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

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

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Vaud

Original Poster:

50,290 posts

154 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
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OK, so rather than a bazillion threads I thought we could keep the off season discussion focused in one thread. (I'm not a mod, it's just a wild idea)... just up to testing...

So we have some bits still to close out:

  • Red Bull engine supply (Renault + Demon Tweeks air filter and Milton Keynes remap?)
  • Torro Rosso engine supply (Ferrari seems likely)
  • Team Principal for Haas
  • Renault - will they, won't they?
What else?

MiniMan64

16,867 posts

189 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
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Can Alonso and Button be bothered to "race" again....

leglessAlex

5,384 posts

140 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
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What interests me is whether Honda will have enough 'tokens' to make the improvements they need to make by the start of next season? Even if they know what's wrong, will they actually be able to fix it? Although I am assuming that they know what is wrong and that the changes that need to be made are major. I'd guess that the changes do need to be major given how far behind they are, but maybe it's naive to think they even know what's wrong.

Apologies of this has been asked and answered before, if it even can be answered. It strikes me as the kind of thing no one outside Honda really knows for sure about.

mollytherocker

14,365 posts

208 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
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Will i turn full time to WEC?

ajprice

27,319 posts

195 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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mollytherocker said:
Will i turn full time to WEC?
If its on Motors TV I might be with you.

Will the terrestrial coverage be an hour long highlights show on ITV4 as it is for MotoGP and WRC?

suffolk009

5,344 posts

164 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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I'm intrigued to see whether or not Alonso will be on the grid.

Vaud

Original Poster:

50,290 posts

154 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
suffolk009 said:
I'm intrigued to see whether or not Alonso will be on the grid.
Who would replace him?

Magnussen? (I know they released his contract but he is still available?)

Scuffers

20,887 posts

273 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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MiniMan64 said:
Can Alonso and Button be bothered to "race" again....
Button yes, Alonso not so sure....

HarryFlatters

4,203 posts

211 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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leglessAlex said:
What interests me is whether Honda will have enough 'tokens' to make the improvements they need to make by the start of next season?
I think tokens only apply to in-season development?

Vaud said:
Who would replace him?

Magnussen? (I know they released his contract but he is still available?)
Stoffel Vandoorne, probably.

suffolk009

5,344 posts

164 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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Vaud said:
suffolk009 said:
I'm intrigued to see whether or not Alonso will be on the grid.
Who would replace him?

Magnussen? (I know they released his contract but he is still available?)
Stoffel.

supertouring

2,228 posts

232 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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I keep hearing that Stoffle is the next big thing, but know little about him.

Are the rumours correct?

leglessAlex

5,384 posts

140 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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HarryFlatters said:
leglessAlex said:
What interests me is whether Honda will have enough 'tokens' to make the improvements they need to make by the start of next season?
I think tokens only apply to in-season development?
I was under the impression that after the manufacturer had come into the sport then development was limited by tokens regardless of the time of year? As in, Honda could have done an unlimited amount of testing and changing prior to coming into the sport, but once in the sport and supplying engines to a team they are limited to a set number of tokens for the whole year, including the off season.

I could well be wrong, I'm not going to read through all the regulations and I haven't found any articles online that spell it out in idiot language for idiots like me biggrin

suffolk009

5,344 posts

164 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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supertouring said:
I keep hearing that Stoffle is the next big thing, but know little about him.

Are the rumours correct?
Pretty much.

Quick extract from Wikipedia:

In January 2014, it was confirmed that Vandoorne would make his debut in GP2, racing with ART. In the opening race at Bahrain, Vandoorne claimed his first victory of the season in the feature race. He followed this up with four consecutive pole positions, three more wins at the Hungaroring, Monza and Yas Marina and six additional podiums. Despite being a rookie, he finished runner-up to 2014 champion Jolyon Palmer.

Vandoorne will reunite with ART for 2015, as well as being considered the main title contender.[9] He will be partnered by 2014 Japanese Formula Three champion Nobuharu Matsusta. After five feature race wins, twelve podiums and four pole positions, Vandoorne took the title in Sochi, 108 points over his nearest rival Alexander Rossi.

ETA: picture from Abu Dhabi test 1/12/15. McLaren at the top!, been a while. (yh, I know it's just testing)





Edited by suffolk009 on Tuesday 1st December 16:44

Doink

1,652 posts

146 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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Tyres.

Why are pirelli so obsessed with this 'cliff' they want to reintroduce...... WHY! All it means is that drivers will tootle around trying the stretch the stint, be the last to hit this cliff and to make the last stint shorter!

Drivers want to push not babysit tyres, why are you doing this pirelli why why why?

Vaud

Original Poster:

50,290 posts

154 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
Doink said:
Tyres.

Why are pirelli so obsessed with this 'cliff' they want to reintroduce...... WHY! All it means is that drivers will tootle around trying the stretch the stint, be the last to hit this cliff and to make the last stint shorter!

Drivers want to push not babysit tyres, why are you doing this pirelli why why why?
Because they have been asked to?

redneckLT

69 posts

140 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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I am looking forward to find out:
1. If Honda can come with decent engine (I think it will challenge Renault but not Mercedes)
2. RedBull engines (I think Renault for next year, not good enough to challenge Mercedes)
3. Renault factory team, currently Lotus (Looks very likely)
4. Haas performance (most likely Sauber/Torro Rosso levels).

Scuffers

20,887 posts

273 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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redneckLT said:
I am looking forward to find out:
4. Haas performance (most likely Sauber/Torro Rosso levels).
I'll speculate that Haas are better than this in year one, Team need to learn to be a team, but I bet their car is dam near a front running package.

HarryFlatters

4,203 posts

211 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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leglessAlex said:
HarryFlatters said:
leglessAlex said:
What interests me is whether Honda will have enough 'tokens' to make the improvements they need to make by the start of next season?
I think tokens only apply to in-season development?
I was under the impression that after the manufacturer had come into the sport then development was limited by tokens regardless of the time of year? As in, Honda could have done an unlimited amount of testing and changing prior to coming into the sport, but once in the sport and supplying engines to a team they are limited to a set number of tokens for the whole year, including the off season.

I could well be wrong, I'm not going to read through all the regulations and I haven't found any articles online that spell it out in idiot language for idiots like me biggrin
As I understand it, in-season development was supposed to be frozen, but there was a loophole that all manufacturers exploited. To keep a cap on the costs, the FIA introduced the token system to prevent a free-for-all during the season. As the start of these regulations, there was a sliding scale on the %age of the engine that could be changed during the closed season, tending to 0% after 2018 (iirc). Now the season is over, the engine manufacturers are free to change essentially anything the like as long as they can present something to the FIA in February for homologation.

Honda couldn't change what they needed to change in season because the fundamental design of the engine (turbo and MGU-H too small) meant that they didn't have enough tokens to make any difference to these.

Now that the season is over, I'm pretty sure that they're currently strapping a massive turbo and a massive H to a redesigned ICU. In fact, they've probably had that on the dyno since mid season.

l354uge

2,892 posts

120 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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Take a look at @graeme_lowdon's Tweet: https://twitter.com/graeme_lowdon/status/671693913...

Hmm...

leglessAlex

5,384 posts

140 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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HarryFlatters said:
As I understand it, in-season development was supposed to be frozen, but there was a loophole that all manufacturers exploited. To keep a cap on the costs, the FIA introduced the token system to prevent a free-for-all during the season. As the start of these regulations, there was a sliding scale on the %age of the engine that could be changed during the closed season, tending to 0% after 2018 (iirc). Now the season is over, the engine manufacturers are free to change essentially anything the like as long as they can present something to the FIA in February for homologation.

Honda couldn't change what they needed to change in season because the fundamental design of the engine (turbo and MGU-H too small) meant that they didn't have enough tokens to make any difference to these.

Now that the season is over, I'm pretty sure that they're currently strapping a massive turbo and a massive H to a redesigned ICU. In fact, they've probably had that on the dyno since mid season.
Interesting.

This is the article that I thought was clearest, but I couldn't work out if the 32 tokens they were talking about related to all development between the end of one season and the beginning of another, or just between the homologation date in late February and the end of that season in November.

Edit: Forgot the link! Here it is: http://en.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/story/194433.ht...

I had assumed it was the former and that the homologation date in February only applied to new engine manufacturers, if you had already homologated an engine the previous year you had to work with that, you couldn't change everything and re-homologate it.
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