I'm expecting a strong year from Mercedes. Unfortunately I'm going to miss this weekend's GP, which is a shame because at least half of the cars will retire.

Good to see the opener back in Australia.

A hard hitting overview of when Formula One was more dangerous that should be interesting to those not old enough to have witnessed it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00z8v18/Grand_Prix_The_Killer_Years/

Hopefully the new tyres can deliver more intense racing this season, though I won't hold my breath. Most people can only be watching out of habit these days.

>>3198

It's crazy to look back on. When you think about the weekend when Senna and Ratzenberger were killed and how it immediately made everybody demand that the sport change for good, it boggles the mind to think that people back then would just accept deaths and carry on regardless.

>>3198
Saw this and it horrified me. I actually uttered the phrase, "thank god for health and safety." I shall never utter it again. Ditto on a praising a Scotsman.

>>3181
But back to the point.

DRS just seems a bit pointless, and absurdly overcomplicated rules-wise. I'm disappointed. But then I shouldn't have let myself get excited. It certainly won't massively increase overtaking as promised. KERS on the other hand, I'm actually quite happy to see back. Though I'm intrigued by what's going on with Red Bull and their system.

I'd guess a complete whitewash by the Red Bulls, and another disappointing season for Ferrari, BUT I've actually got some serious hope for McLaren.

On the tyres, I think they'll only make a difference for the very few cars for whom it massively alters their number of pitstops - can't remember who it was in Melbourne who only pitted once, for example.

But unless something really changes very soon, I really don't see why Vettel can't keep the title, and Red Bull the Constructors' cup.

Pretty good race at Sepang I thought. Shame about Hamilton dropping off in pace, I thought he could take it to the german lad. Button 2nd, can't complain.

Also, lol at Petrov trying out the flight capabilities of his car.

>>3221
Vettel was just cruising, I don't think he was ever in real danger of being caught.

Good races for Heidfeld, Button, Kobayashi and the Force India's.

>>3222
And when (if) they get KERS going, Red Bull are likely going to be pretty much unstoppable, even if McLaren and Ferrari get their issues sorted.

>>3221
I though so too - far more interesting than Melbourne. Looking forward to China now, and I wasn't before. Especially good to see some proper hard battling out going on. Dare I say even that the DRS might have had an effect?

>>3224
>Red Bull are likely going to be pretty much unstoppable
I think they'll lose a fair bit of their advantage when they get to Europe.

Button is so dissapointing when he doesnt get 7 races given to him for free on the back of a momentus technological advantage.

Typical brit driver happy to settle for second.

>>3227

>> ferrari fan detected

Also, butthurt much? Button looks faster and more comfortable than Hamilton at the moment

Anyway, looks like it's Vettel's to lose this weekend... again. I hope one of the Mclarens can mix it up with him. I don't care about the moaning Aussie git.

>>3228
>I don't care about the moaning Aussie git.
He had a great race today, fuck knows how he managed to end up on the podium.

I was expecting Vettel to storm to victory after the first round of pit-stops after it seemed McLaren had ballsed-up their tactics yet again.

>>3229

Yeah Webber was immense today, as was Hamilton. Really showed Button who is boss at Mclaren, I have to say.

Quality race though, was on edge for most of it.

Can't believe Hamilton played the racism card about his penalties today. They were deserved and, funnily enough, helped sabotage Button's chances of winning the race.

He's been a right whiny cunt recently.

>>3352

>>He's been a right whiny cunt recently.

Quite.

Button drove a helluva race today. In fact, the top 3 were a class above.

>>3352
That was an Ali G joke that went wrong.

Shows how dominant the Red Bulls are right now, managed to fuck up completely two pit-stops and still win.

>>3355
>joke that went wrong.
It's probably because he has no charisma. He tries to play off this cool image, but he has the charisma of a shrivelled turd.

Hamilton has absolutely lost it.

>>3380


As have race direction. After a 3 hour break, why is the safety car still fucking out? I swear I'm losing my mind watching this shit

>>3382
Oh sweet suffering fuck, does this never end?

https://www.youtube.com/v/4MhrExzbkDM

Mad bastard. Unusual to see Vettel choking under pressure...

>>3384

I saw this and lol'd hard. Poor guy must have panicked.

And Button drove so well today. Top class. Let's just hope he doesn't get penalised post-race..

Hamilton's forced smile while everyone else in the McLaren paddock was celebrating was fantastic.

>>3385

Button is magic when it starts to rain, mabe something to do with him being British. Schumacher was always the same.

A great race although I am puzzled as to why they started under the safety car. I understand that the tyres were new but it seems that Health and Safety has been taken a bit too far.

On another note has anybody seen the new Senna film?

>>3387
Not even a racing fan but just got back from 'Senna' with many a tear in my eye

First time Vettel hasn't finished on the podium all season. IIRC out of Vettel's 16 race wins there has been only one, last year's Malaysian GP, where he wasn't on the front row of the grid.

SKY TV, BITCHES

Fuck everything.

Hamilton confirmed for Takuma Sato in a fast car.

>>3459
I love reading every F1 blog on the BBC website because the neverending butthurt about the Sky deal is a goldmine.

>>3527

>> neverending butthurt

I am still pretty butthurt over the entire deal.

Also, what on earth is going on with Hamilton? I really think he is regressing as a driver, becoming more clumsy. I know you could say Hamilton has been unlucky, but who would have thought Button would be showing the way at Mclaren? It seems that way now...

>>3528
err. I did. no really, IMO Mclaren are trying to develop Hamilton as a driver, so he can preform well consistantly: Button is a tactician and smooth driver in all weather: they want this to rub off on Hamilton... doesnt excuse Hamiltons driving of late though.

So, how many times has Hamilton hit Massa this season?

>>3576
I think this is the third time in four races, but this is the first time it was Massa's fault.

I think they need to get rid of the quickly degrading tyres for next season. It's made it even easier for Vettel to pull away from the front row and dominate races.

>>3577
I don't even think it was Massa's fault. I couldn't believe it when they gave him the penalty. Hamilton came from too far back and just dove into the side of him.

Shameless bump.

First GP this weekend. Mclaren looking good.

>>3790

Kudos to Button for taking first and holding it all the way. Bloke is pure performance.

Anyone know a reliable way to watch decent quality footage during the Sky weekends? English not strictly necessary.

The cost of subscribing to Sky Sports F1 through Virgin is fucking ridiculous and it's not even HD.

>>3796
Depends what you mean by decent quality. I watched qualifying this morning with firstrowsports.eu; it's not broadcast quality but the text is legible. When you first open the stream you'll get a couple of ads but then it shouldn't interrupt you for the remainder.

Hamilton and Button front row tommorow, looking forward to it.

>>3796

Isn't it included in the Sports package?

That's ridiculous.

>>3796

Get Sopcast, and watch BloodZeed's channel. His streams are excellent (basically as good as Sky Player or other official services), and while he mostly does Football, I think he said he's going to do F1 when it's exclusive on Sky.

Basically, point sopcast at this address:

twitter.com/BLoodzeed

And you're good.

>>3803

Pic related: it's the stream as it looks like right now.

Force India team members were forced to flee as petrol bombs were hurled over their vehicle on their way back from the Bahrain Grand Prix track.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17767985

This weekend could be quite eventful.

>>This weekend could be quite eventful.

Really wouldn't be surprised if the race doesn't go ahead.

Force India were blanked out of coverage of the qualifying yesterday for skipping the last practice session.

Anyway, this season could shape up quite nicely if Lotus and Mercedes can keep it up.

>>3847
Red Bull were very careful to cover up some new change to their car this weekend, I have a horrible feeling they're just going to take the championship from here. Mercedes have the special DRS thing which only gives them an advantage on circuits with big straights, so I don't imagine they'll be on the podium much more this season.

RAIKKONEN 2013

http://vimeo.com/73215350

Shell wont no wots hit em.

>>5005
Oh, nicely done! I was wondering what people were laughing about (but not enough to check, obviously).

>>5006
The second one being unveiled made me titter.

Last week Giancarlo Minardi said that Vettel's car sounds like they're using illegal traction control.

http://www.minardi.it/international/news/singapore-whats-inside-newey-and-vettels-magic-hat-see-more-at-

Red Bull have responded by saying they're not cheating, they just have a system that mimics the effects of traction control exactly.

http://www.f1-fansite.com/f1-news/vettel-red-bull-enhance-traction-system/

I expect more booing when Vettel wins tomorrow.

>>5091
>I expect more booing when Vettel wins tomorrow.
There will be booing in pubs, but the Korean circuit is a shitty track in the middle of nowhere that gets very low attendance.

>>5091

Racecar Engineering are implying that it's a KERS trick - using torque from the KERS regen to balance torque from the engine. If this is their solution, then it is both utterly brilliant and completely legal.

The ECU rules are extremely strict and engine torque can only be controlled proportionally by the accelerator pedal. No such rules apply to KERS regeneration - you can harvest energy using KERS whenever you like. This obviously creates the opportunity to regulate torque at the rear wheels by tapping off torque using the KERS system rather than reducing torque output from the engine.

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/news/red-bulls-traction-secret-revealed/
http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/rules_and_regulations/technical_regulations/8699/fia.html

>>5093
It's a bit cuntish not to give it to Webber, though.

someone bought me quite a nice polo shirt that has F1 written on it, therefore many people try to talk to me about it when I wear it. Since I know nothing, can someone teach me a couple of good phrases to reply about current racing stuff? Someone along the lines of "Nasty crash that ____ had" or "_____ is doing well in the new ______" would be great lads.

>>5095
"Vettel won again last night - he'd be nowhere without Newey's genius engineering".

"Really hurts to see McLaren in this shape, I hope they get it together again before they get the Honda engines in 2015".

>>5096

Also, just pick any random driver you like and say that he really needs to work on protecting his tyres more.

Fuck the tyres and traction control.

All they need is POWWWERRRR

>>5095
Marussia need to adopt the 4-4-2 formation of the older teams if they're ever to match their pace.

>>5097

Apart from Webber, that is.

I'm so glad I got up at 6am for that race. Holy shit.

>>5099

Did you see that ludicrous oh fuck it you know what I'm going to say

https://www.youtube.com/v/Ahg90HABOy4

>>5166
Definitely senile.

>>5167

It's a smokescreen. He's always acted like a mad bumbling twat, to disguise the fact that he's a Machiavellian genius. Boris Johnson plays exactly the same game.

RIP Schumi.

>>5297

Calm down lad, he's not dead yet.

>>5298
They've said he's had a brain haemorrhage, is in a coma and his condition is deteriorating. He's not coming back from that. There's meant to be a press conference at midnight.

>>5299
Yeah doesn't look good.

He can't even ski as well as he once could. Maybe it's the right time.

>>5304

>Earlier yesterday the director of the resort was quoted as saying the injury was "not very serious". Christophe Gernignon-Lecomte said: "It was a pretty heavy fall at 11.00 while skiing off piste.

How piste was he?

Strange to see an injury like this happen when relaxing in retirement after a career of dangerous driving on the track.

>>5305
He was completely off it.

^Sorry.

>>5306

It's not that uncommon. Modern motorsport has become remarkably safe, because of car and track design. If you crash an F1 car, 99% of the time you'll walk away without a scratch. There hasn't been a death in a grand prix since Senna in 1994. Racing drivers are natural adrenaline junkies, so when they're not racing, they tend to do dangerous things in environments that aren't nearly as controlled as a racetrack.

Mark Webber has never been seriously injured in a racing accident, but he has missed several grand prix due to two serious bicycle crashes. Same goes for Sebastian Loeb - never seriously injured in a rally car, but smashed his shoulder to bits in a mountain bike crash. Colin McRae survived a long career in rallying unscathed, but died due to his reckless piloting of a helicopter. Adrian Sutil missed the 2012 F1 season because he stabbed the owner of Lotus-Renault in the neck.

Racing drivers are mad bastards and it's a miracle that any of them make it to old age.

It might sound weird but Schumacher was kind of a childhood hero for me. Sad news.

>>5309

I get that. My dad is a massive Mclaren fan, so naturally my wee contrarian self had to back Ferrari.

All of the cars for this season look arsebackwards.

>>5360>>5359>>5362

Genuinely made me laugh. Why do they all look like beetles?

>>5363
It's a safety feature apparently, meant to reduce chance of cars taking off or t boning other cars cockpits.

Why do they all have penises on the front?

>>5365

It's a poorly-drafted safety rule.

For aerodynamic reasons, teams want to push as much air as possible under the car, so the designers want the nose to be as high as possible. This trend got so extreme in 2011 that the FIA were worried that drivers might be hit in the head by these super-high nose tips during a side-on crash, so introduced a maximum nose height of 550mm forward of the front wheels. In F1, there really isn't such a thing as the spirit of the law, so most teams interpreted letter of this new rule to their best advantage. To keep the nose as high as possible and maximise the airflow underneath the car, they simply had a flat section and a steep step, making the nose as high as possible within the rules.

The FIA were still worried that the high noses were causing cars to launch over the rear wheels of other cars, so they introduced further restrictions on nose height for the 2014 season. These regulations were quite complicated and intended to prevent a workaround like the flat noses in 2012, but they had a significant loophole. The rules require that a 9000mm^2 cross-section of the nose be no more than 185mm from the ground. Several teams realised that they could build a conventional high nose, with an extra protrusion just big enough to satisfy that height requirement, therefore leaving a lot of space under the main nose to allow air underneath the car - these are the 'finger' noses used by most of the teams.

Ferrari and Mercedes have opted for a slightly different solution, using the two vertical pylons that attach the wing to the nose to steer air under the car. How well that works in practice is yet to be seen, but aero development probably won't be the key issue this year; The teams are having terrible trouble developing the complex hybrid engine systems mandated by the 2014 rules, so this year's championship will probably be won by whoever can get the reliability issues sorted.

How fast could modern F1 cars go without all these restrictions and things designed purely to try and make the race more exciting (KERS etc.)

>>5366 the FIA were worried that drivers might be hit in the head by these super-high nose tips during a side-on crash

AIUI, they also wanted the nose height to be less than half the tyre height, so a nose-on-rear-wheel impact would just push the following car back, rather than launching it.

I'm assuming that the nose gear is all outside the homologated section, so we'll see a slew of thing being tried, and probably a consensus sooner or later.
That's once fripperies are sorted of course, like ensuring that cars can actually start their engines and make it round a track.
It's going to be an interesting year, so naturally the BBC canned their only commentator with any technical clue. Wankers.

>>5367

F1 cars aren't incredibly fast in a straight line, topping out at about 200mph. Where F1 cars excel is in the corners. The aerodynamic surfaces on an F1 car trade straight-line speed for cornering speed, by pushing the car down into the track for more grip.

F1 performance is limited almost wholly by the drivers. On a fast corner, an F1 car will be pulling close to 5g, which is about the limit of human endurance. F1 drivers have massively thick and muscular necks and novice drivers often have to rest their heads on the side of their cockpit towards the end of a grand prix, because they just don't have the strength to hold their head up.

The other big constraint is cost. Many of the restrictions in F1 are about managing development costs to keep teams competitive. Without those rules, you just end up with a contest of who can spend the most. The leading F1 teams have fairly similar budgets, but Red Bull are dominant because their technical director is a genius.

If F1's rules were much more liberal, you'd have a £200m radio-controlled car doing very quick laps of an empty circuit.

>>5368

>I'm assuming that the nose gear is all outside the homologated section, so we'll see a slew of thing being tried, and probably a consensus sooner or later.

It'll be slightly tricky. Everything forward of the front bulkhead is outside of the homologated chassis, but the nose and floor are designed as a package, so any radical change to the centre section of the wing will require a massive redesign of most of the aero surfaces that depend on that flow, from the tea tray through to the sidepod exits. It would be very difficult to switch from a Ferrari-type solution to a finger nose or vice-versa.

Unless a team realises that they have a really poor design, they'll probably be better off developing their existing design than switching completely. I don't expect to see a repeat of the double-diffuser or the F-duct situation and don't think that any one solution will have a major advantage. I think that most of the teams have designed a nose to work well with their existing aero package rather than trying to maximise their advantage, with the possible exception of Lotus. Most of the development effort will have gone into the new power train and the very difficult packaging requirements that come with such a complex hybrid system.

After the fiasco that was the first day at Jerez, I think that major aero development is still a long way off.

I wouldn't rule out the possibility of Bernie forcing through a rule change if there's a big backlash over the cosmetics, in which case all bets are off.

>>5369 The aerodynamic surfaces on an F1 car trade straight-line speed for cornering speed

F1 with moveable aero devices, active suspension to manage the ride height and rake would be a sight to behold. Of course, cars spearing off into the not-armco because the aero failed in a braking zone would be a bit of a downside, as would the detached retinas from repeated 10+g braking...

https://www.youtube.com/v/i_xWhHmS9ao

Welp.

>>6299

It looks like the roll structure took a fair amount of the energy due to the angle of impact, but I imagine his injuries are still pretty horrific. Frankly, I'm surprised that Bianchi made it to hospital.

There really needs to be a thorough FIA investigation, but I don't imagine Bernie will be keen on more red flags and safety car laps. Perhaps there is an opportunity to look at the design of recovery vehicles - this incident would have been much less severe if there was a low impact structure on the tractor.

After this and the Massa incident, I think F1 seriously needs to think about closed cockpits. A jet-fighter style canopy wouldn't be terribly ugly, could add a good degree of driver protection and shouldn't pose a significant problem in terms of driver extraction if pyrotechnic bolts are used.

As a side note, I imagine Alexander Wurz hoped for a slightly gentler start to his role as GPDA chairman.

How many of the ads at F1 circuits are real? Come to think of it, how many ads I see on anything televised are real?

>>6307
F1 is all an illusion. The tracks are filmed empty and the cars are inserted in post-production using fancy computers.

>>6307

Wha... what?! Did I put on the glasses from They Live this morning? What's going on!? I'm so afraid! I feel like a Mail reader!

>>6310

They *colorised* us!

Looks like Jules made it back to France finally. He's still got a long road ahead, as he's yet to awaken still. I'm still disappointed that the officials didn't stop the race when conditions began to worsen.

In regards to Abu Dhabi, the cards seem to be playing out for Hamilton, though I have a slight inkling that he'll slip up or Rosberg will be the dominant one in the end.

>>6425
>he'll slip up or Rosberg will be the dominant one in the end.
Even if that is the case though, Hamilton will likely finish second just because the car is so far ahead of the rest of the field. What I'm dreading is a mechanical failure, with a sudden cut to Crofty during the race screaming "OH NO WHAT IS THIS HAMILTON IS GOING SLOWLY"

http://gifsound.com/?gif=fat.gfycat.com/ClumsyNervousFrogmouth.webm&v=SJ8dDQLgEA0

Red Bull is said to give you wings.
Too bad it gave their F1 team formidable wings that they got penalized this weekend.

Another shit season appears to be on the cards.

I didn't mind the Formula E race on ITV4 yesterday, I'm tempted to see it when it comes to London if the tickets are cheap.

I'm finding Formula E very hard to love. Spec cars, slow cars, terrible circuits.
Maybe when it opens up into a proper development formula, so I can get my engineering geek on. Until then, F1 will do, with 750MC RGB for actual spectating.

>>6815

I'll be following WEC this season. The technology is more interesting, and the racing is more competitive. A dominant team still has to work for a victory, because they have to pick their way through the GTEs. There's almost always an interesting battle going on in one of the classes. Last year was a bit dull due to lack of entries, but there's a packed field for 2015 - fourteen P1 cars, eleven P2s and sixteen GTEs. Nissan have brought something suitably mental to the table, but this time they're seriously gunning for race wins. Roll on Silverstone.

This Will Buxton is quite the polemicist. This post enthused me and yet last weekend I tuned in but didn't watch.

https://willthef1journo.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/red-bull-wants-to-quit-let-it/

>>6828

I have some sympathy for Red Bull. Their racing performance has always come from aero, but the FIA have been quick to clamp down on any aero innovations that substantially improve performance. With the turbos, F1 has become more of an engine formula, but the FIA have let Mercedes run away with their competitive advantage.

More generally, I think that F1 is in serious trouble. The German grand prix has been cancelled and Italy is starting to look shaky. Bernie seems both unwilling and unable to engage with the young audience that will sustain the future of the sport. Efforts to control costs have failed totally, with even mid-pack teams struggling to stay on the grid; The crisis at Sauber is just a symptom of the increasing reliance on pay drivers. To me, the future of F1 looks like an eight team grid at a succession of empty, sterile Tilkedromes.

I started watching Formula E because it sounded like a hilarious clusterfuck, but despite the organisers' best efforts, the racing has been surprisingly good and kept me interested. I'm definitely looking at heading down to that London in June.

>>6828
Yeah, that was more or less my reaction. RBR aren't a constructor and barely have a decade of history in the sport. I don't know why anybody they're not paying would care if they fucked off. Well, I'd miss Ricciardo I guess.

>>6829
F1 has been in serious trouble since the 50s. Long term, I doubt there's a serious threat to the future. Being run by world's most successful used car salesman is probably the factor holding things back the most. Palpatine has to die/retire at some point, and people who actually care about the sport might get a chance to make the decisions.

Well that was shit.

>>6879
So, are you going to watch the Formula E this weekend? (I had to turn down a freebie from a customer who's a sponsor, bit miffed about it, but paid work is paid work...)

RIP Jules.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/33578770

>>7080
Post the video of how the crash happened.

>>7043
Bit late but nah, I ended up having to work that weekend. Shame, the races were decent. It would've been better if the track hadn't been so shite though. I really hope they get their arse in gear as far as the events go next year, their fuckups will be much more damaging when they don't have the advantage of stock cars to keep things interesting.

>>7080
That's a real shame. I guess there wasn't much hope of a recovery after this long, so at least he didn't waste away for years in a hospital bed. RIP.

>>7083
>I guess there wasn't much hope of a recovery after this long, so at least he didn't waste away for years in a hospital bed.

How's Schumi getting on these days?

>>7082
Why can't you look for it yourself?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-g5Smc0DfM

>>7085
Shit. That looks really, really bad.

As for my laziness: I can't be asked to find his full name and then sift through all the bullshit clips on youtube that weren't taken down my MrCopyrightProtector.

This really boiled my piss.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/33578997

>F1 pundit Eddie Jordan told BBC Breakfast that Bianchi was developing into a world-class driver.
>"Very seldom do we find a real jewel, like Lewis Hamilton, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. Jules had the potential to be in that league," said Jordan, a former team boss and BBC Sport expert

What the fuck? I don't know why you'd think you have to pretend a driver who gets killed is the next Senna or Schumacher (to say nothing of him using the occasion to suck off Hamilton) for some reason. As if "a 25 year old died in a horrific accident" isn't tragic enough on its own?

God, Eddie Jordan is such a cunt.

>>7087
People were saying those sorts of things before the accident happened though, it's not complete bullshit. He might even have been moved up to Ferrari for 2016. Here's his interview with Buxton:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzkxI_Kyhf4

>>7088
There was word of him linked to a possible Ferrari move at some point, there wasn't talk of him being the next Michael Schumacher.

>>7089

You're the only one saying that he was the next Schumacher. Jordan said that Schumacher, Hamilton, and Senna are "real jewel[s]", and that Jules also had the potential to be a "real jewel".

>>7090
I don't really see why you think that's a meaningful distinction? In any case, a driver having their name associated with a possible move to Ferrari at some point in the future doesn't mean they have the potential to be a "real jewel like Schumacher".

>>7091
>In any case, a driver having their name associated with a possible move to Ferrari at some point in the future doesn't mean they have the potential to be a "real jewel like Schumacher".
You're right. It doesn't come from being linked with a possible move to Ferrari. It comes from statements about his potential being made by rather a lot of people who, unlike you, are qualified to say such things.

Pack it in, lads. Semantics.

In defence of EJ, Bianchi really was a very talented driver. His performance at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix was one of the best in recent memory. He started from the back of the grid, got two penalties during the race, but finished ninth, scoring the only points in Virgin/Marussia/Manor history. He wrung every scrap of performance out of that shitbox car. If it weren't for the accident, I'm sure he would have got a better drive this season and had a real chance of winning races.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOg4Dv3x764

>>7094
>In defence of EJ, Bianchi really was a very talented driver
I don't disagree with that. Brundle's comments to the effect that he could've won races in a better car did the guy justice. It's the needless comparisons to Schumacher and Ayrton fucking Senna that annoyed me.

>>7084

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KbcspCwfwk

>>3181
zlfibhg

The BBC have cancelled their F1 contract early. I think this means the only live sports they have is the FA Cup, which they've spoiled this year with their Salford love in.

>>7389
Who didn't see this coming when they first agreed the split with Sky?

>>7390
I didn't see channel 4 coming. This could be interesting, or it could be dire. Still, the BBC haven't exactly been stellar, so I'm fine with a change. Still not going to pay Sky, though.

>>7391

II would recommend Kodi in general, without naming names of repos/addons so as not to risk bringing heat down on them. There is at least one lad here who has grassed up streaming sites in the past, namely Taimatube.

It's a great resource for Sports and films, if you know what you're doing with it.

>>7395
How do we know the grass came from here?

>>7395

I'll also point out that you can buy very cheap TV boxes with Kodi and all sorts of other goodies preinstalled.

http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-Android-Box-c-1241.html

>>7395
Yes lad, the man is incapable of finding out the names of streaming sites through anything but imageboard posts.

>>7397
Amazon's Fire TV makes for a very good Kodi box too.

>>7398
Kodi isn't a streaming site.

>>7395

Their entire sports streaming channel lost all of its streams no more than two days after a thread was posted here by me in /spo/ advertising it.

>>7398

Narc.

>>7400

The Fire TV is a decent option if you know what you're doing, but the cheap Chinese boxes are all set up and ready to go.

>>7400
There's a chap at the Thameslink project who makes a tidy line selling 'hacked' Fire TVs - presumably just with different firmware flashed n them or something, that unlocks a load of stuff you had to pay for by default.

I don't ask about it as I'm not bothered but you may be interested.

>>7403
Probably Kodi with plugins.

>>7404
Interesting. I think he sells them for £50. Is there a feasible way to 'hack' several of them at once without special equipment, or could you only make one at a time?

Lads. I have no idea what you lot are talking about but I am really interested. Googling some of the obscure words here is just confusing me more. Is there anywhere you could point me to do a preliminary reading to understand everything?

Android box? kodi? Banning? Addons?

>>7405
Sideloading Kodi is piss easy, it doesn't need special equipment.

>>7406
An android box is just a set top box that runs the android OS. The most well known and widely available is the Amazon Fire TV, but as posted above there are cheap Chinese boxes that come with Kodi preinstalled.

As for Kodi, there's a handy wiki: http://kodi.wiki/view/XBMC_Quick_Start_Guide

>>7498
It appears to be missing Anna Danshina, wife of Paddy Lowe

>>7499
Of course it is.

I made it 6 months ago so there is a lot to update

>Jenson had an affair with a playboy model which caused the divorce
>KMag has a GF now
>Rossi has a GF
>Verstappen has a new GF
>Claire Williams should be on there
>Fabiana Ecclestone should be on there

The Halo cockpit system has been tested.

Not the nicest thing in the world to look at, but then neither's the sight of people younger than me dying live on television.

>>7560

I can't believe it's taken the FIA this long to act. If they had taken the issue seriously after Massa's accident, several lives could have been saved. I suspect it'll take at least one more death for cockpit protection to become mandatory.

Kudos to Mercedes for doing most of the legwork on this idea. If they hadn't unilaterally proposed a design, the FIA would probably still be dragging their heels.

I'm mostly in favour, but I'm not sure about the need for the vertical bit in the front . That much carbon fibre will be damn near indestructible, and I can't think where the loading could come from that'll push the front of the halo down. Even if the front does get pushed down, won't it act as a ramp and launch whatever is inbound into the airbox and roll hoop, rather than the driver's face?
If there's a need to avoid something scything through the gap, wouldn't A pillars be less intrusive?

Nothing's going to help a repeat of Bianchi, and nothing short of a thick windscreen's going to help a repeat of Massa. I'm hoping that they won't exacerbate any injuries or keep someone in an upturned car. It's hard to flip a formula car over - nowhere to really get a grip, and if it's rammed under a barrier or something, I imagine it's almost impossible.
Buggered if I know, Good luck to them all. Motorsport's never going to be 100% safe, and the energies in F1 are huge.

Is 2016's season going to suck as much as it would appear? Ferrari going to challenge? McHonda going to get/keep it together? Haas going to score? Renault going to suck? RB going to whine fucking relentlessly while getting dicked by TR?

>>7562
>I can't think where the loading could come from that'll push the front of the halo down
Given the length of the halo from where it joins the cockpit, the leverage would mean much less force would be needed to break it than you expect.

>Even if the front does get pushed down, won't it act as a ramp and launch whatever is inbound into the airbox and roll hoop, rather than the driver's face?
The carbon fibre would suffer a brittle failure and snap-off entirely, not just bend down.

Either way, the main protection is needed more for cases where the car goes underneath something, rather than rolling onto its roof.

>wouldn't A pillars be less intrusive?
I assume the design decision for this is that seeing directly in front is less critical, it's most important to have an unobstructed view in the direction you're steering into.

>>7562
I'm going to be bold and assume that a bunch of motorsport's top engineers might know better than some random bloke off of the interwebs.

>>7563 Given the length of the halo from where it joins the cockpit, the leverage would mean much less force would be needed to break it than you expect.

My pondering is - how much do you care if the front collapses downwards? You don't want it in the down position all the time, for visibility reasons, but if it drops down and turns into a ramp, would that be better? Clearly you want to think hard about the load that'll trigger the collapse - my first guess is that you want it to be able to survive a wheel at 250mph or so. Anything more than that, engage ramp mode and try to launch whatever it is over the driver's head.
You do want to stop it swinging upwards or sideways, of course.

>>7564
Maybe, maybe not. They're just people, I know some of them. Me wibbling on t'internet is just wibbling. I'm not being paid for this, so I don't feel obliged to do a full FEA job. The reason that F1 cars tend to converge towards a single solution isn't because they all get there from first principles. Someone comes up with a solution that others didn't and there's a flurry of investigation and (generously) homage.

>>7562

The front pillar doesn't add any significant obstruction, because there are already antennae and pitot tubes in that plane. Front visibility isn't very important in motorsport, because drivers spend most of the lap looking at an angle to spot the apex. LMP1 drivers have to deal with atrocious visibility caused by the front roll structure (see next post).

The structural role played by that strut can't really be intuitively reasoned about. CFRP is fiendishly complex even by the standards of composites, because of the very wide range of fibre properties and the sophisticated layup techniques available to F1 teams. The prototype looks fairly clumsy, but it could be substantially refined if it was integrated into the tub. Bear in mind that they'll be simultaneously optimising for strength, weight, aero and visibility.

My fag-packet maths say that hitting rear wheel at top speed equates to an 85kJ impact. For comparison, a brick falling at terminal velocity would be carrying 3.5kJ of kinetic energy.

>>7567

This is the cockpit view from an Audi R18. If LMP drivers can cope with night racing and busy traffic through this dismal little letterbox, F1 drivers should cope with a tiny strut.

>>7565
>My pondering is - how much do you care if the front collapses downwards? You don't want it in the down position all the time, for visibility reasons, but if it drops down and turns into a ramp, would that be better? Clearly you want to think hard about the load that'll trigger the collapse - my first guess is that you want it to be able to survive a wheel at 250mph or so. Anything more than that, engage ramp mode and try to launch whatever it is over the driver's head.
You do want to stop it swinging upwards or sideways, of course.

It Wont Gently Collapse Down Into A Nice Little Ramp.
It'll most likely snap off completely and fly away, (if it doesn't itself hit the drivers face).

But the more important point I want to reiterate: I doubt they're worried about the cars flipping over. The biggest danger is objects approaching from head on, where there would be a risk of debris simply going underneath the halo if there wasn't that extra piece at the front.

They'll be worrying about cars flipping and then hitting something (like a barrier) - like an inverted Bianchi. But yes, a straight flip or tumble is already dealt with by the roll hoop and the rest of the cockpit.

I'm still not done with the ramp idea - having the halo inclined might also reduce the few times when the roll hoop has dug into gravel or caught on a barrier. If you land it slightly less far forwards than the two halos shown, it mostly just turns into a relatively conventional roll cage, albeit one with sloping and close together A pillars, which fattens out into a halo to allow extraction.
A downside, though, would be its tendency to convert a horizontally travelling escaped wheel into a vertical one, which nobody likes.
Or you end up with an abomination like https://twitter.com/RaymondWintonyk/status/126120549930893312/photo/1
which I can't see how to make strong enough to still work after an accident.

Visibility in LMP is a problem to be solved, not a solution. They've enforced new rules for each of the last 2 races, since it was intolerably bad. Can't be long before they get stitched-together cameras like BMW's surround view, instead of mirrors.

This all smacks of 'something must be done - this is something', too.
Protecting drivers from flying springs and wheels really needs a windscreen / cockpit. Protecting drivers from such sudden stops that mush their brains needs crumple zones or lower speeds. If Bianchi had rammed a halo into that truck, rather than his roll hoop, he'd have stopped pretty much as fast. Having wheels sticking out is daftly dangerous, too. How far should 'we' go to make F1 safer?

While looking for pics of roll cages, I found this beauty. Sure, ovals are degenerate, but how can you not love bonkers asymmetry like this.

>>7571
To me it smacks of a group of young people who keep seeing their mates die. The big push for this hasn't been from public outrage, it's from the drivers.

I think it's pretty clear that the halo system would have made the incidents that killed Justin Wilson, Dan Wheldon and Henry Surtees far less dangerous, even if it wouldn't have saved Bianchi. It might even have saved María de Villota, considering she was at a low speed.

They're continuing to go forward with enclosed cockpits, from everything I've heard, it's just not something that will be ready for 2017.

>>7572

The Halo device is a fundamental first step in the transition to closed cockpits. The difficult engineering task is building a structure capable of withstanding high-energy impacts from wheels, suspension components and large pieces of bodywork. Any transparent screen you might choose to add is just icing on the cake.

>>7573
The biggest difficulties are political, not technical, really. They did extensive testing and concept cars were developed around 2011, but when it came to discussions around the implementation, the main players failed to agree, quelle surprise.

Seems like it took Bianchi's death to get them to take it seriously.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e87HIlOIYFA

I wonder if Formula E could bring canopies in before F1? They're more in thrall to the FIA and would do what the were told. Might be some aero improvement which they can certainly do with, and they might look rather good.
Easier to try out the engineering on a lower energy formula, than jump straight into the insanity of F1?

>>7575

The aero impact of a canopy is slightly tricky. Overall drag increases because you've got more frontal area. You improve laminarity of flow to the rear wing and so can get more downforce from a smaller and more efficient wing.

A canopy would improve overtaking in most open-wheel formula because the air behind the car would be cleaner, but it probably wouldn't be significantly beneficial in terms of overall efficiency in Formula E.

>>7576
A (sanely) designed canopy should smooth out the annoyance that is the cockpit, though. I imagine that proper formulae have sorted the problem, but air tumbling into the cockpits of lesser cars is a real drag. A tonneau on the passenger side can help substantially.
I'm not sure how much extra area a roof needs to add - and whether there'll be the asme squshy padding around the helmet as there currently is around the sides of the cockpit. The roll hoop (or air intake/hoop) is already substantially bigger than the driver's head, so the effect might not be too big. Formula E's got such risibly low top speeds that it feels like an ideal place to try this aero stuff out, before the chassis start to diverge.

In a move that's sure to reverse the trend of dwindling audiences:

>Live Formula 1 races will be taken off free-to-air television in the United Kingdom from 2019, after Sky agreed a new exclusive broadcast agreement with the sport's chiefs.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/sky-secures-exclusive-f1-broadcast-agreement-681864/

Also, the drivers association have told Bernie to hurry up and die in the nicest way possible:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/35882820

They mention the move to pay TV as one of their concerns. The sport really seems to be in a bad place.

>>7586

Total clusterfuck. It's like Bernie is torching F1 for the insurance money or something. I wonder if he has a research team figuring out new ways of making F1 shit, or if he's just some kind of anti-Midas.

>>7586
I've given up moaning about F1 but this latest Sky announcement takes the biscuit. It's obvious they don't care anymore.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-36891829

Apparently Bernie's MIL was taken for ransom. I wonder whether they made any demands relevant to the sport.
>You will give us £28m. Also, you will scrap the double points rule and bring the TV rights back to FTA.

>>7871
The double points rule was scrapped after its first season.

It's actually a ploy by Bernie himself. They're going to demand double points be brought back and sprinklers put on the tracks and Bernie will pretend that his hand has been forced.

He's already lost the nomination, a faked mother-in-law kidnapping just reeks of desperation.

#imwithher

>>3181
The papers were on about how close the points are and all that, so I thought I'd watch the race today. Turns out it's only on Sky or some shite. Since when did this happen?

Nice. Kill your dying sport

>>7876
You can always watch a near flawless 6000kbps Sky restream on Ace Player. /u/hennogarvie1 gives out the address each weekend.

>>7876
I believe some races have been exclusive to Sky since 2012, and all will be starting from 2018.

While I'd much prefer the whole season to be free to view personally, it's not killing the sport, they're making shitloads more money this way.

>>7878

>it's not killing the sport, they're making shitloads more money this way.

Hockenheim might be off the calendar soon, because they're not selling enough tickets. Bernie's strategy of milking the sport dry isn't sustainable. The F1 fanbase is rapidly ageing and there aren't enough young fans coming into the sport. The end of free-to-air broadcasts is one of many short-sighted moves that jeopardise the future of F1.

>>7879
There aren't enough young fans coming in into the sport for... what? Keeping the viewership figures where they used to be? Doesn't matter. The revenue streams have changed so that advertising revenue isn't what's keeping the whole thing afloat as it was back in the tobacco days.

Bernie and the FIA have done and will continue to do things which I, as a fan, detest. But it's really stupid to confuse your personal feelings with the business being in any sort of real jeopardy. It's not.

IT'S COMING HOME
IT'S COMING HOME
F1'S GOING HOME

I HATE FORMULA 1 BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN'T WATCH COUNTDOWN ON FRIDAYS

FUCKING CUNTS IT'S THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY

IT'S NOT EVEN THE REAL RACE

I know F1 cars change terribly fast, as is their way, but it is funny how ancient that car in the OP looks compared to the mad spacefighters they're driving now.

>>8594
Don't worry, I think Sky is getting the whole packcage soon enough.

>>8595

Cars from that period look abnormally traditional because of the rules changes after 2008. Everyone went fucking mental with winglets, so Bernie tightened up the aero rules to stop all the cars from being pig ugly.

It's taken 10 years to return to that level of outright weirdness, thanks to HALO and the proliferation of slotted surfaces.

In a funny way, I miss Bernie.

>>8595
Came to bump a 9 year old thread while watching the Barcelona race, because I was just thinking exactly the same. I've been enjoying F1 this year, it will be really interesting to see what next years car changes bring.

Also, to say that Racing Point/Pink Mercedes/Lance Strolls Rich Dad are a fucking disgrace. I know motor racing has always been a rich mans game, but fucking hell.

>>8979
>Also, to say that Racing Point/Pink Mercedes/Lance Strolls Rich Dad are a fucking disgrace. I know motor racing has always been a rich mans game, but fucking hell.
More of a GT man myself, which is about 50% rich dads and their lads, why are Pink Mercs so horrible?

They always looked fucking bonkers

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ferrari-formula-one-cars-gallery/4327068/

>>8980
>about 50% rich dads and their lads

I know it's probably a bit late in the game to moan about this, but it just seems a bit unfair to be able to buy last years winning Mercedes car, paint it pink and then run it this year, which is what their car is. Of course they've magically jumped a bunch of places in the race/standings.

>>9017
Am I a full blow conspiracy nut for thinking Hamilton doesn't actually have COVID and is just dodging akward questions about what he thinks of the Bahraini authorities?

>>9017
Thank you for reminding me that qualifying started now. Bottas will smash it.

>>9018
He isn't that dumb. He races in a few other deplorable countries and he never said anything, so it is unlikely he would pick Bahrain now.

>>9020
Yeah, but he brought up the Bahrain thing very obliquely before the previous week's race. Something about "thinking over" the letters sent to him from Bahraini political prisoners. As far as I know none of the other horrible countries have had political prisoners asking him to speak out directly, probably because Hamilton's only gotten political himself during this year and they've spent half of this season in Italy. In previous years it was the sport as a whole that was being asked to speak out.

I think I'm sticking with my conspiracy.

>>9021
His testing is performed by the F1 authorities. As if they would go along with faking a result.

If he's really so safe, why do they call him Burnt Mayländer?

I assumed Bahrain would be a dry country, but apparently Mercedes found enough booze for everyone trackside to get absolutely sloshed.

>>9024
That, or they're all asymptomatically covidded up to the tits and their brains are wonky.
Fuck's sake, it really was the B-team this week. Superb show, though.

>>9025
Much like Monza things are more interesting when Mercedes are on the glue. Also two tracks that are as functionally similar to oval racing as F1 gets, so perhaps I should start watching Indycar or something.

>>9024
I remember having a few pints at a hotel in Bahrain. I don't think it is dry like Saudi Arabia. Maybe more like a poundshop Dubai.

>>9025
It was a superb/clown show this week from Mercedes, but you have to feel for poor George Russell - did everything right. Okay, he went from having probably the worst car on the grid, to the best car on the grid, but he still drove it brilliantly.

>>9028

Tyres have put a smile on Hamilton's face for once.

Absolute shitter for Russell, but it could work out well in the end - the grit and maturity he showed has made him an overnight fan favourite. It's a stark contrast to the smug, petulant prick he borrowed the car from.

>>9029
>It's a stark contrast to the smug, petulant prick he borrowed the car from.
Oooh, someone hates black people.

>>9030

Not ThatLad, but I had the same opinion of Schumacher. Does that mean I hate Germans?

>>9030

Black people can be complete arseholes too, you racialist. BLACK ARSEHOLES MATTER.

>>9031
No, because that's a very fair summary of Schumacher's personality. He ignored black flags, shunted people off track and generally an absolute bastard. I loved him as a driver, but he was a total sod. The worst you could say about Hamilton is that's he's quite boring in that ultra-professional way a lot of modern day athletes are. Akin to how Messi's really, really good at football, but you might not be able to say much else about him. I don't see how Hamilton's "smug and petulant" at all, that's just some little pissbaby having a pop at him because, without any other reason I can see, he's a racist little scrote.

>>9032
Alright, mate, keep it on /x/.

>>9033

> The worst you could say about Hamilton is that's he's quite boring in that ultra-professional way
>I don't see how Hamilton's "smug and petulant" at all

BONO! BONO! THE TYRES ARE DEAD! WE'RE GONNA LOSE THE RACE!

Also he wangs on about social justice and being #blessed while paying literally no tax and giving nothing to charity. Also he called one of his exes a fat oompa loompa. Also he's mates with Justin Bieber. What kind of fucking monster would voluntarily spend time with Justin Bieber?

>>9034
To be fair to Lewis, Pirelli give him lower quality tyres. You know, because they're racist.

>>9034
Damn, imagine a racing driver going back and forth with his crew chief about his tires, what a bastard. As for the rest of it that's every successful sportsperson going and I think the amount of wealth being hoarded is grotesgue, but it's also perfectly run-of-the-mill and I don't see you leveling the same accusations at the rest of the grid. Do you think Russell won't be in Monarco five years from now?

>>9035
Yeah, man, yeah, uh-huh, yeah.

>>9036

If you're in P6 and struggling through traffic, we can empathise if you start to get frustrated. If you're struggling for points in the championship, we can empathise if you get annoyed at your team for making a bad strategy call. If you're leading the championship by a mile, qualified in P1, led the whole race by a comfortable margin and you're still bitching and moaning, that's when you start to look like a bit of a prick.

Hamilton would be a lot more likeable if he committed to any aspect of his personality, but he won't. He wants to be the ultra-competitive driving machine who only cares about winning and the magnanimous victor who does it to inspire the kids. He wants to be the tax-dodging millionaire playboy and the socially conscious vegan equality activist. It all comes off as completely insincere.

Ricciardo knows he's a jammy bastard and is obviously having a whale of a time. Raikkonen is a grumpy bastard who just wants to knock off work and get on the sauce. Who is Lewis Hamilton? I don't know and I don't think that he knows.

It must sting that I don't like him, but he'll just have to console himself with his seven world championship trophies, his millions of pounds and his string of supermodel girlfriends.

>>9037
>led the whole race by a comfortable margin and you're still bitching and moaning, that's when you start to look like a bit of a prick
Stop watching F1. It is apparent that you are a bit thick.

>>9038

>>9038
That's the real problem with Lewis Hamilton, his prominence invites opinions from people who don't have a clue about motorsport. I don't either, really, but I know I don't have a clue. I've also seen a lot of people online complaining that it's all the cars and the drivers don't matter, which I'd disagree with, but none of these people are watching a series with a closer BOP between cars so I don't see why they're bothered. There's always been rubbish cars and very good cars in F1.

>>9038

It's a driver's job to manage tyre degradation. If you're running in clean air, you've got an easier job of it than anyone else. If you're in a Merc, you've got an even easier job of it because of DAS.

Hamilton has surely worked this out by now, but he still throws a massive sulk when his tyres have the sheer temerity to be the same as everyone else's. >>9035 is obviously joking, but sometimes I wonder whether Hamilton half believes it.

He has won seven of the last eight drivers championships, but he's still not happy. He's still publicly slagging off Pirelli and his own mechanics. What more does he want? Does he think that Pirelli should reformulate the tyres so that he can dominate the sport by an even bigger margin? When your own team boss is saying that you're asking Pirelli to defy the laws of physics, maybe you should have a look in the mirror and consider whether you're acting like a spoiled fucking brat.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamiltons-tyre-dream-a-physical-impossibility-says-wolff/4864842/

>>9044
Similar comments were levelled at Vettel when the Red Bulls were dominant. Hamilton is a bit of a whinge but I can't say I have a strong opinion of him one way or the other.

>>9048
His job is to whine to his team any time the car's not as fast as it could be, and to drive the resulting car as fast as possible. He seems to do these things quite well.
You hear his whining more because his radio gets broadcast more.
It irritates you more because reasons.

>>9049

Vettel was a prick until he had a stint in a shit car and grew up a bit. If this was 2013, I'd be slagging him off.

Man with no personality wins Sports Personality of the Year. Should've gone to are Tyson.

>>9067
He made it abundantly clear he wasn't interested and told people not to vote for him.

>>9068

Which shows just how boring the British public have become. Threatening legal action to be removed from the awards shortlist is infinitely more interesting than anything Hamilton has ever done. We saw a perfect opportunity to make a mockery of the whole thing and chose the totally dull option instead. No craic.

>>9067
Well, Mr. Charisma Andy Murray has won it three times. The British public are fucking idiots.

>>9070
Mr Murray is not boring, he just has a dry sense of humour.

>>9071

The impression I get from Murray is that he's so dedicated to his sport that he is indifferent to, and maybe even resents, the personality/celebrity aspect of things.

That fucking chicane has got to go.