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Ubik

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Not sure what Stoffel's going to do next year, not much point of staying in GP2 and being a reserve driver in F1 isn't the best way for a young driver to spend a year. Manor seats still available?
 

RedFish

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Not sure what Stoffel's going to do next year, not much point of staying in GP2 and being a reserve driver in F1 isn't the best way for a young driver to spend a year. Manor seats still available?
It looks like he's going to be competing in the Super Formula series in Japan. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/122170
GP2 is a no-no though as former winners of GP2 are not eligible to race in the series again. It's a massive shame he hasn't got a seat in F1 because he thoroughly deserves it.
 

Ubik

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It looks like he's going to be competing in the Super Formula series in Japan. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/122170
GP2 is a no-no though as former winners of GP2 are not eligible to race in the series again. It's a massive shame he hasn't got a seat in F1 because he thoroughly deserves it.
Oh yeah, I'd forgotten that rule. Ah well, at least it's racing.
 

FC Ronaldo

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Telegraph reporting that Itv to take over BBC coverage. Only saw headline so not sure if this coming season or 2017
 

Rado_N

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Oh feck off.

ITV are the absolute worst, they totally suck at all sports coverage.
 

hp88

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I have been watching the Sky coverage since they got the rights a few years ago, couldn't stand the presenter or EJ at the time and Legard was terrible in the commentary box.

Biggest problem with ITV will be the adverts, not sure they will show the race uninterrupted like Sky do, I'm pretty sure they missed a Schumacher engine blowing up once :lol:
 

Rado_N

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I have been watching the Sky coverage since they got the rights a few years ago, couldn't stand the presenter or EJ at the time and Legard was terrible in the commentary box.

Biggest problem with ITV will be the adverts, not sure they will show the race uninterrupted like Sky do, I'm pretty sure they missed a Schumacher engine blowing up once :lol:
They did, and it was late in the season and crucial to the WDC if I remember correctly.
 

Neil67

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A bit of advise please.

We are looking at going to the Spanish GP in May and staying somewhere for 7 nights. Don't want to stay in Barcelona but would like to be close enough to visit a couple of times. Looking at somewhere nice on the coast, any advice where to stay and the easiest way of getting to the GP on Saturday/Sunday.
 

gormless

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I have been watching the Sky coverage since they got the rights a few years ago, couldn't stand the presenter or EJ at the time and Legard was terrible in the commentary box.

Biggest problem with ITV will be the adverts, not sure they will show the race uninterrupted like Sky do, I'm pretty sure they missed a Schumacher engine blowing up once :lol:
They also once missed Schumi hit the wall of champions (I'd switched to a german channel during the adverts and saw it happen live). They came back from advert and tried to play it off as happening live when they showed a replay
 

Giggsy92

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Ad breaks might be a welcome relief considering how boring the races are lately, not like we'll miss much... It's better than the BBC going highlights only anyway, hopefully the first thing they do is get people like DC and Lee signed up.
 

Sly

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A bit of advise please.

We are looking at going to the Spanish GP in May and staying somewhere for 7 nights. Don't want to stay in Barcelona but would like to be close enough to visit a couple of times. Looking at somewhere nice on the coast, any advice where to stay and the easiest way of getting to the GP on Saturday/Sunday.
If i were you i´d ask @carvajal but from my spanish adventures in the Barcelona region, i´ve stayed in Salou a couple of times. It´s about 68 miles from Barcelona but it has good connections in terms of buses, roads if you rent a car and it´s about 1 hour and 10 min by train (Salou to Passeig de Gràcia, Barcelona). I´ve always liked Salou more than Tarragona. The beaches are alright (i´m a bit picky because i´m used to high quality beaches from the portuguese Alentejo and Algarve), the nightlife/hotel/restaurants offers are decent and you have PortAventura that is (from the time i went there) the biggest theme park in Europe i think. There´s plenty of entertaining stuff to do there. That would my pick for the type of program you are looking for.
 

carvajal

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Yes,as Sly said Salou/Cambrils are nice.I enjoyed it years ago.Portaventura,Aquapark and night life.The value for money of the hotels is very good.
In train you can be in Barcelona in 90min or visit some town in Castellón or even Valencia if you use well the day.
In the coast of Barcelona Castelldefels is nice,very posh but boring.Sitges is the town resort for gays.
In general I think that is the ugliest part of Cataluña coast.
Another would option in my opinion would be Blanes/Lloret(Costa Brava).Lloret in summer is a mess but in May should be great choosing a decent hotel. Similar distance to Barna and nice visits,Pirineos,Cadaqués(Dali) or even the coast of France.
 

JPRouve

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Renault officially bought Lotus F1

 

pauldyson1uk

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Plans to make Formula 1 cars faster for 2017 are being watered down following an intervention from Pirelli.

Rule changes, including making cars wider and more dramatic-looking, had targeted a lap-time gain of five seconds.

But F1's tyre supplier Pirelli told teams its tyres could not cope with the planned increase in cornering forces without making them much more resilient, and therefore slower.

Teams are now investigating the effect of a revised series of changes with a smaller increase in aerodynamic downforce.

That work is ongoing, but leading engineers predict the cars will now be more like three seconds a lap faster.

Pirelli told BBC Sport the data it presented to teams was based on calculations at an early stage in the process of defining the tyres for 2017.

What is this all about?
F1's bosses decided last year to make the cars more exciting and dramatic-looking in response to concerns that the sport's appeal is waning.

Teams and governing body the FIA had by the end of November agreed on a series of changes for 2017:

  • to widen the track - the distance across the car between the wheels - from 1800mm to 2000mm
  • fit wider tyres
  • change the shape and size of the front and rear wings
  • produce more aerodynamic downforce from wider bodywork and a re-designed underfloor.
    The increase in downforce predicted from these plans is estimated at between 25-60%.

    What derailed the plan?
    Sources say Pirelli made a presentation to the teams in which it said its tyres, made to the planned 2017 dimensions, could not cope with more than a 10-15% increase in downforce without it needing to impose much higher tyre pressures.

    It said pressures would have to be as high as 27psi - about 50% higher than would be considered by teams to be 'normal'.

    But higher tyre pressure reduces grip, which would mean diminishing returns from the increase in car performance.

    The other problem was that with reduced tyre grip, a greater proportion of the lap-time gain would come from aerodynamics, and the feeling among engineers and world governing body the FIA was that this would make close racing and overtaking even more difficult than it already is.

    This is counter to the initial intent behind the changes, which was to speed up the cars without having a detrimental effect on the quality of the racing.
A Pirelli spokesman said: "With the new tyre sizes proposed for 2017, we think the load capacity of a tyre built to the current construction would increase by about 10%. But nobody knows what structure we will choose for 2017 yet.

"Everything will be calculated much more carefully when we start testing."

He added that one of the problems was that Pirelli was forbidden by F1's rules from doing on-track testing before 2017, and there was still no agreement on a resolution to that problem.

So what now?
Not all the teams supported the proposal to revise the new rules - the vote was eight in favour and three against among the 11 teams.

But that was felt to be a significant enough majority to press ahead.
The FIA asked teams to investigate the effect of abandoning two key elements of the new rules package which had been aimed at increasing downforce - a redesigned underfloor and introduction of wider bodywork.

Plans to widen the gap between the tyres, revise the size and shape of the front and rear wings and fit bigger tyres remain, however.

A senior insider said the target speed increase for 2017 could not be confirmed until the completion of research into the revised plans. The aim is to finalise a new set of rules before the start of the new season in March.

Hasn't this come up already?
The development comes after world champions Mercedes raised concerns towards the end of last season about the 2017 rules, questioning whether the tyres would be able to cope with the increased loads.

Among other issues, Mercedes pointed out that current F1 cars are approaching historic highs in terms of downforce and power and that, if the sport pressed ahead, Pirelli would have to deal with loads to which no other racing tyre has ever been subjected.

Mercedes' rivals rejected their concerns at the time, many saying that the team were trying to protect their competitive advantage by keeping rules stable.

Is there a wider issue?
There is concern in some quarters that the limitations of the tyres will undermine the aims of the new rules and lead to a lot of expensive research into new car designs for little effect.

As a result of this, there was a proposal to abandon the whole process of changing the cars fundamentally for 2017, or to just keep the wider track but change nothing else. This was rejected by the wider group of teams.

Pirelli said: "Maybe a totally brand new tyre can be built. There is a lot of speculation about this process, but it is still at a very early stage."

The spokesman added that Pirelli thought a five-second reduction in lap times was "too much", and that four seconds was more appropriate.

What about engines?
The rule changes for 2017 are being formulated at the same time as the road car manufacturers in F1 are trying to come up with revisions to the engine rules to satisfy a request from the FIA for power units to be cheaper, simpler, noisier and more widely available to teams.

The manufacturers have to finalise proposals by 15 January.

BBC Sport has learned that a bid to drop the MGU-H, the part of the hybrid system that regenerates energy from the turbocharger, has been rejected and that the proposal will be for the hybrid system to remain part of the same design as it is now.

However, the idea is for a lot of other parts of the engine to be made standard to reduce costs.

The target is for the price of engines for customer teams to be 10m euros (£7.5m) in 2018, when the changes will be introduced. Power units currently cost customers in the region of 18-23m euros a season.

 

hp88

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Any advise on buying F1 tickets? Mate at RBR used to sort me out with ticket but he has moved on so were going to have to use one of the ticket websites.
 

pauldyson1uk

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Swiss Formula 1 team Sauber will not run their 2016 car until the second and final pre-season test.

The Australian Grand Prix was brought forward to 20 March, forcing teams to re-think their production schedules.

But Sauber will stick with their initial plan, which means they will run a modified version of their 2015 car at Barcelona from 22-25 February.

The 2016 car - the C35 - will appear for the first time at the second test at the same track from 1-4 March.

The pre-season schedule has been cut from three four-day tests to two this year as part of an effort to control costs.

The 2016 season was originally due to start on 3 April but was brought forward because of the need to cram a record 21 races into the calendar.

Sauber will retain the same driver line-up as in 2015, with Brazilian Felipe Nasr partnering Swede Marcus Ericsson.

Meanwhile, McLaren have become the first team to announce the date for the public unveiling of their new car.

The Honda-powered MP4-31, which will be driven by Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, will be unveiled online on 21 February.
 

ZIDANE

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Don't know how reliable this is but all we can do is hope.

Extra 223 horsepower behind Alonso’s new McLaren-Honda
Well, next season, according to our sources, he will have something similar to what he was calling for and the new Honda will have 223 horsepower more than that of 2015. Last year the combustion engine had about 70 horsepower less than that of Mercedes and also had to make up 163 horsepower from the energy recovery system (ERS) which could barely be released, unlike the other cars, on the straights for 33 seconds per lap.
http://as.com/diarioas/2016/01/23/english/1453580985_065667.html
 

pauldyson1uk

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Fresh speculation over newcomers Haas' first F1 livery has surfaced after a mocked-up picture of a car in team branding was published on their parent company's Instagram account.

The team have since clarified, however, that the picture represented Haas Automation's showcar and their official F1 livery will be revealed "just prior to the first test in Barcelona", with an official unveiling set for the morning of the opening day in the pit lane.

Haas have kept details of their colour scheme firmly under wraps, with previous speculation suggesting the new car might be painted yellow.



 

pauldyson1uk

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Kevin Magnussen is poised to replace Pastor Maldonado at Renault for the 2016 season

The team - then known as Lotus prior to Renault's buy-out in December - announced four months ago that Maldonado would be staying on. But the Venezuelan, reputed to pay almost £20m for his seat, is believed to have been ousted after backing from his sponsors dried up.

Renault, who will unveil their driver line-up as well as their new car at a media event next week in Paris, have refused to confirm or deny speculation that Maldonado has been dropped.


Magnussen was released by McLaren at the end of last year but is now set to partner English rookie Jolyon Palmer in 2016.

Reports first surfaced earlier this month that Magnussen had been at the team's Enstone base for two days of talks with senior management.


The highly-rated Dane drove for McLaren in 2014, scoring a podium finish on his debut, but was subsequently sidelined when Fernando Alonso returned to Woking to partner Jenson Button.

Despite winning the 2012 Spanish GP, Maldonado's five-year F1 career has been defined by controversy and collisions. Prior to leaving the Williams team for Lotus two years ago, he accused the Grove outfit of sabotaging his car ahead of the 2013 US GP and, unable to shrug off the tag of being a 'pay driver', a website was launched to keep a timetable of his many crashes.
 

gormless

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Kevin Magnussen is poised to replace Pastor Maldonado at Renault for the 2016 season

The team - then known as Lotus prior to Renault's buy-out in December - announced four months ago that Maldonado would be staying on. But the Venezuelan, reputed to pay almost £20m for his seat, is believed to have been ousted after backing from his sponsors dried up.

Renault, who will unveil their driver line-up as well as their new car at a media event next week in Paris, have refused to confirm or deny speculation that Maldonado has been dropped.


Magnussen was released by McLaren at the end of last year but is now set to partner English rookie Jolyon Palmer in 2016.

Reports first surfaced earlier this month that Magnussen had been at the team's Enstone base for two days of talks with senior management.


The highly-rated Dane drove for McLaren in 2014, scoring a podium finish on his debut, but was subsequently sidelined when Fernando Alonso returned to Woking to partner Jenson Button.

Despite winning the 2012 Spanish GP, Maldonado's five-year F1 career has been defined by controversy and collisions. Prior to leaving the Williams team for Lotus two years ago, he accused the Grove outfit of sabotaging his car ahead of the 2013 US GP and, unable to shrug off the tag of being a 'pay driver', a website was launched to keep a timetable of his many crashes.
Well its nice to see that Renault are committed to improving safety in F1.
 

Ubik

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Kevin Magnussen is poised to replace Pastor Maldonado at Renault for the 2016 season

The team - then known as Lotus prior to Renault's buy-out in December - announced four months ago that Maldonado would be staying on. But the Venezuelan, reputed to pay almost £20m for his seat, is believed to have been ousted after backing from his sponsors dried up.

Renault, who will unveil their driver line-up as well as their new car at a media event next week in Paris, have refused to confirm or deny speculation that Maldonado has been dropped.


Magnussen was released by McLaren at the end of last year but is now set to partner English rookie Jolyon Palmer in 2016.

Reports first surfaced earlier this month that Magnussen had been at the team's Enstone base for two days of talks with senior management.


The highly-rated Dane drove for McLaren in 2014, scoring a podium finish on his debut, but was subsequently sidelined when Fernando Alonso returned to Woking to partner Jenson Button.

Despite winning the 2012 Spanish GP, Maldonado's five-year F1 career has been defined by controversy and collisions. Prior to leaving the Williams team for Lotus two years ago, he accused the Grove outfit of sabotaging his car ahead of the 2013 US GP and, unable to shrug off the tag of being a 'pay driver', a website was launched to keep a timetable of his many crashes.
Delighted for Magnussen, certainly good enough for another shot and certainly more worthy of a drive than Maldonado.
 

pauldyson1uk

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Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has backed a demand from drivers for higher-performance tyres.

He told BBC Sport that "most drivers" wanted a shift away from the current tyres because they can rarely push to the limit on them.

Ecclestone said he agreed "a million per cent" that F1 should be about drivers racing flat out at all times.

"I have already told Pirelli that," he said, adding the issue would be discussed at a meeting next month.

However, he also defended F1's supplier, claiming the teams needed to help Pirelli with its tyre development.

"The bottom line is Pirelli supply the tyres in F1, they are the tyres we should use and the teams and drivers should work with Pirelli to perfect the tyres," Ecclestone said.
Ecclestone's remarks follow those of Grand Prix Drivers' Association chairman Alexander Wurz.

He said earlier this week that the drivers wanted to "help and support Pirelli to construct a tyre fit for maximum-attack racing".

The drivers' intervention came amid concerns among senior figures in F1 that problems with the tyres could undermine planned rule changes for 2017 aimed at making the cars faster and more dramatic.

These have already been watered down after Pirelli said its current tyres could not cope with the increased car performance without being run at what teams would consider extreme pressures.

One senior insider told BBC Sport, on condition of anonymity, that the tyres and Pirelli's refusal to say anything was wrong "are a big problem" and that "people are really upset".

This has led to a meeting, at Pirelli headquarters in Milan on 2 February, that will feature all the sport's major stakeholders.

"Whatever drivers want to turn up can turn up," Ecclestone said. "Whatever teams want to turn up can turn up. It will be the president of Pirelli who is there, not a messenger."

Pirelli's tyres for the 2016 season, which starts in Australia on 20 March, have already been designed and will have the same characteristics as in recent years.

But Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery said his team were ready to listen to suggestions but said any solution had to satisfy everyone.

"We need clear direction," he said, "and going forward from there we need to extensively test any solutions."
 

pauldyson1uk

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Some C4 F1 news.

Channel 4 has named ex-Formula 1 driver David Coulthard as the first member of its on-screen presenting team for the upcoming season.

The channel is taking over UK F1 terrestrial television rights in a three-year deal from 2016 after the BBC ended its agreement earlier.

ANALYSIS: What will Channel 4 offer Formula 1?

Coulthard was part of the BBC's team during the last six seasons after the coverage moved across from ITV.

Channel 4's head of TV events and sport Ed Harvard said: "We are delighted that David Coulthard will be at the heart of Channel 4's coverage and look forward to announcing the full presenting team in the coming weeks."

The news comes as Whisper Films was awarded the production contract for Channel 4's F1 coverage, with a number of BBC production staff to form part of the team.

Coulthard, former BBC F1 presenter Jake Humphrey and ex-BBC Sport F1 producer Sunil Patel set up Whisper Films in 2010.

Channel 4 took a minority stake in the production company in 2015 as part of its Indie Growth Fund.

"The F1 world has been incredibly impressed with what Whisper has delivered over the last five years and Channel 4's decision is testament to that," said Coulthard.

"I'm looking forward to being part of an exciting new era for Formula 1, with Whisper Films and our proven level of creativity and innovation very much at the heart of that."

Whisper Films executive producer Patel added: "Whisper Films has an unrivalled production team with over 20 years' experience in Formula 1 and unique contacts throughout the sport.

"Channel 4 and the sport have talked about a new approach and we believe we are ideally placed to deliver this."

North One Television, which was responsible for ITV's F1 coverage when it had the rights, will work with Channel 4 to produce a number of accompanying F1 programmes.

Channel 4 will screen 10 grands prix live and without advertising breaks per season, with the remainder to be shown as highlights.
 

RedFish

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I'm in, how do I join the Redcafe league?
Great Mark. @pauldyson1uk usually sets up the league, and it's very easy to do. I would suggest just register, and wait for Paul to set up the new Redcafe league so we can join. (The old league is named 2015, so best wait for the new one to be set up). Register and watch this space.....If needs be, any one of us can quickly set up a Redcafe league.