F1 World Championship Grand Prix - bringing sexy back to the track

[E-van]

1 minute ago, RipeFIN said:

True. I did a little research about F1 drivers. American F1 champions: Phil Hill (1961) and Mario Andretti (1978). Two championship combined. Last race win was  in 1978 (Do I even need to compare that to for example Finlands stats, a country which has under 2% the amount of inhabitants that USA has). I thought that motor sports were quite popular in America.

Motorsports is decently popular in America, but F1 in particular has never really been all that popular over here, which is actually kind of a shame. It's mostly NASCAR that's popular in America.

[Ripe]

Just now, Falonso14 said:

Motorsports is decently popular in America, but F1 in particular has never really been all that popular over here, which is actually kind of a shame. It's mostly NASCAR that's popular in America.

NASCAR, yeah. I know that it is pretty big one there. But that is only popular there. I mean, at least here there really are not many people who care about it.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

1 hour ago, Falonso14 said:

Motorsports is decently popular in America, but F1 in particular has never really been all that popular over here, which is actually kind of a shame. It's mostly NASCAR that's popular in America.

that and the daytona 500 is popular ;p

[E-van]

8 minutes ago, RipeFIN said:

NASCAR, yeah. I know that it is pretty big one there. But that is only popular there. I mean, at least here there really are not many people who care about it.

Yeah, I do wish other forms of motorsports such as F1, Le Mans, and Moto GP were more popular over here.

1 minute ago, Detective Mikgenes said:

that and the daytona 500 is popular ;p

That is NASCAR.

[Ripe]

5 minutes ago, Falonso14 said:

Yeah, I do wish other forms of motorsports such as F1, Le Mans, and Moto GP were more popular over here.

That is NASCAR.

I think that in general Americans are mostly interested in their own sports and not so much for example in the European sports. But correct me if I'm wrong

[QuantumEdge]

10 minutes ago, RipeFIN said:

I think that in general Americans are mostly interested in their own sports and not so much for example in the European sports. But correct me if I'm wrong

Not sure if it counts, but cricket was shown in an episode of Regular Show once :/  Other then that, I hardly hear the Americans talk much about any sport, motoring or otherwise that isn't their own.

[E-van]

13 minutes ago, RipeFIN said:

I think that in general Americans are mostly interested in their own sports and not so much for example in the European sports. But correct me if I'm wrong

I'm actually not 100% sure, since I don't follow any sport besides motorsports, but I don't really hear talk about non-American sports that often, so you might be onto something.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

2 hours ago, RipeFIN said:

I think that in general Americans are mostly interested in their own sports and not so much for example in the European sports. But correct me if I'm wrong

yeah there are times i do agree that the west is more interested in their own sports. though there is soccer/futbol but it's not that popular.  

[sonicDX]

Although I can't say which car is good and which is not, I look forward to the F1 season. I like to watch it, but I'm not an expert of it. So... just continue discussing!

[Ripe]

So we have three new car reveals today:

Mercedes: 

McLaren: 

Haas: 

In the terms of looks, no surprises with Mercedes or McLaren which is a good thing to me (even if I prefer the old McLarens over this new black one). Haas looks fine even if it for some reason reminds me of both HRT and Manor. It just weird that therereally aren't any sponsors in the car. I mean, is Haas so rich that he can keep the team going even without them or will they be added later?

When it come to what I expect I guess that Mercedes is still either the best one or now in the same level with Ferrari. I think that Honda has improved but McLaren will going to struggle to get podiums. Haas is a big question mark. I believe that they are better than those three earlier trainswrecks of a teams but still.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Check out the Sonic trophy haha this was in the 90s I think

[QuantumEdge]

The reason Haas hasn't got any sponsors, is likely that no one wants to throw money at an untested, rookie team.  Although, considering it's the first American team in a good few years, I'm surprised no American companies aren't showing a little support.

[Ripe]

3 minutes ago, QuantumEdge said:

The reason Haas hasn't got any sponsors, is likely that no one wants to throw money at an untested, rookie team.  Although, considering it's the first American team in a good few years, I'm surprised no American companies aren't showing a little support.

Maybe. Kinda makes me conserned over the future of the team. I mean, I have undertood that sponsors are pretty much mandatory in F1 in the terms of surviving.

[QuantumEdge]

Just now, RipeFIN said:

Maybe. Kinda makes me conserned over the future of the team. I mean, I have undertood that sponsors are pretty much mandatory in F1 in the terms of surviving.

Then we'll have to hope they find some decent success, since that'll be what makes companies feel comfortable with offering their support.  Honestly though, I think they'll be okay.  The whole car was made with so much input and components from Ferrari, chances are it'll have some nice pace.  Add that with a talented driver such as Romain Grojean, and I'd gather that they'll find some good points this year.

[E-van]

In terms of looks, the McLaren is quite disappointing. It's literally the exact same thing as last year with a little less red.

I will say the Mercedes and Haas look quite nice, in my opinion. I like that they seemed to add more green to the Mercedes.

PS: If anyone's interested in the names of the cars, Mercedes W07, McLaren MP4-31, Haas VF16.

[TheOcelot]

When it comes to sexy the new Mercedes and Haas are the clear winners, whereas McLaren looks so disappointing compared to their former silver chrome livery a few years back. Still don't think Mclaren has a new title sponsor yet which will surely take it's toll on them financially.

As for Haas, it's always nice to see a new F1 team. Lets hope they have a solid first season.

1 hour ago, Detective Mikgenes said:

Check out the Sonic trophy haha this was in the 90s I think

1993 Donington (British) GP. In heavy rain conditions Senna won the race and beat the Williams drivers who had the best car.

Another interesting fact; Back in the early 90's there was a Sega Mega Drive game called "Super Monaco GP"". Well, a year later a sequel was released on the Mega Drive, Game Gear & Master System called "Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II". SEGA were quite happy being associated with F1!

[E-van]

2 minutes ago, BenderBR said:

When it comes to sexy the new Mercedes and Haas are the clear winners, whereas McLaren looks so disappointing compared to their former silver chrome livery a few years back. Still don't think Mclaren has a new title sponsor yet which will surely take it toll financially.

Has for Haas, it's always nice to see a new F1 team. Lets hope they have solid first season.

1993 Donington (British) GP. In heavy rain conditions Senna won the race and beat the Williams drivers who had the best car.

Another interesting fact; Back in the early 90's there was a Sega Mega Drive game called "Super Monaco GP"". Well, a year later a sequel was released on the Mega Drive, Game Gear & Master System called "Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II". SEGA were quite happy being associated with F1!

I actually liked McLaren's original livery last year. I think it looks much better than the one they have now.

And Donington, 1993 was also the famous race where Senna went from 5th to 1st in one lap, so it's cool that Sega was the sponsor of a quite historical race.

 

[Phos]

They've announced Alpinestars as a sponsor so far.  

I really wish Mclaren would get their orange back in their livery.

[E-van]

3 minutes ago, Phos said:

They've announced Alpinestars as a sponsor so far.  

I really wish Mclaren would get their orange back in their livery.

Alpinestars? I knew they got Chandon and Richard Mille, but I didn't know they got Alpinestars.

And I personally wish they brought the red and white from the 80's/early 90's back.

[CF3635]

On 20 February 2016 at 1:14 AM, Falonso14 said:

(And yes, the Honda does actually sound quite nice, especially in the low speed corners)

There is hope for Honda this year. Last year their engines were underpowered.

By the way, I might be going to this year's F1 in Singapore, after going there for the past few years.

[E-van]

So, day 1 of testing at Barcelona has come to an end. Here are the results:

So, as expected, Ferrari and Mercedes are on top. Red Bull actually seems to be a bit better than I expected. Williams looks to be in the same place as last year, same with Force India. McLaren seems to have improved quite a bit. (Yay!) Toro Rosso and Sauber are more or less the same as last year. Manor might have improved a little bit. I was expecting a little bit more from Haas and especially Renault, I hope they get their problems sorted out before the season starts in Australia.

So yeah, that's day 1. Let's see if tomorrow is any different.

[QuantumEdge]

10 minutes ago, Falonso14 said:

So, day 1 of testing at Barcelona has come to an end. Here are the results:

So, as expected, Ferrari and Mercedes are on top. Red Bull actually seems to be a bit better than I expected. Williams looks to be in the same place as last year, same with Force India. McLaren seems to have improved quite a bit. (Yay!) Toro Rosso and Sauber are more or less the same as last year. Manor might have improved a little bit. I was expecting a little bit more from Haas and especially Renault, I hope they get their problems sorted out before the season starts in Australia.

So yeah, that's day 1. Let's see if tomorrow is any different.

I want to point out, you can't truly gauge much from tests and take it as race pace.  We have no idea who was going at full power and who wasn't.  However, I'm praying that Ferrari time really means something...

[E-van]

1 minute ago, QuantumEdge said:

I want to point out, you can't truly gauge much from tests and take it as race pace.  We have no idea who was going at full power and who wasn't.  However, I'm praying that Ferrari time really means something...

Trust me, I've kept that in mind. I have a feeling Mercedes in particular wasn't going at full power.

[Ripe]

Hopefully Ferraris time means something. Other than that these first tests don't really tell anything. Especially with Renault I really can't believe that they would be this bad because they have the information of what Lotus had.

By the way, what do think about the cars that were show today. Most of they are pretty similar to the last years cars. Manor is definitely better looking than last year and Force India is again my favourite in the terms of design.

[TheOcelot]

The current Barcelona test is running from 22nd February to 25th. The next one will be at the Paul Ricard circuit (25th to 26th Feb) and the final test - when we'll start to get a true picture as to the teams which have made the best progress - will be at Barcelona from 1 March to 4 March 2016.