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[Ark]

The Silly Season so far:

Mercedes: World Champion -- Gust of Wind
Ferrari: Sebastian Vettel -- #2 driver
Williams: Felipe 'Fred' Massa -- Valteri Bottas
Red Bull: Daniel Ricciardo -- Daniil Kvyat
Force India: Nico Hulkenberg -- Sergio 'Where is Martin Whitmarsh' Perez
Renault (formerly Lotus): Kevin 44. Magnussen -- Jolyon Palmer
Toro Rosso: Carlos Sainz -- Max Verstappen
Sauber: Giedo Van Der Garde -- Giedo Van Der Garde
McLaren: Samurai Jack -- Jenson Button
Manor: Bernie Ecclestone -- Jean Todt
Haas: Romain Grosjean -- Esteban Gutiérrez

As far as the Silly Season goes, there isn't too much to be excited about given that everyone is still under contract for a while. I wouldn't expect any moves until next Winter, provided the grid closes up as we all hope it does.

Haas is a new entry into the sport; headed by Gene Haas of NASCAR fame and a close technical partnership with Ferrari, the team should be poised to enter the mid-field pretty quickly. The signing of Romain Grosjean is a huge boon for the outfit.

Lotus has been reacquired by Renault following the falling out between Renault and Red Bull. Unfortunately they're keeping Maldonado for another season, but they've decided to sign the 2014 GP2 Champion, Jolyon Palmer.

As for now, enjoy the wait until we get into Winter Testing and find out the Mercedes Power Unit is even stronger than before!

 

[brotkasten]

And it's wonderful.

E: and it should be "Pasta Maldonado"

 

[ElTorro]

Can't believe that the season is already over.

 

[Risgroo]

 

[Mobius 1]

Rubens was seen at Ferrari's garage in Abu Dhabi.

Believe.

Spoiler

I've no idea what he was doing there.

 

[Ark]

And it's wonderful.

E: and it should be "Pasta Maldonado"

I was going to go with that, but Spaghetti sounded funnier in my head.

Wall of shame from the season's OT:

 

[Zeknurn]

edit: ^Oh dear.

Unfortunately they're keeping Maldonado for another season

I think you meant to say fortunately.

Gutirerezrez is confirmed as the second driver for Haas btw. But I don't blame you since he's the most forgetful driver in recent memory.

 

[Jibbed]

Maldonado

Spoiler

Venezeula

is forking over £30m a year for that seat.

Renault wouldn't be coming back without him, like him or not.

 

[skynidas]

haas is going to fail. next season will go to mercedes again.

 

[Ark]

edit: ^Oh dear.



I think you meant to say fortunately.

Gutirerezrez is confirmed as the second driver for Haas btw. But I don't blame you since he's the most forgetful driver in recent memory.

Ahh, I'm surprised I forgot about that. Thanks

 

[JadedWriter]

I have the weirdest feeling that Ferrari at least told better jokes than McLaren.

 

[Risgroo]

Not a single #blessed or #bl3ssed in the OP? tssssk.
And I'm pretty sure JB's middle name is sssSSHHRRBLRBSSRLGRLBRGLRSSBLBLSSRG understeer HHSSSSHRRSRSBBBLSHHRG.

 

[JadedWriter]

Not a single #blessed or #bl3ssed in the OP? tssssk.
And I'm pretty sure JB's middle name is sssSSHHRRBLRBSSRLGRLBRGLRSSBLBLSSRG understeer HHSSSSHRRSRSBBBLSHHRG.

I thought his middle name was No Grip.

 

[Chris R]

Hope the racing is better next season. Liked that Lewis won the title again, and won the race I got to attend (2/2 baby) but I'd rather have him lose the title to a Willams or Red Bull on the final lap next season that win it early, leaving enough time to ship Brittney a few wins to help turn his frown upside down.

Haas is gonna be a moving chicane for a bunch of years, but who knows, maybe they'll stick with it and get mid pack before the next decade. And who knows, maybe his involvement will bring in more US viewers.

 

[Tubie]

Poor Fernando lol!

 

[JadedWriter]

I'm shocked this is even in off topic, it'll probably be in Community by the time I wake up tomorrow morning.

 

[Risgroo]

I thought his middle name was No Grip.

Hmm maybe. Or balance.

Spoiler

I fucking love JB lol

 

[ElTorro]

haas is going to fail. next season will go to mercedes again.

Ferrari is our only hope. Maybe Williams too, but I doubt that. Red Bull and McLaren won't have a good-enough engine next year, and McLaren not necessarily even a top chassis.

 

[Psychotext]

lol, that Alonso camping pic is gold.

 

[dubc35]

Sauber's drivers are looking exceptional!

 

[Aiii]

Glad to see Renault is back. Even though French cars do nothing for me, I've always found Renault to be a fun team on track.

Is Flavio allowed back yet?

 

[Big Takeover]

Nice OT, Arky Baby.

Renault officially back in as a works team.

Edit: beaten

 

[DD]

Glad to see Renault is back. Even though French cats do nothing for me, I've always found Renault to be a fun team on track.

It's Flavio allowed back yet?

I hope not. And these fuckers have the moral obligation to give Piquet Jr. another chance. Dude gave Hamilton a hard time on GP2, and he should have won that year if it wasn't for the many problems he had.

 

[stryke]

So what's in it for Renault (other than getting paid) to have their engine in a Red Bull but not have their name on it?

 

[Aiii]

-edit: I totally misread that question, early morning woes.

 

[Zeknurn]

So what's in it for Renault (other than getting paid) to have their engine in a Red Bull but not have their name on it?

They had a contract they were obligated to follow.

 

[Fisico]

I'm kinda expecting Palmer to perform like Nasr this year, like slightly above Maldonado by the end of the year only because of a better consistency with Maldonado scoring big points and crashing evenly.

Wonder which one will get the boot in 2017 and which driver Renault could get instead.

Spoiler

Alonso

 

[Zeknurn]

TAG Heuer badged power unit confirmed.

"The new car will be christened the Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12."

 

[Juicy Bob]

Did they just auction the naming rights to the highest bidder?

 

[king picollo]

So when the engine is rubbish again is Horner going to slag of Tag Heuer?

 

[Zeknurn]

Well there's a strong possibility that Toro Rosso with the 2015 Ferrari power unit will regularly beat them.

 

[Tempy]

Well there's a strong possibility that Toro Rosso with the 2015 Ferrari power unit will regularly beat them.

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

Ha ha ha

 

[brotkasten]

Well there's a strong possibility that Toro Rosso with the 2015 Ferrari power unit will regularly beat them.

I'd be surprised if that happens, actually. I can't see Renault botching the PU a third time in a row.

 

[Zeknurn]

I'd be surprised if that happens, actually. I can't see Renault botching the PU a third time in a row.

They used 11 tokens worth of upgrades that made the power unit slower than the old spec. Yeah...

Avatar bet?

 

[Aiii]

Still confused about Ilmor's hand in all of this. The press release mentions them by name and speaks of a partnership between Renault en Ilmor.

 

[tomtom94]

I'm finding it difficult to get excited about next season when we know the rules are changing in 2017 anyway so unless someone closes right up to Mercedes over the winter then it'll be even more of a foregone conclusion than this year.

 

[Zeknurn]

Still confused about Ilmor's hand in all of this. The press release mentions them by name and speaks of a partnership between Renault en Ilmor.

They've spent time and effort on improving the power unit all year, but instead of being just for Red Bull it's all going into the Renault spec will which greatly benefit the works team.

 

[Aiii]

Didn't they already deny they had anything to do with the upgrade?

---

Formula 1 ✔ @F1
#F1FanVote: Best Drive (top 3)

P1 Verstappen/US
P2= Vettel/Singapore, Perez/Russia
P3 Verstappen/Singapore

https://twitter.com/F1/status/672709938146217986

 

[Nyx]

Verstappen said on his website today that next year he wants to get double the points he got this year and have at least 1 podium finish.

 

[Lach]

TAG Heuer badged power unit confirmed.

"The new car will be christened the Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12."

"So when you said 'The car runs like a clockwork', you were speaking literally..."

 

[DD]

"In January of 2016 we will reveal things about the organization, the goals, the drivers, the strategy and the partners", said Carlos Ghosn, the big boss of Renault.

Man, Palmer will go crazy if he's not confirmed.

Renault believes that it will take 3 years for them to be competitive.

 

[Aiii]

I'm sure Sauber is willing to part with one of their six contracted drivers if Renault is willing to pay up.

 

[Ark]

Autosport has ranked Verstappen as the personality of the year, and I can't say I disagree.

 

[brotkasten]

Autosport has ranked Verstappen as the personality of the year, and I can't say I disagree.

Ehhh. Rookie? Maybe. But personality? I haven't seen much of that, other than his unwillingness to let Sainz pass that one time.

 

[Zeknurn]

Toro Rosso confirms they will run the "current" power unit in the 2016 season.
http://www.scuderiatororosso.com/en_IT/article/2016-engine-and-drivers

Ehhh. Rookie? Maybe. But personality? I haven't seen much of that, other than his unwillingness to let Sainz pass that one time.

Don't forget when he decided to not brake at Monaco and went all in on blaming Grosjean.

Aside for the Hamilton meltdown the last few races, you don't get to see any personality from the drivers, so I think Verstappen getting the reward is appropriate.

 

[brotkasten]

Toro Rosso confirms they will run the "current" power unit in the 2016 season.
http://www.scuderiatororosso.com/en_IT/article/2016-engine-and-drivers

Don't forget when he decided to not brake at Monaco and went all in on blaming Grosjean.

Aside for the Hamilton meltdown the last few races, you don't get to see any personality from the drivers, so I think Verstappen getting the reward is appropriate.

Well, in that sense he certainly has some personality behind the wheel, so you're right.

As for the formal TR announcement, that makes

Mercedes
Ferrari
Williams - Mercedes
Red Bull - Renault
Force India - Mercedes
Toro Rosso - Ferrari
Lotus - Renault
Sauber - Ferrari
Manor - Mercedes
McLaren - Honda
Haas - Ferrari

4 Mercedes teams
4 Ferrari teams
2 Renault teams
1 Honda team

Although Ferrari probably gains nothing from Toro Rosso in terms of data.

Should still be interesting.

 

[Zeknurn]

Wait, now that I've thought about it a bit more. I think personality of the year is a tie between German Jesus for trying to get a human reaction out of the Mercedes drivers at multiple press conferences and Alonso for his way of communicating displeasure over the team radio.

 

[brotkasten]

Wait, now that I've thought about it a bit more. I think personality of the year is a tie between German Jesus for trying to get a human reaction out of the Mercedes drivers at multiple press conferences and Alonso for his way of communicating displeasure over the team radio.

I do like that Vettel got more humorous during the press conferences.

But I fear that he's going to lose his snarky attitude, if Ferrari can't increase or keep the pace. Honeymoon is over, after all. It would be a shame if he's going to turn into Alonso.

 

[Psychotext]

But I fear that he's going to lose his snarky attitude, if Ferrari can't increase or keep the pace. Honeymoon is over, after all. It would be a shame if he's going to turn into Alonso.

Ugh, that would be horrible. =/