2017 F1 Season

[SoupyFIN]

Date | Time (GMT) | Race
March 26|6am GMT, 4pm local|Australian GP
April 9|TBA|Chinese GP
April 16|TBA|Bahrain GP
April 30|TBA|Russian GP
May 14|TBA|Spanish GP
May 28|TBA|Monaco GP
June 11|TBA|Canadian GP
June 25|TBA|Azerbaijan GP
July 9|TBA|Austrian GP
July 16|TBA|British GP
July 30|TBA|Hungarian GP
August 27|TBA|Belgian GP
September 3|TBA|Italian GP
September 17|TBA|Singapore GP
October 1|TBA|Malaysian GP
October 8|TBA|Japanese GP
October 22|TBA|United States GP
October 29|TBA|Mexican GP
November 12|TBA|Brazilian GP
November 26|TBA|Abu Dhabi GP

Team | Number | Driver
Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport|44|Lewis Hamilton
|77|Valtteri Bottas
Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer (Renault)|3|Daniel Ricciardo
|33|Max Verstappen
Scuderia Ferrari|5|Sebastian Vettel
|7|Kimi Raikkonen
Sahara Force India F1 Team (Mercedes)|11|Sergio Perez
|31|Esteban Ocon
Williams Martini Racing (Mercedes)|19|Felipe Massa
|18|Lance Stroll
McLaren Honda F1 Team|14|Fernando Alonso
|2|Stoffel Vandoorne
Scuderia Toro Rosso (Renault)|55|Carlos Sainz Jr.
|26|Daniil Kvyat
Haas F1 Team (Ferrari)|8|Romain Grosjean
|20|Kevin Magnussen
Renault Sport F1 Team|27|Nico Hulkenberg
|30|Jolyon Palmer
Sauber F1 Team (Ferrari)|9|Marcus Ericsson
|94|Pascal Wehrlein
Manor Racing MRT (Mercedes) |-|bankrupt
|-|bankrupt

Click to read more...

 

[SoupyFIN]

Apparently Mercedes is paying a portion of Massa's salary to facilitate his return to Williams.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, Williams is going to have no choice but to run two paydrivers in the near future. Well they already have one in Stroll and had Maldonado in the past.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Apparently Mercedes is paying a portion of Massa's salary to facilitate his return to Williams.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, Williams is going to have no choice but to run two paydrivers in the near future. Well they already have one in Stroll and had Maldonado in the past.

hearing Massa and Bottas are just for 2017 only w/ respective teams.

 

[SoupyFIN]

hearing Massa and Bottas are just for 2017 only w/ respective teams.

Source?

I mean, Massa is going to retire after this season, that's a foregone conclusion. Already explained at the end of the last thread why he got the seat.

Bottas though, it's going to depend how he performs and IIRC it was reported that the contract was 1+something, with Mercedes having the option to extend it. If Bottas is average next season, then obviously they're going to look for someone else. If he drives well though, I can't see why they'd replace him.

 

[Preds Partisan]

Apparently Mercedes is paying a portion of Massa's salary to facilitate his return to Williams.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, Williams is going to have no choice but to run two paydrivers in the near future. Well they already have one in Stroll and had Maldonado in the past.

Is there really money problems or are they just getting what they can out of Merc?

 

[SoupyFIN]

Is there really money problems or are they just getting what they can out of Merc?

Williams has been in financial trouble for many years now. It all stems from how unsuccessful they've been ever since the early 2000s, which in turn has caused them to lose big sponsors. They're not in Manor/Sauber/HRT/Caterham levels of trouble, but they don't have much wiggle room either. The last few years of finishing in the top5 and getting the bonus money has helped them.

So to answer your question, it's a bit of both. Claire is a tough negotiator according to Toto lol.

 

[Preds Partisan]

Got it, thanks.

 

[Preds Partisan]

I'm seeing that even if Manor finds an investor, they are asking to run a modified 2016 car? What the hell would be the point? Plus, wouldn't it be just as much effort to modify and comply with new regs than just building a new car? No way FIA let's that happen, it would be like running a tractor out there.

 

[SoupyFIN]

I'm seeing that even if Manor finds an investor, they are asking to run a modified 2016 car? What the hell would be the point? Plus, wouldn't it be just as much effort to modify and comply with new regs than just building a new car? No way FIA let's that happen, it would be like running a tractor out there.

Force India used an upgraded 2015 version of their car until they rolled out the 2016 spec, maybe for like the first 3-5 races?

Renault 2016 was pretty much a 2015 Lotus with upgrades too.

 

[Preds Partisan]

The difference is the 2017 is a whole new car. The Pirelli mule cars didn't really replicate the 2017 specs when they tried to simulate the new aero packages with current chassis. I guess it will be a moot point anyway as I don't see anyone saving Manor anyway.

 

[SoupyFIN]

The difference is the 2017 is a whole new car. The Pirelli mule cars didn't really replicate the 2017 specs when they tried to simulate the new aero packages with current chassis. I guess it will be a moot point anyway as I don't see anyone saving Manor anyway.

Yeah that's true.

I really thought Manor was headed in the right direction when they got the current owners 1.5 years ago and then the relationship with Mercedes.

 

[Preds Partisan]

Not to beat a dead horse, I read but can't find now an article that the Manor17 was designed and ready to go, but they hadn't passed the crash test so they couldn't actually build it. Without money, I was dubious of how well it would have performed anyway given how bad that chassis has been under the old regulations.

I wish they would stick around, but they're so far off the pace it seems like they need a huge amount of development money that just isn't out there anymore. Actually I would love a twelve team F1 field but now it seems like we're back to ten.

 

[Sanderson]

I wouldn't say that Manor had been far off the pace. They were surprisingly close to others and managed to keep quite a few drivers behind them on a regular basis. They even managed to get into the 2nd qualification round at times, and not because the circumstances were so weird either.

For the poorest and supposedly weakest team, they were surprisingly competitive last year.

edit: Oh, or did you mean off the development pace?
In that case it is very much true. Going bankrupt while preparing for the new season basically means they would be far behind everyone else once the new season starts. Especially with the new rules.

 

[Preds Partisan]

I meant both race and development pace. There was some minor tinkering in season, but not too much. I saw relatively little that resulted in better down force and handling in season. The new rules are such a big change, if they don't nail it out the box, no way they can keep race pace throughout 2017...if they're around.

I know Haas didn't make progress through the last season either, but that's because they started working on the 2017 car in May last year.

Two under funded teams with two different business models. Manor doesn't have the money to improve during the year, and Haas took the resources they had and decided to spend it on this 2017 car. The Haas model may or not work, we'll see, but with the old F1 business model Manor needs more funding than were they were at. Is somebody just going to rescue the team, or is there the extra millions to keep them somewhat competitive?

 

[SoupyFIN]

Claire Williams admitted that their main sponsor Martini required at least a 25yo driver to replace Bottas.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Pre-testing constructors championship predictions for this year

1) Red Bull
2) Mercedes
3) Ferrari
4) McLaren
5) Renault
6) Williams
7) Force India
8) Toro Rosso
9) Haas
10)Sauber


The aerodynamics regulation changes will benefit RB and I think they catch up significantly. I predict Hamilton wins the DC but Verstappen and Ricciardo outperform Bottas enough to take RB to the top of the constructors. Mercedes will still have the best engine and better aero than Ferrari who will still lag behind. McLaren engine is improving all the time and I think they'll do well with the aero changes. Renault have the resources and have had time to develop this new car rather than taking over what was essentially a Lotus with a worse engine. Force India and Williams will fall off the cliff because they've both replaced a good driver with a rookie and they don't have the funds to build what will be an entirely new competitive car under the new regulations. Toro Rosso will do better than Haas due to Red Bull's input on the aero. Sauber will be the slowest obviously.

 

[SoupyFIN]

Pre-testing constructors championship predictions for this year

1) Red Bull
2) Mercedes
3) Ferrari
4) McLaren
5) Renault
6) Williams
7) Force India
8) Toro Rosso
9) Haas
10)Sauber


The aerodynamics regulation changes will benefit RB and I think they catch up significantly. I predict Hamilton wins the DC but Verstappen and Ricciardo outperform Bottas enough to take RB to the top of the constructors. Mercedes will still have the best engine and better aero than Ferrari who will still lag behind. McLaren engine is improving all the time and I think they'll do well with the aero changes. Renault have the resources and have had time to develop this new car rather than taking over what was essentially a Lotus with a worse engine. Force India and Williams will fall off the cliff because they've both replaced a good driver with a rookie and they don't have the funds to build what will be an entirely new competitive car under the new regulations. Toro Rosso will do better than Haas due to Red Bull's input on the aero. Sauber will be the slowest obviously.

1) Mercedes
2) Red Bull
3) Ferrari
4) Force India
5) McLaren
6) Williams
7) Toro Rosso
8) Renault
9) Haas
10) Sauber

1-3 based on the 1.6L turbo era, Mercedes is still ahead of the field, Ferrari probably drops off further away from Red Bull. Force India I think stays at 4 (Perez carrying the team), but McLaren is going to be their main competition this year. Williams continues to drop off, but not enough to drop them behind Toro Rosso. Renault is still in the rebuild, might show some flashes, but overall I think they'll be near the back. Haas is second to last if their reliability issues continue, otherwise I'd put them around Toro Rosso. Anything but last place will be a miracle for Sauber.

 

[Preds Partisan]

Good list Soupy. I could flip McHonda and Williams, but that's a good guesstimate you put together. Really interested to see how good the RB chasis is. Hope after testing later this month all of these teams are close to the mark, but I'm afraid somebody will completely screw up something with new regs and be chasing their tails the whole season. I just read an article the other day about brakes and the increased allowance with the thickness of the discs to handle the increase of braking loads. Even on that there appears two ways to skin a cat and those that made the wrong decision on intial design will be suffering all year.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Whatever the order ends up being at the end of the year, places 4-9 are going to be very close I think

 

[Kane One]

Anyone here watch Formula E? I'm thinking about giving it a shot, especially since there will be a Brooklyn ePrix. Is it any good?

While we're at it, how is IndyCar? Are oval tracks just as boring as it sounds?

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Anyone here watch Formula E? I'm thinking about giving it a shot, especially since there will be a Brooklyn ePrix. Is it any good?

While we're at it, how is IndyCar? Are oval tracks just as boring as it sounds?

IndyCar likely won't have a thread for a month or so

 

[Kane One]

IndyCar likely won't have a thread for a month or so

I'd rather have a mostly F1 fan answer than an IndyCar fan.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I'd rather have a mostly F1 fan answer than an IndyCar fan.

It's highly doubtful a F1 fan knows about a predominately American open wheel series, it's usually the opposite, or a fan of motorsports in general.

 

[SoupyFIN]

Improved colours over the last one, I guess?

 

[Ceremony]

It looks... flat.