Guess based on what we've seen so far: McLaren will do well compared to StrollIndia, TR and Haas. But... against RB, Renault and Alfa? RB may well end up falling into the clutches of the midfield due to the new engine supplier, but they may not fall enough for McLaren to be able to take advantage. Renault theoretically has the upper hand over McLaren due to better drivers and being a works team. Alfa could potentially score points on the regular thanks to massive Ferrari assistance and one of the most experienced drivers on the grid.
So testing is over and... Mercedes have built a beast that's both reliable and fast... again. The Ferrari might be a teensy bit faster, but it's also fragile. Red Bull could still be third, but they might also be fifth. Renault and Mclaren look good for best of the rest. Sauber Romeo looked great until everyone else took the fuel out of their cars too, now they look exactly in the middle. STR, Haas and Racing Point could be anywhere at any moment. Williams are 1.2 sec off the next slowest car, it's going to be another long year. Two weeks to go!
Will gasley keep it out of the walls long enough for it to 'splode? [It seemed like every time I checked up on testing it was 'Gasley crashes']
Also, PMI (Ferraris title Mission Winnow sponsor) wont appear on the car for the first race in Australia due to possible legal infringements.
Williams were showing promise two or three years back, then Paddy Lowe arrived and they went backwards. Not saying it's all down to him, but he hasn't proven himself and a positive force within the team IMO.
Williams did well in 2014 thanks to Mercedes power and a very low drag car, but they've been way behind in aero development since Newey left in the 90s. The 2017 rule change was always going to hammer them, but Sauber/Mclaren shitting the bed (and Palmer driving the other Renault) flattered them. I feel bad for Lowe, going from Mercedes and their 'whatever it is, whatever it costs, you can have it,' mentality to Williams duct tape and filler because there isn't a budget must have been impossible. It's easy to blame him but Martini has gone, Papa Stroll took away his money (and allegedly has taken Rob Smedley with a bunch of the senior engineering staff with him, once their gardening leaves expire) and the team ran on two pay drivers last year. No Felipe to bang in those 9th and 10ths every race weekend. Whatever planning Lowe might have been trying to do with Williams business decisions made by Mike O'Driscoll and the Williams family have surely driven a coach and horses through it. The business with the car sounds like a critical lack of money and staff, which goes higher than Paddy Lowe.
Nah I think that was Frank and Patrick deciding over a cup of tea to fire Damon Hill, then not telling anyone they'd done it until they announced it in Autosport. It's been a very long fall from grace but the end must surely come soon.
To be fair, there must have been a reason Mercedes no longer wanted his services (you don't willingly leave the champs for Williams...), and the cars built under his watch have been awful. But does that mean that they are now without an established head of aero and techincal? Not good news, not good at all.
Dunno, I'd say the beginning of the end was the breakdown of the Williams - BMW relationship... What was it? 2006 I think they switched to Cosworth (and they kept blowing up), then they had an ill fated time with Toyota engines, then back to Cosworth.. during that time their driver line up was also a complete mess, Button signing a contract to drive for them but going to BAR instead, the hiring of various drivers like Wurz, Nakajima, Maldonado, Senna that had all seemingly been vaccinated against success... And more engine switches first to Renault which didn't work out at all and eventually to Mercedes who had an engine so comically strong that Williams could punch a bit above their weight occasionally, but with the Ferrari and Renault engines getting closer to the Mercedes one the incompetence of Williams once again dumped them to the very back.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47497979 1 Point for Fastest lap for this year it seems thoughts ??
I feel it's good. It'll hopefully keep the front runners closer to each other, will make an easy race a bit more exciting if 1st place tries to get fastest time and makes a mistake. I only wonder if 1 point is enough for the risk.
I wonder if it's more to encourage mid-rear of the grid teams to try a late stage banzai for the fastest lap like Alonso [?] did at one point... 1 point is worth more to those teams than the likes of Hamilton. If you're 11th downwards it's a stab at point you were never going to get near... if you're 10th it's a double or nothing-eqsue punt... is Hamilton etc. getting 26 points instead of 25 or 19 instead of 18 really going to do much in the greater scheme?
It'll be interesting to see if the smaller teams will attempt low fuel banzai runs in the final laps of a race. [edit] Ninja'd by RedFlames
They won't get the chance because either the race leader will put in one hot lap near the end (and if it's a Merc or a Ferrari everyone else can just give up there). Or if one of the big three has a car out of position that car will start doing banzai laps so they can get an extra point on the board. Although if they had done this last year Bottas would have finished the season third, leaving Kimi and Max one place back each. More fannying about in the margins, won't change anything.
How many of the leaders will be sporting fresh rubber at the end of a race? Even if the no.2 driver is slightly out of position, do you think they're going to risk losing places to change tyres for a single banzai point? This is a nod to the runners outside the points paying positions - Alonso proved it is possible in a thoroughly sh!te McHonda.
also are merc, Ferrari and RBR going to risk grenading the engine and having engine penalties over *a* point?
