Must admit, I wish they'd stop monkeying around with the rules or, at least, only do it on the off-season, a couple of years in advance.

What we're seeing now is a bit like watching, say, Man Utd run away with the Premiership and then, half way through the season, somebody at FIFA deciding to make the goals bigger, make the matches longer or have 2 balls in play.

Sometimes you're going to get one or two individuals or teams run away with the championship in every sport. That's just the way sport is.
Or, should be, at least.

Perhaps the way forward would be for the FIA to issue some kind of technical notice advising teams that a rule-change might be applied at the end of the next season (so, for example, if one was issued right now, it would be applied after the 2015 season, for 2016) so they'd have a whole season to see if the other teams had caught up and then use that information to decide whether or not to implement the proposed rule-change.

Main thing to take away from that is the MASSIVE ride height.

Wonder if the real reason for this is to make Michelin happy or if it's really intended to force teams to run more ride height and reduce the potential for shenanigans with under-floor air flow?

It's been removed by the user.

https://twitter.com/InsideFerrari/st...052864/photo/1

Hmmm....

If they're a larger OD it seems kind of half-assed to test them without altering the ride-height to suit.
I suppose it's possible that, being the very first test, one of the objectives was to see just how much the new tyres flex and, to get a good comparison, they deliberately ran without changing the suspension.
Even so, you'd think that'd be the sort of thing they could test in a few laps and then dial in the suspension and we'd have seen pictures of the car running at a more sensible ride-height as well.

Looks like Alonso is on his way to McLaren if a deal can be agreed.

So who will fill his shoes, Bianchi and Hulkenberg are the most likely candidates. Personally, i think Hulk deserves a crack in a decent car, and signed an agreement with Ferrari before Kimi pushed him aside.

If so then Jenson on his way out but to where, another seat or Retirement

Where did you get this news from? Its not on any of the F1 sites I visit.

Rosberg has signed a multi-year deal to stay at Merc. This ends speculation that Alonso could be going to Merc. He will also be wearing a special helmet design to celebrate the German world cup win. A pic can be seen here. Looks quite good.

Looks good - I am sure there will be a few German players there too!

Hopefully not another German win from Hamilton's point of view.

Says a lot if Alonso is going to leave Ferrari without taking a championship for them.

I guess some people will say that he's failed in reviving Ferrari in the same way Schuey did but , to be fair, Schuey's tenure at Ferrari coincided with the participation of Ross Brawn and Jean Todt, both of whom were exceptional people at their jobs too, and Alonso can't really be said to have had anything like the same calibre of people around him.

No idea how much of a part Stefano Domenicali has had in Ferrari's failure to advance.
He always seemed like a nice bloke to me but, y'know, sometimes a nice bloke isn't what you need to succeed.

Equally, dunno what a move by Alonso might say about Marco Mattiacci but it would seem to suggest that Alonso doesn't think he's capable of kicking Ferrari into winning shape in the foreseeable future either.

What's more, of course, given McLaren's performance over the last couple of years, it really says a lot about what Alonso thinks about the chances of Ferrari getting their shit together that he might choose to go to McLaren instead.

Not forgetting Rory Byrne of course.

Ferrari is such a political animal, even when they were winning, Montezemolo wasnt happy because it wasnt Italian personnel at the head of team. Hes been trying to make it with an all Italian line up, without success and pressure is on him now.

Guess with the new Ferrari engine not being that great, the chance to drive a Honda with a years worth of extra knowledge before homologation appeals to Alonso, plus McLaren have poached a lot of good people lately.

Been in the air for a year now, maybe widen your repository of news sources. Couple of well known paddock dwellers have hinted that a deal is being thrashed out.

Not guaranteed of course, theres lots to sort out, like paying off his Ferrari contract, agreeing terms and sorting out sponsors like Santander who follow him wherever he goes. You may notice McLaren dont have a title sponsor this year...


ps: i know Santander already have a relationship with Macca, but not as a title sponsor.

Ah ok, been in the air, is that in the same way that he was meant to be going to Red Bull this year?

I was aware that he maybe moving to Mclaren (or Merc or Red Bull last year), the way I read your post, was that a deal had been signed. Probably my mistake.

As for a title sponsor, there is no way Mclaren would keep a title sponsor empty for a year, on the off chance that Alonso may sign with them. They could have offered a one year deal to someone, if what you say is true or asked one of its current sponsors if they want to 'upgrade' to be title sponsor for a year.

Well McLaren do appear to have an increased investment from SAP as the last few races have had SAP on the side pod where as at the start of the season they where going with a different partner every race.

Erk!

Mistakes in Q1 from Rosberg and then Hamilton sticks it in the wall, with a rear brake failure apparently.

So, Hamilton to start in, probably, P16 tomorrow.

Big crash for Lewis. Breaks failed. Shaken but otherwise looks OK

Out of qualifying and will start at the back of the grid

Another gift for Rosberg then.

Interestingly, the evil leprechaun is saying that Rosberg uses Carbon Industries brake discs whereas Hamilton uses Brembos.
Time for Lewis to see if he can get used to the CI brakes and bin the Brembos, perhaps?

Was hoping it was Lewis in the wall and not rosberg when l first saw it. Probably karma for his stupid comments about rosberg not standing next to the German flag when they used to go karting . Whens Lewis going to stop using the British flag and switch the Swiss flag?

Glad he wasn't hurt.

Lewis should still finish on the podium or at least 4th.

Really? When I first saw it I was hoping that the driver was not seriously hurt given the size and angle of the impact. Perhaps we have different priorities?

I see they had to change Hamilton's gearbox and so he's been given a 5 place grid penalty.

One positive thing about that is it's not a demotion from the front row to the 4th

Still think he can make the podium though

Button looks totally demotivated. Time for him to give up I think.

Might be a blessing in disguise, I suppose.

In 16th place, there's still quite a few cars behind him who could take him out if there's any chaos at the start.
In 20th, at Hockenheim, it's likely he'll be forced to just stay in line through the first corner before starting to make up places so he might be less likely to get into trouble at the start.

It is a track he should be able to do well at though. A couple of long straights which'll make the most of the Merc's power and a couple of heavy braking corners which'll make the most of Lewis' abilities... if he can trust the brakes not to fall apart again.

That's one of the few times I've ever seen Jenson not look for a positive in his pen interviews. I'm so angry that McLaren have pissed away the last years of his career with crappy cars.
Also, I think he's really feeling the loss of his Dad as part of the support team.

Safety car 1st lap again

Massa very lucky with the car flipping over