The F1 Thread 2013 Season

Day Three timesheet @ 10.47am UK time
1. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:22.192, 29 laps (S);
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:22.627, 22 laps (M);
3. Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1:22.675, 42 laps (S);
4. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:23.066, 33 laps (M);
5. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:23.641, 26 laps (M);
6. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:23.839, 16 laps (M);
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:23.849, 29 laps (M);
8. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1:23.983, 42 laps (M);
9. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:24.106, 33 laps;
10. Giedo van der Garde, Caterham, 1:27.344, 36 laps;
11. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1:35.802, 13 laps.

I know it is only testing, but I am well impressed with the Mercedes, they look to have a better car than last season.
If they can solve there tyre wear problem, could be a good season for them.
 
Track is wet and slippery

Times@10:12am:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:31.920, 17 laps (M);
2. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber, 1:34.525, 30 laps (M);
3. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:35.832, 16 laps (I);
4. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1:36.628, 17 laps (I);
5. Jules Bianchi =, Force India, 1:37.769, 12 laps (I);
6. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:37.949, 17 laps (I);
7. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:40.068, 10 laps (I);
8. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1:42.178, 9 laps (I);
9. Giedo van der Garde, Caterham, 1:48.215, 6 laps (I);
10. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, No time, 9 laps; #
11. Mark Webber, Red Bull, No time, 7 laps.
 
McLaren have been going backwards for the past five years, and it's showing no signs of slowing down.

They're the only team at the "top" (by which I mean themselves, Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes) without a world class driver, and it'll show this year. I love Button, but he's a tier below the best. That's fine for your number two driver (Webber and Massa level), but it won't win you a championship.
 
Unless McLaren build a monster I can't see them taking the WDC, they could get the WCC based on consistent results. Button will deliver you the win if the track conditions or car setup are perfect, but on those days when its slightly less than ideal he rarely gets the job done like a Alonso, Vettel or Hamilton.

His 2009 year showed given the car he can dominate races but I think its going to be too close for any kind of domination this year. I actually quite fancy Lotus to become big contenders on the back of a solid car and excellent tyre usage.
 
Leg-End said:
I actually quite fancy Lotus to become big contenders on the back of a solid car and excellent tyre usage.
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Unless they improve their qualifying pace i think they'll still be the 4th quickest car out there.
 
Leg-End said:
Unless McLaren build a monster I can't see them taking the WDC, they could get the WCC based on consistent results. Button will deliver you the win if the track conditions or car setup are perfect, but on those days when its slightly less than ideal he rarely gets the job done like a Alonso, Vettel or Hamilton.

His 2009 year showed given the car he can dominate races but I think its going to be too close for any kind of domination this year. I actually quite fancy Lotus to become big contenders on the back of a solid car and excellent tyre usage.
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Kimi for WDC :cool:
 
F-Red said:
Unless they improve their qualifying pace i think they'll still be the 4th quickest car out there.
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I don't think quali will be as important this year and probably much closer now they have limited DRS usage. I think Kimi is a strong contendor if that Lotus has kept its excellent tyre wear rates and Grosjean can't continue to be as bad as he was.
 
McLaren got lucky last year because Hamilton kept putting the car at the front in qualifying, whilst Button languished down in tenth. Now Hamilton's gone they better get used to their number one driver being on the fifth row :lol:
 
Yeah Hamilton is a big loss for quali, Perez doesn't look like he is a quali specialist either.

Head 2 Head Quali
Faster qualifying time: Hamilton 44 / Button 14
Poles: Hamilton 9 / Button 1
Front rows: Hamilton: 23 / Button 9

Over their 3 years together, Button got pretty much destroyed in quali.
 
After seeing the times from the second test, I think Mercedes will be a better car than I thought it would be.
There is no doubt that Hamilton does get more out of a car than most drivers, I can even see him winning races with this car.
I like Button but he is not in the same class has Hamilton, McLaren are going to struggle to get many poles this season.

Looking forward to the last testing later this week.

Is anybody setting up a fantasy league this season, only 15 days till the first race.
 
We won't really know how fast the cars are until we arrive in Melbourne, at the moment I am expecting it to start the same way 2012 ended.
 
Leg-End said:
I don't think quali will be as important this year and probably much closer now they have limited DRS usage. I think Kimi is a strong contendor if that Lotus has kept its excellent tyre wear rates and Grosjean can't continue to be as bad as he was.
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Qualifying will still be important as ever, free air is worth its weight in gold for tyre management & Lotus simply dont have a faster car over one lap than either Red Bull or McLaren based on the last time out.
 
I should have added, at the start of the season. Right now the teams aren't on top of the tyres and early season will probably be about who can make them last and who can work them out quickest. Might take 1 race, might take half a season but whoever gets them working first is going to be quids in, I'm expecting a few different winners early season again this year.
 
Wet start to the final testing before the season starts.

Day One timesheet at 10.10am UK time.
1. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1:42.155, 21 laps;
2. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:42.963, 20 laps;
3. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:43.857, 22 laps;
4. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:44.444, 15 laps;
5. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:44.545, 18 laps;
6. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:45.995, 13 laps;
7. Esteban Gutiterrez, Sauber, 1.45.997, 32 laps;
8. Charles Pic, Caterham, 1:47.521, 16 laps;
9. Sergio Perez, McLaren, 1:48.562, 17 laps;
10. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:48.905, 16 laps;
11. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1:52.727, 18 laps.
 
Haven't paid to much attention to all the testing times over the last few months. Is there any car that is sticking out like it could be the best. Or is everyone keeping there cards tight to their chests still?
 
Not particularly but then its testing and very few of them show their hands, in fact I don't think we have seen a legit monster since winter 2009 when the Brawn showed up and blitzed everyone but everyone thought they were running under weight for sponsorship.

If you have Sky F1 they are showing testing live from 2PM for each day of the last test.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
Not impressed Adrian Sutil get's the Force India seat, not because of his conviction , people deserved a second chance, I just think there is better out there available.
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Never rated him as a driver. Apart from a couple of good showings in wet conditions he's done little.
 
Ole's_toe_poke said:
Never rated him as a driver. Apart from a couple of good showings in wet conditions he's done little.
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Thats my point , you have drivers like Rubens Barrichello who would be very useful to a team like Force India who I think is wasted in Indy car racing.
There is also Kamui Kobayashi and Heikki Kovalainen both excellent drivers with no seat this season.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
Thats my point , you have drivers like Rubens Barrichello who would be very useful to a team like Force India who I think is wasted in Indy car racing.
There is also Kamui Kobayashi and Heikki Kovalainen both excellent drivers with no seat this season.
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Really? He had his chance at McLaren and he did nothing. Massa gets a lot of hate on here, but Kovalainen was Massa before Massa was Massa.
 
Leg-End said:
Not particularly but then its testing and very few of them show their hands, in fact I don't think we have seen a legit monster since winter 2009 when the Brawn showed up and blitzed everyone but everyone thought they were running under weight for sponsorship.

If you have Sky F1 they are showing testing live from 2PM for each day of the last test.
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That was actually stunning, popped it out of the box and it just blitzed the field Jenson's form in the flyaway's really put him in an excellent position to win the title. No wonder Ross Brawn worked so hard to secure a deal for them that winter. I'm sure they only had one test with that car and it was actually built for a Honda gearbox and engine so it didn't maximise it's potential.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
Thats my point , you have drivers like Rubens Barrichello who would be very useful to a team like Force India who I think is wasted in Indy car racing.
There is also Kamui Kobayashi and Heikki Kovalainen both excellent drivers with no seat this season.
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But you're missing the fact that Sutil spent driving for them for 4 years previously? He's got the experience & relationship already there.

Makes perfect sense & a shrewd move from Force India.
 
They wont ever challenge for races with this attitude.

 
:lol: I usually hate these silly internet fads but some of these Harlem Shake things are pretty funny!
 
Impressive lap from Hamilton and not even on low fuel either, he did a fair few laps after setting it. Mercedes might be in the hunt after all.
 
I know testing isn't the best judge of a car but Mercedes look quite good, and like they can pick up a win or two.
 
Honda might be returning as an Engine supplier and rumours has it they are hooking up with McLaren from 2015

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21655985

I don't know about you but I see this as great news, as solely an engine supplier Honda can do great things and who can't look back to the Prost/Senna McLaren-Honda days.
 
It's good news, as it should offer some more competitive options for teams rather than the usual 3, 4 if you want to include the Cosworth lot. Hopefully it'll give a push for other manufacturers to either submit teams or engines (VAG Group is what i'm looking at here)
 
BBC give further details on their coverage

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21682493


Formula 1 practice sessions will be broadcast live on network television this season from grands prix which the BBC is showing live.

There will be around 40 extra hours of network output, with practice generally shown on BBC Two and BBC Two HD.

Former F1 driver Allan McNish joins BBC Radio 5 live as an analyst, while BBC F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson will work across TV, radio and online.
Suzi Perry takes over from Jake Humphrey as the presenter on TV.

Ben Edwards continues as commentator alongside co-commentator David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan remains the chief analyst.

F1 journalist and broadcaster Tom Clarkson joins the TV presentation full-time team as a pit-lane reporter alongside Lee McKenzie, who also presents Inside F1 on the BBC News Channel on the Friday and Saturday of live race weekends, with the latest news and interviews from each grand prix.

On 5 live, James Allen and Jennie Gow continue as commentator and pit-lane reporter.

BBC One and BBC One HD will show nine live races, including those in Canada, Great Britain and Brazil, with extended highlights of the remaining races.

Live grands prix will continue to be followed by the popular F1 Forum on the red button.

Radio 5 live will broadcast every grand prix live, with the show also live on the BBC Sport website, while 5 live Formula 1 on Thursday night ahead of each grand prix will feature guests, interviews and insight ahead of the weekend.

Ben Gallop, BBC's head of Formula 1, said: "Everyone on the BBC team is hugely excited about the new season.

"Last year saw us rise to the challenge of bringing the action to fans through the mix of live television and highlights, delivering great programmes which were reflected in impressive audience figures.

"This year sees new faces, practice on BBC Two & HD on live race weekends and a greater sharing of talent across BBC television, radio and online.

"With Suzi Perry at the helm, we're aiming to bring even more content, insight and access to audiences throughout the season."

The BBC Sport website will broadcast a simulcast of the TV and radio output, and at live races will also have the 'driver tracker', on-board cameras and a pit-lane stream.

Legendary F1 commentator Murray Walker will be providing a series of archive-based videos and written articles for every race of the season.

'Murray's Memories' are his personal recollections of some of the greatest moments in the history of F1.

Coverage of the F1 season is now available on our new BBC Sport smartphone app, available for iPhone and Android devices.

The app brings together BBC Sport's live and on-demand video coverage, along with news, features and stats.
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Why? :mad:

Why are they allowing that feck stick to continue? He is a shite commentator. At least Suzi Perry gives us some eye candy, oh and Murrays memories :drool:
 
F-Red said:
It's good news, as it should offer some more competitive options for teams rather than the usual 3, 4 if you want to include the Cosworth lot. Hopefully it'll give a push for other manufacturers to either submit teams or engines (VAG Group is what i'm looking at here)
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Was hoping Porsche or Audi would give it shot but it seems like they are all concentrating on Le Mans.

iSparky said:
BBC give further details on their coverage

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21682493

Why? :mad:

Why are they allowing that feck stick to continue? He is a shite commentator. At least Suzi Perry gives us some eye candy, oh and Murrays memories :drool:
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Is he as bad as Legard? I used to switch to the red button and listen to Crofty and Davidson instead.

RDCR07 said:
Could someone explain to me how F1 fantasies work? I would like to play this year but how is the format? How is the scoring? How do you choose drivers?
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It's the first time Im playing this as well, I think your suppose to pick three drivers before every race and you earn points depending on how high they finish. You have got two options, either get 40m with the option to change drivers or get 45m and pick three permanent drivers.
 
Just registered. But why do people choose the £45m option with no changes? Also is it better to choose just three or go with 6?
 
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