Formula 1 - 2019

[MiniDave]

Besides the considerable changes to the cars, designed to allow better overtaking both in corners and down the straights, one big change has already happened in F1 for 2019 - Arrivabene is out at Ferrari.

This means Ferrari have gone thru 4 team principals in the last 5 years.....I don't think this is the formula for success in F1 - you only have to look at Mercedes and Red Bull, who have had continuity in this position for years now to see that having the same guy (and the right guy) running the show is better - that stability is conducive to good teamwork and ultimately success. Clearly, Ferrari just didn't have the right guy in place, and I'll bet the changes at the top of Ferrari itself had a lot to do with the changes at the top of the F1 team. When we entered the new era of Turbo/Hybrid cars Ferrari were way down on power compared to Mercedes (so was everyone else of course) but since putting Mattia Binotto in as technical director, things have improved dramatically - at least in the car itself - but issues still remained - poor strategy, poor pit stops, infighting between the Arrivabene and other directors, the media blackout, etc were not necessarily caused by Arrivabene, but as team principal the responsibility falls on his shoulders.

Binotto OTOH has a completely different style of management than the reign of fear that usually is at Ferrari - that win or be replaced attitude that has been pervasive was changed in the tech dept. under Binotto - it became more of a work together to win attitude, where creativity and pushing boundaries were encouraged and with very positive results - the Ferrari engine is every bit as powerful as the Merc, some say even more so and reliability is also on par....all due to Binotto.

I guess the hope is that he can work his magic on the rest of team operations too, so that the drivers can concentrate on driving and winning instead of worrying about strategy and pit stop windows and tire selections and whether they'll have a job next weekend.

No question the improved performance of the Ferrari powerplant is the reason Sauber moved so far up the grid from one season to the next, and why Kimi had no issues moving back there when LeClerc replaced him at Ferrari.

So, 2019 holds many interesting new things to watch for - the changes in chassis and aero are supposed to make passing a thing again, new drivers are on the grid, including one "old" driver - Kubica. Red Bull will be the Honda works team and we'll see if they have closed the gap in power or whether it will be down to Verstappen's driving and Newey's chassic to keep them in the hunt. We won't have Alonso to kick around anymore, and while there always has to be someone at the back of the grid, the midfield has closed up so much that there can be less than a second difference in performance between the entire midfiels of 5 teams - Haas, Renault, Force India Racing Point Stroll (or whatever they will be called) Sauber and Renault will all be duking it out this year again, leaving Toro Rosso, Williams and BigMac to bring up the rear again. Almost like three races in one, isn't it?

[BruceK]

I just heard that some very good news about F1 here in the US for 2019:  for the 2nd year in a row there will be no commercials on the ESPN TV broadcasts of the races.   WHOO-HOOO!!!   

[thebluepotato]

I just heard that some very good news about F1 here in the US for 2019:  for the 2nd year in a row there will be no commercials on the ESPN TV broadcasts of the races.   WHOO-HOOO!!!   

Praise the lord!!!

[MiniDave]

Today was the first day of preseason testing in Spain, and right out of the box the Ferrari is strong and very reliable. Vettel was able to run 169 laps with no issues, and set the fast time of the day Of course all times are pretty meaningless at this point, but it is important to note that with the change of management the team seems more relaxed and ready for this years challenges.

Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren also had good days, and at this point all are pumping each other up, but quietly are probably thinking they can beat Ferraris time...

The only team not on track was Williams, they say they won't be on track till Wed, the third day of testing - this does not bode well for their campaign I think.....but even top teams have had bad starts like this and managed to pull out a good season.

Sainz was happy with the Big Mac, and also had no reliability issues, and he got within .4 of Vettel's time.... a decent start for them compared to last season - and the three before that!

Lots to talk about before this season starts in March, but till the first race it's all just speculation.

[MiniDave]

After 4 days of preseason testing a few trends have become clear:

Ferrari is fast and reliable - and not just in the red car, the Sauber/Alfa and Haas both had good weeks with lots of trouble free laps.

some say the top teams are still sandbagging, that the Mercedes for example hasn't really turned a lap in anger yet. However, Bottas is quoted as saying the Merc in on a knife edge of balance.....if true that means it could be a tough start to the year.

The Hondas are not quite showing the pace as Ferrari but they claim they're still in test mode, but the one bight light was that all 4 Honda engine cars ran flawlessly and did a ton of laps.

[BruceK]

Just 3 weeks away! 

Here's the 2019 calendar:


Australia
Melbourne
17 Mar

Bahrain
Bahrain
31 Mar

China
Shanghai
14 Apr

Azerbaijan
Baku
28 Apr

Spain
Catalunya
12 May

Monaco
Monte Carlo
26 May

Canada
Montreal
9 Jun

France
Paul Ricard
23 Jun

Austria
Red Bull Ring
30 Jun

Great Britain
Silverstone
14 Jul

Germany
Hockenheim
28 Jul

Hungary
Hungaroring
4 Aug

Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
1 Sep

Italy
Monza
8 Sep

Singapore
Marina Bay
22 Sep

Russia
Sochi
29 Sep

Japan
Suzuka
13 Oct

Mexico
Mexico City
27 Oct

USA
Americas
3 Nov

Brazil
Interlagos
17 Nov

Abu Dhabi
Yas Marina
1 Dec

[MiniDave]

Rose and I are going to Austin Nov 3 for the US Grand Prix, anyone else?

[BruceK]

Rose and I are going to Austin Nov 3 for the US Grand Prix, anyone else?

What are the ticket prices expected to be?

[MiniDave]

All the website says is "coming soon" about ticket info, but if I had to make a guess $3-400 each.....

[BruceK]

Hmmmm.  That's somewhat pricey.   $400 was what my round trip airfare to the UK cost last year.

[gr8kornholio]

And that's just to get in.  Parking and concessions are appropriately priced for the event too.

[MiniDave]

I'm sure you're right, but for us it's a once in a lifetime thing, and I'd rather spend the money to do this than take a cruise. I'd be bored stupid on a cruise boat - I don't drink and my wife is so fair skinned - she never is out in the sun, what would we do the whole time?

I'd rather go to the race, even if it is spendy.

I'm looking into a package deal, with passes to the pit areas and such.

I also want to drive this track in anger at least once before I can't drive anymore!

[gr8kornholio]

That's a great way to do it.  Plan it like a full on vacation and have a great time. Yea I'd love to take one of those exotic racing things around that track.  I think they have event days. The local metroplexmini club brings it up now and then.

[Jims5543]

I am tempted to attend on Sunday this year, mostly because as a Chive Green Ribbon donor, I am invited every year to the Green Gala.

https://chivecharities.org/featured-event

This year it is the same weekend as the F1 race.  I could kill 2 birds with one stone / flight / hotel stay.

Tossing it around with Mrs5543, we have a busy spring and summer ahead, I am not sure we should spend money on that too.

[MiniDave]

Pre-season continues in F1, reliability has been paramount, with all the teams showing well.....with the possible exception of McLaren who have brought out the red flags 3 times in 2 days this week already. Good news for them is they have the fastest times both days.

However, you can't really judge anything on fastest lap times as the teams are not running full song, most are just trying to do race test distances....every day at least a few of the drivers are racking up over 100 laps of run time which is considerably more than race distance. All the teams have had issues, but I have to say the Honda powered cars seem to have both the least frequent and the least serious problems, which bodes well for their race season. To finish first, first you have to finish - or be Finnish, I forget which!  ;D ;D ;D

The Williams cars have been going well, tho no better than 10th but maybe they won't be this season's perennial back markers? But that said, I wonder who will be bringing up the back of the grid this season? It won't be Sauber/Alfa, nor McLaren unless they have engine/gearbox problems and have to start in the back. It won't be Haas, they've gone as quickly as 4th in the test so far, should be a interesting grid - I wonder if they'll go marching 2 by 2 as they have done in the last few seasons, or if we'll see some mixing of the colors on the grid this year?

[MiniDave]

One the eve of the first race of the 2019 season.....

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.fia-f1-race-director-charlie-whiting-passes-away.3Su01LCNwgrPic2Ex8FBQP.html

[BruceK]

Oh that's too bad. Seemed like a nice guy respected by all.  From my perspective 66 years old seems way to damn young to go.

[MiniDave]

Yep.

I watched FR2 today, they never even mentioned him.....

[Jims5543]

Congrats to Hamilton on his 2019 WDC and to Mercedes for their 2019 Constructors Championship.

I would like to thank them for giving us a reason to tune in today and not ruining the season during pre season practice.

Ferrari and Red bull will never find 0.8 seconds.

I am cautiously optimistic that Mercs race pace may not be as good, that is about the only hope one has for this season to be remotely interesting. Right now it looks like another season of Mercedes winning 20 of the races.

[gr8kornholio]

Well if that's the case I'm not wasting my money to get a streaming service with espn.  We told directv to stick it and just have antenna, Philo and Netflix.

[Vikram]

Even after watching this race, it's way too early to write off the season!

Bad strategy from ferrari left vettel with no tyre. Australia is a funky track. Should see a different result in Bahrain.

[MiniDave]

I was happy to see Bottas grab this race by the throat from Lewis. And even tho there was 30 sec from 1st to 2nd place, I'm not ready to concede the season just yet......but the Benzer boys looked STRONG, just like they finished last year.

Once again, if Hammy gets beat at the first turn he seems to go into a funk and just drive around till the end.

Vettel was fairly disconsolate, at one point asking his team "why are we so slow" they didn't seem to have any answers for him.

If I'd have been Leclerc, I would have said screw team orders and passed Vettel - thereby letting them know he was NOT going to be #2 to anyone! He had the speed and plenty of tires left, there was no reason to stay behind except team orders. If the roles had been reversed and Vettel was the rookie, he would have passed him - I guarantee it!

Some interesting notes - two Renault engine cars failed with engine woes, none of the Ferrari engines failed, but one of the Haas was out with broken suspension.

None of the Honda engines failed, and Verstappen at least was able to run with the big dogs - at least the 2nd place big dog.

All in all, an interesting start to the year!

Williams had a woeful race as expected - when asked about his teammate Russel said his role was not to race his teammate to see who would be last, but to drive the package they have and do the best he can for the team. He was quite a bit quicker than Kubby, but it didn't matter as expected - they were still last.

The midfield was a hotbed of constant action, all the mid teams are so close in performance but it was surprising to see Kyvat in 10th at the end in the Toro Rosso and Gasly in the varsity Red Bull unable to pass him despite having new tires.

Bahrain promises to be a different race with a much more aggressive surface and way hotter temps.

[BruceK]

A good day when not-Lewis wins.  But would have been better if it was a not-Mercedes.


Also, I look back to previous seasons when the Ferraris were shiny and the tires were not.

[Vikram]

Ferrari made it very clear that they were going to give first choice to Vettel,well before the season started.

Vettels race was compromised by the team, possible power unit issues too. There is no way the team would embarrass their number one driver by letting the rookie through under those circumstances.

Charles was smart and played it well. He has a career ahead of him, he's not going to burn bridges on the first race of the season.

[MiniDave]

Of course you're right, but.......I would have loved to see him go past! It doesn't matter to their constructors points of course.....