The F1 (Formula One) Thread

The 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar in full:

  • March 20 - Australia
  • April 3 - Bahrain
  • April 17 - China
  • May 1 - Sochi
  • May 15 - Spain
  • May 29 - Monaco
  • June 12 - Canada
  • June 19 - Baku*
  • July 3 - Austria
  • July 10 - Great Britain
  • July 24 - Hungary
  • July 31 - Germany
  • August 28 - Belgium
  • September 4 - Italy
  • September 18 - Singapore
  • October 2 - Malaysia
  • October 9 - Japan
  • October 23 - USA**
  • October 30 - Mexico
  • November 13 - Brazil
  • November 27 - Abu Dhabi


*race start to be scheduled to avoid conflict with the conclusion of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
**subject to agreement with the promoter and the ASN
 
Formula One Is Talking About Closing the Cockpit (Again)

THE START OF the 2016 Formula One season is just a month away, but Red Bull Racing is already looking ahead to 2017. According to Motorsport.com, the team has submitted a new car design to the FIA, the sport’s governing body. The design isn’t about changing the engine or improving the aerodynamics and downforce. It’s about delivering one of the greatest safety advances in the sport’s history, one that would fundamentally alter the look of motorsports’ premier series.

This design, which hasn’t been publicly released, is the latest salvo in an ongoing and increasingly urgent debate over whether F1 should finally give up one of its hallmarks: open-cockpit cars. Although the discussion’s been held for decades, a spate of accidents and some tests by the FIA could bring the matter to a close, possibly as early as next year.

Formula One is A remarkably safe when you consider drivers lap tracks at speeds north of 180 mph, often just inches apart, and occasionally in the rain. Crashes are common—rare is the mishap-free race—but injuries are rare and fatalities almost unheard of. There have been just two in recent history: the incomparable Ayrton Senna died in 1994 after crashing into a concrete barrier at the Italian Grand Prix. And Jules Bianchi died nine months after slamming into a tractor that was removing a wrecked car during the 2014 Japanese grand prix.

Bianchi’s crash fits into a recent pattern unpredictable accidents that caused severe head injuries. In August, IndyCar driver Justin Wilson died soon after a chunk of debris flew off another car and struck his helmet (IndyCar, like F1, features open-cockpit cars). In July 2009, 18-year-old Formula 2 driver Henry Surtees died hours after a loose wheel hit him in the head. A week later, a 25-ounce suspension spring came off a car and hit F1 driver Felipe Massa, who was driving at 175 mph during a qualifying round of the Hungarian GP. Massa survived and eventually returned to racing, but doctors initially feared he’d lose sight in one eye.

So it’s not surprising that Red Bull joins the chorus of those suggesting closed cockpits. The idea’s been around for about three decades, says says Frank Dernie, a retired engineer who spent his career in F1. “It has been debated for years,” but to date, the downsides of closing the cockpit have always outweighed the upsides of a change.

There are a handful of challenges involved, not the least of which is how to increase protection without reducing visibility or making it harder to extricate a driver after a crash. And then there’s the traditionalist resistance from those who think that F1 should always have open cockpit cars, because F1 has always had open cockpit cars.

The FIA isn’t so sure. It’s long pondered polycarbonate canopies like those used on fighter jets. In July 2011, it released results of tests in which it fired a wheel at an F16 canopy at 140 mph. The canopy held, but the question is how to incorporate it into a car without distorting the driver’s field of vision, or trapping him should the car flip over.....
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wired
 
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Weasley said:
does anyone know of good stream provider if someone wanted to watch without monochoice?
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Your best choice, if you know someone with the DSTV premium package (with PVR enabled), is to get their login details for the dstv website and use that to log in on Super Sport.

If they haven't created an account yet, you can create one with their smartcard number (or ask them to create one and give you the login details).

Alternatively, you can try http://www.vipleague.ws/. It works, but the quality isn't always that good and there are quite a lot of ads to get through, but it will get the job done.
 
Weasley said:
does anyone know of good stream provider if someone wanted to watch without monochoice?
Click to expand...

Second [MENTION=6280]Blazzok[/MENTION] here - I've tried many, many of those streaming services in the past, and while they generally do work, the frustration of dealing with multitudes of ads, very poor image quality, and heavy doses of buffering make it just not worth the effort. Get hold of a DSTV Connect account from a friend or family member and you're golden.

In release news:

Haas has announced it will forego its original plans to unveil its first F1 car on the morning of the opening day of the pre-season test in Barcelona.

Instead, the new car will be shown off on Sunday [i.e. today], the day before the original scheduled date.

The team's first-ever livery in the sport will be made public at 1400GMT - or 0900 EST, the timezone that hosts Haas' headquarters in North Kannapolis.

This means that Haas' new challenger will launch the same day as McLaren's MP4-31, which breaks cover three hours earlier.

Sauce: http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/haas-decides-to-reveal-f1-challenger-early-674587/
 
Mercs' social media team just tweeted this image of their new car - presumably didn't want all the Sunday attention on Haas and McLaren :)

Ladies & Gentlemen! Introducing… the [MENTION=604]merc[/MENTION]edesBenz #F1 W07 Hybrid Silver Arrow! #WeAreW07
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456042920.474118.jpg
 
And another one showing off their 2016 livery... Sauber F1. Virtually unchanged from last year as far as I can tell. Couple of different sponsor logos on the rear wing is about the biggest change.
f1-sauber-launch-2016-sauber-c35-livery.jpg
 
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