The 2014 Formula1 Thread!

[merlion]

I thought vettel is going to ferrari ?

From the press conference in Sochi:

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi - La Gazzetta dello Sport) And for Sebastian, changing the matter, we know you split from Red Bull and we would like to know when you can announce the new team and why you wait for the announcement please?

SV: No update really. I hope I will be able to make an announcement soon and once the announcement is out I think you are probably clever enough to draw the conclusion why I had to wait.

 

[tweakmonkey]

D: the suspense is killing me.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I wonder if Vettel might be going to Mercedes.

You heard it here first.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Kind of a boring race but amazing drive for Nico, finishing 2nd after changing onto the hard tire on first lap and running the entire race on that tire. He even set the fastest lap of the race on lap 52 of 53.

 

[merlion]

Nico had the second fastest lap actually, with a 1:41.360. Bottas set the fastest lap on lap 53 with a 1:40.896. Still astonishing that Nico was able to do that with the tires he had on since the start of lap 2.

Hamilton had the third fastest lap, but realistically did not have to push much after a certain point in the race.

 

[merlion]

D: the suspense is killing me.

Per a story on the f1fanatic.co.uk website, Alonso says his future plans will seem "obvious" in retrospect when they are finally revealed.

“When you know it, you will say ‘it was so obvious that you will do that’,” he added, but stopped short of confirming he will be in F1 next year.

Alonso said his future has been “set in my mind for some months and now we are finalising everything so it’s not a big thing”.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

woooooo boring race today. severely boring. the drivers and announcers were as bored as the fans. after the first few laps, i just played it in the background - something i normally don't do for a 1st (for this, only) viewing.

i guess it's best that it was so forgettable, that's the best way to counter that dickhead putin's efforts at attention-whoring.

 

[Railgun]

I wonder if Vettel might be going to Mercedes.

You heard it here first.

I can say, maybe he's going to Lotus...you heard it here first.

Speculate anything and you hear it there first. Just a SWAG.

 

[merlion]

This is what Alonso told Jenny Gow of BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday:

Alonso confirms to us he won’t be running Mercedes power next season so three options: McLaren, Sabbatical or stays at Ferrari!

 

[tweakmonkey]

Yep super boring race. I skipped 5 minutes at a time once Hamilton had pitted and ended up in the lead. Didn't miss anything by skipping the last 20 laps.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I can say, maybe he's going to Lotus...you heard it here first.

Speculate anything and you hear it there first. Just a SWAG.

Hmm, seems I'm not the only one who thought of this. :sneaky:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/29604437

 

[The Boston Dangler]

looks like caterham are on their way out -

oct 20 - during the russian gp kobayashi accidentally makes a post public instead of private, seriously doubting continuing in the car after a suspension member was repaired.

oct 21 - 1mrt, builder of caterham's f1 cars, is closed down

oct 22 - a fight between fomer owner fernandez and the the new owners, a swiss/arab outfit apparently, has broken out.

oct 23 - employees have been locked out of the team's shop by the landlord.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/29658585

 

[foghorn67]

looks like caterham are on their way out -

oct 20 - during the russian gp kobayashi accidentally makes a post public instead of private, seriously doubting continuing in the car after a suspension member was repaired.

oct 21 - 1mrt, builder of caterham's f1 cars, is closed down

oct 22 - a fight between fomer owner fernandez and the the new owners, a swiss/arab outfit apparently, has broken out.

oct 23 - employees have been locked out of the team's shop by the landlord.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/29658585

Looks like they lost Airbus and Safran as sponsors.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

goodbye, caterham.

they have been "given permission" by bernie to miss the last 2 races. without permission, they would be thrown out of f1 and it would be impossible to find a buyer. the f1 entry is easily the most valuable thing they own.

 

[foghorn67]

. ..and Marussia is out of the USGP.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

. ..and Marussia is out of the USGP.

they're practically out of brazil, too, since the whole show ships there straight from austin.

like i've said before, there's only 6 outfits in the world with both the will and the resources to compete in f1 - merc, ferrari, mclaren, red bull, williams and "lotus" (enfield, nee renault). everyone else is fighting for scraps to stay alive. this highlights a fundamental problem - the haves get more, the have-naughts get little, or nothing. the system perpetuates old-world plutocracies, and actively punishes any new blood trying to enter the sport. without a sweetheart deal, only a fool would enter f1. hrt, caterham and marussia will tell you that having such a deal put into law is still no guarantee.

meanwhile, f1 is losing popularity as it gets more artificial in the face of another year of domination by 1 team. fans are leaving for other motorsports, or just leaving.

my solution to this stagnant and terminal problem is simple, radical, and probably will never happen:

1. no conditional-use drs, and other stupid gimmicks
2. maximum sized grids
3. customer cars
4. kill the constructors' championship for a team title
5. less aero dependancy

 

[Lonyo]

Lotus is also struggling.

 

[Topweasel]

Lotus is also struggling.

Yeah they had several season's where the infrastructure and support of Renualt after selling the team allowed them to be comfortable. Now though I mean you had them not paying Kimi for awhile. That's what Prost started doing before they died.

Also Remember Sauber used to be one of those strong teams and had an infusion of money and tools from the BMW purchase an resale back to Sauber. Wlliams was really starting to panic a couple years ago. It's Merc, Mercedes, Redbull, and Ferrari and that's it. It was probably better when it was 75% manufacturers, but then people didn't like that because it pushed the 2-3 small teams down even more.

 

[foghorn67]

Stupid wishful thinking of the day. Could Alonso take a year off and race for Haas?

 

[Brian Stirling]

they're practically out of brazil, too, since the whole show ships there straight from austin.

like i've said before, there's only 6 outfits in the world with both the will and the resources to compete in f1 - merc, ferrari, mclaren, red bull, williams and "lotus" (enfield, nee renault). everyone else is fighting for scraps to stay alive. this highlights a fundamental problem - the haves get more, the have-naughts get little, or nothing. the system perpetuates old-world plutocracies, and actively punishes any new blood trying to enter the sport. without a sweetheart deal, only a fool would enter f1. hrt, caterham and marussia will tell you that having such a deal put into law is still no guarantee.

meanwhile, f1 is losing popularity as it gets more artificial in the face of another year of domination by 1 team. fans are leaving for other motorsports, or just leaving.

my solution to this stagnant and terminal problem is simple, radical, and probably will never happen:

1. no conditional-use drs, and other stupid gimmicks
2. maximum sized grids
3. customer cars
4. kill the constructors' championship for a team title
5. less aero dependancy

Where is your evidence that F1 is struggling and that fans are leaving in droves? Source?

F1 has been expanding arround the world and on any given race the worldwide audience is 300M-400M - not to shabby.

Brian

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Where is your evidence that F1 is struggling and that fans are leaving in droves? Source?

F1 has been expanding arround the world and on any given race the worldwide audience is 300M-400M - not to shabby.

Brian

i don't have evidence. i have the collective messages of good journalists and people intimately familiar with f1. "they" say attendance and tv ratings are down overall, sponsorship is harder than ever to come by, and that sauber, lotus and force india are very close to the edge marussia and caterham have fallen over. i have no basis to disagree with "them".

i'm not going looking for links and quotes to what i've been reading and hearing all year from people actually involved in the sport. read f1fanatic, racer.com, f1technical or even espnf1.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

in other news, audi has hired stefano domenicali for "service and mobility" and totally not for a 2016 f1 entry with fernando alonso.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns29260.html

rumors have been circulating the f1 entry will come at the cost of wec and dtm efforts, although audi has denied interest in f1 yet again and says they're "committed" to wec. another rumor says porsche was going to f1 until audi decided to transition out of wec.

keep in mind, the current and controversial (over nothing, imo) engine specs were originally drawn up to make f1 irresistible to VAG (vw, audi, porsche, etc).

 

[LTC8K6]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/financial-troubles-dogging-f1-american-225230387--f1.html

Financial troubles dogging F1 before American race

 

[The Boston Dangler]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/financial-troubles-dogging-f1-american-225230387--f1.html

Financial troubles dogging F1 before American race

Ecclestone admits responsibility for F1’s costs crisis

“probably my fault”

 

[foghorn67]

Well, besides the Mercedes dominance, it was a fun race. Brave pass by Hamilton, and the mid pack battles were pretty intense at times.