2009 Formula One Season

[wackysleet]

I think the original contract was for 5 years, so they have 3 races left.

If that is the case then it's three races too many, there must be other circuits around trying to get into the racing calendar .

[ignis]

I think the original contract was for 5 years, so they have 3 races left.

If that is the case then it's three races too many, there must be other circuits around trying to get into the racing calendar .

3 new ones for 2011 + Canada back, is talk of USA back as from next year is US Team, so yes that is 5 Circuits

[F1fanatic]

Sorry TBWG, have to disagree with you.

Unfortunately I can't remember the exact timings, but it was pretty clear that Lewis lost far more time than was entirely due to the pit stop c..k up.

I think Valencia showed that McLaren are back on top - look at the relative race performances of JB and Heikki, not to mention qualifying.

Valencia is an incredibly boring race though. The only interest in the entire race was whether RB could match LH's pace. Full credit to Reubens for driving an incredibly good race (for the first time this season IIRC).

It will be interesting to see who takes the second seat at Ferrari - its somewhat unlikely that Badoer will be there at the next race!

[rixalex]

Unfortunately I can't remember the exact timings, but it was pretty clear that Lewis lost far more time than was entirely due to the pit stop c..k up.

The pit stop c*ck up not only lost him time in the pits, it also lost him time by coming out behind another car which he then had to follow for a number of laps. Had he had a clean pit stop and a clean bit of track i think it would have been very close but i think Rubens would have come out just behind Lewis after pitting, and then would have struggled to pass him.

I do think that the Brawn was the quickest car though, especially in the later part of the race when their package came on strong.

Regards the comments about the track - i agree it is terrible. Seems more about the business of regenerating a bit of land than anything else. Perhaps Bernie has a villa down that way or something!

[wackysleet]

The point I was trying to make was that I expected Alonso to run on fumes so that he could put the car on pole for the Spanish fans, however McLaren ran fairly low and beat him to it.

TBWG/F1fanatic one of you states that Alonso showboats somewhat and you have both implied that it is Alonsos decision to run on a low fuel load, I don't somehow think that any driver makes those kinds of call, the team manager or whoever is in charge of strategy makes that call to give the team the best chance of winning, we have seen in recent races where two cars are running different strategies under team orders. I think in the Brawn camp it may well be crucial as it appears their cars are not always upto speed unless they have favourable weather conditions hence the recent occassion with Jenson and Rubins when identical cars had different fuel strategies.

[TBWG]

The point I was trying to make was that I expected Alonso to run on fumes so that he could put the car on pole for the Spanish fans, however McLaren ran fairly low and beat him to it.

TBWG/F1fanatic one of you states that Alonso showboats somewhat and you have both implied that it is Alonsos decision to run on a low fuel load, I don't somehow think that any driver makes those kinds of call, the team manager or whoever is in charge of strategy makes that call to give the team the best chance of winning, we have seen in recent races where two cars are running different strategies under team orders. I think in the Brawn camp it may well be crucial as it appears their cars are not always upto speed unless they have favourable weather conditions hence the recent occassion with Jenson and Rubins when identical cars had different fuel strategies.

Hi Wackysleet

In my opinion Renault do not have a race winning car this season and Flavio/Alonso try to max out any publicity opportunity be it for Renault, the sponsors or national fans and get as much TV coverage time as possible.

Running on low fuel in quali and getting pole gives them air time they are unlikely to achieve going for an unlikely race win. Low fuelling is also a wild card in the event of a early safety car situation as in Singapore last season.

Right now on to a real circuit SPA.. can't wait 5 different GP winners this year could Spa produce a 6th (Kimi)?

TBWG

[wackysleet]

Hi Wackysleet

In my opinion Renault do not have a race winning car this season and Flavio/Alonso try to max out any publicity opportunity be it for Renault, the sponsors or national fans and get as much TV coverage time as possible.

Running on low fuel in quali and getting pole gives them air time they are unlikely to achieve going for an unlikely race win. Low fuelling is also a wild card in the event of a early safety car situation as in Singapore last season.

Right now on to a real circuit SPA.. can't wait 5 different GP winners this year could Spa produce a 6th (Kimi)?

TBWG

TBWG. I agree with your views about the Renault cars performance probably not being a race winning car this year but Alonso has proven he is a race winner. Publicity, isn't that what gets the sponsors in and enable the top teams to produce the best cars.

I think we must all agree that the performance of any car can dramatically change from one race to another, take both the Ferrari and Maclaren at the start of the season being totally uncompetitive to Maclaren being a front runner again,isn't Red Bull powered by Renault engines?.

Perhaps teams believe that on certain circuits such as Valencia, Singapore and of course Monaco that if by any means you can get on pole then because of the difficulties of overtaking your in with a chance.

I feel sorry for Badoer and cannot understand why he had such a poor showing, he has been a good servant for Ferrari and I don't think they would have given him the ride out of sentiment, they would surely have expected a better show than that but then again Kimi has hardly covered himself in glory this year, it will be interesting to see if Badoer is dropped for the next race or that Ferrari keep faith with him until Shumacher returns which I feel he will, probably towards the end of the season, probably with his neck very much better????, and if he doesn't win anything then it will surely be that he entered purely on the basis of fulfilling Ferraris contractual obligations, or if I was a cynical person to suggest a publicity stunt to sell more tickets again aka as in Valencia, Shumachers manager stated from the outset though that he would not race again.

[Mosha]

Well he might be fast as a test driver, but he failed to show the aggression a race driver needs. That episode in the pits when he gave way. I wish Schumacer hadn't been wearing his sun glasses. Although his face showed what he thought of that. Also he was sloppy, straying over the white line on exit from the pits.

[F1fanatic]

Well he might be fast as a test driver, but he failed to show the aggression a race driver needs. That episode in the pits when he gave way. I wish Schumacer hadn't been wearing his sun glasses. Although his face showed what he thought of that. Also he was sloppy, straying over the white line on exit from the pits.

Unfortunately, as you say, Badoer's performance showed that he is not 'up' to being an F1 race driver. I gather he was fined after Friday's practice for speeding FOUR times in the pit lane!!

It would have been nice if he had done well but, frankly, he was an embarrassment. Not his fault, he's a test driver, not a race driver and was thrown into a situation outside his field of expertise. I suspect it was a job he didn't want in the first place, but had no option once Schumi backed out!

So many people thought Ferrari were wrong to bring Michael back in the first place, and that Badoer deserved the chance. They were obviously wrong, but I'd love to know whether the test drivers were only too happy for him to come back, knowing that they were not capable of delivering a reasonable race performance.

I will be v suprised if he is not replaced for the next race. The interesting question is - by whom?

I still think that Mclaren had the superior car in Valencia, based on qualifying positions and the relative race performances of Button (who has clearly proven this year that he performs extremely well in a car that is capable of winning), and Heiki (who has been racing v badly).

Edited August 26, 2009 by F1fanatic

[TBWG]

Hi

BMW gone for 2010 , I am now getting nervous about Toyota, a few to many negative vibes coming out of the team. Max will look upon any further demise as vindication of his agenda, but all the negative press, rumours etc put about by him have helped make his prophecies come about.

What do you think?

TBWG

[wackysleet]

Hi

BMW gone for 2010 , I am now getting nervous about Toyota, a few to many negative vibes coming out of the team. Max will look upon any further demise as vindication of his agenda, but all the negative press, rumours etc put about by him have helped make his prophecies come about.

What do you think?

TBWG

I've thought for a long time now that the poison dwarf and his kinky sidekick have several irons in the fire since they realised F1 appeared to be slipping from their grasp with the likelyhood of a breakaway formula and I don't believe the behind the scenes in fighting is over yet, but we'll see.

[Mosha]

Suzaka secured for 2010, the bad news is Valencia do have 5 more years. Frank is in negotiations with Piquet Jr, who could bring a lot of sponsorship and a new engine deal. FWs deal with Toyota expires next year.

Abu Dhabi to be a twilight race. I'm not sure that's a good idea, but again Bernie catering to a European audience. A US GP, I hope they use that one with that massive drop. I haven't watched A1 for ages but they used that circuit when I did. I forget the name of the Place. Laguna?

Edited August 29, 2009 by Mosha

[rixalex]

I haven't watched A1 for ages but they used that circuit when I did. I forget the name of the Plce.

Laguna Seca?

Great track. Love watching MotoGP races there.

[Mosha]

Yes that's it. The corner I mean't is the corkscrew. The track was considered before but is considered too remote, and Phoenix got it at the time. However that wasn't a success either. Indy isn't suitable anymore from what I read.

[dumball]

I haven't watched A1 for ages but they used that circuit when I did. I forget the name of the Plce.

Laguna Seca?

Great track. Love watching MotoGP races there.

I love watching Motogp also , but , my urgent question today is " What time is F1 qualifying being aired today " . They switched to bloody football after last weeks race without giving this weeks time in Belgium , HELP !!!

[rixalex]

I haven't watched A1 for ages but they used that circuit when I did. I forget the name of the Plce.

Laguna Seca?

Great track. Love watching MotoGP races there.

I love watching Motogp also , but , my urgent question today is " What time is F1 qualifying being aired today " . They switched to bloody football after last weeks race without giving this weeks time in Belgium , HELP !!!

7pm i believe.

[dumball]

Thank you for your fast reply Rixalex , much appreciated , dumball .

[Mosha]

I am lucky to see the last car cross the finishing line with the Euro races. My other half get's really narked if she misses her soap. A good source for times is the official F1 website. When you look at the race calendar, and the race you want to know about. It gives you a choice to select your local time.

[rixalex]

My other half get's really narked if she misses her soap.

First time i read that i didn't see the "r" in "narked". Had visions of her stripping in protest!

[ignis]

I love watching Motogp also , but , my urgent question today is " What time is F1 qualifying being aired today " . They switched to bloody football after last weeks race without giving this weeks time in Belgium , HELP !!!

3pm is the last Free Practice, 7pm Qualifying.... GP2 2nd Qualifying before and Race 1 after F1 Qualifying

[ignis]

My other half get's really narked if she misses her soap

watch it on your PC ? get another TV ?

[TBWG]

My other half get's really narked if she misses her soap

watch it on your PC ? get another TV ?

Fisi on pole!!!! The front few rows of the Spa grid must resemble the last few rows of some of this years GP's

But let's hope for an unusual result to match.

TBWG

[Mosha]

dam_n but what a disaster of a start. 2 Brits taken out in the 1st minute. Poor old Alonso I wonder who'll replace him next season

[wackysleet]

I read in a recent pitpass article that it's now been decided to drop the maximum amount of cash that a team can spend in one season, when did this happen? and what happened about the court case concerning the selection of teams for 2010 in regards of making/suggesting that new entrants can only use Cosworth engines wasn't that supposed to be resolved by now, or has it.

[Crossy]

Well, the office here in Delhi is obviously full of it!! They shut up when I suggested that Force India is actually a British team as they are based near Silverstone

But out of interest, anyone know how many Indians are employed by the team, chai wallah, tyre wallah, engine wallah etc

Please note, the use of 'wallah' is not antiquated or derogatory, even now we have a chai (and coffee) wallah in the office and there are numerous bolshy taxi and auto (tuktuk) wallahs outside the hotel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallah

[MJo]

Great race and good for Force India, it is always nice to see smaller teams to take few big boys down.

Also good to see almost full page of posts and no one had made the remark that Kimi is too slow and can win only when his car is way faster than the others.... Where are you guys ?

[TBWG]

Well thats 6 different winners in the last 6 races!

TBWG

[TBWG]

It looks as though the 'Flav' has been up to his old tricks again!

Not satisfied with running illegal traction control or Mass dampers, he now deliberately (allegedly) trashes cars to bring out the safety car to Renaults advantage... Can you believe it?

TBWG

[wackysleet]

It looks as though the 'Flav' has been up to his old tricks again!

Not satisfied with running illegal traction control or Mass dampers, he now deliberately (allegedly) trashes cars to bring out the safety car to Renaults advantage... Can you believe it?

TBWG

I also noticed a bit about Renault having the blueprints of the Maclaren car but then again we know thats happened before and with the statement from his now ex young driver adds a bit of credibility to his complaints of Briattore but then again, isn't he in partnership with Bernie in owning QPR football club? but we have had drivers prepared to do anything to win so perhaps it's a topic which will come to light more often.

Mjo. I've always said that most F1 drivers could win a GP event given a good car, even Kimi but in six races as TBWG says we have had six different winners, personally I don't think his heart is in it, I don't doubt that he's very talented but so are all the others on the grid, yes even Badoer and my opinion is that Vettel will yet drive for Ferrari in the near future and if Shumacher does return in the 2nd or 3rd car {if that happens} then that will hasten Kimi's departure.

[TBWG]

It looks as though the 'Flav' has been up to his old tricks again!

Not satisfied with running illegal traction control or Mass dampers, he now deliberately (allegedly) trashes cars to bring out the safety car to Renaults advantage... Can you believe it?

TBWG

Hi see Renault article~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/aug/3...n-piquet-junior

Well let me tell you a story............

Earlier this year I went to see the Chinese GP. Being an intrepid Brit traveler and always keen to sample local cuisine, I decided to visit a famous Indian curry house in Shanghai.

Unbeknown to me this restaurant is a favourite haunt for all the F1 teams and GP personnel which is apparent from all the GP paraphernalia donated by the teams and on display in the ground floor bar.

Anyway, being a Nobby Nomates I was tucked away in a corner all by myself to enjoy my Balti! That night, a day before practice started it was quiet apart from another table of 4 who where obviously engaged on GP business, I suspect electronics or communications of some sort and from their conversation they accompanied the circus around the globe.

It was impossible not to overhear some of their conversation which covered many aspects of the GP's but in the conversation was a casual remark that suggested Piquet junior only retained his drive for 2009 because he had crashed to order in Singapore! This was not the main source of the chat and was accepted by all without question as fact and as as part of the wider conversation.

Now I would not put anything past the Flav especially after seeing him in his thong! but I think this time he might have gone too far!

TBWG