Hey, I know not many give a damn, but these guys just seem unable to move forward at all - WTF are they doing concentrating on moving house rather than getting some track time!? Will they last the season?........ From Autosport; Cheers, Ian http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99142
That really seems like a bad decision - do they need the track squad and the engineers so urgently for their move?!
Maybe they´re not the greatest of all time, but both in 2010 and 2011 they´ve managed to beat Virgin-Marussia-whatever with more limited resources, so hey, they´re somewhat punching over their weight. And they outlasted the USF1 team...
Isn't more or less every race a test? I'm not trolling, but lets be honest they aren't really competing on the same level.
Yes. But they are essentially giving up one race weekend,... and will therefore fall 1 more weekend behind. They are obviously not in F1 to win or compete. So why are they there? Just to be on the field? Pretty weak. I hope they miss the 107% in Spain...
Exactly. I get tired of the constant news about HRT floundering in one way or another. Time to **** or get off the pot.
I have to admit I respect them for showing up every weekend. They have committed the time and money to be in F1. As we know they will never be competitive. They are putting their $ where their mouth is. Better than Branson and many before have done. Personally I find their paint scheme more offensive than anything else.
Ouch!....... As I said in the op, I know many don't care, and that's fine too. What I don't get is the apparent 'hate' directed their way - They've built a team from scratch, and are running under 107. Their budget is tiny. They are sponsorless. They've made many mistakes (this being another IMO) but at least they're out there. While I agree, they suck, I choose to wish 'em well rather than hate them. Sir Frank was a joke too back in the day..... Cheers, Ian
+1 Further, they've not based themselves in the great 'Silverstone triangle' where most of the others are based - Round there, someone will build anything you want, fast, if needed. I can't help thinking its not the same in Spain......(?) No offense intended to our Spanish viewers of course. Cheers, Ian
I think this just shows how silly the FIA can be. Of course, there should be small teams. We all need the small teams. However, it goes beyond that when these small teams are just too slow, even slower than GP2 cars. The main reason would obviously be the budget. I'm not sure how the FIA selects new teams, but i think they should conduct a thorough investigation into the financial background of each new teams, and see if they are really worthy of F1. This is after all, F1, probably the most expensive sport out there. Everyone knows that. The FIA and HRT team bosses should know too, not making themselves look like a clown at the end of the day.
I said the same thing a year ago when the small teams could not make it out of Q1. If you don't make it to Q3 then you lose soooo much track time you never develop, you never catch up. These guys need all the track time they can get.
Why? Because it looks prettier on the starting grid? I'd rather have 12 cars that have a realistic shot at a podium finish than 24 cars just because it looks nice at the start.
Yes. But the same goes for Sauber, and even Ferrari, and they´re alive and kicking. Their car was actually made by Dallara. In the end it´s not their fault: I don´t know who decided to accept the entries of Virgin, USF1 and HRT instead of Prodrive´s or ART´s.
yeh it's a strange decision from HRT .. surely they should be pushing for as much on track testing as possible. I reckon they should allow unlimited in-season testing for the bottom 5 teams from the previous year in order to bring the field closer together. Yes it will cost them more money, but with success comes sponsorship so there is a trade off. Obviously the FIA will need to police the end of season races to make sure teams don't intentionally under perform in order to make the testing cut.
No hate but it seems pointless .. they are like little children running underfoot and tripping up the adults. No class drivers + No decent designers + No budget + No testing = No hope.
And I disagreed with this analysis a year back too. I'll reiterate; losing 25 minutes isn't going to make one iota of difference to them or anyone else. - They've already had 4 hours of FP + 20 minutes of qualy - If they can't get it sorted by then, they're definitely not going to do any good, or even learn anything in Q2. Qualy is low fuel, balls out, single lap stuff, not trying to develop the car or play catch up. - Then they've got ~2 hours in the race which can be used as a test session if they want to. - The minimal loss of run time (which applies to over half the grid as we know) is absolutely not the reason the tail enders are the tail enders. We could revisit the qualy format - I know many here pine for the days of empty tracks and then them all complaining about getting balked in the last 5 minutes - No thanks! I believe this format - Force 'em to run and get rid of the slowest is one of the best innovations we've seen in F1 for decades. Indeed. They could run for 3 days in Mugello - Much more important than moving in to their new digs and the reason I made the OP. Cheers, Ian
Yep. No sir! Leaving aside your (excellent ) point as to how exactly the FIA could police it you've just tilted the playing field immensely, and that's not fair to anyone. Either they can all test (the day(s) after the race would work for me) or none of 'em can IMO. You want to go quicker? Build a better car and hire better jockeys. This is F1, damnit, it's always been *hard* to get away from the back, let alone to the pointy end. Cheers, Ian
I believe the FIA will tell you that's exactly what they do. Unfortunately, Mad Max was still involved in the process last time round and we know he had his hidden agenda. Let's leave it at that..... [Don't want to wake Krafty up after all ] Sure, they're struggling big time but "clowns"? I've said before, as long as they're under 107 they have just as much right to be out there as *anyone* else. Get 'em out of the way ahead of Q2 and let the big boys at it. A great solution IMO. Cheers, Ian
Indeed - But Ferrari are, well, Ferrari - They've got all the resources they need in house. I'd be willing to bet that even the Sauber guys will tell you (off the record!) that life is harder being based in Switzerland than the UK Midlands. Their choice, and good luck to all of 'em. Are you sure this years car was done by Dallara? I know it was in 2011, but I thought they *had* to do their own this year? Well, it is isn't it?.... F1 exposes weakness probably more than anything else - Hero to zero in less than a second around a 100 second lap is pretty darn close..... 4-5 seconds off the pace and you're not even going to race. I think that's staggering given that they all go their different ways over the winter and build their own "packages". Cheers, Ian
Sounds very reasonable! I can hear the calls now ''Fernando, park the car at the finish line, we don't want any points!''
