Choo choo the release train has started.


Haas have already pulled the covers back on theirs ( lazy 'Forza style ' moody black and gold effort imho)...

Bloody awful carpet too.
Force India now have a super daft name.
Can Alpha / Sauber hit the top of midfield this year? Go after Haas proper?
Will the Max IS/ISNT a massive Helmsman tribes see eye to eye this year?

 

Looking forward to this season for sure.
Enough big changes to make it interesting.

 

In case anyone interested doesn't already have this information:

2019 team car launches
Launched Haas Online
Monday, 11 February Toro Rosso Online
Tuesday, 12 February Renault Enstone, UK
Wednesday, 13 February Racing Point Toronto, Canada
Wednesday, 13 February Mercedes Silverstone, UK
Wednesday, 13 February Red Bull TBC
Thursday, 14 February McLaren TBC
Friday, 15 February Ferrari Maranello, Italy
Monday, 18 February Alfa Romeo Racing Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona testing schedule Circuit de Catalunya
Test one
Monday, 18 February - Thursday, 21 February

Test two
Tuesday, 26 February - Friday, 1 March

Ready to watch Melbourne, 17 March!:

 

Please remember no more Sauber...

 

Simply applying the Cross & Serpent to the C37 engine covers seemed to work wonders in 2018, though Leclerc's driving and example-setting might have helped! But the implied incremental technical/organisational steps suggested by the full rebranding may not add much. Is it likely that absolute optimum competitiveness will be sought, given the role (and status) of Scuderia Ferrari vis-a-vis that of the new team under the overarching strategies of their shared FCA parentage?

 

My prediction is Haas will drop and Alfa will go up. For 2 years Haas has been functioning as the junior Ferrari team. With Kimi going to Alfa I’d expects the new main jr team will be Alfa.

For 2 years haas had the Ferrari rear suspension and you would see aero bits tested on the haas then appear on Ferrari in a race or 2. Those aero bits where not on the Sauber. I’m expecting this to change.

 

No more terrestrial tv in the uk for F1...

 

Very very much looking forward to start of the season, so eager to learn if Max has a car / engine to be a serious challenger, or not.

 

Good points Foo, and I'd like to see that. But I remain of the view that FCA could not allow a situation of full technical/organisational parity with Ferrari - I'm not carping about that, for although I love Alfa Romeo from having worked there very happily, I see the Scuderia Ferrari as the only hope of ending this blooming MB domination, (by the way, I admire and respect that little Stuggart firm's history and current products too). I'm hopeful that Binotto will be able to realise the potential that Arrivabene seemed to have squandered.

 

No quite. Channel 4 will still show highlights of qualifying and races.

Only the British GP will be showed live.

A sad state of affairs though, I agree.

 

Alfa ( nee Sauber) has been toted as FER jnr for the last few years to my ears, so shall be interested to see what technology is shared. It doesn't have to necessarily strapped to the car either, what support is 'lent' behind in dev with access to people and parts is another thing.
I'd love to see another team, or 2 , chasing the top 3 down.

I'd also really really like to see Williams and McClaren get themselves out of the doldrums.

 

I don’t see Alfa being equal, I do see it as the main jr team for Ferrari going forward esp with Kimi as the driver as he is arguably the best development driver in F1 right now.

 

As I understand it the regulations do not allow aerodynamic elements to be shared between teams, suspension and engines yes, but not chassis parts. So even though the HAAS looked like a 2017 Ferrari it could not have been testing parts for future Ferrari use.

 

There was some very specific and oddly shaped piece behind the fron wheel on the haas that seemed to provide lift. 2 races later Ferrari had the same looking piece in the same spot. No other teams had a piece there that looked like it.

You can see it in this picture

 

I don’t think there would be any ‘lift’ or downforce as I would call it created there. I think that area would be about smoothing turbulent air from the front of the car

 

Obviously it’s there to control the air. The point is no other cars had anything there until after haas had it then the Ferrari. Sauber/Alfa had 3 vortex generators there in a different configuration. It’s not a secret the junior teams do testing for the primary team. It’s also not a secret that haas was Ferrari’s primary jr team. I just think that’s changing over to Alfa.

 

It works the other way round. The aero parts and chassis parts are individual to each team and unique designs, not transferable.
Engine and suspension can be bought by subsidiary teams but will be last years, not new or development parts.
The only thing subsidiary teams develop are the drivers, which are often already contracted to the senior team.
Haas were under suspicion in the early season because as a new team they hit the ground running. There unusual deal with Ferrari where they shared wind tunnel facilities and suspension parts raised questions about how much information and development was being shared by the engineers and the legalities of this. As in had they pointed them in the right direction with parts they were familiar with.

 

So it’s just a coincidence that RBR and STR cars look similar with the same aero tricks? Force India and Merc?

I’m not saying it’s the exact same part. But it’s a new aero device not seen before and oddly only seen on Ferrari program cars.

 

I think all F1 cars look very similar so it is easy to see parallels. But for example RBR are based in Milton Keynes UK and STR in Italy. Both use different engines and engineers, only ownership is where they are connected.

 

Right... engine data in the STR had zero to do with RBR going to Honda and not begging Renault for foregivness. Horner knows what STR knows about that engine otherwise he would not have been praising it at the end of last season.

Heck Horner was complaining about Jr teams last year giving to much info up to factory teams last year.