The official Formula 1 and general motorsport thread for 2019

[Robbo-92]

Ahhh GP2 GP2

To be honest I was surprised they actually entered under their own team this year, can’t remember who he raced with last year but I don’t know why/if there’s a reason they didn’t get him in an established team rather than building their own car for it (although it is a spec car I believe?). Imagine he stands a good chance of getting back to back 24 hours Le Mans wins though (and the WEC title as well).

[Victor Mildew]

Triple crown? More like triple crow amirite

[Vermilion]

can’t remember who he raced with last year

His first attempt at Indy was with Andretti Autosport, one of the big established teams in the series.

Trust McLaren to screw things up for him yet again.

[captain red dog]

Ahhh GP2 GP2

To be honest I was surprised they actually entered under their own team this year, can’t remember who he raced with last year but I don’t know why/if there’s a reason they didn’t get him in an established team rather than building their own car for it (although it is a spec car I believe?). Imagine he stands a good chance of getting back to back 24 hours Le Mans wins though (and the WEC title as well).

Well the rumour is Andretti couldn't partner with Mclaren again as Honda didn't want anything to do with Alonso for obvious reasons.

There is a chance Indycar might be able to organise a sale of a grid slot through Penske or something, as in Indycar it is the car that qualifies not the driver. Apparently Alonso isn't keen on the idea but without his participation there will be a lot less interest in the European market.

Would be funny to see Alonso at the Indy 500 as basically a pay driver!

[Robbo-92]

Ahhh GP2 GP2

To be honest I was surprised they actually entered under their own team this year, can’t remember who he raced with last year but I don’t know why/if there’s a reason they didn’t get him in an established team rather than building their own car for it (although it is a spec car I believe?). Imagine he stands a good chance of getting back to back 24 hours Le Mans wins though (and the WEC title as well).

Well the rumour is Andretti couldn't partner with Mclaren again as Honda didn't want anything to do with Alonso for obvious reasons.

There is a chance Indycar might be able to organise a sale of a grid slot through Penske or something, as in Indycar it is the car that qualifies not the driver. Apparently Alonso isn't keen on the idea but without his participation there will be a lot less interest in the European market.

Would be funny to see Alonso at the Indy 500 as basically a pay driver!

Yeah can’t blame Honda at all, wouldn’t seem right if the driver who qualified didn’t actually get to race either.

[Vermilion]

A similar thing happened back in the 90's i think, a couple of drivers (may have even been Penske drivers) failed to qualify in their team's cars, and so borrowed someone elses chassis in order to compete.

[Jam-Master Jay]

Niki Lauda has passed away.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/niki ... 0/4392728/

[Robbo-92]

That’s sad news, RIP Niki

[BOR]

RIP Niki.

[Vermilion]

RIP Niki Lauda, he will be missed.

On a separate note, the Rio F1 track design has been revealed...

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/rio-tr ... 17313.html



Looks dreadful.

[Captain Kinopio]

You could have told me that was any of the non Classic circuits on the calendar and I would have believed you.

[Vermilion]

You could have told me that was any of the non Classic circuits on the calendar and I would have believed you.

The first sector is pretty much a carbon copy of the final sector at Bahrain.

[Robbo-92]

Yeah that looks crap.

[floydfreak]

They really need to stop going to Tilke to design tracks as that is awful. As it's almost a copy of Bahrain, he isn't even making any effort to produce something different!

Needs a bit more tarmac run off

[Vermilion]

I often find the Tilke circuits horrible to drive in F1 games, it's just constant heavy braking zones which completely spoils the flow.

Classic tracks like Suzuka, Interlagos, Spa, and even the middle sector in Austria are great because the corners flow nicely in to one another.

[captain red dog]

Yep the Tilke tracks are extremely dull. You could show me footage from any Tilke track and honestly it could be anywhere in the world. They need variety, which was why the 80s and 90s were so good because you had everything from Hockenheim forest flat out, to Monaco tight and narrow.

Now every track is so similar, it increases the problem when one team starts to dominate. Currently only Monaco seems to stir up the running order sufficiently, but produces a crap race most years.

[Vermilion]

Hockenheim forest flat out

Loved that track, it was fun to drive in F1 games and often produced interesting races in real life.

[Captain Kinopio]

Having raced Bahrain in F1 2018 last night I can confirm it is absolute gobshite to drive.

[captain red dog]

So Hamilton got special dispensation not to do the Monaco press conference today because of Niki Lauda, so Bottas had to do it. This is the sort of thing I don't like about Hamilton, as it doesn't feel genuine and feels like he is trying to turn the situation to revolve around himself.

[Vermilion]

Having raced Bahrain in F1 2018 last night I can confirm it is absolute gobshite to drive.

Sochi is worse.

That said, even the Russian track isn't as bad as the one in India they used a few years back, I utterly hated that layout, just horrible.