2019 Formula One World ChampionshipFormula 1 

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Honda is bringing a Spec 2 internal combustion engine to Baku for both Red Bull and Toro Rosso, with "improved durability and life and better reliability", and a "slight improvement in performance".
https://en.hondaracingf1.com/races/2019/azerbaijan-grand-prix.html

Looks like Honda is going for an aggressive development strategy, which is good in my opinion, because I would rather see Red Bull take penalties and climb into the points in a few races and be competitive towards the end of the season, rather than be a lonely third through the season. This is the best way to catch the leaders, in my opinion.
 
Torneo
Honda is bringing a Spec 2 internal combustion engine to Baku for both Red Bull and Toro Rosso, with "improved durability and life and better reliability", and a "slight improvement in performance".
https://en.hondaracingf1.com/races/2019/azerbaijan-grand-prix.html

Looks like Honda is going for an aggressive development strategy, which is good in my opinion, because I would rather see Red Bull take penalties and climb into the points in a few races and be competitive towards the end of the season, rather than be a lonely third through the season. This is the best way to catch the leaders, in my opinion.
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They're not going to win a championship in the first year with their new engine. Yes. Makes sense to take all the penalties you can get to catch up.
 
niky
They're not going to win a championship in the first year with their new engine
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Ooh, trivia.

McLaren actually did do it with Honda in 1988 as well as with Porsche-TAG in 1984 and Benetton did it with Renault in 1995 but two of those cases are using the constructor's winning engine from the previous year. You could throw Brabham and pseudo-works Repco into the mix for 1966 too.

But as for this year? Yeah, I seriously doubt Red Bull can pull a rabbit out of the bag this year. It'd be good to see them more competitive though.
 
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Redbull look the same as every other year, apart from the fact this time last year they had already Won a race.
 
Liquid
Ooh, trivia.

McLaren actually did do it with Honda in 1988 as well as with Porsche-TAG in 1984 and Benetton did it with Renault in 1995 but two of those cases are using the constructor's winning engine from the previous year. You could throw Brabham and pseudo-works Repco into the mix for 1966 too.
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BRM also did it rather convincingly in 1962 with their V-8.
 
Aaaand Mercedes on P1 and P2 again.

WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED !!?

To me it's officially the worst, most boring F1 (more like FM) Season i've ever watched. And that includes 2004.

Havn't watched the last 2 races and didn't miss aanything I didn't expect from the race before...
 
Liquid
2011 and 2013 were just as bad.
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Keep telling your self that, atleast the field was closer and the top 6 wasn't already sorted(if they finished)before the race started.

This season isn't the worst, but combined with the last 5 years of the same cars in the same position it adds up.
 
mustafur
Keep telling your self that
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Yes, I will. 2011 and 2013 were horrendous seasons to watch alongside 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2014 onwards. Putting it that way, out of the 19 seasons this millennium 11 are considered boring, dull or processional to some degree.

The fact that Mercedes-Benz have won 78 out of the 104 Grands Prix since 2014 is surely killing the contest. That's a staggering 75% of all GPs in the last 5 years and including all 4 so far in this sixth year.

My GAA team has switched training to Sundays so I'm no longer able to watch the races but judging from the highlights of the first 4 races so far, I really don't think I've missed anything.
 
If Ferrari had gone down the longer wheelbase and low rake direction they would be closer to Mercedes this season. Discuss.

I mean, have Ferrari got it wrong technically? Is the low rake direction more consistent across all circuit types? On evidence so far, going further down the Newey high rake philosophy has, if anything, pushed Ferrari towards a battle with Redbull rather than Mercedes.

As far as I can tell (correct me if wrong), but McLaren are the only other team running a very low rake and longer wheelbase like Mercedes and it looked pretty planted and sweet from the onboards at Baku - just lacked power. Perhaps this is why McLaren look considerably better in 2019.

I just don't believe Mercedes dominance is all about bad strategy or failing drivers in other teams.
 
axletramp
If Ferrari had gone down the longer wheelbase and low rake direction they would be closer to Mercedes this season. Discuss.
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I don't think so. Looking at 2017/2018, Ferrari' where able to exploit the inherent weakness in the flat low-rake Merc design philosophy. If Vettel was of the calibre of Hamilton I think Ferrari stood a good chance in 2017 and probably should have taken it in 2018.

What happened however was that Mercedes where able to adapt to this weakness and (with Lewis) drive around the problem.

Mercedes dominance started off with having a really good design base for their car and having the best engine. With this they built three cars that really couldn't be touched while everyone else figured out the new engines while adapting to the new regs. 2017 brought about a big change in aero and this was the first time Merc seemed under any threat. Yet the team, lead by Toto was able to adapt. I don't think it's either because they have the best/faultless strategy (they don't), constantly the best car (they haven't) or just the best driver (they do ha)... it's a combination of all of these and then them working hard to improve.

This season Ferrari might not have had the best car, but they then utterly failed to adapt to the challenges thrown up. It's taken them 4 races to realise that you get points for the fastest lap!


To sorta wrap it up, I think that if Ferrari had been as stable and as solid a TEAM as Mercedes, this season would be neck and neck, but they aren't. For me the reasoning is due to Arrivabene and his style of managing (this then totally changing this year) and then them basically putting all of their eggs into a single driver who, against Lewis, simply cannot compete over a season.

So if they had worked with the high rake concept to the level that Mercedes had with the low rake setup, they'd be fine
 
Booth after 4 rounds what a difference between Ferrari and Mercedes
Formula-1.png
 
mustafur
Redbull look the same as every other year, apart from the fact this time last year they had already Won a race.
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How do Gasly this year, and Ricciardo last year compare at this point into the season? The times I'm able to watch, it feels like Max is leading a single handed charge into the Ferraris. Mercs. have been pretty much unchallenged for now.
 
McLaren
How do Gasly this year, and Ricciardo last year compare at this point into the season? The times I'm able to watch, it feels like Max is leading a single handed charge into the Ferraris. Mercs. have been pretty much unchallenged for now.
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At this point last season Ricciardo looked to hold advantage over Max where as Gasly is getting destroyed by him.

He did look more competitive here but had issues with the weigh bridge which forced him to start last and he retired with mechanical issues.

Either way Redbull as a team are basically in the exact same position as last year 3rd best.
 
There is a difference of 22% (which is no small percentage) over a tenure that is longer and still ongoing.
 
Red Bull never dominated to the same degree that Mercedes are now. 2010 and 2012 it was debatable whether they had the fastest car but they were also extremely unreliable. Even if Vettel stormed ahead in 2011 and 2013, Webber didn't, he was always scrapping around with Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, plus the midfield was a massive mixed bag as well. Mercedes have had both drivers way up front since 2014, they're almost impervious to reliability woes, it's almost impossible to beat them on pace at any circuit so you have to hope they either break down or crash (which has only happened half a dozen times) and we're entering the fifth season of it (which is one more than Red Bull did) without any signs of it abating.

Without question the Red Bull years were much more entertaining to watch than the Mercedes years are currently.
 
Marqus
There is a difference of 22% (which is no small percentage) over a tenure that is longer and still ongoing.
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Which might make it more boring, certainly, but it certainly lacks self-awareness from the man who won four championships in a row and once managed nine race wins in a row. It's worth also noting that Hamilton is "only" at 51% himself - Hamilton's team-mate has a better chance than any of Vettel's ever did...
 
PeterJB
Red Bull never dominated to the same degree that Mercedes are now. 2010 and 2012 it was debatable whether they had the fastest car but they were also extremely unreliable. Even if Vettel stormed ahead in 2011 and 2013, Webber didn't, he was always scrapping around with Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, plus the midfield was a massive mixed bag as well. Mercedes have had both drivers way up front since 2014, they're almost impervious to reliability woes, it's almost impossible to beat them on pace at any circuit so you have to hope they either break down or crash (which has only happened half a dozen times) and we're entering the fifth season of it (which is one more than Red Bull did) without any signs of it abating.

Without question the Red Bull years were much more entertaining to watch than the Mercedes years are currently.
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Mercedes just dominates so thoroughly that everyone has already been looking forward to the major 2021 regulations changes for years now.
 
The biggest Mistake of these regulations was the idea to have Turbo Hybrids rather then N/A Hybrids.

The speed would be much less but if they allowed a more powerful ERS system they could increase the engine size sufficantly to make it balanced and still keep it "green".

But that is the power of hindsight.
 
At least the field was tighter during the V8 era with more podium finishers, race winners and champions. He's right when he says it's boring.
 
Schumacher won 47 of the 57 races Ferrari won between 2000 and 2004, with the worthy mention of being on the podium at every single round in 2002. So during those years, everytime a Ferrari won (that's 67% of the time, by the way) Schumacher was on the top step of the podium 87% of the time.

Which means that if you watched every race during that period (85), 55% of the time, you'd hear the combination of the German and Italian national anthems on top of the podium. Hamilton is currently at 51% in the current era, after 104 races.

A domination it might be, but it's certainly not the worst one we've ever had.
 
-Fred-
Schumacher won 47 of the 57 races Ferrari won between 2000 and 2004, with the worthy mention of being on the podium at every single round in 2002. So during those years, everytime a Ferrari won (that's 67% of the time, by the way) Schumacher was on the top step of the podium 87% of the time.

Which means that if you watched every race during that period (85), 55% of the time, you'd hear the combination of the German and Italian national anthems on top of the podium. Hamilton is currently at 51% in the current era, after 104 races.

A domination it might be, but it's certainly not the worst one we've ever had.
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But at the same time there was 2003 which had more competition for the championship then what these regulations have ever managed.
 

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