It’s still a little way off until the start of the season.  But no doubt information and rumours about the upcoming season will slowly start dripping out and worthy of discussion.   So no time like the present to start this year’s season Megathread.  

Everyone’s welcome to join in and comment,  Whatever driver and/or team you support please keep any banter civil and light hearted.  Off topic discussions are also perfectly fine.  Just be mindful it’s a F1 thread and to keep them short!

Optimistic this will be Lando’s year and he will atleast convert one second place finish to a win😁

Or will it be MAXination 😇

I am really sad, I thought they will stick to young drivers.

I guess everyone wants to race in Ferrari in their career, maybe it's a bucket list for Lewis. But I don't see any benefit for Ferrari so far.

Lewis and Fred have a history together, maybe that was the reason they could sway him to join.

I am not sure Charles and Lewis will be good team mates. I know Charles is easy-going but Lewis could be a diva sometimes.

But I still can't see any benefit of Lewis joining Scuderia, apart from marketing. IMO it was a mistake signing him up.

I am really sad, I thought they will stick to young drivers.

I guess everyone wants to race in Ferrari in their career, maybe it's a bucket list for Lewis. But I don't see any benefit for Ferrari so far.

Lewis and Fred have a history together, maybe that was the reason they could sway him to join.

I am not sure Charles and Lewis will be good team mates. I know Charles is easy-going but Lewis could be a diva sometimes.

But I still can't see any benefit of Lewis joining Scuderia, apart from marketing. IMO it was a mistake signing him up.

Well deserved WDC for Max.  He has no equal.   Extremely happy McLaren got Constructor’s.. 

Once Red Bulls car began to struggle the season was banging and pray next year continues like it. 

Obviously this thread died due to those off us who regularly posted here moved on.   So to those who did contribute on here and last seasons i thank you all.  

I won’t be doing another next year.  If anyone else decides to.  Be sure to Tag or DM one off the F1 Community managers and get them to pin it.   Hopefully F1 25 will be a banger that will bring the cheerful friendly atmosphere that was lost due to bad games and never ending bug etc and a few other things 👍

This thread is closed.  Please unpin it so it can fall into the abyss.  ❤️

Haha yeah well i think this might be the one to go all in on

Haha yeah well i think this might be the one to go all in on

https://www.instagram.com/p/C20QN5WIIdU/?igsh=MW1qdnJic3l2aDVl ITS OFFICIAL 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C20QN5WIIdU/?igsh=MW1qdnJic3l2aDVl ITS OFFICIAL 

Good one Ferrari….  They are their own worst enemy.   What do I mean?     So Sainz and LeCrash….  Both great drivers with  POTENTIAL… So not yet reached their best.   When they do they both are potential world champions.    Plus they both should have years left where they continue to improve.   LeCrash May have already won a championship if  Ferrari made better decisions with Car development and Better Consistency with better calls during Races.   

If Ferrari had a competitive car and got themselves organised.  I vision LeCrash leading the charge and Sainz who’s got great awareness to make great in race calls.  I feel he would naturally help support LeCrash if he’s better placed to win a race and/or title.   He is Coulthard,  Berger and Rubén’s.  Great but not great enough.  

But no Ferrari decide signing a driver who is still great but his best years are behind him.  But moreover.  Aging  is a funny thing.  Hamilton may still be performing at elite levels.  Which levels he may well be at next year.   But there’s also every chance of dropping off.  I doubt it would be huge but enough.   Then every year it’s more likely.   Ferrari having 2 chargers in a team… One wanting desperately prove himself and another desperately want to prove he’s still the GOAT.  It Ferrari then come up with a car capable off winning.  Ferrari can’t get basic calls in race right…  no chance trying to manage those two when they are both think they have a sniff off a win:  

Ferrari as ever heart ruling their head.   

Good one Ferrari….  They are their own worst enemy.   What do I mean?     So Sainz and LeCrash….  Both great drivers with  POTENTIAL… So not yet reached their best.   When they do they both are potential world champions.    Plus they both should have years left where they continue to improve.   LeCrash May have already won a championship if  Ferrari made better decisions with Car development and Better Consistency with better calls during Races.   

If Ferrari had a competitive car and got themselves organised.  I vision LeCrash leading the charge and Sainz who’s got great awareness to make great in race calls.  I feel he would naturally help support LeCrash if he’s better placed to win a race and/or title.   He is Coulthard,  Berger and Rubén’s.  Great but not great enough.  

But no Ferrari decide signing a driver who is still great but his best years are behind him.  But moreover.  Aging  is a funny thing.  Hamilton may still be performing at elite levels.  Which levels he may well be at next year.   But there’s also every chance of dropping off.  I doubt it would be huge but enough.   Then every year it’s more likely.   Ferrari having 2 chargers in a team… One wanting desperately prove himself and another desperately want to prove he’s still the GOAT.  It Ferrari then come up with a car capable off winning.  Ferrari can’t get basic calls in race right…  no chance trying to manage those two when they are both think they have a sniff off a win:  

Ferrari as ever heart ruling their head.   

As I said yesterday, I believe it's indeed a bucket list thing from Lewis. It's his send-off.

If he wanted a 8th world title that bad, seems to be the logical decision would be staying at Mercedes. Money would hardly be a problem, the team revolves around him, George barks but can't bite hard enough to pose a threat and I believe Merc has greater potential to get their act together to fight for wins in the short run than Ferrari.

There's the rumour that a key Mercedes engineer that Hamilton really liked and that had a similar take on the car's concept was hired by Ferrari. It would definitely not be the first time a driver follows an engineer or vice versa, but that still does not fit the bill to me.

That said, I thoroughly love Charles. I used to rank him as high as Max performance and potential wise until Verstappen got his first championship and seemed to leapfrog ahead in maturity and racecraft. And undoubtedly Charles has a big heart. But I think he has as much of a chance of acting up like a diva in a team rivalry as Lewis has.

The signing makes sense if we assume that Lewis wants it as a send-off to cap his F1 career, that Carlos either had his eyes in a fat paycheck and the prospect of having a team revolving around him in Audi as rumours (and Carlos Sr) suggest, and that Ferrari would love a market cap bump.

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@mariohomoh wrote:

As I said yesterday, I believe it's indeed a bucket list thing from Lewis. It's his send-off.

If he wanted a 8th world title that bad, seems to be the logical decision would be staying at Mercedes. Money would hardly be a problem, the team revolves around him, George barks but can't bite hard enough to pose a threat and I believe Merc has greater potential to get their act together to fight for wins in the short run than Ferrari.

There's the rumour that a key Mercedes engineer that Hamilton really liked and that had a similar take on the car's concept was hired by Ferrari. It would definitely not be the first time a driver follows an engineer or vice versa, but that still does not fit the bill to me.

That said, I thoroughly love Charles. I used to rank him as high as Max performance and potential wise until Verstappen got his first championship and seemed to leapfrog ahead in maturity and racecraft. And undoubtedly Charles has a big heart. But I think he has as much of a chance of acting up like a diva in a team rivalry as Lewis has.

The signing makes sense if we assume that Lewis wants it as a send-off to cap his F1 career, that Carlos either had his eyes in a fat paycheck and the prospect of having a team revolving around him in Audi as rumours (and Carlos Sr) suggest, and that Ferrari would love a market cap bump.

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I'm also going to throw in the fact that sponsorship and marketing was a push for Ferrari to get Hamilton. Let's be real, others may say otherwise but Hamilton is probably the most recognisable face of F1. He has done far more to promote the sport (some intentional, some not so intentional) than most drivers on the track. It's a huge boon having Hamilton driver your car and Ferrari saw their share prices take a massive increase yesterday.

Even though Sainz is a smooth operator, I doubt that he has the same sponsorship and merchandise draw that could get to the levels of Hamilton. Money is also key, so a driver of Hamilton's calibre, even though it may be waning, in a top car he's likely to produce similar or better results than Sainz. So why not have similar results and then have the extra money and advertising that comes with it. It's a win for Ferrari, a loss for Sainz personally I don't feel that Sainz is a world champion in the making.

In other news, there was a Car Launch today 🙄

Haas released their livery but there's some tidbits that were on show.

So to no great surprise, they've now got a car that looks like a Red Bull with the heavily copied down washing sipedpods. They've said they will struggle at the start of the season and if they have gone down this route, it'll be because they'll have to figure out the Aerodynamics and the the underfloor relationship. 🤓

I may reconsider things down the line. Still feels like a send-off, but very celebrated one 😂

A livery comparison for the Haas:

@mariohomoh😂 People may not see it that way and would argue against, just because...

As you said, the renders don't really tell us anything concrete but The-Race have a small breakdown on the car. Everything should be taken with a grain of salt as we saw last year that Car launches were livery launches, but let a guy a dream! It's been a boring few months!

Ouch, I fear quite senseless move for Ferrari, or at least 5 year late 😕

Besides not easy season to come for both (Ferrari and Mercedes) with a driver ending his experience in the team. Let's wait and see 😉

People, what the heck is going on with F1 at the moment? I was excited to come here to talk about the Williams Livery launch but just read the news about Christian Horner being investigated over some allegations.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/68205305.amp

Whatever the case, I hope the truth comes out and all parties are allowed to fully explain both sides of their stories. Hopefully this isn't a similar story like the FIA Vs the Wolffs

It was supposed to be a quiet pre season.

At least Williams v23.2 livery was ok.

Albon mentioned it requiring a different driving style as well. And their steering wheel now has an integrated display screen like everyone else.

Yeah it was a welcomed surprise 

Jolyon Palmer commenting on a Ferrari quirk, so to speak. He goes over their telemetry to show how both drivers, but especially Leclerc, have adapted to squeeze more performance from the SF-23 by overlapping the pedal inputs: a dash of throttle to go with their braking on high speed corners. The goal is to keep the attitude of the car in check, keeping it from diving too much, in order to get more downforce from the levelled out underfloor.

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The team has not confirmed the nature of the complaint made against Horner but BBC Sport understands the claims relate to an allegation of inappropriate and controlling behaviour.

[...]

Many insiders who have discussed the situation with BBC Sport do not expect him to survive in his role.

[...]

 

If Horner is removed from his position, either by being sacked or resigning, sources say he would be replaced by an executive from the Austrian side of Red Bull.

Could that be Oliver Mintzlaff, former head of RB Leipzig football team and, since co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz's death in October 2022, chief executive officer of corporate projects with oversight of F1?

[...]

 

Trackside, the key figure on the operational side is their long-time sporting director Jonathan Wheatley. Insiders say he may have been eyeing a promotion if Red Bull decided to dispense with Horner. If he is passed over for an Austrian manager with no F1 experience, might he also feel it is time to look for pastures new?

 

(BBC's Christian Horner: Red Bull team principal under investigation following allegations)

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BBC suggests that the complaint levied against him has to do with an over the top managerial attitude.

There's also talks about a rift in the organization, with Horner trying to push Marko out, and with Jos Verstappen siding with the latter – cue in the first wind of this nasty business coming from a Dutch media outlet.

With so much potential for damage in those cards for the company and the Red Bull brand, the way they're conducting this whole ordeal makes it seem like there's indeed some level of reprehensible behavior going on.

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@mariohomoh wrote:

Jolyon Palmer commenting on a Ferrari quirk, so to speak. He goes over their telemetry to show how both drivers, but especially Leclerc, have adapted to squeeze more performance from the SF-23 by overlapping the pedal inputs: a dash of throttle to go with their braking on high speed corners. The goal is to keep the attitude of the car in check, keeping it from diving too much, in order to get more downforce from the levelled out underfloor.

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Loving this video and that guy too ❤️🤓

I'll miss my bathtub.

Jolyon Palmer with yet another short but informative video. This one is about drivers experimenting to find a good wet line around the track.

I'd just add that, while some drivers do indeed have a better knack at it, it is not the case of some just dimmingly sticking to the racing line. I'd still bet on Verstappen to put out a better performance in the rain over Ocon, but while Ocon is shown to be conservative in the video there could very well be other instances where he crafts a better wet line than Max.

This is not in contradiction to anything Palmer says, he doesn't really suggest otherwise. It just so happens that people out there can be too happy on the trigger and too dismissive of a F1 driver skills.

Two cool visualization going back to that infamous 2021 Belgium GP, one to the point and the other with nice commentary from The Race:

So RB seems to be taking cues from the least understood car on the grid from the last two years if the leaked photos and renders are anything to go by and RB aren't trolling; they've taken the cannon/shoulders/gulleys engine cover, overbite sidepod and rumoured vertical inlets from the no sidepods Mercs.

Interesting if they've gone that route while most have converged on last year's design. This is going to be another long season I think...

@mariohomohThe gulley's on the RB engine cover looks like they may create a bathtub...all is not lost 😂

I'm really excited for the pre-season testing tomorrow. It really looks like RB took Mercedes ideas and expanded on them. No way that's just a troll. They must have found some extra performance there and I'm sure there are heated discussions going on in the Mercedes garage because of it.

Wondering  if Red Bull choose to sandbag or if they believe they have a dominant car.   Decide to just let Max go full attack come end off testing to completely destroy all hope anyone had…. That’s what I’d do.   Kick em when they are down and keep on  kicking