Silly season 2016

[horse]

Can't wait to see this again (sarc mark, sarc mark):



Jesus, whoever wrote those nose rules needed shot. There is a whole year of racing for which we can never look at a picture again.

[ME4ME]

Can't wait to see this again (sarc mark, sarc mark):

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... d_Prix.jpg

Jesus, whoever wrote those nose rules needed shot. There is a whole year of racing for which we can never look at a picture again.

Nah, some cars saved the season. Not all were ugly

[Scuderia1967]

Can't wait to see this again (sarc mark, sarc mark):

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... d_Prix.jpg

Jesus, whoever wrote those nose rules needed shot. There is a whole year of racing for which we can never look at a picture again.

Nah, some cars saved the season. Not all were ugly
http://www.wallpaperup.com/uploads/wall ... 7cbbcf.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qLVemAvFomc/hqdefault.jpg

The Red Bull nose was as ugly as the others, they just had the good sense to paint it black

[dren]

Yes, the Red Bull design was very forgiving of that nose. The Mercedes had the right idea.

[PlatinumZealot]

It seems to me that Renault want an experienced driver next to Palmer, rather than two rookies, but the list is short for the V6 era. Who have we got:

* K-Mag
* JEV
* Sutil
* Kobayashi

So, it's hardly a rich landscape. I think Sutil may have had his day, and it would be fun to see Kobayashi back in F1, but I understand them choosing a younger driver. Between K-Mag and JEV, well, K-Mag is a free agent I guess.

I think KMag has less experience than Maldonado with these new regs but he has experience in a big team, and that may be what Renault needs to rebuild itself into a front runner. There aren't any other available big-team drivers out there.

[FoxHound]

I think KMag has less experience than Maldonado with these new regs but he has experience in a big team, and that may be what Renault needs to rebuild itself into a front runner. There aren't any other available big-team drivers out there.

With K-Mag, it was precisely because he lacked experience that he was dropped. To memory, he was fast but had continuous issues with set up. If we are going to be harsh, we could compare him to Verstappen/Sainz or even Hamilton in their first seasons.

It seemed at the time that Magnussen was focusing his efforts in qualifying, to the detriment of his race pace. This imbalance continued throughout 2014, which when you look at the cold hard statistics, tells it's own story.

He outqualified Button 10 to 9, but was outscored 55/126.

That extra pace in qualifying could not be translated into race pace, and this was a problem to a seasoned team like McLaren. One can only hope it was a specific problem, or we could see more of the same this year.

[ME4ME]

Actually Button beat him 10 to 9. Overall Magnussen was 0.165 s quicker in qualifying though.
Also Button scored 10 points in Abu Dhabi, which was doubled to 20, were as Magnussen didn't score points that race.

Lack of experience yes, it was his first F1-season. He couldn't possibly have more experience than Button or Alonso anyway

Some stats:
Team mate comparison:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/03/w ... tles-2014/

Qualifying:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/statistics/2 ... ying-data/

Championship points:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/statistics/2 ... ip-points/

[langwadt]

I think KMag has less experience than Maldonado with these new regs but he has experience in a big team, and that may be what Renault needs to rebuild itself into a front runner. There aren't any other available big-team drivers out there.

With K-Mag, it was precisely because he lacked experience that he was dropped. To memory, he was fast but had continuous issues with set up. If we are going to be harsh, we could compare him to Verstappen/Sainz or even Hamilton in their first seasons.

It seemed at the time that Magnussen was focusing his efforts in qualifying, to the detriment of his race pace. This imbalance continued throughout 2014, which when you look at the cold hard statistics, tells it's own story.

He outqualified Button 10 to 9, but was outscored 55/126.

That extra pace in qualifying could not be translated into race pace, and this was a problem to a seasoned team like McLaren. One can only hope it was a specific problem, or we could see more of the same this year.

So he had the speed but had to relearn how to race in a formula where race pace come down to saving fuel and tires

[FoxHound]

Actually Button beat him 10 to 9. Overall Magnussen was 0.165 s quicker in qualifying though.
Also Button scored 10 points in Abu Dhabi, which was doubled to 20, were as Magnussen didn't score points that race.

Lack of experience yes, it was his first F1-season. He couldn't possibly have more experience than Button or Alonso anyway

My eyes deceived me on my phone! Thank you for the correction.

I think the point needs to be made that there was stagnation as the campaign went on for Magnussen.
Instead of the steep learning curve, it kinda flattened out a bit. This also explains how McLaren gradually got cold feet over what was a great start for him.

So he had the speed but had to relearn how to race in a formula where race pace come down to saving fuel and tires

It's the same for all drivers, and certainly was no issue for Sainz Jr or Verstappen in 2015.
You could argue that with the new engines, no coanda exhausts and new Pirelli compounds, that all drivers went into new territory for 2014 compared to preceding years.

I'm not hating on Magnussen, just fail to see what makes him exceptional over say, Kobayashi.

[ScottB]

I'd say he's just seen as a solid pair of hands, well, more solid than Maldonado, who will bring a bit of cash. Maybe he has potential that he hasn't reached yet, maybe he doesn't. I doubt the Renault car is going to be much of more this year, so they've got nothing to lose giving him a go, and few, if any, better candidates available.

[langwadt]

Actually Button beat him 10 to 9. Overall Magnussen was 0.165 s quicker in qualifying though.
Also Button scored 10 points in Abu Dhabi, which was doubled to 20, were as Magnussen didn't score points that race.

Lack of experience yes, it was his first F1-season. He couldn't possibly have more experience than Button or Alonso anyway

My eyes deceived me on my phone! Thank you for the correction.

I think the point needs to be made that there was stagnation as the campaign went on for Magnussen.
Instead of the steep learning curve, it kinda flattened out a bit. This also explains how McLaren gradually got cold feet over what was a great start for him.

So he had the speed but had to relearn how to race in a formula where race pace come down to saving fuel and tires

It's the same for all drivers, and certainly was no issue for Sainz Jr or Verstappen in 2015.
You could argue that with the new engines, no coanda exhausts and new Pirelli compounds, that all drivers went into new territory for 2014 compared to preceding years.

I'm not hating on Magnussen, just fail to see what makes him exceptional over say, Kobayashi.

he was impressive in his first test and at the beginning of the season, but as the season progressed he got worse as Button got better. I don't know if the setups changed to better suit Button and Magnussen just used the same because he didn't have the experience to do his own or that the pressure got to him.

[Nathanael F1]

Actually Button beat him 10 to 9. Overall Magnussen was 0.165 s quicker in qualifying though.
Also Button scored 10 points in Abu Dhabi, which was doubled to 20, were as Magnussen didn't score points that race.

Lack of experience yes, it was his first F1-season. He couldn't possibly have more experience than Button or Alonso anyway

My eyes deceived me on my phone! Thank you for the correction.

I think the point needs to be made that there was stagnation as the campaign went on for Magnussen.
Instead of the steep learning curve, it kinda flattened out a bit. This also explains how McLaren gradually got cold feet over what was a great start for him.

So he had the speed but had to relearn how to race in a formula where race pace come down to saving fuel and tires

It's the same for all drivers, and certainly was no issue for Sainz Jr or Verstappen in 2015.
You could argue that with the new engines, no coanda exhausts and new Pirelli compounds, that all drivers went into new territory for 2014 compared to preceding years.

I'm not hating on Magnussen, just fail to see what makes him exceptional over say, Kobayashi.

he was impressive in his first test and at the beginning of the season, but as the season progressed he got worse as Button got better. I don't know if the setups changed to better suit Button and Magnussen just used the same because he didn't have the experience to do his own or that the pressure got to him.

I'm not sure how credible this is, but according to Peter Windsor the car behavior in the beginning of the season was more "wild" and suited Magnussen better as he was able to extract more from the car than Button (IIRC).

[FoxHound]

Pressure getting to a driver, and this affecting his performance in relation to a team mate is telling.
As is set up differential.

The guy can drive an F1 car, no doubt. But is he capable of pushing the car to its absolute peak, consistently?
I've my reservations.

I'd sooner see him driving on merit, than a pay driver. But I feel there are so many drivers out there yet to be blooded, Renault could have taken a gamble.
Magnussen is also most likely a pawn in huge chess game with PDVSA, so I sympathise with that.

And you have to say, is he worth 30 million more to Renault than Maldonado?
I dunno man.

[cbbcisace]

The final seats should get announced this week!

Manor Racing: between Rossi/Haryanto/Stevens/Werhlein/Magnussen

Renault: Palmer and either Pastor or Magnussen.

[Mr Brooksy]

The final seats should get announced this week!

Manor Racing: between Rossi/Haryanto/Stevens/Werhlein/Magnussen

Renault: Palmer and either Pastor or Magnussen.

I've not read anything like a time frame for driver announcements, can you give some kind of link to your post? I'd love to read whatever you've read. Ta!