The Official Formula 1 Racing Thread

[Supafly]

Fear, ye IndyCar racers, the MALDONATOR is about to strike you down :1orglaugh

Ex-Formula One Wrecking Ball Pastor Maldonado Might Crash The IndyCar Party

Venezuelan pay driver Pastor Maldonado wants to race again, y’all. Late last year, he claimed to be speaking with a few Formula One teams, but I guess those didn’t pan out. So, he’s doing what any good ex-F1 driver who can’t land another F1 drive tends to do: he’s looking at an IndyCar drive.

Maldonado, who last drove for the Renault F1 team in 2015, is in talks with IndyCar’s KV Racing Team for a 2017 drive, reports WTF1. KV Racing desperately needs the cash to be able to compete this year after longtime driver Sébastien Bourdais switched to the Dale Coyne Racing team for 2017. Luckily for them, we know just the driver who usually brings more funding than talent!

Maldonado isn’t quite ready to go full-IndyCar, however. The rumored deal is supposedly only to race on road and street courses, with Maldonado skipping IndyCar’s oval races. Sadly, that means he won’t become the next ex-F1 star to coast home to Indianapolis 500 glory.

...

http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/ex-formula-one-wrecking-ball-pastor-maldonado-might-cra-1791407401

 

[Rey C.]

Even though he's a lot older than me, I never thought that I'd live to see the day when Bernie was no longer sitting in the big chair at F1's HQ. But the day has come: Bernie has been deposed as the CEO of F1. :eek:

And even though I didn't agree with a lot of his bizarre statements and many of his recent actions (and inactions... like his failure to market the series), there is no denying that he's been the most successful and dynamic head of any sport that I can think of. He built a rag-tag racing series into one of the biggest sports in the world. For that, I :hatsoff:

Bernie Ecclestone used to joke that retirement would come on the day of his funeral but in the end it was an American businessman in a suit who quietly ushered Formula One’s 86-year-old ringmaster towards the exit.

Formula One’s new U.S.-based owner Liberty Media on Monday completed its takeover of the sport’s commercial rights and with it ended one of the longest, most colourful and controversial reigns in global sport.

Chase Carey, the man with the twirly moustache who had been appointed chairman in September, took the Briton’s place as chief executive overseeing a new management team that includes former team principal Ross Brawn.

On a landmark day for fans and teams alike, some of whom had come almost to believe that Ecclestone might defy the very laws of nature and hang on forever after 40 years in charge, the news still came as a shock.

Ecclestone was handed the title of ‘Chairman Emeritus’, a newly-created position that recognised the Briton’s historic contribution while removing him from the day-to-day running of the sport.

“The sport is what it is today because of him… and he will always be part of the F1 ******,” said Carey in a statement.

For decades, Ecclestone has called the shots and made the deals that transformed a once deadly and disjointed sport into a $1 billion enterprise with races from Azerbaijan to Australia, Brazil to Bahrain.

He has been a controlling presence, a billionaire who enriched himself and the teams while missing no opportunity to drive a wedge between them when it suited his commercial interests.

“He was the circus master. He was in charge and sometimes you need a sport to be run like that,” former racer Martin Brundle told Sky Sports television. “It was his way or the highway.

“He might not be very tall but he was certainly feared in the paddock… and we all did extremely well hanging on to his shirt-tails.”

If some breathed a sigh of relief that a long-awaited shake-up could now bring the sport into the digital age, there was also gratitude.

“Formula One wouldn’t be the international sporting power-house that it is today without the truly enormous contribution made over the past half-century by Bernie Ecclestone,” commented McLaren executive director Zak Brown.

 

[Supafly]

And I bet that half of his drive came from the fact that he was both short and ugly. He did build up the F1 franchise in a away unrivaled in sports.

And got to have some very hot ladies in the process

His mistakes and the financial escapades - well, I cannot say I would not make them, too, or maybe worse

 

[Supafly]

New season will be better than last. I am damn sure!!!

Magnussen: Overtaking could be easier in 2017

Kevin Magnussen believes overtaking might be easier this Formula 1 season, based on the DRS overtaking aid having a bigger impact.

There is a feeling within F1 that the extra emphasis on aerodynamics in 2017's new regulations will have a negative impact on wheel-to-wheel racing.

Pirelli motorsport chief Paul Hembery has suggested F1 will end up with processional racing because the rules shake-up will spread the field out.

Haas recruit Magnussen is not convinced, and believes DRS could become more effective with the new rules.

"The DRS should have a bigger effect than last year as there is more downforce and drag on the rear wing," he told Autosport.

"When you open the DRS it should make a bigger difference to the car in front, so there are things that point to better racing. With more downforce, you would think it would be hard to stay close but we will have to wait and see."

F1 cars will look dramatically different this year, with changes to the rules also expected to make them five-to-six seconds faster per lap.

...

http://www.eurosport.com/formula-1/...ould-be-easier-in-2017_sto6056866/story.shtml

 

[Rey C.]

I don't know when I've looked forward to a new season as much as the one coming up. So many changes! New owners of F1. A new CEO of F1 and Bernie is out. New, wider chassis formula. New, wider tires. New leadership at McLaren and Ron is out... and even their chassis has a new nomenclature. A young, real hotshoe to test Alonso. Will this be like his year with Hamilton??? The reigning WDC has retired. Mercedes has a new driver and a new technical director. Will Red Bull develop a ringer? Will Ferrari produce a dud? Will Mercedes still be dominant?

I actually feel like a little *** waiting for Christmas morning! :nanner:

 

[Supafly]

...

I actually feel like a little *** waiting for Christmas morning! :nanner:

You and me both, my friend ^^

 

[larss]

I actually feel like a little *** waiting for Christmas morning! :nanner:

 

[Supafly]

Williams release images of 2017 Formula One car ahead of official launch



http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/mo...-Latest-News-Images-Felipe-Massa-Lance-Stroll

 

[Supafly]

A hreat season shinbes ahead; just two weeks to hold on now

Valtteri Bottas impresses with the fastest lap so far in Formula One's pre-season testing

Bottas set the quickest time, with a best lap of one minute 19.310 seconds

New signing Valtteri Bottas put champions Mercedes on top of the timesheets on Wednesday with the fastest lap so far in Formula One's pre-season testing.

The Finn's best lap of one minute 19.310 seconds came on supersoft tyres in the morning session, with Bottas then handing over to triple champion team mate Lewis Hamilton for the afternoon.

The time was 0.395 faster than the best set last week, also by Bottas on ultrasoft tyres, and quicker than any Spanish Grand Prix pole position time since the Circuit de Catalunya layout was changed in 2007.

...

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...ltteri-bottas-mercedes-quickest-a7619061.html

 

[larss]

John Surtees: Former F1 world champion dies at 83

Former Formula 1 and motorcycling world champion John Surtees has died at the age of 83.

Surtees is the only man to have won the grand prix world championship on both two wheels and four.

He won four 500cc motorcycling titles - in 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1960 - and the F1 crown with Ferrari in 1964.

Surtees died at St George's Hospital, London, on Friday afternoon after being treated for an existing respiratory condition, a ****** statement said

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39235608

 

[Supafly]

I didn't know about him, can you imagine that!

What a great man.

 

[Chopper3000]

John Surtees: Former F1 world champion dies at 83


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39235608

Legend.

 

[Supafly]

Getting hyped up!!!

 

[Johan]

I hope the Mercedes ain't gonna dominate the champiuonship as much as they did last yeard, I wouldn't stand it. I hope the Ferrari are gonna be competitive. But it doesn't look good...

I missed the old days, the great rivalries we had in the past : Lauda vs Hunt, Piquet vs Prost, Prost vs Senna, Hill vs Schumacher, Schumacher vs Hakkinen...

 

[dpantski]

Was this the first time in 4 years that Mercedes didn't win a fully dry race?

 

[larss]

This is looking to be a much more competitive season. Let's hope that it keeps up for China in a couple of weeks time.
There is still the problem of overtaking again this year with faster cars just not being able to get past slower ones - hence Hamilton not being able to keep his lead after being trapped behind Verstappen.

 

[Supafly]

So happy that the singular reign of Mercedes seems to be over, for now.

Ferrari has picked up the pieces of the last seasons, where they just could not build a car on par with the Mercs.

And Red Bull, if they were not have been pressed to remove their motor management software due to rule breaking, they would have been among the first three, too, I guess.

So, I am sure that we will have at least these three delivering awesome races.

 

[The Identifier]

Well, I'm sure we all would have been rooting for a non-Mercedes win and that's what we've got.

It still doesn't seem to have satisfied everyone as I've heard plenty of dissenters about F1 in 2017 based on the fact that you seemingly can't overtake.

Well, it looks as if there may be some valid grounds on which to be concerned about this, given that it is what many predicted about the new aero-regulations and indeed what many of the drivers have complained about.

However, Melbourne is not a track renowed for epic races and overtaking manouveres so we'll have to sample some more tracks before getting a true idea of what things are going to be like.

You can't really judge a season after the first race, which is why we should neither get overly excited or be dismissive.

On the whole though, I'm fairly positive about the situation on the bare-basic grounds that the cars look better and are faster. This adds something in itself. It really is a bit of a throwback seeing these new-look cars this season. Whilst it might not quite the same on the decibels level yet, it is getting there. Love the fat tyres too.

Here's to hoping for many more race weekends where we don't know who's going to win heading into it. A season-long two-team battle between Hamilton and Vettel would fit the bill nicely.

As for McLaren and in particular, Honda - oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Whatever you might think of Fernando Alonso, it is a complete waste of talent with him being there. Bet he's wishing he didn't fall out with or lose patience with Ferrari now. Another podium in his career doesn't look likely yet alone a race win or a championship.

Was this the first time in 4 years that Mercedes didn't win a fully dry race?

Both Red Bull drivers won dry races last season; albeit only because the two Mercedes took eachother out in Spain and Hamilton's engine blew in Malaysia.

 

[larss]

Some damp (not wet) races could spice things up a bit.
I think Bernie's idea of sprinklers is not so daft an idea.

 

[dpantski]

Yeah I should've reworded that to include retirements etc. But then I remembered the Singapore race a couple of years ago when the Mercs were curiously off the pace.