The Official 2015 F1 thread

Sandro, I am not saying that Alonso don't give a 120%....look at what he did in last year's Ferrari and he never give up a fighting, this is something that I admire a lot. However, his attitude is somthing that needs to be checked at the door when entering a "new team" and trying to get people to work together. That is what Team work is all about, it is not about one person. Yes these Drivers are SuperStars, but others on the Grid seem's to be better and have more of a level view of things.
I am a McLaren/Honda Fan and would love to see them repeat what they have accomplised in the in 80's.

Anyway these are just my observations.

Bram

I think there will be more peacefull relationship now then few years before when Louis drive with Jenson.What I read actually both drivers JB and FA are
happy as team drivers, and about Ron-Fernando they both are grown people who know to forgive and do best for team.I don't see FA as some one who
want to everything is around him and will be proved with resaults of McLH this year.Unfortunately today was bad day.
But season is long and as you Bram I wan't McLH on podium ASAP.
 
Scammy the crash happened at slow speeds. Vettel was behind him when it happened. He said Alonso was going slow, about 150kph or about 93mph, and then suddenly turned right into the wall. I think this is why there are rumors that he fainted and crashed. Well at least it seems like he is okay so I guess we'll have to wait until next week to see how much progress they make.
 
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unfortunately, McLaren won't reveal the truth. That's just how F1 is, Hide, lie, downplay and covet. The publicists will issue a "typical" statement, saying typical things. Once the story collaborates with the engineers, they will continue down that path and Alonso, will be versed as to what to say, when to say it, and how to say it.. I just can't wait to hear the excuses from this team, come mid season..
 
I agree, they are trying to cover-up something...what I Dunno.

With the design of F1 cars these days, a side impact at ~90 MPH should be a non event, yet Alonso is in Hospital and would not be taking part in the next test outing schedule to take place in a couple of days.
Robert Kubica crash in Montreal a couple of years ago was just under 200 MPH and he was fine with the exception small cut, and he was back racing within a couple of weeks.

Bram
 
Scammy the crash happened at slow speeds. Vettel was behind him when it happened. He said Alonso was going slow, about 150kph or about 93mph, and then suddenly turned right into the wall. I think this is why there are rumors that he fainted and crashed. Well at least it seems like he is okay so I guess we'll have to wait until next week to see how much progress they make.
I was being somewhat sarcastic :-) McLaren strongly denying anything went wrong. But hey gives us something more to discuss until the next test maybe Alonso doesnt want to drive it until they fix it.....
 
Always same story when bad things happend.For similar but worst thing I don't like Williams.

On photos where he run out only one tyre mark before hit the wall.
 
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there you have it, the official line is 'a unpredictable gust of wind'

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16832.html

so Lord help any truck drivers, Van drivers, or people camping in tents! Warn them of the dangers, sooo bad that a multi-million dollar, low sling, slick shod car at the forefront of technical design cannot deal with!!!

No mechanical failure, No loss of downforce, No mild electrocution of FA, so must be a gust of wind..... or rodents...... or unsual alignment of the planets.....or aliens.....

or someone is telling lies!!!!!
 
I don't know how much worth there is in the response or if he is just being politically correct, but my contact across the pond said that F1 teams do not test nor have the time to test for side winds or sudden gusts of side winds in wind tunnels. He told me he remembered working on Jenson Button's car back in the BAR days and him having all sorts of wind issues during qualifying ?

So if someone invents a machine to produce a test of a car's reaction to "sudden gust of side wind" I guess F1 teams will be buying. :-)

oh well, moving on ..
 
I don't know how much worth there is in the response or if he is just being politically correct, but my contact across the pond said that F1 teams do not test nor have the time to test for side winds or sudden gusts of side winds in wind tunnels. He told me he remembered working on Jenson Button's car back in the BAR days and him having all sorts of wind issues during qualifying?

I'd wager your friend on being politically correct or deflecting. IIRC, Honda tested cross wind effects on the original NSX and found it to be too susceptible to those winds. It's why they lengthened the trunk area - for stability. Hmph.

I've read that other drivers were caught with the same cross winds on that F1 testing day. But I can't imagine that within a series that searches for speed in the thousandths of second increments that they don't test for cross wind stability. Hmph again.
 
another dismal Thurs for McLaren Honda. At the rate I'm seeing things, the 2015 season will see them DNF a lot and / or become mobile chicane's with maybe scoring 1 point with 3-5 races to go in the season. Their mechanical hamperings, and "gremlins" are starting to reach a "Minardi" or "Super-Aguri" level which is downright embarrassing with their budget.

- - - Updated - - -

Alonso has been speaking to Eric only, he has not spoken to Ron in any depth, since he left the hospital.. "He goes to Eric for 'every little thing' " , there is a bit of in fighting amongst engineers as to how to fix the hydraulics, frustration mounting and the finger pointing has started at tea time, Ron's in a meeting with Eric later today,

make of it whatever you wish..
 
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Just got off looking at the Skysport F1 update, and things are NOT looking good for McLaren/Honda....Man I sure hope they get their act together.
I have a hunch that Alonso, will walk away from this team in short order....as things does not seem right even for F1....we'll see.

Bram
 
sorry guys more hardships ..

"the data from Sakura aren't making sense for us here.... "

sounds like another discrepancy in finding the right solution to the problems.. < sigh >

Sakura say one thing, but milton keynes is going in another.. Ron better have a long talk with Eric.. I can't imagine the stress going through that team right now, while trying to mask and hide it..

David Richards must be shaking his head right about now..
 
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I don't know how much worth there is in the response or if he is just being politically correct, but my contact across the pond said that F1 teams do not test nor have the time to test for side winds or sudden gusts of side winds in wind tunnels. He told me he remembered working on Jenson Button's car back in the BAR days and him having all sorts of wind issues during qualifying ?

So if someone invents a machine to produce a test of a car's reaction to "sudden gust of side wind" I guess F1 teams will be buying. :-)

oh well, moving on ..
Using BAR as a reference is not representative of a first rate team. Perhaps a second tier team.
 
Winter testing is done.

Looks like Mercedes is the team to beat yet again this year, they didn't even have to run the super soft tires and they were still about 0.8 seconds clear of the rest of the field who were running the super soft tires.

Williams is looking competitive again this year.

Lotus seems to be yet another team that has been revitalized thanks to the new power unit from Mercedes.

Ferrari seems to be doing slightly better than last year, top mid field but probably still behind the Mercedes powered teams (at least for now, unless they have been sandbagging).

Surprised to see how much progress Sauber was able to make since the end of last year. Guess the new Ferrari power unit is working better than last year and helping with the packaging and that extra money that both Nasr and Ericsson are bringing is probably helping.

Force India took forever to bring their 2015 car on the grid, but it seems that they did a good job on the car, since it seemed to have run fine half day on Friday as well as full day on Saturday and Sunday.

Toro Rosso seemed to have some issues with the Renault Power Unit.

Red Bull also seemed to have some issues with the Renault Power Unit as well.

McLaren are in serious trouble, there seems to be ongoing problems with reliability with the Honda Power Unit.

Manor, can't really figure out how they plan to be part of the 2015 F1 grid. (Wonder if they will pay homage to Bianchi on their livery if they ever get a car ready)
 
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All kinds of posturing is being done in a team in utter turmoil at the moment.. too many moving parts. (literally speaking as well) I think the politics are killing this team of which will show on the race track for the duration of the season.

It looks like Ron is supporting Kevin more than Fernando and some are chatting about it..

All of sudden Ron is more accessible for Dorte, he’s like buddy buddy with him.. hmmmm? (magnussen’s manager)

Sakura Japan board members are demanding more information on why Alonso can’t drive ? they are NOT happy he’s not in the car, nor in the simulator.. Hmmm ?? Ron appears to be giving them a "run around answer" .

But when I look at this, it appears Ron won’t aid in this situation either.. The more Alonso looks worse, the better for him ? Why ? so he can slot Magnussen in and get the Dutch investor to take over the team.. This is secretly better news for Ron as he originally wanted Kevin in.


The far reaching gossip, has this..
Ron spoke to the medical director to “fiddle about with the medical records..” to get Kevin in the car to showcase him for the Dutch investors..

This makes Alonso looks bad in the eyes of Honda as they want him in the car for ALL the races..

I dunno about that one..


If Magnussen can pull off a miracle, (which he’s not) the team will say bye to Jenson by mid season, as the Dutch investors will dump millions into the team allowing them to pay him off.. put Kevin the car.. But Kevin’s feedback of the car is really not going over well with anyone..

and that's the rumblings I've been given..
 
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Simon, they may have politics playing within the team, this is normal in F1......but the bottom line is that the car is slow, Honda powerunit is not reliable, so regardless McLaren/Honda will be a back marker for most of the year.

Im really disappointed with Honda and their in-ability to produce a Powerunit that is way better that what they have right now. Remember Honda have been working on this powerunit for over a year now, and the are having problems like, oil leak, water leaks and blown seals what gives. These things should be been caught during the many months of Dyno testing.

Where is the Engineering might that Honda is know for having and getting their best Engineers working on this project.....They must all be working on the New NSX, because that have been delayed too!!

Bram
 
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