Formula 1 2013 season thread

[markopoloman]

Well.....

It's only 56 days until the first race of the 2013 season But what have we got between now and then?

Car launch dates:

Mclaren 31st Jan - they will be the 1st to show for a change. Fingers crossed it'll be a Jenson friendly car!
Ferrari 1st Feb - will it be a red bus or something a little quicker when it first gets moving?
Force India 1st Feb - Still only one driver confirmed. Lets hope the 2nd driver comes with a personality
Sauber 2nd Feb - can they continue where they left last year? I hope they achieve but with 2 different drivers..... hmmmm
RedBull 3rd Feb - finger snapping time! What will the design guru come up with this time?
Mercedes 4th Feb - What will Hamiltons new home produce? Something quick that over the space of 6 races turns into the F1 snail? Maybe!
Torro Rosso 4th Feb - a team of no ones run by a group of no ones owned by the same people that own the No1 team - surely they will do something with this eventually?!!
Williams 19th Feb - a late launch. There is always one!! Never a good thing either.
Lotus 28th Jan - Ok, so Lotus will be the 1st team to launch their 2013 car.
Caterham - 5th Feb - will they step up this year? Hmmm Charles Pic is the only confirmed driver.... so I presume not!
Marussia - TBC
HRT - Dead as a Dodo.

TEST DATES:

Tuesday 5th - 8th Feb at Circuito de Jerez

Tuesday 19th - 22nd Feb at Circuit de Catalunya

Thursday 28th Feb - 3rd Mar at Circuit de Catalunya

RACE DATES:

Australia 15-17 Mar
Malaysia 22-24 Mar
China 12-14 Apr
Bahrain 19-21 Apr
Spain 10-12 May
Monaco 23-26 May
Canada 07-09 Jun
Great Britain 28-30 Jun
Germany 05-07 Jul
Hungary 26-28 Jul
Belgium 23-25 Aug
Italy 06-08 Sep
Singapore 20-22 Sep
Korea 04-06 Oct
Japan 11-13 Oct
India 25-27 Oct
Abu Dhabi 01-03 Nov
United States 15-17 Nov
Brazil 22-24 Nov


Will update this as info pops up

[markopoloman]

Updated with Caterham launch.

News today - Timo Glock has left Marussia! I suppose that means two rubbish drivers will be at the wheel this year - again
Edit, I suppose Max Chilton could throw a few surprises in - but would have looked better against someone with experience... unless they get someone decent of course

[Katzkatz]

Interesting stuff MPM.

I see that Alonso has piped up and mentioned that Hamilton will be his main rival - hmmmm, well maybe not this year.

Can't wait for the season to start.

Are people going to do a 'Fantasy F1' league for here as well? This time around there might be more people.

[markopoloman]

Yeah, deffo get another F1 league up and running!

[merman]

Mercedes in the process of bringing in successful people from other teams in the hope that will make them better. But it doesn't necessarily work like that.

[Treguard]

Mercedes in the process of bringing in successful people from other teams in the hope that will make them better. But it doesn't necessarily work like that.

Unless they're bringing in Vettel or Alonso, can't see it bringing them much success.

[Hiro]

Only a little more than three months between seasons, rules stay the same, no great changes in seats (Perez and Hamilton the only "big" news), I really don't see the strenghts on the track changing much. Only half of the races will be broadcast on the national TV here, which means I'll likely watch 20-30% of them...

[DreamcastRIP]

Mercedes in the process of bringing in successful people from other teams in the hope that will make them better. But it doesn't necessarily work like that.

Unless they're bringing in Adrian Newey, can't see it bringing them much success.

Fixed.

[Katzkatz]

Mercedes in the process of bringing in successful people from other teams in the hope that will make them better. But it doesn't necessarily work like that.

Unless they're bringing in Adrian Newey, can't see it bringing them much success.

Fixed.

LOL. That is about right. I think that Mercedes *might* win one race this season - but only in 2014 with the different engine regulations will we be able to see if they have really taken a step up.

[DreamcastRIP]

LOL. That is about right.

Indeed!

I think that Mercedes *might* win one race this season - but only in 2014 with the different engine regulations will we be able to see if they have really taken a step up.

Yep, I don't think anyone, Hamilton included, is expecting much from the Mercedes car this coming F1 season. It's all about 2014 onwards.

[Katzkatz]

It looks like Hamilton could come unstuck. Ross Brawn might not be at Mercedes, he might get replaced by Paddy Lowe. I don't doubt that Paddy is very talented, but I think that Ross Brawn probably is better. Still it is up in the air at the moment. See the link below :-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motors ... -exit.html

[markopoloman]

Can you really see them getting rid of Brawn? I know he hasn't led the team to where they want to be but he is still one of the top guys in the sport. Lowe isn't a team manager... maybe they will pinch him and get him working on a decent car for 2014?

[markopoloman]

Updated 1st post: Lotus will be launching on 28th Jan... making them the 1st ones of 2013

[DreamcastRIP]

Updated 1st post: Lotus will be launching on 28th Jan... making them the 1st ones of 2013

I'd love to see the team make further progress this coming season for the simple reason that Raikonnen drove superbly last season and it'd be great so see him in an even more competitive car.

I sure hope it won't be an Adrian Newey vs Fernando Alonso battle in 2014...

[markopoloman]

Ross Brawn has just confirmed he will still be Team Principal at Merc.

here is a snippet of info from an interview:

"I am the Team Principal and I'm in charge," Brawn said.

"Toto is coming in and there is another side of the business that quite frankly I don't want to get involved in.

"I don't want to get involved in the commercial activities and with the support we need to give Daimler on a day-to-day basis.

"There are a lot of things Toto will be doing which are complementary to what I am doing in terms of running the team.

"But you have to have one reference. Everybody knows the only way a racing team will work is to have one reference, and I'm that reference.

"I am the Team Principal and I am in charge of sporting, technical and racing matters."

Brawn also admitted that Mercedes have indeed made an approach to Lowe as they seek to bolster an already formidable engineering roster for the long term.

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/new ... wn-rumours