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F1 2014 All the news & rumors,& race results.

48K views 157 replies 11 participants last post by  abigailcarson73 
#1 · (Edited)
2014 is a venture into a new era for F1.

Many rule changes foremost of which will be entirely new engine specs. F1 will forego the 2.4L V8(which have been in use 2006-2013) for the smaller 1.6L turbocharged V6.

This is not F1's first foray into turbocharged engines. They were last used 26 years ago. The first Formula 1 car to run a turbocharged engine was the Renault RS01(introduced at Silverstone in 1977) which evolved into the RS10 over 1977-1979 with a twin-turbo 1.5-litre V6. When the turbo charged engine was introduced the French were supposedly the laughing stock of the paddock. The RS10 won its first race in 1979 at the French Grand Prix at Dijon piloted by Jean-Pierre Jabouille.

The 1988 season was dominated by
turbocharged engines and Honda with its turbo V6 & McLaren drivers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost won all the grands prix except one won by Ferrari with its 033E V6.

The FIA did away with turbo charged engines in 1988 due to "safety concerns".

 
#119 · (Edited)
James Hunt was incorrigible and when he got together with Bazza legend has it they left ruins in their wake but he was in later years a great TV announcer. I'm no fan of current announcers.

Consider this: at one point you could hear Grands Prix announced by James Hunt and read about them by Nelson Piquet (writing for Quattroruote). You could also read rally coverage by Walter Röhrl. Today I watch F1 in a language I can't understand because the coverage I can understand is absolutely grating. My how things change.

(More irony in that Lauda runs Merc now but he owns at least one Ferrari because I remember in 1987 or so he bought a 288 GTO Evolutione -- kind of a prova generale or mule for the F40 and a bit of a stillborn Group B homologation special. Monstrous at the time.)

PS in the photo I really want to know who the flag bearer is. Those red pants are all the money. Plus look at his cuffs, he's got the courage to show cuffs so he's not wearing a jacket off the peg, or at least he's had it altered correctly. Impressive.
 
#122 ·
Bianchi suffered significant cranial trauma, has had surgery.

Today is the anniversary of the passing of Andrea de Cesaris.

I've no sympathy for F1. They should have postponed the GP for a day or more. Their reasoning -- logistical problems for the next GP in Russia -- are their doing. Space Grands Prix farther apart.
 
#123 ·
The race should have been canceled the moment they knew the chopper couldn't take off. That is after all the rules. If I remember correctly a race has been delayed or cancelled due to this before. In head injuries time is crucial. There is always a designated hospital to evacuate the injured to. As a friend who worked track side as a doctor said, they undergo months of training prior to the race. The designated hospital & chopper are always on standby. I doubt the ambulance went to the designated hospital. Word is they drove to a nearby local hospital. Which was probably unprepared. Someone, preferably the organizers must be held accountable for this.
 
#124 ·
It's a chain of money-related decisions. We must have an RU GP in a week because the cheques are signed. We cannot cancel this one or delay because we need everyone from JP to RU and the cheques are written. We can't wait two weeks between RU and JP because nobody wants to go all the way back to UK in the intermission. So we'll delay the GP until sundown so the crowds can brave a typhoon to return to Tokyo in the middle of the night, have a marshal wave a GREEN flag with the crane on track and the safety car lapping, not worry about air evacuation, and life goes on. Terrible decisions.
 
#125 · (Edited)
Meanwhile in London former Sauber F1 partners Chelsea took 12 entire minutes to substitute a goalkeeper who was IMO not just concussed but TKOed. The impact suffered by Courtois was hard enough to buckle his body and slam his head backwards. He was spread out on the field like a yard sale.

Mourinho was probably too busy getting on Wenger's nerves to worry for another 12' though.

This despite the FA coming down hard on head injuries. So FIA and F1 are not alone.

Edit: saw another replay. Alexis hit Courtois full steam with two knees to the head and neck. Even he was worried when he saw the results. Eventually Mourinho put in Cech, who of course once suffered a fractured cranium. Hm...
 
#127 ·
The warning is valid!

For those that do watch: you can see clearly the marshall waving a GREEN flag. GREEN?! Sigh...

I read somewhere that Bianchi is the only Frenchman to wear a Schuberth. I think Massa, Hulkenbert, Alonso, and maybe Rosberg also wear Shuberth but I'm not sure about the latter. In any case I think it's absolutely astonishing that the impact wasn't immediately lethal.

This shouldn't be happening in the 21st century. I think more than one person dropped the ball. Sure, accidents happen, but there are things that must be done to minimize and prevent them. Running a GP during a typhoon, not have any sort of meaningful communication between safety car, marshals, race control, medivac et al., and waving green with a crane on track in the wet -- or any conditions -- are just not on IMO.

This really is very sad and I think altough it may not have been preventable it probably could have been minimized. You're on lap 42 anyway, you're past 75% so your major clients -- let's face it, the teams are paying customers! -- are happy, you've sold TV ads, and you've got yellow with a crane and a disabled car on track during a typhoon. Wave a red, not a green.
 
#130 ·
I didn't notice actually. I'm pretty upset that F1 has even gone to Russia given the current political climate. There's a very dangerous man ruling that country and I wish the western world would be in agreement about having nothing to do with him until he realizes he can't treat people however he wants. But, as FOM demonstrated just last weekend, in F1 nothing matters more than money. So they went. The correct thing for me to do this weekend would be to not watch. Alas, I love the sport, so I watched qualifying. But only half paying attention. I'll pay more attention to the walls tomorrow during the race; which is what the drivers might want to do too by the sounds of it. Today, all I noticed was that it was flat like so many of the recent track additions to the circus. That alone was enough to make me lose interest.
 
#131 ·
Case in point they are going ahead with the F1 race in Azerbaijan. Probably one of the worst examples of abuse of power. All we need now is the Grand Prix of Pyongyang & F1 will have hit rock bottom.

The drivers kept complementing the track & the turnout. The track seemed too sterile to me. Give me Spa or Monza anyday. And you want turnout? Remember the final GPS in India & Vettel ' s donuts? That's turnout. I could see a lot of empty seats in the grand stands. Having spent a good part of my life in Russia, I rarely came across an F1 fan.
 
#132 ·
Does anyone else hear lots more screeching this season? Listen to Botas losing the last bend in Q3, you can hear squealing. Didn't use to. Maybe turbos muffled the cars or the mics are better.
 
#133 ·
That's purely down to the volume of the engines. Prior to this year they had completely drowned out any other noise. This video gives a very good demonstration of how much quieter they are this year. I've only been to one GP and that was in Barcelona about 10 years ago. And it was quite boring. It must be very dull to be at the track now.

 
#134 ·
Hah, or maybe the cars are quieter. So you can hear the screeching. I distinctively heard that too when Botas took the final corner. Threw up my fists in disgust, lol. Much disappointment.
 
#136 ·
Well, that was incredibly boring. The walls are so close to the track because it's just another street circuit, of which I don't like any. They've built it in and around the olympic park, so I suppose space was limited. Just dull in every way, IMO. Also, I can't imagine how I would have dealt with Putin being in the room and having to shake his hand before walking out onto the podium. How are we just ignoring the actions of a bully for money? Disgusting.

Interesting exchange between Alonso and Buxton after the race. Alonso was asked if he'd be powered by a Mercedes engine next year, to which he confidently replied, "No." Buxton's confused response was that the only vacancies are at Mercedes powered teams. Which is incorrect. For starters, McLaren will be powered by Honda next year. I don't see McLaren getting rid of Magnussen so soon as he's done a fair job in his rookie year. Which would mean that Button would be out. I'd be sad if that was the case as I've been a fan of his since he started at Williams many years ago. He's not the fastest driver, but damn is he consistent! He never goes off the track!

It also hasn't been confirmed by Vettel or Ferrari that he definitely has a drive with them. And weirder things have happened than for a contract to be cut short; Kimi could be out. He hasn't exactly flourished this year. Alonso may not even be going anywhere.
 
#140 ·
Didn't bother with the rest of the GP but did catch Paddy Lowe. Had an epiphany as a result: the East Midlands are not part of Germany. The Mercedes team are considerably less German than Rosberg, who to be fair is solidly 50%+...

So Merc bought out Ilmor's IP but not the name? There's another Ilmor now that seems to be the actual functioning Ilmor.

Anyway, I also noticed that when Hamilton climbs from last to 2nd it's "brilliant" but when Rosberg does exactly the same thing it's "a decent drive." Bias among the British commentators? (I've no idea what the Spanish-speaking commentators are saying and those are the ones I watch for races; I caught NBCSports for the post show).

Further: I naïvely thought the Mercedes team would favour Rosberg since the team is German and Rosberg is half German... before I realised that the Mercedes team is not German, but British. Heh.

If I were Rosberg I'd figure out who, if anyone, runs Ferrari and ring that guy up to chat. I'd make sure not to ask the second jack man for Alonso's pit stop though because it's clearly not that guy in charge.

Honda are the best engine builder in the world but they sold a struggling team that then won the title, and got out of F1 even before the laughter stopped. Now they want back in? They ought to partner with Hesketh. He came out and said "we had no idea" at one point, plus he built bikes, so he's a hero.

I think I could save F1 if given free reign and carte blanche.
 
#145 ·
Looks like it. So are Marussia apparently. Or at least for the season. Prep for 3 car teams? It's the logical way to go. Would definitely provide more entertainment. There is no point in slower teams just being moving chicanes
 
#148 ·
Ferrari are having trouble in the US GP.

View attachment 172258

Oh wait, that's Mansel from the 1990 US GP in AZ. I must have been mistaken about Ferrari... Heh...

At least it looks entertaining.

I'm not sure how I feel about NBCS bringing in a female presenter. Nothing against women, it just seems when producers bring a woman into a male-dominated sport it's because they think we'll find them physically appealing and that'll bring in more viewers. Especially when they bring an American woman in for the US Grand Prix, just before the end of the season.
 
#149 ·
Try listening in Spanish like I do. I suspect the use a female too but I've no idea what they're saying. It's very liberating. I also have no idea what the commercials are saying, because I neither watch them nor understand the snippets I overhear.

To be fair Austin is a better venue than Phoenix or Long Beach. They all suck though. Bland and lacking history, and the cowboy hats on the podium are daft and kitsch.

It's not Watkins Glen. In twenty years when they've got some sort of history, if I'm still alive I might be interested. Somebody PM me.

See you guys at Monaco 2015.
 
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