2015 Formula 1 season

Mercedes are looking dominant again. Will Sauber be able to race this weekend? Manor is a big questionmark as well. Bernie's circus is crumbling down a bit.

We should start betting. How many McLaren drivers do you think will get electrocuted this year? I've heard Alonso still glows in the dark

Then Alonso will be disqualified at Bahrain for gaining an unfair advantage during a night race.

I'm sure Sauber is willing to allow Van der Garde driving for McLaren. And one less lawsuit, one

I really hate to say it but Ecclestone/mosley  both played there part in killing Group C
and now all these years later Ecclestone  has suffocated his beloved F1 money maker  ..

Just a matter of time before he deals the final blow ...
Hopefully they cannot get there hands on Wec. ..

The FIA killed Group C, Not much to do with Ecclestone from my Understanding, I think he was more worried with Indycar at that point reigning on F1's parade, And again its the FIA bringing in all these new rules and so on, Bernie just gets the money from circuits and so on. But yes it has being ruined from olden days, But so has many sports in the world.

Richard Coxon wrote:

The FIA killed Group C, Not much to do with Ecclestone from my Understanding, I think he was more worried with Indycar at that point reigning on F1's parade, And again its the FIA bringing in all these new rules and so on, Bernie just gets the money from circuits and so on. But yes it has being ruined from olden days, But so has many sports in the world.

Ecclestone basically pushed the idea of "one engine formula" back then, wich was just a disguised way of attracting manufacturers into F1. Group C was supposed to use the 3.5L NA engines (and it did for 2 years) and the group A was supposed to be replaced by a silhouette formula using those engines too. This last one never happened, but to my despise seems to be the formula for many pseudo touring/GT championships these days, like DTM, Super GT, or the V8 supercars. It's also what is ruining rallying as well, the "proto spec chassis" with the bodyshell resembling a road car is uninteresting for me, it's little relevant in terms of road going homologation specials, and is the end as expensive for participants as the older formulas.

He may have pushed the idea, But the FIA still had to accept it and make it the rules, But yes i concede, At time he did and possible still does, Have the FIA's balls right in his hands. But anyway, It is a shame to lose the classic series such as Group C, But do we all honestly think it would have carried on even if the engine rules remained unaltered? Regardless whether the engine rules changed, Carbon Fibre was coming into Sportscars, Not cheap, And a host of other technical aids, Again not cheap to develop, I think it would still have eventually dwindled down to how it was in 1992 with just a few manufacturers and very few private teams.

On the other end, Indianapolis made it easy for F1 by committing a suicide thanks to the guy that has an IQ lower than the number of corners on an oval.

Carbon Fiber was already there, and it didn't stop some 8 teams buying mega expensive Mclaren F1s just to play around GT racing back in BPR. The whole secret of the Group C formula was that it allowed cheap power to privateers. When the FIA banned the porsche flat sixes or the big V8s, if effectively made power a LOT more expensive. That's why Le Mans never buyed totally into it and allowed cars with the old engines to still run there. Then the FIA went backwards again by allowing the old group C engines back in the GT1s of the late 90s.

But yes, it was more the FIA enforcing stupid rules over the years. The whole GT1 management was appaling also...

JP Campmajo wrote:

On the other end, Indianapolis made it easy for F1 by committing a suicide thanks to the guy that has an IQ lower than the number of corners on an oval.

That reminds me how that idiot Mosley brought refuelling into F1 to try to copy indycars, and basically ruined all the overtaking that existed on the sport over night.

Richard did you read this interesting article ... The Demise of GpC ..
From the Group C Facebook Group  

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152605750941216&set=pcb.10153211963613982&type=1&permPage=1

Very interesting, If you meant me as "Richard"

Yep You em me and both

Dutch F1 commentator Olav Mol stated that in august 2014 van de Garde submitted 8 million euro's to Sauber so they could survive the remainder of the 2014 season. Van de Garde signed a contract for a 2015 seat the month prior to that. Ericsson is bringing in 15 million and Nasr 24 million so that's one of the reasons why Sauber tried to drop van de Garde. Tough business

That's obscene amounts of money ...

I Do hope Williams can do as well as they did last season
but it does look like Ferrari have caught up again

I Bet Alonso cannot believe his luck

I think the F1 rulemakers should be sacked for the poor show we saw today. Only 15 cars starting the race...total disgrace for the sport. They have made F1 too complex and almost unreachable for new teams. Electric cars are no fun at all...and that 100 liter fuel limit...my god..watching an economy run is NOT F1.

I'm so happy there are tons of 80s and 90s F1 youtube vids.

Shame yourself FIA!!!