2018 Pre-Season Thread

[HustleRussell]

January is over and F1 2018 starts this month! So, shamelessly inspired by ukaskew's 2017 pre-season thread, here is the 2018 F1 pre-season testing, car reveals, news, and speculation thread.

Regulations

2018 FIA Sporting and Technical Regulations

Key Sporting Regulations Changes

Three Engines per driver per season
The number of engines has been reduced from four last year, while the number of Grands Prix has increased to twenty-one.

Faster, less durable tyres
In response to criticism that they were too conservative with their tyre compounds in 2017 leading to many one-stop races, Pirelli have made their existing tyre range one step softer across the board. They have also bookended their range with two new tyres- a pink marked 'Ultrasoft' and an orange 'Superhard'. The 'Hard' tyre, which used to be orange, is now blue.



Key Technical Regulations Changes

Chassis
Reduction in static front ride height from the straight ahead steering position to full lock in either direction is now limited to 5mm.

Bodywork
Areas left open for development in 2017 which resulted in shark fins and T-wings are no longer available.

Safety
The 'Halo' safety device is now mandatory. The Halo may carry aerodynamic devices and fairings provided they do not extend more than 20mm from the structure.

Weight
Minimum car weight (including driver) has been increased by 6kg to 734kg.



Winter Testing

Date	Circuit
Feb 26-Mar 1	Barcelona, Spain
Mar 6-9	Barcelona, Spain

Confirmed Driver Line-Ups

Team	Driver	Driver
Mercedes	Lewis Hamilton	Valtteri Bottas
Ferrari	Sebastian Vettel	Kimi Raikkonen
Red Bull	Daniel Ricciardo	Max Verstappen
Force India	Sergio Perez	Esteban Ocon
Williams	Lance Stroll	Sergey Sirotkin
Renault	Carlos Sainz	Nico Hulkenburg
Toro Rosso	Brendon Hartley	Pierre Gasly
Haas	Romain Grosjean	Kevin Magnussen
McLaren	Fernando Alonso	Stoffel Vandoorne
Sauber	Marcus Ericsson	Charles Leclerc

Car Launch

Entrant	Constructor	Designation	Power Unit	Date	Location
Williams Martini Racing	Williams	FW41	Mercedes	February 15	London
Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB14	TAG Heuer	February 19	TBC
Renault Sport Formula One Team	Renault	R.S.18	Renault	February 20	Online
Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	C37	Ferrari	February 20	Online
Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport	Mercedes	W09 EQ Power+	Mercedes	February 22	Silverstone
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	TBC	Ferrari	February 22	Online
Mclaren F1 Team	McLaren	MCL33	Renault	February 23	TBC
Scuderia Toro Rosso	Red Bull Toro Rosso	TBC	Honda	February 26	Barcelona
Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India	TBC	Mercedes	TBC	TBC
Haas F1 Team	Haas	VF-18	Ferrari	TBC	TBC

Provisional Calendar

Date	Circuit	Sky F1	Channel 4
March 25	Melbourne, Australia	Y
April 8	Bahrain, Bahrain	Y	Y
April 15	Shanghai, China	Y
April 29	Baku, Azerbaijan	Y	Y
May 13	Barcelona, Spain	Y
May 27	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Y	Y
June 10	Montreal, Canada	Y
June 24	Le Castellet, France	Y
July 1	Spielberg, Austria	Y	Y
July 8	Silverstone, Great Britain	Y	Y
July 22	Hockenheim, Germany	Y
July 29	Budapest, Hungary	Y
August 26	Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium	Y	Y
September 2	Monza, Italy	Y
September 16	Singapore, Singapore	Y	Y
September 30	Sochi, Russia	Y
October 7	Suzuka, Japan	Y	Y
October 21	Austin, USA	Y	Y
October 28	Mexico City, Mexico	Y
November 11	Sao Paulo, Brazil	Y
November 25	Abu Dhabi, UAE	Y	Y

Tyre Allocations



In-season Testing

Date	Circuit
May 15-16	Barcelona, Spain
July 31 - August 1	Budapest, Hungary

Other Calendar Events

• Indy 500 May 27
• Le Mans 24hr June 16-17
• Goodwood Festival of Speed July 12-15
• Goodwood Revival September 7-9

UK TV Rights

Sky TV - All sessions live. HD and Ultra HD, subscription service, no adverts during race.

Channel 4 - 10 races (inc. practice and qualifying) live negotiated with Sky. Highlights of all other races. HD, free to air, no adverts during race.

Edited by HustleRussell on Monday 12th February 13:54

[HustleRussell]

Bonus points to Vaud and NM62 for mustering a glimmer of optimism and positivity about the coming season.

People are flipping pessimistic about F1 for 2018- seems the realisation of Halo, the Sky exclusive deal and now the exclusion of grid girls have conspired to create a lot of negativity around the sport which is regrettable.

IMO there are lots of reasons to be cheerful, and 2017 was the best season we’ve had possibly since 2010 (or ’13)?

• Liberty Media are more inclusive and more transparent. They seem to have a big-picture view and they also appear to have some scruples. They are more proactive and they are investing.
• On-demand broadcast platform, a big step into the 21st century
• Ross Brawn is heading a team which for the first time ever is scrutinising the regulations with a view to sorting out dirty air and the 2021 regulations overhaul
• Debates are taking part with teams and engine manufacturers past , present and possibly future to ensure competition on and off the track
• Distribution of funds is being proactively discussed hence the inevitable sabre-rattling of the wealthier teams (which you must see through)
• Mercedes are no longer runaway winners every time
• Resurgence of Mclaren?
• Four champions on the grid with 11x championships between them
• Exciting new driving talent in Charles Leclerc, Kubica back in a car, a number of other fresh faces compared to the beginning of the 2017 season
• Depth of driving talent is as good or better than it’s ever been
• Cars are faster than ever in real terms and they are set to go whole seconds faster again this season
• Penalties must remain but they have been simplified for this season
• French and German Grands Prix are back

So in the spirit of all of that- predictions?

[HustleRussell]

ash73 said:

HustleRussell said:

• On-demand broadcast platform, a big step into the 21st century

What does that mean?

Basically everywhere except the UK will have an official on-demand internet streaming service where consumers can get pay-per-view access to FOM coverage, feeds from cars, data etc.

ash73 said:

Scrutinse, debate, discuss... let's see some action.

On the contrary- No! enough of the knee-jerk sticking plaster solutions. Remember elimination qualifying? Double points Abu Dhabi? What about DRS? There is some talent looking to tackle the fundamental flaws of modern grand prix racing. IMO 2017 was a good season so radical and immediate change would be detrimental.

[HustleRussell]

predictions;

Ferrari, Mclaren and Williams will be grandstanding in pre-season testing but they will flatter to deceive.

Mercedes are once again going to turn up with a near perfect balance of power and reliability and they won’t suffer the early season troubles they experienced in 2017. They will be a force to be reckoned with especially in qualifying. With a winter for reflection and an easier car to drive, Bottas will start to deliver and will be a closer match for Hamilton.

Ferrari and Red Bull will be separated from Mercedes by a small margin of a couple of tenths and will fight amongst themselves resulting in significant carbon shed. However as the season goes on it will transpire that these teams are better on tyre wear and often race pace than Mercedes which will make the whole thing more interesting with softer tyres, more stops and pit strategy.

The gap between the top three teams and Force India will generally be filled with Mclarens and Renaults, who will take it in turns to nip at the heels of the lead pack.

The Williams will be placed anywhere in the bottom twelve or so depending on the circuit, prevailing wind and whether either of their drivers are having a good day.

Haas will have an unspectacular season with a difficult car redeemed to some degree by their driver line-up which is the better of Williams and best of the remaining teams I haven’t yet mentioned.

Sauber at the back will be closer to the midfield than before and it’ll be a close-run thing between them and Toro Rosso. Maybe Toro Rosso will suffer the indignity of a whole season without points, while Sauber nab one or two capitalising on reliability problems and late-season grid penalties for Honda and Renault powered cars.


Constructors

Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Mclaren
Renault
Force India
Haas
Williams
Sauber
Toro Rosso

Drivers

Hamilton
Bottas
Vettel
Verstappen
Ricciardo
Raikkonen
Alonso
Saintz
Vandoorne
Ocon
Perez
Hulkenberg
Grosjean
Sirotkin
Stroll
Magnussen
Gasly
Leclerc
Hartley
Ericsson

[HustleRussell]

Gaz. said:

The pecking order and how it unfolds is interesting, I don't share the optimism of Mclaren, I think they are going to be slaughtered by RBR and soundly beat by Renault. I think Ferrari have shot their bolt with the suspension fannying about of last season which wrong-footed Merc and RBR, this year both have cars as intended. I'm fascinated to see how Torro Rosso get on, my word I'll laugh like a drain if they piss all over Mclaren.

I can't wait for testing and I think we're in for a belter of a season- well fans of the sport are, the sky is falling "oh if only it was 1986, where's Diana" brigade will never be satisfied but they are fking off at the end of the season anyway so it's all gravy baby.

That’s the spirit!

I agree that Ferrari aren’t going to create the kind of opportunity they wasted last season, but I think both they and Red Bull will challenge Mercedes at times. I just think that the reliability of Mercedes’ cars and drivers will be the difference. If you’re Daniel Ricciardo and you’re starting on the 3rd row with Vettel to your right, Verstappen immediately in front and maybe a Sainz and Ocon behind you’re probably not going to get through the first corner unscathed 21 times.

I really agonised over the McLaren / Renault order in my prediction, Alonso was my key decisive factor there- Sainz is going to be driving out of his skin in an effort to embarrass Hülkenberg and I don’t think he’s beyond the odd mistake here and there. Also I didn’t want to underestimate Vandoorne.

Edited by HustleRussell on Thursday 8th February 11:02

[HustleRussell]

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.

[HustleRussell]

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...

[HustleRussell]

Gunter Steiner: 2018 Haas is 90% made in Italy

[HustleRussell]

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.

[HustleRussell]

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.

[HustleRussell]

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]

There's been some activity around the remnants of the Brabham company on social media in recent weeks. Force India are still yet to reveal anything about their new name and their livery. A change of ownership of Force India was mooted in the summer and the Brabham company were linked to those rumours...

Meanwhile of the 2018 car Sergio Perez says he's "seen some colours"

[HustleRussell]

Williams appoints Oliver Rowland their ‘official young driver’, when both of their current racing drivers are younger than him!

[HustleRussell]

BBC has a live text feed, which is best?

I take it nobody’s doing any audio coverage?

How long before a McLaren stops on track?

(Or a Toro Rosso for that matter)

[HustleRussell]

Already gone wrong for McLaren

[HustleRussell]

As always you can’t really deduce a thing from day 1 of test 1 with certainty.

The cars have been remarkably reliable so far. Mclaren, despite Renault, have still managed to end the day with the wooden spoon for reliability.

Unsurprisingly the Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull look the most sorted.

NRS said:

FI seem to have slipped back massively this year.

Honda engine is massively improved, looks like they will be fighting for mid-table positions.

Sauber as expected near the back.

Waaaaay too early to say. Force India have Nikita Mazepin in the car. Toro Rosso Honda might simply be trying harder than everybody else- the PU might be as inefficient, underpowered and undrivable as ever for all we know. At least it hasn’t shaken the Toro Rosso to pieces yet.

[HustleRussell]

Was wondering what was going on with Red Bull, seems they've lost most of their morning with a fuel leak.

Gary Anderson on the Autosport podcast has observed Alonso trying to get past Hartley in the Toro Rosso yesterday and failing as it was too fast in a straight line. Not sure if he was just trying to heighten the irony, if not that is hilarious and frustrating at the same time.

[HustleRussell]

Apparently the Mercedes looks pretty tricky compared to the Ferrari, Red Bull and Mclaren

[HustleRussell]

LordGrover said:

HustleRussell said:

Apparently the Mercedes looks pretty tricky compared to the Ferrari, Red Bull and Mclaren

In this context, what do you mean by tricky?

Autosport's trackside reporters said something along the lines of the latter cars simply looking more stable / easier to drive.

[HustleRussell]

Renault F1 team already considering 'strategic' 2018 grid penalties.

They've already announced that their engine will be no faster than it was at the end of 2017, and now it appears it's not meeting reliability targets either?