Am sat here having dinner with a friend whose company in W Sussex make carbon fibre body parts for many of the F1 teams.

He's just told me that Red Bull have gone further than anyone ever for this weekend's race in terms of having quite a lot of new parts with fewer layers of carbon fibre than before.  They are baked for much longer to give the strength needed to still do the job.  Net result is that the cars will be lighter, therefore logically quicker all other things being equal.

I don't know if this will give them the race-pace to win but they should fare better in qualifying as he's not had similar briefs from the other teams he makes parts for.

I'm not putting up a bet recommendation but posting to share the info which Peter and the other F1 followers might want to bear in mind.

EDIT:  As a rule of thumb in Formula 1, each 10 kg slows the car down roughly 0.4% (around 0.3 seconds a lap on a normal track)

It took a sacking by Alain Prost, a few bollockings from his dad and a retirement by his teammate but the Palmer v Hulk match bet is back on!   Fair play to the kid for coping well with what must have been a really difficult weekend.

In other related news a drowning Dekka will happily clutch at any straw he can get his hands on.

[Jolyon Palmer.]

Not putting this up for Fred but was in my local bookies just now and bumped into a couple of William Knight's stable staff who have given me a few winners over the years.  They are very sweet on the chances of Duchess Of Fife in the 5.15 at Nottingham this afternoon.  I'd already backed it anyway as I follow the stable closely and I felt it was well handicapped but they they tell me it's been working very well at home and they fully expect the first time blinkers to make a real difference.  

Latest odds are all over the place, it's a low as 6/1 with some firms but 10/1 with others.  Anyway ... just passing it on in case anyone fancies following me over the cliff!

https://www.oddschecker.com/horse-racing/nottingham/17:15/winner

betfair is your friend.  12.5 win, 4 place

The blinkers did make a massive difference, it ran as if ridden by Jolyon Palmer. I'll crawl back under my rock.

presumably someone will be along soon to tell us it is going to win the Arc in a couple of years

Genuine LOLs at that Doobs, very droll.

I'm seriously considering clicking "report to moderator" on my original post.

Post more.

Horse punts are great, as it's over in minutes.

Just like a Jolyon Palmer drive, then.

v good

I'm thrilled to discover that everyone's getting good value from my original post after all.

[Jolyon Palmer.]

Not putting this up for Fred but was in my local bookies just now and bumped into a couple of William Knight's stable staff who have given me a few winners over the years.  They are very sweet on the chances of Duchess Of Fife in the 5.15 at Nottingham this afternoon.  I'd already backed it anyway as I follow the stable closely and I felt it was well handicapped but they they tell me it's been working very well at home and they fully expect the first time blinkers to make a real difference. 

Latest odds are all over the place, it's a low as 6/1 with some firms but 10/1 with others.  Anyway ... just passing it on in case anyone fancies following me over the cliff!

https://www.oddschecker.com/horse-racing/nottingham/17:15/winner

betfair is your friend.  12.5 win, 4 place

The blinkers did make a massive difference, it ran as if ridden by Jolyon Palmer. I'll crawl back under my rock.

presumably someone will be along soon to tell us it is going to win the Arc in a couple of years

Genuine LOLs at that Doobs, very droll.

I'm seriously considering clicking "report to moderator" on my original post.

Not putting this up for Fred but was in my local bookies just now and bumped into a couple of William Knight's stable staff who have given me a few winners over the years.  They are very sweet on the chances of Duchess Of Fife in the 5.15 at Nottingham this afternoon.  I'd already backed it anyway as I follow the stable closely and I felt it was well handicapped but they they tell me it's been working very well at home and they fully expect the first time blinkers to make a real difference. 

Latest odds are all over the place, it's a low as 6/1 with some firms but 10/1 with others.  Anyway ... just passing it on in case anyone fancies following me over the cliff!

https://www.oddschecker.com/horse-racing/nottingham/17:15/winner

betfair is your friend.  12.5 win, 4 place

The blinkers did make a massive difference, it ran as if ridden by Jolyon Palmer.  I'll crawl back under my rock.

Not putting this up for Fred but was in my local bookies just now and bumped into a couple of William Knight's stable staff who have given me a few winners over the years.  They are very sweet on the chances of Duchess Of Fife in the 5.15 at Nottingham this afternoon.  I'd already backed it anyway as I follow the stable closely and I felt it was well handicapped but they they tell me it's been working very well at home and they fully expect the first time blinkers to make a real difference. 

Latest odds are all over the place, it's a low as 6/1 with some firms but 10/1 with others.  Anyway ... just passing it on in case anyone fancies following me over the cliff!

https://www.oddschecker.com/horse-racing/nottingham/17:15/winner

Business as usual for the Palmer v Hülkenberg match bet. Palmer pulls over before the grid is formed, Hülkenberg absolutely flying in 6th after 10 laps. The only Renault I ever owned broke down a lot so there's still hope for a Hulk dnf and a hard fought nil-nil on the day.

For years I've had no interest in F1

Informed, insightful, candid and revealing commentary from Dekka, Peter and others on here have changed that.

Thanks, it's appreciated.

P.S. I did the Jolyon bet,  but no complaints here. We all know that the bets come with some risk attached  

This has made my day  Thank you.


This has ruined mine! Hang in there though, he will improve as the season goes on but we need Hulk to have issues too. GL us.

Posting via a mobile so avoiding quoting Tighty's Post about Renault/Palmer/Kubica and making more mess on the thread Tha I already have this morning.

I'd love to see Kubica back in F1 but just can't believe he can be as quick now as he was before his injury. Renault are giving him plenty of opportunities to show them what he can do though. I don't know what Kubica brings in terms of sponsors and cash either.

I've got a bit more insight into Palmer's situation though and he's definitely been disappointing in 2017 to say the least.  Renault can't be at all satisfied with his season so far and may well be looking at genuine alternatives for 2018 already  However, Jonathan Palmer's building a new corporate driving venue in France similar to the UK ones I was involved in a while back and this may be significant.   His corporate driving events rely heavily on good partnerships with motor manufacturers who effectively compete with each other to supply him their range of cars for using on the events for free.  Across the Palmer "empire" this will mean a manufacturer donating several hundred new cars each year. In return he'll get 25,000 corporate guests of the right demographic thrashing them round the track at each venue every year. These driving days do generate a lot of new car sales for manufacturers one way or another. For example every company fleet buyer in the UK gets invites to plenty of Palmer's events each year. PalmerSport probably have close to 100k corporate driving customers a year now across their venues. (We charged nearly £400 per guest in 1999)  His events are world class but  only Renault know what weight this all adds to Jolyon's case. I doubt  Renault pay him more than a token salary and it's quite possible the Palmer's (and their sponsors) are paying for the drive anyway.  Jolyon's exceptional at all the off track stuff such as schmoozing sponsors, attending events, TV stuff etc and teams value that surprisingly highly in at least one of their drivers.  

It's odds on that JP senior will have agreements in place with Renault for his new French venue (and maybe his UK ones too) and I'd be gobsmacked if JP junior's seat in the F1 car isn't woven into the deal somehow. I guess what I'm saying is that most other drivers would be a certainty for the chop but, just as in 2016 when Jolyon,s F1 career was also under pressure, there may be more factors in play here than is immediately apparent.  One such factor is how much value Jolyon adds to his dad's businesses by being a current F1 driver.  Jonathan will move mountains to keep his lad in the car if it's at all feasible.  I've yet to meet a harder working businessman than Jonathan Palmer and if anyone can keep the Renault drive for Jolyon he can.  He's ruthless, relentless and he can be innovative in his deal making too. (google Justin Wilson PLC).  He's also remarkably unlikeable and a bloody nightmare to work for.

In conclusion Tighty I have absolutely no idea how it'll pan out but it's been nice waffling at you and I'm hoping Peter will step in with all the answers for us.  Despite all the above surely Jolyon's going to need to improve massively from now on to have any realistic chance for 2018.

I've just woken up from my recurring pre Grand Prix Saturday nightmare about my Palmer v Hülkenberg season match bet tip. As no one's around at this hour on a Sunday I figured it was a safe time to pop in and formally apologise to Fred for it.  

The Hulk has been regularly scoring points which comes as no surprise but I didn't envisage Renault sending Palmer out in a Clio.

Jolyon's been woeful, his old man will be blaming everyone else in the paddock and I guess one or two of you will be blaming me.  Sorry guys!

I don't think you should be apologising here. Like I said when you posted the bet, the logic was correct, just one season too early. Actually, Jolyon has had a number of issues in the last two races, but his pace has been improving. By the end of the season he'll much, much closer to Nico. In 2018, he'll be on par .. and in 2019, he'll be one of the best on the grid. As I'd previously outlined, Jolyon takes an awful long time to learn a car, but when he does, he's utterly supreme.

I've just woken up from my recurring pre Grand Prix Saturday nightmare about my Palmer v Hülkenberg season match bet tip. As no one's around at this hour on a Sunday I figured it was a safe time to pop in and formally apologise to Fred for it. 

The Hulk has been regularly scoring points which comes as no surprise but I didn't envisage Renault sending Palmer out in a Clio.

Jolyon's been woeful, his old man will be blaming everyone else in the paddock and I guess one or two of you will be blaming me.  Sorry guys!

I don't think you should be apologising here. Like I said when you posted the bet, the logic was correct, just one season too early. Actually, Jolyon has had a number of issues in the last two races, but his pace has been improving. By the end of the season he'll much, much closer to a right hook from his dad. In 2018, he'll be on his bike  .. and in 2019, he'll be on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. As I'd previously outlined, Jolyon takes an awful long time to learn a car, but when he does, his dad is 1.01 to take most of the credit anyway

Fyp

I've just woken up from my recurring pre Grand Prix Saturday nightmare about my Palmer v Hülkenberg season match bet tip. As no one's around at this hour on a Sunday I figured it was a safe time to pop in and formally apologise to Fred for it. 

The Hulk has been regularly scoring points which comes as no surprise but I didn't envisage Renault sending Palmer out in a Clio.

Jolyon's been woeful, his old man will be blaming everyone else in the paddock and I guess one or two of you will be blaming me.  Sorry guys!

If you're on no goalscorer as well things are looking particularly rosy.

Seems a little harsh on the 'keeper, but yeah, both goals created to him as OG's.

Norwich two nil up and still haven't had a shot on target! My mate was out in Brighton after the Wigan game - these players certainly partied hard.  And it shows.

Norwich have got nothing to play for though.

...o ther than the eight players that presumably want a move or a new contract. 

Has a goalkeeper ever scored a hat-trick before?

If you're on no goalscorer as well things are looking particularly rosy.

Seems a little harsh on the 'keeper, but yeah, both goals created to him as OG's.

Norwich two nil up and still haven't had a shot on target! My mate was out in Brighton after the Wigan game - these players certainly partied hard.  And it shows.

I wasn't on Sergio this time but he should be applauded for finally winning a major and in doing so finding a new, more painful way of costing me money!

I did the Matchbook betting podcast today with Neil, Jesse May and Emmit Kennedy. Was good fun and I think we had a good discussion about the tournament and some of the contenders. Could be worth a listen for anyone undecided on their bets.

Just listening now, really informative and you've come up with with some amazing stats.  I've just added Kisner to my ridiculously large portfolio!  Thanks