Arena FIA Formula 1 Racing

They've made some changes to the schedule already:


Also, previously Renault now Alpine have released a look at their "winter livery"... not sure what the point of having temporary livery for when they're not racing is, but here it is:


And Aston Martin (formerly Racing Point)... this will be interesting to see them with a real works team of their own for the first time in 60 years. Their title sponsorship with Red Bull is done, so no more AM logo on that team's cars, etc. Sounds like AM will reveal their livery next month, but it will be British racing green (which is cool, and anything would be better than Racing Point's pink).

 

Well I assume they are still going to do winter testing. I think the idea is that a black car makes it more difficult for the other teams to see their new aero parts on the car. Same reason why Red Bull have used their dazzle camo testing liveries in previous years.

I quite liked the BWT pink. Their new title sponsor Cognizant must be one of the most boring title sponsors ever.

 

Reverse grid won't be a thing in F1 anytime soon, but Saturday sprint races could be tested as early as this season:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...opes-for-saturday.6vy6BQRax6fpHr7Xk60S5g.html

 

With Honda announcing before that they were leaving F1 at the end of the upcoming season, it was TBD as far as which engine supplier Red Bull and Alpha Tauri would switch to. So this is interesting... they’ll be continuing with those engines and bringing it all in house, basically. Even bringing those Honda employees into Red Bull, apparently. I have to admire their dedication to doing it themselves and building on what they had going forward.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...nology-until-2025.3wmTSMrtsv6miuwqApz8IT.html

 

I've so much orange now. Favourite team + Danny Ric + oranje.

 

AlphaTauri new car launch was today... Red Bull will be on the 23rd.

 

I went looking for the Alphatauri launch, and this is all I found.

This makes total sense.

 

Gentlemen, a short view back to the past. Thirty years ago, Niki Lauda told us ‘take a monkey, place him into the cockpit and he is able to drive the car.’ Thirty years later, Sebastian told us ‘I had to start my car like a computer, it’s very complicated.’ And Nico Rosberg said that during the race – I don’t remember what race - he pressed the wrong button on the wheel. Question for you both: is Formula One driving today too complicated with twenty and more buttons on the wheel, are you too much under effort, under pressure? What are your wishes for the future concerning the technical programme during the race? Less buttons, more? Or less and more communication with your engineers?

 

They set a spending cap of $145 million dollars, not including the drivers salaries. Which means Mercedes can still pay Hamilton and insane salary ($40 mill per year?).

Cut the cap to $100 million, all inclusive. Make the show affordable for more teams. Shrink the wheelbase of the cars so that they make for practical racing on more tracks. Make engines tech closer to commerical vehicles so that engine makers can see some worth in investing in it.

Chatter on radios? The more the merrier. It makes for fun in the broadcast.

 

Red Bull car reveal was today... looks very similar to before, but the main thing is obviously that the Aston Martin branding has been removed (now that they have their own team). Honda's name was already on the side (because they were already the engine), but now they're on the tail too, in place of the AM logo. Also, the nose has apparently gotten slimmer.

 

slimmer and higher. Floor's also narrower at the back per regs to reduce downforce.

 

Well, BWT is back as a sponsor for the "new" Aston Martin team. I guess they're not a title sponsor now like they were for Racing Point, so they may not get to add any color... I hope that's the case because adding some pink to the British racing green would not be a good look... haha.

Honestly, the fact that it's now an actual Aston Martin team (albeit with Mercedes engines, but a lot of their street cars use them too) and that they have Vettel on the team are the only things keeping me interested. It seems like almost all of their announcements and tweets are about all of the corporate sponsors they've signed, and barely anything about the drivers, the cars, their plan for the season, etc.

 

Haas should have picked up BWT and thus gotten around the need for Mazepin money.

 

Definitely.

 

The hope of a watermelon Aston Martin.

 

I suspect the livery will be like their sports car livery for AMR:

 

It was BWT picking up a team to sponsor though. I would stay as far away from Haas as possible. BWT is far better off staying with AM with less prominent branding, than having pink cars at the back of the grid.

 

I think so too... this color scheme matches the little teasers they've put out, as well as the colors of the hats and clothes they've been tweeting about too.

 

Re Ferrari... I hope this is accurate:
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...-on-the-straights.7htBRyAQYpcUnPXQbzwqqz.html

 

Alpine and Mercedes new car reveals were today.

 

I got a few people mad on Instagram when I corrected their "OMG" comments on the W12 to *AMG

 

Seeing Romain go around Laguna Seca in an Indycar makes me wonder why there's all this talk of having some car park in Miami on the calendar when, with a few pitlane fixes and amenities to boost it up to Grade 1, Laguna Seca could be a legendary race. Imagine these long body F1 cars trying to navigate the corkscrew...