Rick Draper
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quote:
Originally posted by tom130691
I get the impresson they are setting him up (kev) purely as a publicity thing, they have now main sponser
Who is the main sponsor?
I see Red Bull have had another cracking day
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tom130691
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Registered: 13th Sep 08
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I meant NO sponsor,
Saw my boss heading over so typed really quickly
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by tom130691
I get the impresson they are setting him up (kev) purely as a publicity thing, they have now main sponser
Thanks to Honda (as well as other backers), McLaren have more cash this year without a title sponsor than they did in previous seasons; so it's unlikely to be publicity
On another, a green bear at Ferrari - http://i.imgur.com/mlBFPrG.jpg 
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JonnyJ
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I think now is time to start looking at the time sheets seriously Oh look, Lewis faster than everyone by 7 tenths on a slower tyre 
In all seriousness though another strong day for Merc engined cars, not great for the rest, especially Lotus and RB. Never been so excited about the start of a season before, literally anything could happen in Melbourne, even been quickest might mean nothing if your car isnt reliable. Going to be fascinating.
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Rick Draper
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I honestly think they should bring back unlimited testing, especially for something like the big rule changes happening at the minute. Is it really fair Renault have the chance of there reputation been trashed in the first few races? It won't happen I know but F1 has gone to the polar opposite of where it once was with almost everything.
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JonnyJ
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Dont see why, its the same for everyone? Should've done a better job. Merc and Ferrari have managed to make a sound enough job of it. They still get to make reliability changes to their engine even after they are homologated so they can show how good they are at solving the issues.
The best way to make F1 more exciting is not to use gimmicks like shit tyres or DRS, but just give the teams less data and information, because once they have everything in place, they are that good, they're like robots.
[Edited on 22-02-2014 by JonnyJ]
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Kyle T
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Anyone watch last night's "ask crofty" on sky? Interesting they actually made a point that engines have been cranked up now and its had a significant impact on noise/volume and they were actually needing to shout at each other trackside.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Kyle T
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Lack of traction is going to be fucking epic this year, cars are great to watch.
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Rick Draper
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Thing is if the first few races turn into public testing for Renault they could easily have a big dummy spit and walk away leaving 4 teams with no supplier. Not saying that will happen but it has potential too.
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Ben G
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Walk away? I'm sure they'd have to pay the teams if they breach their contract.
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Kyle T
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quote:
Originally posted by Rick Draper
Thing is if the first few races turn into public testing for Renault they could easily have a big dummy spit and walk away leaving 4 teams with no supplier. Not saying that will happen but it has potential too.
Don't be soft
They cannot walk away mid season, the wrath of Bernie is far more dangerous than a year of bad performance.
If they bow out after 2014... oh look, there's Honda.
Renault have invested bajillions on this engine, they will make it work. Maybe not by Australia or even by the end of the season - but it will work and it'll be strong.
Renault have been the most successful manufacturer in the last 10 years so they've got the skills and resources. I wonder if they've suffered with not really having a proper "works" team. I know RBR are the works Renault team by name, but it's clear that Newey and his team have poorly coordinated with the Renault engineers.
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JonnyJ
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What Kyle said.
Seems things are really bad at RB, apparently the more laps they do, the more problems they find, so much so that they might resort to a "B-Spec" car. Lotus, as we expected are in the mire too, but Caterham have still managed a fair few laps (in comparison to the rest of the Renault powered cars) probably because the rear of their car is so simple. I can imagine a tear rolling down Newey's cheek as he designs a car based around cooling over tight, aero efficient packaging
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JonnyJ
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Rosberg has completed a race sim today and smashed the lap record. Not going to get too giddy yet but Merc look decent
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Kyle T
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Yeah laptimes are proper coming down, I think Lewis' time yesterday was competitive with FP times in 2013(?)
Crazy if so, so little aero compared to yesteryear, new engines probably not up to speed yet, etc.
Wonder what times we'll see by the end of the year...
Lotus Elise 111R
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JonnyJ
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Rosbergs time would've put him 13th on last years grid for Bahrain, which is mega impressive considering the extra downforce those cars had and the fact the Bahrain was the 4th race so development would've been much further ahead than these cars are and the tyres were softer. F1 is nuts.
Few people have said though that the Merc was faster through the speed trap than the 2013 cars by about 10mph. These cars/power units are not slow!
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Kyle T
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quote:
Originally posted by JonnyJ
Few people have said though that the Merc was faster through the speed trap than the 2013 cars by about 10mph. These cars/power units are not slow!
Yeah I read that too, pretty crazy - I wonder what top speeds we'll see at Monza/Spa 
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Rick Draper
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Not saying they would walk away mid season but they could cut funding/sell everything. They have form for that in the past don't forget!
Rosbergs lap was a very low fuel soft tyre one according to Anderson.
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JonnyJ
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Merc top of the time and lap sheets. Kimi drops his Ferrari. RB are in the shit. Lovely stuff.
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fred7
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don't forget Merc are always quick in these things but shit over a race! because of tyre wear
[Edited on 22-02-2014 by fred7]
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JonnyJ
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quote:
Originally posted by fred7
don't forget Merc are always quick in these things but shit over a race! because of tyre wear
[Edited on 22-02-2014 by fred7]
If im not mistaken Merc actually got a huge hold on tyre wear last season and these tyres are a lot harder than last seasons.
Not that it will matter when you're over a second a lap faster
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fred7
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I don't really remember them getting a hold on the tyres if im honest was better at the end but wasn't great. 1 second in testing means nothing really does it.
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Kyle T
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I hear "2010 bridgestone" used to describe these 2014 tyres quite often...
Merc had a fair grasp on tyres late last season, but at the cost of aero efficiency. They dropped to become one of the slower cars in a straight line due to all the aero they needed to bolt on.
I think fuel and reliability will be more a concern over tyres this year, but that's only speculation.
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JonnyJ
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quote:
Originally posted by Kyle T
I think fuel and reliability will be more a concern over tyres this year, but that's only speculation.
The phrase to finish 1st, first you have to finish will be apt for this season.
Pirelli have admitted that they've been pretty conservative with the tyres this season as teams have enough on their plate without having to worry about tyres also.
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Dom
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quote:
Originally posted by JonnyJ
If im not mistaken Merc actually got a huge hold on tyre wear last season.....
Yeah, it was odd how Merc's tyre wear seemed to drastically improve after that low-key mid-season tyre test they did 
quote:
Originally posted by JonnyJ
Rosberg has completed a race sim today and smashed the lap record. Not going to get too giddy yet but Merc look decent
Not bad for an extremely light fuelled run. Will be interesting to see what other teams manage when they do the same.
quote:
Originally posted by Kyle T
I think fuel and reliability will be more a concern over tyres this year, but that's only speculation.
Reliability is no doubt the key concern but i can still see tyres playing a massive part in this season with teams having to manage tyre wear early on in a race.
Although with all three being headaches, i just hope we don't end up in a situation where the cars are turned down early on, drivers aren't pushing and we end up watching a parade.
[Edited on 22-02-2014 by Dom]
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Ben G
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Is there a minimum fuel useage rule? Obviously the fuel economy will be much better therefore in theory can be ''on it'' for longer than last season.
Will teams just use less fuel to compensate for that? Or do they have to use the same amount as before?
Sorry if that sounds a bit gobbledegook, just thinking out loud here.
[Edited on 23-02-2014 by Ben G]
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