2013 Car Reveal & Winter Testing Kickoff

Tomorrow is finally the day we’ve all been waiting for... man, seeing Lewis take on Watkins Glen.

As far as I’m concerned, the livery on the Ferrari looks quite respectable... 🙏 The actual design doesn't exactly blow me away, and that attempt at masking the bulge feels rather unnecessary, but honestly, I have no complaints regarding the color palette. 🤷

Furthermore, I find the Sauber looking more appealing than last year's version. 🙏 This anthracite gray they've gone with strikes me as both tasteful and somewhat aggressive at the same time. 🙏

stormybadger8 said:Is Bernie Ecclestone handsome? 😬
Then again, who knows... maybe he’s just efficient. 😍🤣

Let everyone else obsess over looks. Looks like the title fight is gonna be Vettel vs. Webber vs. Kimi vs. Hamilton anyway...
Honestly, I couldn't care less. 😍

Lol, you say the exact same thing every single season, yet when Alonso is actually the only threat on the grid, you suddenly go quiet.

Sure, because they clearly slimmed down the rear end... you can tell just by looking at how aerodynamic the car is now.

steelmaker83 said:Lol, you say the exact same thing every single season, yet when Alonso is actually the only threat on the grid, you suddenly go quiet.

And every single year, Vettel takes the title again.😁

The only legitimate threat lately has been McLaren—specifically Hamilton and Button.
The rest of them? Just a bunch of underachievers who couldn't squeeze the potential out of their cars for one reason or another. That’s why Alonso ended up fighting for scraps.

By the way, looks like Red Bull is a total beast. A scary one, too.😁

stormybadger8 said:And every single year, Vettel takes the title again.😁

The only legitimate threat lately has been McLaren—specifically Hamilton and Button.
The rest of them? Just a bunch of underachievers who couldn't squeeze the potential out of their cars for one reason or another. That’s why Alonso ended up fighting for scraps.

By the way, looks like Red Bull is a total beast. A scary one, too.😁

Hold on there, where's the rush? We haven't even seen anything from Haas yet.☕.

I didn't even need to watch the rest. Newey did exactly what I thought he would.😍

steelmaker83 said:Sure, because they clearly slimmed down the rear end... you can tell just by looking at how aerodynamic the car is now.

Honestly, Williams has been struggling to keep up for three seasons now, so they definitely deserved a little reality check.
The only thing else they could have stuffed in there was a six-pack of Bud Light between the gearbox and the rear axle.

Tightening things up too much—just asking for more mechanical headaches, specifically overheating and stalling out again

So, when exactly is the big reveal for the new Mercedes scheduled to happen?

stormybadger8 said:And every single year, Vettel takes the title again.😁

The only legitimate threat lately has been McLaren—specifically Hamilton and Button.
The rest of them? Just a bunch of underachievers who couldn't squeeze the potential out of their cars for one reason or another. That’s why Alonso ended up fighting for scraps.

By the way, looks like Red Bull is a total beast. A scary one, too.😁

lol, Alonso just happened to be inches away from the title twice due to pure luck, and the third time he actually posed a serious threat.

That guy is something else.

As for Sebastian, I’ll just say enjoy it while it lasts. It won't be much longer, and whether he ever does it again is a different question entirely.

darkmarlin16 said:So, when exactly is the big reveal for the new Mercedes scheduled to happen?

There won't be a live stream for this one.
The team is planning to reveal the car at the circuit in Austin, just like last year, right outside their garage. Expect to see photos popping up online sometime after 3:00 PM.

steelmaker83 said:lol, Alonso just happened to be inches away from the title twice due to pure luck, and the third time he actually posed a serious threat.

That guy is something else.

As for Sebastian, I’ll just say enjoy it while it lasts. It won't be much longer, and whether he ever does it again is a different question entirely.

Alonso’s a beast behind the wheel, and let’s be real—Ferrari is always right up there in that top three or five. Always have been.🤷
It’s not exactly shocking that they ended up picking up whatever scraps everyone else left behind. But let’s be real—Ferrari and Alonso weren't actually a threat in terms of raw pace. They just weren't.
Forget the threats. It’s hard to take anyone seriously when you’re starting P3 or P4 in a championship decider, especially when you still have to muscle your own teammate out of the way just to stand a chance.
You can only win if you're in some insane race against a sea of excuses. Your whole strategy for grabbing a title basically boils down to: "I just hope Sebastian and everyone ahead of me blow an engine."
That’s not the real threat. The real threat is when you’re absolutely dominating practice, qualifying, and the race itself—right up until the engine blows. It’s about having the faster car exactly when it matters most, especially during those championship-deciding rounds.

One thing is absolutely certain about Sebastian: he’s going to be stuck in F1 way longer than Alonso.😁

William Bennett53 said:As far as I’m concerned, the livery on the Ferrari looks quite respectable... 🙏 The actual design doesn't exactly blow me away, and that attempt at masking the bulge feels rather unnecessary, but honestly, I have no complaints regarding the color palette. 🤷

Furthermore, I find the Sauber looking more appealing than last year's version. 🙏 This anthracite gray they've gone with strikes me as both tasteful and somewhat aggressive at the same time. 🙏

Red Bull just can't—and shouldn't—let them mess with their branding like this. They're still the new kids on the F1 block and need to nail that constant brand presence—otherwise, they've got zero identity. And Vettel's dealing with the exact same thing. Since he's running the number 1, he needs a signature helmet design or at least a consistent pattern. What he's doing right now is just awful—like, seriously bad for his brand. Your helmet is the first thing people use to ID a driver. He needs some kind of damn icon that stays there—something synonymous with him. A finger, maybe? Just slap a stylized finger on both sides of the helmet. Fine, change the colors if you want, but at least keep the finger there every single time.

steelmaker83 said:lol, Alonso just happened to be inches away from the title twice due to pure luck, and the third time he actually posed a serious threat.

That guy is something else.

As for Sebastian, I’ll just say enjoy it while it lasts. It won't be much longer, and whether he ever does it again is a different question entirely.

don't even start. Vettel is a top-tier driver and a totally legitimate three-time world champ. You don't stumble into three straight titles by accident—not even once, let alone three times in a row. And Rosberg's title wasn't luck either—it was pure consistency, smart driving, and just grinding out points. Sure, others were crashing and wrecking their cars—but Rosberg wasn't—and that's just part of the game. Or at least, it used to be. Rosberg played it safe—and he won!

But back to Vettel—if Vettel sucks, then Webber would've been a three-time champ. He wasn't. End of story.

Hasn't Seb been getting a lot of buzz lately specifically for his helmet designs? Honestly, they’ve always been right up my alley.

Raymond Anderson4 said:Hasn't Seb been getting a lot of buzz lately specifically for his helmet designs? Honestly, they’ve always been right up my alley.

Sure, he gets mentioned, but mostly because he lacks any actual personality.

A three-time world champ needs an iconic helmet—and Vettel just doesn't have one. It’s too late now anyway, since he didn't win those titles rocking a legendary design, just some random mashup of everything and nothing.

Real iconic helmets were things like:

Senna

Hill

Ickx

Hakkinen

Andretti

Rutherford

Stewart

ruggedhawk20 said:Sure, he gets mentioned, but mostly because he lacks any actual personality.

A three-time world champ needs an iconic helmet—and Vettel just doesn't have one. It’s too late now anyway, since he didn't win those titles rocking a legendary design, just some random mashup of everything and nothing.

Real iconic helmets were things like:

Senna

Hill

Ickx

Hakkinen

Andretti

Rutherford

Stewart

I would also include Coulthard 🙂

shadowtrucker said:I would also include Coulthard 🙂

Yeah, Coulthard is definitely in—kind of an idiot move if you look at the design, but honestly? Just being on that top step 51 times makes him an icon (and yeah, technically he was actually there 50 times—but let's not get pedantic—the stats say 51)

Then you've got the elder Villeneuve and the younger one—though I'm not feeling the colors on the younger guy's kit. It'd look way better if the blue was a shade darker and we just ditched the pink entirely—or maybe swapped the pink for red—but whatever.

And that’s exactly what Vettel missed out on. Honestly, even if he was driving the most brain-dead design imaginable—think Prost levels of bad—if that helmet actually pulled off three straight titles, it would’ve been legendary. But it just isn't. In twenty years, nobody's gonna look back and say, "Oh, look, there's the Vettel helmet." Because let's be real—Vettel's helmet doesn't even exist.