[hobiecat]

Nikki says.....

"Seriously...a concussion?? Hey...asshole....just drive the car!!"

[}{arlequin]

[N0tt0N]

Finally watched the 'race' last night with Tina. What a freakin' disaster. I thought they were trying to kill the series last year but that was just a warm up, apparently. Even the Race Recap didn't show any of the actual race, just people pulling over or pit Fups. Best part was the podium with Aaaahnald and, in particular, Hamilton's reaction. Tina commented, "Wow, he's never been impressed by any of the previous interviewers, including world champions." At least he was sober.

[racer]

I can't believe how much RedBull is whining about their crappy engines and that the Merecedes cars need to be "rebalanced" with the rest of the field. Heck, Dr Marko (?) is threatening to quit? seriously? you win almost uncontested for 4 straight years, and now that the competition is doing better you just want to go home? cmon.

Nasr in the Sauber seemed to impress. Guess Sauber got their Mercedes motors just in time. And Ferrari looked better.. but even they were 30+ seconds behind by the end. And congrats to McLaren-Honda for at least getting one car to the finish!

[JmuRiz]

Sauber still runs ferrari engines. Two in the points after last season with none (if I remember correctly) is damn impressive.
Too bad I think their paint scheme looks like a formula e car

[HoodPin]

Some highs.....seemed like lots of lows. Mercedes power is still the one to beat. Good to see Ferrari doing better, including Sauber. Sorry to see Verstappen out early; he's going to be one to watch this season. Hope that Bottas recovers from his back injury; would like to see him battling Massa some more.

Certainly another drama-filled start to F1 this season. I hope Manor Marussia gets it act together; so strange to see them fill the garage...and nothing more. Apparently Bernie is slapping them with the freight bill. And the whole frakas with Van Der Garde is just wierd. What was Sauber thinking? I'm not sure if $16M settlement is small change to them or not.

Sorry to see McLaren Honda get off to such a rocky start. Good on Button for making it to the checker; too bad Magnussen never made it to the start. But interesting dichotomy for Honday; apparently struggling in F1, whereas their "new" Indy aero-package is dropping lap times and getting rave reviews. I suspect they will be showing more as the season progresses.

[roundel]

Originally Posted by HoodPin

Sorry to see McLaren Honda get off to such a rocky start... I suspect they will be showing more as the season progresses.

I thought that the power units were defined at the start of the season, and it was verbotten to test or evolve them during the season. Obviously having a power unit that cannot last a race and is way down on power is no good for anyone, but how are the rules structured to allow them to test and improve in this very limited testing era?

[Rick K]

Originally Posted by roundel

I thought that the power units were defined at the start of the season, and it was verbotten to test or evolve them during the season. Obviously having a power unit that cannot last a race and is way down on power is no good for anyone, but how are the rules structured to allow them to test and improve in this very limited testing era?

Engine development rules were changed just prior to the start of the season. Allison found some loophole in the regs. Now the teams have a limited amount of "tokens" they can use across the season to make changes.

Unfortunate race to start to the season with so many DNF's. But, on the bright side, lots of young talent looking fast and promising - and the battles in mid pack between Sauber, Toro Rosso, Lotus, Red Bull, and Force India (all seem pretty equal) on up to Williams and Ferrari should be fun to watch. Best of the rest.

[HoodPin]

Originally Posted by roundel

I thought that the power units were defined at the start of the season, and it was verbotten to test or evolve them during the season. Obviously having a power unit that cannot last a race and is way down on power is no good for anyone, but how are the rules structured to allow them to test and improve in this very limited testing era?

Good points. FWIW, I've heard/read that Honda was not fully prepared for the cramped quarters and didn't anticipate heat dissipation so well. Sorta sounded like Magnussen's motor may have blown a seal. Maybe Honda can still make certain changes, like replacing seals and improving airflow around the power unit and improving radiators, without really changing the power unit.

[roundel]

Did anyone else notice the digitally inserted message on the starting line that said "We will miss you Ron. -Bernie"? What was that about?