Guess he was not impressed by Vettel - https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/134183/ricciardo-verstappen-first-challenging-teammate Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo says Max Verstappen is the only Formula 1 team-mate he has had so far that he feels can challenge him. They have been paired up at Red Bull since Verstappen was promoted from junior squad Toro Rosso to the senior team ahead of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, which he won. Previously, Ricciardo raced alongside Sebastian Vettel, who he beat in the drivers' standings in 2014, Daniil Kvyat, Jean-Eric Vergne, Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi in an F1 career that began at HRT before he reached Red Bull via Toro Rosso. Ricciardo feels none of those drivers pushed him like Verstappen has.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/134204/renault-aims-to-beat-mercedes-at-85%25-of-its-size Renault intends to beat top Formula 1 teams Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull to the world championship with "85% of their capability and resources", according to team boss Cyril Abiteboul. Renault is engaged in an ongoing redevelopment of its works F1 operation in Enstone, after taking over Lotus at the end of 2015. Personnel numbers and infrastructure have expanded greatly since, with Renault recruiting more than 100 new staff and growing its team towards a target of around 750. Abiteboul says that growth will continue in 2018, but at a further reduced pace, while new executive director Marcin Budkowski, hired controversially from the FIA, will work on refining Renault's structure to mount a future title challenge using fewer resources than other top teams.
Very interesting look at how Mclaren have been developing their car. I really hope they do well this year!! https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/134212/mclaren-determined-to-avoid-peaky-2018-car McLaren is determined to avoid having a "peaky" 2018 Formula 1 design and is focusing on making its new car's handling user-friendly for Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne. Reigning champion Mercedes admitted its "diva" 2017 chassis was hard to get consistent performance from. Ahead of a campaign in which it hopes its switch from Honda to Renault power will end its five-season win drought, McLaren technical director Tim Goss said the team had prioritised making the car's characteristics amenable. "So much of producing a great F1 car these days is giving the driver a car that they can exploit," Goss told Autosport. "There is no point in giving them a car with very peaky performance. "What we are trying to do is give the driver something that operates very well over a broad operating envelope." Goss said McLaren had taken that approach to its first design of the new aerodynamic regulations last year. "Initially we are not worried about what level of performance we are going to put on the car," he explained. "What we wanted to do was understand the flow physics and try to get good, well-behaved aerodynamics across the range of the operating envelope of yaw/steer/roll and ride-height. "And only when we did that and we were happy that we had well-behaved aerodynamics did we start to build the performance. "So our approach these days is very much about giving the driver something they can trust and work with, and peaky load is in our view not the way to produce a quick aerodynamic package for the driver, or vehicle dynamics change." Image Unavailable, Please Login Goss said McLaren had decided not to try to compensate for Honda's lack of straightline performance with a low-drag 2017 design or set-ups. "Even trimming a bit of downforce off the car and trimming to a lower wing level, we were still not going to get our car to the point where we have that raceability in a straight line," he said. "So our approach has been to always go for the quickest lap time and our tactics coming to a race weekend were to qualify as well as we can, and then aim to defend that position based on lap time. In some races that was extremely difficult. "We improved the car quite considerably around the Hungarian GP, had a great race in Hungary and then got to Belgium and just went backwards. "We went backwards not because of our lap time but because we had zero ability to defend in a straight line. "That period of Belgium/Italy was immensely frustrating because we knew we had car performance but we couldn't defend. "We are here to win races and win championships and with the car the approach we take is to design around success. "Rather than put sticking plasters to try to cope with the fact that we had an underpowered engine, what we really wanted to do is develop the best car and assume the engine is going to come."
FEBRUARY 5, 2018 Sirotkin hits out at pay driver label Sergey Sirotkin says he is ignoring those who call him a 'pay driver'. Some, including sections of the media, say the Russian secured Williams' second seat for 2018 thanks to the millions brought to the team by SMP Bank. "I do not pay attention to names like 'pay driver'," Sirotkin told Russian radio Sport FM. Criticising the media who repeat the label, the 22-year-old added: "People write things but where do they get the information from? "If you know something and can confirm it with facts, then please do," he said. Sirotkin also offered his opinion about the banning of grid girls, insisting his focus is elsewhere. "When you sit on the grid, you're not thinking about the girls," he said. "If I had not been told about this news then I would not have even noticed. "I can understand the position of both the opponents and the supporters of this decision, but I look at it from the professional point of view -- that it does not affect the drivers in any way," Sirotkin added.
F1 replaces 'grid girls' with 'grid kids' this year, "chosen by their motorsport clubs on merit, or by lottery, and will already be competing in karting or junior formulae", FIA announces.
They are following Formula E's idea. I have mixed feelings. After recent months, Bernie does not look so bad.
http://www.planetf1.com/news/f1-braced-for-ferrari-v-liberty-confrontation/ One of the more interesting situations coming up for this year possibly.
New engine rules for 2018 -- https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/134255/fresh-clampdown-on-f1-engine-tricks-for-2018 Last year's intense Formula 1 title fight between Ferrari and Mercedes meant boundaries were being pushed and rules clarifications called on - and there are more in store for 2018. Oil burn was the main regulatory controversy of the 2017 F1 season. A spate of clarifications on this matter coincided with an ebb and flow of Mercedes and Ferrari's performance - even though there was never a suggestion either of them had outright broken rules. One consequences of the oil burn controversy was a push by teams and the FIA to impose new rules for 2018 to stop any grey areas of the regulations being exploited. Those clarifications go beyond oil burn, suggesting other engine tricks were being used: Oil burn limits The FIA began last year a process of limiting the amount of oil that could be burned during the course of a grand prix. From September's Italian Grand Prix, teams could only burn 0.9 litres of oil per 100km. For the 2018 season, this limit has been reduced to just 0.6 litres of oil per 100km. Now new regulations have been introduced to help the FIA keep a closer eye on what teams are doing. * Teams must supply the measurement of the oil level of the main tank to the FIA at all times of the event. The mass of oil contained in each oil tank, with the exception of the main oil tank, must also now be declared to the FIA one hour before the start of the race. * Active control valves between any part of the power unit and the engine intake air will be banned. With sump breather pipes now feeding excess oil back into the engine through the intake - rather than out of the back of the car as happened decades ago - this will prevent clever systems diverting this oil into the engine for a power boost. * Teams will be limited to a single oil specification per engine at a given grand prix - which must be declared before the event gets under way. This will prevent teams using a qualifying oil specification for extra power, and switching to a different type for the race. There are also much stricter definitions of what oil should be - with set characteristics to ensure that it is being used purely for lubrication, cleaning and cooling and not for any power boost. Article 20.1.2 of F1's technical regulations states: "The presence of any component that cannot be rationally associated with the defined functions of the engine oil will be deemed unacceptable." Image Unavailable, Please Login Recycling fluids There is a further clampdown on alternative uses of other fluids as well as oil. A new article 5.1.12 of the technical regulations makes it clear that any breather fluids must exit the car at the rear, and cannot be recycled for use in the engine. It states: "All power unit breather fluids may only vent to atmosphere and must pass through an orifice which is positioned rearward of the rear axle centre line and less than 400mm above the reference plane and less than 100mm from the car centre plane. No breather fluids may re-enter the power unit." That suggests teams had been finding scope to use power-boosting additives in breather fluids, that could then get put back in the system to be burned by the engine as they came back through. Article 5.14.2 adds: "The addition of any substance other than fuel into the air destined for combustion is forbidden. Exhaust gas recirculation is forbidden." Engine temperatures One particularly intriguing rulebook addition relates to engine temperatures, raisising some eyebrows about what prompted such a change. A new article 5.6.8 of the technical regulations makes it clear that in the engine plenum air (defined officially as from plenum entry to cylinder head), temperatures must now hit a minimum target. The rule states: "Engine plenum...air temperature must be more than 10 degrees centigrade above ambient temperature. When assessing compliance, the temperature of the air will be the lap average recorded, by an FIA approved and sealed sensor located in an FIA approved location situated in the engine plenum, during every lap of the race." While some laps will not count for this average (the first lap of the race, laps carried out behind the safety car and laps with a pitstop), it is clear that the FIA wants an overall picture of what teams are doing with the air going into engines. The requirement for teams to keep above a minimum temperature suggests that there was scope for the air to be cooled - which would help the performance of F1's turbo hybrid engines. Hotter air holds less oxygen than cooler air, meaning that the turbo will have to work harder, spin faster and compress more air to produce the same amount of boost than it would get if things were cooler. If the turbo is already at its maximum potential, then it will mean that engine performance gets reduced as the air temperature increases. There can be other knock-on effects of warmer air too - it can increase the temperature inside the turbo, which causes a further loss of power, with the intercooler becoming less efficient too. It is hard to predict right now what impact - if any - the new FIA regulations on engines will have in 2018. Opinions were, after all, divided last year about how much the performance gap between Mercedes and Ferrari closed up and spread out as the various oil burn clarifications came out. But the tighter scrutiny on what teams are doing with engines should at least bring an end to a lot of suspicions and finger-pointing - until, of course, teams find another grey area to go away and chase.
Pascal back to DTM. -- http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/22352959/f1-outcast-pascal-wehrlein-returns-dtm-2018
FEBRUARY 7, 2018 Grid girl ban is discrimination says Ramirez Former McLaren team coordinator Jo Ramirez has slammed Liberty Media's decision to ban grid girls. Throughout the 80s and 90s, the now 76-year-old Mexican was a leading figure in F1. Ramirez now hits out at Liberty's decision to ban grid girls, replacing them with 'grid kids' from 2018. "F1 is losing its way. They try to change something for the sake of changing," he told Spanish radio Cadena Cope. "It would have been enough to dress them a little more modestly but in many countries they were wearing the national costume," he added. "This (ban) is a discrimination against women -- tomorrow they will be prohibited from coming into the circuit altogether. In my opinion, the grid girls offended no one," said Ramirez.
Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh old news. Grid kids is not a bad thing. Other companies will have their promotional girls around anyway if thats what you want to look at. Everything is life is discriminatory LOL. The world has not at all ended. F1 is doing just fine with its halo and other silly things hurting the sport. The racing in the end will save or end the sport
FEBRUARY 7, 2018 Alesi not in favour of grid kids project Former F1 driver Jean Alesi says he is no fan of Liberty Media's new "grid kids" initiative. F1's new owners caused an international storm when it was announced that grid girls will be banned in 2018. In their place, children will hold the drivers' grid boards instead. Former Ferrari driver Alesi weighed into the controversy when asked by Italy's Motorbox what he thinks about the introduction of Halo this year. "I can state absolutely that I am in favour of the Halo," said the Frenchman. "It is a pity that the aesthetics of the cars will be affected, but the most important thing is the safety of the drivers. "On the other hand, I am not in favour of either the abolition of the grid girls or the new grid kid project," Alesi admitted. "By abolishing the grid girls, we have eliminated a well-oiled system that allowed many women to work. "I am in favour of highlighting young athletes and drivers, but not in this way," he added. Finally, Alesi commented on the fact that his son Giuliano has been re-signed not only by the Ferrari junior academy for 2018, but also by the GP3 team Trident. "I expect good results," Alesi Snr said. "Working with the academy is a guarantee -- Giuliano can thrive without rushing." However, when asked if he would like to see his 18-year-old son test a formula one car soon, Alesi answered: "I would lie down in front of the pit exit! "Giuliano must only think about GP3. If he wants to sit in a formula one car, then he can jump in one at home and I'll take a picture."
FEBRUARY 8, 2018 Grid girl ban a shame says Gasly Pierre Gasly has added yet another voice to concerns about F1's 'grid girls' ban. France's Auto Hebdo jokingly asked the Toro Rosso driver if there is a connection between the 2018 ban and the fact that Gasly is making his full-time F1 debut this year. "It's not my fault!" he laughed. "Personally, I find it a shame because grid girls were part of the DNA and the glamorous side of formula one."
FEBRUARY 9, 2018 Grid girl ban step backwards says Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg has joined the chorus of those who do not agree that banning grid girls is a step forwards for F1. In fact, the works Renault driver said it is a "further step backwards for the show". "Some hot girls in front of the cars is only good for that whole side of it," Hulkenberg told No Sports magazine. And he said the introduction of Halo is another example of a bad move by F1. "It's a big hit," Hulkenberg said. "Not only because it looks stupid, but the likelihood is minimal that an accident will happen in which Halo is actually helpful. "Motor sport thrives on speed, and all the drivers are aware of that." Hulkenberg also defended his place in the record books as the longest-serving driver never to stand on a podium. "It's an achievement," he joked. "135 races without performing and still in formula one! "I've always been a believer that when you work hard and stick at it, good things will happen. So I'm not under pressure and sure that my best years are still ahead of me."
Naaawwww Really? They can pump as much money as they want into the car, it's not going to help the drivers. Sirotkin's backers say the money they are putting into Williams will all go towards the development of the team's 2018 #F1 car. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/134304/sirotkin-backing-to-be-spent-on-car-development
That will help early in the season. The development problem for Williams is the 'sustainment' needed to compete. I think this will not be enough money to fight even Renault or Mclaren at all.
Williams' problem is resource allocation than how much they have to work with. They've been spending quite a bit more than Force India for a while and are getting spanked. 187 vs. 83 pts in 2017.
You heard it first here on FChat. Project 669 fires up....well after 2 starts. https://www.instagram.com/p/Be_BcTfguDk/ yes, I know, Mercedes fired theirs up a couple of days ago.
