[akash_v12]

Alfa Romeo reveal bold retro-livery for their C42.

[deetjohn]

McLaren seems to have better control over porpoising and could start the season quite strong! They are able to keep the ride height high due to the very strong air curtains generated by that smart floor.

And this is what the Ferrari did in the early hours. It looks like the team was trying to induce the extreme forces before they made updates to the floor during the later sessions.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0vTTwEEXGE

All teams will be scampering to fix the issue before the next test, but raising the ride height or making the car too stiff will cause a drop in lap time elsewhere. Will be quite interesting to see the delta changes at Bahrain!

In other news, everyone seems to be going after Nikita after the Ukraine crisis. Saw a rather harsh tweet from Jeremy, but I wonder what he got to say about his fav football club Chelsea though!!

[akash_v12]

FIA announces their decision over Russian and Belarusian nationals over the situation in Ukraine.

Sourced from www.fia.com

In his opening remarks to the meeting, the FIA President said: “As you know, the FIA is watching the developments in Ukraine with sadness and shock and I hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to the present situation. We condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and our thoughts are with all those suffering as a result of the events in Ukraine. I would like to stress that the FIA, together with our promoters, proactively acted on this matter last week and communicated accordingly on the Formula 1, Formula 2, WTCR and the International Drifting Cup. An updated version of the different FIA International Calendars will be presented to the WMSC meeting in Bahrain for approval.”

In accordance with the International Olympic Committee recommendations, Council members approved the following decisions to be implemented with immediate effect:

Competitions organized on the territory of Russia and Belarus

No international/zone competition to take place in Russia and Belarus, until further notice
No flag/symbol or anthem of Russia/Belarus to be used in international/zone competitions, until further notice
Drivers, competitors and officials

No Russian/Belarusian national teams to participate in international/zone competitions (e.g. FIA Motorsport Games), until further notice
Russian/Belarusian drivers, individual competitors and officials to participate in international/zone competitions only in their neutral capacity and under the “FIA flag”, subject to specific commitment and adherence to the FIA’s principles of peace and political neutrality, until further notice
No Russian/Belarusian national symbols, colours, flags (uniform, equipment and car)- should be displayed or anthems should be played at international/zone competitions, until further notice
FIA Elected officers/Commissions’ members

Representatives from Russian/Belarusian FIA Members to step aside temporarily from their roles and responsibilities of elected officers/commissions’ members *
FIA grants

No FIA grant to be awarded to the Russian/Belarusian FIA Members, until further notice *
No existing FIA grant funding will be paid to the Russian/Belarusian FIA Members *
* Subject to the approval of the World Council for Automobile Mobility and Tourism

FIA International Sporting Calendar

Upon proposal of the F1 Commercial Rights Holder, cancellation of the 2022 Russian F1 Grand Prix for reason of Force Majeure.
The FIA President added: “I want to thank the Council members for their prompt action in deciding these measures in the interests of sport and peace. We stand in solidarity with Leonid Kostyuchenko, the President of the Federation Automobile d’Ukraine (FAU) and the wider FIA family in the country. The measures taken today recognise the authority of the FAU in Ukraine and are also aligned with the recommendations recently made by the International Olympic Committee. We are in active discussions with our members as we continue to extend our compassion and support in their time of need. We sincerely hope for a peaceful resolution to their intolerable hardship.”

Journalists report that Haas F1 Team has declined to further comment on the matter.

[volkman10]

Formula 1 terminates contract with Russian Grand Prix over Ukraine invasion.

Formula One will no longer race in Russia after the sport terminated its contract with the promoter of the Russian Grand Prix.

Formula One has terminated its contract with the Russian Grand Prix
The race scheduled for this year has already been canceled
This means F1 will not race in Russia in the near future

Link

[akash_v12]

BREAKING: Haas drops Nikita Mazepin. His replacement to be announced next week.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by akash_v12

BREAKING: Haas drops Nikita Mazepin. His replacement to be announced next week...

Jehan Daruvala's name seems to be in the hat. He's behind a couple bigger F2 names, but nice to see an Indian in consideration for a race seat again.

[akash_v12]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Jehan Daruvala's name seems to be in the hat. He's behind a couple bigger F2 names, but nice to see an Indian in consideration for a race seat again.

With all due respect to Jehan, I don't think he will get a seat in the near future (I hope I'm wrong here). To me, the order seems to be like this: Fittipaldi = Giovinazzi > Hulkenberg > Illot = Piastri > Other F2 drivers.
Most reputed media points towards Pietro, and, more recently the CEO of one of Haas' sponsors, Home Deluxe announced that he was delighted to be continuing his partnership with Haas, Mick & Pietro.

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by akash_v12

With all due respect to Jehan, I don't think he will get a seat in the near future (I hope I'm wrong here). To me, the order seems to be like this: Fittipaldi = Giovinazzi > Hulkenberg > Illot = Piastri > Other F2 drivers.
Most reputed media points towards Pietro, and, more recently the CEO of one of Haas' sponsors, Home Deluxe announced that he was delighted to be continuing his partnership with Haas, Mick & Pietro.

A lot of reports seem to suggest that Fittipaldi is not going to get that Haas drive. With so many regulation changes, Haas desperately needs some one with some experience. Mick Schumacher is still very new, and his only benchmark last year was Mazepin. Hence from this perspective, Haas should ideally sign either Giovinaazi or Hulkenberg. However, Hulkenberg wouldn’t be a good fit for Haas, it’s too late I think for Hulkenberg. Hence it would have to be Giovinaazi. He will bring some experience, he is not that bad, his first lap overtakes have been quite good. And he isn’t someone who is prone to accidents etc. He has also done some simulator work on the 2022 Ferrari, I think.

Haas doesn’t need someone with raw pace or talent, cause their car simply isn’t going to be in the top 10. So rather they need someone who can drive well consistently and provide feedback for their improvement.

Any other new driver would be a huge risk, especially this close to the season.

[BoneCollector]

Kevin Magnussen returns to F1 with a multi year deal signed with Haas.

Link

[jeevan007]

Magnussen responds to making a come back!

Source: Instagram

[FURY_44]

Guess the no side pod rumor is real, Merc showing up in Bahrain today with this little monster, this is bloody impressive, have not seen anything like this in the last decade or so.

Live stream on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kouiti001

[deetjohn]

Can't believe the season starts this weekend. Yay!

Hope it is tight and no one team runs away with it. But the chances for that happening following a big change of regulations is quite low. Let's see how it goes.

Merc as usual is Crying Wolff. But I think they have a real beast of a car once they nail the setup. Its a bit on the knife edge currently but GPS data shows that they have improved further on the Power Unit compared to that monster Brazil spec. Bahrain is a bit of an outlier too.

Bulls look good. The car looks nailed on the track no matter the tyre or fuel load. Let's see how that Power Unit holds up in comparison.

Ferrari looked good on both tests, but they always do that. And that's been the case in the turbo hybrid era. So, I would wait for the race weekend to get a proper read. The substantial changes to the Power Unit is key here.

McLaren looks to have a good car, but had a horrid second test. Let's see how they can make up ground in a few days.

[Hatari]

Mercedes definitely crying wolf. Their top speed on longer runs (high fuel) was faster than the lap they set their fastest time on!

Last season with 2 teams fighting for the title was amazing, this year I hope Ferrari are up there too! Absolutely cannot wait!

The change this year will be development, teams like McLaren may take a couple of races to sort out their nagging brake issues and reveal true pace.

Also looking forward to how Alpine do, with their first 'new' car in 2 years. Getting the highest top speed in during testing is encouraging.
Hope they dont find any more PU gremlins while running the car on full power.

[AbhishekMushran]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Mercedes definitely crying wolf. Their top speed on longer runs (high fuel) was faster than the lap they set their fastest time on!

Last season with 2 teams fighting for the title was amazing, this year I hope Ferrari are up there too! Absolutely cannot wait!

The change this year will be development, teams like McLaren may take a couple of races to sort out their nagging brake issues and reveal true pace.

Also looking forward to how Alpine do, with their first 'new' car in 2 years. Getting the highest top speed in during testing is encouraging.
Hope they dont find any more PU gremlins while running the car on full power.

I thought Red Bull had got the highest top speed at 326 & Alpine only managed a top speed of 316.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by AbhishekMushran

I thought Red Bull had got the highest top speed at 326 & Alpine only managed a top speed of 316.

Alonso 314, Max 312.

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/co...s_with_sector/