Official F1 thread for fans of open wheel racing.

renman95

This weekend starts the 2009 season.

New specs on the cars makes them look funny to me right now. But I'm sure I'll get use to it.

Another year without a F1 race in the USofA. I went to the inaugural race at Indy in 2000 and the ill-fated tire debacle of 2005(?). Only six cars raced because Michelin didn't think their tyres would hold up.

Ren

Goot

<< <i>This weekend starts the 2009 season.

New specs on the cars makes them look funny to me right now. But I'm sure I'll get use to it.

Another year without a F1 race in the USofA. I went to the inaugural race at Indy in 2000 and the ill-fated tire debacle of 2005(?). Only six cars raced because Michelin didn't think their tyres would hold up.

Ren >>



I went to the inaugural race up in Indy as well. However, IRL is my cup of tea when it comes to open wheel racing, but F1 is still enjoyable.

renman95

I watched "practice" and came away with the playing field has change. Last year Ferrari and McLaren were in a great battle. The championship hinged on the last race and on the last turn. One of the most spectacular finishes I've ever seen. The story lines in that last race are to numerous to mention but Lewis Hamilton emerges as World Champion in his second year of F1. While that was going on, the second tier teams were developing their 2009 cars. What I noticed is that those teams were on top of the time sheets and Ferrari and McLaren were at the bottom. Names that were normally at the bottom were at the top. This won't last long but will make for an interesting start of the season.

intence

im jealous hamilton is dating nicole scherzinger!

nightcrawler

F1 has changed drastically, that's one of the things I like about.

It sets the stage for all other racing and the cars we drive.

Can't wait til race time..

renman95

Brawn GP wins 1, 2 with Button and Baracheilo!!?? The all new sporting regs have turned the field inside out. One has to give Ross Brawn tons of credit. He has accomplished many feats but this was astounding. A brand new team to qualify 1, 2 and finish 1, 2 hasn't happened since 1970. Lewis Hamilton came from a dismal 18th to finish 5th. Good work for him in a marginal car. The Braun GP car must me fantastic if it can take mediocre drivers and propel them so much.

Brawn GP was adopted just recently in a takeover bid when Honda gave up last year. Ross Braun has worked magic over the years with Michael Schumacher at Benneton and later with Ferrari. And now lightning has struck again with his own namesake GP car.

I must say I enjoyed the race a lot. Much overtaking. The two different tire compound was hugely evident at the end of the race. It's too bad for Vettel that Kubica crossed in front of him. There's blame there on both parties. Kimi crashed...again.

When these new cars crash they leave a lot of debris. That front wing is full of smaller wings that now go tire end to tire end.

I'm still getting use to the look of the car. Like Alonso said, it is ugly.

Only one week, Malaysia next.

Ren

edt4sp

Trebor

renman95, you need to edit your post.
Trulli got a 25 second penalty for passing during a safety car and was dropped to 12th.
Lewis Hamilton ended up in P3 and garnered 6 points.
Vettel got a 10 spot penalty on the Malaysia grid for his run in with Kubica
and was fined $50,000US for continuing to run his car after the wreck.

The revised results:
01. Button - Brawn GP
02. Barichello - Brawn GP
03. Hamilton - McLaren
04. Glock - Toyota
05. Alonso - Renault
06. Rosberg - Williams
07. Buemi - STR
08. Bourdais - STR
09. Sutil - Force India
10. Heidfeld - BMW
11. Fisichella - Force India
12. Trulli - Toyota
13. Webber - Red Bull
14. Vettel - Red Bull
15. Kubica - BMW
16. Raikkonen - Ferrari
17. Massa - Ferrari
18. Piquet - Renault
19. Nakajima - Williams
20. Kovalainen - McLaren

All together a good race with enough of a mix in the Top 10 to make me want to see more.

ON TO MALAYSIA!

renman95

Thanks for the update trebor.

Lewis all the way to P3! I don't think anyone was luckier than Lewis today.
Full disclosure: LH is my pick for the championship again. I think McLaren will figure things out plus I like the way LH moved through the field. I hope Brawn GP is more than a one trick pony. I saw that Rubens said his diffuser was ruined on the initial go. If that is so he had a pretty good run.

So the officials fined Vettel and docked him 10 spots and Kub got nothing? It really looked different to me. But than again I only have one camera angle...SPEED(channel). Anyone remember when it was Speedvision?

Ren

edt4sp

renman95

Virgin-Brawn GP?

renman95

F1-live.com had a good April Fools joke this morning. I fell for it.

It had Lewis Hamilton change camps. He was to leave McLaren Mercedes and go to Brawn (Mercedes) GP immediately. Hamilton says its the obvious thing to do.

Good one!

intence

<< <i>F1-live.com had a good April Fools joke this morning. I fell for it.

It had Lewis Hamilton change camps. He was to leave McLaren Mercedes and go to Brawn (Mercedes) GP immediately. Hamilton says its the obvious thing to do.

Good one! >>



ya i saw that

Trebor

Well , it's April 2nd and Lewis was disqualified, stripped of his podium finish and 6 points.

Trulli has been returned to P3 and regained the 6 putting Toyota firmly in second in the constructors championship.

What a mess.

The latest "official" results of the F1 Australian Grand Prix:

01. Button Brawn GP
02. Barichello Brawn GP
03. Trulli Toyota
04. Glock Toyota
05. Alonso Renault
06. Rosberg Williams
07. Buemi STR
08. Bourdais STR
09. Sutil Force India
10. Heidfeld BMW
11. Fisichella Force India
12. Webber Red Bull
13. Vettel Red Bull
14. Kubica BMW
15. Raikkonen Ferrari
16. Massa Ferrari
17. Piquet Renault
18. Nakajima Williams
19. Kovalainen McLaren
20. Hamilton McLaren

renman95

Well, there's always April 3. Hamilton could make a comeback.

Trebor

it's a possibility!

With the rules committee looking at the diffuser protests on Williams, Toyota and Braun GP the Force India team might be in the points yet

renman95

<< <i> it's a possibility!

With the rules committee looking at the diffuser protests on Williams, Toyota and Braun GP the Force India team might be in the points yet >>








Maybe David Coulthard can come out of retirement with Schumacher and they can do some CART racing to determine the points.

renman95

Any predictions for the 2nd GP of the season?

Trebor

<< <i>Any predictions for the 2nd GP of the season? >>



My WAG* on www.fastmachines.com


Pole - Vettel

1st - Alonso
2nd - Vettel
3rd - Button

* Does not take into account any meddling by the stewards and is dependent on it raining like a cow peeing on a flat rock the entire race.

renman95

Who could've predicted such a bad storm. The Malaysian ace was red flagged. Button wins two in a row for Brawn GP. He mentioned it would be nice if they could actually finish to checker. Maybe in two weeks in China.

Half points for half a race. In the Constructors cup, both Ferrari and McLaren are absent. Astonishing!

I love seeing the rain come in. It throws the race wide open.

I wish NASCAR and IRL would adopt some rain tires and just run the race like the manly drivers of F1. I hear the arguments to the contrary....IRL cars are to fast and NASCAR cars are to heavy. Well, bullocks....F1 does it and does it well. It is the one thing that is huge the separates it from the other series. I love it. I think the fans would appreciate it.

Poor Nico Rosberg had a good run going.

About these cars. I'm starting to like them. Much overtaking which the lack of was a major criticism of the sport.

Ren

renman95

Any thoughts on the Shanghai GP. I missed qualifying so I have no clue. Somehow my DVR only recorded 1 minute.

I see that Vettel is on pole with Red Bull...their first.

Also, I read that diffusers are OK. Maybe Ferrari can get a point or two now.

Ren

Trebor

Ferrari died on track again today. Massa gave it a go but his car quit.
Kimi seems to be thinking about the ice cream bars in the garage freezer again.

Red Bull showed Brawn how to race in the rain finishing 1 - 2. Brawn 3 - 4 and McLaren 5 - 6.
Vettel is without doubt the consumate wet track driver. He knows how to tiptoe around at amazing speeds.

Sutil looked like he was on track for the first ever Force India points but came undone and DNF'd.

BMW, well, they are flailing.


RESULTS: China GP
1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault
2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault
3 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes
4 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes
5 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
6 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
7 Timo Glock Toyota
8 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari
9 Fernando Alonso Renault
10 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari
12 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
13 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber
14 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes -1 Lap
15 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota -1 Lap
16 Nelsin Piquet Renault -2 Laps
17 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes DNF
18 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota DNF
19 Felipe Massa Ferrari DNF
20 Jarno Trulli Toyota DNF

renman95

An upside down season. I like it.

Trebor

<< <i>An upside down season. I like it. >>



If Force India scores points before Ferrari my Christmas will have come early.

renman95

Bahrain GP

Another win by Button on the Brawn...3 wins in 4 races. Vettel had a nice showing at 2nd.

Mercedes is thinking of getting out of F1.

Hamilton has thought of quitting.

Kimi finally scored some points.

The upside down new world order in F1 continues.

Trebor

Imagine a Spanish Grand Prix with NO spectators if you can.

Swine flu fears have EU nations talking of banning spectators from attending events including the May 10th race in Barcelona.
No one in the stands would be even spookier than the low attendance race at Shanghai.

renman95

Yeah! I also noticed all the empty seats in China. Maybe the drivers can wear the "masks" on the outside of their helmets to show solidarity with the fans.

Trebor

renman95, did you watch Monaco? Man, Brawn GP is a World beater. Ruebens start from P2 was the perfect answer to Kimi's KERS Ferrari. Seemed camera coverage was much improved over previous years.

renman95

Yes!

Good coverage. I liked the shots from the blimp...saw more of Monaco.

I'm happy for Jensen. Seems like a geniune young man...

Much better race than the Coke 600 fiasco.

Indy was good...fire, crashes and even Danica had a very respectible outcome. Marco bugs me. I wish he'd go to F1 to eat some humble pie. Bourdais must be thinking what do I need to do.

R95

Goot

Imagine that...Button wins again.

I haven't bothered watching a single F1 race since the 2nd one of the season.....there's no point, you can predict the results before they even qualify.

Trebor

Then you are missing a moment in history near to perfection. Driver, team and car in harmony that is both rare and amazing.

Goot

<< <i>Then you are missing a moment in history near to perfection. Driver, team and car in harmony that is both rare and amazing. >>



Doesn't mean its fun to watch...

Trebor

Then may I suggest NASCAR? It's got Larry, Darryl and Digger.

Goot

<< <i>Then may I suggest NASCAR? It's got Larry, Darryl and Digger. >>



Hahah I knew that one was coming...... I'm not one of those people that watches for the wrecks! I don't discriminate against types of racing, but it just gets old knowing who will win week in and week out.

renman95

<< <i>

<< <i>Then may I suggest NASCAR? It's got Larry, Darryl and Digger. >>



Hahah I knew that one was coming...... I'm not one of those people that watches for the wrecks! I don't discriminate against types of racing, but it just gets old knowing who will win week in and week out. >>



That's how I felt during the Schumacher years but it was still fun to watch. I think the Button/Brawn phenom is more compelling. The Honda team gave up and just three weeks before this season Brawn buys the team. It makes one wonder what Button could have done had he been in a good car. Barrichello seems to be doing the same thing when he was second fiddle in his Ferrari days.
And what about Vettel? He and Red Bull are in the hunt. More of opposite world. Love it.

R95

renman95

Nice first F1 win (in 130 tries) for Mark Webber. Red Bull go 1, 2 again. Overall a nice show for the Red Bull and Braun teams. Braun was a little further back then usually.

renman95

Well it's great to see Hamilton back to his Champion-self. I don't know if he has time to catch up to Button, Webber and Vettel. He would have to win 6 of the last 7 races and the others can't score much at all.

Massa took a face shot at 160mph on qualifying from Barichello's car. A spring sprung and bounced on the track an hit Massa's helmet. He was heli-lifted to a Budapest hospital.

Brawn seems to be slipping.

Now we have a 4 week break(?)!

I have a good chance of attending the Brazilian GP. I may be down their during that time.

R95

Goot

I'm interested to see Schumacher get back in a F1 car.

renman95

What a dream come true to see Schumacher and Hamilton race against each other. I just saw a quote that Lance Armstrong is excited to see him race and calls him the best driver of all time (F1).

I wonder how long MS will drive for Ferrari? I'm sure Massa would like to race in his hometown race in Sao Paulo come 10-18.

R95

Goot

I thought I saw that schumy was taking over for the rest of the year. I guess we
'll see....

Trebor

Schumacher is still having trouble with a neck injury incurred in February 2009 and won't drive.

Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer is in the hot seat and not doing too well.
P20 in Friday morning practice, P18 in the afternoon because Lewis wrecked his McLaren.

Alonso looks like he's the one to beat and Brawn is back at the top of the timechart again.

Valencia might actually be a good race.

renman95

Schu is out. Too bad because Hami and Kov did great in qualifying today. Looks like Hami is starting to come alive. No chance of a World title though. He would have to win every race and Button, Weber and Vettel would have to take a vacation or something.

It's been a long break, four weeks, I'm ready for some F1!

R95

btw, I was in Sao Paulo, Brazil this week and had to chuckle seeing Massa doing local commercials for Bridgestone.

renman95

Nice first win in 4 years for Barrichello. His first win outside of Ferrari. Hami is second...not bad back to back races for him.

renman95

Monza's 60th run of GP's.

I cannot believe that Hamilton crashed out on the last lap with no one around! He was third...ended up 12th.

Nice job with the two Brawn boys. Back to form.

Trebor

Two races and it looks like Brawn GP has a lock on the Constructors Championship.
What's surprising to me is 5 teams are running at half strength - 1 productive driver
and 1 lump back marker.

Any thoughts on the Drivers Championship? Button and Barrichello with Vettel a long shot.
I wonder how much of Jenson's early rise was due to the car? It seems he can't do squat
now that the others have improved their aero packages and might back into the
Championship more because Vettel is out of fresh engines than getting wins or podiums.
Barrichello would be a fairy tale Champ but seems the only driver able to overcome the points deficit.

I look for Vettel to be undone by one of his remaining and used Renault engines.
Either during practice or during the race I expect a big boom and then there will be two.

renman95

With one race left but Jenson Button has won the F1 World Championship and Brawn gets the Constructors Cup.

JB drove a very nice race, shed some doubt.

renman95

F1 season is over but the silly season starts. Who will go to what teams? Four more new startup teams and new regs again.

Today's race was very cool in hot Bahrain. Beautiful circuit.

Too bad for Lewis, his car had some kind of brake failure and had to retire. Button and Webber had a nice fight to the end to finish 3rd and 2nd. Vettel wins fourth race and 2nd overall behind Button.

I don't like the testing ban. No testing until February!

One highlight of 2010 will be the first USF1 team in over 15 years, Peter Windsor's team. I hope they can muster up an American driver. Who will replace Peter as commentator for Speed Channel?

renman95

Seven-time F1 Champion may do another comeback attempt. He may be driving for Mercedes starting in 2010. Ferrari also mentioned that they think he would be good for the Maranello team.
Virgin looks Button-less.

More teams next year than in decades and the return of MS could make for a fun season.

renman95

The best news I've heard since the overhyped return of Schumacher is the return of a Grand Prix in the United States. Austin, Texas to be exact. A brand new course and F1 racing as soon as 2012!

renman95

Huge race weekend.
Q: When your driving for Red Bull in the Turkish GP and your running 1-2 as a team, what do you not do?

A: Don't pass your teammate and crash into him taking each other out. Thereby allowing McClaren to be 1-2.

I could not believe Vettel's move.