Chill lounge

[Tom]

Morning All,

I don't know about any of you, but I'm starting to get really excited for the new F1 season which is just around the corner!

Forums I've used in the past have always had an F1 thread the members can use to talk about any news, upcoming races and so on, so now we have this off topic section, I thought I'd create one here too!

So, who do you follow and what are your hopes for the coming season?

I'm a die-hard McLaren fan, so am eagerly awaiting the new car launch on 4th February. From what the team were saying when I visited the MTC back in November, this should be a competitive year, so I'm hoping for Lewis to win his second championship.

[AnnS]

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are going to be determined to win this season after finishing second and third in the final grand prix.

With the increased performance of the new car McLaren should be in a good position to compete from the first race and hopefully win the final grand prix.

Second or third wont do McLaren, its got to be first.

Real time race data direct to our mobile phones and lots of info on the Formula 1 website.

http://www.formula1.com/mobile_services/

[Sticky_Mick]

Well, given the amount of hard work Lewis and Jensen put in to actually finish in the positions they did last season, baring in mind that they had two of the slowest cars (aerodynamically) on the track, I think if McLaren have sorted the aerodynamics on the MP6, they should be in with a chance.

The combination of the KERS and moveable rear wing this year could give some surprises.

Not surprised that team orders are here to stay. It was inevitable really, being one of the most difficult rules to enforce, things could quite easily be rehearsed off-track. On the same note, I wouldn't have been happy to see Alonso get the championship last year (neither would Massa I guess, as he was the one who was ordered to virtually hand it to him on a plate).

[Tom]

What's everyone think of the BBC commentary news? To be honest, I wasn't Jonathan Legard's biggest fan, so I'm really please that Brundle is taking the lead position and being backed up by David Coulthard.

I can't believe Coulthard still gets paid £4m a year as a reserve driver for Red Bull either! I might just write them a letter offering to undercut his wage by a million or two!

[bertyb]

I think McLaren will be hard to beat with the reintroduction of Kers, something they were just about getting on top of the season before last,  of course this new car is coming quite late to testing so you never do know. 

I think Red Bull has continually made quick cars for the last couple of seaons, if they can give proven reliability they won't be far behind. 

[Tom]

Looks like the McLaren Team have been really busy preparing over the winter!

[SynthFG]

---

bertyb wrote:

I think McLaren will be hard to beat with the reintroduction of Kers, something they were just about getting on top of the season before last,  of course this new car is coming quite late to testing so you never do know. 

I think Red Bull has continually made quick cars for the last couple of seaons, if they can give proven reliability they won't be far behind. 

---

Red Bull are still miles ahead in terms of chassis and until the rest figure out exactly what they are doing and replicate it they will still have the advantage

[AnnS]

I have BT internet and this popped up as a news article and I thought I would post the link for the benefit of members who may not have seen it.

http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/03022011/36/mclaren-begins-production-new-supercar-0.html

It getting exciting now !

[Tom]

Anyone been watching the live feed on our Facebook page? I was going to give you all a heads up about it, but I've been in meetings all morning! Oh well.

2011 car looks different, weird side pods! Will reserve judgment til it hits the track though...

Ann, have you seen the factory where they're making the MP4-12C? It's next to the main McLaren building, and is absolutely massive! Would love to tour it once it's up and running, am going to suggest that as a VIP prize...

[AnnS]

Hi Tom,

Would love to see the new building, have just done a Google to see if anything came up but it didnt. 

That would be a super VIP prize.  I hope I am one of the winners and, of course,  you will be free to attend.

[Nabs]

Looks like massa is going to have fun this year

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/ferrari-f150-on-fire-2011-02-04

[Sticky_Mick]

TBH, I'm surprised Massa is running for Ferarri again After being given the Barichello treatment last year. Be interesting to se how things play out with the ruie changes, and a new tyre manufacturer on the scene.

[Tom]

Anyone miss the launch on Friday? If so, here's what happened:

Everyone heard the news about Kubica? Shocking, hope he makes a speedy recovery!

[Nabs]

BIG NEWS!

The bahrain Grand Prix has been called off due to the political protests out there!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport/ with the latest

[Tom]

I know! Can't say it was a surprise though. It would have been silly to go over there in the current circumstances.

To be honest, I don't really feel Bahrain is much of a loss from the calendar- the race there is always pretty dull. Perhaps they'll squash it in somewhere else in the season though.

[Nabs]

New silverstone circuit this year, more chalenging for the driver and gives more oppertunity for overtakes, should make this year more interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12499373

[Tom]

It's going to be so strange to see the cars starting after club, that's where the start/finish will be isn't it?

On a side note, some guys from our HQ are doing some fundraising this year and have a signed Lewis Hamilton shirt to auction- it's on eBay here: Signed Lewis Hamilton Shirt

Bids are at £155 already!

[dilm1983]

I cannot belive vodafone wastes money in advertising own brand label on F1 cars, why can't vodafone invest the money in to give customers better deals like tesco, i.e tesco don't use f1 to advertise their selves but give cheap deals to customers.

[Tom]

Hey dilm1983,

You're entitled to your opinions about sponsorship and stuff like that, but this is kind of just a thread about F1 for people who like F1- it's not a company run thing or anything linked to sponsorship, I just started it my own time as I've always been a huge fan.

It's an interesting comparison to make though, I saw one of their adverts which alluded to this topic on a billboard on my walk home from work a few months ago.

The way I look at it is that although Tesco operate a virtual network, they're actually a supermarket, not a phone company. There are many many other reasons you'd go to Tesco or another supermarket, so they don't really have to advertise in the ways other companies do. I can't recall anything that Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys or Morrisons sponsor, and whilst we're their competitors in the mobile arena, those are the companies they'll be benchmarking themselves against the most, so there's just no need for them to do it.

Plus, all successful companies advertise in one way or another. At least with the way we do it, our customers get some pretty cool unique experiences out of it- look at all the London Fashion Week exclusives our customers got last week, the British Grand Prix tickets and other F1 stuff on offer on VIP right now and of course all of the festival stuff coming over the summer.

Interesting point, probably worthy of its own thread really but I thought I'd discuss it here! The stuff I've just said by the way is my own opinion, written in my own time. I'd sign up another forum account for personal use, but everyone would still know it was me and it'd kind of defeat the point!

Cheers,

Tom

[JohnA]

Depends how you look at Tesco Mobile. It's 50% owned by Telefonica O2 and there's plenty of O2 and Telefonica sports sponsorship. The Telefonica name was also a common sight at GPs and I seem to remember them as big sponsors of Renault a few years ago.