Any F1 newsy gossip?

[yellowperil]

Was wondering, since it fizzled itself out at year end, is anything happening? First time for me in almost 50yrs that I am this disinterested in F1. Hope something comes soon to turn that around. Any inside juice on HAAS F1?.

They gotta do something with the look and sound of these racecars. Tire choices, fuel rules and LESS, much less rules and penalties.

Noboby"s going to listen to me but what the h**l.

Haas's last foray into F1 with Alan Jones was a major flop, as I recall.

[herr_oberst]

Yellow, that was Carl Haas. He's the importer of Lola cars and the IndyCar team owner.

The new Haas F1 team is owned by the guy that builds the Haas CNC machines.

[yellowperil]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Yellow, that was Carl Haas. He's the importer of Lola cars and the IndyCar team owner.

The new Haas F1 team is owned by the guy that builds the Haas CNC machines.

Thanks, did not know that. And BTW I hope they are a huge success. Hope they do it from Europe as I think it's a mistake to try it from US

[5String43]

At this time of year, the F1 world is dead quiet but probably will become more lively after the first of the year. Tire testing starts in January, and then pre-season starts in March, with the Oz GP not long after that. So let's see, what's going on? Lots of talk about the proposed 2017 rules, with more downforce from a more elaborate floor and larger front wings; about the possibility of a generic engine that could challenge the power units of the manufacturers - Red Bull is counting on that but Ferrari would try to veto it - Bernie sez he can get around the veto; some talk about the livery of the Haas cars, with some suggesting they could be yellow; Bouillier, at McLaren, sez his team could pick up more than two seconds over the winter; the F1 race at COTA may not happen in '16; and quite a bit more, but it's all detail, not terribly meaningful stuff, seems to me. You guys probably know most, or all, of this already.

[yellowperil]

Originally Posted by 5String43

At this time of year, the F1 world is dead quiet but probably will become more lively after the first of the year. Tire testing starts in January, and then pre-season starts in March, with the Oz GP not long after that. So let's see, what's going on? Lots of talk about the proposed 2017 rules, with more downforce from a more elaborate floor and larger front wings; about the possibility of a generic engine that could challenge the power units of the manufacturers - Red Bull is counting on that but Ferrari would try to veto it - Bernie sez he can get around the veto; some talk about the livery of the Haas cars, with some suggesting they could be yellow; Bouillier, at McLaren, sez his team could pick up more than two seconds over the winter; the F1 race at COTA may not happen in '16; and quite a bit more, but it's all detail, not terribly meaningful stuff, seems to me. You guys probably know most, or all, of this already.

I didn't think the front wings could get any larger or uglier, but what do I know.? Thanks for your input, everything in these times is so hi-tech it's hard to keep up!

[gorthar]

Any F1 newsy gossip?

If you're looking for gossip, apparently Jenson Button and his wife are totally splitsville.

Raikkonen to marry, Button splits with wife > F1 News > Grandprix.com

[yellowperil]

Originally Posted by gorthar

If you're looking for gossip, apparently Jenson Button and his wife are totally splitsville.

Raikkonen to marry, Button splits with wife > F1 News > Grandprix.com

She must be part owner of McLaren.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by yellowperil

Was wondering, since it fizzled itself out at year end, is anything happening? First time for me in almost 50yrs that I am this disinterested in F1.

Me too. And I've been watching since 1980 ! I recently was watching a Senna incar footage, and the look and sound of those cars, manual shifts too, wow that was something... Forgot how much I missed it !

As to your question:

The only "?" is will Ferrari be able to take the fight to Mercedes, and to a much smaller degree can Rosberg punt Hamilton into a wall and sow some seeds of doubt in the little tatooed rapper's head and have a shot at the crown. My guess is NO on both counts. The media is pushing the Ferrari progress stories to drum up interest, but with the current rules and limited tokens for engine change, it would take a serious cockup from the Mercedes designers for the order to change.

Renault finalized its takeover of lotus, looks for different colors, and possibly not Jolyon Palmer as a second driver (who the F names their kid Jolyon?). It's gonna be a while before something comes out of it and their engine improves - under the current stupid development rules.

RedBull is using the core renault engines but will rebadge them Tag-Heuer and develop them in house with Mario Ilien (ex-Ilmor) and others, until they can get a better engine.. one wonders about the wisdom of spending all that money to develop an engine and switch in a year or 2...

Haas is indeed the question mark. Essentially a Ferrari Jr Team that has had a lot of access to Ferrari Data and parts last year (and vice versa, Ferrari used them to validate a lot of choices that explain their resurgence, all within the rules more or less, hence the recent Mercedes questioning of the validity of those rules). Would be fun to see them do well... Chances are they will be solid midfielders...

Honda is making noise like they are going to improve substantially... See above re: rules and tokens, I kinda doubt it will be as much as they think. I foresee Alonso and Button not lasting past another disastrous season.

For the first time ever, I pretty much don't give a crap when the season starts. I will watch to see if the status quo changed... I'd love to see Rosberg grow a pair and wreck Hamilton hard next time he pulls a dicey move. But meh. WEC's got me now, more fun to watch but hard to follow on limited channels... I miss the good old days of ALMS too...

[Captain Ahab Jr]

I talk with friends at most teams most weeks, this time of year there is not much news as everyone is busy getting prepared for next year's season. All big teams will have people working all day, everyday other than Christmas, Boxing Day and News Years Day. It's the time of year when most championships are won or lost even before a wheel has turned. Grams to be saved, aero points to be had and simulation/engineering/race strategy work to be done. Not that it ever stops it's just the pace is a bit more frantic.

First time in 18yrs I'm not in the thick of the action working on a F1 car but hopefully some of the work I did this year will help one team win a championship even if I'm not their to enjoy it. I'm not far from the action though as this year I have the luxury of a ringside seat working on non-F1 work inside a team that punches well above its weight. I won't say the name but it has the best, most friendly, down to earth feeling of all the F1 teams I've worked for, I really like the vibe and feels like stepping back in time to the late-90's when everything was a bit smaller and less corporate.

Ferrari's resurgence is nothing to do with the Haas connection but the result of a lot of hard work from a bunch of very committed people, whom many of them are very good friends to me. Agree it is a very good strategic move for both teams and I really hope Haas have a good start to their first year in F1. After USF1's embarrassing effort whatever they do has to be better. I have a lot of reservations on how Haas will operate as a team in the longer term but I'm sure they will adapt as they get to understand more of the enormity of the task they have ahead of them.

Honda and McLaren have not become stupid over night and they will be pushing harder to make up ground than any other team on the grid as respect is involved not just race results.

Really pleased to hear that Renault have finally taken over Enstone (where Lotus is based and where I spent 4 very enjoyable years). It will take them a couple of years to regroup, the best guys will have left and will need replacing which will be difficult and will take time. I heard they are committed to F1 for the next 9yrs which is why they negotiated so hard with Bernie to have their historical payments reinstated, so they should as they are not one of the manufacturers that run away when it all becomes too hard eg Toyota, BMW etc The team announced today they are keeping Maldonado and Palmer, agree with this approach as while they rebuild no point in having top guns. Expect news early next year that Bob Bell (top dude, great guy who know's what's what and know's how to get things done) the architect of their previous world championship success and the unsung hero of Mercedes domination to be part of the management structure (no inside scoop just me making 2+2=5)

Red Bull, not the happiest camp on the grid from what I hear and hard to feel any sympathy for them as the situation was their own making. In F1 how you lose is as important as how you win, when it got tough they were too quick to forget half of their previous championship success came from Renault. I'm glad they worked out an engine deal as it would be a poor reflection on F1 if they just quit.

As for 2017 rules, I'm not up to speed with the changes but changes are good as it upsets the pecking order and makes the game hard which is reason why most people in F1 choose to do what they do. Saying goes in F1, 'If it was easy you wouldn't want do it'

I may watch some races, I may not, depends if I have anything better to do at the time.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

I talk with friends at most teams most weeks,

You are very plugged in, and as such I respect your opinions on this... Just wondering about the Ferrari/Haas thing though. There was a lot of noise about them using Hass' "free" year to validate a few development directions. If that's not true and does not explain any of their progress, why would Mercedes have raised that topic with the FIA (singling out Ferrari and Haas) and sought a clear ruling, to do the same thing with a junior team and accelerate development ? No doubt they worked hard as well.. Just curious if you heard anything.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

You are very plugged in, and as such I respect your opinions on this... Just wondering about the Ferrari/Haas thing though. There was a lot of noise about them using Hass' "free" year to validate a few development directions. If that's not true and does not explain any of their progress, why would Mercedes have raised that topic with the FIA (singling out Ferrari and Haas) and sought a clear ruling, to do the same thing with a junior team and accelerate development ? No doubt they worked hard as well.. Just curious if you heard anything.

Any data found this year is too late for this year's car development. The big step in this years car was engine work and clawing back chassis performance as the year progressed.

The FIA gave their blessing before the Ferrari/Haas thing even started and gave their blessing again after Mercedes recently asked for the rules to be clarified.

There is no FIA/Ferrari conspiracy, no matter how much the tin foil hats want to believe there is. What most people fail to realise is that Ferrari who have been the longest and most successful racing manufacturer have the most to lose from cheating so it would be very short sighted for them to try anything that breaks the rules.

Pushing the rules to the letter of the law is very different to cheating, this will be the case with any connection to Haas. Yes Haas uses the same wind tunnel but Ferrari is not alone in letting another team use their on site wind tunnel.

[Deschodt]

Cool, thanks!

Also looking forward to see if Renault can recapture some of their engine magic...

[javadog]

I think Rossi has managed to replace Mehri at Manor. Not sure it has been announced, or not.

JR

[strupgolf]

Next year I don't have F1 on my cable. Oh well, nothing but boring cars, engines, and sounds. I long for the old days, hell, just 10 years ago.

[javadog]

I've been a lifelong fan, for decades. I've seen F1 cars from every era run in person, albeit I only saw the really old ones in modern vintage races. I hate the latest green rules, I hate the mryiad changes over the years to slow them down (especially the track width reductions, wheel and wing size reductions and grooved tires.) I hate all of the new tracks in countries I think have no tradition in the sport. I hate Bernie and all of his bull****.

That said, I'm happy to lean over a fence and watch an F1 car run. I don't care if there are two cars racing, I'm happy just to watch one. Failing that, I'm happy to turn on a TV and watch what I can. I'm also happy to sit and look over the details of an F1 car. Much can be learned by just looking at one for hours.

It's either in your blood, or its not. If its not, that's why they have football, basketball, baseball and all of the other worthless sports. There are also other forms of racing, if you don't care about the technical side (apart from MotoGP, which is interesting on that level, too).

86 days...

JR

[yellowperil]

I must say, and I'd probably get some agreement on his, just how fortunate we are to have someone so "in the know" and "in the thick of things" as mr. Captain Ahab Jr. who is good enough to add his thoughts on F1 for all of us to ponder.

Thanks to you and enjoy your holidays, whatever they may be! Sincerely YP

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

I talk with friends at most teams most weeks, this time of year there is not much news as everyone is busy getting prepared for next year's season. All big teams will have people working all day, everyday other than Christmas, Boxing Day and News Years Day. It's the time of year when most championships are won or lost even before a wheel has turned. Grams to be saved, aero points to be had and simulation/engineering/race strategy work to be done. Not that it ever stops it's just the pace is a bit more frantic.

First time in 18yrs I'm not in the thick of the action working on a F1 car but hopefully some of the work I did this year will help one team win a championship even if I'm not their to enjoy it. I'm not far from the action though as this year I have the luxury of a ringside seat working on non-F1 work inside a team that punches well above its weight. I won't say the name but it has the best, most friendly, down to earth feeling of all the F1 teams I've worked for, I really like the vibe and feels like stepping back in time to the late-90's when everything was a bit smaller and less corporate.

Ferrari's resurgence is nothing to do with the Haas connection but the result of a lot of hard work from a bunch of very committed people, whom many of them are very good friends to me. Agree it is a very good strategic move for both teams and I really hope Haas have a good start to their first year in F1. After USF1's embarrassing effort whatever they do has to be better. I have a lot of reservations on how Haas will operate as a team in the longer term but I'm sure they will adapt as they get to understand more of the enormity of the task they have ahead of them.

Honda and McLaren have not become stupid over night and they will be pushing harder to make up ground than any other team on the grid as respect is involved not just race results.

Really pleased to hear that Renault have finally taken over Enstone (where Lotus is based and where I spent 4 very enjoyable years). It will take them a couple of years to regroup, the best guys will have left and will need replacing which will be difficult and will take time. I heard they are committed to F1 for the next 9yrs which is why they negotiated so hard with Bernie to have their historical payments reinstated, so they should as they are not one of the manufacturers that run away when it all becomes too hard eg Toyota, BMW etc The team announced today they are keeping Maldonado and Palmer, agree with this approach as while they rebuild no point in having top guns. Expect news early next year that Bob Bell (top dude, great guy who know's what's what and know's how to get things done) the architect of their previous world championship success and the unsung hero of Mercedes domination to be part of the management structure (no inside scoop just me making 2+2=5)

Red Bull, not the happiest camp on the grid from what I hear and hard to feel any sympathy for them as the situation was their own making. In F1 how you lose is as important as how you win, when it got tough they were too quick to forget half of their previous championship success came from Renault. I'm glad they worked out an engine deal as it would be a poor reflection on F1 if they just quit.

As for 2017 rules, I'm not up to speed with the changes but changes are good as it upsets the pecking order and makes the game hard which is reason why most people in F1 choose to do what they do. Saying goes in F1, 'If it was easy you wouldn't want do it'

I may watch some races, I may not, depends if I have anything better to do at the time.

I suspect if you could find some people that were stranded on a remote island and had no knowledge of just how bad the McLaren - Honda team has been since Honda came along they would bet money the team was at the top in performance.

Two of the most respected names in F1 and together they make a HORRIBLE team. How is it possible? It would be like the new iPhone 7 to be as bad as the Apple Lisa. It is just astonishing to me. I just hope the new Haas team is not near that bad. No one expects Haas to win any races next year but if they are as bad as McLaren - Honda it will be a real shame.

[javadog]

With regard to the Honda situation, I suspect that much of the blame lies with McLaren. I would not be surprised if they decided to make another one of their ill-though-out "great leaps forward" and dictated to Honda certain parameters for the engine packaging that doomed Honda to make some choices in engine design and architecture that caused all of the problems.

It will be interesting to see if Honda can change enough on the engine for next year to get to a point where they are not handicapped from the start. It would also be interesting to know more about their engine team, as Honda has always used motorsports to train young engineers and tended to not fill the design office with older, experienced engineers.

JR

[doug_porsche]

A major riddle that F1, and all racing really, need to solve is how to have an Unlimited Series run on a limited budget.

I know my interest in F1 has diminished in parallel with the increased testing bans F1 put in place (for "Cost Savings").

Now it seems that whomever wins the first race will also win the manufactures championship. Its almost like having 19 pop quizzes, but you're not allowed to change your answer after the first quiz, you can only change the font you used to type your answer.

McLaren has historically been very good at changing/improving the car during the year (if it wasn't totally dominant out of the box).

Push rod suspension does not work, switch to pull rod. Missed the aero because of drag, add an F-duct system. Transverse transmission gets in the way of ground effects, switch to longitudinal, etc, etc, etc.

Now it seems like "If X does not work, hmmm, have you tried a tweaked front spoiler?" "What? The location of your oil cooler is causing you issues? Well moving it once in season is approximately 1/2 of the total changes you can make for that season!"

Now, if we could get Bernie to cut his fee's in 1/2 (which will still keep him a very rich man), and use the other 1/2 for testing....

[mattdavis11]

COTA is going under, the State of Texas cut funding from $25 to 19.6 million for the 2015 F1 race, and it doesn't look like there will be a race in the USA in 2016.