QuoteJ i mBut yeah, to us part brained seasoned observers it was pretty obvious it was last year's car tarted up. With the skeleton crew work experience kids Lotus would have had designing the 2016 car do you really think this years will look any different anyway?by gav - F1
I don't mind it apart from the logo on the sidepods. As kedy said it could have used some a white stroke on the logo, but the matt finish looks great.by gav - F1
Needs to have the deep red and black, like most of the 80's and 90's cars.by gav - F1
QuoteFerrari2007 Gav, do you read Autosport magazine? I said much the same as you in the TV column section a few weeks back now. Nope, I can't even say the last time I picked up a magazine, let alone had a subscription. I'm glad I'm not the only one to think it though.by gav - F1
QuoteEC83 Personally I haven't watched any F1 on the BBC since late 2013, when I got my Sky subscription sorted. Sky's coverage has been in a different league. Sorry, but I think Sky have been very poor for the past 12 months. Everything is just a bunch of old blokes with no personality standing in the paddock now with minimal features. Who would have thought 20 years back that Johby gav - F1
Short version... meh. Long version... I hope we get the Paralymics Channel 4 and not the World Athletics Championships... chimps, but over all I couldn't care less. I'm chuffed it's channel 4 rather than ITV - ITV do two good shows... The Chase and Keep it in the Family (spot the link) and everything else is utter @#$%& and has been for years. OK the BTCC coverage on ITV4 is hby gav - F1
Same, a good summary. The only argument I'd have is that you can't judge the points of the McLaren drivers given the shocking reliability over the course of a weekend, not just the races. But looking at the raw stats they each finished ahead of the other 4 times.by gav - F1
If it's deemed to be the safest option then I would have no issue. They don't look great, but then neither does Mercedes' proposal. It's only a matter of time before F1 becomes a closed cockpit sport. Like so many other accidents in F1's past, let's not wait until someone is killed or seriously injured before changes are implemented, so for me, do the research aby gav - F1
Verstappen's future is safe regardless of what happens with Red Bull. It seems Ferrari are crawling all over him for the future, so if Red Bull do pull the plug he won't be short of offers. Even if he's not racing next year he's not going to be held out to dry. I don't think Red Bull will pull out, unless they've vastly underestimated Ferrari's stance and aby gav - F1
Yeah, it is going to implode at some point. I thought it might be over last winter, given the stories about Sauber, Force India, Lotus's issues, Marussia going into administrator and Caterham leaving. Somehow it survived, but most of the same teams are having similar problems this time again. We know Lotus almost certainly won't survive if the Renault takeover collapses - by the sounby gav - F1
My opinion is that Red Bull know F1 needs them more than ever and Ferrari and Mercedes know this. F1, Ferrari and Mercedes included, will pretty much die if Red Bull and Toro Rosso pull out, with Lotus/Renault still up in the air and Sauber and Force India hardly flush. It's just bartering. It's risky, but I think it's a case of pushing for something and if they don't getby gav - F1
Roger Williamson's is horrific, awful viewing, as much for poor David Purley's desperate actions and him disconsolately slumping and staggering around afterwards. Tom Pryce's is just as sickening, though I don't know how much they show on the documentary (it's been a lot of years since I saw it), but in the footage around the clearly mutilated marshal being ragdolled thby gav - F1
Quotemarcl My question would be why are three of the tyres ok, why is it just that one that is not? They only tested one tyre per car (either a random tyre which is repeated on subsequent cars, or perhaps the tyre most at risk of failure if run outside of the parameters). I expect they tested most if not all of the cars on the grid, but this one guy was responsible for the top four cars, heby gav - F1
Awesome news Iain. Congratulations. Or commiserations, your choice.by gav - Off-Topic
GP2 don't use tyre blankets so their tyres should only ever be above the minimum pressure. Hamilton's I can understand as it was a relatively fine margin, but Rosberg was quite a way out at 18.4 PSI.by gav - F1
They did measure tyre temperature at the same time, as stated in their initial statement on the investigation. Perhaps the odd numbers were the reason they waited so long into the race and then until after the race. I think it was fair that they were allowed Lewis to build a gap though. Mercedes didn't know the penalty if they were going to be found guilty, but if it was to be a drive tby gav - F1
It looked like it was a completely different failure to the one which hit Rosberg, where you could clearly see the tyre starting to unravel 3 miles previous (incidentally (coincidently?) at the same corner that Vettel had gone through) but it was on the cambered side of the tyre, the other side to the tyre where Vettel's failed. I've seen photos of tyres through Eau Rouge (the left-rby gav - F1
The first minute of that GP is one of my favourites from Murray. The changing of his voice as he realises it probably isn't Barrichello in the tyres at turn one is brilliant, followed by "the Frentzen" up in third. :Dby gav - F1
QuoteEC83 Yeah, this thread is kind of a time capsule, ha. I remember posting on the first page of it in the original discussion too. My posts back then make me cringe, partly because my posting style has matured since then(when I want it to... LOL) and partly because I was in a bad place back in those times. I think it was a great bit of timing that Mortal started this thread just as they were aby gav - Off-Topic
Quotemotorsport.comFrom now on, the clutch bite point may not be changed from the time the car leaves the garage for the first time after the pit lane is open ahead of the race, until after the start lockout period that commences following the beginning of the grand prix. In addition to this, the FIA wants to limit the ability of the teams to help drivers find the right bite point for the clutby gav - F1
Quotemarcl Merc starts have not been great since Spain and that when they bought the new clutch in. No point them looking at it now as its all changing for the next race. I don't think the start procedure itself is changing for the race, only that the team can't coach them regarding bite points and so on? In theory the starts will be nearly identical, only less optimised .by gav - F1
After a miserably flat qualifying yesterday F1 sputtered into life today. It was amateur hour after the safety car. Scary failure for Hulkenberg, and it's just a relief the wing shattered under the car and disappeared, unlike Alonso's in Sepang in 2013 where it got stuck underneath and partly lifted the front. I assume there was some problem with the kerbs given the two failuresby gav - F1
My heart sank when I read this earlier. What horrible news, but hopefully it allows some degree of finality for the Bianchi family - I can't begin to imagine how difficult the past 9 months have been. RIP Jules.by gav - F1
Quotethestig88 Making the cars faster will reduce the amount of overtaking as the racing line narrows further, aero turbulence increases, braking distances reduce etc. Its why Motorcycles and Touring Cars race better as they are comparably much slower in the corners, allowing for greater variety of racing lines, chances to pass etc. I can't speak for touring cars in other countries or theby gav - F1
QuoteJ i m I'm not convinced Williams strategy was at fault to be honest. I think they made the correct calls given that ultimately Mercedes have the performance advantage. They gave it a good go. It was inevitable that Merc would move ahead at the pit stops for two reasons, 1) the Merc has a advantage good enough that it doesn't need the 'undercut' and so has flexibility in pby gav - F1
Judging by how far the barrier flexed backwards it was clearly a huge hit. The issue here was the same as at Barcelona, and something I've been saying for months with very few seeming to agree with me. The suspension didn't give at all - the left rear was deformed but didn't collapse, and the front, outwardly, looked completely intact. So once more the crash structure wasnby gav - F1
I've just noticed the cameraman on Raikkonen's onboard shot of the crash as they come to stop. Obviously following the action up front and turned around and was like "oh, hi!" Very, very lucky, as he was clearly oblivious to the double-decker coming towards him and would have been wiped him clean out had they gone another few metres. You can see how close he is from the sby gav - F1
Even for Maldonado those couple of incidents would require several boxes of washing detergent. Sickening looking initial impact on the armco for Alonso. Interestingly the left-hand side of the car looked very similar to the right-hand side of the car after his supposedly mysterious Barcelona crash. This one resulted in a mandatory trip to the medical centre too. I thought Raikkonen had aby gav - F1
QuoteMorbid As I said, the unorthodox placement of electrical engine components after the gearbox introduces a host of complex problems. That's the first I've read of these and I can't say I've seen the suggestion in the British press. Are you saying they've placed the MGU-K after the gearbox, generating and deploying power just before the diff?by gav - F1
QuoteMorbid How many of you are still willing to stand by the assertion that McLaren-Honda are gonna produce a race winning car this season? Or the next? It's not going to happen this year, certainly, and while they'll be better next year, it's hard to imagine they'll be challenging for podiums. I said they might have race-winning pace, or fall in around Ferrari/Williams bby gav - F1