The Official 2017 Formula One Season *Bahrain Results*

Having trawled the internet there is no single opinion.

Even I'm querying which makes more sense. McLaren-Project 4 seems obvious, but then it can't be McLaren McLaren Project 4.

Who knows. Only a few, and good luck to anyone trying to decode Ron's opinion on the matter.

It's not so strange, that the MP4 is designation is gone. It is very common in organisations and companies, that when a former chief that has become legend gets ousted after a big and nasty power struggle, the 1984 effect sets in. They are just erased, and all the things that remind of them are too as well. It is a way for the new management to demonstrate that they are now in full and total control. It is part of cementing the new power structure and enforcing it on the lower ranks, and getting the public to reflect it back into the company.

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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 02/06/2017 04:22AM by Morbid.

So ahead of the car launches and for want of a better descriptive term 'test season' it's time to talk of our expectations of the year ahead. It could seem foolish to make bold predictions before even seeing a new car but in recent seasons I've enjoyed forecasting the form before it happens instead of waiting to see it happen before I open my wise mouth.

First up, I don't expect a substantial shake up of the current order. Not withstanding revised areodymanics and tyres the engine formula remains the same and with the exception of Toro Rosso who are reverting back to Renault again the field have the same suppliers.

The top three constructors will be the same, in order of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari. They've simply been able to divert far more resource to the new cars than the rest and although the 'mule cars' were only intended to simulate the expected levels of downforce, there will have been a benefit to the exercise no matter how neglible.

Mercedes will still be top due to a retained powertrain advantage although thanks to the Newey affect allied to quite possibly the strongest driver pairing in F1 and steady improvement by Renault, Red Bull ought to mount a geniune challenge. Hamilton is likely to win the championship relatively comfortably although Bottas could fall prey to Riccardo and Verstappen. Although they could always surprise us, Ferrari will be a distant third. The stability of the Todt/Brawn/Bryne days are long gone and they seem to be ruled by politics once again. I guess the big question is if Vettel can stop whinging over the radio for long enough to reassert himself over Raikkonen.

The midfield could see some change with the big question mark being Honda. If they make a good step forward then McLaren ought to advance well although similar to Ferrari they lack stability at the moment. And this could be their undoing. P4 ought to be a realistic target for them but a good Mercedes boost could still propel Force India and Williams ahead of them. Force India are a strong tight knit team, I think they'll produce another effective package and could well remain ahead of Williams. Williams look forward to the arrival of a paddy Lowe, certainly it'd be good to have him but he's not going to magically covert the team into winners. They need to concentrate on elimating the recent weaknesses and building a good all rounder. Perez - Occon could well be a stronger more reliable lineup than Massa - Stroll too.

Toro Rosso and Renault could be quite nip & tuck. I don't see Toro Rosso taking the fight consistently to the upper midfield as they have a tendency to fade as the season wears on.. They'll have good days of course but they'll be outgunned by Renault who will eventually get their @#$%& together but not in time to threaten the top 5 just yet.

The back of the field will be Hass and Sauber. Hass will have had fewer resources and experience to direct to the new regulations and so will be on the back foot. But they'll still take the odd opportunist points result. Sauber will have a power disadvantage due to running year old engines.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2017 11:08AM by J i m.

It's hard to argue with any of that.

Renault are a bit of an unknown. Last year they must have been terribly gimped by the complete lack of development of the 2016 car by the financial issues at Lotus, so it will be interesting to see what Renault can do with a clean sheet of paper.

I fear both Red Bull and Ferrari are too inconsistent to mount a consistent title challenge, irrespective of how good their cars are (and let's face it, neither will be way out ahead of Mercedes), but I pray that it's closer than in the last few years.

I won't mind the cars for the first season - a sizeable change to the rules ought to bring around the odd weird race and I'm looking forward to the extra speed - but looking beyond 2017 it's hard to argue that the on-track racing won't be worse due to the new aero rules.

My only other hope is that now the V6-hating Bernie has gone that FOM are allowed to portray the engine sounds properly rather than crushing them like they've done in the past 3 seasons.

All I did was asking McLaren to keep my name out of it. They called me a couple of times and begged to be allowed connecting themselves to me, but I have a strict "no sponsorship" ("sponcer ship" for the less educated) policy. As it looks, there won't be a McLaren Vader Project (MVP) any time soon and I'm happy about it. Orange isn't my color anyway.

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REHAB IS FOR QUITTERS

First render of the Williams FW40 (official):
[www.youtube.com]

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It basically looks like someone sat on top of the FW38 and squashed it... But still kind of badass.

FAKE MCLAREN RENDER REMOVED



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2017 04:17PM by madotter.

Where did Alonso post it?

Apparently it was "leaked" by a Dutch website.

Williams - reserving judgement until the real thing, doesn't look like a brilliant mock-up, look where the nose joins the chassis.

McLaren - well, that's just vile. Hopefully it's not real. I doubt Alonso would leak it himself.

McLaren have THANKFULLY confirmed, it's a fake... THANK **** for that!

The Williams "bump" is just an s-duct by the looks of it, but it's a terrible quality render. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if it was just an Autosport livery mock-up and would be disappointed if Williams themselves supplied that. You can't even see the Mercedes-Benz logo in the side view and it all looks very soft.

I've heard rumours that Toro Rosso have a striking new livery this year...

I think that Williams render is made just for give an idea of how the car and its proportions will look like. Something about how the rear wing fits into the car is strange. anyway, the "official" presentation will be on Feb 25th.

I heard that about TR too. Apparently they´re going to use the light blue from their sugar free drink. If all the rumours are true we´re going to have the most coloured grid since the early 2000´s or so.

New Sauber F1 has been revealed. Looks pretty good, though still retains the same nose tip from last years car.

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I prefer the look of this year and the colours, too!
[motorsport.nextgen-auto.com]

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Renault to launch soon!!

Lovely



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2017 04:08PM by madotter.

All those winglets are horrible! Surely with technology now they could impose a surface area limit on aerodynamic pieces...

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Tahitian GP Circuit
[www.grandprixgames.org]
Easter Island Circuit
[www.grandprixgames.org]

I think it's stunning!