RobberBaron Report post Posted December 2, 2017 Hello everyone, I am curious to see what everyone's thoughts are on the 2018 Formula 1 season on the drivers, championship, constructors, rumors, etc. I think it is going to be one of the best seasons in recent times. It should definitely be way more competitive and even closer with some of the changes. I will be curious to see the reliability and performance of the new McLaren cars powered by Renault. I think Saaber (with the Alfa livery) with the 2018 spec Ferrari engines will be a competitive team again. Red bull with the Aston Martin engines is a giant question mark. I am a Ferrari F1 fan and am hoping to see them take back the constructor and driver championships from Mercedes. Anyway, what are everyone else's thoughts? Cheers, RobberBaron Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanRo24 Report post Posted December 2, 2017 Halo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobberBaron Report post Posted December 2, 2017 Halo I know. I am still holding out on a sliver of hope that the FIA will drop that BS rule. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnsella Report post Posted December 2, 2017 I know. I am still holding out on a sliver of hope that the FIA will drop that BS rule. I don't know what you are smoking, but until the engine regs change, look for Hamilton to pile up additional championships. Nothing is changing. The Merc maybe a brick aerodynamically but its engine power advantage can more than compensate. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobberBaron Report post Posted December 2, 2017 I don't know what you are smoking, but until the engine regs change, look for Hamilton to pile up additional championships. Nothing is changing. The Merc maybe a brick aerodynamically but its engine power advantage can more than compensate. I disagree. The Merc's power advantage wasn't that crazy this past season when compared to the Ferrari. LH is a talented driver, but I think Vettle (and hell, maybe Verstappen if the Aston engine is nuts) has a good chance at taking it. I believe the oil burn advantage Mercedes has is gone in 2018, but I am not 100% sure on that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnsella Report post Posted December 3, 2017 I disagree. The Merc's power advantage wasn't that crazy this past season when compared to the Ferrari. LH is a talented driver, but I think Vettle (and hell, maybe Verstappen if the Aston engine is nuts) has a good chance at taking it. I believe the oil burn advantage Mercedes has is gone in 2018, but I am not 100% sure on that. That's a great post....Aston and Alfa are back this year.. lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobberBaron Report post Posted December 3, 2017 2018 Alfa Romeo Livery: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank-Goodson Report post Posted December 3, 2017 I think it'll be closer than last year when it comes to LH and Vettle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudiBull Report post Posted December 3, 2017 Alfa and Aston are just title sponsors at this point. The engine talk is just a rumor. If they move forward Aston will become a supplier in 2021 when the regs change. Aston Red Bull are sticking with Renault next year, but are switching to Honda for the B team (Torro Rosso). If reliability doesn't improve at Renault I imagine Aston RB will switch to Honda if things go well at Toro in 2018. Hopefully competition is tighter in 2018. The push to get to two stops rather than one will help. The excitement and drama was still lacking this year. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHADW Report post Posted December 3, 2017 Merc is building the engines for Aston road cars going forward. Seems odd Aston would build their own F1 engine when they haven’t been able to successfully build their own road car engines. Not to mention that partnership would lend itself well to Aston getting access to the best F1 engines at Merc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudiBull Report post Posted December 3, 2017 Merc is building the engines for Aston road cars going forward. Seems odd Aston would build their own F1 engine when they haven’t been able to successfully build their own road car engines. Not to mention that partnership would lend itself well to Aston getting access to the best F1 engines at Merc. Merc is only supplying the V8 for the base models. The brand new 5.2 V12 is all Aston and will continue that way the same as the 6.0 was. How is that not successfully building their own engines? I get your point on a Merc partnership, but that is highly unlikely. Merc will not shoot itself in the foot by giving another top tier team that advantage. They already have Williams and Force India as B teams they supply. There was already drama with delays in providing updated (ie. more powerful) new model engines in a timely manner to the B squad this year. Imagine if Merc could delay updates to an actual points competitor. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smash Boy Report post Posted December 3, 2017 I don't know what you are smoking, but until the engine regs change, look for Hamilton to pile up additional championships. Nothing is changing. The Merc maybe a brick aerodynamically but its engine power advantage can more than compensate. From a fellow F1 enthusiast: It became totally clear to LEWIS that his days of being number one are over. Bottas assisted Lewis in gaining his 4th championship. In actuality in was Ferrari who gave it to him, the 2 car Ferrari crash sealed the deal for Lewis. Bottas after this last race will no longer sit by and watch his team mate run all over him. This last race like none before you see what Bottas can do without team orders. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmtn Report post Posted December 3, 2017 I have many thoughts. First of them is to please cancel Abu Dhabi circuit permanently from the F1 calendar. That Yas Marina circuit is dead boring. I would suggest the same for many other Herman Tilke designs. They are so wide and flat that is is like driving RC-car on motorway. There is no challenge at all and fastest car is also fastest driver, so that means boring races. Second, keep advancing all the tech, but please no more fuel usage limit, that is just pretentious shit and does not make a difference in to world. on average race Ferrari needed to save fuel for half of the laps, that is hardly good ingredient for racing. Allowing fueling at pit stop would also bring many different tactics on the table. Third, god please no Halo! It destroys the spirit of the game, now we are seeing all the time what drivers do and their frustration and expressions. And by definition Formula 1 means open top racing. So Fourth, stop americanizing so fast, new management have done good job but I have feeling it could go soon horribly wrong. It is dangerous but safe enough, it does not need warning label and lid onto it too. And F1 has always bee ntech driven. Fifth, could be in anyway go to normal modern tire structures. Tires are ancient from inside now, also that would make possible changing the wheel size to larger. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHADW Report post Posted December 3, 2017 Merc is only supplying the V8 for the base models. The brand new 5.2 V12 is all Aston and will continue that way the same as the 6.0 was. How is that not successfully building their own engines? I get your point on a Merc partnership, but that is highly unlikely. Merc will not shoot itself in the foot by giving another top tier team that advantage. They already have Williams and Force India as B teams they supply. There was already drama with delays in providing updated (ie. more powerful) new model engines in a timely manner to the B squad this year. Imagine if Merc could delay updates to an actual points competitor. Really? My dealer told me all the new models would have Merc drivetrains and electronics/nav. He was excited about finally having solid tech and engineering to go with the great looking designs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudiBull Report post Posted December 3, 2017 Really? My dealer told me all the new models would have Merc drivetrains and electronics/nav. He was excited about finally having solid tech and engineering to go with the great looking designs. Yes, really. By "solid tech and engineering" do you mean finally getting rid of everything from Ford? Sorry, couldn't resist that one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnsella Report post Posted December 3, 2017 From what I have read switchgear and things like nav are now Merc rather than 10-year-old Volvo crap. V8's in the DB11 are Merc too, the double Ford Duratec V12 still soldiers on albeit now served with twin turbos Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_chaos Report post Posted December 6, 2017 I think there will be a rerun of this year's championship. Strong Ferrari representation for 3/4 of the season but a fall off. Merc will a little clumsy here and there this season, only really when the summer break approached did they truly tighten everything down. Bottas is good for sure, how good remains to be seen but the car works. Mercs biggest problem was the aero following a car, they cannot rely on the pole position all the time. Will they sort that in 2018? The real juice is around the other teams. McLaren switch from the fourth worst engine to the third worst engine is interesting, I hope it works and works well because Hamilton on Vettel on Verstappen on Alonso are stories that only come along once a decade if that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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