Genie Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 My personal opinion is that in season testing should be brought back / extended. It must be pretty demoralising for teams like McLaren to start slow and know they're just not going to close the gap. Same at the front too, let the teams update cars and engines during the year. I know a lot of this was scrapped to save money but it's killing it as a sport, F1 should be the pinnacle so IMO incredible expenditure should be allowed if that's what the teams want to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCDAN Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 (edited) The Mercedes dominance won't last forever, Red Bull pretty much came out of nowhere and dominated for 4 years then dropped away. Even the long term Ferrari dominance didn't last forever. The sport should only be worrying about making changes to improve the spectacle at the moment, making changes specifically just to mix things up and disrupt the big players isn't conducive to better viewing for the fans imo. Get the formula right and let the teams take care of the rest. Qualifying is where they need to focus I think. I would keep sessions 1 and 2 pretty much as they are now but make qualifying session 3 a single lap shootout, you would hope that would reduce the merc front row lockouts at the very least. Edited March 3, 2017 by AVFCDAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 4 minutes ago, AVFCDAN said: The Mercedes dominance won't last forever, Red Bull pretty much came out of nowhere and dominated for 4 years then dropped away. Even the long term Ferrari dominance didn't last forever. The sport should only be worrying about making changes to improve the spectacle at the moment, making changes specifically just to mix things up and disrupt the big players isn't conducive to better viewing for the fans imo. Get the formula right and let the teams take care of the rest. Qualifying is where they need to focus I think. I would keep sessions 1 and 2 pretty much as they are now but make qualifying session 3 a single lap shootout, you would hope that would reduce the merc front row lockouts at the very least. The problem is its the 'major' rule changes that break the dominance. Red Bull fell away because Renault couldn't produce them an engine anywhere near as good as Mercedes. I kind of agree with you in principle but its the same old same old that turns people off. Without any major changes to engine design this year I don't really expect much change on the grid. Tweaks here and there to wheel base and (car) track width aren't going to suit any particular teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Just now, Genie said: The problem is its the 'major' rule changes that break the dominance. Red Bull fell away because Renault couldn't produce them an engine anywhere near as good as Mercedes when thy went to the current 1.6 Turbo charged specs. I kind of agree with you in principle but its the same old same old that turns people off. Without any major changes to engine design this year I don't really expect much change on the grid. Tweaks here and there to wheel base and (car) track width aren't going to suit any particular teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjaacckk91 Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 The removal of the token system is a start, but as Honda are proving it's benefit is reduced if you can't test it properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Honda change the engine for the 5th time in pre season in 5 days. what a shambles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 7, 2017 Author Moderator Share Posted March 7, 2017 You would wonder. There's an argument for the power unit currently being too complicated. That's not to excuse Honda, but seriously, Honda are renowned for engine development. Engines are their forte. What on earth is going on there. It would be a pity to lose them, but it seems the relationship with McLaren is now at "maximum strain". McLaren will not continue to lose indefinitely, and with the new regulations, someone may well become obliged to provide them with a solution. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 1 hour ago, BOF said: You would wonder. There's an argument for the power unit currently being too complicated. That's not to excuse Honda, but seriously, Honda are renowned for engine development. Engines are their forte. What on earth is going on there. It would be a pity to lose them, but it seems the relationship with McLaren is now at "maximum strain". McLaren will not continue to lose indefinitely, and with the new regulations, someone may well become obliged to provide them with a solution. After 2 seasons you'd have thought a world renowned company like Honda would be on top of the issues by now, as it is they're worse off than when they re-entered they reckoned the engine they would use in testing would have the same power that Mercedes finished with last season with too. alonso won't be staying on after this year, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Quote Looks like Alonso has come out fighting to the Spanish media. "The team are all ready to win except Honda," they quote him saying. Ouch odds on him quitting by Spain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 12 hours ago, Rodders said: odds on him quitting by Spain? Can't see it myself, he will have his eyes on That Mercedes seat with bottas only signing a 1 year deal so will stick the season out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 Plus Alonso is reportedly on €40m a season paid 50/50 by McLaren and Honda. There's plenty of reasons to sit tight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 hopeful for the season after testing with Ferrari looking to have genuine pace. Absolutely hopeless for McLaren with the Honda engine head even coming out and saying that they are roughly where the planned to be in terms of engine power, it's just that everyone else made a huge leap relative to whatever nonsense benchmark they set themselves. Be fun watching that horrid orange mess wobble around the track for 10 laps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 6 hours ago, villakram said: hopeful for the season after testing with Ferrari looking to have genuine pace. Absolutely hopeless for McLaren with the Honda engine head even coming out and saying that they are roughly where the planned to be in terms of engine power, it's just that everyone else made a huge leap relative to whatever nonsense benchmark they set themselves. Be fun watching that horrid orange mess wobble around the track for 10 laps. I'd be tempted to pull the team out for this season. As McLaren try and get their road car business moving forwards it's a terrible advert for them. Ferrari seem really quick but not sure Mercedes have shown their hand yet... we'll see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 pretty cool vid put together by the official F1 folks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Fingers crossed for an exciting weekend Hope Ferrari can prolong my interest this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjaacckk91 Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Well fp1 told us little, other than the McLaren is properly slow. Every team other than sauber had a driver go almost a second faster than Alonso, who seemed to be running relatively problem free. Ferrari clearly playing some games at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCDAN Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Hamilton was evens for the title last night, currently at 8/13. Wish I had jumped on this last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 Anyone get up to watch qualifying? I didn't but I will be setting the alarm tomorrow (plus an hour less due to clocks going forward). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 well, tentatively one may suggest we may have a duel between two of the more decorated drivers for a change. Hopefully the gap in the race isn't significant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Decent race, cars look a lot better, nothing between the Ferrari and the mercs, just wish we could see mclaren up there on mclaren, Honda are now re-designing the engine again with a new one to be used inside 3 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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