113 replies to this topic

[commadore183]

Well, for the F1 fans here, here's a thread to discuss the upcoming season (Australian GP is on March 29th).

So far, nearly all of the teams confirmed for this year (Honda still haven't found a buyer for their team) have launched their cars, the exceptions being Force India, Red Bull Racing, and Toro Rosso.

Confirmed drivers:
*Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton (1) and Heikki Kovalainen (2)
*Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: Kimi Raikkonen (3) and Felipe Massa (4)
*BMW Sauber F1 Team: Robert Kubica (5) and Nick Heidfeld (6)
*ING Renault F1 Team: Fernando Alonso (7) and Nelson Piquet Jr (8)
*Panasonic Toyota Racing: Jarno Trulli (9) and Timo Glock (10)
*Scuderia Toro Rosso: Sebastien Buemi (11) and Sebastien Bourdais (12)
*Red Bull Racing: Mark Webber (14) and Sebastian Vettel (15)
*AT&T WilliamsF1: Nico Rosberg (16) and Kazuki Nakajima (17)
*Brawn GP: Rubens Barrichello (18) and Jenson Button (19)
*Force India Formula One: Adrian Sutil (20) and Giancarlo Fisichella (21)

The number 13 is not used in F1 for obvious superstitious reason, and the numbers 18 and 19 are reserved for whoever buys the Honda team.

Driver changes from 2008:
*David Coulthard (Red Bull Racing) retires. Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) gets promoted after a pretty good season in 2008, which he won the Italian Grand Prix.
*Sebastian Vettel's Toro Rosso seat gets taken by Sebastien Buemi from the GP2 series.

Race dates:
*Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne): March 27-29
*Malaysian Grand Prix (Sepang International Circuit, Sepang): April 3-5
*Chinese Grand Prix (Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai): April 17-19
*Bahrain Grand Prix (Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir): April 24-26
*Spanish Grand Prix (Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona): May 8-10
*Monaco Grand Prix (Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo): May 21-24
*Turkish Grand Prix (Istanbul Park, Istanbul): June 5-7
*British Grand Prix (Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone): June 19-21
*German Grand Prix (Nurburgring GP-Strecke, Nurburg): July 10-12
*Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungaroring, Budapest): July 24-26
*European Grand Prix (Streets of Valencia, Valencia): August 21-23
*Belgian Grand Prix (Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps): August 28-30
*Italian Grand Prix (Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza): September 11-13
*Singapore Grand Prix (Streets of Marina Bay, Marina Bay): September 25-27
*Japanese Grand Prix (Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka): October 2-4
*Brazilian Grand Prix (Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, Sao Paulo): October 16-18
*Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Yas Island Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi): October 30-November 1

Calendar changes from 2008:
*This season marks the first time since 1956 that a French Grand Prix will not be held, after having been run on seven different circuits over 52 years.
*This also marks the first time since 1958 that a Formula One Grand Prix race will not be held in North America.
*China moves up to the 3rd race of the season after being scheduled in the latter part of the season.
*The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix becomes the final race of the season, a spot previously held by the Brazilian Grand Prix.
*The Japanese Grand Prix race will be held at Suzuka this year and will alternate with Fuji Speedway for the annual event.
*It will be the first time since 1985 that the Nurburgring circuit will host the German Grand Prix, as the Hockenheimring currently holds the naming rights to the race, but have been hit by financial issues as of late. If an agreement can't be reached between the two parties, the Nurburgring race may get a name change.

This will be the first season of the radical new bodywork changes aimed at aiding passing on the circuits, as the previous bodywork rules led to too much "dirty air" for the following car. This will also be the first season of the new (and optional) KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) package in competition. Lewis Hamilton will look to defend his World Driver's Championship, while Ferrari (in their 60th season of F1 competition) will want to keep their World Constructor's Championship.

EDIT: This will also be the first time since 1997 that teams will be able to use slick tires/tyres (depending on your location ), as pointed out by F.Michael.

Looking forward to a good season Good luck to all of your favorite drivers and teams

EDIT 2: Ross Brawn takes over the former Honda team, now named Brawn GP:
http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/73577

There are now ten teams on the grid for twenty cars.

Edited by commadore183, 06 March 2009 - 05:56 PM.

[F.Michael]

Racing slicks will also be making a comeback (replacing those silly grooved tires).

I've been slowly, but surely loosing interest in F1; lack of the USGP these past few years, & now no Canadian GP = more indifference on my behalf. Add to that the Bernie, & Max pony show has gotten old; their greed, arrogance, & desire to snub certain markets doesn't help their cause either. Me thinks their move away from ciggy sponsorship a few years ago is now biting them all in the ass since the world economy is in the toilet; many teams current sponsors are hurting, & with Honda F1 outta the picture it makes ya wonder how long Merc/Toyota/Renault/BMW will stick around.

I'll still tune in for most races just for the Hobbs color commentary

[commadore183]

Racing slicks will also be making a comeback (replacing those silly grooved tires).

I've been slowly, but surely loosing interest in F1; lack of the USGP these past few years, & now no Canadian GP = more indifference on my behalf. Add to that the Bernie, & Max pony show has gotten old; their greed, arrogance, & desire to snub certain markets doesn't help their cause either. Me thinks their move away from ciggy sponsorship a few years ago is now biting them all in the ass since the world economy is in the toilet; many teams current sponsors are hurting, & with Honda F1 outta the picture it makes ya wonder how long Merc/Toyota/Renault/BMW will stick around.

I'll still tune in for most races just for the Hobbs color commentary

Ooops, forgot about the racing slicks in my post I'll fix that.

Yeah, the lack of a North American Grand Prix will certainly hurt the sports interest in the US. Bernie's sky-high sanctioning fees make it impossible for anyone but a government to pay for the rights to host a GP, not to mention some of the outrageous demand for paddock areas (seriously, do they really need to be like uber-luxury suites?).

And the dropping of the French GP and moving more races to Asia/Middle East are going to make it more financially difficult for the teams to justify their existence in F1 (a lot of cargo to transport, and the lost of markets to the teams' sponsors). An Indian GP is slated for 2010, I believe, as well as a Korean GP. At least they will be on purpose built circuits instead of on city streets (ie Valencia, Singapore, and Monaco). The French GP is expected to return in a season or two, but on a street course near Paris (from the rumors I hear). And there's a rumor that Hermann Tilke (the main guy who designs many of the modern F1 circuits, like Bahrain and Turkey) was in Rome scouting a location for a Roman/Italian GP.

And speaking of circuits, nowadays newer circuits seem WAY too flat to me, compared to Spa. There seems to be little character to the newer circuits. If it were up to me, I'd have a USGP at a track like Road America or Road Atlanta, Watkins Glen or even Laguna Seca (though, it might be too narrow for a modern F1 car). Hell, Detroit used to host a GP, right there at the Renaissance Center.

F1 needs to be more hospitable to privateer teams like Williams/Minardi/Jordan/Tyrrell/etc. Being too reliant on the manufacturers can hurt the sport if they hit a rough patch in the economy (like right now). I like some of the ideas that the FIA have come out with (giving the teams an option of running a "standard" engine like a Cosworth). I would like to see them institute a optional standard tub/monocoque for the privateer teams so that there is still the car development, but will take out a big part of the cost of making a F1 car. That would still keep to the spirit of a "constructor" without having to completely jig the rules to deal with customer cars (like what Super Aguri was and Toro Rosso is, to a certain extent).

I hope they don't institute the damn medals rules. Seriously, if you want the championship determined by wins, then increase the damn points for a win. It's that damn simple.

Also, there's a rumor of an US-based F1 team being run by SPEEDtv employee Peter Windsor and former Ligier mechanic Ken Anderson. Their base of operations would be in the Concord/Charlotte area, right in the home of many NASCAR and sports car teams, as well as the home base of a state of the art wind tunnel. They are expected to race in F1 in 2010, so they have 13 months to get their stuff together. Right now, it's only a rumor, as there is no hard reports of, well, a lot of other stuff (drivers, engines, etc). Hope it does happen and will last for a long time, but until they are on the grid in 2010, it's just a dream to many US F1 fans.

And I agree about the color commentary with Hobbs He can certainly make a boring race at least a bit entertaining

[F.Michael]

On another website I had predicted the demise (or at least a downward trend in the standings) of Williams F1 since they remain a true independant team (no auto manufacturing investment in the team) as well as BMW doing well after their purchase of Sauber F1...Needless to say F1 as a whole is hurting (or at least I think they are); auto manufacturers are probably looking to cut costs, & get outta expensive ventures like F1; Ford 1st, & now Honda - two major worldwide players.

I don't want to see F1 become a glorified CART (though CART was awesome before the split/fight with IRL), but with the current world economy they may not have too much of a choice to "spec" out more pieces of an F1 racer to lower costs, & make it more financially friendly to smaller/independant teams.

Living in WI has given me the opportunity to watch numerous races @ Road America - an awesome track with alot of elevation changes, fast straights, fast turns, etc, etc...Too bad they'll never be capable of hosting an F1 event there; many drivers from numerous series claim Road America is the Spa of North America...It's also too bad to see F1 events being hosted in countries in which gov't funds are needed to build the track (of course is must be designed none other than Tilke ), & to pay the massive fees that Bernie feels is justified

Hobbs is brilliant; his bantor with Matchett, & Varsha is worth getting up @ 5 am

[commadore183]

Bump this thread up, as Ross Brawn has taken control of the former Honda team, renamed Brawn GP:
http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/73577

So far, no sponsors have been announced, but that may come in the future, surely before the Australian Grand Prix.

Good luck to the outfit.

EDIT: Here are some images of the cars from each team. Engine is in parenthesis.

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro F60 (Ferrari 056):


Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 (Mercedes FO 108W):


BMW Sauber F1 Team F1.09 (BMW P86/9):


ING Renault F1 Team R29 (Renault RS27):


Panasonic Toyota Racing TF109 (Toyota RVX-09):


Scuderia Toro Rosso STR4 (Ferrari 056):
http://www.tororosso...7-Austria-GEPA/

Red Bull Racing RB5 (Renault RS27):


AT&T WilliamsF1 Team FW31 (Toyota RVX-09):


Brawn GP F1 Team BGP001 (Mercedes FO 108W):


Force India Formula One VJM02 (Mercedes FO 108W):


Other than the Brawn GP car, those are all of the cars that have been launched this year, I believe.

Edited by commadore183, 06 March 2009 - 06:43 PM.

[FinRedWing]

Wow,you two follow F1 even more than me. And kudos for starting this thread.
I try to watch the races & support my countrymen,but I usually find out the rule changes etc. just before the season.
Kimi's been off the booze and training hard,hopefully we'll see a motivated Räikkönen straight from the start.

[F.Michael]

Wow,you two follow F1 even more than me. And kudos for starting this thread.
I try to watch the races & support my countrymen,but I usually find out the rule changes etc. just before the season.
Kimi's been off the booze and training hard,hopefully we'll see a motivated Räikkönen straight from the start.

Who says booze is bad for ya?

Didn't appear to hurt these guys ----->

...or did it

[commadore183]

Oh boy...

Driver with most race wins to become 2009 champion

Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has approved a change to the points systems for this year’s drivers’ championship, which will see the title awarded to the driver with the most race wins. The rest of the standings, from second to last place, will be decided by the current points system.

From what I understand is that a driver can win, say, four races and DNF or fall outside of the points for the other races, he can still win the championship as long as no other driver have four or more wins, even if there are drivers with more points than him Lame. Why not make it so that the top 3 get more points.

Oh, wait...

The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council accepted the proposal for the new system from Formula One Management at a meeting in Paris on Tuesday. An alternative proposal to change the points awarded to drivers finishing in first, second and third place to 12, 9 and 7 points respectively was rejected.

Ugh, and I thought NASCAR's Chase for the Cup was bad, but at least it's still about who gets more points at the end of the season.

Combined with the lost of the French Grand Prix and no North American Grand Prix races, it is probably hard for a North American F1 fan to really care about this season.

Also, I figure I'll give an update about the USF1 program: it's no more, or, at least, no longer known as USF1, but now as USGPE (US Grand Prix Engineering), probably as a result of Bernie pitching a fit about the use of "F1", even though he does not own a trademark/copyright to it. Force India was asked to change their logo because the "I" in "FIF1" looked too much like "F1" for Bernie's liking. The website usf1.com now redirects you to usgpe.com.

[uk_redwing]

Shame Coulthard's retired now. Looks like I'll just be cheering for Jenson Button this season. Ive never really been a Hamilton fan cos I hate Mercedes.

[F.Michael]

Shame Coulthard's retired now. Looks like I'll just be cheering for Jenson Button this season. Ive never really been a Hamilton fan cos I hate Mercedes.

Not long ago it looked like JB, BAR-Honda, & DR were potential champs...Then Honda buys out the team from BAT, & sacks Richards

All downhill from there.

Getting rid of ciggy sponsorship was also a very foolish move (personally I thought the Lucky-Strike Hondas had the best looking liveries on the grid - same can be said for the Mild-Seven Renaults); the tobacco companies have always poured millions of $$$ into the sport...Look where the finances/sponsorship of F1 are today.

Edited by F.Michael, 18 March 2009 - 10:58 AM.

[commadore183]

Looks like the FIA are willing to scrap that damn "winner takes all" scoring system for this year, but are willing to instate it next year, though:

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/73810

There is this interesting bit in the article (from the FIA's statement on the new points system passing):

The statement said: "On 17 March, the FIA World Motor Sport Council unanimously rejected FOTA's proposed amendment to the points system for the Formula One Drivers' Championship. The 'winner takes all' proposal made by the commercial rights holder (who had been told that the teams were in favour) was then approved.

Now where would Bernie get the idea that all of the teams were in favor of this system? Did he lie to the FIA in this regard, or was it a misunderstanding? Or something else? Very interesting.

Either way, the points system will remain the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 system, instead of the "whoever has the most wins (regardless of points) is the champion" way.

[F.Michael]

Looks like the FIA are willing to scrap that damn "winner takes all" scoring system for this year, but are willing to instate it next year, though:

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/73810

There is this interesting bit in the article (from the FIA's statement on the new points system passing):



Now where would Bernie get the idea that all of the teams were in favor of this system? Did he lie to the FIA in this regard, or was it a misunderstanding? Or something else? Very interesting.

Either way, the points system will remain the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 system, instead of the "whoever has the most wins (regardless of points) is the champion" way.

Bernie is a senile old coot.

[FinRedWing]

Bernie is a senile old coot.

QFT. Although a rich one.
Thank god for the good old scoring system being used for one more season.

[commadore183]

http://www.formula1....009/3/9043.html

Looks like the FIA revised the driver numbers for 2009. Main changes are that Kimi and Felipe switch numbers at the request of Ferrari, thus making Felipe #3 and Kimi #4. Also, Toro Rosso has switched their number assignments between the Sebastians, with Bourdais taking #11, as he's the senior driver at STR, and rookie team mate Sebastian Buemi taking #12. The FIA also recognized that the Brawn GP team as a new manufacturer, thus making them #20 and #21.

Revised number assignments:

1 Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes (2008 FIA Formula One World Driver Champion)
2 Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes (team mate to Lewis Hamilton)
3 Felipe Massa, Ferrari (Ferrari won the World Constructors championship, and thus will get the #3 and #4 after McLaren)
4 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
5 Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber
6 Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber
7 Fernando Alonso, Renault
8 Nelson Piquet Jr, Renault
9 Jarno Trulli, Toyota
10 Timo Glock, Toyota
11 Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso-Ferrari
12 Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso Ferrari
14 Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault
15 Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault
16 Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota
17 Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota
19 Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes
20 Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India Mercedes
21 Jenson Button, Brawn-Mercedes
22 Rubens Barrichello, Brawn-Mercedes

[commadore183]

Well, it can't be Formula One without the obligatory rules protests:

Albert Park stewards have thrown out a protest against the much-talked-about diffusers on the Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams cars, leaving all three teams free to race their designs unchanged in this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

It all stems from the three teams' interpetation of the diffuser and rear crash structure rules.

Right now, all three teams will race this weekend, but the ruling is being appealed by the protesting teams (Ferrari, Red Bull, and Renault). The appeal will go to the FIA International Court of Appeals, but it will not be heard until after the Malaysian Grand Prix, which is about 2 weeks or so.

Edited by commadore183, 26 March 2009 - 12:24 PM.

[F.Michael]

Looks like there's controversy already: link.

F1 always manages to give me a laugh; 3 bottom feeders (Williams/Toyota/Brawn) appear to have an edge, & now some of the "big boys" aren't happy

Should make an interesting weekend

[F.Michael]

This reminds me of Ferrari's flexing front wing, & Honda's fuel cell pump...******* the lot'of them!

[uk_redwing]

Ferrari complain about everything though...

Woo F1 is back! It can be so dull sometimes but its always so damn addictive!

[commadore183]

Qualifying results

1) Jenson Button, Brawn-Mercedes
2) Rubens Barrichello, Brawn-Mercedes
3) Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault
4) Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber
5) Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota
6) Felipe Massa, Ferrari
7) Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
8) Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault
9) Nicke Heidfeld, BMW-Sauber
10) Fernando Alonso, Renault
11) Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota
12) Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes
13) Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari
14) Nelson Piquet Jr, Renault
15) Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India-Mercedes
16) Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes
17) Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso-Ferrari
18) Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes+
19) Timo Glock, Toyota*
20) Jarno Trulli, Toyota*

*Penalized after qualifying.
+ Changed gearbox, incurred 5 grid spot penalty for the race.

Full qualifying results here: http://www.formula1..../2009/805/6602/

EDIT: The Toyotas were sent to the back of the grid for violation of Article 3.15, which the rear wing element was showing extreme flexing. Also, Lewis Hamilton will start 18th after changing his gearbox. The engineers decided to change it after 4th gear broke during qualifying and are being cautious.

Edited by commadore183, 29 March 2009 - 05:58 PM.

[F.Michael]

EDIT: The Toyotas were sent to the back of the grid for violation of Article 3.15, which the rear wing element was showing extreme flexing. Also, Lewis Hamilton will start 20th after changing his gearbox. The engineers decided to change it after 4th gear broke during qualifying and are being cautious.

Wonder which of the 7 teams NOT using a modified diffuser dropped the dime on Toyota

Toyota F1 = NY Rangers...Lots of $$$ spent with little to nothing to show for it

Would be nice to see Brawn's boys finish 1st/2nd which would probably cause mass numbers of Honda execs in Tokyo commiting Seppuku