The F1 2015 Thread

[timbo343]

They had a "small" accident

 

Meant, no, just re-read what you had put..

 

Edit.. re-worded

Edited February 2, 2015 by timbo343

[Boredguy]

Did I imagine seeing the Red Bull running with out it's front wing?

No, that was just the excellent camo paint job in action.

 

Kvyat knocked a bit off on his spin in the first few laps so he had to do the rest of the day with engine work as they didn't have another wing until tomorrow.

 

He was still faster than JB even missing the front wing!!

[Patrick]

Did you hear how that mclaren was running yesterday? There's a video on youtube but i'm on the curric network so i can't find it but it was stuttering, slow to rev and they were up shifting early. Obvious teething issues with the power plant! They've done better today. 30-odd laps until a cooling system failure.

[Boredguy]

Been tracking testing progress via the Autosport site both yesterday and today (ah the joys of having few support calls to process)

 

The Honda sounded rough yesterday but it was not running at full power, but it apparently sounded a lot smoother today. Will see if Sky have it on the notebook tonight.

 

Also nice to see that the Merc had to get a lift back on the flatbed from Turn 10 after the engine shut down on Nico. At least it was their lunch break and he's been back out and up to 125 laps now.

[Patrick]

I'm impressed with the ferrari really. Got some decent laps in. I doubt the ferrari power unit will be up to the mercs power but if they've closed the gap it could make for some close front running, which is what we want.

[Boredguy]

So far a Ferrari powered car has held the P1 slot on all 3 test days, with Sauber just ahead of Ferrari atm, so that's looking promising for actual racing. Will be nice to see if JB can get some decent lap times in tomorrow as the McLaren is around 14 seconds slower on it's test runs.

 

Also they sound a bit louder this year. Can't hear the turbo quite as easily but won't be easy to tell until we get to Melbourne.

[Patrick]

I know they have been top of the time sheets, but i wouldn't even bother reading into that too much. They are not working on set ups right now, more aero performance, power unit reliability and the driver getting a feel for the car.

[XiJ]

The Ferrari engine does look a whole load better. And the ferrari team seem in better shape. Wouldn't surprise me that they are going for headline lap times though.

 

Merc still looks the car to beat - but I think they'll be a little surprised by how quick the Ferrari can be.

[Boredguy]

Breaking news of the day......

 

- Manor Racing (aka Marussia) have logged their entry payment for 2015 so could be back if they are allowed to run the 2014 car

- Force India won't have their 2015 car until the last test due to suppliers not having parts ready for the car.

- Hamilton finds new parking area in Jerez to spice up the morning for the recovery truck who were bored after picking up Kyvat earlier.

[featured_spectre]

Well I don't think it would be worth Marussia to enter if they're using last years cars. This years cars are around half a second quicker per lap in testing compared to last years in testing. So they'd be left behind quite quickly.

[Boredguy]

If they get dispensation from the FIA after tomorrows meeting, and if they can get some drivers, then there is a very slim chance they could then introduce a 2015 spec car later in the season. Yes they are likely to be in the normal back marker position and off the pace but would at least give some glimmer of hope for Hass F1 to beat someone in 2016

[sonofsanta]

And just as Marussia have a resurgence of fortune, Caterham's hopes dwindle... Caterham's administrators to sell off team's assets from March 11 | Sky Sports

 

Not surprised tbh - if either team was going to be saved, it was the one that had £30m of prize money owed to it.

[Boredguy]

Well looks like Manor F1 is unlikely to make the season as the teams decided not to let it race with the 2014 spec car so that the prize money that was due to Marussia can be split with the other smaller teams.

 

The chances of them getting a 2015 car built and crash tested (never mind tested) is next to zero =(

[synaesthesia]

The chance of them being able to race a 2014 were zero too. I can't believe they would have stupid enough to consider it. Let's face it, their car last year was what, 6 seconds off the pace? And they want to put the same car up against the 2015 packs, which are at least 1.5s faster than they were last year, and by the time the sandbagging has gone in the first race, that'll probably be 8 seconds in total.

 

Having a car 8 seconds slower than the rest on the track was never going to happen; dangerous, pointless (in more than one way unless they get lucky like last year) and frankly stupid.

[XiJ]

So the big boys look after themselves again and think of money ahead of the sport.

 

The 2014 car would no doubt have been slow - but the 2015 car introduced later in the year is supposed to be revolutionary.

[synaesthesia]

It would have been a danger to themselves and the others on the track. If they don't have a car ready, then they need to be putting efforts into their 2016 entry. Money shouldn't have anything to do with it (although invariably that's always a huge part of it of course!).

 

8 seconds slower = a danger. There's a reason there used to be a 107% rule in F1 and they would have been WELL below that.

[Boredguy]

If they turned up and were below the 107% for Quali then it's fare if they are unable to make the race.

 

Yes the 2015 cars seem to be a minimum of 2sec a lap faster (and Merc were not exactly running at full power in the first test) so I fully agree with how far off the Manor car could be, but it would have been nice to get back up to 10 teams this year.

 

Ironically the WEC have the opposite issue as they have more cars this season than planned, but they don't want to drop out any of the 35 cars so at 2 circuits they are asking some teams with 2 car entries to share a single garage as there is only 32 garages!

[Patrick]

I remember when toro rosso were aloud to race with a V10 after the were banned as long as they turned 2 cylinders off so teams have been aloud to race old cars before, but there is no point in the marussia being out on track. The 107% rule is still in place and they wouldn't be able to meet the required time, so whats the point other than an attempt at salvaging money? It's not like they'll be fighting anyone, they'll just be on their own at the back getting in the way of quali and not taking part in the race. Pointless. Lets see if the yanks last longer next year.

[MaverickF1]

Don't believe that Manor F1 will be on grid this season. Bankrupt teams usually never come back. I am more concerned with the Force India team. They are obviously in serious financial troubles at the moment.

[XiJ]

Marussia / manor wouldn't have been 8 seconds slower. More like half that. Still slow but so what. It's all about the money.

[synaesthesia]

On average, they were 4 seconds a lap slower last year. I think I may have gotten a few odd races where they were 6 seconds back.

So that's 4. The other teams have made an average (I haven't checked this, but all media outlets are reporting it) 1.5s gain on testing last year. So that's 5.5s.

You can guarantee that some teams were sandbagging/not going full whack, so a more realistic number would be 6 to 7s slower per lap. Still that's bloody dangerous.