The Official Formula 1 thread

[Shasta]

Bernie Ecclestone's idea to make the F1 championship decided not by point but by medal tally sounds fucking fantastic, i hope this proposal goes through, will make for much more exciting racing.

Link for those of you who havent been keeping up with f1 goss.
http://formula1.com/news/interviews/2008/12/8775.html

You're way behind the times:

Well, even though F1 is currently in it's off season phase, there is plenty going on to keep in touch with. For those of you F1 fans living under rocks, or missing the point of your internet connections:

Honda is OUT of F1, and is trying to sell up its F1 program.
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=44707


Hockenheim seems to be joining Canada and China in dropping out of F1, or threatening to:
http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=44690


The stupid looking 2009 wings have begun to make their way into testing - hopefully they at least help make the racing closer...


Other news:

Alonso has joined Ferrari in threatening to quit F1 if the engine rules dreamed up in Max Mosley's ass come into effect.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/7761669.stm
Ferraris side:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/7694009.stm

Bernie Ecclestone says 2009 season will be scored with gold, silver and bronze medals ONLY in drivers championship.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7749751.stm

Mark Webber breaks his leg during a cycle race
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7743308.stm

Berger sells his share of Torro Rosso to Red Bull owner Mateschitz
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7749003.stm

Bernie Ecclestone faces costly divorce.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7740348.stm

Brundle, Coulthard, Jordan join BBC F1 team.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7745347.stm

Also formula1.com is owned by the FIA - so it's biased and you wont get any F1 goss they don't want you to know.

And the medals thing is stupid. Most golds wins championship: So for the likes of Lewis & Kimi etc, silver means stuff all unless they all have the exact same amount of golds at the end of the year. Whoopty woo. And what about the rest of the field - they fly around the world every couple of weeks, and get 4th or something, and no recognition? Piss on that. The midfield battles can be just as exciting as the lead ones, and they deserve to get something for it.

Bernie is a doddering old fool who is all about money and crackpot ideas that seep into his head. Next he'll say that all teams cars must have yellow on them because it looks good on TV. Well Bernie, your stupid podium music after the Anthems is boring on TV, and not keeping with the times. Do something about that instead.

[Spork]

Yea, TBH, I think the medals idea is ridiculous.

[Zarkov]

You're way behind the times:



Also formula1.com is owned by the FIA - so it's biased and you wont get any F1 goss they don't want you to know.

And the medals thing is stupid. Most golds wins championship: So for the likes of Lewis & Kimi etc, silver means stuff all unless they all have the exact same amount of golds at the end of the year. Whoopty woo. And what about the rest of the field - they fly around the world every couple of weeks, and get 4th or something, and no recognition? Piss on that. The midfield battles can be just as exciting as the lead ones, and they deserve to get something for it.

Bernie is a doddering old fool who is all about money and crackpot ideas that seep into his head. Next he'll say that all teams cars must have yellow on them because it looks good on TV. Well Bernie, your stupid podium music after the Anthems is boring on TV, and not keeping with the times. Do something about that instead.

I reckon the whole edifice is only a couple of team withdrawals away from coming crashing down round Ecclestone's ears.

The cost structures aren't sustainable without the massive sponsorships that aren't likely to be there in 2009.

Maybe it'll be a good thing for the sport-get away from all this racing under lights bullshit etc.

[Temp]

Yea, TBH, I think the medals idea is ridiculous.

Agreed, it's a huge disincentive to the minor teams who strive all season for a few championship points, and completely wipes out any competition between the non ferrarri, mclaren, bmw teams (or top 3).

I really don't see anything wrong with it how it is (points). Maybe the difference between 1st and 2nd should be widened, which would go someway to fixing the problem the medals is aimed at. Increase first from 10 to 12.

[Baffled]

2009 Ferrari



http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=44911

[Shasta]

Well, Honda have sold to Ross Brawn & co, so they made it to 2009. Good on them, I hope they go well. Check out http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=45216 for more info if you want. They're now called Brawn GP or something (lol), or BGP. This suggests to me that Ross Brawn not only facilitated the deal through sponsorship, but actually put a fair bit of his own money into it.

The car they worked on all last year (but have only tested yesterday):

[Zarkov]

Schuey makes a comeback?

[Shasta]

What? Where did you get that idea? The only comeback Schuey is planning on making is on his wife. He's still just collecting a Ferrari paycheck by following them around to a few tests etc and being an "advisor".

Brawn's keeping Button and Barrichello as drivers.

[Baffled]

What? Where did you get that idea? The only comeback Schuey is planning on making is on his wife. He's still just collecting a Ferrari paycheck by following them around to a few tests etc and being an "advisor".

Brawn's keeping Button and Barrichello as drivers.

Keeping Barrichello? Boring! Get Senna or someone new in there!

[Shasta]

Well, Brazilians will have to wait another year to jerk each other off over the Senna name being raced in F1 again. I'd say Brawn is taking the safe route, he knows these guys, knows they can perform, and they have the experience to help develop the car as fast as possible to catch up. He probably wants consistency and no surprises while getting this "new" team running. Plus he may have made promises to Reubens. Who really knows.

Having said that, they're not potentially as far behind as people are making out - they were the first to start developing this years car last year, and have still been developing while waiting to be sold. They've only missed out on a couple of four day tests, and Force India, Torro Rosso, etc have only done a couple of days each if that. It's not a mountain to climb.

[Zarkov]

Australia     16/03/2008     Lewis Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes     58     1:34:50.616

Malaysia    23/03/2008    Kimi Räikkönen    Ferrari    56    1:31:18.555

Bahrain    06/04/2008    Felipe Massa    Ferrari    57    1:31:06.970

Spain    27/04/2008    Kimi Räikkönen    Ferrari    66    1:38:19.051

Turkey    11/05/2008    Felipe Massa    Ferrari    58    1:26:49.451

Monaco    25/05/2008    Lewis Hamilton    McLaren-Mercedes    76    2:00:42.742

Canada    08/06/2008    Robert Kubica    BMW Sauber    70    1:36:24.447

France    22/06/2008    Felipe Massa    Ferrari    70    1:31:50.245

Great Britain    06/07/2008    Lewis Hamilton    McLaren-Mercedes    60    1:39:09.440

Germany    20/07/2008    Lewis Hamilton    McLaren-Mercedes    67    1:31:20.874

Hungary    03/08/2008    Heikki Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    70    1:37:27.067

Europe    24/08/2008    Felipe Massa    Ferrari    57    1:35:32.339

Belgium    07/09/2008    Felipe Massa    Ferrari    44    1:22:59.394

Italy    14/09/2008    Sebastian Vettel    STR-Ferrari    53    1:26:47.494

Singapore    28/09/2008    Fernando Alonso    Renault    61    1:57:16.304

Japan    12/10/2008    Fernando Alonso    Renault    67    1:30:21.892

China    19/10/2008    Lewis Hamilton    McLaren-Mercedes    56    1:31:57.403

Brazil    02/11/2008    Felipe Massa    Ferrari    71    1:34:11.435

[Temp]

Well, Brazilians will have to wait another year to jerk each other off over the Senna name being raced in F1 again.

What do you mean by that?

[Baffled]

What do you mean by that?

Senna didnt his seat yet... barichello still driving for honda. Oh to dream...

[Baffled]

F1 Australia Race times on Sky Sport 2

Friday
2:30pm - 4:00pm Practice 1
7:30pm - 9:00pm Practice 2

Saturday
4:00pm - 5:15pm Practice 3
7:00pm - 8:00pm Qualifying

Sunday
7:00pm - 9:05pm RACE!!!

Disclaimer: Dont blame me if im wrong, but I went on the telstra site and got the viewing times. Cant wait!

[Shasta]

What do you mean by that?

Pretty much what Baffled said, but with better grammar, spelling, and coherency lol:

Senna didnt his seat yet... barichello still driving for honda. Oh to dream...

Bruno Senna (Ayrton's Nephew) was expected to get Barrichello's seat at Honda if they got rescued. Honda made it, but Senna did not.

Of course, in other news, there's been all sorts of hooplah about the points system being changed to "most wins gets the championship" behind the teams back, then changed back again because it was too close to the season start and therefore illegal of the FIA to pull shit like that.

They did however (so far) pull some stupid 30mil budget cap rule for next year: but teams don't have to comply - the teams that do stay below 30mil have more relaxed technical rules, but teams that go over the budget have more restrictions: basically two different sets of rules for the cars specs. What the fuck are the head FIA guys smoking? Seriously.

Than we come to McLaren and Renault threatening Bernie that they wouldn't come to OZ unless he paid them some TV money he owed them or something, so he said he would cancel their cargo plane for their cars etc to save $$, and they backed down. He went on record saying "If you're going to put a gun to my head, you better be prepared to pull the fucking trigger. Watch your backs"...

And of course the expected diffuser protests - most teams are questioning the legality of Brawns, Williams, and Toyota's (I think) rear diffusers. Oh yay.

I think that covers most developments for any F1 fan that has been held hostage in a dark cave for the last few weeks.

[kilabee]

.

I think that covers most developments for any F1 fan that has been held hostage in a dark cave for the last few weeks.

+ slicks are back.

[Baffled]

Having said that, they're not potentially as far behind as people are making out - they were the first to start developing this years car last year, and have still been developing while waiting to be sold. They've only missed out on a couple of four day tests, and Force India, Torro Rosso, etc have only done a couple of days each if that. It's not a mountain to climb.

Its crazy how much peoples views have changed, from Honda looking like a rubbish team in 08 with the possibility of not even continuing this season to being the fastest one out there on their first tests and now being called the favourite for Melbourne.

The massive new aero changes are great, nobody knows what team will be best and Lewis ain't going to have an easy time defending his championship.

I just cant stand the bloody F1 bosses changing the rules without caring for the teams though. A change to the point system is a good idea to get better racing but it should be done the teams way... eg 12, 9, 7 etc (or with even more of a diff (20,14,10..)... not just medals.


BUTTON 2009!
Time to prove if you can drive Jenson!

[Shasta]

+ slicks are back.

Yeah I think we already covered the slicks, aero changes including moveable front wings (2 adjustments per lap) etc etc before last years season even finished. I was talking about new developments and controversies that arose in the last few weeks.

[Xt1ncT]

Its crazy how much peoples views have changed, from Honda looking like a rubbish team in 08 with the possibility of not even continuing this season to being the fastest one out there on their first tests and now being called the favourite for Melbourne.

I'm not so sure.

Honda basically stopped all development of last years car as they were so far off of the pace. Last year they concentrated all their efforts on this years car - even more so than teams normally do.. So IMO it's to be expected that they'd be competitive.

The real proof will be this weekend though - testing is just that. No-one knows what fuel etc the teams were runnning and it could all be smokes and mirrors..!!!

Go Lewis!!!!

[Spork]

Ah finally, a dedicated free to air sports channel in Aust. Channel 'One' FTW!

The front of the car's looks so weird.

[Bounty Hunter]

is there a free live stream somewhere?

[Spork]

is there a free live stream somewhere?

http://www.justin.tv has everything.

I heard on Friday while watching practice that Mclaren aren't going to be one of the big teams this year? How come?

Does this mean that the result at the end of the race depends completely on the manufacturer? Shouldn't someone who can win so many races and finish in the top 3 in the rest of the races, be able to do so or at least get in the top 5-10 in any car? I'm talking about Hamilton here.. I hate him, but you would think that he should still be able to do alright..?

[Goose_111]

http://www.justin.tv has everything.

I heard on Friday while watching practice that Mclaren aren't going to be one of the big teams this year? How come?

Does this mean that the result at the end of the race depends completely on the manufacturer? Shouldn't someone who can win so many races and finish in the top 3 in the rest of the races, be able to do so or at least get in the top 5-10 in any car? I'm talking about Hamilton here.. I hate him, but you would think that he should still be able to do alright..?

seems that there car = fail

and yea i fully agree with what you said im just assumeing the mclaren boys have just not got it yet, but hay not evin raced yet so cant rely bag them to much yet, i love mclaren as well, have allways supported them, i say bring back hakkinen haha and also any one els thing that the brawn gp with the fluro yello "aerodynamic hub caps" look like vomit on that car?

[Baffled]

http://www.justin.tv has everything.

I heard on Friday while watching practice that Mclaren aren't going to be one of the big teams this year? How come?

Does this mean that the result at the end of the race depends completely on the manufacturer? Shouldn't someone who can win so many races and finish in the top 3 in the rest of the races, be able to do so or at least get in the top 5-10 in any car? I'm talking about Hamilton here.. I hate him, but you would think that he should still be able to do alright..?

The car makes a huge difference just look at honda/brawn from last year to this year and renault from 05/06 to the last couple of years. But if they take the manufacturers side away from it, it would destroy f1... they have already put a freeze on engines. They need the challenge to improve their technology, otherwise we would just have another A1GP (standard ferrari designed cars)

[Zarkov]

7PM Start I think.

The Toyotas were relegated to the back of the grid because of a wing infringement.



Pos     No     Driver     Team     Q1   Q2   Q3     Laps
1    22    Jenson Button    Brawn-Mercedes    1:25.211   1:24.855   1:26.202    19
2    23    Rubens Barrichello    Brawn-Mercedes    1:25.006   1:24.783   1:26.505    21
3    15    Sebastian Vettel    RBR-Renault    1:25.938   1:25.121   1:26.830    21
4    5    Robert Kubica    BMW Sauber    1:25.922   1:25.152   1:26.914    19
5    16    Nico Rosberg    Williams-Toyota    1:25.846   1:25.123   1:26.973    21
6    10    Timo Glock    Toyota    1:25.499   1:25.281   1:26.975    19
7    3    Felipe Massa    Ferrari    1:25.844   1:25.319   1:27.033    21
8    9    Jarno Trulli    Toyota    1:26.194   1:25.265   1:27.127    20
9    4    Kimi Räikkönen    Ferrari    1:25.899   1:25.380   1:27.163    21
10    14    Mark Webber    RBR-Renault    1:25.427   1:25.241   1:27.246    20
11    6    Nick Heidfeld    BMW Sauber    1:25.827   1:25.504      14
12    7    Fernando Alonso    Renault    1:26.026   1:25.605      12
13    17    Kazuki Nakajima    Williams-Toyota    1:26.074   1:25.607      16
14    2    Heikki Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    1:26.184   1:25.726      15
15    1    Lewis Hamilton    McLaren-Mercedes    1:26.454   no time      5
16    12    Sebastien Buemi    STR-Ferrari    1:26.503         10
17    8    Nelsinho Piquet    Renault    1:26.598         12
18    21    Giancarlo Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes    1:26.677         10
19    20    Adrian Sutil    Force India-Mercedes    1:26.742         9
20    11    Sebastien Bourdais    STR-Ferrari    1:26.964         10