blonde poker forum

Testing has begun, & Red Bull used a zebra camaflouge in testing last week.


(http://e0.365dm.com/15/02/660x350/Red-Bull-RB11-2_3258939.jpg?20150201083351)


(http://e2.365dm.com/15/02/660x350/Red-Bull-RB11_3258938.jpg?20150201083248)

(http://abload.de/img/red-bull-rb11oxc89.jpg)


(http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8vuNuSCEAAK7y3.jpg)

The new McLaren Honda.


(http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/mclaren-honda-2014-2.jpg)

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Df3eUO7I-Hs/VHTSHbu12xI/AAAAAAAAdP4/dbNVQD9a4I4/s1600/McLaren-Honda-F1-75.jpg)



(http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article4791745.ece/alternates/s2197/McLaren-Honda-Announces-New-Driver-Line-Up-For-2015.jpg)

The 2015 Mercedes........

(http://www.formula1.com/wi/gi/597x478/bITt/sutton/2013/dcd1501fe111.jpg)


(http://www.formula1.com/wi/gi/597x478/k2WW/sutton/2013/dms1422fe46.jpg)


(http://www.formula1.com/wi/gi/597x478/FFyq/sutton/2013/dcd1501fe48.jpg)


(http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/merc-w06-2015-21-886x498.jpg)

...& the Oddschecker F1 2015 page......


http://www.oddschecker.com/motorsport/formula-one

How did he manage to land an F1 drive off the back of X-Factor?

They had a bonding weekend at the darts in Blackpool:

(http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7qkunpMz11qljeo2o1_500.jpg)

Ferrari better. Mercedes brilliant. What we learned from F1 testing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31136827

The remaining assets of the collapsed Caterham team have been put up for sale. Full story: http://bbc.in/1AvJlsu 

Marussia have been blocked from rejoining the grid with the 2014 car, because the other teams wanted to keep marussia money because the request "lacked substance" - joke

force india were the only objectors, but it needed a unanimous vote

this is the force india who cannot get off the lorry for testing

A single objector, with an agenda. Seems silly, a rule is surely being exploited here.

Time to rev this thread up, with the 2015 F1 season starting this weekend at the Australian GP.

It's been expected that the once mighty McLaren team will struggle to do well this season. Even so, it was a real eye opener to see their two cars finish plum bottom in Q1.

If I understand that correctly, that means they start at the very back of the grid.

How the mighty fall.

Magnussen's McLaren blew it's engine on the warm up lap, so never even started.

Only 15 started for a variety of reasons, then a Lotus got shunted off within 20 seconds of the start.

Any views on Alonso's health?

Seems a very odd situation, a seemingly small crash, he then had what appears to be severe concussion & amnesia, but everyone is being a bit guarded about his return date.

His wages for 2015 are astronomical, does he still get paid if he does not drive, & who pays those wages?

Having said all that, I doubt he is in any great rush to jump in a McLaren right now. He'll not much enjoy being lapped twice at the back of the field, as Button was today. Or the fate which befell Magnussen.

If you want a good read about head injuries and why the FIA make the IOC look like angels, then I can recommend rhe blog of Gary Hartstein the ex F1 doctor at all the races, until he was sacked by the French Mafia.

https://formerf1doc.wordpress.com (https://formerf1doc.wordpress.com)

That is a stunningly good read, (more especially the Jules stuff), thank you. I hope others have a read. Makes Giles Coren's rants look tame.

I knew of Gary via Sid Watkins, Sid's wife wrote a very intersting book about Bernie, as it happens.

Had money on a McLaren to retire first @ 15/2 on Sky Bet. Everywhere else was between 4/1 and 5/1 when I looked except Sky Bet, so seemed like a no brainer.

Beat #1 was checking my Sky Poker account after thinking I'd at least have a dead heat with the other cars that qualified and didn't start, only to find my balance hadn't changed since the night before.
Beat #2 was checking the Sky Bet rules, fistpumping because I thought retiring before lining up on the grid made my bet void so I might get to keep my pennies, only to remember that the bet was for a McLaren to retire first, not an individual driver, and Button still started the race.
Beat #3 was sitting through that race for an hour and a half. Not the most exciting race I've ever seen.

I run so bad.

F1 time again, they go here this weekend.....


(https://f1banter.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/sepang-international-circuit.jpg)

Presumably, Hamilton backers will hope he gets hooked up this weekend. A happy Hammy is a winning Hammy, apparently.



(http://americancarsamericangirls.com/show/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/wm_08.05.11-F1-GP-TURKEY-2011-Grid-girl.jpg)


(http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1872760.ece/alternates/s615/167126108.jpg)

Looks like it was quite windy that day and I think that's a 2013 Lamborghini Aventador in the top left, so I would think that was taken on 27 March 2013 at about 11:26 local time.

Lol, don't start that again.

Nico's lost it. Already.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/24207/9776303/nico-rosberg-says-he-needs-a-perfect-weekend-to-beat-lewis-hamilton

The times for the 1st & 2nd practice sessions for the Malaysian GP are here....


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/2015/malaysian-grand-prix/results/practice


And a review here.....


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/32082757



(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/81942000/jpg/_81942103_lewishamilton'scarbeingworkedon_ap.jpg)

Genius

Amazing scenes as Vettel's Ferrari takes on the Mercedes and is now ahead of both.

Great race this, Vettel leads and Mardy is feeling the pressure.

That was a great watch, Vettel won deservedly and hard held.

Loved his winners interview, good to see a character on top and clearly enjoying it rather than relif after expecting to win.

I thought the same, rarely seen a man so look so happy.

Totally different personality to Lewis, it seems to me.

I'm told by the experts the strong showing by Ferrari was a fluke, down to conditions &, perhaps, misguided tyre strategy by Mercedes. The Ferraris seem pretty fast to me, Lewis could make no impression on Vettel, & Raikkonen went from last to 4th without much drama.

We shall see, but it'd be good to see a bit of competition at the front.

I think the boy Verstappen was the star of the race, what a talent he could turn out to be, he's only 17. Precocious.     

Wow.

Instead of the one horse race everyone expected, it is just possible, maybe a 2% chance, that we might actually see a two horse race this year.

How exciting! Now I can understand why Formula One is SO popular and gets SO much coverage.

Even my notoriously weak sarcasm-meter detected that one Keith......

It's more popular than I suspect you think it is. Globally, some 400 million tune in.

I've no idea how many people watch televised horse racing in the UK, but I'd be surprised if F1 audiences are far behind.

"Instead of the one horse race everyone expected, it is just possible, maybe a 2% chance, that we might actually see a two horse race this year."

2% is pretty optimistic I reckon!

Oh, I know how popular it is.

The unfathomable mystery is WHY it is so popular, when the persoanlites of the paticipants are so unappealling (eg Hamilton, Alonso, Horner, Ecclestone etc etc. Jensen Button lterally seems the only person involved in the sport in whose company an evening in the boozer would be halfway tolerable) and the results of the races are almost certain before they start.

Give them all the same equpment. Then the races might be interesting.

Not sure how you solve the personality problem though.

Oh for the days of Senna, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark, James Hunt and Emerson Fittipaldi.

It all started to go downhill when Mansell hit the top. From Schumacher onwards it has been a snoozefest.

Generally, the Great British public love anything to do with motor cars.

Ecclestone no personality? I could listen to him 24/7, fascinating man. Speaks very bluntly, too.

Then there's Suzy........


(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/66522000/jpg/_66522704_mmmotf1suziperrymalaysiapreview.jpg)

Oh Ecclestone has plenty of personality,

100% pure scumbag though.

I quite understand to be a popular form of entainment you need your fair share of panto villains to boo and hiss against and for the good guys to beat.

But as far as I can see F1 is infested with only bad guys.

They were great personalities, yes, (Jim Clark not so much, though the best driver arguably) but those names span a 30 year (?) period, so you are cherry picking imo. 

Thinks always seemed better back in the day, particularly to elder people like yourself.

I've never been a big motor racing fan, but I would sometimes watch a grand prix on a Sunday afternoon when there was no proper sport on.

It was always a race and there would be some excitement.

Now it's just a procession. And the cars are so reliable they virtually never break down either.

It is completely and utterly boring.

I find myself agreeing with the Camel again. I liken it to watching someone playing a video game, and I can only manage that for about 20 seconds. The races are only exciting when it rains. Hamilton lost the race this weekend because he had the wrong tyres on. How dull is that? I yearn for the days when at least they had to put petrol in the cars.

Can see Ferrari winning a good few races this season on high degradation tracks. Merc will still be much stronger I think but not to the level of last season. They are likely to be 1 and 2 in the WDC though. McLaren are the wildcard, we know the Jonda engine is turned down but has the Merc double turbo design and the carbs reported to be excellent. They won't compete the year of course but could be the ones to watch in 2016. Williams will hopefully get a race win, not sure what to say about Red Bull. Renault are obviously struggling and can't do much to catch up during the season. Think it will be a tough season for them.

When the most exxciting thing in a raace is "the fascinating battle for 6th" there is something seriously wrong with a sport.

It is like the purely contrived and artifical "battle for 4th place" in the Premier League.

It has been created by the authorities to keep up the interest in the league for as long possible because 90% of the time the title is settled weeks or months before the season ends.

And we, the people who pay for all this shite, like mugs, completely fall for it and lap it up.

I love it to bits

off the track there are characters, intrigue , politics and skullduggery

on it (and there is nothing like being there to appreciate the noise, smell and atmosphere) there are good and bad races, just like there are good and bad matches in any sport and it certainly helps if weather jumbles things up

who can forget jenson button going from last to first in Canada?

Hamilton winning the title on the last corner at interlagos?

now of course there is plenty wrong with the sport and it currently lacks some competitive depth but it is ironic that this conversation has sprung up 24 ghours after the biggest surprise win in many years

with the exception of the US Sports NFL, NBA, MLB etc which all structure to provide competitive balance, a lot of sports are less competitive than they were because of the huge tv deals which create bigger inequalities in acquistion of talent.

in F1s case this is not only drivers, but engineers, designers, wind tunnels, factories, engines etc etc

Didn't Hamiton lose because he was only rated a 3 on Peter's Hamilton moodometer?  It was a shame, there seemed so many opportunities for a 10 from the pictures I saw.

Nothing more than WWE on wheels imo.  Haven't watched a race or took any interest in the sport since someone was told to pull over and let his team mate through to win on the final lap (can't remember who or when).  Also remember a comical race in 2005 when i was working in Antigua when only 6 cars took part because of some tyre issue/legal dispute.

I have long thought F1 is complete sham, but I moved to post because the extreme levels of excitement and consternation which someone other than the favourite daring to win a race provided.

US sports have it exactly right.

Profit sharing and competitive balance is the only way to provide entertaining sporting contests and seasons.

Whether the big teams would ever allow it is another matter.

Tighty.

I didn't see any of this weeks GP. Can I ask you what were the 2 best bits for you? From the report I read it seemed that the most exciting thing was when Lewis Hamilton's pit used the radio accidently when he was driving round a corner.

(i agree with the camel on American sports by the way. the use of salary caps, drafts, free agency and equal division of tv deals produces the genuine opportunity for teams to go from bottom of the pile to the top in reasonable timeframes)

to answer your question

a) team strategies around the first safety car was the ley moment in the race
b) the realisation at the final pit stop that mercedes had it wrong, had no softer tyres to put on hamilton and that vettel would hold on


its quite a cerebral sport really, a lot of strategy

the first race in australia was a stinker, admittedly

this race, by virtue of it being a tyre limited track, produced a lot of complexity

It's not all bad.  I bet you'd have a good night out with Kobyashi, Eddie Irvine and Montoya.

A big appeal of Formula 1 was, sadly, that someone might die.

Not necessarily in the ghoulish sense, but that here were a group of guys lining up at the start of a race in which there was a significant non-zero chance that they weren't going to finish it, which engendered a feeling of, at the least respect, if not awe. They were the gladiators of their day.

Now, despite the fact that accidents still happen, it's all so sanitized that we berate Hamilton for acting like a dick, because we don't feel as though he's earned it by putting his life on the line.

Think this is right, terrific brain RAM to find something interesting about it. Once you've seen a stupidly fast pitstop on youtube I think we're all done.

My bro clutters up facebook with all kinds of insanely boring posts on practice and racedays - he's an otherwise fun and intelligent guy. Known him all my life but there's this fundamentally boreass part of him I'm never gonna get. Everyone around the sport is a bit like everyone around golf as well - just stupendously dull.

I have always enjoyed F1 and still do, but I find horse racing pointless, as a Rory Bremner sketch once described it, it's a horse, followed by a horse, then a horse, and of another horse - yawn.

LOLZ and motor racing isn't a car (the same car that was in 1st last race) from a car (the same car that was in 2nd last race) then a car (the same car that was in 3rd last race) etc etc and etc.?

Seems to me that both motor racing and horse racing originated from a desire to prove that my horse/car is faster than your horse/car.
Horse racing mutated into a vehicle for gambling, whilst motor racing mutated into a vehicle for advertising.

Keith,

If it were not for the betting aspect, would you watch, & could you say it was interesting, all-weather horse racing from, say, Southwell or Wolverhampton?

I don't need to bet to enjoy Cheltenham, Royal Ascot & so on. It's a wonderful spectacle in every way. But all-weather at Southwell?.........

World champion Lewis Hamilton expects to sign a new Mercedes contract this week that could be worth more than £27m a year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/32124091

might be a 7 out of 10 happy day the day he does

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/82019000/jpg/_82019610_hamilton_epa.jpg)

I've got to take my hat off to verstappen the kid is a pure talent I still can't believe he's only 18 in September! FIA made it illegal to be under 18 now to have a super licence so this kid will be in a HOF of his own.

Alonsos start as an F1 driver at Minardi albeit 19yrs old qualified 19th and placed 12th which back then in the era was incred an he was in top 3 youngest drivers ever, kimi raikonnen joined this year as well and they both came out to be world champions.

Alonso is the best driver out there strangely enough, and gets the money for it. But he is incredibly hard to work with under strict management cus he's such a boss and does what he wants, even though he is always in a slower car its hilarious actually how tough he makes it for faster teams to get past. The real discussion within F1 communities now is how, well, ill say it lightly "easy" the cars are to drive, vs back when alonso started 2001 with imo the best set up ever, the 7spd semi auto V10s that were insane! Then the engine output restrictions that came in from 2005 mean that still today most of the fastest lap records around F1 circuits are from 2004.


http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/03/fia-moves-block-future-verstappens-f1-age-limit/

Lewis Hamilton: “I wasn’t controlling his race, I was controlling my own race. A great race, though, I’m really happy. Definitely going into the race I thought it would be a lot closer. We knew that the Ferraris were very good with their long-run pace and also looking after their tyres, so today the real goal was to manage the tyres.

 “As I said, my goal was to look after my own car. I had no real threat from Nico through the whole race.”

Nico Rosberg: “It’s interesting to hear from you Lewis that you were just thinking about yourself with the pace. Unnecessarily that was compromising my race, because driving slower than was maybe necessary at the beginning of stints meant that Sebastian was very close to me and that opened up the opportunity for Sebastian to try that early pit-stop, to try and jump me.

“I was unnecessarily close to Sebastian as a result and it cost me race time as a result.”

Interviewer asks, "Lewis, do you want to respond to that?"

Lewis Hamilton: “Not really. It’s not my job to look after Nico’s race. My job is to manage the car and bring the car home as fast as possible and that’s what I did. I didn’t do anything intentionally to slow the cars up.”

That was amazing stuff, but to be fair, Lewis was completely correct imo.

The pit to car message "speed up or else" was quite interesting, too. Wish we had heard Lewis's reply. ;)

a picture speaks volumes

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CCYWcCtWEAACxWR.jpg)

Hamilton is fine here, he knows that the one weakness is potentially tyre-wear and he has the pace advantage but potentially a durability disadvantage over errari

if he can lead comfortably enough early in stints by controlling his pace, so as to minimise a potential disadvantage late on, why shouldn't he?

the problem this year is that the aero packages have come on again, so its tougher to run close behind a car without bashing your tyres up so Rosberg was stuck

It's all fairly straightforward: you have the same car as Lewis. Qualify faster and you're king for the day.

Martin Brundle commented that he believes Nico has been told to express himself to the media. If it is a bit of panto because F1 needs something to make the season interesting, do we expect a repeat of Monaco (Nico cuts qualifying short by appearing to steer into an area that couldn't be driven around safely) or Spa (where Nico cut in too close and damaged Lewis's car)?

Here's a preview I did for the 2013 Bahrain GP.  Obviously a lot is obsolete but hopefully some of it will be thought provoking:

Supporting the Stats
A 5.4 kilometre undulating circuit, 57 laps and high temperatures are the obvious Bahrain features.  But for something more enlightening about the country itself the ever obliging Wikipedia has just marked my card.

Firstly Bahrain has a few quid, it also has a few people. 1.2 million to be precise, however more than half of that number are non-nationals.

The country has a chequered history and, resultantly, a 2008 survey showed there were just 37 Jews living on the island country.  To balance the books Bahrain's King appealed to former Bahraini Jews abroad in the US and UK to return to their motherland offering them compensation and citizenship.

Bizarrely the Bahraini weekend is Friday & Saturday and not Saturday and Sunday.  Those two days off give you a chance to play football – which is the most popular sport in the country – and find a mate.  Not easy if you are gay or bisexual as those genres are not recognised and apparently don’t exist. 

If you do go on a date best make it a dinner date as a BK whopping 28.9 percent of Bahraini men are officially obese as are an unattractive 38.2 percent of women.

However life expectancy still runs at a respectable 73 years for men and 76 for women.  I’m unsure if that’s in any way related to the countries good roads and shopping malls or another fact which may make Bahrain’s 295sq miles attractive to Europeans:  In 2007 Bahrain became the first Arab country to offer unemployment benefits.

Suddenly I’m not trying to identify a race winner but to pinpoint Bahrain’s perfect immigrant and in early exchanges Kirstie Alley – who has not worked in years – opened as odds-on favourite.  She appeared to be the ideal candidate for immigration ticking all the right boxes. 

However it transpires she is not Jewish.  Kirstie Alley was actually raised a Methodist and now follows Scientology.   Additionally she claims to be Irish and is back on a diet.  Citizenship?  Jules Bianchi has a better chance of setting the fastest lap in this weekend’s race en-route to winning the Drivers Championship methinks.

Anne Widdecombe has been a springer in the market but while, as a politician she has never worked, apparently she doesn’t play football and the South Korean’s are currently trying to recruit her as their deterrent from North Korean invasion.

I’ll stick with betting on F1 for now  …and the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in which Norway‘s entry is an each-way gift at 7/1 incidentally.


Compromise
Now there are a few things during my life which I have always known were not for me: Homosexuality, voting Lib-Dem, joining a cult, taking a package holiday and backing Sebastian Vettel.

But today the pillars of my life lie shattered.  My philosophy is in flux, I’ve backed the German ace and the big question now is… which of my other strict value-systems could fall apart next?

Before you know it I could be reaching for a holiday brochure even if I’d prefer to have my left ear slowly removed by a cheese grater before going somewhere where bling-clad Brits lie on their Union Jack towels roasting themselves to a piggie-pink amid the scent of chips, lip-gloss and pints of Fosters.

I have compromised myself because, at odds of 5/2 about the reigning World Champion winning in sand-swept Bahrain, the bookmakers have compromised themselves.  Surely Thomas Cook or First Choice will not do the same.

The very reason I’ve refrained from backing King Seb is the reason he must be backed this weekend.  Value.  There is no value in backing him week-in-week-out at 6/4.  There is huge value backing him here at 5/2.

I don’t understand how former driver turned pundit Johnny Herbert can keep, when prompted, putting forward Massa, whose record now stands at 0 wins from his last 70 races, and Mark Webber (3 wins from 49) as his race-win fancies.  Then again I don’t understand why teams run simulators to predict the outcome of a race when me, Nostradamus II, is here willing and able.

Naturally the heart says Fernando but my head, and every stat in the book, says Sebastian will be storming back to dominance at a track which has repeatedly proved custom-made to his cars wants and needs. 

Odds of 5/2 equates to 28.6 percent probability.  Is Sebastian Vettel’s chances of winning just 28.6 percent?  Of course not especially when you consider:

China 2012:  Mercedes engines were all dominant producing the top three cars on the grid and the top three places on the podium.   That included Rosberg who won the race by 20 seconds.  The Red Bulls, which qualified a woeful 7th and 11th, ultimately finished fourth and fifth.

Bahrain 2012:  What a difference seven days can make with Red Bulls qualifying first and third.  Vettel went on to win the race and Renault powered cars filled the first four places. Rosberg was beaten into fifth 55secs behind his countryman.

There was no Bahrain GP in 2011 but in 2010 the contrast between its results and those of China were abundantly clear once again.  In China, run a month before Bahrain on this occasion, the best performing Renault engined car finished just fifth.  But in Bahrain Vettel had the race safely in the bag before a broken sparkplug scuppered certain victory.

Vettel was also runner-up in the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix conclusively proving the term ‘horses for courses’ does not exclusively apply to equine athletes. In total Vettel has claimed 22 wins from his last 61 races; 16 wins since the start of 2011 season (a 38 percent strike-rate) and has won five of his last ten outings.

Most importantly this is his car’s type of track.  Hot, undulating, dusty, overtaking is not exactly commonplace, gear changes are high, pitstops aplenty (71 last year), heavy on the breaks.  Whatever the factors are the stars simply seem to line-up for the Red Bull/Renault combination here.

Boasting three previous wins in Bahrain and a car which is brutally fast my heart still says Fernando’s the man but he cannot qualify his Ferrari on pole, his equipment just doesn’t work that way.  There is also a strong likelihood it may, like the Mercedes, struggle to bring its China form here. 

With all factors taken into consideration Vettel looks at least 40 percent likely to win at this circuit this weekend and therein the head rules out.  Prepare to rip the stitches out of the bookmakers’ satchels by backing him at odds way in excess of the probability of him standing on the podium’s top step.


************

To a certain degree this one looks reasonably straightforward.  Fernando Alonso may have won this race three times – in addition to 2010 he was successful in 2005 and 2006 when driving for Renault – but this season Ferrari’s supporters are already feeling like the parents of the fat kid on sports day.

After another dismal showing in this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, McLaren boss Ron Dennis has reminded his drivers that they can have a car that works properly just as soon as they both shave.

‘There are three things Ron hates above all else,’ explained a team insider. ‘Untidyness, beards and the actress Dame Angela Lansbury. He’ll stop at nothing to avoid any of them in his life.’

Sources in Woking say that, as a result of his demented desire to ‘optimise lower face visual and textural qualities’ amongst his drivers, Dennis has ordered engineers to turn down the power output of the Honda powertrain to ‘sub-optimal quantities’ and will happily tolerate blithering about fighting for 16th place for as long as it takes to make Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso shave their faces.

‘To have one driver with a beard is bad enough for Ron, but two has pushed him over the edge,’ explained our team mole. ‘It’s as intolerable for him as finding toast crumbs on the worktop or turning on the TV to find it’s jammed on a channel showing back-to-back episodes of Murder, She Wrote.’

Ironically, McLaren’s deranged facial hair / performance blackmail stand-off is the exact opposite of the situation at Red Bull where beard enthusiast Christian Horner is secretly restricting the car’s performance until both drivers sport some kind chin fuzz. ‘Is totally unfair on Dan,’ complained a spokesman for Daniil Kvyat. ‘He is 12.’

http://sniffpetrol.com/2015/04/14/dennis-driver-ultimatum/#.VS0RrvAYHOh

 :D

McLaren's Eric Boullier says the team can be competitive by the "end of next year" http://bbc.in/1aJEZ5I 

No rush. ;)

He's aware they're supposed to be competitive at the start of the year, right?

this weekend, McLaren'as first livery change since......?

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEVZWGKWYAAXQzq.jpg)

...the start of this Season?

Nah...since they started silver which was around the Hakkinen time.

I'd just started high school...which means it was 1996 or 1997.

1997 is correct

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/32611280

It makes sense. Mercedes are the Silver Arrows and it was their partnership with McLaren that was the reason behind the livery change in 1997 iirc (I may be wrong though).

Wish they would go back to the Red & White.

This is what a McLaren should look like.
(http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/209/0/4/f1_xx___ayrton_senna_mclaren_mp4_6_by_huskerf1-d58yfh1.png)

Alonso's own visor tear-off caused his retirement http://bbc.in/1Ew9dB4

I think it was Coulthard winning in Australia, the year before they dominated.  So agree might be 1996 or 1995?

Wasn't it because those "West" cigarettes were silver?  Like when Williams went Red when sponsored by Winfield?

David Coulthard column: 'Slow cars disillusion F1 drivers'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/32699924

Marlboro have signed on again as a sponsor to Ferrari till 2018!!

link?

Ferrari got the most from the F1 pot in 2014........



http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118955



(http://cdn.images.autosport.com/editorial/1431517175.jpg)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-13/philip-morris-can-t-kick-20-year-ferrari-formula-one-habit (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-13/philip-morris-can-t-kick-20-year-ferrari-formula-one-habit)

I can't decide if I am more annoyed that Ferrari are given more money just for turning up than Mercedes did for winning it, or the cash Marlboro give Ferrari is more re than both their payments from Bernie.

Bernie making 400m is just excessive.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/32719280 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/32719280)

So what would you say to try and spice things up?  I suppose I would suggest what most would suggest, in that a move back to the shouty engines and better tyres.  I would also love to see re-fueling back as well.  Was always fun getting the odd surprise in quali when someone would spank a lap out running on fumes just to whack it on pole.

The new engines are amazing, F1 is all about technology and engine efficiency will actually be useful in the wider world. Going back to an old engine just because it is loud is not progress.

They probably need to change the rear wings to allow airflow off to back of the car not to be so dirty so cars can follow each other without the current problems. Regulations need changing so that drivers can push at 100% for the whole race rather than trying preserve tyres.

The FIA needs a new president with a back bone to lay down the law and make changes that the teams won't like but level the playing field.

Agree that going to an old engine because its loud is not progress, but, standing by the fence at Copse or at the top of Eau Rouge and hearing them go past was immense!

F1 Strategy Group votes for return of mid-race refuelling in 2017, faster cars, higher revving & louder engines  http://bit.ly/1IFaVpi

I know there are cost implications - but the problem for me is there are few mistakes these days because the pitstops are less demanding and the cars have to be managed through the races so people are rarely on the limit. 

I say unlimited engines, refuelling and as many tyres as you want.

I like most of the proposed new regulations.

I don't think refuelling is required but I like watching overtaking and I believe it will have a negative impact on that as cars will be more stable and you won't have the tyres falling "off the cliff as much". You are also dragging a massive amount more equipment around the world, there are very real safety concerns also. Not sure I agree better tyres will make it more exciting either as it just makes it more predictable without the teams needing to think about strategy as much. I would point to 1992/93 as an example of this when you could pretty much do a GP on one set of tyres if you needed too without too much of a penalty and it was not that exciting. A free type choice would be good though.

I also believe Ferrari deserve the money they get for being in the championship, although maybe it could be spread out more evenly. Ferrari have given a massive amount to F1 and have been in every GP since the very first in 1950. Pretty much every other major car manufacturer have pulled out when the going has got tough at some point but Ferrari are always there and add more to the sport than any other team (with the possible exception of Red Bull currently, but not historically). Pretty much every driver wants to drive for them at some point in their career.

I am currently in the USA, is there any way I can watch the British Grand Prix online from here, via a legal source?

Also, what time (UK) does the race start please?


TIA.

1pm uk. Nbc in the us.

Thanks Tighty, though I'm not sure I can get NBC in my room, & the Media Centre does not open until 9am.

I'll have a look to see if NBC stream it, Online.

lol

Toto Wolff on pit bluff: "I got a text - are you guys trying to bluff us or what?” From whom? “My wife. I'm having an Indian alone tonight”

Did Rosberg have a chance of winning if he'd stayed out on the intermediate tyres?

stayed out on the hard dry tyres you mean?

no, it rained too hard for ten laps

lewis made the right call, at exactly the right time, but it was close. could easily have been a lap too early

He was more forced to make the call than making the right call at the right time I think. The fact he ran wide at Copse had killed the heat in his tyres whilst Rosbergs were up to temperature due to having to get past the Williams'. Rosberg was going to overtake him anyway in those conditions and then would have had the option on making the first pit stop putting Hamilton in trouble potentially. As it worked out it was the correct decision but yes, it could easily have cost him.

2016 RACE CALENDAR: Here's the provisional list of 21 #F1 races, including Baku >> http://f1.com/1Ml2ijR 

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJnOtXsUAAA04d0.jpg)

is Valtteri Bottas set to replace Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari in 2016?

according to corriere della sport, the deal is done

 http://bbc.in/1CA7IHy 

A Statement from the Bianchi Family
Nice, France

Saturday 18 July 2015
02.45hrs France │ 01.45hrs UK

It is with deep sadness that the parents of Jules Bianchi, Philippe and Christine, his brother Tom and sister Mélanie, wish to make it known that Jules passed away last night at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) in Nice, (France) where he was admitted following the accident of 5th October 2014 at Suzuka Circuit during the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix.

“Jules fought right to the very end, as he always did, but today his battle came to an end,” said the Bianchi family. “The pain we feel is immense and indescribable. We wish to thank the medical staff at Nice’s CHU who looked after him with love and dedication. We also thank the staff of the General Medical Center in the Mie Prefecture (Japan) who looked after Jules immediately after the accident, as well as all the other doctors who have been involved with his care over the past months.

"Furthermore, we thank Jules’ colleagues, friends, fans and everyone who has demonstrated their affection for him over these past months, which gave us great strength and helped us deal with such difficult times. Listening to and reading the many messages made us realise just how much Jules had touched the hearts and minds of so many people all over the world.

"We would like to ask that our privacy is respected during this difficult time, while we try to come to terms with the loss of Jules.”

That's too sad.

Safety in F1 is one of those modern day miracles that gets taken for granted - I think Jules might be the first F1 race fatality since Senna, over 20 years ago. Given the proximity & velocity of current F1 cars, that's extraordinary.

No comfort to Jules family, of course.

RIP

Jules Bianchi's passing, 21yrs 3mths after the deaths of Senna & Ratzenberger, end's an unprecedented era in F1 race safety for drivers.

RIP

Jules Bianchi was laid to rest yesterday.


(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/07/21/10/2AB73DD300000578-3169177-Pallbearers_carry_the_casket_of_Jules_Bianchi_into_Sainte_Repara-a-51_1437469345302.jpg)


(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/07/21/10/2AB74FBD00000578-3169177-Mercedes_star_and_Formula_One_world_champion_Lewis_Hamilton_arri-a-66_1437469345774.jpg)

(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/07/21/12/2AB8F75500000578-3169177-image-a-46_1437477842076.jpg)


(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/07/21/10/2AB78B0B00000578-3169177-image-a-14_1437470740809.jpg)


(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/07/21/10/2AB7678B00000578-3169177-image-a-16_1437470896009.jpg)

(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/07/21/10/24E07AA900000578-3169177-Bianchi_pictured_during_a_press_conference_in_August_2014_two_mo-a-61_1437469345574.jpg)

Hard to remember a more exciting start to a F1 race than that,

That one at Spa when the entire field collided was better as was the one in Melbourne where Ralf Schumacher used the back of Barrichello's Ferrari as a launch ramp. :)

Apologies, I meant this season.

If we're talking about starts this season Tikay, before today I've seen more exciting queues getting out of Tescos carpark.  ;)

simply a fantastic race

Disaster for Rosberg.  He really needed a good finish today.

What a moment this was, as, almost 4 abreast at 160 mph, the 2 Ferrari's hustled the Mercedes into the first corner.


(http://e1.365dm.com/15/07/16-9/20/formula-1-hungary-f1-grand-prix-race_3329765.jpg?20150726151835)

This little boy, at 17, barely old enough to shave, finished 4th.

Precocious



(http://cache4.asset-cache.net/gc/456512334-max-verstappen-of-the-netherlands-and-toro-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=GkZZ8bf5zL1ZiijUmxa7QQN74mL3cnmYVte7vCyji0r6gyVTnFHEPJb5DFFTamrce8AfY42v2POQoLSeRSUrcQ%3D%3D)

How broke are lotus?

There are stories that staff stayed with the cars overnight in Belgium to stop bailiffs taking the cars!

FYP.

It is allegedly related to some legal action Pic has taken due to him not getting enough testing miles.  So they may have loads of money, or none at all, or had lots before Maldanado wrecked every car they had.

Saw this in TFT.

Can you elaborate, Peter?

Not at this time, no. However, expect some news in the next few weeks.

FYI you're lucky I saw this. I tend not to look at this thread purely because I have too many tabs open on my browser and don't want to add another one :P I do have TFT permanently open though. In addition, I suspect this thread would just take up far too much of my time!!  :-X

Hahahaha, I didnt wanna derail TfT hence putting it in here!

Ah well, shall keep my eyes open for another team dying :(

Wrong idea completely, Toro Rosso are funded by Red Bull and are not financially under threat  :)

Speaking of Red Bull they have today parted ways with Renault I see, not really a surprise I know. Sounds like it will be Red Bull Ferrari next year. Interesting choice by Ferrari imo I would expect Red Bull to beat them if they have the same engine?

Red Bull hold engine crisis talks http://bbc.in/1NtCPZQ

"We're possibly going to be forced out." Are Red Bull nearing the exit from F1? http://bbc.in/1QnkueO 

This Austin F1 GP is sensational, real wheel to wheel racing. Great to watch.

Congrats  to Lewis - best car, much better than Nico.

Better than Vetel or Alonso - not sure.

But 3x WC - like

Thing is, we'll never know.

Give them cars where they dont have to manage the tyres or lift and coast to save fuel then maybe we'll see a proper shootout.

I get the impression though that if that were the case, it would be Hamilton vs Alonso with Vettel some distance back.

Did this news ever get released? I dont think I've seen anything over the last couple of months...

Been getting into formula 1 last few races.

A few noob questions/observations:

1) Why don't they just all drive the same car are see who the best DRIVER is?

2) Why are they paired in teams? It's a team sport in the sense that the driver needs a huge team of people behind him obv, but with a "teammate" that he's battling against just as much as anyone else, it makes it kinda clumsy imo.

3) Rosberg seems like a bad loser, Hamilton a bit of a douche but fair play to him anyway, clearly a great talent.

1) some junior formulae do see drivers operating in identical equipment but there are currently four engine suppliers in F1. even fi you gave them all the same engine you'd still have differences in chassis and aero. part of F1s raison d'etre is to push technological boundaries. whilst there is now substantial homeogenisation for cost purposes, its never likely to be fully standardised  

2) its teams first and foremost, with significant prize money for teams who employ thousands. i don't see why its clumsy. some of the great drama in the sport is the tension that having to beat your team-mate creates, and the fall outs it produces. eg senna-prost and more recently vettel-webber and hamilton-rosberg (at times)

3) rosberg knows that he has the best car in the last two years but isn't quite as quick as lewis and probably just as importantly not quite the racer in terms of being overtake him consistently on track. not quite ruthless enough. understandably he is frustrated. i expect there will be a humdinger of a battle with ferrari next year, they will improve again and he knows he has no shot of beating lewis and vettel. his best chance was when he only had his team-mate to beat

It's clumsy because in what sense are they actually teammates? On the track LH wants to beat NR just as much as anyone.

F1=WWE on wheels.  Sham of a 'sport' imo.

http://bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/34622031 (http://bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/34622031)

Liked this article, particularly liked

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire".

The best writer on the bbc website; the only person above Peston for me.

Red Bull and the engine mess

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12475/10054138/how-did-red-bull-get-in-this-mess

Red Bull will run TAG Heuer-branded Renault engines in 2016. Full story >> http://f1.com/1OC1qvd  #F1

Really glad to see Renault buying Lotus. Lots of great people at Enstone and they deserve better owners.

Wasn't Lotus the old Renault team when Button and Trulli were there (and Alonso before that)?  So Renault are now buying it back?

Toleman to Benetton to Renault to Lotus and now back to Renault

Merc & Ferrari's stranglehold on rule-making risks "destroying" F1, Ecclestone says, among other provocative things

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/35059767

Bernie is such a troll.

ferrari can only wave its veto because Bernie gave it too them.