2018 Pre-Season Thread
Discussion
Vocal Minority said:
As regulations stabilise the field will inevitably bunch up a bit. I expect Mercedes will still have their noses in front, but I don't think Ferrari will squander the progress they made in 2017. I can see Red Bull challenging more consistently this season.
I think the field will split into distinct chunks
Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari
Force India, Renault, Mclaren
Williams, Haas,
Sauber, Torro Rosso
Sauber are as much of an unknown as McLaren really - as they were similarly hamstrung by engines in '17
Aren't sauber getting 2018 spec Ferrari engines? If so they should be racing FI mclaren and Renault I think the field will split into distinct chunks
Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari
Force India, Renault, Mclaren
Williams, Haas,
Sauber, Torro Rosso
Sauber are as much of an unknown as McLaren really - as they were similarly hamstrung by engines in '17
Angpozzuto said:
Aren't sauber getting 2018 spec Ferrari engines? If so they should be racing FI mclaren and Renault
I think Sauber will struggle to take the fight to the similar-engined Haas.With a stronger driver pairing, I think Hass could be ahead of Williams, unless Sirotkin’s $15million means Williams can produce an effective chassis.
Well they get a current Ferrari engine and Charles Leclerc for a start. It’s a shame that the wrong driver made way for him though. They’ve had a cash injection and Frédéric Vasseur‘s continuous stewardship going into 2018. Sauber certainly won’t be some distance off the back of the grid as they were at the start of 2017. There is a question of who is going to be the slowest team, it could just as easily be Toro Rosso IMO.
I think the front six teams and definitely the front three will be as Vocal Minority says, behind them it's anyone's guess. Sauber should be better with the updated Ferrari engines, Toro Rosso might start badly but get better if Honda get their s
t together like they couldn't at McLaren. Williams might make a clunker and Stroll/Sirotkin won't be able to develop it.
t together like they couldn't at McLaren. Williams might make a clunker and Stroll/Sirotkin won't be able to develop it.February 19th for Red Bull's car launch https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/134338/red-bull-...
https://youtu.be/4bnhHpvoUvo New Haas (render)
I was listening to the Autosport Podcast earlier today, I was surprised to hear others are going to copy Mercedes with their LWB philosophy rather than the other way round.
They also mentioned Ferrari's recent inability to mount two championship contenders in a row...
I was listening to the Autosport Podcast earlier today, I was surprised to hear others are going to copy Mercedes with their LWB philosophy rather than the other way round.
They also mentioned Ferrari's recent inability to mount two championship contenders in a row...
Toro Rosso have got the Honda engine up and running 
https://twitter.com/ToroRosso/status/9638103347536...
https://twitter.com/ToroRosso/status/9638103347536...Having just watched the McLaren 2017 documentary I was surprised by how much Toro Rosso's working environment contrasts with Mclaren's, bit of a climb down for those Honda personnel.
Did the Honda engine sound different to you? hard to tell of course being that it was just idling. Thought it sounded smoother.
Williams launching their car at 8pm...
Did the Honda engine sound different to you? hard to tell of course being that it was just idling. Thought it sounded smoother.
Williams launching their car at 8pm...
Gunter Steiner: 2018 Haas is 90% made in Italy
LaurasOtherHalf said:
I was listening to the Autosport Podcast earlier today, I was surprised to hear others are going to copy Mercedes with their LWB philosophy rather than the other way round.
I thought they were supposed to meet somewhere in the middle; now that the teams understand the characteristics of the new for 2017 big tyres and increased aero they can optimise their 2017 efforts into the 2018 car. Mercedes left a load of space in their 2017 car so that they had lots of flexibility with setup (ballast location etc I suppose) so they can now compact it all down, while other teams who built a shorter wheelbase car for 2017 to keep the weight down probably have a better handle on the weight situation now and can increase their wheelbase to their own optimum. Vocal Minority said:
As regulations stabilise the field will inevitably bunch up a bit. I expect Mercedes will still have their noses in front, but I don't think Ferrari will squander the progress they made in 2017. I can see Red Bull challenging more consistently this season.
I think the field will split into distinct chunks
Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari
Force India, Renault, Mclaren
Williams, Haas,
Sauber, Torro Rosso
Sauber are as much of an unknown as McLaren really - as they were similarly hamstrung by engines in '17
This is pretty much how I see it, particularly the theory that the field will be compacted by the relative stable regulations from last season to this - in fact, it was quite (pleasantly!) surprising to see the field as close as it was last year considering the complete change in chassis and tyre regulations from '16.I think the field will split into distinct chunks
Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari
Force India, Renault, Mclaren
Williams, Haas,
Sauber, Torro Rosso
Sauber are as much of an unknown as McLaren really - as they were similarly hamstrung by engines in '17
There are a number of things that I'm seriously looking forward to this season, in no particular order -
1 - Max vs Daniel. Both fast, both brave on the brakes, one with a contract for next season and beyond and the other without. Wherever Daniel ends up next year (Ferrari?) he'll want to beat the most spoken about driver last year. I personally rate Daniel over Max anyway, though it's very, very close.
2 - McLaren/Renault & Torro Rosso/Honda. McLaren had a reasonable chassis last year, it was Honda that let the side down, and you get the feeling that Alonso will just never give up in extracting the most out of what he has - Stoffel is no slouch either IMO. You could easily imagine members of the TR squad shaking their heads when they heard about Honda coming on board, how that will play out considering RB won't have Renault next year?
3. Ocon vs Perez. Not even a gant's between them last season and their intra-team conflict was great for the race fans even if it wasn't for FI's bank balance and fabrication department... Both will be absolutely determined to beat the other.
4. Hulkenburg vs Sainz. Same as above, with less flying carbon fibre.
5. Ferrari vs Merc. It's hard to imagine Merc dropping the ball however how long can they hang on to it for? Fair play to them though, I think they were the first team to win back to back championships with major regulation changes inbetween ('16 - '17) and Toto Wolff has built an incredibly strong team.
6. Seb's mental approach. He showed flashes of immaturity and a loss of level headedness last season just like he has in the past, he's quick but can he really handle the pressure? He's said that he'll adjust his approach for '18, will he be able to demonstrate that?
7. How close will the midfield be? And how much difference will it make to Sauber to have an in-spec powerplant behind them?
With a shuffle of the tyre compounds for the season ahead this will also open up each race to a greater variance of tactics, some teams appear to be stronger than others in this respect.
Even with Lewis winning his 4th DC last year I still felt deflated by Ferrari's late season demise and the open goal that they handed to Merc, here's hoping for a nail biting climax for '18.
Nice post Cardshark, good to see some optimism in the F1 forum as for the whole of the off-season it has been dominated by pessimists piss-and-moaning about halo, broadcasting, grid girls and other distractions.
My impatience for the start of the season seems to increase year on year.
My impatience for the start of the season seems to increase year on year.
It's understandable that matters such as grid girls and the Halo muddy the waters, it has become too much of a distraction with many losing sight of the fact that the racing is still to be had. Aesthetically speaking (Halo or otherwise) the cars are as good as they've ever been (in modern years) and they're faster as well, intra-team battles are as strong as ever and there's still the anticipation as to who will trump who, teammate against teammate and team against team. With Liberty on board I hope that the show will improve in all aspects, if only they could sort out the FTA TV coverage...
Been an F1 fan for many a year yet never really contributed much in this corner of PH, that'll change for this season onwards
suffolk009 said:
I'd be happy if they just painted it properly orange.
last year's livery was a proper miss IMO. The colour grew on me but the 'speedmark' thing didn't. It needs to be solid, proper papaya like Bruce's old cars from 50 years ago. That's if these Bahrainis have got some taste and can resist the temptation to add a load of chintzy gimmicks and metal flake and st. HustleRussell said:
last year's livery was a proper miss IMO. The colour grew on me but the 'speedmark' thing didn't. It needs to be solid, proper papaya like Bruce's old cars from 50 years ago. That's if these Bahrainis have got some taste and can resist the temptation to add a load of chintzy gimmicks and metal flake and st. thegreenhell said:
HustleRussell said:
last year's livery was a proper miss IMO. The colour grew on me but the 'speedmark' thing didn't. It needs to be solid, proper papaya like Bruce's old cars from 50 years ago. That's if these Bahrainis have got some taste and can resist the temptation to add a load of chintzy gimmicks and metal flake and st. Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff