Formula One - 2017

[Jon]

The Monaco gp is a **** joke of a 'race'.  Shittest race on the calendar by a country mile.  

Edited May 29, 2017 by Jon

[Jimzk5]

24 minutes ago, Jon said:

The Monaco gp is a **** joke of a 'race'.  Shittest race on the calendar by a country mile.  

It's only on the calendar for nostalgia reasons really,they are incredibly shit races I agree. Didn't even bother watching yesterday when I knew raikkonen would be asked to let vettell win.

on Monaco though, a lot of the new tracks also give lots of boring races, I'd rather a race in Monaco than a race in dust bowls in the arse end of nowhere with long straights and and large tarmac run off areas where mistakes don't get punished

the best 'new' track was turkey which isn't even on the calendar anymore 

Edited May 29, 2017 by Jimzk5

[brommy]

8 minutes ago, Jimzk5 said:

Didn't even bother watching yesterday when I knew raikkonen would be asked to let vettell win.

I don't think Raikkonen was asked.

[mikeyp102]

For me the Monaco Gp should be the end race of the season. Like the Champs Elysees stage of Tour de France, it should be a presession de the winner to be showcased. Obviously if the championship isn't won then they compete. 

[BOF]

Indy 500 won by Takuma Sato?

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This weekend’s Indy 500 has been won by Takuma Sato. Wait, sorry, what, THE Takuma Sato? The legendary race was no, forgive me, just to be absolutely clear, we’re talking about the same Takuma Sato? Used to be at Jordan, right? Can someone double check this?

In a gripping 200 lap race, Sato took the lead just, no, again, sorry, just have to be clear on this; Takuma Sato who used to drive for BAR? Really? Wow. Well, erm, that’s something. Are we sure?

In a race which saw a spectacular lap 53 crash between Jay Howard and Scott Dixon, and retirements for big hitters including Ryan Hunter-Reay, Sato kept a level head and, no, look, really, this isn’t the same Takuma Sato who drove for Super Aguri, he must be, like, a million years old and when did he become any good? Seriously? God, well that’s a turn up for the books. Definitely Takuma Sato? No, no, fine, honestly, just checking. It just seems, you know, a bit unlikely. If you promise this isn’t a wind-up? Fine, okay.

Things didn’t work out so well for high profile rookie Fernando Alonso as the Spanish driver retired on lap 179, but there was better news for another familiar F1 name as fourth place was taken by Max Chilto… OH COME ON

 

[villakram]

... and powered by Honda 

Have a drink Fernando!

[Jimzk5]

22 hours ago, brommy said:

I don't think Raikkonen was asked.

Like I said I didn't watch it but all the reports saying raikkonen was pitted too early allowing vettell past

[brommy]

48 minutes ago, Jimzk5 said:

Like I said I didn't watch it but all the reports saying raikkonen was pitted too early allowing vettell past

My point being that Raikkonen wasn't asked to let Vettel win, as you wrote, Raikkonen didn't have the choice.

[LakotaDakota]

To be fair Vettel was faster than Raikkonen all day bar the first 20 laps, He was catching him at half a second a lap long before the pit-stop & When Kimi came in Vettel did 3 low 1.15 laps back to back which put him ahead, Compare that to the 1.17 laps Kimi was putting in on new tyres when Vettel was due in the pits and he passed him easily.

Was the switch likely? Sure but if Vettel hadn't managed some incredibly fast times on 35 lap old tyres around Kimis stop then he wouldn't have got out in front of him.

[BOF]

On the week leading up to what is, in my opinion, regularly the best GP of the season ... we have some more stinging direct quotes by McLaren about Honda.

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Canadian Grand Prix: McLaren express 'serious concerns' over 'lost' Honda

McLaren have "serious concerns" over whether they can win the world championship with engine partner Honda, says executive director Zak Brown.

The former world champions are facing their worst ever season after failing to register a single point so far in 2017 after a series of engine failures.

Brown said engine upgrades promised for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix were not ready and the team is "near our limit".
 

Quote

 

"Honda's working very hard but they seem a bit lost," he told Reuters.

"We were eagerly awaiting this upgrade as were our drivers and it's a big disappointment that it's not coming.

"It's not lack of effort, but they are struggling to get it to come together."

 

Brown, who replaced Ron Dennis at the McLaren helm last year, added:

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"Our preference is to win the world championship with Honda.

"But at some point you need to make a decision as to whether that's achievable. And we have serious concerns.

"Missing upgrades, and upgrades not delivering to the level we were told they were going to, you can only take that so long. And we're near our limit.

"We're not going to go into another year like this, in hope.

"There's lots of things that go into the decision and we're entering that window now of 'which way do you go when you come to the fork in the road'."

 

McLaren's renewed partnership with Honda in 2015 was billed as a return to the glory days of their collaboration in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna dominated.

Yet McLaren remain without a race win since 2012 and their best finish this season was when Fernando Alonso, who started seventh on the grid, came 12th in last month's Spanish Grand Prix.

In March it was revealed McLaren had made an exploratory approach to Mercedes about engine supply in the wake of problems with Honda.And Brown again raised the prospect of McLaren paying for engines in future.

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"Do I think you can win with a customer engine? I think you can," he said.

 

 

 

[Rodders]

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Fernando Alonso: McLaren driver will leave F1 team if they are not competitive

By Andrew Benson

Chief F1 writer

• 1 hour ago
• From the sectionFormula 1

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Fernando Alonso is popular among F1 fans

Fernando Alonso says he will leave McLaren-Honda at the end of the year if he does not see signs they can be competitive by September.

The two-time world champion is out of contract at the end of this season.

"We have to win," he said. "If we are not winning before September, when I will make a decision, I will not stay."

Asked to clarify his position, he said: "I joined this project to win the title. If you are not in a competitive position, maybe you change project."

However, the Spaniard said he had not yet started to think seriously about his future.

"Until I sit down with myself in September, I cannot say for sure," Alonso said.

Alonso joined McLaren at the start of 2015, when they began their relationship with engine partner Honda. But the team have been uncompetitive for all three years, largely because of a lack of performance from the Honda engine, and that is causing tension within the team.

McLaren executive director Zak Brown said on Wednesday that he had "serious concerns" about Honda, which he said appeared "lost".

He added that the McLaren-Honda relationship was nearing "a fork in the road" and that McLaren were "not going to go into another year like this, in hope".

Alonso said: "We all want to win and Zak's comments about Honda is what you would expect him to say. He wants to win, he wants McLaren to win and things have to change."

Are McLaren and Honda set to split?

Brown's remarks signal a shift in McLaren's public position on Honda, which had previously been that they are "100% committed" to the relationship.

Until recently, senior figures were briefing that McLaren would definitely stick with Honda in 2018 but the ground appears to have shifted and there are growing indications that they may split.

Fernando Alonso returned to McLaren in 2015, having raced for them in 2007

In that circumstance, McLaren would seek to try to secure a deal for Mercedes customer engines, which would almost certainly provide a competitive boost.

However, it would affect the team's financial position as the Honda deal equates to a net $100m gain for McLaren over using a customer engine because the Japanese car manufacturer not only provides free engines but also pay half the drivers' salaries and contribute a significant amount of sponsorship.

What are Alonso's options?

McLaren want to keep Alonso in 2018 but if they switched to customer engines would not be able to afford to offer him his current salary of $40m a year.

However, he appears not to have too many options. Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull are considered unlikely to want to sign him and while Renault is keen, it also could not afford to pay him anything like the amount of money he is earning this year.

Alonso, who missed the last race in Monaco to compete in the Indianapolis 500, said his main intention was to stay in F1 next year.

• What next for McLaren-Honda?
• 'Honda risking reputation' - Alonso

"In F1, the third world championship is still my biggest priority," he said. "I developed my skills to drive F1 cars for 16 years so it is the best car I can drive."

But he said his performance at Indy, where he led several times and was contending for the win in the closing stages only for his engine to fail, had encouraged his belief that he could win there and at Le Mans in the future.

"I jump in any car in any categories with any tyres and rules, I go there and I am competitive," he said. "I am not afraid of the future. If I cannot win the third world championship here, I will race in any series and know I can win."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/40206808

[Jimzk5]

Honda Fit a new upgraded part of the energy unit in the engine and alonso retires with an engine failure in p2.

Honda are a shambles, can't see them staying in f1 as an engine supplier after mclaren dump them and they lose interest in supplying sauber

[OutByEaster?]

It's hard to get into trouble in a red car isn't it?

 

[mykeyb]

1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said:

It's hard to get into trouble in a red car isn't it?

 

So the 10 second stop - go is what?

Watching the replay I am interested to see what others thought about Hamilton immediately after the shunt..why was there no acceleration away from the corner if he was trying to generate heat into the tyres?

Vettell would have won the race if he hadn't been so petulant and earned himself the penalty, but I have to say that Baku is the most ridiculous F1 circuit on the calendar, turn 8 alone should be enough to remove it asap.

[LakotaDakota]

On the safety car a couple of minutes earlier Hamilton had been warned that he was very close to overtaking the SC before the line. Think he was just trying to let the SC get clear before accelerating out of the corner and Seb wasn't paying attention to Hamilton crawling along

[OutByEaster?]

37 minutes ago, mykeyb said:

So the 10 second stop - go is what?

A very, very gentle slap of the wrist - we're looking at a hissy fit in which a man has aimed a car at another vehicle and deliberately hit it. 

For me he should be banned for a couple of races.

I also think it's disgraceful that he's carrying out this pretence that he has no idea at all about the second incident, like it didn't happen - he talked about his dangerous driving penalty being for the shunt from behind like that the was the only incident that had happened and his "Where was I dangerous driving?" radio message was adding insult to injury. In a way, I'm hoping the F1 authorities agree with him and decide the 10 seconds was for hitting Hamilton from behind - that way they can impose a separate punishment for the second incident.

 

[DCJonah]

Absolutely mind blowing that he got away with that. Surely there's nothing worse in the sport than intentionally driving your car into an opponent. 

If nothing else happens it really sets a dangerous precedent. 

[OutByEaster?]

Further to the initial punishment, the FIA has given him three points on his superlicence - you need twelve points for a suspension. Which means he can only ram three more cars this season before being banned for one race.

 

[Genie]

12 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

Further to the initial punishment, the FIA has given him three points on his superlicence - you need twelve points for a suspension. Which means he can only ram three more cars this season before being banned for one race.

 

1 more as today's 3 points take him to 9.

[OutByEaster?]

Also, that was the best Grand Prix I've watched in a while - a narrow unforgiving circuit with lots of places to overtake, most of which require lines that might cause collisions - overtaking and crashes. Perfect!