Formula One 2014

[MatthewT85]

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/180645.html

while i understand mercs position... why give up the advantage you have because everyone else failed to come up with a good powerunit.

but i do feel an unfreeze is necessary for the 'sport' cause the mercedes engines are just too good and the next 2-3 seasons will be pretty much the same...

[Anfanee]

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/180645.html

while i understand mercs position... why give up the advantage you have because everyone else failed to come up with a good powerunit.

but i do feel an unfreeze is necessary for the 'sport' cause the mercedes engines are just too good and the next 2-3 seasons will be pretty much the same...

Why ban the R32 GTR since it was better designed for the rules in group A back in the day?

[MatthewT85]

so im not sure what the rules were back in the day...

but was it banned or was it the point where they moved to v8supercars?

also i assume back then they could develop the cars?

and we/they arent talking about banning the mercs just allowing a bit more freedom. Also i dont completely understand the token system, does it allow for changes like splitting the turbo like the mercs?

[Anfanee]

I'll all about keeping it fair.

At the moment its like oh look Merc will win again. There is little competition

[djr81]

so im not sure what the rules were back in the day...

but was it banned or was it the point where they moved to v8supercars?

also i assume back then they could develop the cars?

and we/they arent talking about banning the mercs just allowing a bit more freedom. Also i dont completely understand the token system, does it allow for changes like splitting the turbo like the mercs?

Was pretty simple they binned the group A rules and moved to the V8 formula. Obviously a 4WD turbo charged car is not a rear wheel drive 5 litre V8 so the GTR was no longer eligible. Just like the Sierra was no longer eligible and anything else was no longer eligible in turbo charged or 4WD form. Yet people bang on about how it was banned etc.

The problem here is that with the restriction in the engine freedoms it is hard to fix the things that need fixing to make the Renault and Ferrari competitive. Honda may be ok as they have had a year to digest what works and what doesn't. It is in MB's own interests to maintain the freeze and to be fair, it is cheaper to do so. Whether or not it is in F1's interest is another matter. F1 is such an engine biased format now so it is pretty important.

[Roy]

There is one very obvious and easy to exploit option for RBR here.

Sack Renault and go with Nismo-infinit. Then for 2015 Nismo can take the 2014 Renault engine and do a Supertec-Mechachrome job and enter as a new engine supplier. Caterham are not going to be around next year to need an engine. Lotus have walked. How hard is it for Renault to leave F1 next year and give the operation to Nismo and just suppy STR and RBR?

I know Renault like to have their name associated with F1 but ...at the end of the day I am pretty sure Mecachrome still buidl the Renault engines anway, its hardly in house. So Nismo just take overpaying the invoices

[hrd-hr30]

unable to sympathise with RBR's crocodile tears I'm afraid.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes that in doing so Mercedes will be acting against the interests of the sport.

"It's too out of kilter when you have five Mercedes cars in the top five," he said

Five Mercedes cars in the top five has happened exactly once in sixteen races. Won't happen again at the next race, so there's no longer an issue.

It presumably wasn't too far out of kilter when one team won 4 WDC in a row... f**koffhorner!

Edited October 23, 2014 by hrd-hr30

[djr81]

Probably. Maybe I wonder which V8 Supercar team Sam Michael is going ot come back and be a hack for?

Hoping he can do for 888 what he did for Williams & McLaren.

[MatthewT85]

unable to sympathise with RBR's crocodile tears I'm afraid.

Five Mercedes cars in the top five has happened exactly once in sixteen races. Won't happen again at the next race, so there's no longer an issue.

It presumably wasn't too far out of kilter when one team won 4 WDC in a row... f**koffhorner!

whilst i get what you mean about them being happy when they were winning, to be fair the regs didnt mean their following success was deteremined by the previous season.

everyone could redesign/package the new car, they cant do that with their engines this/next year, giving the merc engines a far bigger advantage

[hrd-hr30]

these rules were announced well in advance, including the engine freeze. If a team built a better engine, they were always going to have a long standing advantage. That was obvious well in advance. FIA anticipated this and that's why the rules are the way they are - ie allowing development. (http://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/publication/file/FIA%20F1%20Power%20Unit%20leaflet.pdf)

They can change half the engine for next year. That's plenty you would think. Considering its really turbo & ERS systems that Merc have an advantage with. Renault surely don't need to throw out the whole ICE design to get on par??? Could they really have completely stuffed up every aspect of their engine design??? Seriously, there's plenty of scope for development.

The other thing that I really don't like about RBR's approach here is them claiming it's too out of kilter because there was a Merc powered sweep of the top five in one single race. That's just spin. He knows it. But he knows it will make animpact on public opinion too.. It's just spin. A top 5 sweep hasn't happened before this season and it won't happen again. I twas just the specific set of circumstances at Sochi. Renault engines clean swept the top 4 in recent years. No other team cried to the media about that. No-one even raised an eyebrow.

[djr81]

Ouch

McLaren has announced that Sam Michael is to step down as sporting director at the end of the season because the team is now ‘more than crap enough’.

‘Before we brought Sam on board we were dangerously close to winning world championships,’ admitted a Woking insider. ‘Thankfully, with his experience of making Williams completely rubbish, we were able to become the disappointing team we are today with a level of mediocrity we could only get from Sam. Or perhaps a Peugeot engine.’

‘We are delighted with the soul-crushing dismalness we have achieved and that’s why it’s the right time for Sam to leave his role as sporking director,’ explained another high ranking source. ‘Of course, we are aware of what happened at Williams after Sam left. They became quite good. But hopefully our new Honda engine won’t work properly and we’ll be able to maintain this level of depressingly poor performance in his absence.’

‘We are sorry to see Sam Michael leave his role as spurting director,’ said an official McLaren statement. ‘In particular, team personnel will miss their regular games of trying to guess what the f**k he actually does around here’.

[chus13]

You realise that is a sniff petrol article don't you?

I am all for the engine un-freeze. You can't have one team having that much of an advantage over the others and not change the regs. Red Bull had innovative designs and when other teams adopted them and were still far less successful than Red Bull, the rules were changed in order to keep a relatively even playing field.

[djr81]

You realise that is a sniff petrol article don't you?

I am all for the engine un-freeze. You can't have one team having that much of an advantage over the others and not change the regs. Red Bull had innovative designs and when other teams adopted them and were still far less successful than Red Bull, the rules were changed in order to keep a relatively even playing field.

Yeah I do. Sometimes they do get a ltttle close to the truth. To be fair to Michael he had no budget at Williams worth a fk as compared to this year where they have spent up big (and are massively in the red) and have a good engine. How sustainable it is remains to be seen. Also it isnt really down to him that McLarens aero is shit is it?

As for the engines there are considerable freedoms. Whether they are enough to allow a wholesale redesign of the I/C, turbo, and packaging they clearly need is something I dont know. Still the I/C's vary from team to team so maybe it will be enough. But the split turbo doesnt explain the power advantage MB has. Renault is reputed to have a better battery system too.

The other point is of last years enignes the Renault was the least powerful but made up for it in packaging.

[tweety bird]

http://m.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116487/caterham-set-to-miss-next-two-races

Say goodbye Roy!

[tweety bird]

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/audi/89171/audi-to-join-f1-in-2016

Audi looking to join f1.

I like.

[Roy]

They shouls stick with WEC. Shame if the series loses them as a manufaturer

[MatthewT85]

http://en.espnf1.com/usa/motorsport/story/180877.html

marussia could miss us as well

[tweety bird]

http://wtf1.co.uk/recycled-f1-engines/

Madness.

[tweety bird]

Nico's workout.

[tweety bird]

Nico's workout.