F1: 2019 thread

[astrochex]

I think Kubica will perform as well as the car will let him. I would love for him to surprise and shut up all the naysayers.

[rfuerst911sc]

Here is a crazy out of the box idea for Williams to market: get a casino as a sponsor and have a slot machine graphic on the side of Kubica's car with the theme being a " one armed bandit " . Now before everyone goes all PC and gets their panties in a wad hear me out . The goal would be to raise $$$ for select charities that deal with severe injuries . Have a website that people can donate money either as a single amount , or laps completed or something similar . If Kubica and the team were open to such an idea some good can come of his horrific injury .

Tee shirts could be sold for every race with a different theme on them , again with the majority of the proceeds going to charity . I am in no way making light of Roberts injury the goal here would be education and raising funds for charities . I would think today's F1 is too snooty for such an idea and maybe society is too PC for an idea like this . But I bet if you ran it by Kubica he might be open to the idea , maybe as a way to show his caregivers how much effort they put forward to help him recover is greatly appreciated . Thoughts ? No I have not been drinking

[astrochex]

LOL, what a great idea!

You should contact RK and Williams with the concept. Kubica does seem like the type who would not be offended by it.

[CurtEgerer]

Going with Renault as a legitimate contender and race winner this year

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

Going with Renault as a legitimate contender and race winner this year

I don't trust pre-season but I really hope you are right, if only to piss off Helmut Marko.
I read a long interview with abitboul recently and they will agree that they are not up to it on the chassis front yet. They've made big investments this year in personnel and
facilities and big push on the engine, but not 100% on the chassis yet... Having Ricciardo signed lit a fire under their collective a$$es (people worked over Xmas week which they usually don't do) and I hope it works... I'm so tired of Mercedes/Ferrari with the occasional Redbull... people forget the renault engine was the one to have for so many years - they will get it right..

Hell i hope Alfa/Hass surprise also... Well, mostly Alfa...

[CurtEgerer]

Amen.

[sammyg2]

Williams insist they are not in ‘crisis mode’
Date published: February 21 2019

Claire (I still think she's hot) Williams has said the team are not in “crisis mode” after missing two-and-a-half days of pre-season testing.

The FW42 made its first on-track appearance on Wednesday afternoon after being severely delayed in getting the car ready and sent over to the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

There was relief all round when George Russell emerged from the garage in the actual car, with the team only able to put a stationary showcar in place on Monday and Tuesday.

A big game of catch-up now awaits the fallen giants, but Williams insisted that the team are not in “crisis mode”.

“I would say now we have the car on track, we’re back on track,” said Williams via Autosport.

“We’ve still got work to do. But we always said this was going to be a long road.

“We said putting this team back together was going to take time and take work.

“I think probably we got to car build and we had to go through that process as much as we went through last season, and that process clearly isn’t right at Williams either.”

“We haven’t nailed that yet and we need to do some work to make sure it is fit for purpose going into 2020. But it takes time.
“We’ve got a journey we’re on and we’ve got to make sure everything is fit for purpose: so we don’t make these mistakes in the future, we produce a better race car and we have more success on the race track.”


Williams once again refused to be drawn on any specifics about the reasons behind the delay.

She added: “There are a lot of elements to that, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to air our dirty laundry in public.

“It’s not right to do that for the people who are working so hard at Grove.

“We’ve just got it wrong. And we’ve got to fix that. Hopefully you’ll see a much more successful Williams in the coming years.”

Russell completed 23 laps in what was effectively a shakedown of the FW42. A proper testing program is in place for the final day of the first test on Thursday.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/williams-insist-they-are-not-in-crisis-mode/

[cairns]

Going with Renault as a legitimate contender and race winner this year

Me too. I would love to see the honey badger pull a late one on crashstappen and watch Christian pull out what's left of his hair.....

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by cairns

Me too. I would love to see the honey badger pull a late one on crashstappen and watch Christian pull out what's left of his hair.....

And Marko his one good eye... Ditto...

[Captain Ahab Jr]

I've quite enjoyed following testing all week on Autosport Live, don't usually have the chance to take the time to see what's happening, looks like it's going to be an interesting season ahead

Next weeks test may shake up the order slightly with most teams concentrating on performance work after digesting this weeks set up and aero work data

Really feel for the guys at Williams, not the start I'm sure they were hoping for when they started work of the FW 42

[Deschodt]

This is funny (and sad but probably true)

[legion]

So, I guess McLaren ran fine since we are all talking about Williams?

[nota]

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[Zeke]

Per sammy's post I think it's time for Claire to go.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Per sammy's post I think it's time for Claire to go.

Maybe, yeah... It's time for a shake up for sure. I don't think Claire makes any technical or design decisions, she probably just runs the company at a higher level and hustles for sponsorship, but ultimately the buck stops with her... They have Paddy Lowe who was essentially running the World champion Mercedes for a few years before Toto rose up... He might be on his way out (rumors? I read something about it recently). Smedley also left and that was probably a loss... Seems Williams is the team you move to in order to to kill your career... So yeah maybe you are right...

It does sound like big names are leaving - realistically they've been nowhere near the front since the Hill/Villeneuve era, with brief flashes in the Bmw era with Montoya probably due to the engine/driver more than a stellar chassis...They also killed Zanardi's career if I recall... I still am completely baffled as to how Crashdonaldo scored a win that day in Spain. If I believed in conspiracies......

[Won]

I think JPM had nice things to say about his Williams chassis. Listen here if you don't already, some really nice ones (I need to catch up): https://www.formula1.com/en/toolbar/beyond-the-grid-f1-podcast.html

[yellowperil]

Maldonado's win is certainly a moment in infamy, if I recall correctly he came to it honestly, had a terrific quali to 2nd but inherited pole from Ham on a technicality.

In any case made a good run and earned his only win, and maybe Williams last for awhile. Williams had a massive fire in their pit after the win, for some reason.

[astrochex]

No comment required

[David]

That picture of the transformation of Ferrari over the years explains a lot. I could swear when I saw an F1 car on display in a Dallas mall for the 1984 Dallas GP I thought it was tiny like a Malibu Grand Prix car. When I saw one years later it seemed much bigger.

[yellowperil]

That Ferrari photo says a lot, those cars are too long. Old cars were nicer. IMO