[Official] 2019 Season Launch/ Pre-Season Testing Thread

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Welcome to the Official 2019 F1 Launch thread

2019 sees a raft of changes in terms of the front and rear wings. Formula1.com have created an animation of this and it can be seen on their official Youtube site.

2019 Changes

The naming of the tyres has been “simplified” this year although the number of options and their usage remains the same.

We get a first look at the cars at their launch days of course, with their drivers showing off their latest race suits and colour schemes.

Haas will have an on-line livery launch on Thursday 7th though the new car is unlikely to be seen before the first test.
Romain Grosjean & Kevin Magnussen

Williams announce their new livery launch will be at their Grove base on the 11th.
George Russell & Robert Kubica

Toro Rosso will be doing an on-line launch of their new charger on Monday 11th of February
Daniil Kyvat & Alex Albon

Renault will be next unveiling the car at Enstone on February 12th
Daniel Ricciardo & Nico Hulkenberg

Mercedes will Lauch on the 13th at a private track event (shakedown) at Silverstone*
Lewis Hamilton & Valtteri Bottas

Red Bull are due to Launch on the 13th too, but details as whether physical or on-line
Max Verstappen & Pierre Gasly

The Racing Point squad will mark their new Canadian ownership launch in Toronto February 13th
Sergio Perez & Lance Stroll

McLaren will Launch on February 14th
Carlos Sainz & Lando Norris

Ferrari will unveil their entrant at Maranello on February 15th
Sebastian Vettel & Charles Leclerc

Sauber will wait until the just before testing to showcase their new car by launching at Barcelona on February 18th
Kimi Raikkonen & Antonio Giovinazzi



*This counts as one of 2 permitted "promotional Events" and so are limited to 100km and demo tyres.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

The season begins in earnest with winter testing in Barcelona

Test 1 February 18-21
Test 2 February 26-March 1


For the first time the pre-season testing will be shown Live through the F1tv Pro app, with all 8 hours of each of day of the first test broadcast live.
In the UK Sky’s F1 channel will be broadcasting the 4 afternoon sessions of the first test live with a review immediately afterwards rounding up and analysing that days running.

F1tv broadcast Testing Live

Sky's Live Testing coverage


The racing gets underway in mid March and runs through until December 1st

March 17 – Melbourne, Australia
March 31 – Sakhir, Bahrain
April 12 – Shanghai, China
April 28 – Baku, Azerbaijan
May 12 – Barcelona, Spain
May 26 – Monte Carlo, Monaco
June 9 – Montreal, Canada
June 23 – Le Castellet, France
June 30 – Spielberg, Austria
July 14 – Silverstone, Great Britain
July 28 – Hockenheim, Germany
August 4 – Hungaroring, Hungary
September 1 – Spa Francorchamps, Belgium
September 8 – Monza, Italy
September 22 – Singapore, Singapore
September 29 – Sochi, Russia
October 13 – Suzuka, Japan
October 27 – Mexico City Mexico
November 3 – Austin, USA
November 17 – Sao Paulo, Brazil
December 1 – Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi

Each of F1 session times for all of the events has been released… please note these are local time to each venue.
F1 session timings

In the UK and all races apart from the Silverstone race will be exclusively live on Sky Sports F1
The British Grand Prix will be broadcast Live by both Sky and Channel 4, this in addition to Channel 4 having highlights of each of the 2019 races.

[Greem]

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

The season begins in earnest with winter testing in Barcelona

Test 1 February 18-21

It does indeed, and a marshalling mate of mine has got a truckie job with Williams for the tests and the European part of the F1 season, making him part of their garage team. I'm chuffed to bits for him

[S griffin]

Gonna have to have Five Live on for nearly every race

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

Racing Point marking their new Canadian ownership launch in Toronto February 13th
Sergio Perez & Lance Stroll

i wasnt sure if they would race under a Canadian licence or not but a launch in Toronto is a pretty good indication that they might be!

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

For the first time the pre-season testing will be shown Live through the F1tv Pro app, with all 8 hours of each of day of the first test broadcast live.

plus a daily review show.

nice to see them adding more content. unfortunately only available to F1TV Pro subscribers so region specific but still very cool that they are broadcasting this stuff.

i read recently that their first in house made documentary on Schumi's career is about to be released. sounds like they are steadily building up a worthwhile service.

[Richard C]

Thanks for the thread. It's a joy to be actually talking about 2019 vs. things like... Pirelli, Ferrari drama, etc.

Richard

[bella]

how long do we have to put up with the sky exclusivity deal in the uk again?

i’m wondering if i could buy the f1 tv app coverage whilst in france and use it in the uk, especially after the drama that’s due to happen in march. it’s far more cost effective than trying to follow f1 through sky.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by bella

how long do we have to put up with the sky exclusivity deal in the uk again?

i’m wondering if i could buy the f1 tv app coverage whilst in france and use it in the uk, especially after the drama that’s due to happen in march. it’s far more cost effective than trying to follow f1 through sky.

It may be possible if you get a non-geographical VPN for your device, provided that FOM have not used software that can detect these ways around the system. It is probable that you would have to pay for the VPN rather than the free ones that are available, as they tend not to work as well.

For example, the BBC can detect that a user is not within the UK, and blocks the user from using I-player, although some of the subscription VPNs are able to deceive the software.

[bella]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

For example, the BBC can detect that a user is not within the UK, and blocks the user from using I-player, although some of the subscription VPNs are able to deceive the software.

actually, they don’t if you’re using a uk mobile connection. i’ve just live streamed both bbc and channel 4 through their apps on an ipad with a uk sim card, and i’m currently in france.

answering my own question a bit, the f1tv t&cs say that it depends whether the country you’re visiting is part of the “portability regulation”. which seems to refer to eu countries. if i use the wifi, which uses a french sim card, it appears to be ok with taking payment from a uk based card. but seeing as i don’t have €190 to spend at the moment (#offseasonproblems ) i’ll need to wait to test the theory!

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Post 1 now updated with Toro Rosso and Mercedes launch information.

[Hawkwood]

Is Racing Point sticking with 'Racing Point' then?
I thought they were changing it?

[ScotsBrutesFan]

From Formula1.com as it currently stands.

Racing Point

The Force India logo being in grey I'd suggest is a place holder The teams full name is
Racing Point F1 Team

[S griffin]

Glad to see teams are preparing for their launches

[chillibowl]

a video from Woking of some people wearing shirts, some people wearing sweaters, and others wearing sweaters over shirts.

https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status...92062927900672

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

a video from Woking of some people wearing shirts, some people wearing sweaters, and others wearing sweaters over shirts.

A certain race winner, by the sound of it!

[E.B]

From the comments on the McLaren tweet.... sums it up.

[wnut]

Thanks E.B. made my day!

[karting]

The Name Sauber has now been dropped and they are now called

Alfa Romeo Racing

[GT6]

Is that going to help the team in any way or just help A R sell cars, not sure either answer is yes

[S griffin]

Will it be another BMW Sauber? That’s the question. And Alfa Romeo-Ferrari will cause a bit of confusion

[S griffin]

I really this is the start of something big for Alfa Romeo and it can only be good

[alan1302]

Originally Posted by GT6

Is that going to help the team in any way or just help A R sell cars, not sure either answer is yes

It will help the team as I expect they are getting more money.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Post one updated with Red Bull and Haas.

Wednesday 13th looks to be a busy day as Mercedes will launch with their private test at Silverstone, Red Bull have also given this date but no details of the launch have been given.

Later in the day...gotta love time zones, across the pond in Toronto, the Racing Point organisation will be launching what's likely to be their (old dressed up for the occasion) car together with what's expected to be a new look and new name. The new car will be seen in testing.

Link

[BertMk2]

Well the new Haas look is "Lotus":

https://twitter.com/HaasF1Team/statu...65689061552128

[S griffin]

It certainly does. Wonder why they ditched the red for yellow?