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So the lineup is finally set for 2014. Happy to see that Perez got another a drive and I still can't believe Lotus went with Pastor over Hulkenberg, I guess Lotus couldn't resist that venezuelan oil money.

Nolan wrote:So the lineup is finally set for 2014. Happy to see that Perez got another a drive and I still can't believe Lotus went with Pastor over Hulkenberg, I guess Lotus couldn't resist that venezuelan oil money.

They could use all money, they still owe Kimi a good amount of salary from last season.

In looking forward to how the Ferrari dynamic plays out, they have two of the biggest alpha males on one team in a long time.

I was really surprised that Paul di Resta didn't end up with a ride for 2014.
Given the amount of points Force India due to the car and team incompetence cost him last season I would have loved to see what he could have done with one of the better teams.

Nolan wrote:So the lineup is finally set for 2014. Happy to see that Perez got another a drive and I still can't believe Lotus went with Pastor over Hulkenberg, I guess Lotus couldn't resist that venezuelan oil money.

Given the cash they owe Kimi it was either locked up Pastor or rename the team Lotus-Räikkönen Racing for 2014

Morris_Shatford wrote:

Nolan wrote:So the lineup is finally set for 2014. Happy to see that Perez got another a drive and I still can't believe Lotus went with Pastor over Hulkenberg, I guess Lotus couldn't resist that venezuelan oil money.

Given the cash they owe Kimi it was either locked up Pastor or rename the team Lotus-Räikkönen Racing for 2014

I kinda like the sound of that

Nolan wrote:

Morris_Shatford wrote:

Nolan wrote:So the lineup is finally set for 2014. Happy to see that Perez got another a drive and I still can't believe Lotus went with Pastor over Hulkenberg, I guess Lotus couldn't resist that venezuelan oil money.

Given the cash they owe Kimi it was either locked up Pastor or rename the team Lotus-Räikkönen Racing for 2014

I kinda like the sound of that

Does sort of have a nice ring to it.

At what point do we start worrying about the Renault engines?

Morris_Shatford wrote:At what point do we start worrying about the Renault engines?

Still hard to say after the first race. Toro Rosso did better than expected, Vettel's engine failed, but Ricciardo went on to finish second. But that may have been due to an "issue" with the engine.

It's gonna be an interesting year.

StartingBench wrote:

Morris_Shatford wrote:At what point do we start worrying about the Renault engines?

Still hard to say after the first race. Toro Rosso did better than expected, Vettel's engine failed, but Ricciardo went on to finish second. But that may have been due to an "issue" with the engine.

It's gonna be an interesting year.

Toro Rosso did surprisingly well; Its hard to take anything away from the way that Vergne & Kvyat drove, they clearly didn't have the same issues the rest did with the Rebaults.

But with the issues the Lotus' had with the ERS, Caterhams (Ericson) issues as well as Vettel's issues seemingly being all over the place you have to wonder how much they can really do before Malaysia?

It was too bad about Ricciardo,
He may be this season's Paul Di Resta losing points due to team incompetence.

Can't believe Merc let Hamilton and Roseberg go at it like that. If they would of touched after that safety car they both would of been screwed.

Nolan wrote:Can't believe Merc let Hamilton and Roseberg go at it like that. If they would of touched after that safety car they both would of been screwed.

That was fun to watch. I didn't watch many races in the last few years, but that was a great one.

Nolan wrote:Can't believe Merc let Hamilton and Roseberg go at it like that. If they would of touched after that safety car they both would of been screwed.

Yeah,
But it was AWESOME.

Three races in:

How screwed is anyone not using a Mercedes engine for the rest of the season?

Morris_Shatford wrote:

Nolan wrote:Can't believe Merc let Hamilton and Roseberg go at it like that. If they would of touched after that safety car they both would of been screwed.

Yeah,
But it was AWESOME.

Agreed.

Morris_Shatford wrote:Three races in:

How screwed is anyone not using a Mercedes engine for the rest of the season?

I have a feeling Renault's is really going to step up their game. They can't afford to piss off Red Bull and Toro Rosso actually looked pretty good in the last testing session so there is some hope for the non Merc's.

Nolan wrote:

Morris_Shatford wrote:Three races in:

How screwed is anyone not using a Mercedes engine for the rest of the season?

I have a feeling Renault's is really going to step up their game. They can't afford to piss off Red Bull and Toro Rosso actually looked pretty good in the last testing session so there is some hope for the non Merc's.

I think the intention to get better is certainly there;

However my understanding was that in past seasons the teams would say "this is my car, design around it" whereas because of the engine changes this year it became "this is our engine, design around it" which appears to be the big problem.

It will be interesting to see who fixes their issues first:
Ferrari and speed or Renault and reliability.

Hamilton wins poll again. Guy is unstoppable so far.

Nolan wrote:Hamilton wins poll again. Guy is unstoppable so far.

This season is rapidly becoming a race for third;

The Red Bulls are seemingly getting it together, but it looks like Ferrari isn't sitting on their hands either.
Spain is going to be interesting.

Poll goes to Hamilton once again. Merc is miles ahead of everyone this year.

Good to see my boy Grosjean back at the front. Hopefully the car holds up and he scores some points.

Nolan wrote:Poll goes to Hamilton once again. Merc is miles ahead of everyone this year.

Good to see my boy Grosjean back at the front. Hopefully the car holds up and he scores some points.

The Red Bulls made some strides in Spain;
Vettel coming from 15th and carving up most folks in front of him was a lot of fun to watch but its still Merc's yard that everyone else is just playing in.

I really enjoyed Grosjean last season and it looks like Lotus is starting to "get it", however Renault commented this weekend they would withhold engines from teams who have not paid;

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/27347990

Have to wonder who the delinquents are?

Ferrari has been an interesting story;
Two world champs and a fairly unimpressive showing (just passed Force in the constructors) have to wonder if its cars or drivers at this point?

And whats the deal with McLaren?