Formula 1 2019 - General Discussion Thread

eviltimeban

Not sure who I'm going to "cheer" for this year. Alonso is gone and he was my main focus / also the underdog (I usually root for an underdog to keep the midfield action more interesting).

I'll keep an eye on Kimi for sure, I'd also like to see Vettel and Ferrari trounce Mercedes but I reckon as soon as Hamilton hits the track that dream might just go up in smoke. Sainz and Dani Ric are also worth watching.

I wish Sky would replace "Crofty". I used to think he was OK but now I find him overly jocular.

Adamocovic

eviltimeban wrote: »

Not sure who I'm going to "cheer" for this year. Alonso is gone and he was my main focus / also the underdog (I usually root for an underdog to keep the midfield action more interesting).

I'll keep an eye on Kimi for sure, I'd also like to see Vettel and Ferrari trounce Mercedes but I reckon as soon as Hamilton hits the track that dream might just go up in smoke. Sainz and Dani Ric are also worth watching.

I wish Sky would replace "Crofty". I used to think he was OK but now I find him overly jocular.

Will be supporting Leclerc myself. Ricciardo also.

Used to be a big Button fan and since he's left been a bit over the place. Love Ricciardo but Leclerc easily will be my number one. Wasn't expecting him to be at ferrari this young but I'm excited. Helps that he comes across as a lovely guy too.

Adamocovic

Williams looking like they'll miss Day 2 of testing now also.

Claire Williams: "It is looking more likely than not that we will now not be in a position to run on track until Wednesday at the earliest. This is obviously extremely disappointing, but it is unfortunately the situation we are in. We will be getting the FW42 on track as soon as we are able."

eviltimeban

Adamocovic wrote: »

Will be supporting Leclerc myself. Ricciardo also.

Used to be a big Button fan and since he's left been a bit over the place. Love Ricciardo but Leclerc easily will be my number one. Wasn't expecting him to be at ferrari this young but I'm excited. Helps that he comes across as a lovely guy too.

I'm interested to see how he'll do as well, but he's clearly a number 2 driver in that team.

Adamocovic

eviltimeban wrote: »

I'm interested to see how he'll do as well, but he's clearly a number 2 driver in that team.

Agree but who knows. Ricciardo came in clearly as number 2 and outperformed Vettel. Will be also interesting how Vettel reacts and if he learned anything from the last time.

First race weekend can't come soon enough!

Jordan 199

H3llR4iser

eviltimeban wrote: »

I'm interested to see how he'll do as well, but he's clearly a number 2 driver in that team.

I wouldn't be so sure - the Schumacher era is long gone. People kept barking up the #2 driver tree when Raikkonen was at Ferrari, but that doesn't check out: if you want a "#2 by contract" driver, you don't put Kimi in the car, as he's as unpredictable as a driver can get. The few times there've been team orders, Kimi eventually complied in a very begrudging way; Similarly, you won't put a charging youngster in there if you just want another Eddie Irvine or Rubens Barrichello. Most likely, Ferrari will attempt curb intra-teammate scuffles on track, but can't see them pulling a fast one again and issue team orders early in the season for like a 5th place.

Adamocovic wrote: »

Agree but who knows. Ricciardo came in clearly as number 2 and outperformed Vettel. Will be also interesting how Vettel reacts and if he learned anything from the last time.

First race weekend can't come soon enough!

Yeah but then again...being the "other driver" at Red Bull seems to be more difficult than in other teams; We've seen this with Webber, with Vettel and last two season with Ricciardo. The "new kid on the blocks" always seems to make whomever was there already look like a dud.

Burkie1203

Adamocovic wrote: »

Williams looking like they'll miss Day 2 of testing now also.

Apparently the new Williams is worse then last years pile of sh1te.

skipper_G

Adamocovic wrote: »

Will be supporting Leclerc myself. Ricciardo also.

Used to be a big Button fan and since he's left been a bit over the place. Love Ricciardo but Leclerc easily will be my number one. Wasn't expecting him to be at ferrari this young but I'm excited. Helps that he comes across as a lovely guy too.

Leclerc has something special, he'll surprise a few people yet I think. And I'd love to see Renault get on the podium with either driver.

billybonkers

On Williams:

The car is still at the team’s factory in Grove, Oxfordshire, and the current hope is that it will be ready to fly to Spain late on Tuesday.

That means it is unlikely at this stage that the car will run first thing Wednesday morning, but the team are hoping to get it out on to the track at some stage that day.

The delay is leading to speculation about the future of chief technical officer Paddy Lowe, who joined from Mercedes in 2017 and is ultimately responsible for the car.

Just as concerning for Williams, insiders say the car does not look like it will be quick when it does finally hit the track.

Sources say the car is projected to be as much as two seconds slower than last year’s, which was already the slowest on the grid.

Rule changes to front wings have reduced downforce but many teams have clawed a large part of it back.

If the word from inside the team is accurate, Williams could be facing a season adrift of the rest of the field.

Inviere

billybonkers wrote: »

Sources say the car is projected to be as much as two seconds slower than last year’s, which was already the slowest on the grid.

^^ Jaaaysus - and that's after you read Vettel was 1.5 seconds quicker than day 1 of testing last year :eek:

Jordan 199

Williams have made it to Barcelona:

billybonkers

Jordan 199 wrote: »

Williams have made it to Barcelona:

That is actually the old car, you see the 6 winglets. It is the one they used for the launch.

The 2019 car is still not built....

Jordan 199

Williams are some state. When I started watching F1 casually in '94, they were the team to beat. They are a shambles now.

billybonkers

Jordan 199 wrote: »

Williams are some state. When I started watching F1 casually in '94, they were the team to beat. They are a shambles now.

It really is such a sorry sight

eviltimeban

Can they race last year's car if they wanted to?

H3llR4iser

eviltimeban wrote: »

Can they race last year's car if they wanted to?

While it is theoretically possible to modify the car to comply with the new regulations, it would most likely be a pointless effort - 2019 cars have been designed to compensate the downforce loss from the new aero rules, and they seem to be doing it very, very effectively. A 2018 car with a 2019 wings/barge boards/brake ducts...not gonna work

I recently got back into F1 after almost a 20 year break from watching.
Sad to see whats happened to both Williams and Mclaren.

mickdw

McLaren will be back. Williams could die.

mickdw

Good comment there on sky re racing point.
Seems they have pulled quite a smart one with the name.
Racing point can be displayed as racing with full stop after it.
So when they take a title sponsor, The entire team name becomes the sponsors name. As in 'sponsor racing.'

Burkie1203

https://twitter.com/AxisOfOversteer/status/1097532373829279745?s=19

Burkie1203

https://twitter.com/SmorfiaDigitale/status/1097529951987867649?s=19

Jordan 199

I like the Renault.

ayux4rj6zql2ph

Williams downturn began in 1998 if you look back at it all, there was a revival in 01-04 with BMW but it couldn’t be sustained. Only 1 victory (Spain 2012) since Montoya took the final Williams-BMW win at interlagos in 2004 speaks volumes. Williams are heading the same way as Brabham & the original Lotus team founded by Colin Chapman.

H3llR4iser

Burkie1203 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/AxisOfOversteer/status/1097532373829279745?s=19

Looks like the Ferrari paint is an opposite to what the Marlboro McLaren liveries were - the orange looking red on camera back then

Peyton Lively Tiller wrote: »

Williams downturn began in 1998 if you look back at it all, there was a revival in 01-04 with BMW but it couldn’t be sustained. Only 1 victory (Spain 2012) since Montoya took the final Williams-BMW win at interlagos in 2004 speaks volumes. Williams are heading the same way as Brabham & the original Lotus team founded by Colin Chapman.

Very sad but true - their only hope for a resurgence is to become a works team once again, which unless some new engine manufacturers join the sport is quite unlikely to happen.

recyclebin

I know it's only testing but a McLaren in second after day one!!! Glimmer of hope that the bad run is coming to an end.

ayux4rj6zql2ph

recyclebin wrote: »

I know it's only testing but a McLaren in second after day one!!! Glimmer of hope that the bad run is coming to an end.

If McLaren pull off miracles this year I can see the #placesalonsowouldratherbe returning :pac:

muckwarrior

McLaren were nowhere until they put on the C4 tyres. I wouldn't go cracking open the champagne just yet.

ednwireland

loving the look of the haas looks like a JPS lotus

on another note arent those massive multi segment front wings going to make following another car in dirty air even harder,s o even less overtakes ?

El_Duderino 09

recyclebin wrote: »

I know it's only testing but...

It’s only testing. So all we can say is that none of the teams had terrible reliability. McLaren completed 119 laps which is great compared to other years. Times are almost irrelevant.

ednwireland wrote: »

... Arent those massive multi segment front wings going to make following another car in dirty air even harder,s o even less overtakes ?

I imagine Ross Brawn has thought about that.