F1 2019 and the return of Big Tobacco

[NedaSay]

Hi all

the F1 season is upon us and teams have been presenting their new cars or liveries this week with just one team left (Alfa Romeo) to officially unveil its Car.

The 2019 season is shaping up to be probably another Mercedes-Ferrari showdown with RBR stealing the odd race and Renault contending for 4th place in the final ranking while  Alfa Romeo,  Haas, Toro Roso and Racing Point (formerly Force India) will end up in dog fight not to finish bottom to Mclaren and Williams.

A few interesting tidbits from the season unveils a few team seems to have found a title sponsor or new title level partner: Rich Energy Haas F1, Sport Pesa Racing Point, even  Williams and McLaren which both had dismal season last year found Rokit and BAT. While some other have also rebranded Sauber or have failed to rebrand Racing Point.  

as a result the liveries do look less "blank" also to note the resurgence of Big Tobacco in F1: last year Philip Morris (Marlboro) came back on display - they never left - with the Mission Winnow on the Ferraris, this year BAT is displaying their "A better tomorrow" message on the McLarens... Officially it is not a title sponsorship but by just looking at the amount of space on the car and the race suits, it's pretty clear to me that McLaren just got their new whale sponsorship.  This tobacco sponsorship is disguised as no tobacco brand is displayed but it is almost certain that it will raise a few eyebrows within certain circles, including some in position of having a say about these sponsorship program...  

 

The designs of these cars is getting very edgy, really refined some are borderline pretty to look at the Merc is so clean looking.

As for the racing we wont know much before Australia but it could be the tightest racing for a long time in the midfield if Renault and Honda have effectively closed the gap, and if McLaren and Williams haven't designed dogs that is. 

[ramjet]

I just cannot get excited about these things anymore.

I wonder how long it'll be until we have driverless cars with the drivers safely entrenched in a VR booth in the pits?

[silverfrost]

I am not a fan of the modern F1 cars at all but can just about bare them,  but this new design looks terrible !    How do they do driver training,  I think they use an old landrover with the split screens to practice lol.,  at least the drivers will also have a good excuse this year for collisions on track,  "  I did not see the car in my blind spot "  

   Just bolt some aeroplane wings to the fxxckin things and remove the last bit of the car that resembles an old F1 car,  the fat tyres !

[Neal H]

F1 still excites me. The halo protection device is ugly for sure, but the cars themselves are an engineering masterpiece and to see them live just blows you away with how they perform and watching in-car footage from places like Monaco or Singapore just drives home the talent of those able to get the most out of them.

I'm an old-school F1 fan so still to some extent pine for the 'good old days' of the independents and for that reason still hope that Williams can move up the grid - the last of the independents.

Interesting observation about the return of tobacco sponsorship - I hadn't noticed that!

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

I think we're all guilty of saying it was "better in my day". Take that Richard Hammond piece on Jim Clark for example: he was winning races by 3 minutes. On a long circuit like the Nurburgring, there was probably hardly any overtaking at all after the first lap. Nowadays, if the likes of Lewis Hamilton win by 30 seconds, we moan about it being a procession. The average gap between the 1st and 2nd finishers last season was 7.2 seconds. The widest margin was 20.6 seconds and the narrowest 0.7 seconds.

Again, we can moan that the Mercedes has been overly dominant. But F1 was ever thus, with one team generally more successful for a few years than the rest of the grid. Everyone wants to be in their car, so that team usually gets the pick of the best drivers. Despite all this Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull each won multiples races in 2018, so the Mercedes was not always the quickest car at every event.

To be honest I think I used to fall asleep in front of the TV just as much whilst watching races in the 20th century as I do now...

[Neal H]

Hamilton may have won half the races last year, but its fair to say that Mercedes did not have the fastest car at the majority of races last season. Hamilton is THAT good.

Watching modern F1 is an opportunity to witness a driver who is right up there with the likes of Fangio, Clark, Senna, Schumacher. It's always worth watching that final qualifying lap as Hamilton's Mercedes rolls out of the pits...

[maydharm]

I'm going to the  Singapore GP this year, Bay Stand all three days and can't wait. Is the racing boring? I guess sometimes when you watch on TV it can be but as LotusLeftLotusRight  said there is always a dominant team, it only makes the other teams work harder and when they get the right car/ driver combo they become the team to beat. Roll on September 

[clivef38]

When i see modern  X box racers driving in other forms of racing then i might start to respect them. 

[nello]

Well that was a disappointing Qualy............same old result.