Formula 1 - 2014 Season

[Kaotik]

Force India's livery for next season, looks better than before IMO, though I'd change the winglet in front of the sidepod to be black/green from the current white/green.

Also, Cowboyashi is back, got enough money to get him Caterham seat

 

[Kaotik]

New McLaren:

New Lotus:

New Williams:

 

[Phil]

That McLaren looks seriously badass... wow.

 

[DJ12]

Should be fast too as it's the 'good' year in their cycle, but last year was so bad that doesn't mean much

 

[UniversalTruth]

That McLaren looks seriously badass... wow.

It only looks like that because of the colours, ev'ry other car with tha same colours would look much better

Where's the new FERRARI?

 

[Kaotik]

In other news, Boullier left Lotus now, too, and is rumored to be heading to McLaren.
Whitmarsh hasn't been reportedly seen at Woking since Dennis became head of McLaren's F1 operations again, and he wasn't present at the new car unveiling either.

 

[UniversalTruth]

Oh, the new 'Ferrari F14 T' will be unveiled tomorrow in the afternoon

Ferrari has announced that its 2014 Formula 1 car will be called the F14 T after holding a fan vote to choose the name

 

[DJ12]

Rumor is Brawn is going to McLaren when his break is over so I cannot see Boullier being there long term if he goes at all

 

[Kaotik]

Rumor is Brawn is going to McLaren when his break is over so I cannot see Boullier being there long term if he goes at all

Or the Brawn rumor is false, both are possibilities.

Also, the F14 T name aka FIAT was, according to some, orchestrated by 4chan and the like.

 

[DJ12]

I also don't see an upside to McLaren having Boullier. Lotus regress through the season so why would they want him. Unless it's to start shafting one driver in favour of another

 

[Otto Dafe]

Is Boullier still Grosjean's manager? Seems like that would be an even greater conflict of interest if he's at a different team.

 

[Dave Baumann]

Still a little surprised by Whimarsh's handling - basically ostracized from everything so far. Personally I thought he was beginning to get on a sticky wicket when he let Hamilton slip through their fingers and the dismal performance last year (inclusive of losing Paddy Lowe and not sorting out a title sponsor) just nailed it.

 

[Dave Baumann]

I also don't see an upside to McLaren having Boullier. Lotus regress through the season so why would they want him. Unless it's to start shafting one driver in favour of another

I wouldn't say they regressed, their car handled the tires better when they fell to bits easily and that wasn't as good when they changed the compounds to more durable ones. They still managed to turn it around and be pretty good contenders, but that was in a backdrop of draining resources (lots of technical staff being poached) and tight funding (lots of debt).

The fact that Eric still managed to have a front-running team in light of this is probably the attraction to others as it points to having an effective and slick organizational structure that can still push through developments and changes that pay off. Arguably this is the area that McLaren need to get a hold most - they are not short of resources, and they have the best facilities, but the structure has not been getting through cars and developments that consistently pay off, it been very hit and miss. They need an organization man that can hone the operations into consistently creating a development path that pays off.

 

[Kaotik]

Idd, I think Boullier has been one of the best performing, if not best, team manager last couple seasons given the resources of the team.

Being Grosjeans manager shouldn't be an issue, for example Kovalainen drove for McLaren while Briatore was team manager at Renault and I'm sure there's other similar examples too

 

[Dave Baumann]

Wasn't clear in the initial shot, but a top down image of the Lotus shows that one "tusk" it longer than the other; evidently result in a quirk of the rules.

 

[Kaotik]

Wasn't clear in the initial shot, but a top down image of the Lotus shows that one "tusk" it longer than the other; evidently result in a quirk of the rules.

Yep, only one is counted as the required "horn" and the other is some airduct thing

 

[Bludd]

Still a little surprised by Whimarsh's handling - basically ostracized from everything so far. Personally I thought he was beginning to get on a sticky wicket when he let Hamilton slip through their fingers and the dismal performance last year (inclusive of losing Paddy Lowe and not sorting out a title sponsor) just nailed it.

Andrew Benson writes that Ron Dennis has been trying to remove Whitmarsh for almost 2 years now.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/25858643

Whitmarsh shouldn't take a demotion at McLaren. He should offer his services to another team.

 

[Bludd]

Anyone else dismayed by the nostrils on the McLaren? I hope their hydraulic fluid isn't green ...

 

[Lightman]

Finally something is starting to happen!

I'm pumped up for the upcoming season as a lot of things will be new!

I like how these new F1 cars look like, especially McLaren and Lotus, but I'm sure RedBull and Merc and Ferrari will have interesting constructions too.

Regarding Eric Boullier I personally rate him very high. Whichever team will grab him will benefit from his talents.

 

[Rurouni]

I like MW more than EB. Of course Brawn would be the best, but with Dennis at the helm, I don't think it Brawn would work at McLaren. Both want to control the team, not necessarily as the boss but as the ultimate decision maker. MW as the CEO and Brawn as TP would be the ideal McLaren for me.
At least with Dennis and supposedly EB, the team will generate lots of fun news.