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[Pimpwerx]

Car launches and winter testing are fully underway for all teams. With new car launches taking place, I figure it'll be cool to keep it all in one thread to make it easier to compare the different designs and performances. Anyway, since they have their game faces on and came out first, here's:


TOYOTA

They're underdogs this year b/c of how behind they were before, but now they've got a hell of a team. Ralf and Jarno are great development drivers, as they've proven, and with Gascoyne and probably the best test team in f1 of Zonta and Panis, they have the most potential to improve IMO. Toyota's budget is one of the largest, and they've proven they can win in other forms of racing. The formula also got a bit of a jolt, which evens things up more. The problem will be that neither Ralf nor Jarno is particularly good on race day. Ralf will be fine if he can have a trouble free weekend and run out in front. But he's only had a few races from the middle/back of the pack. Jarno just seems to fade at times. He's a great qualifier, but not that impressive on race day. PEACE.

 

[Pimpwerx]

And today, we had:

SAUBER

Their car looks pretty cool from the front. Their wind tunnel's supposed to start paying dividends this year. We'll see. I won't say anything disparaging at this time, but Jacques should at least show well against Massa.... I don't see the shakeup going well for this team, however. But I hope to be proven wrong. They deserve a win. I'll cheer if JV gives them one. PEACE.

 

[Pimpwerx]

And while I finish bumping my thread for the last time, here's the first day of head-to-head testing for Kimi and JPM:

Jerez 13/01/05
1. Ricardo Zonta (Toyota) - 1'16"672 - 101 laps
2. Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes) - 1'16"814 - 124 laps
3. Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren-Mercedes) - 1'16"946 - 92 laps
4. Nick Heidfeld (Williams BMW) - 1'17"036 - 146 laps
5. Antonio Pizzonia (Williams BMW) - 1'17"165 - 94 laps
6. Franck Montagny (Renault) - 1'18"055 - 118 laps
7. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) - 1.18"423 - 95 laps
8. Enrique Bernoldi (BAR Honda) - 1'18"589 - 72 laps
9. Jenson Button (BAR Honda) - 1'18"897 - 110 laps
10. Marc Gené (Ferrari) - 1'19"044 - 107 laps

Winner: Kimi! That should give Kimi fans some bragging rights for the next day or so. :lol The 2005 spec is only gonna lose 1.5-2 seconds off the 2004 I think. Trulli was in the TF105. Zonta in the TF104B from last year. All the other teams are running 04 cars with random 05 spec parts slapped on. Don't know what Ferrari's running, but Gene's been at the back all week.

Anyway, I kinda expect Kimi to hang a big number on Juan this year. I think he's gonna respond well to the pressure. PEACE.

 

[scarybore]

That looks pretty damn nice from the side, better than the Toyota anyways. Am I right in saying Sauber will have last years Ferrari engine in it? Should be pretty nifty providing the chassis is up to the job.

 

[Vennt]

Whilst I agree Toyota are underdogs due to their relative infancy in the sport, I think it'll be interesting to see how last years development & long-term view and winter testing + Gascoigne bring Toyota on, Rumblings are they are going to be one to watch and not so much the underdog you'd think them to be, although I'll concede your points on the drivers.

 

[The Bookerman]

That looks pretty damn nice from the side, better than the Toyota anyways. Am I right in saying Sauber will have last years Ferrari engine in it? Should be pretty nifty providing the chassis is up to the job.

Last I heard, Ferrari was to provide, as of last year, current year motors and transmissions ot Sauber.

80% sure on this.(not 99% sure, but it's as close as I can remember).

 

[Shinobi]

Cool idea Duane...I'm already chomping at the bit for the new season.

Montoya already said he expects Kimi to be faster then him this year, as he figures it'll take virtually the entire year to get fully acclumated to the car and the team. Might just be early damage control, or a sly way to up the pressure on Kimi, but he's probably right. Montoya's more of a free wheeler then a technical master like Schumacher, so he can keep up with Kimi if the car's setup right, but if it isn't he'll be struggling large. I hope it's a good partnership though...fueds I guess are exciting, but I think it's more satisfying seeing two extremely talented drivers putting ego aside and working together.

I'm glad Coulthard has a ride, even if it is for just one year. He's a total pro, a class act, and one of F1's best current ambassadors. Hopefully Red Bull is able to get the refurbished team on the right track.

BTW, who's the more likely driver to land the second seat, Klein or Liuzzi?

 

[Pimpwerx]

Cool idea Duane...I'm already chomping at the bit for the new season.

Montoya already said he expects Kimi to be faster then him this year, as he figures it'll take virtually the entire year to get fully acclumated to the car and the team. Might just be early damage control, or a sly way to up the pressure on Kimi, but he's probably right. Montoya's more of a free wheeler then a technical master like Schumacher, so he can keep up with Kimi if the car's setup right, but if it isn't he'll be struggling large. I hope it's a good partnership though...fueds I guess are exciting, but I think it's more satisfying seeing two extremely talented drivers putting ego aside and working together.

I'm glad Coulthard has a ride, even if it is for just one year. He's a total pro, a class act, and one of F1's best current ambassadors. Hopefully Red Bull is able to get the refurbished team on the right track.

BTW, who's the more likely driver to land the second seat, Klein or Liuzzi?

I think Montoya's not really running damage control already. :lol That would be sad. We'll see how it goes. I also agree with Coulthard getting a seat. He's earned the right to leave on his own terms. Red Bull should give Liuzzi that seat, if he's as good as some claim. I haven't seen him drive, so I don't know. Klein was so-so in a Jag...I don't know if he'll be better in a Red Bull.

An interesting battle is between Heidfeld and Pizzonia at Williams. I don't know if Webber is gonna be that much faster than either. Pizzaboy was keeping up with Juan a good bit, and Nick's been a tick quicker thus far. That's stepping into a new chassis from a piece of shit Poordan. I always thought Heidfeld deserved a top seat, hope he doesn't choke. He did give Kimi a hard time at Sauber afterall (yeah...rookie season). PEACE.

 

[scarybore]

Last I heard, Ferrari was to provide, as of last year, current year motors and transmissions ot Sauber.

80% sure on this.(not 99% sure, but it's as close as I can remember).

They should be very competitive then if true, just hope it doesnt turn into a Ferrari/Sauber 1-2-3-4 every race. As much as I am a Schumacher fan, he really needs some good competition this year or there will be alot of TVs being turned off after the first 10 laps.

As for Coulthard, I think he a prick and gives us Scots a bad name but hey ho what ya gonna do

Either way I hope this year is better than last (can't be that hard really)...

 

[Shinobi]

:lol Damn, Coulthard might have a bit of gruffiness, but I never got the idea that he's a prick. Colin McRae seems a lot more prickish, but he's one of my favourite athletes in any sport so I really don't care.

 

[Pimpwerx]

Today was another presentation. This time, by:

BAR

Not that remarkable looking since we've seen it already on the track. I hate when teams do that. Unveil, THEN test. Anyway, I'm interested to see if they gain any momentum from last year. Or will they let McWillnault catch them up? How's Jenson's motivation after the contract dispute? All gonna factor in IMO. And can Sato get some fucking consistency? From brilliant to butthead. Jekyll and Hyde this guy.

---

Bad news for the haters. Grand Champ SuperPimp Michael Schumacher took to track today:

Barcelona - 18/01/05
1. Michael Schumacher - Ferrari - 1'15"461 - 103 laps
2. Mark Webber - Williams BMW - 1'17"137 - 92 laps
3. Antonio Pizzonia - Williams BMW - 1'17"357 - 92 laps
4. Jarno Trulli - Toyota - 1'18"392 - 54 laps
5. David Coulthard - Red Bull - 1'18"449 - 62 laps
6. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Red Bull - 1'19"544 - 58 laps
7. Ralf Schumacher - Toyota - 1'19"961 - 47 laps

2004 Pole - 1'15"022 (M. Schumacher)
Track Record - 1'13"797 (Sato) 2/3/2004

Day 1 back on the job, and he's .4s off his pole from last year, and 1.7s off the track record in a car spec that's supposed to lose 1.5-2s from last year....on a green track. And that's ignoring the ass bruising he laid down on everyone there. Mail it in boys. I know winter testing means squat, but unless BStone found almost 2 seconds on the field, I don't know. Could be setting up for another killing this year. I'm so shameless, but Schuey's the fucking king, and while people keep talking about his retirement, he's secretly getting better. Dude's never gonna fall off. PEACE.

EDIT: Oh yeah, in case you're wondering, apparently, Michael didn't do that time empty. Here are the 19 laps:

Lap No. Time Gap to previous lap

69 28:55.692 + 27:19,559
70 1:18.669 - 27:37,023
71 1:17.857 - 0,812
72 1:17.057 - 0,800
73 1:17.217 + 0,160
74 1:17.495 + 0,278
75 1:16.898 - 0,597
76 1:16.469 - 0,429
77 1:16.771 + 0,302
78 1:18.156 + 1,385
79 1:16.178 - 1,978
80 1:16.057 - 0,121
81 1:16.201 + 0,144
82 1:15.672 - 0,529
83 1:15.586 - 0,086
84 1:15.757 + 0,171
85 1:15.475 - 0,282
86 1:15.461 - 0,014
87 2:32.357 >B + 1:16,896

So, not empty, but not really heavy either...obviously. And not on fresh rubber either. Ferrari's not about cheap press, this looks like good times to me. I wonder what the hell Gene was doing all last week trundling around at the back. Warming Michael's seat? :lol

EDIT2: I'm so ashamed. Apparently it's not a full 2005 car he was in. Duh, they haven't unveiled it yet. But if it was the same hybrid Gene was in, then that's damn fine.

 

[Shinobi]

The retirement noise has always been stupid...it's just smart ass media people trying to get the scoop on his F1 exit before he says anything about it. He could probably drive till he's 40.

Looks like majority control for Jordan's finally about to be sold off, to Russian-born Toronto business man and Midland owner Alex Shnaider.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=31913

He was initially gonna start up his own team in time for 2006, but this move would save him 48 mill he'd need for the entry bond.

Some other interesting stories on that website...former F1 champ John Surtees believes BAR Honda should've stuck Davidson in the number two car and demoted Button to test duties. :lol

 

[Pimpwerx]

LOL! Davidson over Button? In their fucking dreams. I wouldn't even put him over Sato, and I think Sato could possibly use replacing. As for the Jordan team buyout...I hope it holds. Poordan sucks. I blame Eddie Jordan's personal interests for that. Too busy buying yachts to build his team into something good. That fluke win for Fisi was just that, a total fluke. This is a team that was competitive just 5 years ago. And I once thought they deserved the Honda contract over BAR. Ha! I was way off on that. PEACE.

 

[Rainbow L33T]

The sauber last year was already running with the same engine (the 2004 ferrari).

And Ferrari will unveiled the new car next month and won't start the season with it.So they'll be one of two to begin the season without the new car.

So far it's not affecting them(and I hope not).

I wonder how of an impact will have the one engine for 2 races on this season.

 

[Shinobi]

:lol Damn, Ferrari sure owned the fuck out of the GPWC.

FERRARI TURN BACK ON GPWC
Last Updated: Wednesday, 19, January, 2005, 17:19


Ferrari have agreed a deal with the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula One Management to stay in Formula 1 until 2012.

All three parties released a statement on Wednesday afternoon announcing that they had "agreed to prolong the Concorde Agreement for the period 2008 to 2012.".

The move delivers a potentially fatal blow to the Grand Prix World Championship, the breakaway series that was being set up by a consortium of car manufacturers – of which Ferrari’s parent company Fiat was one.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=31921

Well, you can kiss any chance of a breakaway series goodbye...without Ferrari it'd have about as much impact as Champ Car.

Here are today's test times from Barcelona and Valencia...both Williams cars had gearbox problems that ate into their track time, while Ralf lost a ton of time with a valve problem along with a broken front wing when he ran off.


Wednesday testing times from Barcelona


1 WEBBER Williams 1m16.627s

2 HEIDFELD Williams 1m16.987s

3 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m17.026s

4 TRULLI Toyota 1m17.664s

5 LIUZZI Red Bull 1m18.035s

6 COULTHARD Red Bull 1m18.210s

7 KLIEN Red Bull 1m18.320s

8 R.SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m20.338s







Wednesday testing times from Valencia



1 MONTOYA McLaren 1m11.293s

2 MONTAGNY Renault 1m11.363s

3 BUTTON BAR 1m12.209s

4 VILLENEUVE Sauber 1m12.227s

5 SATO BAR 1m12.289s

 

[Pimpwerx]

The superteam of the future? Here's the MP4-20 from

MCLAREN

Looks like a bit like the F2004, but with last's year's Mac nose. Anyway, Kimi and JPM have to be the best tandem, depending on how you rate Rubens. But those two are gonna make for some real excitement at McLaren this year. I still expect Kimi to handle Monty pretty easily. PEACE.

 

[Pimpwerx]

Big Pimpin' over here. It's the best in the biz. The reigning champs from the Scuderia

FERRARI

This is the F2004-M. I guess it's the tweener car we'll be seeing in Melbourne. The final aero will probably change a little, but that looks about right. The antis are already starting the "cheater" talk about the front nose. I admit, it looks like it's illegal, but I doubt it. It's an uglier compromise to what BAR did with their nose design. The car has been on pace so far, but we'll see how it holds up in Week 1.

The new racing suits look lame IMO. It suffers from the same thing that made the new Bronco uniforms ugly at first (they've since grown on me).

The man everyone will be chasing again this year. PEACE.

 

[Shinobi]

No no, he's losing form, growing bored, and he's about to retire. :lol Wonder how long it'll be before that tired horse gets trotted out.

Meanwhile Honda and Toyota joined the GWPC group, which makes that soap opera all the more interesting. Pretty obvious none of the other teams like Ferrari much. :lol

Coulthard was fastest in testing at Valencia on Thursday, against the likes of Button, Sato and Alonzo. Great sign for him and the Red Bull team.

Kimi seems to like the MP4-20. Dude also seems to like strip clubs...some reports earlier this week had him getting thrown out of one for being rowdy and drunk. Hey, whatever it takes to keep my boy fast. :lol

And Jordan was sold off to Russian-born Midland boss Alex Shnaider on Monday, who's situated right here in Toronto. So that gives me someone else to root for, heh.

 

[Pimpwerx]

Let's dust off this old thread in anticipation of the coming season.

I guess today was the day the reigning champs unveiled the F2005. This car won't see action until they land in Europe. The F2004-M seems like a bit of a dog so far, but maybe they're just giving the others a headstart. So without further ado,

FORZA FERRARI





The champ says it'll be business as usual this coming season.


It's gonna be a long season. Renault look like the team to beat, but so do McLaren. But that's just from testing, and we know how that all turned out last season. :| Ferrari will probably struggle the first few rounds, but once the flyaways are over and they land back in Europe, I expect the F2005 to help them make up significant ground. Michael should be in his usual perfect form, ready for WDC #8, his 6th in a row. Until he retires, everyone else is just fighting for second place.

Oh yeah, this season, 65 falls. Senna's the last real hurdle on his march to record hegemony. PEACE.

EDIT: BTW, this isn't a Rory Byrne design AFAIK. This is a new designer. Todt and Brawn are still there, and the engine guy should still be the same.

 

[Shinobi]

Don't forget about Midland Jordan! They also unveiled their car today (well, yesterday now I guess), right in the heart of Red Square.

And here's the F1 2005 race schedule...


2005 F1 CALENDAR

Final 2005 Formula 1 calendar

March 6 AUSTRALIA Melbourne

March 20 MALAYSIA Sepang

April 3 BAHRAIN Sakhir

April 24 SAN MARINO Imola

May 8 SPAIN Barcelona

May 22 MONACO Monte Carlo

May 29 EUROPE Nurburgring

June 12 CANADA Montreal

June 19 USA Indianapolis

July 3 FRANCE Magny-Cours

July 10 BRITAIN Silverstone

July 24 GERMANY Hockenheim

July 31 HUNGARY Hungaroring

August 21 TURKEY Istanbul

September 4 ITALY Monza

September 11 BELGIUM Spa

September 25 BRAZIL Interlagos

October 9 JAPAN Suzuka

October 16 CHINA Shanghai

 

[Pochacco]

I just wanna comment on Toyota.
Why are they in F1?
Where are they applying the technology they gain in F1? They don't have any sports cars - at least not in the States (closest I can think of is Lexus IS...). They really need to get the Supra going again..

 

[Shinobi]

I still hate Toyota for pulling out of the WRC and getting into F1. It's pretty pathetic that their budget rivals anyone in F1, yet they've got dick to show for it.

 

[celestial body]

The F2005 is Aldo Costa's but if you're worried about his credentials, don't be: very much co-designed the F2004 and was heavily involved from F1-2000 onwards. An exceptional mechanical engineer and a perfect complement to Byrne who's field of excellence is hydrodynamics. Don't forget they poached Iley from Renault last year and he was responsible for much of the R23's aero efficiency. The F2005 will boast tons of mechanical innovations, hence its late arrival.

The problem that Ferrari have is that the F2004M has bad 1 lap performance and treats its tyres like shit; this is a major disadvantage this season. Not only that but reliability is a bit suspect and the 053B's sleeves are giving way too soon, they'll probably have to run to a lower rev regime.

Brawn has said they would consider bringing the F2005 to Bahrain if the Renaults and McLarens embarass them, this is a logistical nightmare however and would be worst case scenario. The F2005 has a lot of new components, like the carbon-titanium gearbox, which need reliability miles on them and you're not gonna achieve that in a month. I get the feeling they underestimated the blistering performance of the R25 and MP4/20.

But as ever with Ferrari you cannot count them out, it's going to be a fascinating season...

BTW yes the main engine people, Martinelli, Simon and Binotto have all chipped in for the 055.

 

[LusDekkar]

Only one week to go until the first race! Man I can't wait.
F1 street parade on wednesday, although I thnik only Mark Webber has been confirmed for that... but hopefully some more ppl will show up.

 

[Shinobi]

Ah yes...you going to the race again? Do you attend all three days including any support races, or just the main event?