2018 F1 Random Discussion Thread

gkmotorsport · PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 12:37 pm

aerogi wrote:

aren't these car launches much later compared to previous years?

I don't think the launches themselves are too much later, but I'm sure at this point last year they had all at least been announced.

LucasWheldon · PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 2:50 pm

well Sirotkin have been faster than Kubica but will he be faster than the Haas and Force India drivers?

webbsy · PostPosted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 1:24 am

gkmotorsport wrote:

Mika Kimi wrote:

I've also read that Kubica didn't handle the (new) Pirelli tyres very well. I'm really disappointed he didn't get the seat but if Sirotkin was better then I respect Williams for choosing with it's head instead of it's heart.

Much as they are being slated for the decision, I really think they've come out with the best result on all fronts. There aren't many drivers available that could fit their needs, but they've ended up with a driver who brings a fairly decent resume and useful cash, and have Kubica tied into a programme which should give him the experience he probably needs with the new tyres and will show if he is a prospect for 2019 and beyond.

StefMeister wrote:

Something that is been overlooked in the debate over Williams going with Sirotkin rather than Kubica & all the moaning about them going for the pay driver is that Kubica would have also taken a fair bit of funding with him & may well still be taking that to the team is his reserve driver role. I think the only driver Williams were looking at that didn't have backing behind him was Paul Di Resta who it seems many fans felt shouldn't be even considered for the drive.

Autosport are reporting that Kubica, Sirotkin di Resta and Kvyat were all able to offer around 8m GBP. After the speed started to look like the main factor, and di Resta and Kvyat were eliminated, Sirotkin's backers were able to bump it up to 15m in order to 'help the deal over the line'.

What a sad sad state of affairs this has descended to if this is what Williams had to decide, the trade off between the speed of the driver and the cash that they bring. I just hope that I am wrong and they produce a cracking car and Stroll and Sirotkin turn out to be superstars, cause for Williams F1 to end up going down the Tyrell route is just depressing.

Incidentally I can't help but feel Williams have seen the long term writing on the wall in regards to F1 and will actually become a very successful engineering player away from F1, like they are currently positioning themselves to do.

iks · PostPosted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 2:04 am

Gotta wonder why the $troll money and Martini sponsorship isn't enough.

RtN · PostPosted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 12:48 pm

IIRC Williams have a credit note coming up for payment very soon (they borrowed a lot on credit after BMW pulled out to keep going and it took a long time before they started making a profit again), which means they need more money.

Stroll Sr.'s contribution is cut back for this year, which could be the first part of him withdrawing from the team completely. Martini are also on a new contract which requires them to pay less than before. And the FOM payments are about to shrink as well.

But focusing on the money ignores what seems to be a fact that Sirotkin was marginally quicker than Kubica at the test.

gkmotorsport · PostPosted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 1:17 pm

RtN wrote:

IIRC Williams have a credit note coming up for payment very soon (they borrowed a lot on credit after BMW pulled out to keep going and it took a long time before they started making a profit again), which means they need more money.

Stroll Sr.'s contribution is cut back for this year, which could be the first part of him withdrawing from the team completely. Martini are also on a new contract which requires them to pay less than before. And the FOM payments are about to shrink as well.

But focusing on the money ignores what seems to be a fact that Sirotkin was marginally quicker than Kubica at the test.

Have to agree with this. It's great for the team that Sirotkin can provide them with extra money, but the general definition of a pay driver is one that is chosen over a much better driver because he has $$$. I've yet to read a single account from anywhere that suggests Kubica outperformed Sirotkin. More to the point, a young driver who puts in that kind of test is a very good investment.

StefMeister · PostPosted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 1:51 pm

[tweet]https://twitter.com/KRT917/status/954043719178743808[/tweet]

LucasWheldon · PostPosted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 2:52 pm

the Strolls are looking after their own operation? looks like the attempts of team Vision on IndyCar

RtN · PostPosted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 4:20 pm

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13397 ... d-for-2018

The article provides a fairly good summary of what changes there will be to each country's TV coverage for this year.

gkmotorsport · PostPosted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 5:46 pm

Stirling Moss has retired from public life (and racing, I guess) at the age of 88.

I had no idea, but he spent over 100 days in hospital in Singapore between 2016-2017 recovering from a chest infection.

gkmotorsport · PostPosted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 12:11 pm

Force India have announced their car launch, and also a change of name as long as the FIA approve it in time.

codename_47 · PostPosted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 8:58 pm

Apparently it will be FORCE Formula One team

And force will stand for Formula. One. Racing. And. Creative. Engineering.

I'm looking forward to a lot of discussions about tautologies over the next few years.
LOL out loud....etc

Also lots of police and star wars puns, no doubt

gkmotorsport · PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 9:51 am

codename_47 wrote:

Apparently it will be FORCE Formula One team

And force will stand for Formula. One. Racing. And. Creative. Engineering.

I'm looking forward to a lot of discussions about tautologies over the next few years.
LOL out loud....etc

Also lots of police and star wars puns, no doubt

The Unix community will be amazed at how they passed on the opportunity to make it Force One Racing and Creative Engineering.

Gotta love a recursive acronym :flag:

Fabs · PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 10:49 am

And why again did they change the name?

gkmotorsport · PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 11:24 am

Fabs wrote:

And why again did they change the name?

They want to drop the 'India' part for commercial reasons. Apparently having a country-specific name can make it difficult obtaining sponsorship in some cases.

micha · PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 11:26 am

Because they want to drop India from the name to attract more sponsors. Thats the official explanation. The unofficial will probably be the investigation into Mallya by the Indian government.

Fabs · PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 12:24 pm

Can't see why a company doesn't want its name linked to India, that country is a goldmine to exploit.

I guess it's really because of Malya's shenanigans.

LucasWheldon · PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 2:54 pm

after FIRST and Life now we got FORCE

remembering the good old times when a F1 team was so bad they got support from a falling Soviet Union (under the PIC logo)

De Cesaris fan · PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 4:47 pm

For such a slow car, it actually looked quite nice.

Dan Belcher · PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 5:05 pm

And because it was so slow, you had plenty of time to look at it and take pictures of it. :lol:

TBK-Light.com

2018 F1 Random Discussion Thread

Who is online