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[Button]

Ocon's helmet for 2017.

 

[JDB]

woof

 

[brotkasten]

If the other BWT sponsored teams are anything to go by, the racing overalls are going to be white with a pink or blue stripe on the side. Pretty boring.

 

[bobnowhere]

BWT must have thrown a big chuck of cash at FI for a complete makeover this late in pre-season. Nice to see.

 

[mclem]

Ocon's helmet for 2017.

Not sure about the bubbles being all over, makes it look a bit busy.

 

[Spladam]

Somebody here should go ahead and color that up for us....

 

[Zaru]

BWT must have thrown a big chuck of cash at FI for a complete makeover this late in pre-season. Nice to see.

After being voted the ugliest car in a landslide, that probably wasn't the hardest decision to make.

 

[BigAl1992]

Ocon's helmet for 2017.

The pink is fine, but the bubbles are overcrowding the he design on the helmet. I'm curious now to see Perez's design.

 

[Mastah]

They started the 2017 engine from scratch, or so people said in this thread.

Same as Renault, who despite a lot of problems in testing, are on track to deliver what they have promised for Melbourne. Honda, on the other hand...

Ocon's helmet for 2017.

I would be fucking pissed if I had to change my helmet completely only because of new sponsor's request.

 

[PowerTaxi]

I don't think thats actually going to be his helmet. The Instagram post makes it look like it was scrapped.

 

[Button]

I don't think thats actually going to be his helmet. The Instagram post makes it look like it was scrapped.

Sorry everyone!

 

[PowerTaxi]

Sorry everyone!

My French could be completely wrong so ¯\_(&#12484_/¯

 

[Mastah]

Paddy Lowe's move to Williams is confirmed:

Andrew Benson‏ @andrewbensonf1 5m5 minutes ago

Finally... @paddylowe move to @WilliamsRacing is official. Chief technical officer, responsible for engineering in entire group

 

[nekkid]

Ocon's helmet for 2017.

Suddenly I really fancy some strawberry yoghurt, for some reason,

 

[Mastah]

Hakkinen joins McLaren with immediate effect on multi-year contract!

http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/her...utm_medium=Social &utm_campaign=Mika Hakkinen

 

[Dutch Gronk]

11:20 – McLaren has made brief contact with Mercedes about potential power unit supply, amid current partner Honda's ongoing reliability and performance troubles, according to reports.


RIP Honda

 

[Juicy Bob]

Hakkinen joins McLaren with immediate effect on multi-year contract!

http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/her...utm_medium=Social &utm_campaign=Mika Hakkinen

Nah, he's just finally ending his sabattical.

 

[Psychotext]

RIP Honda

Sounds more like RIP McLaren. I don't see how they could continue without that Honda money. At least not without hiring two Lance Stroll equivalents.

 

[DBT85]

Sounds more like RIP McLaren. I don't see how they could continue without that Honda money. At least not without hiring two Lance Stroll equivalents.

Meh, the team getting a Merc engine would probably raise the chances of getting more sponsors at least.

 

[Lach]

Can't believe it's less than 2 months, since I was saying that I hope Sauber can become the second team to get Honda engines next year (after McLaren exclusivity runs out).

 

[xrnzaaas]

Meh, the team getting a Merc engine would probably raise the chances of getting more sponsors at least.

Yeah but it's 100 million per year from Honda (plus "free" engines). These days it's a major success to get a single 20 million sponsorship deal.

Even with a new sponsor(s) they would have to scale back on their F1 ambitions, hire a paydriver in Alonso's place etc.

 

[DBT85]

Yeah but it's 100 million per year from Honda (plus "free" engines). These days it's a major success to get a single 20 million sponsorship deal.

Even with a new sponsor(s) they would have to scale back on their F1 ambitions, hire a paydriver in Alonso's place etc.

True, something else to consider is that if they continue on this spiral into nothing, they'll get less and less money from FOM.

Maybe McLaren are destined to become a Williams.

 

[Aiii]

I don't remember McLaren being strapped for money and that being the motivation for going with Honda. I doubt that's the case.

They'll get their sponsors back, and I'm sure a bit of loss of Honda money is something they can survive once they get their performance back.

 

[Zaru]

Maybe McLaren are destined to become a Williams.

At this point I'm wondering, what was the reason and when was the "point of no return" where Williams turned from a championship contender to a team with half the budget and little success?
Keeping in mind that they mainly had their little 2014/2015 resurgence because bigger teams got fucked in the engine department in one way or another (Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren).

I don't see Lowe being able to change much about the "performance ceiling" at Williams either unless they can secure a much bigger budget.

 

[DD]

At this point I'm wondering, what was the reason and when was the "point of no return" where Williams turned from a championship contender to a team with half the budget and little success?
Keeping in mind that they mainly had their little 2014/2015 resurgence because bigger teams got fucked in the engine department in one way or another (Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren).

I don't see Lowe being able to change much about the "performance ceiling" at Williams either unless they can secure a much bigger budget.

Losing that sweet tobacco money + not having a big company behind like the others.

 

[DBT85]

At this point I'm wondering, what was the reason and when was the "point of no return" where Williams turned from a championship contender to a team with half the budget and little success?
Keeping in mind that they mainly had their little 2014/2015 resurgence because bigger teams got fucked in the engine department in one way or another (Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren).

I don't see Lowe being able to change much about the "performance ceiling" at Williams either unless they can secure a much bigger budget.

At the end of 1997 Renault stopped and Newey left. in 98 they had to pay for Mechacrome engines which were actually just old Renualt engines. Then they got supertec engines, which were rebadged Mechachrome engines lol.

Then BMW came in and at the same time Williams lost the Rothmans sponsorship money, because BAT had bought the brand and were already the title sponsor of BAR.

Had they given Newey what he wanted, maybe he could have done something with the BMW money.

 

[Aiii]

I say it's karma for kicking out Hill when he became champion in favor of Frentzen and Villeneuve lol.

 

[Big Takeover]

I think if McLaren didn't want their Honda works status, Williams would be over the moon to take it off their hands. No works engine deal, no win. That is the point of no return.

You don't walk away, you never walk away.

 

[Aiii]

Not having a works engine isn't exactly ruining Red Bull, though.

 

[ramparter]

At this point I'm wondering, what was the reason and when was the "point of no return" where Williams turned from a championship contender to a team with half the budget and little success?
Keeping in mind that they mainly had their little 2014/2015 resurgence because bigger teams got fucked in the engine department in one way or another (Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren).

I don't see Lowe being able to change much about the "performance ceiling" at Williams either unless they can secure a much bigger budget.

When BMW decided they wanted their own team.

Not having a works engine isn't exactly ruining Red Bull, though.

Redbull have a strong business outside F1, they drop money on the sport for brand recognition, they aren't making money. I wish we had more teams like Red Bull.

 

[Mastah]

Nah, he's just finally ending his sabattical.

Nah, that already happened in 2006:

Ideal lap times from testing:

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/...n=Feed:+formula_1_english+(AMS+F1+(Englisch))

 

[Big Takeover]

Not having a works engine isn't exactly ruining Red Bull, though.

They didn't win 4 in a row by simply leasing whatever they could get their hands on like some midfielder though. Call them 2nd party, call them whatever, but they were certainly getting 'works-like" engine support. It was a unique situation. It seems a little different now, but the results have been different since they took Renault off the side of the car as well. Not necessarily that there's direct relation.

Plus Newey is a walking outlier. If McLaren were to think "well RedBull did it, so can we", that would be a very large mistake imo.

Now if McLaren are getting warm vibes from BMW, or Audi, or Ford behind some closed door, then that's one thing, but setting sail as a regular Joe Schmo customer all but guarantees they won't be winning any championships anytime soon.

I honestly don't think that's actually in the cards anyway. I think this is McLaren just using the press to put pressure on Honda.

 

[Button]

https://twitter.com/f1mikahakkinen

Mika joined Twitter.

They didn't win 4 in a row by simply leasing whatever they could get their hands on like some midfielder though. Call them 2nd party, call them whatever, but they were certainly getting 'works-like" engine support. It was a unique situation. It seems a little different now, but the results have been different since they took Renault off the side of the car as well. Not necessarily that there's direct relation.

Indeed. With Red Bull's help Renault managed to go the furthest with exhaust blown diffusers in 2012.

 

[FrankCanada97]

When BMW decided they wanted their own team.


Redbull have a strong business outside F1, they drop money on the sport for brand recognition, they aren't making money. I wish we had more teams like Red Bull.

Was Red Bull a huge company back in 1995 when they sponsored Sauber?

 

[TCRS]

phew

 

[AndyD]

Can McLaren just enter one of those into this year's race? With Mika and all?

 

[Jezbollah]

I say it's karma for kicking out Hill when he became champion in favor of Frentzen and Villeneuve lol.

Villeneuve was in the second year of a 3 year contract

 

[DD]

 

[Yagami_Sama]

Is it allowed change engines in the middle of the season, like Mclaren start the season with Honda's engine and Switch to another ?

 

[itsgreen]

Is it allowed change engines in the middle of the season, like Mclaren start the season with Honda's engine and Switch to another ?

Yes.

But the points will be seperate...

 

[Zeknurn]

Just one week left until the first 2017 Honda power unit blows up in a practice session.

 

[Mastah]

Optimist. It will fail even before practice starts.

 

[Tubie]

Just one week left until the first 2017 Honda power unit blows up in a practice session.

This is what they want you to believe.

A week from now the Honda beast will finally be unleashed.

 

[ramparter]

Was Red Bull a huge company back in 1995 when they sponsored Sauber?

Don't know but according to wiki they entered US market in 1997 so I assume F1 business was part of their plan for international expansion.

 

[DBT85]

This is what they want you to believe.

A week from now the Honda beast will finally be unleashed.

Wax's alt has finally been unearthed.

 

[KdotIX]

Part of me wants McLaren to come to Aus with a beast of a PU and for Eric, Stoff and Alonso to face the press and say "gotcha" with wry smiles

 

[Mohonky]

Part of me wants McLaren to come to Aus with a beast of a PU and for Eric, Stoff and Alonso to face the press and say "gotcha" with wry smiles

This will happen right after Merc qualify last.

 

[brotkasten]

Part of me wants McLaren to come to Aus with a beast of a PU and for Eric, Stoff and Alonso to face the press and say "gotcha" with wry smiles

Asked in an interview with Spanish newspaper AS if McLaren-Honda will be able to reach the chequered flag in Melbourne, Boullier replied: "Oh, I hope so, but I don't know."

He added: "The truth is we're having more problems than we expected.

"We knew that we'd encounter some things [in testing], but truly not as many as we're seeing. We're always working to reduce the [number] of problems and to be able to go faster."


http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/350605/mclaren-unsure-if-it-can-finish-first-race/

 

[Jezbollah]

I bet Branson was going commando there. WutFace

 

[Stop It]

Part of me wants McLaren to come to Aus with a beast of a PU and for Eric, Stoff and Alonso to face the press and say "gotcha" with wry smiles

I dream that too, but then I get woken up at 4am by my little one and I realise that the Honda engine is still fucking awful.

Asked in an interview with Spanish newspaper AS if McLaren-Honda will be able to reach the chequered flag in Melbourne, Boullier replied: "Oh, I hope so, but I don't know."

He added: "The truth is we're having more problems than we expected.

"We knew that we'd encounter some things [in testing], but truly not as many as we're seeing. We're always working to reduce the [number] of problems and to be able to go faster."


http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/350605/mclaren-unsure-if-it-can-finish-first-race/

So 2015 all over again. Fuck you Honda.