2015 Formula 1 Thread

[momo]

2015 CAR LAUNCHES
January 21: Force India
January 29: McLaren-Honda
January 30: Ferrari

2015 PRE-SEASON TEST SCHEDULE
February 1-4: Jerez, Spain.
February 19-22: Barcelona, Spain.
February 26-March 1: Barcelona, Spain.

2015 RACE CALENDAR
March 15: Australian GP
March 29: Malaysia GP
April 12: Chinese GP
April 19: Bahrain GP
May 3: Korean GP (TBC)
May 10: Spanish GP
May 24: Monaco GP
June 7: Canadian GP
June 21: Austrian GP
July 5: British GP
July 19: German GP
July 26: Hungarian GP
August 23: Belgian GP
September 6: Italian GP
September 20: Singapore GP
September 27: Japanese GP
October 11: Russian GP
October 25: United States GP
November 1: Mexican GP
November 15: Brazilian GP
November 29: Abu Dhabi GP

[momo]

DRIVER LINE-UPS

MERCEDES
Drivers: Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg
Engine: Mercedes

RED BULL
Drivers: Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat
Reserve driver: Sebastien Buemi
Engine: Renault

WILLIAMS
Drivers: Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa
Engine: Mercedes

FERRARI
Drivers: Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen
Reserve driver: Esteban Gutierrez
Test driver: Jean-Eric Vergne
Engine: Ferrari

McLAREN
Drivers: Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button
Reserve driver: Kevin Magnussen
Engine: Honda

FORCE INDIA
Drivers: Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez
Engine: Mercedes

TORO ROSSO
Drivers: Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz
Engine: Renault

LOTUS
Drivers: Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado
Engine: Mercedes

SAUBER
Drivers: Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr
Reserve driver: Raffaele Marciello
Engine: Ferrari

MARUSSIA
Drivers: TBC
Engine: Ferrari

CATERHAM
Drivers: TBC
Engine: Renault

[pHILSANITY07]

Wonder who's going to driver for HAAS in 2016.

Marussia is done IMO. They've sold pretty much everything that they had left. HAAS bought their shop and I think also bought the 2014 car that Marussia was working on before going broke.

I hope the gap to Mercedes is smaller this year than it was last year.

[momo]

Agreed, there will not be a Marussia on the grid, it's over. I think they are still officially listed as an entry.

Hopefully Caterham doesn't fold again. There is still some worries over Lotus financials, and potentially Sauber but they have claimed they are fine.

[pHILSANITY07]

Also I think its interesting that Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton don't have a new deal. Wolfe said a few weeks ago that if they can't get a deal done with Hamilton then they'll look to get Alonso or Bottas for 2016.

[pHILSANITY07]

I've kicked this with a few of my friends on who would drive for Haas.
I think it would be wise to bring in a veteran or someone that is familiar with formula 1.
Then the 2nd seat be maybe someone young from here. But idk who would be on that list.

[pHILSANITY07]

FIA will allow Honda to develop their engines through the 2015 season.

[momo]

thumb nose.

[momo]

[pHILSANITY07]

FW37 kinda looks to have the box nose configuration from Mercedes last year.

Force India kinda looks like they adapted the nose of the Marussia from last year but with a shorter anteater/thumb. Only thing I dont get is I thought the nose couldn't extend past the front wing.

[pHILSANITY07]

HAAS bought the old Marussia shop to have a Europe Headquarters. Marussia could be bought by an investor according to Bernie.

Non Formula 1 news, but still racing news. Jeff Gordon is going to retire full time after 2015.

[momo]

mclaren honderp


album:

http://imgur.com/a/CZH5x

promo vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoOT0NiydEA&

[Ruffdaddy]

Are all 10 cars this year going to be black?

F1 is in a free fall if the major teams don't have those 3rd cars ready. Apparently FI and lotus are both in some deep financial shit And looking for buyers.

I say let it burn...they've done it to themselves. Nobody likes a prius race, everything is too expensive, and the revenue share is horrible.

The sooner F1 crumbles, the sooner we can hope for indy or nascar at cota. Anyone think attendance will dip below 20K for the weekend this year?

[momo]

i think silver. merc, mac-larry, FI and somewhat sauber.
the mclaren nose looks good. still a steep slant but the best since 2013. the color is meh. just looks like last year + vodafone era accent color.

i don't think attendance will actually drop until the 2-3 with trouble actually do fold.

once there is only ferrari, mclaren, mercedes and williams left and the field is a pathetic 8 cars then no one will want to watch.

[momo]

so if F1 doesn't collapse, what's it the future?

last years' championship was quite exciting. the racing was pretty damn spectacular. mercedes dominating was the worst part (behind the noise).

do we have 2 more years of this turbo 6 and we abandon it?
with all the criticism, you've got to think they will 180 and go back to something bigger and noisier, but is it too late?

the money on development has already been spent. it's the direction the automotive industry is heading (electric hybrid p1, la ferrari, nsx, turbo ecoboost ford gt)...

maybe it was the wrong move or perhaps the move was good, just too soon or just lacks the showmanship?

or maybe motorsport is just too expensive and will only continue to increase as a function of competition.