The 2015 Formula One Season

Well well. We'll wait and see what happens!!

Things do not sound so good at Force India, it would be such a shame if they are not able to complete the year or build and develop the car.

Testing so far has been interesting, Ferrari do really seem to have made huge gains but as always this is testing and Jerez is not the best place to actually find out a good car from an average one.

Merc are probably holding back, but if they are not then they have not done enough on this current car.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2015 12:53PM by marcl.

Mercedes held back last year, just doing their own thing. Come Melbourne they were a second clear of the field.

I'm sure most teams would be able to push far, far harder if they wanted. This test is all about confirming numbers and, if reliability allows, establishing a baseline setup to work from in the following tests and in the simulators.

We'll see in the first few races if many strides have been made compared to last year, but you'd expect there's more power, fuel saving and more slightly more efficient aero (the majority of the cars haven't changed visually all that much). You've got to factor in that the tyres won't be the same either.

McLaren must be worried now, it is getting better but there really is not long left to get these problems fixed.

Honda really could have done with a second team.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2015 02:11PM by marcl.

They've had 2 days in a row with over 30 laps, which is more promising than many teams at this point in 2014. There are 2 more engine revisions to come before Melbourne. Whether they're worried or not, I've no idea, but they've consciously taken a decision to tightly package the area around the rear of the car, and they knew that would be problems. The MP4-29 was a fat-arsed bitch.

They've said on numerous occasions now that this is a learning season, so may be treating this as a racing MP4-18, with the aim of challenging for a win or 2 later in the season. In reality this is all about 2016.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2015 02:33PM by gav.

I just feel it should have gone better than it has, Honda have had long enough to get ready for this and tbh I expected them to at least be able to test properly just like most Merc teams were able to last year.

They should not need a learning year both Honda and McLaren should be able to hit the ground running and at least be up there in the top 10 for the first race.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2015 03:06PM by marcl.

marcl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just feel it should have gone better than it
> has, Honda have had long enough to get ready for
> this and tbh I expected them to at least be able
> to test properly just like most Merc teams were
> able to last year.
>
> They should not need a learning year both Honda
> and McLaren should be able to hit the ground
> running and at least be up there in the top 10 for
> the first race.


That's expecting a bit much, isn't it? It's a new unit! Everyone had issues last year, and I feel the mileage they have picked up is rather decent considering they're still correctly integrating the systems into the car. McLaren can go back to the factory with the new information they have and work on a fix; don't forget it's only the first test.

Why shouldn't they need a learning year? It's a formula Honda isn't familiar with. It's not going to fall into place from the off; there's gonna be issues to iron out. Success doesn't just happen overnight.

---

GPGSL: S6 - TafuroGP Tester (14th) /// S7 - ART Tester (6th) /// S8 - Demon Driver (13th) /// S9 - Demon/Snake Driver (13th) /// S10 - Snake Driver (???) ///]
"My ambition is handicapped by laziness" - Charles Bukowski

When Honda first debuted a turbo back in 1982/3 they had lots of trouble and it took a few years to get fully competitive

The reason for my views is that Merc and Ferrari did not have that many problems and both were competing in F1 at the same time as building new engines.

Honda have had a whole year and a half to get this engine ready and all their systems.

Yes I know it takes time etc but for me this has gone a lot worse than I thought it would, its just my view. Its also harder for them only having one team to test with, this is why I think Ferrari suffered a bit last year as well it was just them and two small teams.

As I said its just my view on it, I am sure they will get there but at the moment they are way off where I thought they would be.

Plus going for such a complicated car that's hard to replace parts etc just sounds like to me they are trying to run before they walk.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2015 04:17PM by marcl.

Morbid Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Carlitox Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The
> > camo was for eye-catching purposes, I believe,
> and
> > boy did it catch my eye.
>
> That type of camo is used extensively in the
> automotive industry, when new models are tested on
> public roads and some times on test tracks too,
> before release. Their purpose is to mask body
> features. If you take a picture or film a car with
> that kind of paint-work, it is difficult to work
> out the exact lines of the body shape. I think it
> is very fair to conclude, that the camo was there
> to hide something, NOT to catch attention. That is
> not say that, that they specifically wanted to
> hide the aero. Perhaps there is something else,
> which the camo paint job works as a distraction
> from, thus leading prying eyes to investigate the
> wrong thing.


I know, hence my previous post with a pic of a camouflaged road car I think it's meant to be eye-catching because with lots of photographers and the other crews, hiding aero details is difficult. But, you might be right about us looking at the wrong thing. There may be someting inside, that has had an impact outside of the car and they don't want anybody to guess what is it.



Stats: 139 Starts / 7 Wins / 9 Poles / 5 Fastest laps

The engines are far, far too complex to just assume they should be able to get them to work from the off. Mercedes did a stunning job last season to ensure they were as ready as is at all possible, but they were the exception to the rule.

Perhaps with 3 weeks before the next test McLaren and Honda were never intending this to be anything more than a rudimentary shakedown and basic test of systems. We know there are 2 more engine revisions to come before the season starts, so perhaps this is just an earlier model, something similar to the unit they ran at Abu Dhabi to continue testing and get some basic aero testing done.

They've said this will be a learning year, and they've proved that with a very, very aggressive car design. They could have made it easy on themselves and developed another fat-arsed car with plenty of opportunity to make relatively easy changes to the cooling if needed, but no, they seem content to write off 2015 in order to learn and be best prepared for a full assault in 2016. If that is the case, why wouldn't that extent to testing? If they're truly trying to push the boundaries, they will fall over from time to time.

As I said, think MP4-18. I think that's what has drawn Alonso in - the promise that they're going to drive really hard for next year and have an almost guaranteed shot at the title (in theory). Personally I'm excited about just how much promise there is for McLaren-Honda later on this season, let alone in 2016. I'm not even a McLaren fan.

Oh, and it sounds even more awesome than the other cars do (and I liked them anyway). The Honda makes some truly weird noises, and I like that.

Really really hope Manor pull through, if they survive it will end up being one of the best feel good stories in F1 for me. The tenacity displayed in the face of hopelessness has been astonishing.

I'm a little bit more 'meh' regarding Caterham, although it would be better to have them than not have them so long as any new owner/management isn't a complete clusterfuck.

Hope Force India aren't in as much trouble as is feared, but not testing the new car is far from ideal.

Regarding testing so far, I'm positively surprised at the apparent pace of the Ferrari and especially the Sauber which bodes well for a decent step forward in terms of both engine and chassis.

However, I sense that Mercedes and Williams are both holding back a bit. Lotus have a few teething troubles to get through but they seem encouraged nonetheless.

McLaren Honda are a concern. I'm sorry but this can not be considered their first test. They had their 'filming day" shake down last year as well as the post race Abu Dhabi test. They got practically no running in at Abu Dhabi due to the inevitable teething troubles, but many of these ought to have been fixed for Jerez, the first couple of days simply were not good enough. However, there are enough signs to be encouraged overall.

Renault have seemingly put their foot in it again. The cars seem to be limited to short runs due to some reliability concerns described by Renault themselves as 'stupid'.

I doubt a proper feel for the competitive form will emerge until the third test, but I'm really quite excited about the season ahead.

Hmmmm it seems that other teams may well thrawt the Manor recovery. Apparently they have to agree before they can get the dispensation to race their 2014 car, and it is said that up to five teams are extremely reluctant to facilitate this.

Considering that this dispensation was already granted to Caterham who probably won't be able to race anyway, it would be an utter disgrace to deny Manor.

It seems the inevitable vested interests are abound with some teams thinking they're up for a slice of the prize money earned by Marussia last year.

Fourth and final day of the Jerez test added to P1.

The problem with them running the 2014 is it will be way too slow and probably not even get within the quali time needed.

I assume they'll have the 2015 engine (if the mounts are similar) and they'll be using the 2015 tyres. At Suzuka they were nearly 3 seconds clear of the 107% rule, so would have to need the leading car to be those 3 seconds faster (without taking the engine into account) to make it touch and go. Even at Sochi, with everything else going on, they were 2 seconds clear of the 107% rule.

Assuming they get their ship in order quickly and have some drivers that aren't completely @#$%&, they should be OK. You have to expect the first races to be difficult though.

I think it was a case the new engines wont fit the old cars, that was mentioned when Caterham were saying they might run with the 2014 car so I assume it will be the same with Manor.

McLaren have denied they are involved with this.

Catherham have now gone all their stuff is up for sale.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2015 02:52PM by marcl.

Apparently they won't be allowed to run the 2014 car so they cannot take part, huge blow to them and there is no way they can get the 2015 built.

Turns out only Force India blocked it. [www.bbc.co.uk]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2015 09:06AM by marcl.

Quote
Bernie
They wanted to come in with last year’s car and it didn’t get accepted. It needed all the teams to agree and there were three or four of them that didn’t agree.

According to Mr. B, Force India wasn't the only one to oppose. I'm pretty sure Ferrari blocked it too, because of their debt. McLaren may have done it too, they aren't in trouble (yet) but since they are lacking a title sponsor for another year, the money may have been tempting enough. Bear in mind that I'm just speculating.

D*ck move, though understandable from a business point of view. But nothing will stop it from being a d*ck move, and Force India's hypocrisy, along with the other team's greed, have killed a team with a dream. I want to cry when I think that someday Jules will wake up to learn how the strat group basically stole the money HE earned for his team.

Pathetic.



Stats: 139 Starts / 7 Wins / 9 Poles / 5 Fastest laps

It is pathetic really.

Another symptom of the preposterous distribution of revenue within the sport.

It remains to be seen if Manor's new consortium will fund construction of the 2015 car, as they can still miss three races. But with this 'screw you' attitude from the strategy group I'd be surprised if they still saw the point of it all.

Considering Force India, Lotus and Sauber's boycott threats last year, the air stinks of hypocrisy right now.