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My guess on Alonso at Indy is Zak Brown and Honda obviously want to keep him so instead of running backmarkers at Monaco let him drive a more successful Honda racing engine at Indy where if he could win would be a great PR.
Originally Posted by 00TL-P3.2
Monaco for Indy....
Alonso entertaining a jump to IndyCar after this season?
win-win-win, for everyone involved after a changing of the guard, apparently....
"His goal has always been to become a three times world champion, like his hero Ayrton Senna. Eleven years since his second title, he seems some way off that still, despite a change of teams from McLaren to Renault to Ferrari and back to McLaren.
"And so the quest for the Triple Crown of Monaco GP, Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans 24 hours victories is his way to try to be seen as the best. Graham Hill is the only driver to have achieved it, but it’s not been done since the 1960s and, as Alonso pointed out, he didn’t win the World Kart Championship.
[...]
"The idea of Liberty Media is that if there is a rising tide, all the boats in F1 will rise up. Alonso’s decision to race in Indy has generated huge interest on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world and millions will tune in to see the race at the end of May, who would not have done so otherwise. That’s a win for him and for Indy and for McLaren, but ultimately it should also prove a win for F1.
[...]
"F1’s new owners, Liberty Media, did not inspire this move, nor were they involved in organising it – that was all about Alonso and McLaren boss Zak Brown – but they certainly support it. Alonso admitted that it would have been unthinkable under Ron Dennis’ regime at McLaren and under Bernie Ecclestone’s reign in F1."
So I bought/downloaded this yesterday off the Steam site and played for a bit. First thing I noticed was how different the engine sounds in the cockpit of this car vs. the older game I have had for a couple years. Tons of fun!
Well, given last year an estimated 91.8 million people watched the Bahrain race I'd say Vettel's message was still on target for the remaining 91.6 million or so watching on TV.
there won't be a Alonso/McLaren partnership next year unless Honda REALLY gets their shit together chop chop
I'm more interested to see what McLaren does. I can't see them going back to Mercedes. Then again, a company like Audi might be hesitant to re-enter F1 for fear McLaren Honda's struggles weren't just Honda.
Since the FIA abandoned their token system that's what Honda did ahead of this season, a complete re-design of the power unit. Last year's power unit was more powerful and reliable. Alonso has to be losing it, such a wasted talent.
I can't believe they were actually able to design a worse power unit than last year. Just mind blowing.
I feel bad for Alonso. Would love to see him actually be able to race. The rumors to Renault though I don't think would change anything. I don't think it is good enough to have a chance to challenge for wins even next year possible not.
Since the FIA abandoned their token system that's what Honda did ahead of this season, a complete re-design of the power unit. Last year's power unit was more powerful and reliable. Alonso has to be losing it, such a wasted talent.
Yeah, it's unreal Honda is still having reliability and power problems.
Originally Posted by CCColtsicehockey
I can't believe they were actually able to design a worse power unit than last year. Just mind blowing.
I feel bad for Alonso. Would love to see him actually be able to race. The rumors to Renault though I don't think would change anything. I don't think it is good enough to have a chance to challenge for wins even next year possible not.
Knowing his salary I don't feel too bad and also knowing he had a chance at a MB seat a few years ago. Bad luck and choices unfortunately. Even his previous team Ferrari is looking great (chassis and engine) this season, which both looked not very good last year.
Also Renault is a bad choice. The only three likely teams for Fernando to make any progress toward another WDC in 2018 is RedBull, Ferrari, and Mercedes. The only possibly is Mercedes from what I see. Horner likes Alonso but he's old and has Max, too much bad feelings at Ferrari in senior management, although Montezemolo is gone.
Originally Posted by fsttyms1
I just cant believe someone like honda is having that much problem getting the engine right.
Yeah, having read a couple McLaren books and one Honda book on their racing history/programs it's unbelievably bad knowing how they always worked their way out of bad problems methodically and pragmatically in their past.
The major blame here is maybe relying too much on their engine technical chief engineer (IIRC came from Ferrari) whom they fired after the first test sessions this season.
So bad I almost expect them to withdraw at the end of this season.
Last edited by Legend2TL; Apr 17, 2017 at 08:01 AM.
If they are going to succeed I think at this point they need to pay a team like Sauber to use their engines so they can get a second team worth of data. I really hope they don't withdraw at the end of the year. We need more than 3 engine manufactures.
If they are going to succeed I think at this point they need to pay a team like Sauber to use their engines so they can get a second team worth of data. I really hope they don't withdraw at the end of the year. We need more than 3 engine manufactures.
Yeah, if Honda can't figure its (and McLaren's) way outta this morass, then it'll be bad for the sport as a whole... unless another engine manufacturer is in the wings, waiting to enter in a few years....
Meanwhile, Stef over at Jalop smells something fishy.... "Simulator time is fine and all, but these all smell like excuses to me. As someone who races sometimes-questionable beaters in the 24 Hours of Lemons, I recognize exactly what McLaren’s doing. McLaren is not sure their car is even going to work, so they’re doing what they can to limit the hours spent driving it."
Yeah, if Honda can't figure its (and McLaren's) way outta this morass, then it'll be bad for the sport as a whole... unless another engine manufacturer is in the wings, waiting to enter in a few years....
Meanwhile, Stef over at Jalop smells something fishy.... "Simulator time is fine and all, but these all smell like excuses to me. As someone who races sometimes-questionable beaters in the 24 Hours of Lemons, I recognize exactly what McLaren’s doing. McLaren is not sure their car is even going to work, so they’re doing what they can to limit the hours spent driving it."
Thank God the token system is gone. The McLaren debacle has really highlighted how expensive it is to build an F1 engine on top of how poorly new engine manufacturers are treated.
"Honda's troubles in the heat of Bahrain showed no signs of easing on Tuesday when its Formula 1 testing programme was cut short by a reliability problem after just two laps."
Yeah, if Honda can't figure its (and McLaren's) way outta this morass, then it'll be bad for the sport as a whole... unless another engine manufacturer is in the wings, waiting to enter in a few years....
Meanwhile, Stef over at Jalop smells something fishy.... "Simulator time is fine and all, but these all smell like excuses to me. As someone who races sometimes-questionable beaters in the 24 Hours of Lemons, I recognize exactly what McLaren’s doing. McLaren is not sure their car is even going to work, so they’re doing what they can to limit the hours spent driving it."
Yeah but even with a potential engine manufacture in the wings (Audi) it would be better for honda to figure this out and have 5 manufactures and the possible hope of that giving us maybe another team or two on the grid instead of one just getting replaced.
I read that same article as well and I thought it is a bit strange too.
Originally Posted by kurtatx
Thank God the token system is gone. The McLaren debacle has really highlighted how expensive it is to build an F1 engine on top of how poorly new engine manufacturers are treated.
It's great the token system is gone but sadly it doesn't matter for Honda cause even with the ability for in season development it seams they still can't figure out how to fix their problems which is really really sad. I mean I had really hoped that the end of the stupid token system would at least allow teams to catch up a bit. I believe it worked a bit for Renault and maybe it did some for Ferrari to get to where it is at but I think we all expected or hoped it meant a big change for Honda.
Can't believe how bad this season has gone for McLaren/Honda, even today's Bahrain test with only two laps before a power unit failure MGH water cooling failure.
There was a pretty good interview with Alain Prost Saturday night after qualifying on YouTube by UK media person. Journalist asked Prost if he ever considered CART/Champ/IndyCar after his F1 career, Prost was very cagey on his answer which he avoided but did talk about Alonso doing Indy, the oval speeds and coming up to understanding the car/track/tactics/strategy. Same person also mentioned Senna's CART test with Penske, but Prost mostly wanted to discuss Renault and their two drivers.
Also what bad luck for Stroll, WTF was Sainz thinking when he took that far outside line then drove into the side of the Williams? Totally the Toro Rosso driver's fault. Stroll can't seem to get any luck in any race so far.
Amused that Bottas had not one but TWO team orders to let Hamilton pass in the race, must suck big time. I was curious how the generator failure on the grid affect his front tire pressure? Assuming it was something to do with the tire heater blankets? The team said his fron tire pressure was too high which I assume could have been taken care of with a tire gauge on the grid?
Also Danny Sullivan for former driver judge for the race? It's been over 3 decades he spent one season in F1 for Tyrell in 1983 that was pretty lackluster so I'm little surprised FIA couldn't find someone better.
So far, I've been impressed with Vettel making things happen in all three races. Although I've been wrong on Kimi the past few seasons, I really can't see Ferrari keeping past 2017 now.
Vettel 2017 WDC
"Honda's troubles in the heat of Bahrain showed no signs of easing on Tuesday when its Formula 1 testing programme was cut short by a reliability problem after just two laps."
Force India Formula 1 team boss Vijay Mallya has been arrested in London, the Metropolitan Police has announced.
In February, India sent a formal request for Mallya to be extradited under the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK.
Authorities in India are chasing Mallya for around £900million they claim he owes in the wake of the collapse of one of his former businesses, Kingfisher Airlines, in 2013.
Mallya had his diplomatic passport revoked last April, with a warrant issued for his arrest, and he has since been residing in the UK.
The British Grand Prix was the only F1 race he attended last season.
Last year, Mallya said he had "nothing to hide" in the face of what he considered to be a "witch hunt" being waged against him in India.
Mallya is expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later on Tuesday following his arrest.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: "Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit have this morning, Tuesday 18 April arrested a man on an extraction warrant.
"Vijay Mallya, 61, was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud.
"He was arrested after attending a central London police station, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later today, 18 April."
Following the statement, Mallya tweeted: "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected."
Monaco for Indy.... 
.................Once i got all 6'5" of me into the cockpit.
