The F1 2018 thread - #Blessed

[Mini E]

Ask and you will receive! Car launches are beginning and not long until the season begins - six weeks to go.

The line-up:

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport
L. Hamilton
V. Bottas
G. Russell

Scuderia Ferrari
S. Vettel
K. Räikkönen
D. Kvyat
A. Giovinazzi

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing
D. Ricciardo
M. Verstappen

Force India F1 Team
S. Pérez
E. Ocon
N. Latifi

Williams Martini Racing
L. Stroll
S. Sirotkin
R. Kubica

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda
P. Gasly
B. Hartley

Renault Sport Formula One Team
N. Hülkenberg
C. Sainz

Haas F1 Team
R. Grosjean
K. Magnussen

McLaren F1 Team
S. Vandoorne
F. Alonso
L. Norris

Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team
M. Ericsson
C. Leclerc
A. Giovinazzi

Is Giovinazzi allowed to be a test driver for two teams?! Did not know that was permitted/sensible.

The calendar:

25 Mar Australia Albert Park
8 Apr Bahrain Sakhir
15 Apr China Shanghai
29 Apr Azerbaijan Baku Street Circuit
13 May Spain Circuit de Catalunya
27 May Monaco Monte Carlo
10 Jun Canada Montreal
24 Jun France Paul Ricard
1 Jul Austria Red Bull Ring
8 Jul Great Britain Silverstone
22 Jul Germany Hockenheim
29 Jul Hungary Hungaroring
26 Aug Belgium Spa-Francorchamps
2 Sep Italy Monza
16 Sep Singapore Marina Bay
30 Sep Russia Sochi
7 Oct Japan Suzuka
21 Oct United States Circuit of the Americas
28 Oct Mexico Mexico City
11 Nov Brazil Interlagos
25 Nov Abu Dhabi Yas Marina


How about some predictions to look back at after the season?

I'm backing #Lewis #ThanksToGod to win the title again with Verstappen in second and Vettel in third, Bottas and Ricciardo fourth and fifth.

McLaren to have an improved showing on last season in terms of reliability with more consistent points finishes, with Alonso showing up Vandoorne a bit.

Sirotkin to have a surprisingly positive first season and out-perform Lance Stroll more than people expect.

Hulkenburg and Sainz to have some very public fall-outs during the season. It goes without saying that this will also continue to happen with Force India.

[Peter Crisp]

I think the title will end like this

1 D. Ricciardo
2 L. Hamilton
3 S. Vettel

I think McLaren will finish 4th in the constructors and get 4 or 5 podiums.

[Victor Mildew]

Ricciardo and Verstappen to do really well, but ultimately take enough points off each other to let Vettel take 2nd again.
#blessed to take the championship with 5 races to go.
Kimi to be an embarrassment to his legacy (seriously, he was strawberry floating amazing back at McLaren).
McLaren to get a couple of podiums.
Honda to be strawberry floating laughable in practice but alright in the races on pace, if still really unreliable.
Bottas to be a solid but unspectacular number 2. Can see him being swapped out for Alonso for next year.
Halo to be an eyesore all year.
Cars to continue to sound like a dog farting in a bucket.

[GuitarHero]

I reckon Lewis will win the championship again, but I'm just hopeful for a really competitive season this time around. I feel like it could happen especially with McClaren switching to Renault as well

[Jam-Master Jay]

I'm expecting another Hamilton/Mercedes snoozefest. I have no faith in McLaren, but would love to see them and Renault making some decent progress.

[Vermilion]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13438 ... -contender

New Williams, i still hate those thumb noses, and don't even get me started on that stupid halo.

[Jam-Master Jay]

More shots of the Williams.

I see the lower T-wing makes a return, it is apparently a feature of the Haas too.

[Robbo-92]

Loving the look of that Williams.

I'm hoping to see plenty of competition for the podium, although if recent seasons are anything to go by it'll be as follows,

Mercedes
Ferrari/Red Bull - track dependant
Force India/Renault/McLaren/Williams
Toro Rosso/Haas
Sauber

Chances are it'll be another Mercedes double, hopefully we can see a better challenge from Bottas this year than we did last. Obviously I'd love to see Ferrari get the double but if Kimi's inconsistency continues into 2018 I don't see them getting the WCC, Vettel can win the WDC if the car is there and he doesn't throw easy points away, or his car let him down towards the end of the season. Can see plenty of negative opinions about the Halo, some quite rightly so as well, hopefully leading to a properly tested/developed aero screen of sorts ala Indy-Car.

One radical thing I'll say is this will be the season Honda crack it, not under anywhere near as much pressure from Toro Rosso as they were at McLaren and it'd be sods law for Honda to finally produce that gem of an engine Ron promised back at Suzuka 2014 (or around then anyway) now they've moved away from the worst power unit on the grid to the 3d best one. Still a decent upgrade for them currently though.

[K]

Lewis to scamper off with it this year. Only drivers I think who genuinely compete in terms of skill and race craft are Nando and the two RBR drivers, none of whom will have the car to match up. Ferrari will find another creative way to disappoint everyone, leaving Mercedes another open goal. Hoping for a good showing from the guys and girls at FORCE and really rooting for them but it’s hard to bet against McLaren and Renault leapfrogging them. Quality driver lineup puts them over Williams for me. Haas will suck this year. Expecting them, STR Honda and Sauber Romeo to be tangling at the back.

Would love to be wrong about STR and for Honda to have a decent PU this year.

[Lotus]

The livery on the new Red Bull is only temporary apparently...would be good if they kept it, looks lovely.

[Victor Mildew]

Damn that looks great

[K]

Didn't they do this last year?

it's gonna look exactly like their other liveries.

[Peter Crisp]

It's nice to see Aston Martin doing so well. With this and the Vulcan and Valkyrie they really are on a bit of a roll .

[Vermilion]

Nice interim livery, though the halo is still hideous.

[Jam-Master Jay]

That looks great, shame it's only temporary.

A few interesting design choices on the car too by the looks of it.

Gallery with some brightened images to better see some aero detail.

It appears Red Bull themselves have been a tad inconsistent photoshopping certain bits off in an effort to hide details. The sidepods are quite unique.

[Robbo-92]

Looks fantastic, crying shame they won't race with it during the year.

[Victor Mildew]

Just stick a paper bag over the halo.

[Victor Mildew]

New McLaren is orange

[Vermilion]

McLaren liveries always disappoint though, it's just a matter of how often and how much.

[Victor Mildew]