F1 World Championship 2014

[Wilian]

Probably the most interesting start of a season in a very, very long time. I cannot wait!

Everything is just so good. Ferrari's internal competition chances, car balances out of whack, two finnish drivers out of which one is world champion and another has proven to be a very fast driver already..

Also I believe me and Valtteri Bottas were in same school. He lives in same town I did few years back and went school to, both born same year '89 :O :O

And Red Bull domination seems to be over. >: D

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

And the first Friday practice of the season has started!

Hamilton breaks down on his first timed lap. Vettel's car is being worked on.

[sheffield]

ugh, hate the sound of these motors

it's missing 6 cylinders

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

I dunno...although I am a bit of a sucker for a turbocharger.

[Northern Goblin]

That was a pretty fun first day of practice, as long as you aren't trying to drive a Renault engine.

Between Red Bull skipping FP1, Lotus using zero ERS all day and Caterham sitting in the paddock for both FP1 and FP2, it's a complete disaster for them. The only non Renault driver that seems to be having a shit day is Raikonnen, needs a lot more time with this Ferrari I think.



And I hate that sound... or distinct lack of. Where's my screaming V8 roar

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Yeah, it took Hamilton nearly a year to get to grips with how the Mercedes brakes worked. While Raikönnen has spent time at Ferrari, the current car is nothing like the old one he drove there. Give him time.

And Renault has really dropped the ball this season. I'm also looking forward to Massa getting more points in a Williams than he did in a Ferrari.

I wonder if the sound the engines make could be improved upon by sticking a playing card in the spokes of the wheels

[Northern Goblin]

I reckon Renault cars will be out of it the first few races, Vettel might be able to grab points here and there, but it'll take a few before they come good.

So really Red Bull will start the season with a massive disadvantage, if only there was some way to gain ground at the end of the year....

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

I reckon Renault cars will be out of it the first few races, Vettel might be able to grab points here and there, but it'll take a few before they come good.

So really Red Bull will start the season with a massive disadvantage, if only there was some way to gain ground at the end of the year....

Yeah, they'd have to introduce double points for the last race of the season or something equally stupid like "Vettel gets to start the race on the installation lap" to make Vettel able to win the championship again. But I don't see that happening ...

[Bigbazz]

It doesn't look bad for Red Bull, they were on the pace in P2 and managed race distances, if their car is as good as you would expect it to be aerodynamically then the Red Bull will be competing for this years championship if they find reliability. Mercedes have the upper hand but it's a long season and the end of the season is worth a lot more than the beginning.

[Northern Goblin]

There was some confusion after Hamilton's power unit had to be changed before first practice as to if it counted to the cap of five.

Because 1st FP hadn't started, it doesn't.


As to Maldonado, there's been some debate as to whether the components swapped out of his PU can be reused if they're repaired this season, or if he's already on 2/5.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

There was some confusion after Hamilton's power unit had to be changed before first practice as to if it counted to the cap of five.

Because 1st FP hadn't started, it doesn't.

It won't be the last, this weekend.

[Northern Goblin]

Maldonado's engine fire means he's already on 2/5 for the season, unless they can reuse parts they replaced if they repair them.

Not that likely they will, most of it was a smouldering wreck.

[shise]

Edited with the times of FP2!

I am not really bothering with FP1 times as FP1 was mostly an extra "pre-season" test than an actual Friday test!


1. Lewis Hamilton || Mercedes 1:29.625

2. Nico Rosberg || Mercedes 1:29.782

3. Fernando Alonso || Ferrari 1:30.132

4. Sebastian Vettel || RedBull - Renault 1:30.381

5. Jenson Button || McLaren 1:30.510

6. Daniel Ricciardo || RedBull - Renault 1:30.538

7. Kimi Raikkonen || Ferrari 1:30.898

8. Valtteri Bottas || Williams-Mercedes 1:30.920

9. Kevin Magnussen || McLaren 1:31.031

10. Nico Huelkenberg || Force India - Mercedes 1:31.054[/B]

- - - Updated - - -

I also dislike the sound. I was expecting the turbo to help it a bit.. but meh :/

As long as we can have a proper race...

- - - Updated - - -



Saturday.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Rather interesting to see those three groupings of times. You have the Mercs on 1:29.6-7, then Alonso, the Red Bulls and Button on 1:30.1-5, and then the rest around 1:31.0

[chaddd]

Great thread! I haven't looked at the 2014 stuff yet. Glad to finally see who landed on what team and pics of all the new cars. Thanks!

[Northern Goblin]

If these Renault's continue with issues today, I can see the 5 engine rule getting negged pretty fast, it's this year's tyre fiasco.

Speaking of which, the talk after yesterday's FP was the new tires don't seem to be as tough as people had hoped, lot of discussion about strategies being changed to have more stops.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

If these Renault's continue with issues today, I can see the 5 engine rule getting negged pretty fast, it's this year's tyre fiasco.

Speaking of which, the talk after yesterday's FP was the new tires don't seem to be as tough as people had hoped, lot of discussion about strategies being changed to have more stops.

I remember saying that I reckoned the electric boosted V6 engines would produce so much torque that tyres would be shredded. Especially because they have no traction control.

[Northern Goblin]

And Rosberg knackers his tyres out in 8 laps. Awesome..

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Was he on primes or options when he knackered them? Albert Park isn't exactly kind to tyres at the best of times.

[Northern Goblin]

Was he on primes or options when he knackered them? Albert Park isn't exactly kind to tyres at the best of times.

IIRC Primes. But still, 8 laps is abysmal.