latterly teamed up with Piedmont Distillers in NC to make a legal version of the family 'shine (Midnight Moon).
Godspeed Junior Johnson. And give them revenuers what for on those dirt roads in heaven
Born Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. in Wilkes County, North Carolina. He came from a bootlegger family - at one point the family home was the subject of the largest alcohol raid in US history, revenuers seizing 400 gallons of moonshine
He himself was never caught transporting 'shine, doing so at high speed on the back roads of rural NC. Which is presumably why he was able, like many of his contemporaries, to turn his hand to NASCAR racing in 1953. Unlike a lot of those contemporaries though, he was incredibly good at it.His first full NASCAR season saw him win five times. And he kept winning races, though his career was interrupted for a year in '56-'57 by a stint in prison for operating an illegal still. By the end of the '50s he was regarded as one of the best short-track racers in the business, not just on the paved tracks that were taking over the majority of the calendar but on the dirt tracks as well. It took until 1960 though to get a win on the superspeedways (the larger tracks), and it came at what was then the biggest and fastest in NASCAR - Daytona. That race (only the second Daytona 500, though it wasn't called that until '61) was the moment that 'drafting' (slipstreaming in our money) became a thing in NASCAR. Johnson's car wasn't the quickest there that race weekend, more than 20mph down on the fastest cars in practice. But he noticed when he got behind someone that he could pick up speed, and use the momentum gained to slingshot past them. He repeated the trick in the race, taking the win in a car much slower than those of his opponents. Very quickly everyone else caught on to what he had done, and drafting has been a staple of the sport on the big tracks ever since.
Johnson retired as a driver with 50 wins and 148 top 10 finishes to his name. He ran a team in NASCAR for many years (Junior Johnson & Associates) which produced six drivers' championships and 132 race wins, and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1990), the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1991) and the NASCAR Hall of Fame (2010). In 1986 he received a presidential pardon from Reagan for his moonshining conviction, and latterly teamed up with Piedmont Distillers in NC to make a legal version of the family 'shine (Midnight Moon).
Godspeed Junior Johnson. And give them revenuers what for on those dirt roads in heaven
Man of Honour
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Leclerc signed on quite a cheap deal. That paves the way for Hamilton nicely.
Soldato
And maybe Toto!
Soldato
If any of you have a Motor Trend On Demand sub, the latest Roadkill episode is Mike Finnegan and Tony Angelo on Drag Week '19 in Blasphemi - what was up until this year the world's least reliable Chrysler Hemi-powered '55 Chevy gasser and is now one of the world's fastest Chrysler Hemi-powered '55 Chevy gassers. It's a pretty epic episode. Highlights in spoiler tags:
- Blasphemi launches hard enough on Day 1 that the wheel inserts that the lugnuts seat onto get mullered and leave the race wheels stuck on the car. Because Roadkill.
- 1001 fanbelts get trashed. Because Roadkill.
- The Holley EFI computer goes bad after a mishap charging the battery and they have to fit a spare. Because Roadkill.
- The rear window blows out and trunk lid blows clean off the car on a pass. Because Roadkill.
- Breaking first gear followed by Tony Angelo going Beast Mode™, bench-pressing the transmission back in the car after rebuilding it. Because Roadkill.
- Still managing to run a nine second pass on 7 cylinders after forgetting to reconnect one of the plug wires. Because Roadkill.
- Ending the week with the class win. A rare lack of fail for Roadkill!
Soldato
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/51016916
Verstappen to stay at Red Bull until end of 2023. Best move he can make really, as Ferrari don't seem interested in him and Merc seem to be making moves to exit or sell up within the next couple of years.
Verstappen to stay at Red Bull until end of 2023. Best move he can make really, as Ferrari don't seem interested in him and Merc seem to be making moves to exit or sell up within the next couple of years.
Soldato
Surprising move to me, even if something happens to Mercedes, there's the unknown of the 2021 rules hierarchy re-jig and who knows how long Vettel will last at Ferrari.
Man of Honour
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- 21 Nov 2004
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Considering the bridges he burns as he goes along, it is probably a good deal for him. A little longer than I would expect though.
Soldato
Ferrari will be prepared to buy him out of his contract at the end of 2021 in exchange for an engine supply deal, I'm sure.
Soldato
2020 calendar now updated with start times.
https://www.fia.com/news/f1-formula-1-announces-2020-race-schedule
https://www.fia.com/news/f1-formula-1-announces-2020-race-schedule
3pm race start time for Silverstone (and all of Europe actually). That'll make the fans happy, it is a PITA to exit the track on a good day, let alone at Sunday rush hour.
As a fan watching from home though, its a much better time. I always find the lunchtime races a bit disruptive to the day to try and watch them live.
As a fan watching from home though, its a much better time. I always find the lunchtime races a bit disruptive to the day to try and watch them live.
Man of Honour
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- 21 Nov 2004
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Personally I much prefer races at around 6pm. Disrupts the day less.
