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Considering where McLaren-Honda was last year compared to now, they made incredible progress. Still a lot of ground to catch up though. By the time they do, the formula might have changed again.
Considering where McLaren-Honda was last year compared to now, they made incredible progress. Still a lot of ground to catch up though. By the time they do, the formula might have changed again.
At the end of the day, McLaren is a winner for being a factory team with an exclusive engine supplier. No customer team is going to be faster than its works equivalent, IMHO.
All it needs is a genius F1 car designer, like Adrian Newey, in the customer team to do wonders; provided that the manufacturer supplies the exact same engines to both the customer and its works teams.
But if all else fails, the manufacturer simply provides sub-par engines to its rival customer team(s) to limit their threats.
All it needs is a genius F1 car designer, like Adrian Newey, in the customer team to do wonders; provided that the manufacturer supplies the exact same engines to both the customer and its works teams.
But if all else fails, the manufacturer simply provides sub-par engines to its rival customer team(s) to limit their threats.
Hamilton owes alot of his recent success to Andy Cowell (MB Director Powerplants) and Aldo Costa (MB F1 Engineering Director).
Both of whom with their respective engineering teams have designed and engineering the current best "package" in F1.
And FWIW, Costa was technical director at Ferrari where he spent most of his career (he worked under Rory Bryne and Ross Brawn) until he was removed from that position and he joined MB in 2011.
Talk about a head that doesn't fit through the doorway. Schu? Fangio? Ascari? Senna??
After reading that, I don't think he was being crass about it. He is more fan-centric in his appreciation. However, those words should not part the lips of a champion in any sport. It just doesn't sit well. Even if it was a non-sport business, like the software industry for instance. I couldn't imagine Bill Gates saying, "I don't owe the software industry anything". Put that in the category of top 5 things sports / industry greats shouldn't say, even if it may be true, which I'm not sure that it ever is.
Alfa Romeo rumors are heating up a bit, especially with all the financial trouble Sauber is in:
Monisha Kaltenborn has joined Sergio Marchionne in not dismissing speculation Sauber might be snapped up by Alfa Romeo.
Marchionne, the Fiat Chrysler and Ferrari president, has said multiple times recently that Alfa Romeo might rekindle its historic F1 foray in the not-too-distant future.
The financially struggling Sauber team has been linked with those rumours, so when asked if an acquisition is on the cards, Marchionne said in China: “If someone will assume all the debts…”
Sauber’s team boss and co-owner Kaltenborn was absent in Bahrain, reportedly amid intense negotiations with potential investors about rescuing the embattled Swiss outfit.
So when asked in China about the latest rumours, she told the Swiss newspaper Blick: “Alfa Romeo would be a good partner for any team.”
Some of the details of the 2016 are pretty fascinating and shows the level of technology that separates F1 from other motorsports.
What's interesting is how many teams have opted for the combined lower wishbone/driveshaft arrangement (MB shown below) that streamlines the rear suspension promoting better aerodynamics across the diffuser. Williams first tried that with the upper wishbone/driveshaft on the 1994 FW16 which Senna and Hill didn't like the mechanical feel of the rear suspension. Since that time it appears engineers have been able to make it work better with the lower wishbone.
Also note McLaren have a CF gearbox casing, though does not appear to be a modular approach that MB uses (separate Ti case within the carbon case) to use different suspension pickups and aero mounting points.
That's why I don't think Alfa will want Sauber. The only reason to go with Sauber is to continue to collect the annual distribution from Bernie, which is only $54m for Sauber.
Maybe it's easier for Alfa to let Sauber go brankrupt and then purchase the assets.
Or maybe just buy Toro Rosso, since it's already using Ferrari engines and it's already in Italy. I don't think Red Bull is that attached to Toro Rosso anymore.
Or maybe buy Force India, with VJ headed for jail.
Sauber has a state of the art wind tunnel and HQ in Hinwil, Switzerland since it was built by BMW. Wonder if Matterschlitz (sp?) would ever let TR go to Ferrari
2017 Rules which if cars are 5-6 seconds faster I'm all for it.
Interesting quote
The turbo hybrid V6 'power-units' introduced into F1 in 2014 are masterpieces of technology that have produced a revolutionary step forward in the performance of the internal combustion engine.
If that sounds like hyperbole, consider this: until 2013, F1 engines - and pretty much every other petrol engine - had converted fuel-energy into performance at about 29% efficiency.
After just over two years of racing in F1, the new turbo hybrids are close to 50% efficiency - and over it when the energy recovery system is on full deployment. The progress is breathtaking - and the technology will soon filter into road cars, with obvious benefits.
But not everyone is a fan - most notably F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.
The 85-year-old feels the hybrids are too expensive, unnecessarily complex for F1 and sound bad. It didn't help that having demonstrably the best engine led to Mercedes domination.
A wider car with wider tires will be a welcome sight indeed. I remember how much the appearance of the cars changed for the worst (IMO) when they dropped the wide slicks and got on to the current sized regulation. Faster by 5-6 seconds will be great too as it's hard to fathom having the pinnacle cars (F1) being moderately quicker than the feeder series (GP2).
After looking at the pics comparing the Ferrari components to the Haas components I can see why other teams are annoyed. Some look like virtual copies.
This season's young Romain Grosjean award goes to Daniil Kvyat
Exact same thing I was thinking at the time Legend. From the video I watched, Danii's version doesn't square with reality. Even Marko is quoted as saying it's time to have a serious talk with his driver over this incident. He screwed up Ricciardo's race too which of course is a big no no
It has to be slowly eating away at him even though he's trying to remain positive in the media. 4 in a row's gotta sting. Especially because it hasn't been due to his own mistakes, perhaps that's why he's looking like somebody kicked his dog. He's gotta get a win soon though before the WDCC gets away from him.
04-19-2016, 02:45 PM
