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Post by René on Feb 10, 2021 19:05:49 GMT
Checo checking out his new home. I hope he does well.  |
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Post by René on Feb 11, 2021 17:48:42 GMT
News of the day; the planned engine freeze for 2022 is agreed by all the teams. How that will pan out in practice is not clear to me to be honest. Can they still do upgrades or what? What will that mean for the manufacturer who's behind in development? I guess we'll know more soon what this all means. And there's the idea of sprint races now taking shape. Qualifying on the Friday to determine the grid for the sprint race on Saturday. And the result of the sprint race is the grid for Sunday. They will try this format at three Grand Prix' this season. I guess most of us are quite traditional when it comes to race formats and how F1 should be but I must say I find this idea at least interesting and think it is good to give it a try. What are your thoughts on this guys?
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Post by Carl on Feb 11, 2021 18:29:53 GMT
News of the day; the planned engine freeze for 2022 is agreed by all the teams. How that will pan out in practice is not clear to me to be honest. Can they still do upgrades or what? What will that mean for the manufacturer who's behind in development? I guess we'll know more soon what this all means. And there's the idea of sprint races now taking shape. Qualifying on the Friday to determine the grid for the sprint race on Saturday. And the result of the sprint race is the grid for Sunday. They will try this format at three Grand Prix' this season. I guess most of us are quite traditional when it comes to race formats and how F1 should be but I must say I find this idea at least interesting and think it is good to give it a try. What are your thoughts on this guys?
With the front row almost guaranteed to lead throughout, any change may be good, although the same predictable advantage could simply follow from qualifying to sprint race to final grid.
What F1 should do is eliminate the reliance on pit stop/tyre strategy now dominating every race, and leave tyre management, as in the past, to the drivers.
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Post by mikael on Feb 12, 2021 15:35:06 GMT
News of the day; the planned engine freeze for 2022 is agreed by all the teams. How that will pan out in practice is not clear to me to be honest. Can they still do upgrades or what? What will that mean for the manufacturer who's behind in development? I guess we'll know more soon what this all means. And there's the idea of sprint races now taking shape. Qualifying on the Friday to determine the grid for the sprint race on Saturday. And the result of the sprint race is the grid for Sunday. They will try this format at three Grand Prix' this season. I guess most of us are quite traditional when it comes to race formats and how F1 should be but I must say I find this idea at least interesting and think it is good to give it a try. What are your thoughts on this guys?
I think it's a good idea, as it could cause more randomness and mixing-up of the grid for the main Grand Prix on Sunday. One reason would be, simply, that racing wheel-to-wheel is significantly more risky than running one by one, as is normally the case in qualifying. Thus, some of the usual front runners might end up with a d.n.f. in the Saturday sprint race.
As to the predictability (i.e. the now usual MB 1-2), a significant factor (or "problem") is that the cars have become so reliable. It's very rare to see someone retiring with a smoking engine or a broken suspension. The sprint race would also add, simply, to the wear and tear of the cars. And, finally, there's more real racing to watch :-)
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Post by charleselan on Feb 12, 2021 16:05:20 GMT
My thoughts are that it looks like someone is getting to realise that the show isn't what it used to be, or should be. I wonder how many sports have changed its traditional settings as drastically as they have in F1. It is quite simple to remedy but the power players involved in the sport now do not wish to acknowledge what the problems are.
Try looking at some of these:-
(1) Cars far too complex.
(2) Cars far too aero dependent.
(3) Financial disparity between those that have and the have nots is far too big.
(4) No opportunity for new teams to enter the sport thanks to restrictive measures that make it a closed shop.
(5) Tyre restrictions e.g. single supplier.
(6) More diverse calendar, see the success of last years with Covid restrictions.
(7) Team managers/teams not allowed to manage drivers personal careers.
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Post by chrisb on Feb 13, 2021 9:08:44 GMT
I am a bit split about it, on the one it is yet another gimmicky sticking plaster over a series that 'could be better' and as John says above these are amongst the problems, I would add some circuits as well to John's list.
Whilst on the other hand as Mikael says it could spice up things, accidents happen, there is some unreliability and it could shake things up. Historically in non-championship F1 races we had 2 or 3 heats, not that I advocate that now, just in case Mark Hughes or someone is reading this but it is a thought
However the reality is we need a series that is seriously less expensive and 'customer' engines aka the DFV were more available. I do think that F1 also needs to review its paywall philosophy,
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Post by René on Feb 16, 2021 23:06:03 GMT
First 2021 car; the McLaren MCL35M. Cars are not looking massively different compared to last year but still, looking good, looking cool. And I just realized McLaren will be racing with numbers 3 and 4. How it used to be. I am just not a fan of those 'personal' numbers so this looks better to me. And the World Champion should drive with the 1.... or is that just me...  Anyways, here's the McLaren.  |
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Post by mikael on Feb 17, 2021 6:21:56 GMT
A shame the McLaren doesn't appear in full light-blue - orange Gulf livery; that would look fantastic; but Gulf would probably need to dig deeper in their pockets for that, or ...?
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Post by mikael on Feb 17, 2021 13:10:01 GMT
Went through these two short movies (by the official F1 website) when I needed a moment of relaxation. The titles somewhat curbed my expectations; but I actually found the stories (mini-portraits) entertaining.
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Post by charleselan on Feb 17, 2021 17:30:05 GMT
Time to ditch those stupid front wings.
With the reintroduction of some ground effect could they not promote a look somewhat similar to the cars of 1982 where they had no, or very small front wings, they looked very cool.
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Post by chrisb on Feb 18, 2021 7:41:38 GMT
Carl, who was number one?
John, so so agree - just a simple remedy take away the front wings and see what happens, although I guess the cars would suffer more from following another?
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Post by René on Feb 18, 2021 16:24:24 GMT
First image of the Williams FW43B in blue (a nice touch as this is Frank's fav colour). But the car could turn to pink as there are rumours that BWT will move from Racing Point to either Williams or Haas.  |
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Post by mikael on Feb 18, 2021 16:32:55 GMT
... And I just realized McLaren will be racing with numbers 3 and 4. How it used to be. I am just not a fan of those 'personal' numbers so this looks better to me. And the World Champion should drive with the 1.... or is that just me...
An interesting coincidence that McLaren will have numbers 3 and 4, as both are personal numbers. Also, it's curious that in some departments of motor sport, there is a tradition for given numbers, while in others, there is a tradition for personalized numbers.
This is true even on national motor racing stages. In my own (low-key) experience, I was subject to both kind of approaches. In motocross (3 seasons, 1980-82), given numbers were used and, unfortunately, the numbers were changed for every single race. (By any race, the local riders always got the low numbers.) In karting (just one full season, 1985), personalized numbers were actually used. I chose No. 25 - for no deep reason (other than (i) I thought it was a nice looking number, with a certain symmetry, and (ii) the number was available ...)
In returning to Formula One, it seems that there is a good deal of superstition connected with the numbers. Like the "44" of Hamilton - it probably went really well for him whenever he had that number on his kart. (There are photos of him racing also with other numbers.)
Pastor Maldonado's choice of No. 13 was quite funny! He kind of "proved" that it is indeed an unlucky number that is best avoided 
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Post by Carl on Feb 18, 2021 18:10:35 GMT
Carl, who was number one? John, so so agree - just a simple remedy take away the front wings and see what happens, although I guess the cars would suffer more from following another? Chris, If you mean Monaco 1965, Jack Brabham was number one although by rights it should have been John Surtees, who had won the 1964 world championship. This was corrected by Spa.
If you mean otherwise, in a general sense or when riding your Triumph, be assured that you are number one.
-Carl
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Post by chrisb on Feb 19, 2021 8:53:23 GMT
my apologies Carl, I meant Mikael, about the crazy pre and apres F1 careers what was the order of craziness
Carl, thank you my friend, I look forward to getting back on the Triumph and riding off into the sunshine - soon I hope
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