F1 2015

To top it off, Sauber has one of the best looking cars and liveries this season:

I was only able to catch part of it, but I think they said that only half of the cars that made it there finished the race.

That was a snoozer.....

That was the weirdest race since the last Indy race with the six cars.

I thought that the race was OK overall. Lots to wonder about going into Malaysia.

Is torro Rosso that competitive?

Sauber back!?

Can Williams hold off Ferrari?

Will Alonso just take another race weekend of, because why not? Honda sucks right now.

Javelin wrote: To top it off, Sauber has one of the best looking cars and liveries this season:

One of the things that I like about the sauber is that V stripe on the nose. On video, at a distance, it kinda tricks your eye into thinking it has a narrow, sharp nose like a '90s car:

Maybe it's Leigh, David, and Steve's accents but having a Fillipe Massa and a Fillipe Nasr on the track at the same time just gets me all confused. One of them is going to have to change.

With such a short field, and then two cars not even making it around to the lights the only thing left to look forward to was what was Maldonado going to hit and he managed to get that out of the way pretty quickly. Looks like it's going to be more of the same with Ham and Ros going back and forth and then everybody else 45 seconds back having their own race. It was encouraging to see one of the McHondas make it to the end of the race, though. Qualifying was an unmitigated disaster for them, but if they can at least complete all 58 laps they're making progress, right?

Also, on the NBC broadcast was it just me or did they have the audio mixing done poorly? While I prefer the engine sound to all the talking, generally, I was having a really hard time making out what the commentating crew was saying.

Overall, the best part of the whole ordeal was probably Schwarzenegger's podium interviews. Hamilton looked like a kid in a candy shop when the Governator came on stage. I don't really get the tie-in, but it was pretty entertaining anyway.

In reply to MCarp22:

I know! I loved that addition. They didn't launch with it:

I watched the race live and that made it easier to nap through the replay.

Anyway, I wish Bottas hadn't injured his back and that the Ferrari pit crew hadn't destroyed Kimi's race; it would have been more fun seeing then take the fight to Vettel and Massa. It's still going to be a stretch to hope that any of those four can approach Hamilton and Rosberg.

Red Bull and Toto Rosso are screwed until Renault gets its' e36m3 together. Even so, the TR kids did great in their debut but Ricciardo and Kyvat deserve far better.

Yeah, Maldonaldo crashed (again) but at least this time it wasn't his fault. And wtf happened to Grosjean?

Sauber did great and it was nice to see the design/engineering part of the team performs a lot better than those who write their drivers' contracts.

McLaren was disappointing because they and Honda had a year to get on track and they still messed up. I'm thinking there are a number of engineers from Japan who are on seppuku watch right now.

I just read an article that stated Renault are looking to buy Toro Rosso outright and make it the factory team. Red Bull is so pissed off at Renault that they are threatening to leave F1. It has to suck when your engines are so bad that you have to consider buying a whole team just to get someone to use them.

Matchet made an odd comment about the Sauber- mentioning that the livery makes the car look clunkly, not able to show off the aero bits well.

I, too, think it looks great. Nice to see some new colors in the field.

Piss poor showing for F1 with only 11 finishers. OK, the Aussie GP has a history of low finishing #'s, but this is silly 20 entrants, 18 start Quali, 15 start the race and 11 finish it. F1 is a mess. I'm not so worried about the attrition, or Botta's and his injury. It's a lack of entrants (due to cost), excessive complexity meaning two cars can't even be started. I'd have been pissed if I paid money to watch the race. If the damn sport was even vaguely affordable you could easily have had 26 entrants with everyone running quali. Then if you had still lost Bottas, plus some reliability then you could potentially have had high teens running at the end. More cars running means more opportunities for battles in the field to make it more entertaining.

Also I’m pissed at Red Bull, they are threatening to quit with both teams if the engine regs don’t change. So it was fine for them to be so dominant that a hack (in relative terms) like Webber could win races, but as soon as someone else is dominant you threaten to quit!

Sauber and the new kids on the block were a breath of fresh air though. I think Nasr, Sainz and Max V. all did sterling jobs.

It’s a pity that Monisha Kaltenborn has painted the team into a corner with three contracted drivers just as they seem to getting their act together. We will have to see which two out of Ericsson, Nasr and van der Garde turn up in Malaysia in two weeks, my bet is they pay off van de Garde as both Ericsson and especially Nasr did an outstanding job this weekend.

I agree with everyone on the Sauber livery and the yellow swoosh helping the nose profile, but did people see the Manor cars livery? Another simple but effective color scheme. To me it shows me that simple is best.

As someone who has been a huge fan of F1 for decades - I do have to say - the last two years have left me flat. I followed last season mostly from post-race results online.

This one... I didn't bother to watch qualifying and turned the race off at lap 10. It was on DVR so I was even too bored to just ffwd to the end and see who won. I actually still don't know.

I have high hopes for IMSA/Tudor/USC whatever they called it re-kindling my fandom but I swear if it weren't for MotoGP I could go a looong time without watching another race I wasn't competing in.

I Lurved last year! This year is going to be great too!

I don't mind the attrition in F1. It shows that even the very best are struggling with this new technology. I like watching the teams progress throughout the year.

This type of attrition is nothing new. F1 has had decades of 40 to 50% attrition throughout its history.

P.S. Lewis Hamilton won. Rossberg 2nd, Vettel 3rd, Massa 4th, Nasr 5th, Ricciardo 6th, then I dont remember.

Last year was epic. so what if Mercedes ran away with it. the racing through the field was the best in years, lots of passing up and down the grid. If this year is half as good as last year it will be excellent.

It's just this race was a snoozer, very little passing, not much in the way of chasing people down, nothing of note.

YEs, traditionally there has been a lot of attrition in F1, but we also had larger grids to start with.

Oh, and did anyone notice the FIA is still living up to its un-official title of 'Ferrari International Assistance'? The screwed up Kimi's stop and released him without the wheel being on properly so they radioed him to pull over. That's an unsafe release no matter how you look at it per the rules and either a 10 second stop and go or a grid penalty at the next race. But oh no, this is Ferrari, no one was endangered so no action will be taken. I like Kimi and would have felt for him as it wasn't his fault, but the rules and the rules and he and the team should, by the rules, be penalized.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: Also I’m pissed at Red Bull, they are threatening to quit with both teams if the engine regs don’t change. So it was fine for them to be so dominant that a hack (in relative terms) like Webber could win races, but as soon as someone else is dominant you threaten to quit!

I'd call their bluff. F1 was around long before Red Bull's money was, and will be long after they decide to leave. And since both teams came from programs that were on the decline, surely someone will come along and run with those two teams. To me Red Bull is just the paint on the cars. You CHOSE Reanult- now live with that decision.

Again, other than Mercedes, all the teams are pretty even- the Ferrari power wasn't that domiant from Ferrari to Sauber, and the rest of the Mercedes cars were no better than Ferrari, Toro Rosso was pretty quick in comparison. The only engine that's really struggling is Honda. IMHO, the rest are pretty equal when not in an actual Mercedes car (which tells me that they have a special chassis on those more than just the engine).

The company Red Bull made a mistake in having both teams with the same engine. Tough. Deal with it.

At least Lotus isn't gonna have engine or drivetrain problems this year.....

Eh, it's all part of the game. Red Bull threatens to leave, the FIA gives them some allowances to change parts. It's a negotiating tactic, IMO.

Here's a quote from Helmut Marko:

"Yes," said Marko, "there is a danger that Mateschitz will lose his passion for F1. "The technical regulations are incomprehensible, too complicated and expensive. We have let F1 be governed by engineers. "But our designer Adrian Newey has his creativity castrated by these engine regulations. They are killing formula one!"

Helmut- with all due respect, F1 has been governed by engineers for a very, very long time. Aero has been the ruling party for quite a few decades now- it's about time that the powertain engineers got their due. Maybe you need to find better engineers, like the rest of the teams have.

Well, this backfired a bit:

wae wrote: Maybe it's Leigh, David, and Steve's accents but having a Fillipe Massa and a Fillipe Nasr on the track at the same time just gets me all confused. One of them is going to have to change. With such a short field, and then two cars not even making it around to the lights the only thing left to look forward to was what was Maldonado going to hit and he managed to get that out of the way pretty quickly. Looks like it's going to be more of the same with Ham and Ros going back and forth and then everybody else 45 seconds back having their own race. It was encouraging to see one of the McHondas make it to the end of the race, though. Qualifying was an unmitigated disaster for them, but if they can at least complete all 58 laps they're making progress, right? Also, on the NBC broadcast was it just me or did they have the audio mixing done poorly? While I prefer the engine sound to all the talking, generally, I was having a really hard time making out what the commentating crew was saying. Overall, the best part of the whole ordeal was probably Schwarzenegger's podium interviews. Hamilton looked like a kid in a candy shop when the Governator came on stage. I don't really get the tie-in, but it was pretty entertaining anyway.

The tie-in for Schwarzenegger is that he is form Australia! Another shrimp on the barby.

Austria?

I too love the Sauber team cars this year. They stand out so strongly against the other cars it is easy to see them. I hope they and Williams can climb above Ferrari in the end of year constructors championship standings.

It was good to see Mr Sauber in the pits too. I wonder which lawyers or contract folks are getting lectured by Monisha Kaltenborn about how they screwed up. Or maybe she is talking to a mirror. Who knows, this is reminding me of the whole Button thing many years ago.

I don't see why redbull is making such a fuss. Mercedes has to abide by the same rules as all the other teams, they're just playing the game better. I wonder if Horner wanted engine equality the 4 years they won the world and constructors titles?

Nothing to add, as I didn't watch the race. But I do think this year's cars are quite pretty overall. Compared to recent years.

I thought that last season was very exciting. And for once, just once, my family actually enjoyed watching one with me with all the action!

I think Hamilton and Rosberg may give us some good fights. But I am mostly excited about the tighter mid field. Ferrari/Williams/Sauber/TorroRosso/maybe Force India.

I don't know about Lotus and McLaren Honda will race with Manor Marussia.

I read a rumor that if Bottas has to get back surgery that K. Mags will be slotted into his seat.

Spoolpigeon wrote: I don't see why redbull is making such a fuss. Mercedes has to abide by the same rules as all the other teams, they're just playing the game better. I wonder if Horner wanted engine equality the 4 years they won the world and constructors titles?

really? 1) The Renault V8 was always less power then the other engines... 2) just think of all the rule changes... some mid season.. to restrict Mr. Newey's wizardry.

No... the Merc bois (Wolff, & whiner Lauda) are constantly lobbying to keep their advantage....