2015 Open Wheel Racing Chat (and More)

[rvrdgsfn]

Wow, I'm kind of disappointed with McLaren's livery. I kind of figured they would go with another color other than silver but its ok, I guess I was just expecting something else. Merc looks good as usual.

Next up is a teaser pic for Nissan's LMP1...

Last but not least, a face that we wished wasn't coming back is...

http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/112957-indycar-familiar-name-set-to-return-as-race-director

ndyCar has confirmed that Vice President of Competition Brian Barnhart has been named Race Director and will lead the Verizon IndyCar Series' three-steward Race Control system in 2015.

Barnhart, who previously served as race director from 1997-2011, was a key member of the IndyCar Race Control system implemented in 2014 that stipulates all in-race penalties are decided by a two-thirds vote among the respective stewards officiating each event. He was replaced as race director by Beaux Barfield after the 2011 season, but Barfield left IndyCar at the end of last year to take a similar position with IMSA.

I'm sure Will Power will be so happy to see this news..

[DolphinManatee]

More bad news for IndyCar, season-opening race in Brazil cancelled.

[marble21]

As expected, there's not a great deal of change in design with the 2015 cars other than the obvious new nose cones. As for the liveries:

McLaren: The red wing mirrors seem too much. It could probably do with some red on the rear wing too. Maybe that will come when sponsor logos are added like in past years with the lucozade/santander.

Mercedes: Solid and what you'd expect. Glad they didn't go with the chrome.

Ferrari and supposedly Sauber will be revealing their new cars today (30th Jan).

[rvrdgsfn]

Ferrari's 2015 machine

Sauber's new ride with new colors

Overall, I'm impressed with Ferrari & Sauber does look better than last year.

[marble21]

These new noses certainly look a lot lower and longer than last year. I wonder how many will be lost during the season by drivers turning into collisions.

Sauber has been likened to IKEA. A white nose may have been nice and a touch towards some of their past designs.

[VictoriaGooner]

I am impressed with Ferrari's new aero package. I especially like the new livery of Sauber, nice change from the plain white. But I am wondering if the new colors and design will aid them in picking up points this year. Sauber might become the bottom feeders of the F1 grid.

[marble21]

Sauber might become the bottom feeders of the F1 grid.

They have said that they have recycled a lot of parts and designs from last year as a cost cutting method. They spent most of last season in the position Force India are in now financially. Don't expect anything from Sauber other than making up the numbers on the grid.

[VictoriaGooner]

Sauber might become the bottom feeders of the F1 grid.

They have said that they have recycled a lot of parts and designs from last year as a cost cutting method. They spent most of last season in the position Force India are in now financially. Don't expect anything from Sauber other than making up the numbers on the grid.

I am not expecting much from Sauber. I agree with you marble21, making up the F1 grid mainly.

[rvrdgsfn]

Well, we got the first day of testing in Jerez & Red Bull & Toro Rosso unveiled their machines, however Red Bull is doing a camo livery for testing so I guess the new one won't come out till later.

With first day of testing, Vettel was the fastest. Plus there were only 7 teams testing. Lotus was missing but are expected back on Tuesday.

[rvrdgsfn]

Bumping due to the debut of Nissan's LMP1 machine....

It definitely sticks out, then again its a 1250 hp fwd LMP1 car.

[VictoriaGooner]

With first day of testing, Vettel was the fastest. Plus there were only 7 teams testing. Lotus was missing but are expected back on Tuesday.

Toro Rosso looks good, but the aero package doesn't look any different from their 2014 car...other than the nose and a slight change to the curvature of the side pods. But they have a new sponsor of CEPSA. But the youngsters in this team will have a huge learning curve when Australia comes. I can see Toro Rosso fighting in the back this season.

If anyone is interested in the actual timing results from Day One in Jerez (unofficial):

1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1m 22.620s, 60 laps

2. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1m 22.777s, 73 laps

3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 23.106s, 157 laps

4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m 23.338s, 35 laps

5. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1m 23.906s, 73 laps

6. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1m 25.327s, 46 laps

7. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1m 40.738s, 6 laps

Plus here are some highlights of all the cars on the track during Day One:

That McLaren-Honda sounds like a monster! LOL

[VictoriaGooner]

Day Two of Jerez ended the same as Day One with Vettel topping the time sheets again (unofficial times).

1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1m 20.984s, 88 laps

2. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1m 21.867s, 89 laps
3. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1m 22.319s, 61 laps
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m 22.490s, 91 laps
5. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1m 24.167s, 73 laps
6. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m 25.802s, 41 laps
7. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1m 54.655s, 6 laps
8. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, No time, 18 laps

Hamilton was the top lap setter with 91 laps while Button only managed 6 laps due to a recurring fault in the Honda engine. Button finally got on the the track at the end of the session but only enough to complete an outlap and one timed lap. Kvyat ran 18 laps but ran most of them without a front wing (hence the no time status). When asked, Horner said that they only brought one front wing (with many spare parts arriving for Day Three) and wanted to get the most of the training session. Who needs downforce LOL

Jerez Day Two highlights

Part 1

http://youtu.be/4W3cWK-YHQc

Part 2

[VictoriaGooner]

Day Three of Jerez preseason testing ended with a shock on who was on top of the time sheets. Sauber's Felipe Nasr was fastest on Tuesday, narrowly edging the Ferrari of morning pacesetter Kimi Raikkonen and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Less than half a second separated the trio at the close of play, although it was Nasr who set the headline time as he bolted on Pirelli's super-soft tyres and lapped the Spanish track in 1m 21.545s. The Brazilian also clocked up more than 100 laps on what was only his second official session as a Formula One race driver. Alonso on the other hand had another struggling day with the Honda powered car with only completing 32 laps. The ghosts, or glitches, are still in the Honda power plant.

1. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1m 21.545s, 109 laps

2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m 21.750s, 94 laps
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 21.982s, 151 laps
4. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1m 22.276s, 71 laps
5. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m 22.713s, 96 laps
6. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1m 23.187s, 137 laps
7. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m 23.901s, 49 laps
8. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1m 35.553s, 32 laps

Day Three highlights

First session of Jerez testing concludes tomorrow.

[VictoriaGooner]

For anyone who watches Sky Sports F1, they will know the mainstay of the network is the technical knowledge and paddock reporter Ted Kravitz. And with that, Ted's Notebook from first testing in Jerez

1st Test Day One

http://youtu.be/Q7mnVC3bGQY

1st Test Day Two

http://youtu.be/idyQlXsoJgA

1st Test Day Three

1st Test Day Four (including an aero breakdown of each team testing called Development Corner - a good watch if you are into the aerodynamic design of the car and how manufacturers accomplish it)

[DolphinManatee]

Moscow added to this season's Formula E calendar. It will take place on the 6th of June.

[rvrdgsfn]

So... About Force India....

http://www.grandprix247.com/2015/02/04/force-india-continue-to-deny-reports-of-collapse/

Force India and also F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone have played down reports about the health of the Silverstone based team.

Amid rumours the team is in financial trouble and could miss the season opener in Melbourne, a Force India spokesperson said on Monday: “We will definitely be in Melbourne and are still planning to test in Barcelona.”

But late on Tuesday, reports emerged that the team will in fact probably also miss the first of the two Barcelona tests due to supplier problems.

The sport’s chief executive Ecclestone, meanwhile, reacted to reports in the German media that at a meeting of the strategy group last week it emerged that Force India is close to collapse.

Meanwhile at Haas...

http://www.racer.com/f1/item/113188-ex-red-bull-man-to-head-haas-design

Former Red Bull and Jaguar chief designer Rob Taylor is to head up the design of Haas's new Formula 1 car.

Although the construction of its 2016 F1 challenger is being overseen by Italian racing car maker Dallara, Haas has appointed Taylor as its chief designer to oversee the project. Taylor was at Jaguar Racing and led the design of Red Bull's first F1 car before making a move to McLaren.

Amid a major tie-up with Ferrari, plus its status as a new American team, there has been growing interest in the color scheme that Haas will use in 2016. Discussions inside the team about the matter are ongoing, but team owner Gene Haas has suggested its cars could be yellow.

"We would like to have something with a corporate image, but on the other hand you want a car that you can see," he said. "After a while all these silver or gray cars become kind of the same.

"Everybody's gone with all these rainbow colors and a solid color would be something easily definable. You'd like to be seen.

"I like yellow – personally, I think a solid yellow would be nice."

Well, it would stick out lol.

[VictoriaGooner]

Agreed...Haas F1 will definitely standout with a solid yellow with some red or even black trimmings. Would look good for sure. As for Dallara in control of developing the 2016 F1 challenger, when was the last time Dallara developed a F1 car from the ground up? I know they are in IndyCar and LMP1 but they haven't been involved in F1 for over 20 years.

Today concluded the first pre-season testing session with Raikkonen ending ontop of the time sheets by going fastest. The Scuderia's new SF15-T had already topped the first and second days in the hands of Sebastian Vettel, and Raikkonen carried on that momentum by setting the best time of the test on Wednesday, dipping down to 1m 20.841s to finish comfortably clear of the chasing pack. Button finished the bottom of the pack again only completing 35 laps. McLaren engineering director Matt Morris said despite some niggles the team leave the first test feeling positive. "Our prime objective coming away from this test was to ascertain that the main car architecture worked, and we’ve done that," he explained. “Today, we had a couple of stoppages, but we were still able to get on with our aero programme - obtaining correlation data for the guys back at the factory, just so we can check that everything’s working as we expected. “Additionally, Jenson’s been able to give Honda some really good feedback - he’s been constantly providing analysis after every run. That’s to be expected: it’s a new power unit, so there’s a lot of information that being sent back to Japan, and Honda are constantly upgrading the car. “We head to Barcelona hopeful of further refining and developing the package.” Still many many bugs in the McLaren Honda.

1. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m 20.841s, 106 laps

2. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1m 22.019s, 112 laps
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m 22.172s, 117 laps
4. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1m 22.553s, 97 laps
5. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1m 23.116s, 73 laps
6. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1m 23.802s, 53 laps
7. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1m 23.975s, 64 laps
8. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1m 27.660s, 35 laps

The teams now have two weeks before testing resumes at Barcelona on February 19-22. Force India are expected to join the fray, although their new car is not likely to appear until the third and final test, also at Barcelona, on February 26-March 1.

[VictoriaGooner]

F1 chiefs are to discuss plans to fast-track a revolutionary overhaul of grand prix cars at a Strategy Group meeting in Paris on Thursday. The gathering of top teams with Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Jean Todt will push on with talks over creating more spectacular and faster F1 machinery, potentially with 1000bhp engines, for the 2016 and '17 seasons. Changes that will be considered - potentially as early as next season, include making cars wider, and adding more downforce and better performing tyres. The Strategy Group meeting will also likely discuss the fate of the Marussia team (now called Manor F1 and is cleared of administration as of yesterday), and whether it is possible for the team to get approval to start the campaign with a 2014 car.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117597

Mick Schumacher is following in the footsteps of his father. Michael Schumacher’s son is set on his own road to Formula 1, with news that he is signing to compete in Formula 4 this season. http://www.grandprix247.com/2015/02/05/schumacher-son-starts-on-ladder-to-formula-1/

[raysox]

When was the last time there was a royal blue car in the field? I've watched for like 3 seasons and I don't think I remember one. Maybe Sauber during the Red Bull era? I'm not counting Alonso in the Renault either.

[marble21]

When was the last time there was a royal blue car in the field? I've watched for like 3 seasons and I don't think I remember one. Maybe Sauber during the Red Bull era? I'm not counting Alonso in the Renault either.

Williams and Sauber both had several cars that were mainly white with blue trim during the 2000s decade. Both had engine connections with BMW. If I remember correctly, it has been like 10 years since Sauber had a fully royal blue car with the white nose and teal petronas sidepods.

The 90s had a lot of royal blue. Which makes it weird that there has been such an absence. I did take myself on a nostalgia trip looking at pictures of cars from old seasons. I won't bore you with the details though, the last time there was a completely royal blue identity was probably the ligier/prost team: