Keith Tanner wrote:
oldeskewltoy wrote:
Why would HAAS come in next year when the word is a TOTALLY different formula for 2017??? One year and then a change sounds rather expensive.......
As to Vettel's pass... No contact... no foul... and if it had been Alonso... there wouldn't be any discussion
If he didn't leave Hulk enough room to negotiate the corner without climbing the (very tall) curb, that's a foul. I'm sure there are 40 pages of the FIA rules that govern passing and I'm not familiar with them, but in my simple world if you have to force the other guy off the track to get past him then it's not a clean pass. Given Vettel's knowledge of the rules, I'll bet it met the letter of the law.
Hulk may have simply cut in too close of his own accord, in which case whoops.
Hulk said he spun himself. Probably should have put some tire rubber onto Vettel's sidepod. But he kept his car clean so that got him points.
Bump.
Raikkonen for the win in Austria!
Advan046 wrote:
Bump.
Raikkonen for the win in Austria!
Jeb Bush for president!!
Oh, you mean this isn’t' a joke thread?
I love Kimi, but I think he needs to hang up his helmet. I don’t' think he's sharp enough of hungry enough for F1 anymore.
It's hard to bet against Lewis, after that I'd love to see Seb simply out drive and out race Nico for 2nd. No issues for Merc, no good/bad pit or race strategy, just plain simply hustle the Ferrari around faster than Nico in the Mercedes for the result.
I'm also losing patience with Honda, i really want to see JB and the Brow both in the points with JB ahead of course. This is getting beyond silly to pure farce at this point.
don't see much real improvement for Honda this season … no in season (or very little) testing … how they do next yr should tell the story
then there's this: if true then sorta burns their bridges with Renault
http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/f1-red-bull-ferrari-switch-for-2016-formula-1-season-vettel-report-061715?adbsc=social_20150617_47705526&adbid=10153416252861052&adbpl=fb&adbpr=36796456051
Red Bull is considering a shock switch to Ferrari power for the 2016 Formula One season, according to a media report.
Germany's Sport Bild claims that Red Bull, who is fed up with works partner Renault's poor reliability and performance, has been in talks with arch-rival Ferrari for a shock move next season.
While a switch to Ferrari would be sensational, Red Bull has actually been powered by Maranello-built engines back in 2006.
A year later, junior team Toro Rosso also began to use customer Ferrari power.
At the end of last year, Red Bull's quadruple champion Sebastian Vettel moved to Ferrari, but he said recently he retains a good relationship with Red Bull team.
In its latest edition, Sport Bild claims that Ferrari is indeed willing to facilitate Red Bull and Toro Rosso's return to Italian power for 2016.
However, the Red Bull-owned teams would reportedly have clear B status, including a specification of engine 20-30 horsepower behind the works Ferrari team.
But Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko said: "Even a B version of the Ferrari would be better than the A version of the Renault."
Currently, both Red Bull teams are under contract to Renault for 2016, but it is believed a split could be facilitated by the French marque's desire to return to full works team status, for instance by buying Lotus.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
I saw on some recent news that Honda will power Manor next year, too. So 4 cars at the back end of the pack.
Or maybe they improve.
Manor to Honda, that's not good news unless they (HonDuh)build a far better engine next year. They are struggling with (admittedly last years) Ferrari engine, but if they had a Honda they wouldn't be meeting the 107% rule.
The pink pig to Ferrari, that's funny as the junior team used to be Ferrari until they switch to garlic to follow papa. I guess they haven't managed to persuade Audi to build an F1 engine if the rumors have swung to Maranello.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
With Porsche's recent success, I don't see any new German F1 engines anytime soon. They are having too much fun at Le Mans. Even BMW have GT cars to race.
alfadriver wrote:
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
With Porsche's recent success, I don't see any new German F1 engines anytime soon. They are having too much fun at Le Mans. Even BMW have GT cars to race.
I hope you're right, but the rumors about Audi and F1 have been around for years, they've been getting stronger and stronger over the last 180 months and with Piech being ousted from VW they've been growing stronger. I love the current WEC and would love to see more manufacturers head over there at the top level.
I think the Audi F1 rumors are just wishful thinking. They're getting much better value for their money in the WEC, and they know it.
Keith Tanner wrote:
I think the Audi F1 rumors are just wishful thinking. They're getting much better value for their money in the WEC, and they know it.
I sometimes think that the rumors are for people like me who still hold onto the false idea that the current formula as being relevant to OEM's for F1. 
Relevance comes and goes in F1. I do believe the current rules set is a bit strange, and I just can't warm up to the cars. I will admit that the racing is sometimes good, once you look past 1st and 2nd place. 
As for Red Bull, I used to like them, now they are not winning and are turning into a bunch of whiners. At least you don't hear McLaren doing that even with Honda not performing. I do anticipate Honda eventually solving many of their problems, but how long will that take is the big question.
Keith Tanner wrote:
I think the Audi F1 rumors are just wishful thinking. They're getting much better value for their money in the WEC, and they know it.
I suspect it depends on how long they want to keep funding two top-tier teams that are competing with each other. I really don't understand how having both Audi and Porsche at Le Mans/WEC makes any financial sense at all.
alfadriver wrote:
Keith Tanner wrote:
I think the Audi F1 rumors are just wishful thinking. They're getting much better value for their money in the WEC, and they know it.
I sometimes think that the rumors are for people like me who still hold onto the false idea that the current formula as being relevant to OEM's for F1.
It is totally relevant, just nothing to do with the cars
Today everything is about the brand and the image. Mercedes is selling, and improving it's brand image. Why do you think they love Lewis, it's not just because he's fast, it's because he's a media sensation in his own right. The board of Daimler must love the press he gets in and out of the car. Apparently he's already helping to shift their demographics!!! Silly, thinking F1 had ANYTHING to do with cars!!!! with Nico it's the opposite, do you remember Bernie's comments on him a few weeks ago, saying publicly he's bad for F1 because he's a boring little twat and it's his fault the German Grand Prix is cancelled.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/24/bernie-ecclestone-nico-rosberg-f1
codrus wrote:
Keith Tanner wrote:
I think the Audi F1 rumors are just wishful thinking. They're getting much better value for their money in the WEC, and they know it.
I suspect it depends on how long they want to keep funding two top-tier teams that are competing with each other. I really don't understand how having both Audi and Porsche at Le Mans/WEC makes any financial sense at all.
More serious than my last reply, it may be longer than you think. I don't think too many people cross shop Porsche and Audi with the possible exception of the TT and Boxster or the beached whale and the A/S7 range. I know people who own both brands, they see them as complimentary not competitors. Porsche and Lamborghini compete at Porsche's upper end and Lambo's lower. Lambo's upper products compete with Bugatti.
But if/when they do I can see Audi going to F1. Audi have owned LeMans for 15 years now and have nothing left to prove. That was Porsche's situation from 70's and 80's. I think a lot of the Porsche mystic is based off those LeMans wins, they need to get back and win it and win it frequently for an extended period of time. Not once or twice. I can see Audi moving on to let Porsche have a decent shot, while Audi conquers something else, not because they are going head to head.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
Actually, VW cross races itself a lot, but your point about who they are marketing the race car to is spot on, IMHO.
Look at the Blancpain GT series- Porsche, Audi, Bentley, AND Lambo race against each other. But their appeal are to very different people.
One other thing I would add for LeMans- Audi is an oil burner, Porsche is a gas burner- again- the cars appeal to different sets of people. And since they are using different technology- it's not as if the research gained is duplicated- so they get two sets of people to advertise to, and two sets of technology to learn from. Seems like a great investment to me.
And is also why IF VW decided to get into F1, it would be a Porsche (as I see it). Their 918 would gain more for the association than any Audi.
Adrian_Thompson wrote:
More serious than my last reply, it may be longer than you think. I don't think too many people cross shop Porsche and Audi with the possible exception of the TT and Boxster or the beached whale and the A/S7 range. I know people who own both brands, they see them as complimentary not competitors. Porsche and Lamborghini compete at Porsche's upper end and Lambo's lower. Lambo's upper products compete with Bugatti.
Aside from the R8 competing with the 911 (and yes, people do cross-shop those. Hell, the R8 is even named after the LMP900 car!), you're forgetting the major profit center for both -- the SUVs. The Macan and Cayenne are definitely competing with the Q5/Q7.
And yes, it'd be stupid to buy a Cayenne over a Q7 because Porsche won Le Mans this year, but people do it.
win on Sun, sell on Mon ……
Adrian_Thompson wrote:
it's his fault the German Grand Prix is cancelled.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/24/bernie-ecclestone-nico-rosberg-f1
Bull. The German courts extorted a hundred million or so out of Bernie on the bribery deal. That's why there's no German race.
Interesting last lap of qualifying. With Hamilton having a slight time edge, he spins going into the last turn of the last lap, and then Rosberg, who was on a better lap, goes off in the last corner of the lap.
Could be a tough race tomorrow, with rain possible.
I think lewis spun in turn 1 on the last lap.
I hated to see Nico spin as he was up a couple of tenths, but at the same time it was great to see him pushing so hard (something he should have been doing since the season opener). Nico seemed to have better pace than Hamilton so it could turn out to be a pretty exciting race tomorrow.
Adrian_Thompson wrote:
Advan046 wrote:
Bump.
Raikkonen for the win in Austria!
Jeb Bush for president!!
Oh, you mean this isn’t' a joke thread?
I love Kimi, but I think he needs to hang up his helmet. I don’t' think he's sharp enough of hungry enough for F1 anymore.
It's hard to bet against Lewis, after that I'd love to see Seb simply out drive and out race Nico for 2nd. No issues for Merc, no good/bad pit or race strategy, just plain simply hustle the Ferrari around faster than Nico in the Mercedes for the result.
I'm also losing patience with Honda, i really want to see JB and the Brow both in the points with JB ahead of course. This is getting beyond silly to pure farce at this point.
See now Kimi can start on the harder tire go a long stint hope the top ten have to pit before rain starts.
Might just work out. 
Seriously it looks like a good fight tomorrow. Many potential outcomes.
wvumtnbkr wrote:
I think lewis spun in turn 1 on the last lap.
Right, the other last turn.
No comments? Almost horrific accident with Alonso and Kimi on lap one. A few inches and we would be getting enclosed cockpits in a couple of years for sure.
Nico won it fair and square. Lewis did not help himself on pit exist either.
Nico won it on the start. Hamilton didn't really have the pace to really put the fight on his teammate, then the pit exit thing sealed the deal for Nico.
Scary wreck for Kimi and Alonso, though. Holy crap 
