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The best of Geneva 2019
I have been told that if you were to go to any auto show it should be Geneva. Not only do you get to go to Switzerland, but Geneva is the show that all of the automakers reveal their best kept secrets. This year was no exception, with crazy new cars from Renault, Honda and Aston Martin along with a few new cars that are getting a lot of attention from Ferrari and Lamborghini, among others. Below are the highlights from the show from my perspective. I think that Aston Martin stole the show this year with not 1, not 2 but 3 debuts, plus the launch of their all…
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F1 Testing 2019 – What did we learn?
Never place your bets for Melbourne based on who’s on top in testing. That is the one thing we know for sure. What we don’t know is what this will all mean in 2 weeks when the lights go out at the first race in Australia. The winners It took all the way through to the end of the second week but we finally saw some pace from the top teams when on the final day of testing Ferrari ended up on top, with the two Mercedes cars close behind. I was quite happy to see how well Charles Leclerc handled the Ferrari and even topped the time sheets at…
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We’re volunteering at race school!
This May Ryan O’Connor and I will be making the trek out to Gimli, Manitoba to volunteer at the the High Performance Driving Education (HPDE) and Race School school that they have out there each year. While I’m not entirely sure what we will be doing while we’re there, it will be a great experience. For those of you who don’t know where Gimli, MB is you will be forgiven. It is located about an hour north of Winnipeg on the shore of Lake Winnipeg. The Gimli Motorsports Park is located next to the airport and includes a 1.33 mile circuit and drag racing track. At the race school you…
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F1 testing 2019 – Week 1
Ahhh… Formula 1 is back for another year. This week marked the beginning of the season with the annual testing days at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. So far there has been a number of different story lines being followed. Here are my highlights from F1 testing 2019 so far. Day 1: Laps, laps, laps Day 1 of winter testing is normally not about putting in quick laps, but rather making sure various parts of the car are working. The way to accomplish these tests? Laps. Lots of them. Vettel put in 169 laps and also set the quickest time of the day. Everyone except for Williams put…
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Why subcompact SUVs are the worst
I’ll be upfront here, I think compact SUVs are terrible. This isn’t because I think they are poorly designed, bad looking or terrible to drive. It’s because they are impractical and simply another way for car manufacturers to cash in on the SUV craze. In reality most of the compact SUVs are simply slightly taller, AWD versions of the small hatchbacks that they were previously making. This segment is absolutely full of them – the Mazda CX3, Toyota C-HR, Mini Cooper Countryman or Chevrolet Trax. These are all very similar to small hatchbacks that the company was, or still is, manufacturing. Take for example the Mazda CX3. This is almost…
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Are tobacco sponsors back in F1?
Tobacco advertising has been banned in Formula 1 since the 2006 season. Up until then the likes of Marlboro, Philip Morris International and Benson and Hedges, among others, were commonplace on liveries throughout the grid. They were also a massive source of cash for the teams who were lucky enough to sign them. Now these companies are making a comeback, although this time they’re pushing ‘potentially reduced risk products’ – largely vaping products and accessories. Today McLaren announced they have signed British American Tobacco (BAT) as a sponsor in a multi-year deal worth an undisclosed amount per year. BAT is the same company the owned the BAR Formula 1 team…
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Canada’s hot hatch segment is now even hotter
The loss of the Focus RS and the Fiesta ST have left a gaping hole in the hot hatch market, not only in Canada, but in most of the world. Europe and the UK get more options in this segment from the likes of Peugeot and others, but in Canada the only real options left are the Volkswagen Golf GTi and Golf R, Honda Civic Type R and the new for 2019 Hyundai Veloster N. However for the 2020 model year Canada will finally be getting the Mercedes A35 AMG. I have been a fan of the last generation Mercedes A45 AMG and was very disappointed that it was never…
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BMW delivers new plug-in hybrid 7-series
BMW has announced that they are a heavily revised version of the plug-in hybrid 7 series for the 2020 model year. The plug-in hybrid variant will be alongside the gasoline and diesel versions of the 7 series, and replace the current 740e plug-in hybrid currently available and will be available beginning in the spring on 2019. BMW claims that the new 745e will be able to travel up to 58 km on electric power only, while at the same time increasing power output to 290 kW/394 hp in SPORT mode. Fuel economy has been reduced to as low as 2.1-2.3 l/100 km combined in the 745e thanks to the heavily…
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2019 Formula 1 car reveal schedule
With just days until the 2019 challengers begin to pull the covers off, we’ve included all of the key dates for the next few weeks to help you get excited about the new season! February 7 Haas livery reveal February 11 Toro Rosso launch February 12 Renault launch February 13 Mercedes launch/shakedown, Racing Point launch February 14 McLaren launch February 15 Ferrari launch February 18 Sauber launch February 18-21 First pre-season test February 26-March 1 Second pre-season test What car reveal are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments! Image courtesy of Alfa Romeo Racing
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Will Leclerc upstage Vettel in 2019?
With 41 days until the first race of the 2019 Formula 1 season, and the car reveals set to start within the next 2 weeks, it is time to start talking about the on track battles that will happen this year. Ferrari has under performed for the past 4 seasons since bringing Vettel on, so there is a much higher expectation in 2019 for the team to bring home the championship – something they haven’t done since 2007. With the management and driver changes at Ferrari over the off-season we’re in for a wild ride. One of the most anticipated rivalries in the 2019 season is between Ferrari drivers Sebastian…
