The Official 2015 Australian Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS with Flux Capacitors***

I am really happy for them, even before this I wanted them to do well always thought they done a better job than Caterham.

Would be great if they could nick a point in the first race, cannot see McLaren getting to the end so all they would need is a few more to drop out.

Got a copy of the event programme today and they've digitally altered historical photos to remove tobacco ads.

I know Australia is particularly strict on tobacco laws, but it's a shame to have to do this sort of stuff. Even videos of old ATCC or Bathurst races now have to have tobacco logos blurred.

Funnily enough I did find one West logo they missed on a photo of Coulthard on the 1997 podium.

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X (@ed24f1)

Yay, a new sigpic for me!
A PC-friendly one at that. :P

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Haha yeah I was actually thinking of your sigpic when I posted that.

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X (@ed24f1)

removing tobacco ads in old photos is now a common practice I think, in Senna´s page in facebook they also did that, deleting like 798442783,5 Marlboros on each image... it is not like if I see i logo in a car say "oh I want to smoke a car!"

And idk how it is in Australia but in a lot of places there are trying to ban also Alcohol advertising now, in a near future we could see the martini stripes gone like in abu dhabi last year.

SchueyFan Wrote:
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> Haha yeah I was actually thinking of your sigpic
> when I posted that.

LOL, genius. Great minds and all that. Maybe it's an Ed telepathy thing. :D


Frantic Wrote:
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> removing tobacco ads in old photos is now a common
> practice I think, in Senna´s page in facebook
> they also did that, deleting like 798442783,5
> Marlboros on each image... it is not like if I see
> i logo in a car say "oh I want to smoke a car!"

LMAO!

I think this ad censoring is getting increasingly stupid. Now, because alcohol advertising seems to be becoming increasingly taboo, online betting is being advertised more and more instead. That'll probably get banned next... Personally I can't be arsed with that kind of stuff, I think all tobacco and alcohol advertising should just be allowed.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2015 01:51AM by EC83.

[www.bbc.co.uk]

It is not a big surprise that DC is saying that the Alonso story does not add up. Even JB said that when he saw the telemetry.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

It's just a lot of silliness really. With all these denials and the conflicting information coming from McLaren they've basically fanned the flames for the tabloid, speculation based rumour mill.

As usual facts (or at least the verifiable available information) are being ignored to create sensationalism.

Similar things happened with poor Bianchi's accident. People cherry picked the available information (or simply made some up) to back up their points.

The one thing I don't understand is that FOUR DAYS after the accident, Dennis gave an interview where he stated there had been NO CONCUSSION.

At that point him and the rest of the world knew that it had in fact been a serous concussion. So, why did he say that?

Ron's been around long enough not to make silly mistakes like that and should know better than to lie to the media.


With Bianchi, the simple case was that he didn't slow for yellows and paid the ultimate price, it's just nobody wanted to say that at the time. That, and to quote Prost, "that @#$%& truck" was on the track.

OT.

The ironic thing about the truck though, as bad as it looked (and it looked bad), it probably didn't make a very big contribution towards his injury. The photographs show his crash helmet to be largely unscathed, which strongly suggests that against all odds that he didn't actually hit his head in the collision with the truck. And if you saw the video clip of it, it also didn't seem to scrub off that much speed, the sudden stop when he hit the probably unprotected armcoe in the Marshalls enclosure headon would have created a simply massive impact force.

Many people have focused on the truck, but it's a small part of a very large picture and not even the most significant one. Obviously that's not to dismiss the associated risks.

But this kind of suports my proir post. With all the misinformation about, speculation runs wild and very quickly simple truths are distorted.

I was in that media briefing and Ron certainly didn't lie. It was a simply mistake on his part. Trust me, the questions were coming thick and fast.

Most of the rampant speculation you will have seen around the Alonso accident has been peddled by websites that had no one at the track that day, and are simply looking for clicks using clickbait headlines.

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Races: 163 - Wins: 23 - Pole Positions: 24 - Fastest Laps: 22
Season 9: Constructors' Champions

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J i m
The ironic thing about the truck though, as bad as it looked (and it looked bad), it probably didn't make a very big contribution towards his injury. The photographs show his crash helmet to be largely unscathed, which strongly suggests that against all odds that he didn't actually hit his head in the collision with the truck.

Nah Jim, the FIA said in their report after the season that his helmet did hit the truck, and it caused Bianchi's injuries.

The @#$%&'s really been hitting the fan in Australia regarding Giedo van der Garde's missing Sauber drive.

It seems Sauber don't have a leg to stand on and it seems we're down to two options:

* van der Garde gets a drive in Melbourne (and 2015?) at the expense of Marcos Ericsson (they certainly can't afford to ditch Nasr or Banco do Brasil will be off in double quick time).
* Sauber's assets are seized and they effectively have no team.

It seems like Sauber can't afford to give van der Garde his money back with damages (or they would have done so already), so I can only imagine they're going to have further prolonged legal issues with Ericsson and hope a backer comes along so they can see out the season... and they're going to struggle to do that given how badly they've dealt with this situation. Monisha has to go if they're to have any hope of seeing out 2015.

And after that has all settled down, Sutil will be in contact, as he will have been watching with much interest.

And there are rumours Manor's participation in Melbourne is back up in the air due to a lack of key engine parts. All of that effort to get to Melbourne and Ferrari let them down? Hope it's just nothing more than false gossip.

After all the promise over the winter regarding car numbers, there's a very real chance there could only be 16 cars on the grid.

The Sauber situation is a clusterfuck if I ever saw one. Completely rediculous situation.

I read that software is the issue for Manor. The car s built and it passed scrutineering without a problem, it's basically ready to go, but all the software systems were wiped prior to the auctions (which were of course cancelled) and now're they're scrambling to get everything reinstalled on time, but some monies are required for the software to be re-licsenced.

It'd be really silly if a software licsence problem stops them from competing. But if all goes well I think there is a fair chance that the car will at least run reliably. It is afterall essentially the 2014 car with a few key modifications, and therefore a relatively proven package. Although obviously they haven't used the 2015 spec Pirelli yet and the drivers lack decent preparation.

If the car runs though, I think they'll scrape within 107%, I doubt they'll be a HRT embarrassment.

Liking the sound of the McLaren Honda already. Nice and raspy and raw.

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Was that a shot of Ericsson in the car sat in the Sauber garage? The plot thickens...

Yeah. Ericsson and Nasr are in the garage but apparently the team has no intention of sending either out this session. Van der Garde isn't even being made welcome anywhere near the team.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2015 03:34AM by EC83.

According to early reports VDG was refused access to the pit area because he did not have a valid pass. When he finally arrived, he had to use Ericssons driver suit, and when he entered the garage, the mechanics and engineers vacated the premises. Rumour has it, that the next legal action is that Sauber are going to be charged of contempt of court.

McLaren are in utter shambles. They ended the training session early and were later visited by the FIA technical representative, which means rules about what they can and cannot tinker with, are being discussed. Likely problems are the gearbox, but this has yet to be confirmed. A gearbox change after 0 zero races would be an utter disaster.

Marussia have yet to assemble the car. The development level is so low, that it is highly unlikely that they are targetting any else but finishing events for the rest of the season.

Ferrari apparantly solved several engine issues over the winter, and are now able to send at least 50 hp more through the drivetrain to the rear wheels, and have full capacity on the electrical components of the engine.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2015 04:11AM by Morbid.