New regulations new season....
Can redbull keep up the pace
I thought mirrors had a strict set of requirements set by the FIA? Its one of the safety rules iirc.
Those look suspiciously different.
I kind of agree with the view of “fair play to anyone who figures the new formula out”…. But at the same time the intention of the rule change is to create more exciting and close racing and reduce the chances of one dominant team, Ross Brawn reiterated that very point earlier today again!
If one team (in this case Merc) manages to find a loophole that has them even further ahead than before then the whole process of these changes has been a waste! Brawn effectively said earlier they’ll close any loophole that results in that without actually saying it!
Talking about DRS there on commentary. While I'd rather it was gotten rid of completely, what they should have done before (and it's not too late) is move the zones to earlier in acceleration zones but have the DRS zone way, way before the braking zone. With the cars being closer together on track this year the DRS is going to be way overpowered. Having the zone end earlier in the straight will allow the person behind to get a run but not just blast pass with a 25kph top speed difference.
So far good point: Cars look almost undrivable. Fronts of the cars are rock solid and they look a bit faster at least.
decided at the 2nd last I think?
Funny enough the long-ass 2009 season review came up on my YouTube a while back. It's very easy to forget that really Red Bull threw the titles away that season. It was kind of masked by doing most of their ****-ups at the start of the season so isn't really remembered that way.
There’s a difference between a team coming out of nowhere to win a championship(I’m sure everyone could enjoy Haas coming out of nowhere now on some level), and a massively dominant team increasing their dominance.
Also 2009 wasn’t settled until the last day I think, with Mercedes they could have the championship sewn up in the autumn.
I don’t care if Mercedes win, I want an exciting season. You can admire these innovations by Mercedes but if it ends up with them so far ahead of the rest then ultimately it’s bad for F1.
None of this might come to pass, we haven’t seen it race yet, and I really hope it doesn’t!
No doubt when Drive to Survive lands tomorrow there will be a lot to say, so as to not derail the 2022 thread I've started a new discussion thread.
Isn't that the point, it looked that way with Ferrari & Schumacher and RedBull & Vettel. Wouldn't every F1 love to dominate?
This is just the latest phase, everyone is up in a flap because Merc have done something different. We don't know if it will work. If it doesn't no one will give a sh!t. And for me that is the most telling thing.
Everyone LOVED it when Brawn came out of no where to win with Button.
If Merc do pull this off, then you have to say fair play to them, they battled and won the constructors last year (I won't go down the other rabbit hole) continuing development through out the season and even with the reduced wind tunnel and budget they still manage to pull off something game changing for the following season. Love them or loathe them, it's bloody impressive.
Haven't watched really today. Looked like Russell had a decent bit of porpoising along the main straight roughly around the start line.
FIA have a choice between putting a line in the sand and putting up with hysterics from Merc and the British media or else allow a **** free for all. I don't know about the sidepods but the mirrors is just taking the piss and likely a red herring "What!? Sure we got rid of the mirror supports, sure they did nothing!".
Binotto questioning the mirrors too - something that shouldn't have an aero purpose he mentions.
Looks completely different to their Barcelona car:
It's great to see innovation but at the same time it'll be depressing if they run away with the championship. Hopefully won't be the case. Maybe they'll have cooling issues and get engine blow ups every second race. 😂
So Mercedes’ say F1 and the FIA have been aware of the design they’ve shown up with for weeks…. But Ross Brawn says F1 didn’t anticipate such a radical interpretation, so we’re they aware or not?
He wouldn’t be drawn into giving any details about its legality other than saying it’s good to see such innovation but that the spirit of the rules is to have racing (paraphrased of course). To me he suggested that the FIA are looking at it and will close any loophole if it’s streets ahead of what the rule changes intended…. As someone mentioned above, it’s almost a car from a different formula!
Those sidepods on the Merc remind me of the Modena 291:
Big changes to their sidepods (and I guess internals we can't see to allow for the lack of space):
Seen yesterday someone said that Mercedes have changed their car, anyone know what they've changed?
I would say Uralkali had given it to them long before this year maybe to help Haas fund the development of there new car. So either way its gone and hopefully no chance of the Uralkali getting it back.
Be interesting to see what happens with the Mercedes - one of the goals the FIA had for this season was closer racing and the potential for more race winners, given how much less leeway there is in the new regs. The FIA has also said that if any car violates the spirit of the new regs then they're ready to change the regulations.
Would they hamstring Mercedes if their gains are as big as expected? I suspect they'll be playing catch up to Mercedes again and will update the rules at best midway through the season when the title's done and dusted.
I suppose you have to appreciate the innovation but sometimes it feels like Mercedes have no actual interest in racing, just having a car so much faster than the others that it's basically in a different formula.
Ha they go and take a jump. Love hear the cheek of Russian companies coming out with such statements. Pot calling the kettle black and all that
I'm surprised that Haas are allowed to use that money and it's not frozen
I think the 2018 Livery was the best Haas Livery myself.
I see that Haas former sponser is seeking repayment lol.
Uralkali is seeking repayment of the sponsorship money it gave the team, calling the termination “unreasonable” and saying “sports should always be free of politics and pressure from external factors”.
Some hope of that. Personally I hope Haas do not give it back to them. Though ****.
The cars certainly look and sound much better this year. Plus they look much harder to drive as well. Should see more mistakes this year
Between him and Alonso, they're all out of f**ks
Sorry for the daily mail sharing, but late career Seb is a classy mother fucker.
I prefer the 2017 look myself.
I will also say this, while it sucks that Lewis Hamilton is the benefactor of the work, I have a lot of admiration and respect to the designers and engineers at Mercedes-Benz for actually doing a bit of thinking, trying out new approaches and in general pushing the boat out. Now, if the FIA could bring in a rule that all teams blueprints are fair game 6 races after introduction then that might help close any big development gaps.
Everyone is talking about the Merc having "no sidepods", but really it seems they're more like inverted sidepods? Like the vent is still there, it's just that now it's wide at the bottom and tapers into the top instead of the other way 'round.
I hate to say it, but the Rich Energy livery was the nicest of the Haas liveries.
Maybe so. The article said they've asked for loads of clarification from the FIA so they might have found a Brawne double defuser for 2022.
I hope it doesn't work, obviously. Anything except another uncompetitive season.
They're there to measure the airflow over the cars, not for actual racing
If there are any avgeeks on this thread they’ll recognise it immediately😝
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