2016 season

The tire compounds currently in stock for our upcoming races are as follows:
Bahrain - supersoft , soft, medium
China - supersoft, soft, medium
Russia - supersoft, soft, medium
Spain - hard, medium, soft
Monaco - ultrasoft, supersoft, soft
Canada - ultrasoft, supersoft, soft
Europe - supersoft, soft, medium

In case anyone is interested in what all the helmets look like for the 2016 season:

http://www.formulapassion.it/2016/03...mondiale-2016/

I might just be getting old—it feels like almost none of them actually catch my eye...

Back when I used to watch the old-school drivers, you could tell exactly who was behind the wheel just by looking at the helmet design.

With all these colors and extra details nowadays, I’ve lost the thread a little...

To me, it just looks like a chaotic mess of colors that's honestly a bit much for my eyes and brain to process.

None of them really strike me as "wow," though I suppose I’d say Bottas’s looks the best so far. When you look at the more diverse field, there is some pretty intense competition between Grosjean’s, Ericsson’s, and those two from Red Bull.

If you ask me,
Palmer's approach is easily the most straightforward of the bunch.

Timothy Castillo6 said:...but wait, where is the thread for the second race?

Since you were the first one to ask, I suppose the responsibility falls on you to start the thread, doesn't it?🙂

There are plenty of folks way more qualified and actually in charge of that stuff... 🙂
But here we are. 😢

So, when is Red Bull finally getting that PU upgrade? Word on the street is we’re looking at a jump of maybe 30 to 50 horsepower. What’s the actual consensus on this?
What’s the intel on this assignment?
I found:
I’ve been digging through the latest reports on the upcoming racing circuit, and honestly, if you aren't paying attention to how the power units are shaping up, you’re basically watching a different sport entirely. There's a massive amount of noise right now about the technical directions teams are taking, especially regarding the integration of the PU and how that's going to dictate the hierarchy for the next few years. You see these big names like Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari constantly shifting their focus, trying to find that extra tenth of a second, but let's be real—most of them are just spinning their wheels while Red Bull continues to set the pace. It’s pretty obvious that whoever masters the thermal efficiency first is going to own the podium, and right now, it looks like a dogfight between the heavy hitters. I don't care what the pundits say; the raw data suggests we're looking at a massive shift in performance parity before the season even hits its stride. It’s going to be a brutal fight, and if you think a legacy brand is just going to coast on reputation, you clearly haven't been following the engineering wars happening behind closed doors in the US.
Is there seriously an engine upgrade coming to Monaco already?

It’s going to be absolutely insane if they actually lock that in for Monaco; we're looking at one hell of a race if that happens.
An extra 35 horsepower. That's all it takes to change the entire game. 🙂
Horner wraps things up at the end of the article by saying:
If the Renault engine development actually delivers on what they've been promising, we're looking at a situation where we can put Ferrari on their heels for good.

Looks like Max is taking the win again🙂

It seems quite possible that Ferrari could face a complete disaster during the Monaco Grand Prix.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if Red Bull Racing found themselves sitting right on the doorstep of the Mecca.
And so, back at Maranello... it seems the soap opera is far from over. Arivederci Maurizio. 🙂

rowdyrider12 said:Honestly, Ferrari could completely fall apart in Monaco...
I wouldn't be shocked at all if Red Bull Racing ends up being right on their heels—basically treating them like their new Mecca..
And then, back at Maranello? Well, the soap opera just keeps going.. Arivederci Maurizio.. 🙂

It’s not just a possibility—it’s practically a guarantee. 😁

Whatever, I'm all for it. Let them fight.

Alonso is back at it again with the nonsense over at McLaren Honda...

It looks like he’s convinced there’s an open seat waiting at Ferrari—so naturally, he’s trying to leverage a better qualifying position for his upcoming negotiations...

Because if things don't improve at Ferrari soon, one—maybe even both—of their drivers might start looking for a way out...

Alonso had a disastrous start at the Spanish Grand Prix and honestly, his race was a mess from start to finish...

He spent ages stuck behind Jenson Button, constantly pestering the pit wall to let him through since he felt he was clearly faster...
The pit wall actually told him not to overtake (or at least not to attempt it) Jenson Button, which led to Alonso essentially stalling the car...

The folks at McLaren Honda still haven't pinned down why Alonso pulled the plug—rumor has it the fuel flow was interrupted and the engine went into "cut-off" mode...
They can't find the root cause of the error just yet, so there's even a lingering suspicion that Alonso might have been messing with the steering wheel settings himself—not unlike what Nico did...

There’s another telling detail that suggests Alonso has already checked out mentally and physically from McLaren Honda...

Usually, after a race, the drivers meet with the engineers to debrief on car performance and engine behavior. Apparently, Alonso was so ticked off that the team wouldn't let him hunt down Jenson Button that
Alonso skipped the post-race meeting entirely; they couldn't find him anywhere, and he wasn't answering any calls...
The last anyone saw him, he was just congratulating Max after the checkered flag...

Brilliant. Alonso’s gone full Mad Max mode.

Expected 🙂

It would be such a wild scenario if Daniel Ricciardo somehow landed at McLaren Honda next year and snatched a title—or at least managed to outshine Fernando Alonso over at Mercedes. 🤣
Setting aside how incredibly unlikely that actually is, just imagine the drama! 🤣 Honestly, I think Alonso might actually lose his cool entirely. 😬

That said, if a seat at Mercedes truly does open up, my money is on seeing either Kimi Räikkönen or Daniel Ricciardo step into it.

Oh, and I did catch a headline somewhere claiming that Honda is sticking exclusively with McLaren next season.

Fernando Alonso is fighting to secure at least one more WDC before he finally hangs up his helmet. From his perspective—and certainly from the viewpoint of his devoted fans—he stands as the greatest, most flawless talent to ever grace the world's racetracks. 🙂
Consequently, wouldn't it be fitting if he earned not just one, but perhaps two more WDC titles before retirement? 🙂 But even just one more would suffice...

Given those perfectly understandable and quite valid motivations, is it any wonder he is doing everything in his power to find himself behind a winning car? After all, he is the one who deserves it, while everyone else is merely an afterthought. 🙂
To put it simply and concisely, 🙂

It is truly a shame that by making what he deemed "smart career moves," he essentially handed himself two championship titles on a silver platter. 🙂

Classic Alonso—it honestly feels like the only way McLaren is ever going to clinch a title is if Fernando Alonso finally moves on from the team.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/an...boost-738277/?

I am so done with these Goodyear tires and all this tire nonsense. 🤦
Seriously though, do you guys think it's possible the Bear's advantage is actually just the Goodyear rubber rather than the engine? 🤔

If my memory serves me correctly, the Bear's circuit was notorious for absolutely shredding tires back when Lewis was driving alongside Rosberg... even though their aero package was quite strong at the time, they just couldn't get the rubber to behave. And then, of course, there was that infamous "legal" test they ran... 🙂
There is certainly something interesting to be found here 🙂