Well the 2014 season is over and done with Lewis Hamilton taking his 2nd World Drivers Championship and Mercedes it's 1st World Constructors Championship. So will the Mercedes be as dominant in 2015 as it was in 2014 or will it's rivals be able to close the gap, and how will the returning Honda engine fair. But we are sill in the silly season, who will be driving for McLaren next year, but it looks like two rules will be changed for next year. The unpopular double points look set to be dropped and standing restarts (another unpopular move) look set to be scrapped before it comes in. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116953 And it looks like for the first time since 1994 there will be no nummber 1 on a car as Lewis wants to retain the number 44 which he is allowed under the rules.
Well the provisional calander for 2015 championship has been announced and it good be a record breaking season at 21 GP's with the suprise inclusion of Korea. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30319421 15 March: Australia 26 July: Hungary 29 March: Malaysia 23 August: Belgium 12 April: China 6 September: Italy 19 April: Bahrain 20 September: Singapore 3 May: Korea* 27 September: Japan 10 May: Spain 11 October: Russia 24 May: Monaco 25 October: United States 7 June: Canada 1 November: Mexico 21 June: Austria 15 November: Brazil 5 July: Great Britain 29 November: Abu Dhabi 19 July: Germany * to be confimed
Ok, my not very bold predictions for 2015: -Alonso won't win a race but Button will (maybe 1, late in the year) and their equal treatment will cause Alonso to leave again at season's end, maybe to retire. -Vettel won't win a race, and like Jacques Villeneuve, may never win again. Raikkonen will win at least one race but Ferrari's problems will continue. -Massa may win more than one race if Williams can build on 2014. He may be Best of the Rest. -Lewis and Nico will be the leaders for much of the year but I think the confidence of a second championship will buoy Lewis to a third title. -Red Bull will continue to scrape by. I would bet even money that Dieter will bail in another year or two if they continue to underperform. Ricciardo may steal a win or two. Overall, I don't think 15 will be the Merc whitewash that 14 was. However, barring some major change in engine development regs, Merc and Williams are top of the heap right now. Honda will certainly have a second team in 16. Maybe Sauber if they're still around?
F1 2015 Championship Thread Might as well get this ready, since the 20-race calendar has been announced, http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/race-calendar/ as have the live BBC races. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30704154
Re: F1 2015 Championship Thread Pre-season testing has started. So far Mercedes were straight in with a great performance, Ferrari look very much improved, McLaren-Honda a bit improved -ish, but haven't gone for a flying lap yet, and Williams and Red Bull pretty quick as per last year.
Well the 1st test of the year has gotten under way at Jerez, with Mercedes looking strong, but Vettel topping the time sheets. But how much are each team masking their cars true performance?
Loks like Alonso will miss the season opener following medical advice following a crash in testing. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31713292
I'm starting to buy the "fumes in the car" rumor for Alonso. It would take time for burned lungs to heal. Wish the team would come clean on what happened.
Well with only a couple of days left to go before the season starts with Free Practice, the question remains who will drive for Sauber with two different courts ruling that Geido Van Der Garde does have a contract for a race seat. Last I checked 3 into 2 doesn't go. But there is an appeal on Thursday. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31828900 The question if the appeal court upholds the previous decisions does Sauber go ahead with Nasr and Ericsson, in violation of that order? Should one or more finish could other teams appeal the result due the team being in violation of a court ruling? Should anything happen i.e a driver injury involving the Saubers how would that play out as they drove in violation of a court ruling. It's a potential legal minefield.
I'm going to stream it in the afternoon. I can't enjoy it when i'm tired. Plus I like to drink beer when I watch it.
So two big questions remain. 1.>Will Manor make it to the grid 2.>Sauber, what will the next development in the fiasco be.
Well looks like Mercedes have a sizeable advantage over the rest of the field 1.4 seconds, unless the likes of Ferrari, Honda and Renault are sandbagging and lulling us into a false sense of security. What am I saying if any team is doing that it's likely to be Mercedes after all why run at full power if you don't have to.
Looks like Red Bull are throwing yet another tandrum with (yet) a quit threat http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/518465/Furious_Red_Bull_issues_F1_quit_threat/ It's not Mercedes fault that Renault didn't design as good an enginge as Mercedes, Ferrari seemed to have made a step forward so the fault is with Renault and not the rules, the engine rules were agreed to by Renault had they the best enginge I doubt they would be saying it's unfair and saying the rules should be changed. They had 4 years with the dominant car. The history of F1 is fulled with one particular team dominating for a period of time.