[asr245]

With 2014 over, I had some thoughts on Fernando Alonso's aura of being the most talented/best driver on the grid (apart from LH before LH fans rip me off).

Watching Massa come to life since his podium at Monza makes me wonder if Alonso was really that much faster (upto 0.5 secs/lap) than Massa. Watching him trying to catch Lewis (in a faster car) was the 1st time since 2009 when I saw him with some self belief that was missing since Alonso joined Ferrari (or Hockenhiem 2010).

Now Alonso has Kimi for team-mate and he was mostly nowhere this season - after 2 impressive season with Lotus. Yes, I know car didn't suit Kimi & he struggled with the feel for the brakes. But it does seem to me like, even if the car is not fast enough, Alonso will play politics to drive the car to a direction which makes him faster over his team-mate. With things like Singapore 2008, I know he's capable of doing such things.

With him most likely moving to Mclaren, I pity his team-mate. 'cause even if they are competent, they will still be decimated. That's what Alonso seems to do to his team-mate. Only time he probably wasn't able to do so was 2007 (with Ron's favorite boy) & we all know how that ended.

[Fullrevs]

That was a great season. Unlike previous seasons when one team would support just one driver for their title bid, Mercedes made it exciting for the viewers by taking the title fight all the way to the last race. The double points system surely helped I'm sure.

All in all, a great season and big congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for winning his second title. He thoroughly deserved it. He now becomes the only Brit after Jackie Stewart to win two titles in almost 40 odd years. I see a knighthood in store for him. Definitely a OBE from the queen.

Really happy to see one of F1's greatest teams succeed so well. I'm talking about Williams. I was really rooting to see Massa win the race, had the gap been smaller he could certainly have caught up to Hamilton and maybe even pass him. I'm sure the Williams car will be stellar next year as well. They have a star driver in Valteri Bottas. Someone who will definitely succeed in F1. A future champion for sure.

The star of the season to me was Daniel Ricciardo. His overtakes have been supreme and while the Toro Rosso really shaded his abilities, his move to Red Bull Racing really showcased his talents. Hope he can mount a serious title challenge next year.

Jenson Button really showed why he deserves that seat at Mclaren. It would be a shame to see him off the grid next year. Hope Mclaren's common sense prevails in their decision.

Good season for Force India and their strategy at Abu Dhabi really helped in giving them a good points haul this season. It should be a pretty decent income from the viewership earnings for them.

Finally, Fernando Alonso. The best driver on the grid has bid his goodbyes to Ferrari. Personally, this is the saddest thing for me to see. I really hoped Alonso would have had a top 5 finish to end his 5 year long career with the Scuderia but it was not meant to be. Next year the team will welcome Sebastien Vettel. Here's hoping the 4 time champ can bring more fortunes to Ferrari. Good luck to Alonso. Will always be a supporter, even if he beats a Ferrari.

Cant wait for 2015!!!

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by Fullrevs

That was a great season.

+1

The cars were revolting to look at, they sounded like vacuum cleaners and we had total domination from one manufacturer. Enough to make for a very very boring season.

But it was far from it. In the beginning of the season, the new regulation changes and how different teams approached it kept us occupied and the new cars gave closer wheel to wheel racing all around the grid. And thank you Mercedes for being sporty and adventurous with your two drivers. It was a great fight all season!

The high points were Jules' 9th place at Monaco, Ricciardo, Bottas, Kvyat, the surprise that was the Hungarian and Bahrain GP, Lewis getting the title and the excellent sportsmanship from Nico at the Finale. The low points were the qualifying at Monaco, the scramble between the Mercs at Spa and accidents to Michael and Jules. Hope they recover well!

And something tells me Lewis is going to destroy everyone in 2015. Apparently, Merc has already gained further on their big advantage this season. And I doubt Nico will be able to put out a fight to a very confident Lewis next season. Let's wait and watch.

PS: Forgot to add this to the high points of the season. The Martini livery on the Williams is one the best I have seen for a long long time. The car looks absolutely stunning but for the 2014 nose. Hope they fix it soon. They should have won at least a race though. Would have made the season even better.

[myavu]

It seems Ferrari is desperate for 2015.

Mercedes caught Ferrari ‘spy’ in Abu Dhabi



Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport and the German newspaper Bild published photographs of the blonde female Ferrari employee using an infra-red video camera.

The reports said a member of the championship-winning Mercedes team went into the spectator area to ask his Ferrari counterpart to stop filming.

The camera being used was an Infrec R300 which boasts the following specs: “InfRec Analyzer NS9500PRO for R300, PC software with comprehensive capability needed for real-time recording, detailed data analysis and report creation.”

“It enables you with simple operation to make simultaneous video capturing of thermal/visible images into PC via USB and composite image display on a real-time basis.”

“The InfRec R300 demonstrates its excellent abilities in various measuring scenes such as R&D of electric components or machineries, biological objects, quality control at manufacturing plants, building inspection and checkups/ preventive maintenance of power equipment and electric facilities.”

The purpose of gathering such information may provide clues to the heat distribution of the W05, and also provide information on composites and fluids used in the sport’s most successful V6 turbo power units – all of value to Ferrari technicians.

Source : http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/vi...mula+1+News%29

Cheers!

Vinu

[asr245]

Some interesting metrics here.

https://f1metrics.wordpress.com/2014...iver-rankings/

Didn't know Jenson beat Mag 14-3 in races (126-55 in points). Perez was beaten 11-5 (73-49 in points). Cannot believe this guy could be out of a drive. I wish there was a drive at Williams.

Also gives some insights into Rosberg's & Hamilton's pace.

Alonso comes out on top.

[Fullrevs]

Originally Posted by myavu

Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport and the German newspaper Bild published photographs of the blonde female Ferrari employee using an infra-red video camera.

The reports said a member of the championship-winning Mercedes team went into the spectator area to ask his Ferrari counterpart to stop filming.

First time something like this has been published. Spying is a old lil trick in F1. I dont blame Ferrari. What other options to make the car quick?!

[zenren]

Originally Posted by Fullrevs

First time something like this has been published. Spying is a old lil trick in F1. I dont blame Ferrari. What other options to make the car quick?!

If Ferrari were so good technically to do better than Mercedes based on thermal imaging camera shots, they wouldn't have been fighting for the last points in every race. Probably that blonde was there to distract the Merc engineers.

A car that is low on power and handles poorly at the front end is a failure from the engine as well as chassis perspectives.

[Fullrevs]

Originally Posted by zenren

If Ferrari were so good technically to do better than Mercedes based on thermal imaging camera shots, they wouldn't have been fighting for the last points in every race. Probably that blonde was there to distract the Merc engineers.

A car that is low on power and handles poorly at the front end is a failure from the engine as well as chassis perspectives.

I am really beginning to doubt Ferrari's technical ability now. For years Alonso has been saying they have a great set of people but I just dont see any innovation at all. Lower rung teams seem to bring in new innovations even. Let see what James Allison can come up with.

Also quite funny to note that whoever have left Ferrari in recent times have actually been more successful working for other teams like Aldo Costa. This also makes me doubt their managerial skills. There's probably innovation happening in the factory but the bosses are just too plain clothed to sanction them on to the car.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by zenren

If Ferrari were so good technically to do better than Mercedes based on thermal imaging camera shots, they wouldn't have been fighting for the last points in every race. Probably that blonde was there to distract the Merc engineers.

A car that is low on power and handles poorly at the front end is a failure from the engine as well as chassis perspectives.

Originally Posted by Fullrevs

I am really beginning to doubt Ferrari's technical ability now. For years Alonso has been saying they have a great set of people but I just dont see any innovation at all. Lower rung teams seem to bring in new innovations even. Let see what James Allison can come up with.

Flavio Briatore has suggested that Ferrari will struggle to get back to the top simply because of where they are based. The Motorsport valley exists in England which breeds the engineers. Italy, was king during the engine and gearbox era, no more.

Not many engineers want to Abingdon their existing lives and move whole hog to Italy.

Seems logical to me now.

[shashi63]

Personally I think Nice stole everyone's heart by showing great sportmanship! The better driver won! Alonso will struggle next year and may not back Jenson as his partner for next year! It will be a real pity to see Jenson go of the drive. I would predict that Vettel will bring some positive change to Ferrari and we should see some improvement!

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by myavu

It seems Ferrari is desperate for 2015.

LOL! Calling a lady in Ferrari uniform filming from the top of Merc' pit box with a massive camera a spy? It's a massive decoy. The dude in black overalls is shooting all this and more from the nearby tree top.


F1 2014: the winners and losers TG got it spot on.

[arunphilip]

Here's another interesting way of viewing the dominance of the Mercedes works team: If all the Renault and Ferrari-powered teams combined their points (663), even then they will not have beaten the Mercedes works team (701 points).

[arunphilip]

The global advertising value of Mercedes' television appearances during its F1 campaign in 2014 was $2.8bn (£1.8bn).

Mercedes spent a net 130m euros (£103m) on F1, once external sponsorship and prize money is taken into account.

Originally Posted by myavu

What a ROI? £103m invested and returns valued at £1.8bn

I don't think we should view the £1.8bn as a "return" in the conventional sense (i.e. as an income/earning).

Instead, the 'advertising value' is determined as the amount of advertisements that will have been required to match the amount of brand recognition/goodwill that has been earned by Mercedes by being in F1 (source: http://www.marketing-metrics-made-si...uivalency.html).

There's no guarantee that Mercedes would have indeed spent £1.8bn on advertising instead of F1, which is why its not a true earning/saving.

[myavu]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

There's no guarantee that Mercedes would have indeed spent £1.8bn on advertising instead of F1, which is why its not a true earning/saving.

I completely agree with you Arun. But for what they spent they got ~£1.8bn worth of global advertising. That is incredible.

[myavu]

Tech Analysis: The success behind the Mercedes W05

There is no question that the Mercedes W05 will go down as an all-time classic F1 car. It’s up there with the likes of the 1988 McLaren MP4/4 and Ferrari F2004. It is now the most successful car in F1 history. Why? William Tyson picks apart the bones of one of the most dominant cars in racing ever.

Read here : http://richlandf1.com/?p=30920

Cheers!

Vinu