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Formula One - 2017


BOF

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I'd imagine wehrlein will be back for the next race, unless some serious money has changed hands.

And the race was disappointing tbh, I managed to watch the first half then had to leave for work just caught the rest on catch up and it seems nothing happened. 

I think these regs have made it very difficult to close the gap to pass.

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Checks date.  Not April Fools.

Alonso to miss Monaco GP in order to compete in the Indianapolis 500

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McLaren driver Fernando Alonso will miss the Monaco Grand Prix in May so he can race in the Indianapolis 500.

The double world champion has the full approval and support of McLaren and engine partner Honda, who are having a difficult season in Formula 1.

Alonso, 35, will race for the Honda-powered Andretti team on 28 May, and the car will be branded a McLaren.

McLaren are yet to decide who will replace him in Monaco that weekend, but Jenson Button is a possibility.

The 2009 world champion has retired from F1 but is contracted to McLaren as an ambassador. It is not known whether the Briton would want to come back to drive an uncompetitive car.

Why does Alonso want to race at Indy?

Alonso said he had long held an ambition to win the so-called 'triple crown' of Monaco, the Indy 500 and Le Mans.

Only one man has won all three in his career - the late Graham Hill in the 1960s.

Alonso, who won the Monaco Grand Prix in 2006 and 2007, said: "It's a tough challenge, but I'm up for it.

"I don't know when I'm going to race at Le Mans, but one day I intend to. I'm only 35. I've got plenty of time for that.

The Spaniard added he would definitely race for McLaren for the rest of the season, dismissing speculation he could quit part way through the year because of the Honda F1 engine's poor performance.

"It's of course a regret that I won't be able to race at Monaco this year," he said. "But Monaco will be the only 2017 grand prix I'll be missing, and I'll be back in the cockpit for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal in early June.

"I've never raced an IndyCar car before, and neither have I ever driven on a super-speedway, but I'm confident I'll get to grips with it fast.

"I've watched a lot of IndyCar action on TV and online, and it's clear that great precision is required to race in close proximity with other cars on the far side of 220mph [354km/h]."

Alonso acknowledged he would be on "a steep learning curve".

But he added: "I'll be flying to Indianapolis from Barcelona immediately after the Spanish Grand Prix, practising our McLaren-Honda-Andretti car at Indy from 15 May onwards, hopefully clocking up a large number of miles every day, and I know how good the Andretti Autosport guys are.

"I'll be proud to race with them, and I intend to mine their knowledge and expertise for as much information as I possibly can."

McLaren have supported Alonso's wishes because they recognise the efforts he has been putting in - and the frustration he is feeling - after three uncompetitive seasons since joining the team in 2015.

How will Alonso do?

McLaren executive director Zak Brown said: "Could Fernando win this year's Indy 500? Well, I wouldn't be so silly as to make any such rash prediction, but I expect him to be in the mix.

"Put it this way: the team he'll be racing for won the race last year, using the same Honda engine, and he's the best racing driver in the world. That's quite a compelling combination.

"OK, equally, he'll have his work cut out to acclimatise to running at super-speedway velocities, but ultimately it's quality that counts in all forms of motorsport, and Fernando is very definitely quality. He's ballsy and brave too."

Alonso joined McLaren-Honda with the intention of winning a third world title, but the package has been uncompetitive, with the vast majority of the blame lying with the Honda engine. His best results have been three fifth places.

He has won 32 grands prix - sixth in the all-time list - but has not stood on top of the podium since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix in a Ferrari.

Alonso's contract runs out at the end of this season. McLaren want him to re-sign and there is a hope this will help persuade him to do so.

38 years on - McLaren back in Indy

The unexpected development marks McLaren's return to the Indy 500 for the first time in 38 years. They won the race with their own car in 1974 and 1976.

IndyCars is now a 'spec' formula, where all teams use the same car, though the different engine manufacturers are allowed to design their own aerodynamic bodykits.

The Indy 500 is the most prestigious race in the USA and is the blue riband event of the IndyCar Series.

The unique practice schedule of the race gives Alonso more than the usual amount of time to prepare for a race.

There is a full week of practice, six hours a day for five days, before the qualifying weekend on 20-21 May and two more days of practice before the race on 28 May.

The Andretti team, run by former Indycar and grand prix driver Michael Andretti, is one of the leading teams in the championship and won the event last year with American Alexander Rossi, who raced five times in F1 for the Manor team in 2015.

Andretti raced for McLaren in F1 in 1993 as Ayrton Senna's team-mate, completing 13 races with one podium finish before being replaced by Finn Mika Hakkinen and returning to race in the US.

Andretti said: "Fernando's lack of experience on super-speedways is not of concern to me.

"I do believe that the Indianapolis 500 is one of the best places for a rookie to start because there is the opportunity for so much practice time on the track - and, as we have demonstrated, it can be won by a rookie.

"Fernando is a great talent and I have full confidence that he will represent very strongly for McLaren, Honda and Andretti Autosport."

'Unlike anything he has yet experienced' - analysis

This is a bold and exciting move by Alonso but one with plenty of risks.

The Spaniard remains in the very highest echelon of Formula 1 drivers and has more than enough talent to succeed in any car, but the type of racing he will encounter at Indianapolis is unlike anything he has yet experienced.

If he was racing on a road course - what Americans call F1-type tracks - he would be expected to be absolutely competitive straight away.

But Indianapolis is a so-called 'super-speedway' - an ultra-fast oval track where average lap speeds can exceed 230mph.

Not only does Alonso have to get used to the intricacies of racing on a banked oval, including all the technical challenges involved, he will also have to learn the art of the 'draft' - using the slipstream of another car to gain speed - which is critical to oval racing.

And because of the high speeds involved and the proximity of the cars, IndyCar racing has a reputation for being notably more dangerous than F1, and any accident can have serious consequences.

But what he is doing is not without precedent.

Hill, Jim Clark and Emerson Fittipaldi all won the F1 world title and the Indy 500, while Nigel Mansell switched to IndyCars in 1993 after failing to agree terms with Williams following his title success in 1992.

Alonso will be able to count on advice not only from team owner Andretti, but also his team-mate Takuma Sato, who raced in F1 in the mid-2000s.

And former Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya, who is also in this year's field, also raced against Alonso in F1 from 2001-2005.

 

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Can't see Alonso winning it. Driving around in circles has it's own style and I'm sure plenty of the regular drivers will be trying hard to show him up resulting in a quasi-inevitable wreck.

Ominous signs from the Mercs in Bahrain qualifying.

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14 minutes ago, villakram said:

Ominous signs from the Mercs in Bahrain qualifying.

I thought the same, they're gonna piss it. They've got a good half second a lap over the Ferrari's who blew up an engine this weekend already so will be nervous about going full tilt.

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20 hours ago, Genie said:

I thought the same, they're gonna piss it. They've got a good half second a lap over the Ferrari's who blew up an engine this weekend already so will be nervous about going full tilt.

what do we know... great race :)

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Always enjoy the night races and it wasn't bad. 

Bottle isn't anywhere near the level I hoped he might be and Kimi needs to up his game. He takes ages to overtake where Vettell gets it done far more efficiently

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I think this title will be won by the pace of development.  Both cars seem much of a muchness at the moment, and we're at the start of the developmental curve for this new design.  So the team that can race (har har) ahead and find the extra tenths more quickly will probably give their #1 driver enough of an edge over the season.  It's shaping up great though. Especially given that the 2 drivers involved are 2 of the best, if not the best drivers on the grid (Alonso says hi).

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Oh and just to go back to the Alonso/Indy discussion.  I wouldn't completely rule out a win.  OK the odds are against him obviously, and it's easy to say he won't win, and you might be right.  But there are a few things at least in his favour.  Firstly, he'll be in the team that won last year.  He's not going over to be an also-ran in a barely competitive car.  Secondly, this isn't just any old F1 driver.  If F1 was hand-selecting their best possible representative to go over and show what F1 can do on short notice in another series, then they may very well have picked Alonso.  So you've got there or thereabouts the best that F1 has to offer, in the reigning champion car of Indy 500.

It all depends how his training goes.  Whether he can adapt to the nuances of oval racing in time, and everything that goes with that (strategy (pace cars, yellows), concentration, stamina).

What I do find strange is how the meeja are generally reporting it all as being a negative.  They seem completely at odds and out of touch with the sentiment being shown by racing fans.  The fans love it.  It's very interesting to see.  It's like fantasy racing.  It used to happen more back in the day, and commitments/contracts these days make it much more difficult to do.  Certainly amongst the elite level racers.

My only worry is he goes over and crashes out early making no impact at all.  I think that would be bad all around, as it might discourage future swaps.

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On 4/19/2017 at 08:58, BOF said:

Oh and just to go back to the Alonso/Indy discussion.  I wouldn't completely rule out a win.  OK the odds are against him obviously, and it's easy to say he won't win, and you might be right.  But there are a few things at least in his favour.  Firstly, he'll be in the team that won last year.  He's not going over to be an also-ran in a barely competitive car.  Secondly, this isn't just any old F1 driver.  If F1 was hand-selecting their best possible representative to go over and show what F1 can do on short notice in another series, then they may very well have picked Alonso.  So you've got there or thereabouts the best that F1 has to offer, in the reigning champion car of Indy 500.

It all depends how his training goes.  Whether he can adapt to the nuances of oval racing in time, and everything that goes with that (strategy (pace cars, yellows), concentration, stamina).

What I do find strange is how the meeja are generally reporting it all as being a negative.  They seem completely at odds and out of touch with the sentiment being shown by racing fans.  The fans love it.  It's very interesting to see.  It's like fantasy racing.  It used to happen more back in the day, and commitments/contracts these days make it much more difficult to do.  Certainly amongst the elite level racers.

My only worry is he goes over and crashes out early making no impact at all.  I think that would be bad all around, as it might discourage future swaps.

Indy 500 is so much about luck though. They have so many wrecks that skill has only a little to do with finishing. It would be like forcing a full-on charge down to turn one restart after every yellow flag in F1. I've been before and it is fun to see all the re-starts, but it's not real racing. Complete and utter gimickry... people in the stands just go to get hammered drunk though, so I can't say too much bad about it :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

McLaren driver enjoys 'fun' Indy 500 testing

Finished with a 222.5mph lap in his first test/initiation.  Last year's pole was 230mph :thumb:

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McLaren's Fernando Alonso said his first experience of Indianapolis was "fun" as he passed his orientation and began testing for the Indy 500.

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Alonso is missing the Monaco Grand Prix this month, where Jenson Button will return to Formula 1 to substitute for him, to race at Indianapolis.

The Spaniard completed his mandatory 'rookie' test before starting his preparations for the event on 28 May.

"So far it is a good experience but now starts the real thing," Alonso said.

"It has been a very helpful day in terms of knowing all this different world and getting up to speed a little bit.

"There's still a long way to go but I am happy with this first step."

Button sent his former McLaren team-mate a good-luck message on social media before the test session.

Why is Alonso doing a 'rookie test'?

All drivers who race at Indianapolis for the first time are required to complete an initiation test, no matter what their calibre or experience.

To pass, two-time F1 world champion Alonso had to complete three phases of running - 10 laps each at an average of 205-210mph; followed by 15 at 210-215mph; and 15 at 215-220mph. He completed the requirements in just 50 laps.

Alonso said: "It is a good way to start to build the speed. It was probably a little bit difficult at the beginning to reach the minimum but then in the phases it felt good.

"At the beginning, the right foot has its own brain and it was not connected to my brain. I wanted to go flat-out but the foot wouldn't let me. But after a few laps it was fine."

What else did he do?

After passing the rookie test, Alonso began a programme with his Andretti Autosport team to start learning the intricacies of IndyCars on an oval track where each 2.5-mile lap has four left turns that look identical but are each subtly different.

He ended the test with a fastest lap of 222.548mph. Last year's pole position time for the Indy 500 was 230.760mph.

"Everything went fine so far," Alonso said. "The circuit looks so narrow when you are at that speed. I was trying different lines but I was not as comfortable as I probably will be in a couple of weeks' time."

Alonso is racing in his home grand prix in Spain on 12-14 May before flying back to the States to start the official practice sessions for the Indy 500 the next day.

The competitors have a total of 30 hours of practice over five days before qualifying weekend on 20-21 May, with pole position decided on the Sunday.

Alonso's F1 team are fully involved in his Indy programme, with the car painted in the company's historic orange colour and given the McLaren name. It is the first time for 38 years that a car branded McLaren has raced at Indy.

He is taking part because McLaren are struggling in F1 this year as a result of a lack of performance in their Honda engine and Alonso has said one of his ambitions is to win the 'triple crown' of Monaco Grand Prix, which he won in 2006 and '07, Indy 500 and Le Mans 24 Hours.

McLaren executive director Zak Brown said he wanted to give Alonso the chance to win something after three difficult seasons since joining the team in 2015.

"We wanted to see Fernando running at the front because that's where he deserves to be," Brown said.

Brown revealed that Alonso had already watched about 25 Indy 500s in his preparations, including one entirely from an in-car camera on one particular car.

The test progressed so quickly that within four hours Andretti already had Alonso testing fuel saving and techniques for running behind a safety car.

But Alonso said he still had a lot to learn about fine-tuning the car for changing conditions on the track, a key aspect of driving at Indy.

"The guys make changes all the time to the car," he said. "On that aspect I am not up to speed. I am not yet able to to feel the car because at the moment I am not driving the car, the car is driving me around."

Mario Andretti, the 1978 F1 world champion, former IndyCar champion and father of ex-F1 and IndyCar driver Michael Andretti who runs the team Alonso is driving for, said: "He did a perfect job. He's the real deal and I think he's going to be strong this month."

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Enjoyed that race, looks like Mercedes have sorted out their tyre degregation issues

cant see neither stroll or vandoorne staying in f1 past this season, when you look at the impact rookies have made over the last 2/3 seasons these 2 look way off, vandoorne crashing into massa was so amateur

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Ferrari do seem to fly by the seat of their pants when it comes to stratergy. Vettel did the hard thing and got himself out infront at the start, They then brought him in early to stop Mercedez trying the undercut but then left him out when the virtual safety car was out even though Mercedez had their pit crew out a lap earlier Ferrari still didnt react and then waited too long.

How many times has Kimi crashed in the first couple of laps?

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5 hours ago, BOF said:

Guess who posted the fastest rookie time in first practice ? The times are incredibly close so race-craft is vital, which can only be good for him.

 

puts him in 19th place, he should be used to that ;)

Considering he only did 20 laps & most above did double that (some did over 70) with their best times coming mostly late on it looks like he is adapting to it quickly enough. The concentration required for racing at over 200mph continually for 200 laps is completely different than F1 with loads of slow corners though

Edited by LakotaDakota
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