Topic: Formula 1 2022: The return of ground effect(s)

[Persephone]

Really like the look.

I like the livery, but there is front on pic about and those side pods are huge and ugly. Still any car is better than those "penis nose" cars from a couple of years back.

[clinical]

Dreadful decision on by Masi.

That's why he rightly got sacked. That * on the championship can now be seen from space.

[naYoRHa2b]

Great looking livery. Flashbacks to watching Alesi and Berger as a kid. Hopefully it's as aggressive on the track as it looks in the shots.

[damomad]

Michael Masi sacked as race director.

Rightly so, atrocious decision by him to ruin the final race, absolutely should be considered a sackable offence.

[Dave McCoy]

Masi’s position was untenable, there was no other option. He only has himself to blame but I’m sure he’ll be just fine with whatever payout F1 had to give him.

[clinical]

Masi’s position was untenable, there was no other option. He only has himself to blame but I’m sure he’ll be just fine with whatever payout F1 had to give him.

It will follow him around wherever he goes, whatever position he's put in. In a way he will be remembered more than the actual outcome. I'm sure he regrets it.

[voodoo ray]

He's going to a new role in the FIA apparently.



Portaloos in the paddock probably do get a bit grubby.

[iamnant]

Otmar Szafnauer confirmed as team principal at Alipine in the worst kept secret in the paddock.

[Darren G]

Interesting short vid on Ferrari's sidepod solution for anyone interested:

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/ryXs0Lhmy10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/ryXs0Lhmy10</a>

[Trump's tiny tiny hands]

Money on Ferrari immediately needing "upgrades" after first testing failures? 

[TepidT2O]

The first Ferrari that doesn’t look like a pig for quite some time….

[naYoRHa2b]

Otmar Szafnauer confirmed as team principal at Alipine in the worst kept secret in the paddock.

I was watching drive to survive season 3 earlier and Otmar didn't come across well on the back of their pink mercedes "design choice" and threw quite alot of shit Renault's way.  Obviously water under the bridge now but I'd of gone for another TP. Clearly someone at BWT likes him

[Ed-Zeppelin]

Like the look of the cars, the McLaren and Ferrari both look really smart.

The Williams seems to have gone fairly radical on the side pod airflow design so it’ll be interesting to see if that works for them and gives any sort of advantage.

There were some fuzzy shots of the Red Bull from a runout at Silverstone and it’s quite different to any pics they’ve shown so far, it looks much sleeker in the flesh. The Merc is unveiled this morning!

Can’t wait to see them all on track now, shame the first test is effectively behind closed doors.

[west_london_red]

The first Ferrari that doesn’t look like a pig for quite some time….

The nose looks a lot better without the weird aardvark bit at the front, and the bright green ‘Mission Win Now’ or whatever it was sponsorship has gone which never looked right against the red so it definitely looks better, just wish they would get rid of that dull matt finish!

[naYoRHa2b]

[12Kings]

Mercedes about to unveil they’re car.

[west_london_red]

You like your mints!

[naYoRHa2b]

You like your mints!

Not my photo!

Think they should of stuck to to black though. I think they've done a red bull here and shown hardly nothing.

[voodoo ray]

front wing looks quite wavy.

https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/1494605340482093057

[TepidT2O]

Very similar to the other Mercedes’ teams really (on a macro level anyway) and not obviously hugely different a concept than red bull . Nothing obviously unique like the Ferrari …. Ferrari have either nailed it, or gone totally mad

This piece is quite interesting https://the-race.com/formula-1/teams-designs-are-already-subverting-2022-f1-rules-purpose/

Ferrari saying they don’t really expect much drop off in down force this year, so they’re not sure racing will be any better

[voodoo ray]

front wing looks quite different to this.

[voodoo ray]

vaguely interesting. does suggest that the air is being pushed higher which I think was part of what the reg changes were made to do.

[west_london_red]

Very similar to the other Mercedes’ teams really (on a macro level anyway) and not obviously hugely different a concept than red bull . Nothing obviously unique like the Ferrari …. Ferrari have either nailed it, or gone totally mad

This piece is quite interesting https://the-race.com/formula-1/teams-designs-are-already-subverting-2022-f1-rules-purpose/

Ferrari saying they don’t really expect much drop off in down force this year, so they’re not sure racing will be any better

It depends on where the losses and gains in downforce come from and how sensitive those sources of downforce are to dirty air I would imagine but I certainly wouldn’t bet on any significant improvement in the racing.

The bit that intrigues me is the larger tyres, assuming the compounds remain the same the larger circumference of the tyres should mean there’s less wear on them so may allow drivers to push for longer without overheating the tyres.

[Darren G]

The nose looks a lot better without the weird aardvark bit at the front, and the bright green ‘Mission Win Now’ or whatever it was sponsorship has gone which never looked right against the red so it definitely looks better, just wish they would get rid of that dull matt finish!

Yeah, Mission Winnow can fuck right off.  Aside from the fact that it was dog-ugly, it was also a way to circumvent tobacco sponsorship.  Ferrari are still linked to Phillip Morris though and are currently "in talks", so I wouldn't be surprised to see some other god-awful logo appear before the start of the season. 

[iamnant]

The Mercedes car reveal is most definitely secondary to seeing Hamilton again for me, and talking so positively about racing.

I know it was a lot of hearsay but to see what should be the confirmation that he'll race again this season is brilliant.

[Trump's tiny tiny hands]

Looks like the Merc has the biggest radiator openings of the lot

[bradders1011]

That's what an F1 Merc should look like.

[voodoo ray]

The United States Grand Prix at
@COTA
 remains on the calendar through to 2026

[bradders1011]

[Persephone]

Great to see the silver livery back, the car doesn't look very "out there" so it will be interesting to see the actual car when it makes it to the track.

[El Lobo]

Lewis as ever speaking like a true champion about what happened in Abu Dhabi

[Persephone]

https://youtu.be/Eb6X3t1lAHY

Talks about the Mercedes front wing and am overview of the design.

[cormorant]

Dreadful decision on Masi.

Would like to hear your thoughts on this. Why such a 'dreadful decision'?

I seem to remember that you favour Verstappen. A lot gets said in this thread about people favouring Hamilton. Would like to see your reasoning. Although I'm a Hamilton fan myself, Masi clearly didn't follow the rules. The integrity of the sport has taken a huge hit, and that is far more important in my book than whichever driver someone might support. Maybe it was just a pithy response?

Sorry if this opens up old ground for regulars, but for me (Clive), the rules are far more important than the drivers/teams.

[Graeme]

I don’t really favour any driver or team, I enjoy the sport generally.

With regards to Masi, I think the whole race director setup worked against him. This was a unique situation not really seen before and he made an error of judgement whilst being harassed by half the Team Principles on the radio. He’d have been slaughtered for letting the race end behind a safety car and wanted to give the opportunity for a racing finish.

It was probably an error but the circumstances and structure did not help at all. We all make mistakes at work under no pressure at all, we don’t sacked for it.

[cormorant]

I don’t really favour any driver or team, I enjoy the sport generally.

With regards to Masi, I think the whole race director setup worked against him. This was a unique situation not really seen before and he made an error of judgement whilst being harassed by half the Team Principles on the radio. He’d have been slaughtered for letting the race end behind a safety car and wanted to give the opportunity for a racing finish.

It was probably an error but the circumstances and structure did not help at all. We all make mistakes at work under no pressure at all, we don’t sacked for it.

Ok. Appreciate your reply. I agree with you re: 'the structure' and think that the lobbying over the radio had massive influence and the subsequent changes should help. However, the failure of Masi to correctly apply the unlapping procedure was more than an 'error'. Would use the word 'negligence' here in terms of applying the rules. Anyway, it's been done to death... was interested in your thoughts, so thanks for responding again 

[Skeeve]

He would not have been slaughtered for letting the race end behind the safety car at all, people would have been disappointed if that was how it ended, but people would have understood the reasoning behind the official sticking to the rules over simply making shit up as he went along which was what happened with that selective unlapping nonsense.

There's no probably about it, his decision was objectively a clear error that influenced the result of the race in favour of one driver over another, his position became untenable once he did that and the only real surprise is that it has taken this long for him to go.

[Antics]

I appreciate that he was under a huge amount of pressure and it’s a monumental call to make. I certainly feel the FIA haven’t done him any favours over the last couple of months, but ultimately if you fuck up the most important decision of your professional life with the highest of stakes, you shouldn’t keep your job.

[Andy82lfc]

I don’t really favour any driver or team, I enjoy the sport generally.

With regards to Masi, I think the whole race director setup worked against him. This was a unique situation not really seen before and he made an error of judgement whilst being harassed by half the Team Principles on the radio. He’d have been slaughtered for letting the race end behind a safety car and wanted to give the opportunity for a racing finish.

It was probably an error but the circumstances and structure did not help at all. We all make mistakes at work under no pressure at all, we don’t sacked for it.

I agree with this. He was getting harassed all race at one point someone was telling him to stop safety regulations, not sure which team that was? So it was obviously a controversial decision but as you say lots of pressure to not end under a safety car.

As not a fanboy of either I have to say I found it one of the most enthralling moments I’ve seen in sport. My heart was pounding on that last lap and don’t often get like that, it was insanely tense an I absolutely loved it. Obviously lots of fans won’t view it quite the same way understandably!

[Dull Tools]

I agree with this. He was getting harassed all race at one point someone was telling him to stop safety regulations, not sure which team that was? So it was obviously a controversial decision but as you say lots of pressure to not end under a safety car.

As not a fanboy of either I have to say I found it one of the most enthralling moments I’ve seen in sport. My heart was pounding on that last lap and don’t often get like that, it was insanely tense an I absolutely loved it. Obviously lots of fans won’t view it quite the same way understandably!

I don't think it's fair to sack him necessarily. I was annoyed with him at the time but it's clear the setup was wrong. It wasn't the first time he messed up though I guess.

I don't get the point where it was exciting. It's like Newcastle and this relegation race. It's not exciting as you know the are staying up now. Did anyone think Verstappen wouldn't overtake him?

[naYoRHa2b]

I don’t really favour any driver or team, I enjoy the sport generally.

With regards to Masi, I think the whole race director setup worked against him. This was a unique situation not really seen before and he made an error of judgement whilst being harassed by half the Team Principles on the radio. He’d have been slaughtered for letting the race end behind a safety car and wanted to give the opportunity for a racing finish.

It was probably an error but the circumstances and structure did not help at all. We all make mistakes at work under no pressure at all, we don’t sacked for it.

The funny thing is, the man replacing Masi made several bad calls in DTM. So he's not a fit replacement either. He gets a promotion though, you have to ask yourself why. What decisions did he make which would make him a better candidate when he also made a raft of bad decisions.