2014 Formula 1 Season Thread

Bernie all but confirmed an 8-team three-car F1 from next year on. The sport is going the way of the Dodo...
Possibly just so that if two or three teams go to the wall he can act like it was his plan. He's that type.
He had also confirmed the medals system, I'm not worried. 2 cars per team, bla bla bla. It'll be fine

I wonder how long Sauber will last after the team principles scuttled the proposed buy-out by Lawrence Stroll, who is now said to be looking at buying Marussia. And I don't know how long the new owners of Caterham will be willing to prop them up. Force India is also looking a bit dicey with the legal and financial issues surrounding Vijay Mallya and Carlos Slim evidently not as interested in buying into the team (beyond continuing to sponsor Sergio Perez). Heck, I'm not sure even Lotus will survive with the season they are having, even with Pastor's dollars.
 
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That's where all this wonderful management has driven F1 to.

Caterham, Force India, Lotus, Marussia, Sauber, and Williams are all probably at the edge of bankruptcy every day.
I'm pretty sure Ferrari and McLaren are just sticking around out of the sheer love of the sport. They don't need the publicity or the prestige, they have all of that already.

So that leaves Red Bull, Red Bull B, and Mercedes. Maybe they can conjure up 8 cars each and that's it...
 
Caterham, Force India, Lotus, Marussia, Sauber, and Williams are all probably at the edge of bankruptcy every day.
I'd like to exclude Williams from that group as they at least make an effort to get out of that position by one huge investment drive to get back to the big money payouts at the top. And it seems to be working right now.
 
They tried that once and it worked for a bit, even giving Maldonado a win, but the next year (2013) was one of the worst in Williams history due to the funds completely disappearing.
Given, this year's results are miles better than 2012, but I wouldn't call it a healthy team just yet.
 
It's the curse of Pastor Maldonado, he who hires the Venezuelan shall forevermore struggle to score points.
 
I'd like to exclude Williams from that group as they at least make an effort to get out of that position by one huge investment drive to get back to the big money payouts at the top. And it seems to be working right now.

Twice you've written something along those lines, is there a source for your info? I've not come across any suggestion from anywhere that Williams have massively overspent for this year and it's make or break for them.
 
The sport is going the way of the Dodo...

It started going the way of the Dodo circa 2009: stupid wings, stupid gimmicks (KERS/DRS), stupid tires, stupid engines, stupid phalic noses, etc.
 
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Call me nuts, but Williams shot themselves in the foot by firing Maldonado and bringing Massa.
Not only because of Pastor's sponsorship, and the severance check they had to write him to push him out, but also cos of Massa's unique talent to underperform. Maldonado is a little crash prone, yes, but when he had that one chance with Williams he took it by the balls, he's a quick guy and he wants to prove himself. Massa is on the way out after screwing up 4 seasons straight for Ferrari.

If you're going to choose from 2 mediocre drivers, at least choose the one with the money.
 
Williams said Massa's help was paramount in developing the car. Might be marketing blahblah, but might also be true.
 
I think Felipe Massa is a far better driver than Pastor Maldonado, he's scored more points for Williams this year then Pastor has in his entire career in F1 and probably brings a lot more car development to the team than Bottas does let alone Pastor also, now that he's out from under Fernando's shadow he seems to be slowly pulling himself together again, I dare say that if Williams has a race win this year it won't be Bottas, it'll be Felipe Massa and it'll be at Interlagos.
 
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I think Felipe Massa is a far better driver than Pastor Maldonado, he's scored more points for Williams this year then Pastor has in his entire career in F1 and probably brings a lot more car development to the team than Bottas does let alone Pastor also, now that he's out from under Fernando's shadow he seems to be slowly pulling himself together again, I dare say that if Williams has a race win this year it won't be Bottas, it'll be Felipe Massa and it'll be at Interlagos.

You can't really compare the situations like that. If you're gonna cherry pick what you say about both drivers, for example, I can say Maldonado won more Grand Prix for Williams than Massa, and with a much worse car... if I chose to completely forget about Mercedes' dominance this year.
So far this year he's scored virtually half the points of his much more inexperienced team mate. If he really did input a lot in the car development, then he made it so it was a perfect car for Bottas' driving style?

Come on guys. Massa hasn't been himself since that crash in 2009. He was given enough chances.
 
You can't really compare the situations like that. If you're gonna cherry pick what you say about both drivers, for example, I can say Maldonado won more Grand Prix for Williams than Massa, and with a much worse car... if I chose to completely forget about Mercedes' dominance this year.
So far this year he's scored virtually half the points of his much more inexperienced team mate. If he really did input a lot in the car development, then he made it so it was a perfect car for Bottas' driving style?

Come on guys. Massa hasn't been himself since that crash in 2009. He was given enough chances.

no longer having the guts or the hunger or the willingness to risk his life for a win
doesn't say anything about his ability to develop a car...

(that begin said, i wouldn't miss him...)
 
You can't really compare the situations like that. If you're gonna cherry pick what you say about both drivers, for example, I can say Maldonado won more Grand Prix for Williams than Massa, and with a much worse car... if I chose to completely forget about Mercedes' dominance this year.
So far this year he's scored virtually half the points of his much more inexperienced team mate. If he really did input a lot in the car development, then he made it so it was a perfect car for Bottas' driving style?
Come on guys. Massa hasn't been himself since that crash in 2009. He was given enough chances.

You're cherry picking was extreme, I gave Pastor 3 years you gave Felipe just over half a season, 1 race win doesn't make you a great driver.
Felipe has also had rotten luck this season, 3 first lap crashes and Canada which was looking like it could have been a podium at least if not a Race win for Felipe and then a series of piss poor pitstops which turned his pole position in Austria into a 4th place finish.
Not to mention the majority of Bottas' podiums came as a result of a Mercedes failure.
I also think this hasn't been the same since the crash is nonsense as well.
 
Maldonado wasn't worth keeping around just for the sake of trying to keep a car in one piece. Sure, he had a good week with the race win, but before and after that he has shown no real potential. I don't question letting Maldanado go and replacing him, but whether Massa was their best choice is debatable. I'm sure there is a better person for it, but at the end of the day they chose him and have decided to keep him around for a while longer so it is what it is.
 
You're cherry picking was extreme, I gave Pastor 3 years you gave Felipe just over half a season, 1 race win doesn't make you a great driver.
Felipe has also had rotten luck this season, 3 first lap crashes and Canada which was looking like it could have been a podium at least if not a Race win for Felipe and then a series of piss poor pitstops which turned his pole position in Austria into a 4th place finish.
Not to mention the majority of Bottas' podiums came as a result of a Mercedes failure.
I also think this hasn't been the same since the crash is nonsense as well.

You gave Pastor 3 years in which Williams was completely awful and it wasn't completely due to him, because none of his team mates were scoring points or wins either, while you can clearly see this year's Williams is good cos Bottas is outscoring Massa like he was the master and Massa the apprentice!
The two careers at Williams are not comparable in any fair way. Maybe you should go compare Massa's first 3 years in F1 to Pastors and see if you find any wins there?

As I said before, if Massa really developed the car, then he made sure it was a car that suited Bottas driving style then.

Same. He's always been rubbish.

The year before the accident he missed on the championship by 1 point. The year before that he was right up there too.
He was never an amazing driver, but he definitely lost something after that crash.
 
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