F1 2018
 

So its that time of year again.

so first outstanding issue is driver line ups.

One that is confusing me is williams.

http://en.f1i.com/news/88025-age-cri...-williams.html

Martini have aid driver must be 25+

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13...et-for-january

Sirotikin is being touted as fav to go alongside stroll, but neither are 25

Bless him - poor Bernie is feeling left out... :cry:

http://en.f1i.com/news/289441-eccles...wanted-gp.html

i see he claims F1 needs ferrai, ok,,,,, lol

Standard "Ferrari throws toys out of pram until they get their own way" stuff. Again :Whatever_

Ferrari arent daft, they have integrated themselves into a few smaller teams now, so if they were to leave, it has a bigger impact,
I saw Totto mention that Mercedes are looking to do the same, it also gives these teams more votes at the table,
poor Bernie, how can a billionaire cope with not being loved . . .

If you fancy giving me a billion or two I can try it and find out for you :norty:

withe the likes of aston martin coming in, if ferrari did bail liberty would make various rules changes to allow others to come in.

F1 def needs a big shake up and ferrari leaving would def be that and i don't think a bad thing, even if it did cause some turmoil for a season

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/43009816

Not Technically F1, but it is Alonso.

Fernando Alonso will take part in all rounds of the World Endurance Championship this year after a race was moved to accommodate him.

The two-time F1 world champion is dove-tailing his F1 commitments for McLaren with racing for Toyota in the WEC.

The Japanese race clashed with the US Grand Prix but in a sign of Alonso's pulling power it has been moved a week earlier than the F1 race in Texas.

The race at Fuji Speedway will now take place on 14 October.

The move was officially requested by Fuji but the track is owned by Toyota, so it effectively comes from Alonso's team.

It is believed to be the first time an FIA world championship event has been moved solely to ensure one driver can take part in it, and as such demonstrates the remarkable appeal Alonso has as one of the biggest stars in motorsport

From Alonso's point of view, it means the 36-year-old Spaniard can now target winning the WEC title as well as Le Mans, as he will be taking part in all races. He called it "awesome news" on Twitter.

Toyota said: "Fantastic for our Japanese fans that Alonso can also race in Fuji due to WEC date changes."

The move means Alonso will be competing in 21 grands prix and six WEC races in 2018.

He is also committed to doing the three WEC races in 2019 which also count to the new 'super-season' championship, a long as they do not clash with a grand prix if he is still racing in F1 next year.

McLaren executive director Zak Brown said he had no concerns about Alonso's workload.

"Fernando is very well prepared, knows what it takes to be successful and he wouldn't have taken on the additional commitment if he didn't think he could do both at the highest level," Brown said.

"It is no other agenda than he wants to race and he wants to win Le Mans.

"What would he be doing those weekends otherwise? He wouldn't be testing an F1 car or on the simulator.

"We have everything we need out of him on the F1 front so these are weekends he'd either be in a go-kart or golfing or whatever he wants to do. He'll just be in a WEC car. He wants to spend his spare time in race cars."

But Brown emphasised that F1 remains Alonso's main priority.

"While he is going to go there and try to win the championship, because that's what he does, when you think of Fernando you think of him as a McLaren Formula 1 driver first and foremost."

yeah i saw that and then thought wtf, they have shafted several other drivers to do it. Guess they wanna start bringing in big well known names to try to bring in the punters.

Yeah, they noticed what a draw he was previously, so wanted to use that,
As you say it cocked a lot of others about, even other classes,
Ive never known the draw of him, he showed his class in 2007 as a man . . .

Thats preseason testing done then.

Looks like mercedes are gonna be seriously hard to beat. Ham just seemed to nock time off when he wants. While he wasnt quickest he did set faster sectors 1 and 2 before backing off.

mclaren look like they may have improved if they can get it to work right. Seems to be they didn't have a fully finished car running which seems to answer some reliability issues.

Ferrari while quick seemed to have shown what they have where as most of the other teams seemed to be holding back.

Ferrari have adopted a smoke screen, to help keep the other teams behind them,

Im not sure there is really a 1 second gap between Merc and the others, as claimed by a few reporters.

I think the ferrari team are under mega pressure to perform by head office so may well be an attempt to try to salvage something.

im not sure about the 1 second either tbh, 0.5 to 0.8 is prob nearer the mark. might be a second on tracks that favor merc.

Spoiler alert,,,








































So ham was sandbagging big style then hahahaha

most amusing thing, vettles haircut, did his mam do it with a pudding bowl? hahaha

Yeah, I got concerned when Vettel pipped him in the Q3 first run.

Right now, it's looking ominous for the other teams.

Am I correct in thinking Ham had 'Party Mode' map still in hand, anyway?

http://www.figtography.com/Blog/2006...rrestJorge.jpg

Vettel


https://cdn-3.motorsport.com/images/...conference.jpg

Forrest

they said he used the same mode in q2 and 3 which suggests so. If so the rest of the field may as well just hand him the title and go home now.

Given the lap ham banged in at the end it must seriously worry the other teams.

Over 6 tenths ahead! Mad.

That's an eternity in F1.

In a class of their own again by the looks of it.
Looking forward to the race :)

Who's getting up for 06:05?

ME
Just need to work out which way the Clocks go :confused:

Blimey, I wouldn't have taken that into account.

Just set an alarm on your smartphone normally... That way it'll be the correct time (as the phone will automatically have gone forward by 1hr at 1am)

Good call :thumb:
So I enjoy the build up too,pitlane live starts at 04.30 so in theory that's 03.30......dam you british summertime :mad:

But it'll still be 04:30 though. As it'll be past the 1am changeover point. But I get what you're saying (i.e. will have lost an hour's sleep in the process).


Christ, I totally forgot about the pre-shows! Thanks.

Sack it, it ain't worth going bed is it?

Unless I turn in now......... :idea:

LOL...

https://mobile.twitter.com/i/moments...=244+273027088

Let's do this.....

:luxhello:

*** SPOILER ***










Can you ruddy believe it! :wall:

You can only hope that that sort of mad good fortune evens out over the season...

Unlucky Hamilton!

Looks like Haas have Ferrari engines and wheel guns :hjtwofing

vettle was seriously lucky.