2019 Team Launch Dates;
Renault - 12th February
Racing Point - 13th February
Ferrari - 15th February
2019 Team Launch Dates;
Renault - 12th February
Racing Point - 13th February
McLaren - 14th February
Ferrari - 15th February
Updated
Not fake news after all then
Excellent. I do love sniff. Misses the mark most of the time these days, but when it hit’s the bullseye … 
The byline of of … “It’s a long-range electric car from a company that won’t suddenly call you a ‘pedo’” just had me spit my coffee
This
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/140928/f1-should-slash-downforce-by-4050%
Never ask the teams
When ground effect was banned the reduction of downforce was more than this. I wasn’t measuring wheel lift and drag as a matter of course back then but the body lift:drag ratio of the 1983 flat bottomed car was only 20% of that of the 1982 car.
I panicked thinking I must have missed something because that is the best I could do with a driveable balance.
I was hugely relieved when Keke put it on pole at the first race.
People have been banging on about reducing downforce for decades, it may help but it is proven not to be the answer on its own by this and many other examples of smaller reductions changing nowt.
Hi Frank - nice to see you
I don’t really have an opinion about downforce, it was more the issue of the teams being asked what they’d like, and would they like sugar with it that annoys me.
OTOH gimme a nice concrete Avon control tyre and brakes made of wood and I’d be a very happy fan
In the first pace the teams are not asked sensible questions and as suggested by Frank, it actually is a difficult problem to solve. Currently the cars are roughly in balance, that means the downforce, the drag, the power, the tyre grip, the tyre degradation, the weight and the weight distribution etc.
As soon as you play with one of them and change it dramatically there will be a range of unforeseen consequences (some engineers will know but will not be asked or be seen as engineers who don’t want to change!), that then requires more changes etc.
I find myself incredibly torn by this story…
I was never a Schuey fan. I believe he changed the sport irrevocably by being both dangerous on the track, yet being exceptionally gifted as a driver. I appreciated the latter but was vehemently apposed to the former.
However, I worry for the son of a multiple championship father and the nephew of a race winning uncle (Hello ! Remember Ralf ???). By entering a volatile cauldron, where he not only has to prove himself as a driver but has to deal with, and be compared against the legacy that is a 7 times World Champion, must be horrendous.
I worry that he feels obligated to pursue this course because of what his father has become.
I worry that he is trying to (somehow) race for his father.
I worry that he feels an obligation to be what his father can no longer be.
I have to admit to never before having these feelings for a young driver coming up through the ranks.
I have always believed that ability will show through and marketing opportunities should take a back seat. Money should be in addition to, not in place of talent. A driver should make it on merit.
Mick has money, some talent and marketability. However, I wouldn’t want to see marketing taking over.
For Mick, the legacy and pressure must be enormous enough.
Not the same level of pressure but Damon Hill and Nico Rosberg managed OK
The big difference is that they both had talent and came through the ranks.
What racing experience has Mick? Has he come through the carting and lower formula route?
He’s shown himself to be a decent peddler through Karts and winning the Euro F3 Championship.
But it’s what awaits him as expectations grow that concern me.
Autosport has him placed 45 in their top 50 drivers, 2018. 
IMHO there’s a world of difference between them putting him in their programme to them expecting him to be the messiah and / or sticking him in a race seat.
He doesn’t seem to have done too bad so far, his up-turn in the 2nd half of the season was (almost suspicioulsy) impressive. Taki Inoue he’s not.
He’ll be fine.
I truly hope so.
Right, it’s off season so we need to talk about Motorsport Network / Autosport.
I’ve been rather uneasy about he state of F1 journalism for donkey’s years, there are really only a handful of ‘proper’ journalists ‘properly’ covering one of the worlds biggest sports
In 2016 Motorsport Network (Co-owned by Zak Brown) bought Autosport from Haymarket. Since then the 'decen’t journo’s have been spread between the two sites (though subscriptions are seperate), the group has been buying up smaller ‘scraping’ F1 news sites - so as to coolidate traffic to their sites, and, I assume, maximise ad revenue - and there has been a rather questionable editorial policy on both sites with stories concerning McLaren.
(For example when Martin Whitmarsh criticised the McLaren leadership last year, Autosport and Motorsport were conspicuous in not reporting it, right up unitl they reported Zak / McLaren’s snide rebuttal as good as verbatim.)
A glance at twitter this morning shows that they’re moving even further into Mail Online territory
Make of it what you will, but we’re heading toward a situation where the only english-language F1 jourmalism worthy of the name is from two bloggers (Saward & Rencken), Liberty’s own F1.com wesbite (Baretto & Buxton), Mark Hughes & co. at the original Motorsport magazine, Beeb (Benson) and the occasional Michael Schmidt article in English at AMuS.)
Global sport my cock.
I cancelled my autosport app subscription this morning, and won’t be heading back. It’s just too tawdry.
I quite like Saward & Motorsport Online, a lot of the other sites are just not very interesting at all frankly…