2014 GP of the USSR, aka Russia

[DanielPT]

That fake merchandise shirt is so wrong! Looks like its producers were clearly afraid of being sued for licensing issues of the depicted motives:

Exhibit A: It does not read "Formula 1" nor "F1". Instead, it just says "Formula".
Exhibit B: It's not a photo of an actual F1 car, but as a previous poster has pointed out, it's a Champ Car instead. And the Champ Car Series does not exist anymore. And neither does Lola Cars. So they can't sue the T-Shirt producers for copyright infringement either.
Exhibit C: The Toyota F1 firesuit. This is a team that is long out of F1 and thus, no legal issue there either.

The irony of Exhibit C is that President Putin once did test a Renault F1 car so there should be actual photos of him in that pose. And Renault F1 Team has the same current status as Toyota F1. They left years ago.

I wonder what the "Wurz conspirators" on this board have to say about this shirt. LOL.

I am pretty sure that, unless they used Toyota, Panasonic or Bridgstone brands with some sort of licensing, they are incurring in some legal issue there. They are, after all, making money with those brands being there.

[Faustus]

The odds for someone doing a Coulthard just shot up

And they don't have car electronics to blame this time.

Don't understimate the excuse-making capabilities of F1 drivers. I'm sure they will come up with something more or less plausible.

The best one I ever had a driver tell me was 'I was distracted looking at the flags so I missed my braking point and spun'. There were no flags out at the time at that corner or the preceding ones.

[roblo97]

And they don't have car electronics to blame this time.

Don't understimate the excuse-making capabilities of F1 drivers. I'm sure they will come up with something more or less plausible.

The best one I ever had a driver tell me was 'I was distracted looking at the flags so I missed my braking point and spun'. There were no flags out at the time at that corner or the preceding ones.

That is damn fine excuse

[andrew2209]

I just looked up the review of that Australian GP. I thought that Roberto Moreno had spun and dropped oil at that corner BEFORE Coulthard had his incident there. Turns out I was wrong...

Coulthard kept the lead until the first round of pitstops. However, he came into the pitlane too fast, locking his front tyres and ran into the pitwall. He was forced to retire from the race. A few laps later, Forti's Roberto Moreno spun and caused terminal damage to his suspension in the same place where Coulthard had crashed earlier.

Got a feeling Johnny Herbert also had a moment in that pitlane, and either went straight on, or just saved it.

[SimtekFan32]

http://brakebanzeen.files.wordpress.com ... -car-2.jpg

And here's proof of Putin's F1 test. Makes Chanoch Nissany seem like Senna. Then again, I HATE the man with a passion but I guess I have to be impartial.

[pasta_maldonado]

Then again, I HATE the man with a passion but I guess I have to be impartial.

And what did Nissany ever do to you?

[dr-baker]

Then again, I HATE the man with a passion but I guess I have to be impartial.

And what did Nissany ever do to you?

I thought he was referring to Vladimir Putin?

[SimtekFan32]

Whoops. I meant Putin. Nissany is a fantastic man. As Manta is my witness, I meant Putin was the bad man.

[LionZoo]

Nope, sorry. Using the "Toyota" mark is still trademark infringement in any jurisdiction that I know of. Doesn't matter that Toyota is no longer in F1, Toyota Motor Company can still take action since the shirt says "Toyota." Also, there's quite clearly an Alpinestars logo on that racesuit, along with the aforementioned Bridgestone and Panasonic script. That's all trademark infringement as well.

Also, Champ Car does not exist anymore, but I have a feeling all their assets were absorbed by their successors. Those successors would still have rights to the Champ Car name.

I think I've already found the Reject of the Race:

That fake merchandise shirt is so wrong! Looks like its producers were clearly afraid of being sued for licensing issues of the depicted motives:

Exhibit A: It does not read "Formula 1" nor "F1". Instead, it just says "Formula".
Exhibit B: It's not a photo of an actual F1 car, but as a previous poster has pointed out, it's a Champ Car instead. And the Champ Car Series does not exist anymore. And neither does Lola Cars. So they can't sue the T-Shirt producers for copyright infringement either.
Exhibit C: The Toyota F1 firesuit. This is a team that is long out of F1 and thus, no legal issue there either.

The irony of Exhibit C is that President Putin once did test a Renault F1 car so there should be actual photos of him in that pose. And Renault F1 Team has the same current status as Toyota F1. They left years ago.

I wonder what the "Wurz conspirators" on this board have to say about this shirt. LOL.

[AustralianStig]

Marussia have just announced via Twitter they will run just the one car this weekend.

Forza Jules.

[CoopsII]

Marussia have just announced via Twitter they will run just the one car this weekend.

Fair enough. I'd have respected their decision either way.

[CoopsII]

The track looks nice if a little familiar...

[DanielPT]

Marussia have just announced via Twitter they will run just the one car this weekend.

Fair enough. I'd have respected their decision either way.

There is nothing to disrespect about it. It's their call anyway. I would have preferred they had decided to run two cars as I think it is more respectful but it's okay.

[Sublime_FA11C]

Possibly they felt it was a big ask for the team personnel to do a professionall job and be bussiness-as-usual as if nothing has happened. It's still less than a week.

[CoopsII]

Possibly they felt it was a big ask for the team personnel to do a professionall job and be bussiness-as-usual as if nothing has happened. It's still less than a week.

They'll have to anyway sadly. Plus they'll have to deal with a load of press parasites who wouldnt normally go within 20 metres of the Marussia garage.

[DanielPT]

Possibly they felt it was a big ask for the team personnel to do a professionall job and be bussiness-as-usual as if nothing has happened. It's still less than a week.

Then why are they still fielding a car in that case? Wouldn't make more sense to pull out completely? Maybe Bernie would allow it as he did in the one car case. I think go out there and do a gutsy homage paying job is a better way to pass him strenght to recover instead to acting like they are already in grieving mode...

[CoopsII]

Possibly they felt it was a big ask for the team personnel to do a professionall job and be bussiness-as-usual as if nothing has happened. It's still less than a week.

Then why are they still fielding a car in that case? Wouldn't make more sense to pull out completely? Maybe Bernie would allow it as he did in the one car case. I think go out there and do a gutsy homage paying job is a better way to pass him strenght to recover instead to acting like they are already in grieving mode...

Its all subjective. Probably 50% of people would think racing would be the right thing to do and the other 50% wouldnt. And, to be blunt, the best 'gutsy homage' would quite possibly be finishing 17th or even breaking down so.....

[DanielPT]

Its all subjective. Probably 50% of people would think racing would be the right thing to do and the other 50% wouldnt. And, to be blunt, the best 'gutsy homage' would quite possibly be finishing 17th or even breaking down so.....

'Gutsy homage' has nothing to do with the end result, it is about the process. And even if it was, I don't see how trying and finishing 17th or breaking down would be worse to not even being there in the first place. Are you defending the backrow teams are pointless?

And yes, it is all subjective. That is why I had previously mentioned that I respected their decision despite my preferences.

[CoopsII]

Are defending the backrow teams are pointless?

Come again?

I can see both points of view regarding to race a car or not, that's all.

[DanielPT]

I can see both points of view regarding to race a car or not, that's all.

I can also see both points of view. And on top of it, I can defend one, explain why and still respect the other. Weird, I know...

[CoopsII]

Grosjeans having a 'mare* at the moment.






*That's "'mare" as an abbreviation for nightmare. It is not a reference to horses, swimming, flying or otherwise.

[AustralianStig]

Actually, what Marussia are doing is treating the weekend as if Jules were there with them. They have sent a strong message to the fans and family that Jules isn't easily replaced, and that despite the fact that he's in hospital in Japan, the team have his car ready for him to jump into it as if he were there.

I think that's a pretty special gesture, and shows F1 hasn't become so commercialised that the team are auctioning off the seat to the highest bidder.

Having said that, I'm pretty certain we'll see someone else in the car for the US round.

[dr-baker]

Saw FP1 delayed (recorded at home). Saw the Olympic Torch/cauldron thing from several cameras round the track. Might have been nice if they had that lit during the GP weekend with both Michael Schumacher and Jules Bianchi in mind.

[solarcold]

Saw FP1 delayed (recorded at home). Saw the Olympic Torch/cauldron thing from several cameras round the track. Might have been nice if they had that lit during the GP weekend with both Michael Schumacher and Jules Bianchi in mind.

Well that's good and symbolic thing, though it's not something that would easily come to one's mind. I think someone should propose that to them so that they considered doing that.

[good_Ralf]

Anyone impressed by Sirotkin's debut performance? Just a few tenths off Sutil (who of course might still be mentally suffering) in FP1.

[dr-baker]

Saw FP1 delayed (recorded at home). Saw the Olympic Torch/cauldron thing from several cameras round the track. Might have been nice if they had that lit during the GP weekend with both Michael Schumacher and Jules Bianchi in mind.

Well that's good and symbolic thing, though it's not something that would easily come to one's mind. I think someone should propose that to them so that they considered doing that.

Wish I knew how to do that...

[CoopsII]

Saw FP1 delayed (recorded at home). Saw the Olympic Torch/cauldron thing from several cameras round the track. Might have been nice if they had that lit during the GP weekend with both Michael Schumacher and Jules Bianchi in mind.

Well that's good and symbolic thing, though it's not something that would easily come to one's mind. I think someone should propose that to them so that they considered doing that.

Its perhaps a tad maudlin, though. They haven't snuffed it yet. Maybe something a bit more positive? I do like what Marussia have done, though. That strikes the right tone to me, as if to say the car's ready and waiting for you Jules, just as soon as you're ready mate.

[DanielPT]

It must be said that the FIA report following Jules Bianchi accident is quite reasonable and some sensible ideas are being put forward. Which, following some pretty histerical and knee-jerk 'analysis' that came up in the media, is something of a surprise.

[mario]

It must be said that the FIA report following Jules Bianchi accident is quite reasonable and some sensible ideas are being put forward. Which, following some pretty histerical and knee-jerk 'analysis' that came up in the media, is something of a surprise.

It is a good sign that the FIA is not rushing into making a panicked change because they fear that they must be being seen to do something, even if it not worthwhile. If any good can come out of this, then a carefully reasoned approach to regulatory changes and safety procedures is the best way that it can come about.

Moving onto a somewhat more normal state of affairs, there was an interesting moment between Vettel and Red Bull when the former was complaining of a lack of power on the main straights, with the team responding that this was down to a headwind. There are a few reports from the German press that suggest that Vettel's power unit is completely knackered - and reportedly Renault are suffering from a much more severe drop off in performance with mileage than their rivals - even though the team had hoped to replace it.

It seems the plan had been for Vettel to use fresh components for each powertrain module - i.e. a new engine, new control unit, new energy recovery system etc. - and start from the pit lane, therefore wiping out all of his penalty in a single race. However, as the Russian customs authorities are only allowing the teams to use only the equipment that they have brought across from Japan, the replacement engine unit that Vettel was supposed to use was not allowed into the country.

Vettel is therefore being forced to use components that are probably operating beyond their intended lifespan, which is reportedly having a major impact on performance - hence the complaints that even a moderate headwind was causing him to slow down by a noticeable amount on the straights.

[Miguel98]

It seems McLaren are looking fairly competitive this weekend. Looks like they have the 2nd best car on the grid. Let's see if they can keep the momentum into qualifying and race day.

[Salamander]

It seems McLaren are looking fairly competitive this weekend. Looks like they have the 2nd best car on the grid. Let's see if they can keep the momentum into qualifying and race day.

In the long runs, I think Bottas looked a bit quicker than either McLaren, but regardless, this could be a golden opportunity for them to reclaim the advantage in their fight for 5th in the WCC.

[Miguel98]

It seems McLaren are looking fairly competitive this weekend. Looks like they have the 2nd best car on the grid. Let's see if they can keep the momentum into qualifying and race day.

In the long runs, I think Bottas looked a bit quicker than either McLaren, but regardless, this could be a golden opportunity for them to reclaim the advantage in their fight for 5th in the WCC.

Yeah. Especially since Hulkenberg has a grid penalty this weekend.

[Captain Hammer]

Grosjeans having a 'mare* at the moment.






*That's "'mare" as an abbreviation for nightmare. It is not a reference to horses, swimming, flying or otherwise.

The E22 does look about as graceful as a swimming horse.

[roblo97]

Grosjeans having a 'mare* at the moment.






*That's "'mare" as an abbreviation for nightmare. It is not a reference to horses, swimming, flying or otherwise.

The E22 does look about as graceful as a swimming horse.

Here are some swimming horses




Still more reliable and faster than anything with a Renault engine , mind you

[good_Ralf]

I think mario stated earlier in the year that McLaren were competitive in Australia because the cold temperatures there helped with tyre issues. Sochi is probably the first place this year as cool as Melbourne, therefore leading to McLaren's speed. I really hope it is genuine pace.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

Grosjeans having a 'mare* at the moment.






*That's "'mare" as an abbreviation for nightmare. It is not a reference to horses, swimming, flying or otherwise.

The E22 does look about as graceful as a swimming horse.

Here are some swimming horses




Still more reliable and faster than anything with a Renault engine , mind you

Oh no, not again...

[Captain Hammer]

It must be said that the FIA report following Jules Bianchi accident is quite reasonable and some sensible ideas are being put forward. Which, following some pretty histerical and knee-jerk 'analysis' that came up in the media, is something of a surprise.

It is a good sign that the FIA is not rushing into making a panicked change because they fear that they must be being seen to do something, even if it not worthwhile. If any good can come out of this, then a carefully reasoned approach to regulatory changes and safety procedures is the best way that it can come about.

What a sensible, un-FIA approach to take. Following the accident, there were immediate calls for closed canopies (again), but the nature and extent of Bianchi's injuries were caused by rapid deceleration, not by something hitting his head. A closed canopy would have done nothing.

And I find those stories about the Russian customs to be silly. It's more likely Vettel and Red Bull are using the full power unit nowto grind through free practice and avoid putting milage on the components to minimise the chance of having to take another penalty. They knew as early as Monza that a penalty was inevitable, and were looking at Suzuka or Sochi for a strategic penalty.

[AndreaModa]

It must be said that the FIA report following Jules Bianchi accident is quite reasonable and some sensible ideas are being put forward. Which, following some pretty histerical and knee-jerk 'analysis' that came up in the media, is something of a surprise.

It is a good sign that the FIA is not rushing into making a panicked change because they fear that they must be being seen to do something, even if it not worthwhile. If any good can come out of this, then a carefully reasoned approach to regulatory changes and safety procedures is the best way that it can come about.

What a sensible, un-FIA approach to take. Following the accident, there were immediate calls for closed canopies (again), but the nature and extent of Bianchi's injuries were caused by rapid deceleration, not by something hitting his head. A closed canopy would have done nothing.

I think the noticeable thing is here is the seriousness of the issue. Whenever it's anything that, in comparison to the incident at Suzuka, is relatively trivial, the FIA deals with it in an equally trivial matter. But when things get serious, they're prepared to do what needs to be done, and that is very reassuring. We've developed a bit of a hatred towards some of the decisions the FIA has taken in recent years, but the reality of it is that all of that pales into insignificance when it comes to something like this. And the FIA know that too.

[Aguaman]

Saw FP1 delayed (recorded at home). Saw the Olympic Torch/cauldron thing from several cameras round the track. Might have been nice if they had that lit during the GP weekend with both Michael Schumacher and Jules Bianchi in mind.

Ehhh I'm not keen on touching Olympic heritage for F1.

[Captain Hammer]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure an Olympic flame cannot be lit without the IOC's approval. Which they never give unless you're hosting the Olympics.