Formula One 2019

[Cleoriff]

What better way to start the new F1 thread than wishing Lewis Hamilton a Happy 34th Birthday

Here's hoping for a great season and another world championship for the lad from Stevenage

Get In Lewis and hopefully

PS: New cars are revealed from February 12th. Testing starts February 18th..

Season starts in 10 weeks. March15th Australia...

[jonsie]

I guess you're right @Cleoriff because no one could say he wasn't good at his job. Entertaining and knowledgeable but I guess having personality isn't a good thing for those people who make these decisions. What I'm more upset about is Sky's exclusivity deal. Again the British people have to suffer because of the money involved in F1 these days.

2019 will be a crucial year for Sky, having secured exclusive broadcasting rights, meaning that free-to-air live coverage of F1 will be almost entirely removed from British screens.

A deal as been struck to air the British Grand Prix on Channel 4, with a highlights show also remaining on the terrestrial channel, but fans have been enraged by the departure of the sport from most households.

[Cleoriff]

@jonsie

Yes I'm sick about the Sky deal but I suppose we are 'lucky' we can get it.

I belong to a F1 forum which has 200,000 members. The lengths that people in other countries have to go to in order to watch F1 is ridiculous.

[jonsie]

And yet in Thailand you can go in any bar and watch F1 as well as every football premier league fixture, FA Cup, European and international matches. Now you can't tell me that these bars pay big bucks, it's all the 'little black boxes' you can rent for about £8.00/month. The authorities allow these devices to be used.

[Cleoriff]

The USA is one of the worst countries for F1 coverage. There are many more but I just thought I'd mention that particular one.

They keep changing the channels who cover it and no matter which channel, it is filled with adverts.

[Cleoriff]

Someone on the F1 forum I belong to has posted the up to date list of Sky F1 presenters...

So it looks as if it was all a vicious rumour about Ted...

[Cleoriff]

According to Mercedes. the W10 is turning heads at testing today. New nose, new endplates. Different from last week....Sandbagging springs to mind...

[gmarkj]

Are those random looking side parts meant to be on or are they part of the testing set up @Cleoriff?

[Cleoriff]

@gmarkj 

It's an aero rake. They check the airflow round the car during testing as they have sensors attached.

There have been many changes to the 2019 cars to allow for closer racing

On the 5th day of testing (yesterday) Ferrari seem to be well ahead of Mercedes...:smileysad:

[gmarkj]

Ah, thanks for the explanation @Cleoriff. Looks like a cross between an old OLD style bi-wing plane and an F1 car!

[Cleoriff]

I know it looks really old fashioned but it's amazing the amount of data it can transmit back to the engineers