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[ElTorro]

Rumors by the normally pretty decently informed paper Telegraaf this morning indicate that upper management at Red Bull have already decided on Verstappen's promotion to Red Bull for next year, announcement will allegedly be at Spa.

Literally nobody would be surprised.

 

[Big Takeover]

Let's face it, F1 design (aesthetically) has been on a long roll downhill since 1995, so halos and windscreens can do little harm in terms of looks.

I think the windscreen is an improvement, next year it should mesh really well.

My personal hope is that the windscreen will be the tipping point for a complete re-thought on the aesthetics on an F1 car. For a whole slew of legit reasons the fundamental shape has not changed much in the last 20+ years. In the previous 30, you couldn't go 5 years without the cars morphing into something different.

You are right though. Even if you exclude everything previous to high noses and high head protection ('96 basically), I think the vast majority of people would pick the last of the wide cars, or Hakka's McLarens, or Michael's Ferrari's, or something along those lines as their favorite looking cars.

Is anyone picking something from the last 10 years? I'd give you the last of the Mild Seven Renaults but not much else.

I'm hungry for something different.

 

[tomtom94]

Rumors by the normally pretty decently informed paper Telegraaf this morning indicate that upper management at Red Bull have already decided on Verstappen's promotion to Red Bull for next year, announcement will allegedly be at Spa.

Does it say who he'll be replacing? Kvyat?

 

[rockman zx]

Rumors by the normally pretty decently informed paper Telegraaf this morning indicate that upper management at Red Bull have already decided on Verstappen's promotion to Red Bull for next year, announcement will allegedly be at Spa.

I hope he replaces Ricciardo, and Ricciardo goes to Ferrari. Kvyat is doing a good job, he deserves the seat.

 

[ramparter]

Rumors by the normally pretty decently informed paper Telegraaf this morning indicate that upper management at Red Bull have already decided on Verstappen's promotion to Red Bull for next year, announcement will allegedly be at Spa.

Cant wait for Jos to see his son stuck in a 3rd at best Red Bull and not being able to do anything noteworthy in his career.

 

[Mastah]

Rumors by the normally pretty decently informed paper Telegraaf this morning indicate that upper management at Red Bull have already decided on Verstappen's promotion to Red Bull for next year, announcement will allegedly be at Spa.

That's no surprise given they have to promote him to Red Bull or he's free to sign with another team, as was revealed by Antotio Felix da Costa few weeks ago.

Does it say who he'll be replacing? Kvyat?

If Dan wants to stay for another year with Bulls, you bet Dany is out.

 

[Aiii]

Ricciardo is under contract until the end of 2017, so it remains to be seen.

I very much doubt he'll ever be at Ferarri as long as Vettel is there.

 

[Betta Lines]

You guys realise it looks weird because it's been bolted on to a car that isn't designed to incorporate it properly?

It won't nearly be as wide and garish as a final design.

Or you know, we can just wait until someone gets hit in the face with a 2kg spring again and blacks out at 150mph.

Or they could do it properly and design a full canopy. It looks weird to my eyes because they're clinging on to some notion of an 'open' cockpit, not because it has been bolted on to an existing design. It will still look ridiculous (possibly more ridiculous) when they blend it into the bodywork, and still be dangerous. I have no doubt there will be a freak accident where a driver gets a head injury due to the still-open section, and they'll have to go through this all over again. A safe, open cockpit is a contradiction in terms. Close it up properly, or accept the risk and leave it alone, imo.

But 1995 tho

It was already getting ugly there

1991 <3

 

[Dilly]

It's obvious the regulations are going to evolve into a canopy, but that brings a lot of issues that need to be solved first, this is the short term solution.

And i'd rather have the RB short term solution then.

What the hell is Palmer doing.

 

[Mastah]

Guess what? German Jesus gets 5 grid spots penalty for gearbox change. If Kimi won't be able to find better set-up for tomorrow that's 4th consecutive race thrown away by Ferrari. Marchionne won't be happy bunny.

 

[psylah]

Or they could do it properly and design a full canopy. It looks weird to my eyes because they're clinging on to some notion of an 'open' cockpit, not because it has been bolted on to an existing design. It will still look ridiculous (possibly more ridiculous) when they blend it into the bodywork, and still be dangerous. I have no doubt there will be a freak accident where a driver gets a head injury due to the still-open section, and they'll have to go through this all over again. A safe, open cockpit is a contradiction in terms. Close it up properly, or accept the risk and leave it alone, imo.


It was already getting ugly there

1991 <3

I like that Nigel Mansell's marlboro logo on his helmet is suggestively mustache shaped.

 

[Line_HTX]

LOL, Jesus took a 5 grid spot penalty for a gearbox change.

 

[DrM]

Guess what? German Jesus gets 5 grid spots penalty for gearbox change. If Kimi won't be able to find better set-up for tomorrow that's 4th consecutive race thrown away by Ferrari. Marchionne won't be happy bunny.

And if they screw with big Barcelona upgrade, first heads will roll in Maranello
They have so much technical issues this year and I think that even more will come if they continue with too aggressive approach

And I expect carnage into 2nd corner - it is looooong run there

 

[DBT85]

It's obvious the regulations are going to evolve into a canopy, but that brings a lot of issues that need to be solved first, this is the short term solution.

And i'd rather have the RB short term solution then.

What the hell is Palmer doing.

The only issue involving a canopy is driver escape.

The issue around driver escape is because so many were cooked to death due to fuel fires thanks to tanks exploding.

That hasn't happened in years because of the frankly incredible work done to make the new fuel tanks which are stupendously indestructible.

If its a short term fix then this is the best option over the halo, but tbh I'd rather they just accepted where its going and put the full canopy on.

 

[AndyD]

I like that Nigel Mansell's marlboro logo on his helmet is suggestively mustache shaped.

One of the best gifs ive seen in a while.

 

[Zaru]

Guess what? German Jesus gets 5 grid spots penalty for gearbox change. If Kimi won't be able to find better set-up for tomorrow that's 4th consecutive race thrown away by Ferrari. Marchionne won't be happy bunny.

Is this going to be the year of bitter irony?

Hamilton won the last two championships with room to spare, now he had his worst season start in half a decade.

Ferrari wanted to be a serious contender this year, fucked up reliability and still can't beat Merc directly.

Riccy was the strongest Red Bull driver in the last two years, now Kvyat stole the first podium of the year.

McLaren wanted to make leaps forward and has two world champions in the team, but the only points so far are from a stand-in during his first ever F1 race.

The list probably goes on if you continue looking.

 

[Dilly]

The only issue involving a canopy is driver escape.

The issue around driver escape is because so many were cooked to death due to fuel fires thanks to tanks exploding.

That hasn't happened in years because of the frankly incredible work done to make the new fuel tanks which are stupendously indestructible.

If its a short term fix then this is the best option over the halo, but tbh I'd rather they just accepted where its going and put the full canopy on.

You don't replace one one in a billion situation with another. There are plenty of scenarios where driver extraction is very important without it involving a fire.

 

[DBT85]

You don't replace one one in a billion situation with another. There are plenty of scenarios where driver extraction is very important without it involving a fire.

What are they? I genuinely can't think of any. Even after that crumpled wreck that Alonso climbed out of the other week, he didn't NEED to get out.

Currently drivers have to be able to extract themselves from the car in under 5 seconds (It might be 3 seconds, I can't recall). It's to stop them burning to death or dying of asphyxiation in a huge car fire, something that doesn't happen any more in F1.

I can't think of an incident where it was imperative that the driver got out by themselves since the new fuel tanks were introduced and cars stopped bursting into flames a la Lauda in 76.

As for the odds, its readily obvious to anyone watching motorsport that open cockpits are a direct cause of death and injury several times in the last 5 years, not only in F1 but other series too.

Wilson, Surtees, Bianchi, Villota, Wheldon all died as a result of head contact with something.

Massa could easily have died too.

Alonso was about an inch from probably dying when Grosjeans tyre barely missed him in 2012.

Alonso nearly did the same to Kimi in 2015.

 

[nekkid]

Ricciardo is under contract until the end of 2017, so it remains to be seen.

I very much doubt he'll ever be at Ferarri as long as Vettel is there.

Giving drivers that kind of authority (the "Alonso veto") over a team is incomprehensible to me. They're employees, suck it up.

 

[sammex]

I like that Nigel Mansell's marlboro logo on his helmet is suggestively mustache shaped.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZAsCRIEaA

 

[Mobius 1]

I like that Nigel Mansell's marlboro logo on his helmet is suggestively mustache shaped.

I can't stop laughing

 

[Line_HTX]

I like that Nigel Mansell's marlboro logo on his helmet is suggestively mustache shaped.

( &#865;° &#860;&#662; &#865;°)

( &#865;° &#860;&#662; &#865;°)

( &#865;° &#860;&#662; &#865;°)

 

[Tempy]

What are they? I genuinely can't think of any. Even after that crumpled wreck that Alonso climbed out of the other week, he didn't NEED to get out.

Currently drivers have to be able to extract themselves from the car in under 5 seconds (It might be 3 seconds, I can't recall). It's to stop them burning to death or dying of asphyxiation in a huge car fire, something that doesn't happen any more in F1.

I can't think of an incident where it was imperative that the driver got out by themselves since the new fuel tanks were introduced and cars stopped bursting into flames a la Lauda in 76.

As for the odds, its readily obvious to anyone watching motorsport that open cockpits are a direct cause of death and injury several times in the last 5 years, not only in F1 but other series too.

Wilson, Surtees, Bianchi, Villota, Wheldon all died as a result of head contact with something.

Massa could easily have died too.

Alonso was about an inch from probably dying when Grosjeans tyre barely missed him in 2012.

Alonso nearly did the same to Kimi in 2015.

There's been a couple of instances of cars going up in flames. None too scary, as the drivers have been able to get out, and the fires don't burn as fast as before. Any full canopy solution will still need to allow the driver to get out in roughly the same time, which is a bit harder compared to LMP1 cars since F1 cars don't have doors. I'm sure they can come up with a good solution. For now, the current solutions should be much safer than nothing, and I have no issues with their looks.

 

[Dilly]

What are they? I genuinely can't think of any. Even after that crumpled wreck that Alonso climbed out of the other week, he didn't NEED to get out.

Currently drivers have to be able to extract themselves from the car in under 5 seconds (It might be 3 seconds, I can't recall). It's to stop them burning to death or dying of asphyxiation in a huge car fire, something that doesn't happen any more in F1.

I can't think of an incident where it was imperative that the driver got out by themselves since the new fuel tanks were introduced and cars stopped bursting into flames a la Lauda in 76.

As for the odds, its readily obvious to anyone watching motorsport that open cockpits are a direct cause of death and injury several times in the last 5 years, not only in F1 but other series too.

Wilson, Surtees, Bianchi, Villota, Wheldon all died as a result of head contact with something.

Massa could easily have died too.

Alonso was about an inch from probably dying when Grosjeans tyre barely missed him in 2012.

Alonso nearly did the same to Kimi in 2015.

With a canopy he wouldn't have been able to get out. The thing is that with a canopy it would be even harder for the medics to give first aid to a driver because there is no way with the current solution that they can reach him and make contact. Fire isn't the only problem with the canopy solution.

All the cases you mentioned would also be solved with the RB solution.

 

[DrM]

Mercedes used two tokens on 'fuel system', looks like direct response to new Ferrari high pressure fuel injection stuff

 

[marvelharvey]

I love how the official Formula E Youtube channel spoils its own races.

 

[Cheeseman Battitude]

My personal hope is that the windscreen will be the tipping point for a complete re-thought on the aesthetics on an F1 car. For a whole slew of legit reasons the fundamental shape has not changed much in the last 20+ years. In the previous 30, you couldn't go 5 years without the cars morphing into something different.

You are right though. Even if you exclude everything previous to high noses and high head protection ('96 basically), I think the vast majority of people would pick the last of the wide cars, or Hakka's McLarens, or Michael's Ferrari's, or something along those lines as their favorite looking cars.

Is anyone picking something from the last 10 years? I'd give you the last of the Mild Seven Renaults but not much else.

I'm hungry for something different.

90 Williams
90 Ferrari
91 McLaren
93 McLaren
93 Footwork
95 Tyrrell

All GOAT.

 

[tomtom94]

BBC say the rules changes have been agreed:

The move follows months of talks in the wake of concerns about the expense, complexity and sound of the hybrid engines, and Mercedes' dominance of F1.

Costs for customer teams will reduce by €1m in 2017 and a further €3m in 2018.

And the four manufacturers have agreed a package of measures aimed at bringing engines' performance closer together.

Governing body the FIA has agreed to guarantee the stability of the regulations until 2020 and to maintain the existing governance structure of F1.

[...]

Ways in which F1 hopes to ensure the convergence of performance across the four suppliers include the removal of restrictions on development and constraints on the weights, dimensions and materials of various parts of the engines.

In addition, restrictions on turbo-boost pressure will be introduced in 2017 and 2018.

To further ensure cost reduction for customer teams, who have complained the engines are too expensive, the number of engines a driver can use each season will be progressively reduced over the next two years.

[...]

The engine rule changes are in addition to wholesale design changes for the cars aimed at making them faster and more dramatic.

The cars will be widened from 1800mm to 2000mm, with wider bodywork, tyres and front and rear wings, and more downforce created from the underfloor than this year.

 

[John_B]

From P3 it looks like they should have brought the Ultra Soft compound for this race. The Super Soft was improving on second and even third lap.

 

[Zeknurn]

Qualifying seems like a done deal. Ferrari won't be able to contest the Mercedes.

From P3 it looks like they should have brought the Ultra Soft compound for this race. The Super Soft was improving on second and even third lap.

Yup.

 

[Ruruja]

Think it deserves another quote.

I've never seen this before, Mansell's my favourite driver so I'm going to use this quite a bit.

 

[Juicy Bob]

Right click, save-as.

 

[Mastah]

From P3 it looks like they should have brought the Ultra Soft compound for this race. The Super Soft was improving on second and even third lap.

And what's the problem with that? Why for once can't it be different to all other 20 races?

They don't want to have ultrasofts here because of loads generated in Turn 3.

 

[John_B]

And what's the problem with that? Why for once can't it be different to all other 20 races?

They don't want to have ultrasofts here because of loads generated in Turn 3.

It's not a big deal. We have seen before that the drivers has to do two warm up laps to set a time in qualifying. Safety is absolutely also part of the decisions of what compounds to bring.

Then again it could spawn some interesting strategies for the race with some drivers going for a one stopper.

 

[Staab]

I'm actually hoping for some rain because the 1-stoppers at Sochi don't make for a very exciting strategy...
Weather looks stable sadly

 

[bobnowhere]

'shop of 2017 cars:

I does look a little like it was stepped on!

 

[Zeknurn]

Looks like someone stepped on it.

 

[Mastah]

#blessed: "Fuck tha FIA police". Hopefully nothing silly, reprimand at most.

Fred P7

 

[hadareud]

Most boring track in F1.

 

[stryke]

Ehh, this track really spreads the field out.

 

[Zeknurn]

What's the penalty for ignoring a safety rule? Disqualification I presume?

 

[Mastah]

Saubers, Manors and Renaults out in Q1 to the surprise of absolutely no one.

Good on Palmer though, 1 tenth behind KMag after struggling horribly in practice.

 

[John_B]

Renault looks so slow.

Not sure Hamilton could have taken the safe route in turn 2 with the speed and angle he was at.

 

[DrM]

Ehh, this track really spreads the field out.

This is track most suited to Mercedes. They are just messing around with other teams

Renault looks so slow.

Not sure Hamilton could have taken the safe route in turn 2 with the speed and angle he was at.

Plus there was a car coming out the pits and it was already in the area, where white line ends

 

[hadareud]

What's the penalty for ignoring a safety rule? Disqualification I presume?

An hour alone in a room with Bernie. Or death.

I choose death.

 

[Mastah]

Where's team radio by the way?

 

[Xirj]

This is such a desolate track. Is there seating anywhere other than the pit straight?

 

[Dilly]

I remember Toto Wolff saying they shouldn't change the rules next year because the field is converging.

Good looking 1s convergent gap there.

 

[bobnowhere]

This is such a desolate track. Is there seating anywhere other than the pit straight?

It's a shame it's set in a dead flat carpark, there are some interesting corners and challenges here. With some elevation and in a nicer location...

 

[hamchan]

Ugh this Red Bull just falling apart.