*** The official Formula One 2015-16 off season thread ***

[Vaud]

deadslow said:

Yes, good points. You're not really Ron Dennis, are you?

Ouch.

No, but I have spent some time with some F1 sponsors and with the teams they work with and it was roughly their logic (paraphrased) ...

[Vaud]

dr_gn said:

I'm guessing that, like the Red Bull livery, it's aimed at the 2016 chav F1 "fan".

F1 certainly seems intent on treating itself to a long, drawn out death.

There was a purity about even recent ish cars (last 20 years)





Few key brands, instantly recognisable.

[Vaud]

Interesting how discrete the Ferrari logo itself is so relatively discrete over the years. The colour is the brand?

[Vaud]

mollytherocker said:

The red used now is marlboro red isnt it?

I think so though it has varied over the years.

[Vaud]

London424 said:

First lap today from Nico, helmet cam.

https://twitter.com/nico_rosberg/status/7007581097...

"Flat out down the straight, 8th gear"

Nice sound bite, but that was a demo in "how low can the revs be for me to upshift?"

[Vaud]

DanielSan said:

Because year old borrowed designs are always winners in modern F1....

Have you seen how much IP, wind tunnel time and Ferrari dev has flowed to Haas?

Who says it's a year old design? They've had unlimited win tunnel time until their formal entry - a massive advantage over back marker (and other) teams. To say this is a Dallara chassis and compare it to the previous entries is doing Haas a massive disservice.

They will make errors - cooling and race operations most likely, but many reckon they will be rapidly mid field.

[Vaud]

vonuber said:

It's true though isn't it!

No. HTH.

[Vaud]

Nice poster - where is that from?

[Vaud]

Boy oh boy did this thread deteriorate from my original ambitions.

[Vaud]

Megaflow said:

Vaud said:

Boy oh boy did this thread deteriorate from my original ambitions.

Yes. The same plums that ruin the race threads have appeared.

Indeed. It was quite a constructive thread until testing loomed. Shame.

[Vaud]

mollytherocker said:

Munter said:

Deliberate changes to the exhaust system are supposed to be about 12% louder.

My wifes nagging turned up 12% wouldnt improve it.

I'm in two minds about the noise.

on one hand I remember fondly the visceral sound of a (classic) Honda F1 engine being started up 10 ft from me and feeling the sound echo through my body.

On the other hand, a quieter car means I can take my young daughter to a race sooner.

Though I will probably compromise and watch the races on TV and take her to hill climbs / FoS where kind owners often let her sit in the cars.

[Vaud]

rscott said:

Button quoted by Autosport that he felt the deployment was far better and longer than last year. That suggests they are running the new ERS..

Does it? Could it be software changes rather than hardware?

[Vaud]

andburg said:

Seems Ferrari are doing their usual, they have to be top of the timesheets no matter what their real performance is.

It always worth remembering that testing is not done under FIA F1 regs, no parc fermé, etc.

[Vaud]

the other me said:

Just saw Hamilton on Spanish TV at a Merc promotion at the "Mobile" (phones & technology ) exhibition currently in Barcelona. He was wearing specs . . . . WTF is that about ? don't recall him with these before , or, just a plain glass fashion statement to make him look tech/studious ?

Maybe like a Google Glass type thing? I think the big convention is MWC (Mobile World Congress)... for the tech industry quite a big event.

[Vaud]

Some Gump said:

I'm getting exponentially frustrated with the BBC live text stream. I swear whoever is running it knows sweet fa about the sport. It's just non stop dribble about things unrelated to the test underway. No tech insight, no analysis, no pictures of the aero devices on the cars.
Today's theme seems to be "tweet a picture of a random object and mention kimi".
Can't believe we all have to pay for this horse st.

Just go onto Autosport if you don't like the BBC coverage...

[Vaud]

So Merc haven't gone to softs or supersofts yet? Just race sims then?

[Vaud]

MiniMan64 said:

You reckon?

Manor look like they could really make that new Merc engine count this year, Haas seem to be okay and I think Renault might surprise a few people (and with any luck embarrass Red Bull a bit!)

Jens and Fernando are going to be pretty lonely at the back of the grid.

I think they could be like Sauber last year - some points early on but then fade as others catch up. I'm a massive fan of Manor (as I was Minardi) - great to see what they can do and would love to see them secure enough points to invest and develop.

[Vaud]

Scuffers said:

HarryFlatters said:

SeeFive said:

One of them started f1 in a Minardi. He must be thrilled to be back there again.

That chap qualified 5th in that Minardi in Australia in 2001. I can't see that happening again.

Ouch!

I was reminded when listening to a Motorsport podcast (download if you haven't already, they are excellent) that Alonso is 8 (?) points short of being a 5x WDC.

[Vaud]

Some Gump said:

Well I bet Joe Saward really enjoyed reporting that - it's clear from recent articles he's really, really not a fan of VJM..

As I understand it, his exit will not be mourned up or down the pitlane.

[Vaud]

rubystone said:

Whilst I think Saward is a cut above most F1 hacks, I think, given his connections to Fernandes, he's being hypocritical where Mallya is concerned.

Could you expand?