2020 Formula 1 thread

[ZontheRocks]

Originally Posted by ZCanadian

Well, Charles Leclerc, anyway. ;-)

I agree - lots of great talent, young and old, on the grid. And Max VerCrashin' makes it interesting...

Haha I was definitely not paying attention there!

But yes, looking forward to watching the young phenom on the track.

[axmea?]

Zoltar says.......

[IMG]Martini by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

Aside from no $$$ backing them up, they lost their way and were just poorly run. I hope they pick themselves up......it won't be this year.

[DLSTR]

Hakkinen: Ferrari aren’t on Mercedes/Red Bull level

https://www.planetf1.com/news/mika-h...m=talk_of_town

The best performance earlier this year in testing was Mercedes and Red Bull,” he told Laureus.

“They were really cool, really quick. So those teams will be there. Is Ferrari going to be there, strong? I’m sure it’s going to be there too, but is it going to be the same level as Red Bull and Mercedes? I don’t think so.”

The Finn made it clear that there will be no margin for error in a shortened season, and that every member of the teams will be pushed hard.

“If your car, engine, gearbox, aerodynamics don’t work straight away for the first Grand Prix, it’s very difficult to come back from there for sure,” he explained.

“The package has to be right, from the beginning. And if the team’s having any kind of issues, technical problems with the materials or the cars, it’s going to be a nightmare.

[axmea?]

If that's the case, it'll be between Mercedes and RB. Of the top 3, these are the 2 that makes little mistakes, especially Mercedes. Yes?

[ZCanadian]

Question - how many replacement components will each car be allowed in a shortened season? Anyone hear?

[ZCanadian]

Originally Posted by axmea?

Zoltar says.......

[IMG]Martini by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

Aside from no $$$ backing them up, they lost their way and were just poorly run. I hope they pick themselves up......it won't be this year.

I think that Mclaren are in worse shape. Sounds like they may be forced into receivership before the end of July unless a white knight comes along. This relates to the entire Mclaren auto group, not just the F1 team, as I understand it, but may result in the F1 team being sold off in order to help keep the road car division afloat.

Sorry, Canada is all out of gazillionaires willing to buy teams to put their sons in seats. Somebody else's turn!

EDIT - never mind - I guess the Bank of Bahrain put up 150million pounds earlier today!

[axmea?]

I was gonna say, wait for it.......some Middle Eastern money going through Western Union money order paid to McLaren.

[ZCanadian]

Originally Posted by axmea?

I was gonna say, wait for it.......some Middle Eastern money going through Western Union money order paid to McLaren.

Kind of the opposite to the usual scam, you mean? LOL

Bahraini interests already own a majority share in McLaren, followed by Saudi and Canadian businessmen. I suspect that sheik whasisname provided a personal guarantee on the loan, or put up one of his smaller yachts as collateral.

[JARblue]

They should reach out for help from a Nigerian Prince in the guise of some inherited wealth transaction scam

[DLSTR]

https://www.planetf1.com/news/martin...team-politics/

This will be interesting !

[God-Speed]

Originally Posted by DLSTR

https://www.planetf1.com/news/martin...team-politics/

This will be interesting !

[ZCanadian]

Meh, headline grabbing click bait.
These guys are all well paid professionals and will run their contracts for this year.
Maybe the last race will get interesting, when some vendettas get repaid without consequence, but I'd rather that the racing be the big story. Not covid, liveries, fire suits, schoolboy feuds, or controversy surrounding things like DAS.

[DLSTR]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/53240762

Verstappen has won the past two Austrian Grands Prix, and Red Bull's car has always been competitive in Hungary. So the Dutchman has what would appear to be a very strong chance of taking the fight to Hamilton as the year gets under way, even if the lack of fans at races means he won't be serenaded by his army of orange-clad fans this time.

Red Bull's competitiveness at their own circuit is partly caused by the fact that the track is located at an altitude of 800m, which appears to favour the Honda engine compared with the Mercedes.

This, engine boffins at the teams say, is down to how each manufacturer has chosen to design and run its turbo. Mercedes is believed to run its turbo and compressor at the regulation maximum 125,000rpm limit more often than Honda. This gives optimum efficiency most of the time.

Report:
But at altitude the turbo and compressor have to work harder to compensate for the lack of oxygen in the atmosphere if the engine is to produce the same power.

If the turbo is already running usually at maximum revs, there is no headroom to increase its speed to compensate for altitude, and the engine becomes what is known as 'saturated'. By contrast, an engine that is optimised to run less often at maximum turbo revs can speed up its turbo and compressor to compensate, reducing the performance differential between the two.

This effect is most pronounced in Mexico City, where the track is at 2,000m, but also applies in Austria and Brazil - all three are races where the Honda and Renault engines have appeared in the past few seasons to take a step forward in competitiveness compared with Mercedes.

Nevertheless, it would be a bold move to predict that Mercedes will struggle for competitiveness in Austria.

For one thing, that was 2018 and 2019 - it is not known whether the design of the respective engines has changed in this respect over the winter.

Secondly, Mercedes' struggles in Austria in the past two seasons have had two very specific causes.

In 2018, Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas were running one-two before both retired with hydraulic system failures.

And in 2019, the team had made a mistake on its cooling package at the design stage, which could not be sufficiently fixed during the season. This meant the car ran too hot when the ambient temperature was above a certain level. Race day in Austria was over 30C, so the engine had to be run detuned.

There is no reason to believe that either of these handicaps will apply in 2020.

[God-Speed]

Good News, Bad News. First the Good News, We have Formula 1 Racing!!!! Now the Bad News, We still have Martin Brundle as one of the commentators.

[DLSTR]

Originally Posted by God-Speed

Good News, Bad News. First the Good News, We have Formula 1 Racing!!!! Now the Bad News, We still have Martin Brundle as one of the commentators.

I have met and conversed with Martin on several occasions in the paddock and outside of it at races. He is very knowledgable and very easy to talk with. He knows the sport and was a driver. If you were to meet him and engage in conversation your opinion would most likely change.

He is also a true fan and will speak his mind like the rest of us and is keen to tell you he does not have all the answers as teams dont even tell him all the secrets lol