2014 United States GP @ Circuit of the Americas

[RidgeBack]

Caterham and Marussia have been put in receivership.

I wonder if they'll, or at least Marussia, will be back for Bahrain?

Sad days for the sport ahead.

[BoldUlysses]

Could be worse, we could only have 6 cars racing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Un...tes_Grand_Prix



But I agree about sad days. Between the teams going belly-up and the inane double-points race in Abu Dhabi, I'm not all that jazzed about the end of this season. At least the WDC isn't wrapped up yet... That's something.

[RidgeBack]

Yeah, I remember that tire fiasco.

The nice thing about the Caterhams and the Marussias was that if nothing else was going on there'd most likely be a race between Bianchi and Erricson.

#ForzaJules

[auaq]

It's been a long break since the last race and there are a few news to be told first. It has been confirmed that Marussia have gone into administration, so they will miss the USGP and possibly more which is sad and that they will be missed during this weekend. There are similar reports of Caterham going into administration too but it is still unclear of their current situation and whether they will be present for this upcoming race or not. Thirdly, there haven't been any updates on Jules Bianchi's condition yet and that we hope all the best for him. KeepfightinBianchi!!! This brings out the question of whether we will ever see both teams to be able to continue their participation in Formula 1 from next year onward. However, a few thoughts should be spared for the entire team in the meantime, the whole crew, who are now jobless in these difficult times and situation. We can hope for the best.

We have pretty much reached towards the end of this great season and it is only a matter of time before any of the Mercedes drivers shall wrap up this championship - Rosberg and Hamilton. Two great drivers of near equal strength and ranking. Because of the double point finish at the finale, it is still unclear to have a forecast as to who will be crowned the 2014 F1 Driver World Champion. Yes, Hamilton is ahead of Nico by 17 points, but this doesn't mean anything yet! It is still possible for Rosberg to win also and be crowned eventually. Those extra 25 points is the deciding factor, but as always like they say anything can happen in F1. "Racing is life. Anything before or after is waiting."

Drivers Standings	Championship Points
Lewis Hamilton	291
Nico Rosberg	274
Daniel Ricciardo	199
Valtteri Bottas	145
Sebastian Vettel	143
Fernando Alonso	141
Jenson Button	94
Nico Hulkenberg	76
Felipe Massa	71
Kevin Magnussen	49
Sergio Perez	47
Kimi Raikkonen	47
Jean-Eric Vergne	21
Romain Grosjean	8
Daniil Kvyat	8
Jules Bianchi	2

Constructors Standings	Championship Points
Mercedes AMG	565
RBR	342
Williams	216
Ferrari	188
Mclaren	143
Force India	123
STR	29
Lotus	8
Marussia	2
Sauber	0
Caterham	0

[BoldUlysses]

Some interesting discussion of the future of F1:

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2014/1...-rescue-plans/

I agree with Justin Hynes, btw. A cost cap is the right move, but too many folks have their hands in the cookie jar at this point and don't want to remove them, as detrimental as it is to the sport. Unfortunate.

[auaq]

Some interesting discussion of the future of F1:

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2014/1...-rescue-plans/

I agree with Justin Hynes, btw. A cost cap is the right move, but too many folks have their hands in the cookie jar at this point and don't want to remove them, as detrimental as it is to the sport. Unfortunate.

I like what Rafael said/advised.

[BoldUlysses]

I like what he says re:stabilizing regulations but he seems to otherwise advocate introducing a bunch of new testing rules, as well as the wild card of customer cars. I know that travel is expensive but I question what percentage of the teams' budget that really is. I like more races in the season and really hate waiting more than two weeks between them (except for the offseason and mid-season break, of course).

I say introduce a cost cap and free up regulations, but Bernie and the top teams will never agree to it.

[auaq]

Bernie and the top teams will never ever agree to it. There's no question about it. Period. In fact, they don't even agree with each other, the top teams, aside from Bernie.

I wasn't really trying to vote for his comment but I do like the idea though. However, in the end it still becomes an expensive investment for running a third car no matter how they sort out to run a 'third car' being different to their two primary main cars because eventually teams will be doing a lot more R&D on that one rather than on their main ones. It does give an opportunity for the reserve or new drivers to get a taste of F1 though. I would really love to see freeing up regulations a lot more.

[m3fuz]

It's been a long break since the last race and there are a few news to be told first. It has been confirmed that Marussia have gone into administration, so they will miss the USGP and possibly more which is sad and that they will be missed during this weekend. There are similar reports of Caterham going into administration too but it is still unclear of their current situation and whether they will be present for this upcoming race or not. Thirdly, there haven't been any updates on Jules Bianchi's condition yet and that we hope all the best for him. KeepfightinBianchi!!! This brings out the question of whether we will ever see both teams to be able to continue their participation in Formula 1 from next year onward. However, a few thoughts should be spared for the entire team in the meantime, the whole crew, who are now jobless in these difficult times and situation. We can hope for the best. We have pretty much reached towards the end of this great season and it is only a matter of time before any of the Mercedes drivers shall wrap up this championship - Rosberg and Hamilton. Two great drivers of near equal strength and ranking. Because of the double point finish at the finale, it is still unclear to have a forecast as to who will be crowned the 2014 F1 Driver World Champion. Yes, Hamilton is ahead of Nico by 17 points, but this doesn't mean anything yet! It is still possible for Rosberg to win also and be crowned eventually. Those extra 25 points is the deciding factor, but as always like they say anything can happen in F1. "Racing is life. Anything before or after is waiting."

If you slack on this crap and not start a race thread Monday morning, I'm cutting your internet so you can't watch the Sky Sports feed...

[m3fuz]

Yeah, I remember that tire fiasco. The nice thing about the Caterhams and the Marussias was that if nothing else was going on there'd most likely be a race between Bianchi and Erricson. #ForzaJules

Any updates on Bianchi's condition?

[auaq]

If you slack on this crap and not start a race thread Monday morning, I'm cutting your internet so you can't watch the Sky Sports feed...

What?

Apologies. I thought the race was coming next weekend so I thought I still have time. I was wrong then.

[hakentt]

I suspect attendance will be lower this time and will go down hill from here for the USA GP. When the crowd hears vacuum cleaner engines and ugly cars, they won't spend for expensive tickets to see 2015 GP.

[BoldUlysses]

What?

Apologies. I thought the race was coming next weekend so I thought I still have time. I was wrong then.

I think he was just good-naturedly giving you a hard time.

I suspect attendance will be lower this time and will go down hill from here for the USA GP. When the crowd hears vacuum cleaner engines and ugly cars, they won't spend for expensive tickets to see 2015 GP.

Do you enjoy complaining about the current state of affairs in F1? I don't think I've seen a single positive sentence from you in this subforum.

[auaq]

I figured.

On other news, Domenicali has joined Audi and will start working from Nov 1st. It is unclear of his role but this could possibly hint a possible F1 entry in 2016 with Audi/VW. Perhaps he could learn something new and interesting for F1 in the future. Just saying ...

[m3fuz]

What? Apologies. I thought the race was coming next weekend so I thought I still have time. I was wrong then.

Yep - as UB said, just heckling!

[RidgeBack]

It's pretty easy to sort out:


Formula 1 contains F1 Prototype and F1 Homologation. A team can chose to be in either category but not both.

current rules apply to the F1 Prototypes - Merc, McLaren, Ferrari, RBR.

The the smaller (new teams) can opt to run F1H spec cars. These cars are limited to $xx budgets.

The F1 monies is then split between the 2 championships

Money for WDC, WCC for F1P and monies for WCC for F1H.

This way we'll keep a lot of cars on the tracks running a 5-10 seconds a lap from another (work needs to be done to figure this out) much like WEC etc.

Would also make for great racing when the P cars need to get around the H cars etc.

[auaq]

A quick update on Bianchi ... nothing has changed though

http://www.f1technical.net/news/1974...9dcc3d1e16c3dd

[Charlie]

It's pretty easy to sort out:


Formula 1 contains F1 Prototype and F1 Homologation. A team can chose to be in either category but not both.

current rules apply to the F1 Prototypes - Merc, McLaren, Ferrari, RBR.

The the smaller (new teams) can opt to run F1H spec cars. These cars are limited to $xx budgets.

The F1 monies is then split between the 2 championships

Money for WDC, WCC for F1P and monies for WCC for F1H.

This way we'll keep a lot of cars on the tracks running a 5-10 seconds a lap from another (work needs to be done to figure this out) much like WEC etc.

Would also make for great racing when the P cars need to get around the H cars etc.

Seems to have worked out fairly well in MotoGP this year.

[auaq]

Wow! Nearly a second ahead of others in the second practice session. That's a lot. However, with ever changing ambient temperatures and track temperatures along with further fine tuning of the cars, this isn't the end yet.

[bmwretard]

A quick update on Bianchi ... nothing has changed though

http://www.f1technical.net/news/1974...9dcc3d1e16c3dd

Was hoping for some good news by now.

[RidgeBack]

Seems to have worked out fairly well in MotoGP this year.

Really? I haven't watched MotoGP for yonks.

[auaq]

Thoughts ....

http://www.f1technical.net/news/1974...b8656c9f72356c

[keeptheuroalive]

I think he was just good-naturedly giving you a hard time.



Do you enjoy complaining about the current state of affairs in F1? I don't think I've seen a single positive sentence from you in this subforum.

Ask him how awesome it was in the v12 era... It's a wonder I haven't blocked him yet.

[auaq]

Ask him how awesome it was in the v12 era... It's a wonder I haven't blocked him yet.

Oh, I think I know ......

[BoldUlysses]

Nice performance by Sutil to put it 10th on the grid.

Also nice to see one of the other cars (Bottas' Williams) within a second of the fastest time of the day...although just barely.

Kind of humorous/depressing (take your pick) that Vettel set a faster time than Grosjean without even trying... Heh.