Abu DhabiGP/Fernando Collects £800 & can pass go Thread - Contains Quali & Race spoilers

[dyrewolfe]

First topic message reminder :

Looks a tough job for Ricciardo now at RB going forward. I imagine that smile will be permanently turned upside down, from next season.

Still think Hamilton can take many positives out of this season, even if he gets pipped to the title. He won the qualifying head to head & in race pace, the gap between himself & Nico is still sizeable. He's also strengthened his legacy by surpassing Prost in total wins & is now only eight poles behind Schumacher. Even yesterday, Verstappen pretty much schooled everybody, apart from a faultless Hamilton, which just showcases the class of Lewis.

Its a real shame as those 3 engine failures have effectively cost him the title. The only DNF Rosberg has suffered was when they took each other out on the first lap in Spain.

Suppose you could say Lewis should have done better in Singapore and Azerbaijan, but the fact remains that with better reliability, Lewis would be looking at a 4th title.

[Jermaine2015]

The Mercedes merry-go-round is complete. Bottas joins Mercedes, Massa back at Williams and Wehrlein goes to Sauber.

[GSC]

Merc have found their Kovalainen

[dyrewolfe]

Merc have found their Kovalainen

Funny, I thought they'd found their Bottas

Interesting that he's only joining on a 1-year deal...maybe they want to see how he gets on with Hamilton before committing to a longer term contract.


In other news, Manor are still no nearer to knowing whether they will be on the grid next season. Employees are being kept on until the end of the month at least, but without knowing if they have any kind of future, I don't see any work being done. If they are still around come April, I guess they will start the season with this season's car (assuming they can get permission from the FIA).


In better news it looks like Stirling Moss is in a stable condition after being admitted to hospital with a chest infection. Get well soon fella!

[Guest]

Bernie Ecclestone loses position as Formula 1 CEO to Chase Carey

[GSC]

An icon of F1 but the sport is firmly in decline. Badly in need of a rethink top to bottom.

[Fernando]

Ross Brawn named managing director.

good start.

[dyrewolfe]

Well Brawn will be running the sporting side of the business anyway...which I think bodes well for the future development of the sport. Don't think there is anyone who doesn't like the guy.

Some guy from ESPN named Sean Bratches will be running the commercial side.

I'm liking Chase Carey's take that F1 can no longer be run as a dictatorship. Poor old Bernie finally kicked to the kerb and given a cosy advisory position. Sorry, I can't help but be happy about that.

He says the sport needs to use social media more and that each race needs to be a bigger event, involving music and other entertainment (or "21 Superbowls" to quote him) in order to attract more fans. I'm not so sure about that...all thats going to do is attract fairweather fans who are mostly interested in whats going on besides the racing. I'm also wondering how thrilled the drivers will be at having to spend even longer interacting with fans...like they don't do enough press and promotional work already...

I think making some major changes to the design regs and making circuits more conducive to overtaking, rather than reducing them drag races into corners, thereby actually creating more interesting races, would be far better.

At least they have said they will look at the current prize money situation...though thats all they are saying for now.

Chase Carey: Ecclestone exit means F1 can be run differently

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Not hard to read between the lines and get the impression that they viewed Bernie as a detriment in the modern era.

Need to stop going to crap tracks like Baku for money and restrict the reliance on aero.

[Fernando]

Formula 1 drivers will not receive penalties for collisions in 2017 unless it is absolutely clear who is at fault, the FIA has confirmed.

[dyrewolfe]

There will be one less team on the grid next season as administrators failed to find a buyer for Manor.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/38772098

Theoretically there could be a last-minute intervention...but its highly unlikely...

It is not necessarily the end of Manor - a buyer could potentially still purchase the remnants of the team.

But even if that were to happen, the move makes it much harder for Manor to make it to the start of the season in Australia on 26 March.

The team's collapse leaves 10 teams - 20 cars - on the grid in Melbourne and comes just five days after the sport was taken over by US company Liberty Media and long-time commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone was removed as chief executive.

[GSC]

Meh. They brought nothing to the overall F1 package

[CaledonianCraig]

Well even Bernie's staunchest supporters all seem to agree it was time for change.

[Nathaniel Jacobs]

I really hope Liberty aren't serious with having the talentless Taylor Swift doing gigs at the races. Can't stand that bimbo

[Guest]

I'm not really expecting a quick fix, fully expecting to be disappointed in all honesty. I'm really only interested in the role of Brawn & how he goes about executing his ideas. I doubt much will change in the short-run, but if he can implement a strategy to fix the unequal competition, reducing overall aerodynamic grip dependency & improving the actual racing, then that would be long overdue. Until then, it will basically be a transitional period, post Bernie.

As for LM, I'm not really too bothered about them. Their sole aim is to expand the F1 brand, increase viewing numbers & to ultimately get a return on their investment. To do that, you have to attract 'casual fans', and celebrity acts such as Taylor Swift, go a long way to achieving that. I can see them 'Americanising' the sport, it's the only thing they know, with silly side-show events & other gimmicks, in an attempt to extend the experience into a week-long show & make it more appealing to the younger generation & the social media generation. How much it detracts away from the main-event will be interesting to see.

I do worry about the need for more races though. Quantity over quality, is not something I want to see.

[CaledonianCraig]

Of course nothing will change in 2017. How can it? It is tied to the rules and regulations created by the old regime but no doubt those that don't understand the sport fully will expect immediate changes.

The changes will start to appear in 2018 and the talk is that DRS will be removed, finances will be distributed far more equally to all of the teams and a move to protect the classic racetracks wherein recent times Bernie went to far flung places purely because he could squeeze more money out of them despite those countries having no interest in the sport replacing classic tracks if they couldn't pay as much. Also LM have said they'll look to use social media to greater effect and establish the sport in the USA.

I am hoping that teams are allowed to be a little more innovative in the future and less shackled by regulations and would like to see more teams involved - up to the level we were once at of around 14 teams.

[dyrewolfe]

I'm not really expecting a quick fix, fully expecting to be disappointed in all honesty. I'm really only interested in the role of Brawn & how he goes about executing his ideas. I doubt much will change in the short-run, but if he can implement a strategy to fix the unequal competition, reducing overall aerodynamic grip dependency & improving the actual racing, then that would be long overdue. Until then, it will basically be a transitional period, post Bernie.

As for LM, I'm not really too bothered about them. Their sole aim is to expand the F1 brand, increase viewing numbers & to ultimately get a return on their investment. To do that, you have to attract 'casual fans', and celebrity acts such as Taylor Swift, go a long way to achieving that. I can see them 'Americanising' the sport, it's the only thing they know, with silly side-show events & other gimmicks, in an attempt to extend the experience into a week-long show & make it more appealing to the younger generation & the social media generation. How much it detracts away from the main-event will be interesting to see.

I do worry about the need for more races though. Quantity over quality, is not something I want to see.

Can't disagree with any of that.

Its a standard marketing tactic to try and bring in casual fans with gimmicks in the short term, but if they want to really grow F1 as a brand then they are going to have to back Brawn in his efforts to create genuinely exciting races. Need to turn those Taylor Swift fans into motor racing fans at the end of the day.

As Craig said, change won't come quickly...probably need at least 3-5 years to implement any major new regs, as teams need a certain amount of stability, to plan their operations, budgets etc. not to mention getting sponsors on board for a number of years.

That said I do trust Brawn and believe he will do everything he can to get rid of all the artificial crap that has been added to the sport over the last 10-15 years. Just remember undoing that much damage will take time.

[GSC]

The Taylor Swift stuff is about making the race weekend an event rather than bringing in racing fans. Easy way to make the event more profitable for hosting tracks

[Jermaine2015]

Pascal Wehrlein's accident at the RoC seems worst than first reported. The Mercedes protégé seems likely to miss the first Test of 2017

[Fernando]

James Allison joins Mercedes

[Jermaine2015]

Desperation move by Mercedes. In an aero dominated regulation rule set Adrian Newey has no competition, the man in a freak. During the last aero phase Newey's genius compensated for Renault's engine not being on par with Ferrari/Mercedes. The same will happen again.

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The engine gap in the last phase was minimal at best.

[Jermaine2015]

The engine gap in the last phase was minimal at best.

Not remotely true. Red Bull advantage was aero and the use of DRS for the whole lap in qualifying.

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The engines were largely identical pre 2014.

Their high aero typically means more drag, which is where the majority of any straight line deficit came from.

Vettel still won twice at Monza when they typically take as much aero off as possible.

[dyrewolfe]

Desperation move by Mercedes. In an aero dominated regulation rule set Adrian Newey has no competition, the man in a freak. During the last aero phase Newey's genius compensated for Renault's engine not being on par with Ferrari/Mercedes. The same will happen again.

Less aero dependence this year. Bigger wheels will mean more availability of mechanical grip. Teams will be able to gain advantages if they can produce a good chassis, as well as clever aero devices.

http://www.redbullracing.com/video/guide-2017

[Jermaine2015]

The engines were largely identical pre 2014.

Their high aero typically means more drag, which is where the majority of any straight line deficit came from.

Vettel still won twice at Monza when they typically take as much aero off as possible.

Overtaking was pretty impossible during the last aero phase. Wasn't there a race in Singapore where Vettel was glued to Alonso's rear wing for every single lap despite being quicker and couldn't get near making a pass.

Red bull usually always got on pole whereas Ferrari in particular struggled in qualifying. Once red bull got into clear air it was money for old rope...

[GSC]

That's a result of too much aero dependence in general not the engines. Following in dirty air compromises aero performance massively.

[GSC]

For those upset that Manor won't be on the grid next year, McLaren have adopted their livery

[dyrewolfe]

For those upset that Manor won't be on the grid next year, McLaren have adopted their livery

I thought it looks more like an Arrows...

That's a result of too much aero dependence in general not the engines. Following in dirty air compromises aero performance massively.

Yep - and the new lower, wider rear wings will only make that worse. Which is why the smart money would be on making cars with as much mechanical grip as possible.

[GSC]

Actually is more orange than the initial photos looked.

Regardless it looks horrible. What was wrong with last season's livery.

[dyrewolfe]

I liked last season's livery, but I think it was a bit too understated for F1.

Orange is a very traditional colour, going back to when Bruce McLaren was running the team. I really genuinely like the new look...at least you won't be able to miss them, or mistake them for any other cars now.

[GSC]

Except for the Force Indias; )

The problem with last season's livery is Ron signed off on it

[dyrewolfe]

Ah. You think this is part of McLaren's efforts to draw a line under the Ron Dennis era?

[GSC]

Definitely. They also renamed the car as part of those efforts

[GSC]

For those who missed last season's McLaren livery, Haas have adopted it.

[GSC]

Merc complete 2 seasons worth of laps on day 1, McLaren can't make it to the end of the pit lane. Roll on 2018.

[dyrewolfe]

Actually Vandoorne managed 29 laps by lunch today - similar to FI and Red Bull.

Still those technical issues look ominous. They may have fixed the oil tank issues that cut short Alonso's testing yesterday, but it appears they have found a far more serious problem:

More trouble for McLaren-Honda has arrived in the shape of a loss of power and subsequent engine change. Honda has fundamentally revised the architecture of the engine this year and although F1 boss Yusuke Hasegawa has not fully confirmed the layout, sources have told BBC Sport that they have copied Mercedes’ split-turbine philosophy.

This puts the two parts of the turbocharger - the compressor and turbine - at opposite ends of the engine vee, joined by a shaft on which sits the MGU-H, the unit that recovers energy from that part of the engine. The main engineering difficultly of this is controlling reliability on such a long shaft spinning at up to 125,000rpm.

It was already known last summer that Honda were planning this and I spoke to Hasegawa about it then.

“Splitting turbine is not to make the turbine bigger,” he said. “It makes the centre of gravity lower, mainly. That is the only advantage. But it is a very big advantage. The MGU-H is more than 25kg and it is very high up. So it will give us huge benefit, even if the turbine is the same size.”

He admitted his concerns then about the turbine shaft. “Very difficult,” he said. “The turbine is rotating more than 100,000rpm. The limit is 125,000. It has huge mass for the turbine and compressor. It is very hard to realise. That’s why Ferrari and Renault doesn’t create that. So that’s why I can’t tell if we can realise that.”

We don’t know if that is the problem with the Honda engine, but it gives a sense of the scale of the challenge facing them.

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