[Other Sport] F1 2024

[Flounce]

I'm liking Hamilton to Ferrari.

Ferrari are outright fast.

Yes tactically inept but fast. Gives Hamilton a better chance of wins. Also he's significantly less likely to bin in into a wall than LeClerc.

He will also get forcefully involved in tactics and set up and if they listen to him who knows. Unlike Mercedes where he told them almost from day one that the route they have been going down in the last two years was flawed. They ignored him until late last season

 

[ElectricNaz]

He will also get forcefully involved in tactics and set up and if they listen to him who knows. Unlike Mercedes where he told them almost from day one that the route they have been going down in the last two years was flawed. They were ignored him until late last season

Completely agree. Don't think he'll put up with much of their shit and they will soon sort it out as he isn't a yes man. I still think he could win the 8th title he deserved a few years ago.

Edit: not an LH fan boy, not a Max hater, I actually only support Williams and no drivers but that's just how I see it

 

[Flounce]

Exciting, make it happen this season please

 

[Audax]

Given I expect this to be a story that will rumble along throughout at least part of this season I'm going to keep dropping updates on the Andretti stuff. There's been a great article dissecting the FOM/Andretti situation published:

Why Andretti doesn’t accept F1’s rejection arguments

www.motorsport.com

Quick summary: the FOM appears to be in a very weak position that's likely to get weaker as time goes on. There's only one of their arguments that Andretti can't immediately undermine (the "Formula 1 adds more value to Andretti than Andretti adds to Formula 1" argument), and that's only because FOM haven't released the "research" they've done to arrive at that conclusion. If that research is as robust as the reasoning underpinning their other rejection reasons, it's worth less than a chocolate teapot if it ever needs to be relied upon in court.

My expectation is that FOM will be faced with 2 equally bad choices before too long:

1. Stick with their "no" position despite Andretti systematically and publicly dismantling their reasons for saying no. It's likely that leads to a court battle (even if Andretti decline to take it that far, the EU might take an interest as they've intervened in F1 competition matters previously). Even without a court battle, it will leave the FOM looking bad and make their negotiations with the FIA for the next Concorde Agreement a lot more difficult (FIA will want to take away the veto on new entries they gave them last time around).

2. Reverse the decision and say "yes" to a 2026 entry and face the wrath of the existing teams.

 

[carlzeiss]

Christian Horner investigated amid accusation of 'inappropriate behaviour'

Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner, 50, who is married to former Spice Girl Geri Horner, is the subject of an inappropriate behaviour claim made against him by a member of staff

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[Flounce]

Christian Horner investigated amid accusation of 'inappropriate behaviour'

Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner, 50, who is married to former Spice Girl Geri Horner, is the subject of an inappropriate behaviour claim made against him by a member of staff

www.mirror.co.uk

Anyone even vaguely surprised, the man is a cock

 

[Audax]

Feel sorry for them releasing today with so much other F1 news about. Williams have shown off their new 2024 livery (on a 2023 car - we won't see the '24 car until Bahrain testing).



There's a really cool nod to Frank Williams within the livery, with an element that is a clear throwback to the original Frank Williams team logo.

 

[zefarelly]

'40 year old mans gets Ferrari'

the perfect mid life crisis.

 

[A1X]

Christian Horner investigated amid accusation of 'inappropriate behaviour'

Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner, 50, who is married to former Spice Girl Geri Horner, is the subject of an inappropriate behaviour claim made against him by a member of staff

www.mirror.co.uk

I am staggered, staggered that a man who kicked his wife and recently-born child out of their home so he could shack up with a Spice Girl is a bit of a bellend. Staggered.

 

[Audax]

Alfa ... errr Audi ... err Sauber ... OK, Stake F1 go GREEN!!! Yes, it really shouts.

 

[A1X]

 

[A1X]

 

[Dr Q]

Alfa ... errr Audi ... err Sauber ... OK, Stake F1 go GREEN!!! Yes, it really shouts.

Its just got permanent Flo-Viz on it!!

 

[Audax]

New Alpine has been revealed.



Where in previous seasons the differences between the Pink and Blue liveries has been quite striking, this season - with so much of the car now in bare carbon fibre black - it's all a bit "meh".

This has become a trend with this season's reveals so far: a lot more bare carbon fibre and a lot less colour paint. Coloured paint = weight, and the teams are taking weight saving to the extremes of limiting how much paint they put on the cars.

IMO the reveals this season should see the FIA/FOM step in and put rules in place that the cars are only allowed a maximum of X% bare carbon fibre, as we're already getting to a point where differentiating the cars based on livery design could be difficult from some angles.

 

[Audax]

VCARB to the rescue with minimal carbon fibre on display:



Worth noting on this car, is that they've gone down the same route as Haas' partnership with Ferrari. VCARB will use all of the allowed parts from Red Bull that the rules let them. So this season they'll be running Red Bull front and rear suspension etc. Expect this car to be a substantial improvement on what they had last season.

 

[Creaky]

Any move to Ferrari by Hamilton bodes well for some classic tantrums over strategy

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Any move to Ferrari by Hamilton bodes well for some classic tantrums over strategy

I think I'm right in thinking that on a number of occassions Sainz overruled or ignored the Ferrari 'suggested' strategy. I'd assume that Hamilton would go down that route but maybe a bit more often and forcefully stated.

 

[Audax]

I think I'm right in thinking that on a number of occassions Sainz overruled or ignored the Ferrari 'suggested' strategy. I'd assume that Hamilton would go down that route but maybe a bit more often and forcefully stated.

It'll definitely be an interesting dynamic there. We've all seen and heard Hamilton questioning strategy calls (even, sometimes, getting a bit stroppy over them). Sometimes Hamilton's been right, sometimes he's been very wrong.

We've also all seen how spectacularly bad Ferrari have got some strategy calls over the last few years. It's a definite weakness of the team, and it'll be interesting to see how they handle it. As you mention, Sainz took things into his own hands at times (IIRC Singapore was his call, for example) - but we saw Ferrari accept that. So maybe what we'll see is Hamilton pushing back in a similar way to what he has at merc, but Ferrari being more likely to fold than Merc were. My gut feeling is that Hamilton has been wrong more often than right, so that combo could see them actually get worse on strategy once he joins.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

It'll definitely be an interesting dynamic there. We've all seen and heard Hamilton questioning strategy calls (even, sometimes, getting a bit stroppy over them). Sometimes Hamilton's been right, sometimes he's been very wrong.

We've also all seen how spectacularly bad Ferrari have got some strategy calls over the last few years. It's a definite weakness of the team, and it'll be interesting to see how they handle it. As you mention, Sainz took things into his own hands at times (IIRC Singapore was his call, for example) - but we saw Ferrari accept that. So maybe what we'll see is Hamilton pushing back in a similar way to what he has at merc, but Ferrari being more likely to fold than Merc were. My gut feeling is that Hamilton has been wrong more often than right, so that combo could see them actually get worse on strategy once he joins.

That's pretty much how I see it. There could be some spectacular radio conversations.

In terms of him getting things wrong more often than right, that's probably true but he's disagreeing with a well oiled title winning team. At Ferrari he'll be at a team that gets it spectacularly wrong on a regular basis so while his call might not be the optimum it'll still probably be better than the clown school decisions Ferrari like to make.

Either way it'll add some fun to proceedings, especially if Red Bull maintain their dominance. I've given up on him getting an 8th title so it's about winning the odd race, putting in some stellar performances and just generally being entertaining. Kind of like Fernando has been the last few years.

 

[Audax]

Aston Martin, No real surprises here, livery pretty much identical to last year. Some changes in the car, but has been described as an evolution on last year's car. Key change on this car, however, is one that also points to a change on the Mercedes. AMR buy their gearbox and rear suspension from Mercedes, so whatever they are using will be the same as for Mercedes. AMR have shown off a car using a push-rod rear, which is a change from last year's pull-rod design. This is a move that means the Mercedes powered teams will now be aligned with the Red Bull philosophy at the rear (with RBR already using the push rod solution last year).