Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM.....

[FanEagle]

There is this rumour going on that Ferrari managed to both increase their horse power by 30, while managing to increase their reliability. This mainly comes from the fact that they already said they had higher HP ready, but their reliability couldn't handle their higher HP, this year they managed to fix that reliability issue and this helped them be faster.

By comparison Red Bull has only 10 higher HP calculated so far, which means that it's going to be a lot closer, in fact it  could be a lot better for Ferrari than any other team. "If" what is said is true, they are by far the biggest candidates to win it this year, that difference is not a small one.

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[Davian144]

There were a number of rumors regarding the prohibition of media crews by Dorna Sports from seeing the Shakedown test in Sepang on 5 -7 February as stated by motorplusonlinedotcom. Because this was requested by the MotoGP team itself so that each manufacturer could not copy anything that was being developed by its rivals at that time.

But it wasn't long before reports emerged from local media saying that "After the 'controversy' caused by the decision to ban media from the Sepang Shakedown Test, five MotoGP manufacturers have now agreed to allow media onto the circuit, but not the pit lane."

[retreat]

It'sa bit sad that they didn't replaced China with track like Portimao or Istanbul, but anyway, 23 races is enough. But there is some things which I don't understand in calendar. They will go from Baku to Miami and then back to Imola. And then in June, from Barcelona to Canada and then back to Austria. Wouldn't it make sense to held races in Miami and Canada in a row, especially in terms of logistics. Such things looks strange when F1 is trying to save money and become more eco friendly.
Also, we will have two 1 month breaks - not in August as usual, but in April too. And at the same time we 3 triple header race weekends.

I've seen how the cargo system behind F1 works and I can say it's crazy. It was so extreme and precise. Even though it seems that the distance between circuits is quite far, DHL, as the cargo official of F1, is able to manage how thousands of tons of equipment and hundreds of cars can be transported from one circuit to another without error and on time. So even if it's quite a long distance from one circuit to another, for example Barcelona to Canada, it won't be a problem for them because they have foreseen that and have many years of experience in this.

[tokeweed]

There are new rumours about Hamilton to sign a new contract with his team. He might extend his contract by two years if they reach an agreement on terms. It is expected to be an enormous contract for him. The details are like this if this is really true:

- A 2-year contract and €70m earnings per year
- Mercedes to sign a 10-year brand ambassadorship deal with Hamilton worth €250m
- The total earnings is expected to be around €400m with bonuses

I assume Hamilton would be delighted with such deal. He still wants his eight championship as well.

Oh would he... 

His nuts were prolly jumping for joy in his pants as he was reading the terms of the new contract.

Anyway, I was wrong about last season's Williams team.  I really thought they were gonna do good things under the guidance and management of a team that did well at the WRC.  They're skills, experience and technical abilites didn't translate in F1.  But Williams seem to have made a good decision in hiring James Vowles.  Could he be the revelation of next season..?  I'd like to have a strong opinion but dunno...  I'm excited tho.

American things



The F1 in the next MIAMI GP will stay inside the stadium, the teams will build the paddock.


Source: https://www.formulapassion.it/motorsport/formula-1/miami-sempre-piu-show-pista-riasfaltata-e-paddock-dentro-lo-stadio


6 weeks at the start of the season!

So wait...  The audience are gonna watch the race from inside the stadium and are not allowed to go outside?  I'd rather stay home.

[el kaka22]

I am not entirely sure how that would work. I mean the track is basically out of the stadium, paddock being in, pit stops? The walking distance, the gap between engineers and drivers, and people not watching the race mostly?

I get that there is a stadium there, but the whole race won't be there, and if you put the paddock in there, it is still not going to be acceptable levels of distance, it has to be right on the middle of the track to make it reasonable. I am not saying this won't happen, Americans are weird in a way to want to make things bigger, when in fact just making it according to usual regulations would be enough, so they may do it, but I honestly hope they won't.

[alegotardo]

There are new rumours about Hamilton to sign a new contract with his team. He might extend his contract by two years if they reach an agreement on terms. It is expected to be an enormous contract for him. The details are like this if this is really true:

- A 2-year contract and €70m earnings per year
- Mercedes to sign a 10-year brand ambassadorship deal with Hamilton worth €250m
- The total earnings is expected to be around €400m with bonuses

I assume Hamilton would be delighted with such deal. He still wants his eight championship as well.

I suspect that this is true, as Mercedes itself has already denied the rumors and said that this was completely invented by a French blog which Mercedes already has some intrigues about for a long time, so it is very likely that this is just a way of draw attention.
Better to stay calm until some official news comes out or "rumors" from some other news source that is more reliable.

I believe that Hammilton will sign with Mercedes, despite all the problems they've had, I think that currently this is the best partnership that both can do to achieve good results together, but I don't think it will be a contract as "millionaire" as they say the rumours.

[Distraction]

This can really be just a rumour nothing more. But I think Hamilton will still get a huge contract even if the deal lasts for only one year or two years. He is still Mercedes' main driver despite Russell's joining the team and having a better season than him the last time. Hamilton is just continuing for breaking the title record only by himself and we will see if he will make it.

Mercedes had better prepare a fast car this time. We are getting some news from Ferrari lately like they have gained 30 hp and fixed the durability problems now. If this turns out to be true then Mercedes can stay behind them again. Even Red Bull can have serious difficulties against Ferrari.

[coinlocket$]

So wait...  The audience are gonna watch the race from inside the stadium and are not allowed to go outside?  I'd rather stay home.

No this is just for team relax time.

Usually, teams build the paddock near the circuit in the middle of nature, this time will be the 1st time they will be isolated inside an artificial building.

[tokeweed]

^  Ah weird.  Let's see how it works for the teams as it could either be something that can be done more in the future or something really dumb.

And have you guys read the news about Aston Martin having a break through with their car?  Lolol.  I think I heard the same thing last year from them and turned out they've been copying Merc's specs with bad implementation which made their performace worse than expected.

But if they did have a break through, Alonso is the lucky one as he would get some of the credit.  

[swogerino]

^  Ah weird.  Let's see how it works for the teams as it could either be something that can be done more in the future or something really dumb.

And have you guys read the news about Aston Martin having a break through with their car?  Lolol.  I think I heard the same thing last year from them and turned out they've been copying Merc's specs with bad implementation which made their performace worse than expected.

But if they did have a break through, Alonso is the lucky one as he would get some of the credit.  

If they make a good car this time I am happy for Alonso,this guy I am sure can give a lot of action to F1 and we all need this in the competition.I want to see some great action with other drivers except Hamilton and Verstappen and who better than Alonso to come and bring some competition on.I am also sure that both Ferrari drivers will have a good car at their disposal and also McLaren who have started development of the car very early last year.So I am expecting some really good F1 2023 season and we don't need a complete dominance like Redbull had last year.The more cars competing the better the season will be.

[alegotardo]

^  Ah weird.  Let's see how it works for the teams as it could either be something that can be done more in the future or something really dumb.

And have you guys read the news about Aston Martin having a break through with their car?  Lolol.  I think I heard the same thing last year from them and turned out they've been copying Merc's specs with bad implementation which made their performace worse than expected.

But if they did have a break through, Alonso is the lucky one as he would get some of the credit.  

Yes, I read about that too, they promise a 90% "new" car for 2023, I think I read it wrong, or the article is completely wrong.
Anyway, it seems that teams always find some loopholes in the rules that allow them to make these "smart innovations" (words of the team's deputy technical director, Eric Blandin).

Anyway, the team intends to present the AMR23 model on February 13, which should already be the final model that will go to the F1 tracks next season.

We'll see if it won't be another "Red Bull Green" version 2023.

[FanEagle]

Hamilton getting 70 million would be great for him in the financial department, and of course he would want to get paid as much as possible there is nothing wrong with that. But do not assume that he will be happy to just get paid and that's it, he will ask the team to build a car that could get him his 8th championship without a doubt. If he retires with 7, and if he keeps racing for more seasons and still not get a car that can't get that 8th, even with all the money in the world, he will be upset no matter what.

Yeah, there are people who are starving on the streets these days while this guy is getting 70 million so he should be happy but human psychology doesn't work that way and he will still be upset.

[coinlocket$]

Ferrari is working on simulators right now and we have some rumors.

They increased the power of the engine to around 30HP resolving the issues of the past year.

The rumors also speak about "they used a reduced power the last year"


If both of these will be confirmed Ferrari will have a huge boost of power.

[FanEagle]

Toto Wolf is working towards getting that 8th title for Hamilton and giving him whatever he wants, and that's a good thing considering the 7 titles and how much Hamilton means to the team, but lets be honest with each other here and say the obvious, Toto should consider what's best for Mercedes and not what's best for Hamilton.

If there is any season where they are risking too much to just keep Hamilton, that would be terrible. Instead of paying this much to Hamilton for what he has done, I would highly suggest if they ended up hiring a younger great driver instead, they can't get Max or Charles, but Lando is out there. It's a "bad" idea in the sense that Hamilton is better, but Hamilton is much more expensive and will get older very soon, doubt he has another title in him, so it's better to invest into younger drivers.

[coinlocket$]

In the next month also the Indicar will happen.

Sun, Mar 5
Noon ET   Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Streets Of St. Petersburg   NBC   Tickets
Sun, Apr 2
Noon ET   Grand Prix of Texas
Texas Motor Speedway   NBC   Tickets
Sun, Apr 16
3:00 PM ET   Grand Prix of Long Beach
Streets Of Long Beach   NBC   Tickets
Sun, Apr 30
3:00 PM ET   Grand Prix of Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park   NBC   Tickets
Sat, May 13
3:00 PM ET   Grand Prix of Indianapolis (Road Course) Race 1
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course   NBC   Tickets
Sun, May 28
11:00 AM ET   Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway   NBC   Tickets
Sun, Jun 4
3:00 PM ET   Grand Prix of Detroit
Detroit Street Circuit   NBC   Tickets
Sun, Jun 18
Noon ET   Grand Prix of Road America
Road America   USA Net   Tickets
Sun, Jul 2
3:00 PM ET   Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course   USA Net   Tickets
Sun, Jul 16
3:00 PM ET   Grand Prix of Toronto
Streets Of Toronto   Peacock   Tickets
Sat, Jul 22
3:00 PM ET   Grand Prix of Iowa Race 1
Iowa Speedway   NBC   Tickets
Sun, Jul 23
3:00 PM ET   Grand Prix of Iowa Race 2
Iowa Speedway   NBC   Tickets
Sun, Aug 6
3:00 PM ET   Grand Prix of Nashville
Streets Of Nashville   NBC   Tickets
Sat, Aug 12
Noon ET   Grand Prix of Indianapolis (Road Course) Race 2
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course   USA Net   Tickets
Sun, Aug 27
3:00 PM ET   Grand Prix of Illinois
World Wide Technology Raceway   NBC   Tickets
Sun, Sep 3
3:00 PM ET   Grand Prix of Portland
Portland International Raceway   NBC   Tickets
Sun, Sep 10
3:00 PM ET   Grand Prix of Laguna Seca
Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca   NBC   Tickets

Source: https://www.espn.com/racing/schedule/_/series/indycar

This year I may be able to watch it for the 1st time ever.

[Luzin]

There were a number of rumors regarding the prohibition of media crews by Dorna Sports from seeing the Shakedown test in Sepang on 5 -7 February as stated by motorplusonlinedotcom. Because this was requested by the MotoGP team itself so that each manufacturer could not copy anything that was being developed by its rivals at that time.

I didn't hear this. But that is the right of every racing team. I also don't know how the regulations that Dorna set out on this matter. But actually this is not a big problem. As long as the classification is met and still within the limits of the rules made I don't think it will put other racing teams at a disadvantage. Perhaps this is also because Ducati is releasing a new Aerodynamics for the season.

[püsür]

Max Verstappen is great driver and I had a lot of respect, but after the Perez incident, I don't care if things go downhill for him. I don't think he can be the champion this year because,
Reason #1: Redbull's wind tunnel penalty and other teams catching up
The second reason is that Perez will sell the max when it is most needed. Checo never forgets and forgives what was done in 2022. It's probably his last season in f1 and he won't probably let max be champion if he's not going to be the champion himself.

Yes, max didn't help checo for second place, and max probably lost his third championship.

[tokeweed]

^  There were things going on behind the scenes that we're not privy to.  There were some write ups about the whole thing that said Perez admitted that he deliberately 'got an accident' in Monaco last season at Q3 denying Verstappen of his last run making a possible pole.  Perez got pole and won the race.  

In the team radio when Verstappen's race engineer said that he had to let Perez pass, Verstappen said something like 'we already talked about this before and I'm taking my stand.'...  Something like that.  Even the race strategist or Horner won't even force the issue.  So something really must have happened.

[swogerino]

^  There were things going on behind the scenes that we're not privy to.  There were some write ups about the whole thing that said Perez admitted that he deliberately 'got an accident' in Monaco last season at Q3 denying Verstappen of his last run making a possible pole.  Perez got pole and won the race.  

In the team radio when Verstappen's race engineer said that he had to let Perez pass, Verstappen said something like 'we already talked about this before and I'm taking my stand.'...  Something like that.  Even the race strategist or Horner won't even force the issue.  So something really must have happened.

I think these are only rumors and I think that they clarified the behavior between the two drivers themselves.I think that there will be no such scenarios unless Perez deliberately crashes on Max during some race,however I don't see this happening,they have clauses in their contract and I don't think Perez would let himself to be known for a bad person and to leave that memory for himself,if he cannot win the Championship himself I think he will not interfere into Max fight for the title if Max will find himself fighting for the third consecutive title in F1,for me there is a big difference in drivers quality between Max and Checo,I am not talking about the human side of each one,that is a different story.

[LTU_btc]

I've seen how the cargo system behind F1 works and I can say it's crazy. It was so extreme and precise. Even though it seems that the distance between circuits is quite far, DHL, as the cargo official of F1, is able to manage how thousands of tons of equipment and hundreds of cars can be transported from one circuit to another without error and on time. So even if it's quite a long distance from one circuit to another, for example Barcelona to Canada, it won't be a problem for them because they have foreseen that and have many years of experience in this.

Yeah, I remember watching video about F1 logistics and it's crazy how DHL can move everything from one continent to another just in few days. Race weekend starts on Friday, but they have to deliver everything on Wednesday I think when there is one week between race.
But still, even if they're able to do it, some things in calendar just looks strange.

I am not entirely sure how that would work. I mean the track is basically out of the stadium, paddock being in, pit stops? The walking distance, the gap between engineers and drivers, and people not watching the race mostly?

I get that there is a stadium there, but the whole race won't be there, and if you put the paddock in there, it is still not going to be acceptable levels of distance, it has to be right on the middle of the track to make it reasonable. I am not saying this won't happen, Americans are weird in a way to want to make things bigger, when in fact just making it according to usual regulations would be enough, so they may do it, but I honestly hope they won't.

Paddock is usually located in other side of pits and garages. So, that's prety much location of that stadium.
What is weird for us, is completely normal for Americans. And seems that they're trying to bring more American culture to F1. And some things looks cringe.