General F1 news

[Big Kev]

Sauber have announced a new "multi-year" engine deal with Ferrari.

[Big Kev]

Palmer doesn't like the halo!
I think he has a point.

A couple of drivers, including Romain Grosjean and Jolyon Palmer, have been quite strong in their opposition of the halo.

"It’s a sad day, a mistake, and there’s no coming back from it," said Palmer.

"This will be the end of Formula One as we know it, with an open cockpit. Since 1994 there’s been one fatality in F1, Jules Bianchi, which is tragic, but the halo would not have stopped that.

"The halo would not have prevented any deaths in F1 in the 23 years since Ayrton Senna died. But because of incidents in IndyCar (Justin Wilson) and Formula Two (Henry Surtees), where there were different tracks and different safety measures, we’re introducing something into F1 that goes against the whole tradition and history of the sport."

[Big Kev]

Robert Kubica has successfully passed the FIA's mandatory extraction test ahead of his first run in a 2017 Formula 1 car with Renault in the Hungaroring test on Wednesday.

Article 13.1.4 of the FIA's F1 regulations requires drivers to be able to extricate themselves from the cockpit within five seconds, while wearing their full race kit and helmet, and starting from a fully belted-in position, and replace the steering wheel within 10s.

There were concerns that the mobility limitations in Kubica's right arm - a legacy of the horrific rally crash that interrupted his career in 2011 - would make it hard for him to pass the extraction test.

But the FIA has confirmed that Kubica passed the test on Monday, with the procedure going smoothly.

[Big Kev]

[Duke]

Pretty good for an old bloke after so long out of F1.

[StanDaam]

Not too shabby for Norris either.
"The test was part of his prize for winning the 2016 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award"

[norbs]

Chuck Norris, what cant he do?

[Dr. Pain]

Chuck would have threatened it before getting in and it found 80 bhp from nowhere.

[w00dsy]

Chuck Norris, what cant he do?

Some bloke called Boris Norris, he's not great around Hungary but you should see him at Monza.

[StanDaam]

Pretty good for an old bloke after so long out of F1.

Just gotta work on his garage exits

[Big Kev]

Someone's edited the wiki pages of Hulk and Kmag

[wabbit]

[Duke]

Fark me, 30mins to explain & justify it. Sigh!!!

[wabbit]

Fark me, 30mins to explain & justify it. Sigh!!!

I did some well timed skipping by looking ahead for the slides. However I do remember various things being mentioned here which they covered.

[norbs]

Fair dinkum, people bitching about aesthetics! Have a look at the rest of the car FFS. Little bits pointing all all directions, you telling me that makes you hard? And this fucking BS about it wouldnt have saved a life in F1 yet. Do the dickheads saying that drive with out a seatbelt because it hasnt saved your life yet? Fuck me.

And these macho fucking drivers saying they know the dangers. Just shows hoiw fucking self absorbed they are. They dont give a fuck obviously about their wives/girlfriends, mums/dads etc etc. Anyone think old pie face Lauda wouldn't like the opportunity to go back in time with current safety measures to his crash?

Did I miss anyone?

[Dr. Pain]

If it was such an urgent matter, it would have been done long before this. In fact right after Bianchi's death. They reacted fast after Imola in 1994 with extra chicanes at tracks, cutting a hole in the air box and cowling to slow the cars down ect... But this halo has taken an age to come in. It's F1, they make this stuff and test it with in a week, implemented at the next round.

It's almost like these cars are much faster but we have to look like we'd doing something visible around driver safety. The lower level's of racing need it, not F1.

[norbs]

If it was such an urgent matter, it would have been done long before this. In fact right after Bianchi's death. They reacted fast after Imola in 1994 with extra chicanes at tracks, cutting a hole in the air box and cowling to slow the cars down ect... But this halo has taken an age to come in. It's F1, they make this stuff and test it with in a week, implemented at the next round.

It's almost like these cars are much faster but we have to look like we'd doing something visible around driver safety. The lower level's of racing need it, not F1.

Right, you better be careful overtaking me tonight Doc


Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

[Montey]

If they want to make the sport safe, why don't they just ban all devices that can impart motion on the vehicle?

I am sure the audience won't mind watching 20 guys sitting in fibre glass tubs, on the starting line for 2 hrs. They can turn the qualifying session in to a rock-paper-scissors knockout competition, and the race itself can be a rock-paper-scissors round-robbin (but scrutineers will ensure that all "drivers" have trimmed their finger-nails before the "racing" starts to ensure no one pokes out an eye or scratches anyone).

[Dr. Pain]

If it was such an urgent matter, it would have been done long before this. In fact right after Bianchi's death. They reacted fast after Imola in 1994 with extra chicanes at tracks, cutting a hole in the air box and cowling to slow the cars down ect... But this halo has taken an age to come in. It's F1, they make this stuff and test it with in a week, implemented at the next round.

It's almost like these cars are much faster but we have to look like we'd doing something visible around driver safety. The lower level's of racing need it, not F1.

Right, you better be careful overtaking me tonight Doc


Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

Remember Spa yeah, during the test? I know how to get in your head Norbs

[Duke]

What irks me about all this is that it's no longer just a safety measure but a litigation mitigation exercise.
F1 & the FIA have to do something now because if someone dies they will have no leg to stand on, introducing something means they can say "at least we tried" if another fatality occurs.

[w00dsy]

Can anyone think of a fatality in F1 that would have been avoided with the Halo? Maybe Tom Pryce, but that's all i can think of.

[pixelboy]

Senna might survive if he had the accident today, they are much lower than they used to be.. But not thanks to the halo.

[Big Kev]

That was Palmer's argument. He said it's preventing accidents that happened in other formulae which is a bit pointless.

But Paddy Lowe said in the team principal presser that they've had one near miss every year for quite a while. Not sure I can remember any of them to be honest and certainly none that a halo might have made any different.


Also the teams are saying it'll look a bit different next year, so why not mock up some CGI to show people as it might swing opinion.

[w00dsy]

My concern is it could make flying objects, like the Massa spring, deflect into the drivers body. That thing went through his helmet, if it hit him directly in the chest it'd come out the other side of his body. On the plus side, my 2 monitor setup at home will be perfect for simulating the view the driver gets.

[Montey]

The main issue I have with the halo is the stupid pillar down the centre-line. Why not put two pillars off to the sides, leaving the driver's view forward unobscured? You could even use side pillars to mount the mirrors, improving rear and side visibility.