[Closed] The F1 2015 thread...

Yes it has. They've recruited Peter Prodromou from Redbull and he's totally changed the design of the 2015 car.

+ they made fundamental mistakes with the new regs (as did Ferrari) last year meaning that they couldn't correct them during the season.

Sorry its dodgy. The FIA will get the full telemetry right?

Maybe it just seems dodgy because that's the way they should treat cases like this, but they never have before? An issue that rugby seems to just be waking up to.

It's worth noting that Alonso was unconscious even if for a few seconds (and it's being reported that he thought he was in a Ferrari...). It does all seem strange and I still wouldn't be shocked if we found out there was more to it than we're being told but I reckon most likely is that it is just a bad accident and the doctors are playing safer now than they did in the past (or more likely, team management are playing safer and not overruling the docs)

This is the last thing F1 needs if it does turn out to be murky. A return to Mclaren being naughty again-even if it was just hiding facts.

Well if they're hiding facts, I reckon it'd be to protect Alonso's privacy if the conspiracy theories were right and he did pass out prior to the crash. That doesn't sound too naughty to me...

If the car isn't going to score points then why do they car if Alonso drive or anyone else?

If later in the year another teams driver gets concussion at a vital point in the championship they can scream "SAFETY!!" and ask them to stop the driver for the next race too?

Might be a useful precedent...

Lets wait and see. If Alonso isn't on a plane for the practice/set up for the second race then we know there is a problem somwhere (unless something transpires first). Alonso wont be hushed up etc if he finds something out- remember the last time he sent all the emails etc to the FIA? Plus a driver needs to trust their team with their safety/wellbeing 100%.

njee20 - Member

Something still smells fishy with the whole Alonso saga, very odd.

Yep. It will be about 3 weeks won't it between Australia and Alonso's crash? Surely enough time to recover from his crash?
And his online 'thank you' video seemed very staged. Almost like there was a bloke off camera (Ron D) with a script and a gun....... 😆

Reckon it's gonna be an interesting season, whatever happens.

remember the last time he sent all the emails etc to the FIA?

He didn't. He threatened Ron that he would send all his emails between Coughlan, himself and De La Rosa unless he got his own way. Which was giving LH a slap and making him back off. That didn't work so well. It was Ron himself who took the info to the FIA.

FA not quite the sporting gentleman you seem to have mistaken him for. See Singapore for details.

See Singapore for details.

Yeah, FA's certainly not adverse to playing dirty but it has since come out that Ron did indeed promise FA that he would be number 1 driver and then didn't deliver on that.

Anyway, hopefully there's no skullduggery here, just bad luck..

This can all read as very suspicious or very straight forward

Alonso has minor head energy

Doctor says knocking your head soon could be a problem

Team ask what are the benefits to us taking the risk of Alonso driving?

Not much we expect the car not to be competitive

What are the benefits of Alonso not driving?

Alonso is safer

Kevin gets a go in the car so he'll be less grumpy

Kevin gets a go in the car so he'll be less grumpy

Kevin says 'after all these shenanigans I still get the drive! 😆

If I were running McL 🙂

I'd put Vandoorne in the car, that would seriously piss KMag off but it needs doing to see what he's like without too much risk, at the very least I'd put him out on Friday.

They need to be looking for a special driver, not just fast but one that has something else KMag is fast but that's it IMO.
They need to find the drivers and use them, like Kyvat and Verstappen, before long Honda will be pushing to get Matsushita in the car, which will make it much harder for Vandoorne.

Nothing to add to the thread, other than to say a good friend of mine has recently started working for Ferrari F1 as "Head Of Design Methodology (Chassis)" - so if they have a return to form this year, it's because of him ok? 🙂

[i]This can all read as very suspicious or very straight forward

Alonso has minor head energy

Doctor says knocking your head soon could be a problem

Team ask what are the benefits to us taking the risk of Alonso driving?

Not much we expect the car not to be competitive

What are the benefits of Alonso not driving?

Alonso is safer

Kevin gets a go in the car so he'll be less grumpy[/i]

I said this earlier but added the bit about shouting SAFETY so the conspiracy theorists would still read my post

Head of design methodology

Let me know when he becomes Director of Results 8)

Worldclassaccident you should have had a credit in my post 🙂

3 weeks between accident and race and yet he wont race - having seen a few websites i note the wording never actually states "because of his accident" in quotes from anyone regarding his reason not to race - for sure the Press have filled in and assumed that - but i see no direct quote that relates it to the concussion.

personally, i think this is very serious for alonso....it would not surprise me if we dont see rumours in the press about him seeing some kind of head specialist.

So what if he'd been back in the car on Sunday then we found out that he'd been unconscious - mclaren would be getting pasted for that too.

Fwiw I've read that long haul flights can be bad after concussion, but don't know anything about neurological rehab so can't comment. Hasn't stopped many people tho...

3 weeks between accident and race and yet he wont race - having seen a few websites i note the wording never actually states "because of his accident" in quotes from anyone regarding his reason not to race - for sure the Press have filled in and assumed that - but i see no direct quote that relates it to the concussion.

However, Fernando’s doctors have recommended to him that, following the concussion he sustained in a testing accident at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 22nd, for the time being he should seek to limit as far as is possible any environmental risk factors that could potentially result in his sustaining another concussion so soon after his previous one, so as to minimise the chances of second impact syndrome, as is normal medical procedure when treating athletes after concussions.

http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/inside-the-mtc/fernando-alonso-a-medical-update/

Regarding it only being 3 weeks between accident and race. Jonny Sexton the Ireland rugby fly-half was out for something like 12 weeks with concussion so asking him not to race in Aus makes sense to me. To be honest I don't think he'll be missing much anyway, probably a Friday practice filled with niggles and then a mid order qualifying followed by retirement mid race. McLaren are effectively where all the other teams were this time last year so it'll take them time to get up to speed.

Sorry I'm reafing into that that McLaren would have liked him to drive- read the first para

Sorry I'm reafing into that that McLaren would have liked him to drive- read the first para

Yep

Ours docs think he's OK
His docs don't

Yep....

Jonny Sexton the Ireland rugby fly-half was out for something like 12 weeks with concussion so asking him not to race in Aus makes sense to me

Chances of getting a biff on the bonce much, much greater in Rugby, though.

They don't wear an enormous helmet and hans device for starters

That's some selective posting

McLaren-Honda driver [b]Fernando Alonso’s doctors[/b] have informed him that [b]they[/b] find him asymptomatic of any medical issue; that [b]they[/b] see no evidence whatsoever of any injury; and that [b]they[/b] therefore describe him as entirely healthy from neurological and cardiac perspectives alike.

However, [b]Fernando’s doctors have recommended[/b] to him that...

So in short, FA's docs have said he's fine but that if he smacked his head again so soon he might not be. Where on earth do you infer that McL's 'doctors' have said anything or even that McL have doctors. The only doctors mentioned are FA's and the statement is clear on what they think.

so i'll backtrack from my previous statement - it does appear that FA own doctors dont want him to get a 2nd concussion so soon.

still does not explain the crash, nor the 3 days in hospital running tests.

i dont believe he is simply thinking "the car is crap and i dont want to drive it" because there is no way mclaren could improve the car so much after 1 race then he is suddenly in a winning car.

he drove for years at ferrari without the possibility of a win.
to me that is not alonso's style.

i do stick by by feeling more of this will come out in the coming weeks, especially after australia when he is cleared to race then.

Maybe but more likely is that it's just what it appears to be.

Will he actually be in Australia doing 'PR' though (that he's no doubt committed too).

He may not be clear to drive, but he sounds fine to fly and go about day-to-day business. A complete no-show would sound alarm bells for me.

could be a fast track to mercedes for 2016 for the conspiracy theorists.
I think its just giving him a more time to recover as the season is long and if it takes until the european leg the so be it.

Perez highlights the need for rest when he declined to race after doing 1st practice when he had a bang on the head. Poor Ron will not be amused and nor will his sponsors.. More u turns than the tories at the moment

I'm more inclined to go with Joe Saward's take on it ......... and let's face it, he's forgotten more about what goes on and other F1 shenanigans than the rest of us put together know.

https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2015/03/04/on-the-subject-of-alonso/

[i]Fernando Alonso is not racing in Australia, and that has led to much inanity and conspiracy theorizing. I don’t see why there is such a kerfuffle on the subject or even about the accident. It is clear that he crashed and hit a wall. Perhaps he might have been going faster at the time but it was still a sizeable hit. He hit his head, probably on the side of the cockpit. The helmet and the cockpit surround foam did its job, but it was still a hit. He went to hospital and they said “best have a lie down and a cup of tea” so he followed their advice and stayed in hospital. Some of the team said things without checking the facts and suddenly we were in Dealey Plaza, looking for a grassy knoll. Alonso, they surmised, had been hit by a thunderbolt of electricity that had escaped the car, looped the loop, and landed on his nose. I think I even read a report blaming the Mafia. This was no doubt denied by Teflonso’s mate Flavio, who may have blamed Fidel Castro and Marilyn Monroe…

Hmm. Let’s get real here. Alonso banged his head. The doctors said “Voste te una commocio cerebral”. Fernando asked for some Nurofen. That’s it. With concussion one needs to be careful because a second impact can lead to a problem called SIS (no, not Secret Intelligent Service), which means Second Impact Syndrome, which is nasty. A second head injury causes diffuse cerebral herniation which for reasons that are still rather unclear is devastating and even healthy young people can die within a few minutes. Thus when a person is diagnosed with concussion these days they are told not to bang their head again. Now Fernando might wish to race and say “Forget the doctors” but the knowledge that insurers will almost certainly not pay out on a death cause by SIS because there was a clear warning from doctors about what could happen meant that he and the team could not risk it. On top of that, the team, and the federation come to that, in these litigious days, could not allow him to race lest there be liability claims made against them if Fernando was to die during the event.

Thus he will sit on a beach somewhere and Kevin Magnussen will get the chance to show that the team was entirely wrong to dump him and keep Jenson – all assuming that the car can be kept running for a race distance…[/i]

[quote=jota180 ]Thus he will sit on a beach somewhere and Kevin Magnussen will get the chance to show that the team was entirely wrong to dump him and keep Jenson

Of course the interesting thing is that if they had done that they wouldn't have JB and KM racing in Melbourne, and wouldn't have had a single experienced driver to provide feedback at the last test or during the race weekend. I'm struggling to see what could possibly happen given the current situation which would lead to Ron thinking "whoops, I wish I'd let Jenson go".

Of course the interesting thing is that if they had done that they wouldn't have JB and KM racing in Melbourne, and wouldn't have had a single experienced driver to provide feedback at the last test or during the race weekend. I'm struggling to see what could possibly happen given the current situation which would lead to Ron thinking "whoops, I wish I'd let Jenson go".

I think Joe was putting himself in KMag's head - so to speak.

Agree if he doesn't show at all and is at home in Spain 'resting' then its suspicious. Again that press release..

awesome news regarding manor f1. Really good to see the racing desire has found a way to the grid..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31723471
Now go grab some points..
Finbar and co should take a leaf out of their books as to what racing passion is. Go Manor Marussia f1!

Manor was always an easier corpse to resurrect than Caterham - the money from the constructors means that there's some guaranteed income to offset from the outlay. They'll be struggling to hit 107% though so not sure how many races they'll start,

also helped that they didnt shut the factory and tell everyone to shove off 🙂
I really admire the Manor's racing passion and tenacity. I wonder if Manor will get a fast track payment of cash that the other back markers are getting to make the grid in Oz.

Either way its nice to see the good guys make it

The best thing about the Marussia revival is it's real sensible people behind it with proper business experience. Not faceless hedge funds, or dodgy Russian money.

I saw this and remembered the how to make a small fortune in F1 line

marussia not only closed the Banbury factory but also sold it to the new Hass F1 team. quite a lot of the top guys are already working within other teams.

If Manor/marussia make the grid within the first three races then then get the 2014 constructors points and cash they are owed , any later than china and it's all over no cash. They will disappear as quick as they have emerged from the ashes.

F1 is a money pit of unbelievable ferocity. it will eat those millions in a matter of weeks.

Read through- especially the bottom bit.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31732315

I have a hunch. A not very nice one.

I have a hunch. A not very nice one.

We still don't know why Alonso was braking so hard before the crash. It rules out epilepsy, hypoglycaemia, arrhythmia or loss of conciousness because his pressure on the brake was consistent.

hora - Member

Read through- especially the bottom bit.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31732315

I have a hunch. A not very nice one.

Well, what is it?

So, Yahoo are reporting that Alonso woke up in 1995 after his crash, thought he still raced karts and that one day he wanted to be a Formula 1 driver!

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/formula-1-fernando-alonso-woke-1995-crash-testing-130934936--f1.html

That would shake me up a bit!

So, Yahoo are reporting that Alonso woke up in 1995 after his crash, thought he still raced karts and that one day he wanted to be a Formula 1 driver!

The stories are getting weirder! 😀

If that's the case McLaren need to start an F3 team and give him some experience. And would he qualify for a superlicence if he'd forgotten the last 10 years or more!?

Meh my Mrs crashed her bike in Spain and was knocked out for a few seconds. She didn't know which country she was in or how she'd got there. But she did ride the next day tho I'm thinking that wasn't such a good idea now...

again Alonso silence about the accident is still deafening - lets face it he has not said " i did this, i did that, the car did this , the car did that..." where is his total and full explanation.
and to that, where is McLarens,

if there was no issue with the car and it was a gust of wind, why not release telemetry ? simple brake/acc/g force coupled with gps. i mean we get those on screen at f1 races.

the simple fact about all of this is that something is wrong
the car
the driver
we'll find out in due course

b2b did you miss the bit where he said he doesn't remember what happened? Not uncommon in concussion and no cause for conspiracy theories. Perhaps mclaren have other reasons for not publishing full telemetry, if you remember they were a little miffed when Hamilton put some on line.

Retro83 like many of us you start a new job and think **** what have I done? How do I get out of this?

**** what have I done? How do I get out of this?

So [in your mind] was the crash coincidental? or did he plan it all along? 😉

How exactly does the crash improve the situation for Alonso? I know he's an extremely good driver, but good enough to crash just hard enough to take him out of a race, but not hard enough to cause him permanent problems? That sort of thing (and the confidence to know you're going to get it right) requires superpowers.

I reckon it's about as likely that the crash was because he was mates with Jimmy Saville and worried about being found out (jhj has a pic of him shaking hands he's just about to post), or that the control structures made him crash.

or that the control structures made him crash

What like toe rods, wish bones and the steering rack?

Or the Illuminati, the Bilderbergs, The Royal Family and the Lizard Overlords?

Maybe he got some tips off his mate - baby Piquet? 😀

isnt this out of an episode of Life on mars?

Has alonso left 1995 or is he still reeling from bon jovi "someday i'll be saturday night"

WHat a rubbish year for music

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_top_10_singles_in_1995

Good news Manor are back in the game and cleared to race after passing the crash tests!

We're getting close to the point were JiveHoney will give us all the 'evidence' we need

@thepurist.
given that Ron and everyone else at mcLaren is saying it was just a "brief" or "mild" concussion -i would find it highly unlikely he would not remember ANYTHING from the accident.

This has been subsequently denied but there is a report that some teams are planning to boycott the Australian GP unless McLaren come clean..

Sauce: [url= http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/formula-one-teams-threatening-australian-grand-prix-boycott-report-20150306-13x7bz.html ]The Sydney Morning Herald[/url]

300! (kph)

Oh and get real. There won't be a boycott about that.

And it rumbles on:

[url= http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formula-1/fears-grow-fernando-alonso-never-5281023 ]Fears grow that Fernando Alonso may never return to racing[/url]

well that ^ story is bollocks. The telemetry shows he was working the controls and gearing down, brakes fully on when he hit the wall.

It's just crap to cover the gap until the season starts and they have something real to talk about.

This covers the reality fairly well I reckon:
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/31732315

- ie still some things that aren't obvious to explain but then Jules Bianchi hitting both pedals before his crash and others suggest that as much as they're brilliant drivers, when things go wrong they don't always instinctively react the way you expect.

given that Ron and everyone else at mcLaren is saying it was just a "brief" or "mild" concussion -i would find it highly unlikely he would not remember ANYTHING from the accident.

Did Putin have something to do with this?

I think the rationale might be something on the lines of.

Alonso did get a concussion and so it is boarderline if he should drive in Oz. Given the performance of the car so far in testing its not looking likely that he would win any points, or at least not many. So why take the risk of racing if its not going to affect your points tally for the year. Let Button and Kevin use the race as a test session and comeback once he is fully healthy and more work has been done to improve the car.

No. Honestly.
Edit: even better!
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

[url= http://planetf1.com/driver/55667788/35380/Alonso-thought-it-was-1995 ]'Alonso thought it was 1995'[/url]

Christ this is getting silly now.

And yet, Mclaren could just make a statement and end all this nonsense but they haven't...

Dammit now I'm sucked into it too

It's got people talking about McLaren though. Wonder if it'll help them recruit the headline sponsor they're missing.

Wonder if it'll help them recruit the headline sponsor they're missing.

You didn't think this through very well did you?

You didn't think this through very well did you?

Sounds like a prime candidate for McLaren management? 8)

Not sure I buy into the blackout/electric shock theory given that Alonso was not only applying pressure to the brake pedal, but was also downshifting at the time.

And of course, Alonso can't make a statement about what happened because he suffered amnesia and can't recall the crash. The danger of repeated concussion injury cannot be overstated. Can't say that I blame him for taking doctor's advice and sitting out the first GP.

I do find it strange however that McLaren haven't released any telemetry data, I can only assume that it's been passed on to the FIA for their investigation. Given that both Button and Magnussen drove the car the following days without reservation, I strongly doubt whether there's anything sinister going on.

I thoughtthey did release the telemetry? Also button confirmed he had reviewed it and thought it odd as the data -well nothing stood out.

According to the BBC, yesterday:

This writer has seen the GPS and lap-time data of both the lap on which the Spaniard crashed and the lap before. The computer telemetry from the car, which contains all the data, including braking and steering inputs, has not been released by McLaren.

You didn't think this through very well did you?

All publicity is good publicity isn't it? 😀

All publicity is good publicity isn't it

but then Jules Bianchi hitting both pedals before his crash and others suggest that as much as they're brilliant drivers, when things go wrong they don't always instinctively react the way you expect.

It does the opposite. Both pedals fully down is the panic mode in an F1 car. It should shut down the engine immediately as well as applying the brakes. It's know as FailSafe.

Bianchi's car didn't behave due to a software clash with the brake by wire system. It ended up applying full throttle when he wanted considerably less.

perhaps alonso's brake and gear change was spasms from the electric shock....

Bianchi's car didn't behave due to a software clash with the brake by wire system. It ended up applying full throttle when he wanted considerably less.