Formula One 2014

[Clearwater]

(Let's see if this topic can last the whole year. Please.)

 

Well, my fellow SF-Oers, that time of year has arrived again! Yep, the new season of Forumula One begins this weekend!

Although... If Sebastian Vettel wins the championship AGAIN, I may stop watching it, it's becoming like when Michael Schumacher won every single race. Actually, while I'm on the subject of Schumacher, I wish him a full and speedy recovery as soon as possible.

In case you somehow missed it, he had a sking accident while in the Alps back in December, when he hit his head on some rocks

off-piste. I heard that he didn't actually hit the rocks while at speed; it's likely that he just tripped or something. Anyway, I wish you a full and speedy recovery as soon as possible so you can watch the seasson with us.

 

One of the racers we bid a solemn farewell to last year was Mark Webber. It's a shame he won't be with the crew this year, I rather liked him. Also not joining us this year is Paul Di Resta, the Scot who did rather well for himself over the past three years with Force India. He's gone back to DTM (Which is basically German Touring Cars) for now, but I'd love to see him back in the cockpit.

 

There might only be one new race this year, but it looks VERY promising indeed. It's the Russian Grand Prix, at Sochi (Yes, where the Winter Olympics were held). I can't wait until September to see what this new track brings.

 

That's not all that's new this year. The cars have changed engines as well, going from (I think it was) V8 to V6. Hopefully this should even up the playing field, and also hopefully prevent the Red Bulls from zooming off into the distance, like they usually do. *rolls eyes*

 

So who are you rooting for this year? And who do you think will win it? Here's my list of the five drivers most likely to win it:

 

1: Sebastian Vettel (German) (What a surprise *rolls eyes again*)

2: Lewis Hamilton (British) (COME ON HAMMY!!! )

3: Felipe Massa (Spanish)

4: Fernando Alonso (Spanish)

5: Jenson Button (British)

 

Let's keep this topic updated with all the latest news, results and crashes from this year. Can't wait for those 5 red lights to go out on Sunday and for the season to begin!

 

Neoware

 

(Oh, P.S: To celebrate the new season, I got my mitts on a super-cheap copy of Formula One...2006...On PS2. )

[conaly]

Hi,

I've sympathy with every German driver, especially Rosberg and Hülkenberg. Of Course Vettel too, but, I wouldn't mind, if Rosberg would beat him this year. I hope Alonso won't make it, I just can't stand this arrogant [bad word].

But I totally can't agree with the new rules. V6 engines, yeah... highest racing league my ass. 100L fuel tanks, WTF?! Fuel saving while racing at full speed?! I just think the higher ups don't know, what racing really is about. I mean why are they stopping innovations like the F-Duct or the Double-Diffusor, but introduce rules, which make the car less powerfull? And what idiot had that stupid idea with doubled points at the final race? I mean what is fair about leading the whole time, but then losing everything to another driver, just because he got a double score at ONE race!? If this will have an effect on the world champion, I'm going to stop watching F1, regardless of who will win or lose the cup.

Btw: Felipe Massa isn't Spanish but Brazilian ;)

[Clearwater]

Btw: Felipe Massa isn't Spanish but Brazilian

Oh. Well, thanks for pointing that out.

 

Yeah, you're right about Alonso, he can be a bit aggressive towards the other drivers. I'm with ya, I hope he doesn't win.

You know what I'm hoping for? Well, remember in Turkey (I think it was Turkey, if it wasn't then I can't remember where),

when both the Red Bulls collided into each other and crashed out? Well, me and my family cracked up laughing when that happened.

I'm hoping Vettel screws up again. But I'm not attempting to jinx him in anyway. Sure, I'd love to see him win a few races, but I don't want it to

go to the point where he's unbeatable again.

[Clearwater]

Well, the first race is over, and the winner of the F1 2014 Austrailian Grand Prix is... Nico Rosberg!
Daniel Riccardo was supposed to come in 2nd, but was later disqualified. Something about breaching new fuel rules
or something like that, which promoted the new Danish driver, Kevin Magnussen up to 2nd. VERY impressive for a newbie.
3rd was Jenson Button. But I have to say, all those crashes and retirements.... First, it was Lewis Hamilton with a
problem with his engine right from the start, and had to retire on the 4th lap ( ). Then it was Sebastien Vettel,
that Japanese driver Kobayashi... I can't remember every one who went out. Let's hope the Malaysian Grand Prix
goes smoother.

[StarFoxfan-FUR_ever]

How didnt I see this topic before?

 

I saw the race, and it looked more like a battle for survival than an actual race. I understand why the FIA would make changes to the cars the way they did (I am assuming that they figured the fans were getting bored), but this is simply not racing at its finest. Maybe the drivers really are not used to the way the cars function yet (as the announcers were saying in my telecast) but I saw so many driving errors you have to think it was really the cars themselves that was the issue here. For example, I know Raikkonen has always had an issue with spinning out or locking up the brakes, but he was constantly locking the brakes every single lap on the very first turn. 

 

Lets break this down for teams and drivers:

 

A very disappointing return for Kobayashi, as he was the first to fall victim to the new mechanisms of the cars....and slams into the side of Raikkonen before bouncing towards Felipe Massa and taking him out of the race as well (Kobayashi and Massa out after the first turn of the race.....) Kobayashi's teammate Marcus Ericsson would have engine troubles later in the race. Both drivers for Caterham failed to finish the race.

 

Lewis Hamilton was expecting his car to do amazing (and who wouldnt with those times he posted in practice and qualifying) but had engine troubles as Neoware already posted. His teammate Nico Rosberg wins the race (Dominated by over a 20 second lead on second place), showing that Mercedes F1 engineers seem to have things figured out mechanically....at least on one car. Either way, lots of potential, Mercedes is still my 1# pick for this year to win the Constructors Championship.

 

Sebastian Vettel also had mechanical issues and had to drop out of the race. (DNF counter up to 5 now) His teammate Daniel Ricciardo finished second, and then was DQ'd.....Red Bull off to a bad start for the year, but same as Mercedes, they got one car to work really well.

 

Romain Grossjean and Pastor Maldonado of Lotus both had mechanical issues as well (although this time I don't think it was the engine).... the DNF counter 7. Sadly, I don't see Lotus going anywhere this year after last season's amazing performance since Raikkonen was signed to Ferrari. Also an interesting note: McLaren apparently was able to sign one of Lotus's best engineers during the off-season. For those who saw the race, I'm sure you could tell how much the cars were struggling for Lotus, no speed at all during the entire race.

 

Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi of Marussia were nowhere to be found all race long (unless they were cutting to commercial and a camera happened to find them toward the back of the pack...er survivors of the race that is). Well, I suppose Marussia got the leg up on their rivals Caterham for being able to have both drivers finish the race.

 

Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez of Sauber were beyond horrible all race long. If I recall correctly Gutierrez at one point in the race was TWO laps behind the leader...need I say more? At least they both finished the race sorta....

 

Sergio Perez gets a point (10th place) because of the Ricciardo DQ. I'm suprised he was able to get 11th in race considering he is on the Force India team which has been struggling in recent years (and the fact that he was horrible last season with Mclaren and single handedly ruined what could have been an excellent year for them). Hulkenberg did not do too well as I expected sadly. However he did get a very promising 7th place finish bumped up to 6th for 8 points. Force India looking strong to start the year.

 

STR-Renault with Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat finishing 9th and 8th after the DQ ruling. I am impressed with Kvyat being able to race to 10th place. Looking foward to seeing more from this rookie. STR isnt the best team out there, but give them credit for slipping into the top 10 for both drivers on the first week.

 

Kimi Raikkonen....STOP GIVING ME A HEART ATTACK ON EACH TURN!!! Although like I said above, it seemed overwhelmingly difficult for him to avoid locking the wheels up when braking. Engineers should look into this to see if it's the car in this case. Alonso nearly drove some people off the track a few times, and drives to 5th and final standings of 4th. Did I mention I was a Ferrari fan? Yeah, I should look for a new team to root for....

 

Remeber that Felipe Massa guy I mentioned before who got taken out on the first turn? Well his teammate and rookie driver Valtteri Bottas finished 5th after the bump up from 6th. By far Bottas was the best driver on the track this past week. (But he only got 6th you say?) Well, as it turned out, early in the race his right-front tire literally came off due to a slight over-steer that made him hit the sidewall just barely. Only the rubber tire itself luckily enough, as he was able to drive the car to the pit stop from halfway around the track to get fresh tires and get right back into the race...in about if I remember 18th place? So yeah he passed the most drivers during the day by far and most likely would have challenged for the lead if not for the tire that popped off. I am VERY impressed with Williams at this point in the season. I wrote them off thinking they wouldn't even finish above 6th by the end of the year, but man they had a great car out there, and who knows if Massa would have had a great race as well? Props to the engineers.

 

And that leads me to the huge story of the race. McLaren's team of Kevin Magnussen and Jensen Button. Magnussen races to a 3rd and gets bumped to 2nd with Button racing to a 4th and bumped to 3rd. I was worried that Button would have to carry the rookie if he failed to race well but Magnussen looked like a veteran out there. Very impressive showing by McLaren, who now currently has the Constructor Points lead. This leads me to my next segment:

 

Contenders for the Constructor's Championship Predictions

 

Mercedes and Ferrari I thought would battle it out neck and neck all season long, but both McLaren and Williams have surprised me. Im going to say that it could very well be these 4 teams who each have a chance to win the championship this season. Mercedes is still the favorite in my opinion. Followed by McLaren if they continue to race consistently all season. Ferrari and Williams will duke it out for 3rd the way I see it. Raikkonen is struggling far too much with the car right now, and if Ferrari can't figure out the problem, this could be a very long year for them.

 

Force India, Caterham, Lotus, and Red Bull might all end up somewhere in 5th-8th assuming trends continue this way for the rest of the season. Force India signed Hulkenberg so I have confidence in him, how Perez races will determine if he drags the team down or allows them to succeed at a higher level. Lotus would have finished ahead of Sauber during last week's race easily if not for the mechanical issues, and honestly even with the slower vehicle this year will be fighting for points when they can finish the race. Perhaps Kobayashi will bounce back and race well for the rest of the year. Clearly he had such a fast car this week the brakes didnt work well enough. Marussia and Caterham have been competing for second-to-last place for a while now so unless Kobayashi can pick up Caterham from the dungeons of the bottom of the standings, they might end up there at the end of the year. That said, I have confidence in Kobayashi's ability. He does race well, but he is very inconsistent. Red Bull has to fix their mechanical issues as soon as possible for Vettel to race at a high level like is capable of. Ricciardo proved himself to be an exceptional driver with his 2nd place finish...even though he got the DQ for the ruling on fuel. From this point on, I cannot predict exactly where teams will finish because these mechanical issues can pop up at any time during a race.

 

Rounding out 9th, 10th, and 11th we might see STR, Marussia, and Sauber (NOT necessarily in that order reason explained one sentence ago).  Marussia has two drivers who are 22 and 24 years old. Expect inexperience to haunt them for another year before things improve. STR I don't think has the engine power they need to keep up with the rest of the pack. If drivers start finishing races, I don't see these guys getting points each week. Regardless, I am looking forward to seeing if Kvyat improves. Sauber looked bad out there this past week, really bad, and I dont think they have drivers in place who can prevent them from ending up below halfway point of the standings. They have a slight chance to get 8th or 7th but only if top racers continue to DNF each race.

 

Let me know what you guys think and if you see any glaring errors in my analysis. See you all when I preview the next race after qualifying is determined.

[Clearwater]

 

Let me know what you guys think and if you see any glaring errors in my analysis. See you all when I preview the next race after qualifying is determined.

 

 

Ya don't have to wait until after qualifying you know.

Odds are it's gonna be really, really sunny in Malaysia this weekend, or really, really rainy. I remember

the Malaysian Grand Prix 2009, they ended up abandoning the race halfway through, because it was raining like HELL.

I remember reading in Jenson Button's autobiography, A Championship Year, that apparantly, while the race was

halted, Jenson said that he could 'see Mark Webber running around to each car, and passing on the message to

the other drivers that it's too dangerous to race. I also heard that Kimi Raikkonen had already changed out into

a T-shirt and shorts, and wasn't even THINKING of going back outside. The grandstand was struck twice by lightning;

I bet it was terrifying for the audience.'

[StarFoxfan-FUR_ever]

Well I suppose I know enough about Malaysia GP to talk about the track itself. Basically, the track itself it much wider than the Australian GP track (Making it much easier to pass drivers at Malaysia), however the turns are long and must be taken slowly due to the banking of the turns generally working against the driver. ie: When turning right most often the track will be tilted towards the left. There are stretches of straightaways leading to some of the sharpest turns, so we should get a good opportunity to see this week which teams can get the most out of their vehicles in terms of top speed and heavy braking. I would not go as far as to say that either top end speed or slightly faster acceleration has the advantage in this race due to the slow corners. Moderate speeds should be the safest strategy to go with. Of course after qualifying, I will have a better idea about which team is best prepared for the challenge. As for pit stops, they will take significantly longer than those in the Australian GP because of the way the "entering the pit lane" lane is set up. Expect to see teams attempt to drive aggressively to create large gaps (Minimum 20 seconds) between themselves and slower drivers as they try to beat them onto the track and get up to speed after a pit stop. That's all I have for now. 

[StarFoxfan-FUR_ever]

Well, it's time for me to release the results of the Qualifying session at the Malaysia GP. I was unable to see the event live as a result of the near hour-long delay (due to the heavy rain Neoware was warning us all about  ) I also wanted to wait in case there were any penalties handed out and there was one handed to Bottas (a penalty of 3 positions from his final qualifying position) for blocking Vettel in Q2. I tried looking for video footage of the incident, but there is nothing uploaded anywhere as of yet. Here are the starting positions for the race with the penalty factored in.

 

1: Hamilton 2: Vettel 3: Rosberg 4: Alonso 5: Ricciardo 6: Raikkonen 7: Hulkenberg 8: Magnussen 9: Vergne 10: Button

11: Kvyat 12: Gutierrez 13: Massa 14: Perez 15: Grosjean 16: Maldonado 17: Sutil 18: Bottas 19: Bianchi 20:Kobayashi

21: Chilton 22:Ericsson

 

This marks Hamiltons second pole position in the first two races of the season. I expect this race to be much more competitive than the Australian GP now that the teams all have a better feel for the new vehicle mechanics. I was impressed once again by Ricciardo, who is showing that he can in fact fill in Webber's shoes. Also worth noting is how Magnussen has qualified ahead of the veteran teammate Button for a second straight race. I am disappointed though with Kobayashi.  I hoped he would bounce back. I am curious to see if Bottas will have a strong race after an impressive showing in Australia. It will be interesting to see how Massa responds to the his short race in Australia. As I mentioned a week ago, do not expect crazy crashes on this track unless there is the factor of rain. So far the forecast looks like heavy rain just like in qualifying. The race is scheduled to begin at 4AM EST, but who knows, if it rains heavily, there may be a delay. Set your alarm clocks for 6:00 AM EST, maybe you will catch part of the race  Don't worry, next race is the Bahrain GP, and that will have a scheduled start time of 11 AM EST.

[Clearwater]

Ugh, God, way to screw me over. I just learnt that the Bahrain Grand Prix is gonna be aired on French TV at 10:00
PM. There's no freakin' way I'm watching it at THAT time!!

[StarFoxfan-FUR_ever]

I would have something to say other than a HUGE congrats to Hamilton for winning and proving the naysayers wrong, but because of the time the race was aired in my area I did not get to watch it. Anyways, Mercedes...this is your year to win, Ferrari and Red Bull, well....maybe next season you won't suck All joking aside Ricciardio is shockingly good, except he was very unlucky towards the end of the race from what I heard.

 

I'm very shocked that Lotus has been as horrible as they have been so far. I didnt expect them to end up so far away from 10th again...

 

Can't wait for the next race

[Clearwater]

Yeah, me neither. Should be intersting, since it's gonna be held at night time, like the Singapore one.
This has both intrigued and amazed me. Can't wait to see how it looks!