F1 2022 thread - see post 1 for rules

I think the 2018 Livery was the best Haas Livery myself.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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!

So only 2 days of testing left. Who looks good and who looks in trouble?

I'd say Alpine are the most disappointing of the works teams.

Mercedes was porpoising badly again today going by some videos from this morning.

My interpretation is that they are talking about the ability for cars to race close - rather than the performance of the cars being close. To my view, the issue would arise more so if the Merc implementation created a massively different wake behind the car that made it more difficult to follow a merc than any other car - and the regs were changed to allow cars to follow more closely.

Of course it seems they can look to change the rules if they want - but I don't think Brawn was talking about the possible speed of the car, but its wake.

You could well be right, and considering Ross’ position within F1 he was being deliberately vague during his interview, which is understandable… the first time he saw the car in person was during the actual interview so it wasn’t like he had many answers lined up

We all get wooed by the small side pods, but the tech heads in F1 look at the strakes above it. This is why I am not an are engineer.

Got to see a decent amount of that to day.

All the teams seem to struggle with lock ups under breaking

Mercedes and Alpha Tauri seem to me to me the most uncomfortable to drive with the "bouncing " pretty sure a full length race with that is going to hurt in those cars. Ferrari look pretty rough as well but seems to have the pace.

Williams look pretty good and consistent which I think I am happy about , didn't think I like Williams

Aston Martin to me oddly looked like one of the more stable cars even with SKY commentators say it was rough , I didn't think Vettels or Strolls head was bouncing around as much as others.

Mclaren was hard to read , really struggled on breaks when Lando Norris did get out , mostly replays of him giving up corners a running wide .

Alpha Romeo , Didn't look too bad when Bottas put in his laps . Kind of gives me the feeling the Mid field his year might be from Third place all the way back . A much clearer picture will Come once Kevin Mag and Mick Schumacher get a run in the Haas , might give an idea if they are closer in the group this year.

Redbull , Perez ran all day and looked consistent only thing I could see from them was small struggles like the rest under breaking , mainly at turn 10

I really like how different all the cars are , even the ones that look like they are going in the same direction have something different

And yes I haven't posted a single thing since the Final race last season ..........avoid all the non stories with bored journalists when they have nothing to report :D