RadioactiveWaste Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Whilst it is the winter of motorsports, what with it being winter, i guess, the first signs of the return of driving round in circles are starting to gather. Formula E actually starts next weekend, although i think it's no longer free to air in the UK. The World Rally Championship starts at the end of January wit the world famous Monte Carlo Rally And of course there will be the triumph of vacuous empty F1 content that is car launches through February https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/when-is-f1-and-every-other-motorsport-series-starting-in-2024/10562526/ Comrade 86, Alph and Andicis 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andicis Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 1 minute ago, RadioactiveWaste said: And of course there will be the triumph of vacuous empty F1 content that is car launches through February That and the rumour mill claiming Ferrari has gained 2 minutes per lap on the Redbull over winter, as is tradition. Wouldn't change it. Here's hoping that the 24 season proves better than the disastrous 23 one. Alph, RadioactiveWaste and Comrade 86 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 3 minutes ago, Andicis said: That and the rumour mill claiming Ferrari has gained 2 minutes per lap on the Redbull over winter, as is tradition. Wouldn't change it. Here's hoping that the 24 season proves better than the disastrous 23 one. I certainly hope someone makes Max break swaet a bit, and I think we are all pretty sure it ain't gonna be Checo who does that (I think Marko's probably hanging up "Welcome back Danny" bunting around Perez's office already). Ferrari, Merc, McLaren possibly Aston Martin fighting for race wins would be ideal, I'd like Lando to get a win on the board, I'd Like Leclerc to have a proper run at the title, I want the last great title fight from Lewis, I'd love Fernando to giving it some firewoks. WRC might be interesting this year as class of the field Kalle Rovanpera is only doing part time drives this year (won it tiwce, board, wanted some time to have fun in his 20s), giving a real title chance to Welshman Elvyn Evans (Toyota) against the top two Hyundai drivers Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak. I just wish WRC was easier to follow without paying for streaming service, I think highlights are on ITV4 but the seem to buried in the schedule some time way after the event. (you think F1 23 was bad, WRC had never ending bloke named Seb winning everything......) MotoGP looks set to be ducati dominated, but it's a case of which Ducati and how will Marc Marquez get on after leaving Honda and hopefully not being crippled by injuries. I am looking forward to seeing how WEC develops, just as WRC's new set of regs backfired with still only Toyota, Ford and Hyundai fielding top class cars, WEC's hypercar regulations have been manner from heaven with Toyota now having real competition for the first time many many years. There's also american motorsport, and whilst I've never been into NASCAR, the IMSA serires is quite good and Indicar is an interesting counterpoint to F1. Andicis and Comrade 86 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comrade 86 Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 My predictions for 2024 - lots and lots of sprint races, mid-race holds for monster truck events and Dolly Parton sing-alongs, Checo is slow, Danny is slower, Merc improve, but RBR still having half a second a lap on the field in party mode, Ferrari build a rapid car but forget to add wheels to the spares order, McLaren still quicker than the team that supplies their engines, Hamilton to retire end of season. Can't wait! 😬 Alph, RadioactiveWaste and Andicis 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaspode Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Guenther Steiner has left his role as Team Principal of Haas…. RadioactiveWaste, Comrade 86, Alph and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 33 minutes ago, Gaspode said: Guenther Steiner has left his role as Team Principal of Haas…. A sad for F1, i honestly feel like Alpine should hire him. They wouldn't improve but they'd be a lot more comedy value, which they have kinda underperformed on after the Alonso/Piastri high point. They even had Ocon and Gasly being ammacable co-workers they were that dull last season. In reality, I'm not that surprised, taking an objective look and getting past Gunther's influence in starting the project with Gene Haas, there have been some bad mis-steps from him along the way, particually with sponsors and some of the driver managment and the overall perception is unshakable that they've underperforming for quite a while now. They had taken the old Jordan/Force India mojo of overperforming on small budgets with a bit of chrisma and fun and just plumbed the depths, particually squandering last season's slightly improved outlook and falling right to back this season. The other interesting bit from Haas is that the technical director walked out as well over differences with Gene on the direction of the team. Some of it may be that Mr Haas has become tired of losing vast amounts on money on his F1 team, or it may be there's something more going on and he's thinking of selling it (there was surely a moment he could've just sold the thing to Andretti for a tidy sum), or perhaps he's looking for investors. Either way, I could see Haas getting sold or going terminal, especially if the let Andretti in. Comrade 86 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comrade 86 Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 20 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said: A sad for F1, i honestly feel like Alpine should hire him. They wouldn't improve but they'd be a lot more comedy value, which they have kinda underperformed on after the Alonso/Piastri high point. They even had Ocon and Gasly being ammacable co-workers they were that dull last season. In reality, I'm not that surprised, taking an objective look and getting past Gunther's influence in starting the project with Gene Haas, there have been some bad mis-steps from him along the way, particually with sponsors and some of the driver managment and the overall perception is unshakable that they've underperforming for quite a while now. They had taken the old Jordan/Force India mojo of overperforming on small budgets with a bit of chrisma and fun and just plumbed the depths, particually squandering last season's slightly improved outlook and falling right to back this season. The other interesting bit from Haas is that the technical director walked out as well over differences with Gene on the direction of the team. Some of it may be that Mr Haas has become tired of losing vast amounts on money on his F1 team, or it may be there's something more going on and he's thinking of selling it (there was surely a moment he could've just sold the thing to Andretti for a tidy sum), or perhaps he's looking for investors. Either way, I could see Haas getting sold or going terminal, especially if the let Andretti in. I think this pretty much nails it. I love Gunther, but he's not up to the job. It's a sad day, but to be honest, he's had his chance. I do think SKY or someone should be banging his doors down to get him involved in their coverage though. He'd be funny AF, probably drop grenades left, right and centre and would provide insights the current mob simply don't. I really hope he's not lost to F1 completely. RadioactiveWaste 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 OK, so I know WRC has been struggling for a while and mostly my thoughts of rallying are stuck in the 90s mixed with "oohh I've been playing a rally computer game" but I know enough to know they needed to do some things to shake it up. But this is bad...... You ask for a miracle, i give you the F.I.A.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 With formula e being moved to pay for subscription services, I didn't particularly follow the race in Mexico city. So, kicking off the real motorsports for the year, Rally Monte Carlo starts tomorrow and the Daytona 24hr race is on this weekend. The IMSA "GTP" class is essentially the same as WEC "HyperCar" regs so some pretty fast stuff on display. The McLaren drop of their livery for the coming season was "fine" it's still orange and black and google sponsored. More F1 launches are coming up in the first 2 weeks of February. Madrid is getting a street track and Barcelona may be dropped from F1 in 2026 when the current deal runs out. Whilst the Barcelona track hasn't produced the best of races for a long time now, I'm not in love with yet another street track (like hoping it turns out a Baku or Singapore and not another Sochi or Miami is hardly the excitement I crave in new F1 venues) Comrade 86 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comrade 86 Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Thought I'd pop this up for my fellow F1 / motorsport fans. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3758542/ Ferrari tells the early story of the great Italian marque with a quite honest and not terribly flattering depiction of Enzo Ferrari and his struggles to establish the brand. It's solid enough without being spectacular, but worth a watch if only to see a host of gorgeous old sports cars of the day. RadioactiveWaste and Andicis 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 (edited) 47 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said: Thought I'd pop this up for my fellow F1 / motorsport fans. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3758542/ Ferrari tells the early story of the great Italian marque with a quite honest and not terribly flattering depiction of Enzo Ferrari and his struggles to establish the brand. It's solid enough without being spectacular, but worth a watch if only to see a host of gorgeous old sports cars of the day. Enzo Ferrari "aerodynamics is for people who can't build an engine" Modern Ferrari "our strategy calls are for when we can't trust the drivers to bin it on their own" Edited January 24 by RadioactiveWaste Comrade 86 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 Also "visa cash app Argh! Bee! F1" is a poo team name. As bad as "team kick sauber stake flavoured bag of crisps gamble more you suckers F1 not Audi yet" Apparently VCARB is how red bull are referring to the team formerly known as Minardi. Which is still a poo name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comrade 86 Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 25 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said: Enzo Ferrari "aerodynamics is for people who can't build an engine" Modern Ferrari "our strategy calls are for when we can't trust the drivers to bin it on their own" Enzo certainly doesn't come out of it looking terribly good and that's putting it mildly. RadioactiveWaste 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 1 hour ago, Comrade 86 said: Enzo certainly doesn't come out of it looking terribly good and that's putting it mildly. I'll be sure to give it a watch sometime. I know there are plenty of legends/stories about old Enzo being "not the nicest" along the way. Comrade 86 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 24 hours of Daytona about to start. Free outside of America. I'm not going to watch the whole thing, but i'll watch the start and dip in and out. GTP is basically = WEC Hypercar, so some serious kit as well as the usual big GT3 field. https://www.imsa.com/tvlive/ Comrade 86 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EtoileSportiveDeDerby Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Watched the Sainz documentary on Amazon, loved it. Features Sainz junior and some of the rally greats from his era. RadioactiveWaste and Comrade 86 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 Dayton 24 was quite good at the end, with a race for the lead in the last hour that went to the last lap. The LMP2 class also had a good finish (although they didn't show much of it as the top class race was taking the tv time). Monte Carlo rally was won by Neiuvelle (Hyundai) who got the better of Seb Ogier. Formula E did forumula E things, worth the 5 minute highlight videos on youtube (the actual races on pay for services this season, boo). I miss F1. Comrade 86 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 F1 have rejected Andretti's bid to join as an 11th team. Boo. This in effect amounts to saying no one can come in because we're just going to come up with reasons not to let in a new team. Comrade 86 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comrade 86 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 10 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said: F1 have rejected Andretti's bid to join as an 11th team. Boo. This in effect amounts to saying no one can come in because we're just going to come up with reasons not to let in a new team. Odd one really as it's not the first time they've tried and been knocked back. In my ignorance I'd assumed they might be a bit more willing to have a second US team on the grid, but as you point out, this feels more like, 'it's my ball and you can't play'. RadioactiveWaste 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comrade 86 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Hamilton to Ferrari!?!?! Does this mean he's not impressed with the new, improved Mercedes? Lewis Hamilton could make a shock move to Ferrari for the 2025 season, BBC Sport understands. Several sources say claims of links between the seven-time champion and Ferrari should be taken seriously, but a deal is not yet confirmed. Ferrari want Hamilton to join Charles Leclerc for the 2025 season. The 39-year-old signed a new two-year deal with Mercedes for 2024 and 2025 last summer but it seems he can leave after one season, should he choose. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/68163799 RadioactiveWaste and Andicis 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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