2015 Spanish Grand Prix thread

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 05 May 2015, 15:05

McLaren have announced a new livery for this weekend. Yup, no more chrome for McLaren. They're ditching it, not for orange, not for white and red, no, they're going for grey! Oh, dear God... In other, more positive news, Manor have declared this to be the start of their season proper and Lotus have big upgrades planned and are in an improved financial situation.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 05 May 2015, 15:25

My reaction after attempting to read the quote give by McLaren:

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 05 May 2015, 15:31

Salamander wrote:My reaction after attempting to read the quote give by McLaren:

Such hilariously marginal details to be concerned about while the car is a toilet :facepalm:

Post by **Nuppiz** » 05 May 2015, 15:38

Obviously, dull grey paint is cheaper than chrome, so it's probably just Dennis trying to save a few quid.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 05 May 2015, 15:44

Maybe they can't actually afford paint and the grey is simply undercoat.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 05 May 2015, 16:13

And the McLaren story wasn't a joke? Oh dear. All I care about is how fast they'll be this weekend, though. It would be really nice to see one of them get into Q3 and finish in a decent position. And it's quite sad that fingers are being crossed for both cars to actually make it onto the grid!

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 05 May 2015, 16:46

shinji wrote:
Salamander wrote:My reaction after attempting to read the quote give by McLaren:

Such hilariously marginal details to be concerned about while the car is a toilet

Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 05 May 2015, 18:06

"The result is a dynamic, predatory, graphite-grey colouration, complemented by McLaren-dayglo 'Speedmarks' and keylines, reducing the reflection issues caused by our latest chrome-silver treatment."

Sniff Petrol couldn't even parody McLaren as good as McLaren parody themselves, good grief.

Warren Hughes · Post by **Warren Hughes** » 05 May 2015, 18:38

It's going to look like a 2013 Sauber. What a load of ludicrous blather.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 05 May 2015, 18:44

My reaction wasn't "McLaren grey get it because McLaren are boring lol!!!", it was "Will I even notice the change?".

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 05 May 2015, 23:18

Shadaza wrote:"The result is a dynamic, predatory, graphite-grey colouration, complemented by McLaren-dayglo 'Speedmarks' and keylines, reducing the reflection issues caused by our latest chrome-silver treatment."

Sniff Petrol couldn't even parody McLaren as good as McLaren parody themselves, good grief.

But what if McLaren really are parodying themselves, in what is both the world's greatest trolling attempt, and a distraction from how much of a crapbox the paint has been applied to. Either the McLaren PR department have reached new heights for humanity in the field of self-parody, or they are not human at all. I cannot for a second imagine an actual living, breathing, flesh and blood person uttering these words, even in written form rather than spoken.

More_Blue_Flags · Post by **More_Blue_Flags** » 05 May 2015, 23:24

Warren Hughes wrote:It's going to look like a 2013 Sauber. What a load of ludicrous blather.

And drive like a 2014 Sauber.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 06 May 2015, 07:08

Shadaza wrote:"The result is a dynamic, predatory, graphite-grey colouration, complemented by McLaren-dayglo 'Speedmarks' and keylines, reducing the reflection issues caused by our latest chrome-silver treatment."

Is anybody else expecting it to look exactly the same only without these "reflection issues"?

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 06 May 2015, 09:27

Shadaza wrote:"The result is a dynamic, predatory, graphite-grey colouration, complemented by McLaren-dayglo 'Speedmarks' and keylines, reducing the reflection issues caused by our latest chrome-silver treatment."

Sniff Petrol couldn't even parody McLaren as good as McLaren parody themselves, good grief.

Indeed, it looks like somebody from GPRejects.com needs to talk to Jamie and Enoch and ask them if he can borrow their seasoned publicocrap-o-meter ...

Post by **Ataxia** » 06 May 2015, 09:34

I don't understand why everyone's kicking off...we should be actively wanting something more like this:

flattyre · Post by **flattyre** » 06 May 2015, 09:40

Ataxia wrote:I don't understand why everyone's kicking off...we should be actively wanting something more like this:

BAH! You stole my thunder... I was just going to reply with exactly the same thing

I say bring on the livery change... the more we can reminisce about Yamamoto's heroics 5 years ago, then the better! With the way they're going it'll be a similar performance, too...

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 06 May 2015, 11:37

Well it wasn't far off the HRT in the end:

wmetcalf7 4 · Post by **wmetcalf7 4** » 07 May 2015, 20:57

Looks meh. But does this really matter? Was this the reason they were so slow? Yeah, nope. They shouldn't be focusing on how their livery looks, when they have been the poster child for classic teams dropping into Q1 every race. Alonso and Button deserve more than this. And before you say it, I honestly am not a McLaren guy. It's just really stupid seeing this happen to such a historic team. You know you're screwed when you're as fast as Marussia last year….

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 07 May 2015, 21:07

wmetcalf7 4 wrote:Looks meh. But does this really matter? Was this the reason they were so slow? Yeah, nope. They shouldn't be focusing on how their livery looks, when they have been the poster child for classic teams dropping into Q1 every race. Alonso and Button deserve more than this. And before you say it, I honestly am not a McLaren guy. It's just really stupid seeing this happen to such a historic team. You know you're screwed when you're as fast as Marussia last year….

Um... I don't mean to be impolite, but... were you watching the past couple of races? I would definitely not say they're screwed. Not when Honda still have engine tokens to use and are improving all the time. The gap between McLaren and everybody else has been closing every weekend, they're certainly nowhere near as slow now as they were in Melbourne. They could even be in contention for a point or two this Sunday.

wmetcalf7 4 · Post by **wmetcalf7 4** » 07 May 2015, 21:14

Simtek wrote:
wmetcalf7 4 wrote:Looks meh. But does this really matter? Was this the reason they were so slow? Yeah, nope. They shouldn't be focusing on how their livery looks, when they have been the poster child for classic teams dropping into Q1 every race. Alonso and Button deserve more than this. And before you say it, I honestly am not a McLaren guy. It's just really stupid seeing this happen to such a historic team. You know you're screwed when you're as fast as Marussia last year….

Um... I don't mean to be impolite, but... were you watching the past couple of races? I would definitely not say they're screwed. Not when Honda still have engine tokens to use and are improving all the time. The gap between McLaren and everybody else has been closing every weekend, they're certainly nowhere near as slow now as they were in Melbourne. They could even be in contention for a point or two this Sunday.

I know that. It's just when you're in a McLaren and you're fighting in the midfield trying to get a point, it's not right. Alonso and Button deserve race winning cars, not midfield cars. Although I admit, the Marussia/Dropping into Q1 thing was a bit of an exaggeration. They are improving, I know, and Honda weren't going to be competitive in the first place, they'd need a couple of seasons, but right now they aren't up there where they should be. Hopefully they can catch up.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 08 May 2015, 11:28

Look how Mercedes has the upper hand with engine usage.

Edit: Ricciardo is now down to his final engine. This is really bad...

Post by **mario** » 08 May 2015, 18:55

Shizuka wrote:

Look how Mercedes has the upper hand with engine usage.

Edit: Ricciardo is now down to his final engine. This is really bad...

Which also gives them greater flexibility over when they introduce their engine upgrades - Ferrari will probably have to wait until either the Canadian or Austrian GP to introduce their upgrades given they are onto their second engine already.

As for Ricciardo, well, he is now in deep, deep trouble if he's onto his fourth engine now - even in the most optimistic of scenarios I expect him to have to take at least two engine penalties this season, and probably more given that Renault have't been able to remotely match the mileage of Ferrari or Mercedes (except, surprisingly, for Sainz Jr.).

Post by **Miguel98** » 09 May 2015, 12:22

Both HRT's into Q2 for the first time this year.

Meatwad · Post by **Meatwad** » 09 May 2015, 12:46

It looks like we may get a Noah's Ark grid! :shock:

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 09 May 2015, 12:46

Man qualifying is just a dull drab now or I've changed and watched more football. Anyway McLaren look better with the upgrades around Force India and below Lotus.

Post by **Miguel98** » 09 May 2015, 13:03

Nico Coulthard reincarnated has Nico Rosberg this weekend.

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 09 May 2015, 13:08

Great stuff from STR and Nico.

Hopefully we have a decent race with a lot of rejectful stuff.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 09 May 2015, 13:17

Aguaman wrote:Man qualifying is just a dull drab now or I've changed and watched more football. Anyway McLaren look better with the upgrades around Force India and below Lotus.

They certainly need to do something about Q3. It's been a while now. They need to encourage the teams to do some more running. For them to rubber in the track and all. Now, I don't say to go back to the 60 minute session with the 12 laps limit, but at least it managed to build up the scene to a nice and exciting ending. What can I say? Been feeling nostalgic lately.

Also, that Renault engine must be really poor... Look at STR so low on the grid together with Ferrari and Williams. Oh wait, I've been reading the grid upside down. Well then. It must be the excellent chassis that makes the STR move on willpower and faith.

Post by **mario** » 09 May 2015, 13:57

Meatwad wrote:It looks like we may get a Noah's Ark grid!

Well, it was certainly close to that - only Massa and Kimi failed to finish in the right places to make that the case. Now, speaking of those two drivers, what happened to them? Both of them were a sizeable chunk slower than their previous best laps in Q2.

Another thing that was mentioned was that, according to Kravitz, Kimi is running with an older specification rear bodywork package on his car than Vettel. It's been suggested that this may be down to Kimi's engineers - it seems that the new bodywork package was there, and Kimi did seem to ask for it, but it looks like his engineers recommended he stuck with the older rear bodywork (albeit with the updated rear wing package Ferrari has this weekend).

DanielPT wrote:Also, that Renault engine must be really poor... Look at STR so low on the grid together with Ferrari and Williams. Oh wait, I've been reading the grid upside down. Well then. It must be the excellent chassis that makes the STR move on willpower and faith.

It does seem to underline one thing at least, which is that Red Bull have definitely lost their edge when it comes to designing a strong chassis - they've been beaten by Toro Rosso on merit here.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 09 May 2015, 15:59

Seeing as Rosberg has always finished in the position he started off this year, has the winner already been decided? :twisted:

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 09 May 2015, 18:40

Dear Sky Sports,

It's lovely when you do features on old F1 races like you did today with a piece on the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.

However, we all know that Simon whatsisface knew nothing about F1 before he got the Sky F1 gig, therefore please get someone else to narrate it.

There is no such person as 'Layla' Lombardi, and 'Ralf' Stommelen doesn't exist either.

God knows what you'd make of my name should you ever do a feature on AGS.

Yours,
Barbazza

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 09 May 2015, 23:57

DanielPT wrote:
Aguaman wrote:Man qualifying is just a dull drab now or I've changed and watched more football. Anyway McLaren look better with the upgrades around Force India and below Lotus.

They certainly need to do something about Q3. It's been a while now. They need to encourage the teams to do some more running. For them to rubber in the track and all. Now, I don't say to go back to the 60 minute session with the 12 laps limit, but at least it managed to build up the scene to a nice and exciting ending. What can I say? Been feeling nostalgic lately.

Also, that Renault engine must be really poor... Look at STR so low on the grid together with Ferrari and Williams. Oh wait, I've been reading the grid upside down. Well then. It must be the excellent chassis that makes the STR move on willpower and faith.

I think it is me watching more football.

watka · Post by **watka** » 10 May 2015, 00:01

DanielPT wrote:
They certainly need to do something about Q3. It's been a while now. They need to encourage the teams to do some more running. For them to rubber in the track and all. Now, I don't say to go back to the 60 minute session with the 12 laps limit, but at least it managed to build up the scene to a nice and exciting ending. What can I say? Been feeling nostalgic lately.

How about a session where its compulsory for all cars to be out on track and set 3 flying laps? Isle of Man TT style?

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 10 May 2015, 00:37

watka wrote:
DanielPT wrote:
They certainly need to do something about Q3. It's been a while now. They need to encourage the teams to do some more running. For them to rubber in the track and all. Now, I don't say to go back to the 60 minute session with the 12 laps limit, but at least it managed to build up the scene to a nice and exciting ending. What can I say? Been feeling nostalgic lately.

How about a session where its compulsory for all cars to be out on track and set 3 flying laps? Isle of Man TT style?

That's not a gimmick....

BigG80 · Post by **BigG80** » 10 May 2015, 00:46

I'm sorry but you are talking out of your hat. This is the best quali format we've had yet. Now that the drivers that make it to Q3 get the extra set of tyres that mean they all have a run, we see all the top 10 have a go at least once. I really fail to see what else they can do. Would you prefer it if the top 4 from Q2 were hit with an iron bar on one arm prior to their runs? It only looks dull because they are driving the best their cars can give them. Stop moaning all the time and just enjoy the show.

If a driver turned pundit says this is the best format we have had, well I'm inclined to listen to him. And I used to enjoy 1 lap quali because you saw all the cars and all the drivers but as a spectacle building to a big finish, it really didn't deliver.

Perhaps your complaint should be that right now we know that one team has the one lap pace over the rest and that one driver has until today been acing his team mate. Well that is F1 and if you don't like that then perhaps this isn't the sport for you?

Sorry for the rant but there really is no need for more tweaks to the "show" on a Saturday. It works.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 10 May 2015, 10:02

mario wrote:Which also gives them greater flexibility over when they introduce their engine upgrades - Ferrari will probably have to wait until either the Canadian or Austrian GP to introduce their upgrades given they are onto their second engine already.

As for Ricciardo, well, he is now in deep, deep trouble if he's onto his fourth engine now - even in the most optimistic of scenarios I expect him to have to take at least two engine penalties this season, and probably more given that Renault have't been able to remotely match the mileage of Ferrari or Mercedes (except, surprisingly, for Sainz Jr.).

Updated image:

Three of the four Red Bull drivers are onto their fourth ICE unit...

Post by **Ataxia** » 10 May 2015, 10:13

watka wrote:
DanielPT wrote:
They certainly need to do something about Q3. It's been a while now. They need to encourage the teams to do some more running. For them to rubber in the track and all. Now, I don't say to go back to the 60 minute session with the 12 laps limit, but at least it managed to build up the scene to a nice and exciting ending. What can I say? Been feeling nostalgic lately.

How about a session where its compulsory for all cars to be out on track and set 3 flying laps? Isle of Man TT style?

It's fine. We get running in some capacity for most of the session, rather than sitting there for the first half an hour with a few sprinkles of cars. Remember only a couple of years ago where teams didn't get an extra set of tyres, so would just leave five or six cars to fight it out whilst they sat in the garage. Yeah, it's better than that.

Post by **Londoner** » 10 May 2015, 12:43

Every sodding time Maldonado has a good run this year, it all goes to shite for him. He was being the hero we needed in that first stint.

Post by **Miguel98** » 10 May 2015, 13:49

So, this win will motivate Rosberg a lot.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 10 May 2015, 13:56

Miguel98 wrote:So, this win will motivate Rosberg a lot.

Indeed, if he wins in Monaco too it could be an interesting turnaround in fortunes that this season could do well to have