The official Formula 1 thread

[hansrubens]

Yeah races are always interesting when rain is involved.

[willski]

After today, I have to say, that even as a beginning racing driver (I race Formula 2000 cars), I could have done better than Nelson Piquet Jr.'s atrocious performance. He ran over Rosberg's wing, changed to dry hards to match Alonso, and promptly steered into a wall.

 

Really, I can't understand why Renault put him in the car, and I can't believe they haven't at least given the third driver a shot. He has been completely atrocious all season, and I think it may be a matter of time until the FIA revoke his Super License.

 

On top of that, my dislike for Kimi Raikkonen grew even more today when he rear-ended Sutil, who was having the best race of the year for Force India. At least Kimi finished out of the points, but geez. He gets off relatively spot free with just a new wing and Sutil's back suspension breaks. But props to Massa for tearing it up again. I think he has a case for #1 driver next year at Ferrari, especially if Kimi's performance continues to slip.

 

Monaco in the rain really is no fun to watch anymore, since there is no Senna. Wouldn't it have been something to see him out there in the wet with his dry tires on? The man was driving machine, especially at Monaco.

[TheStig]

^Simple, because Alonso wanted a teammate he knew wouldn't get favorited at Renault. It was part of his deal with them for coming back.

 

There's a whole article about him in the latest Road and Track if you guys want to check it out. It might be online, it explains his whole team switching situation pretty well.

[willski]

^Simple, because Alonso wanted a teammate he knew wouldn't get favorited at Renault. It was part of his deal with them for coming back.

 

There's a whole article about him in the latest Road and Track if you guys want to check it out. It might be online, it explains his whole team switching situation pretty well.

 

Well obviously, after last year at McLaren... I read the article, but it was 3 or so weeks ago and I don't recall that much of it.

 

But really, I could do a better job than Nelson has thus far, he's got an easier job on the racetrack than I do! He hasn't got any manual shifting at all, just the semi-auto gearbox.

 

Ok, so his car goes a bit faster than mine...but still, that accident at Monaco just made me mad at how badly he is driving. It's almost like he's trying to give his seat away.

[TheStig]

Lewis just totally ruined his and Kimi's race by running into him under a red pit light. He took both of them out and the front wing off of one of the Saubers. Lets hope Massa can do something, but it looks like we might see another team besides Mercedes and Ferrari win a race for the first time in more than a year.

[willski]

It was a Williams wing. Nico Rosberg ran into the back of Lewis.

 

 

 

Yes, Kubica wins and moves to the world championship lead! Go BMW!

 

 

The worst part is, if Kubica hadn't had that terrible race in Australia, he'd be dominating the rest of the field.

 

 

Kubica winning+Raikkonen finishing out of the points for the 2nd straight GP=good race!

[Scaparri]

Yeah, I'm a bit dumbfounded right now. Sauber has been growing stronger in recent seasons, but I don't think anybody would have bet money a Sauber would be leading the standings after 7 grand prix.

 

And what a story with Kubica... to get his first win at the track where he had his horrendous shunt last year. That was just too great for me. I'll never forget the horror of seeing that crash last year.

 

And I'm going to nominate Felipe Massa as the early favorite for "Pass of the Year." My jaw slammed the ground when I saw him pwn both Kovalainen and Button (or was it Barrichello?) in the Casino Hairpin. That was absolutely amazing.

 

I'm with you, Willski. I personally don't dislike Raikkonen or any of the other McLaren and Ferrari drivers, but it's nice to see the less successful teams do so well. It was great to see Coulthard back on the podium.

[PoisonedPirate]

I could have done better than Nelson Piquet Jr.'s atrocious performance. He ran over Rosberg's wing, changed to dry hards to match Alonso, and promptly steered into a wall.

 

lol!

 

 

I don't understand the pit lane rule. It just seems really stupid and pretty much was the reason for the big crash. Why do they still have it or is there some big plus side that I'm missing out on.

 

Also what was with the safety car? I'm sure they didn't need it because the track was clear but maybe I'm missing out on something again

[hansrubens]

This weekend Magny Cours is up.

 

In Qualifying for GP2 Bruno Senna (Ayrton's Nephew) crashed his car and get Pole Position at the same time. Well I thought that was funny.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_2Ib1PrVTM

[hansrubens]

Friday's Practise results.

 

1 5 F. Alonso Renault 1:15.778 37

2 2 F. Massa Ferrari 1:15.854 0:00.076 24

3 1 K. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:15.999 0:00.221 42

4 22 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:16.232 0:00.454 29

5 15 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.298 0:00.520 42

6 4 R. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:16.317 0:00.539 35

7 23 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:16.340 0:00.562 36

8 3 N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:16.458 0:00.680 43

9 6 N. Piquet Renault 1:16.543 0:00.765 39

10 9 D. Coulthard Red Bull Racing 1:16.572 0:00.794 36

11 7 N. Rosberg Williams 1:16.682 0:00.904 42

12 11 J. Trulli Toyota 1:16.743 0:00.965 43

13 14 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.758 0:00.980 42

14 8 K. Nakajima Williams 1:17.002 0:01.224 32

15 12 T. Glock Toyota 1:17.092 0:01.314 39

16 10 M. Webber Red Bull Racing 1:17.106 0:01.328 38

17 16 J. Button Honda 1:17.244 0:01.466 37

18 21 G. Fisichella Force India F1 Team 1:17.394 0:01.616 42

19 17 R. Barrichello Honda 1:17.591 0:01.813 27

20 20 A. Sutil Force India F1 Team 1:17.868 0:02.090 33

 

Let's hope that it's going to be an interesting race on sunday.

[Scaparri]

This weekend Magny Cours is up.

 

In Qualifying for GP2 Bruno Senna (Ayrton's Nephew) crashed his car and get Pole Position at the same time. Well I thought that was funny.

 

I'm not sure anybody will ever top Patrick Carpentier in 1999. After crossing the finish line to give him the pole for the Champ Car race at Road America, he went into turn 1 and THIS happened:

 

[hansrubens]

^

 

Yeah that's a nice one.

 

I can't believe that europe is trying to save their drivers while America still races in that old fashioned cars.

 

I mean America is so strict on safety and they let their drivers suffer, while Europe let their civilians suffer and keep their drivers safe.

 

Isn't that a weird difference.

[Scaparri]

^I'm not really sure what you mean, unless you are referring to Nascar and stock car racing.

 

As far as Indycars go, there isn't really anything old fashioned about them, and for what they are doing, they are EXTREMELY safe. The cars go through insane amounts of safe testing and enhancements. That's why guys like Ryan Briscoe and Kenny Brack have survived the crashes they have. Devices like HANS and SAFER barriers were developed in America and almost instantly implemented into major open wheel racing here.

 

Nascar, on the other hand, is a completely different story.

[PoisonedPirate]

I thought that Hamilton was 13th because of the 10 grid penaulty he was given?

[hansrubens]

^I'm not really sure what you mean, unless you are referring to Nascar and stock car racing.

 

As far as Indycars go, there isn't really anything old fashioned about them, and for what they are doing, they are EXTREMELY safe. The cars go through insane amounts of safe testing and enhancements. That's why guys like Ryan Briscoe and Kenny Brack have survived the crashes they have. Devices like HANS and SAFER barriers were developed in America and almost instantly implemented into major open wheel racing here.

 

Nascar, on the other hand, is a completely different story.

 

Yeah I agree with you but the circuits in europe are much safer than the circuits in the USA. But safe is in most of the times also more boring.

 

In the mid 90's they just keep on adding Chicanes and stuff to slow the cars down and now we have the most high tech circuits were they can't overtake anymore.

[hansrubens]

Next weekend is the Belgian GP. It's one of the most challenging circuits in the world.

 

The corner that made this circuit famous is Eau Rouge.

 

In F1 this corner can be taken flat out but not always with a happy ending.

 

See next video....

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q56wnSaJ4ZY

[hansrubens]

First practice session of the Belgian GP.

 

Looks like the Ferrari drivers are very fast. Massa is determined to score a good result here to keep his title chances alive.

 

2008 FORMULA 1 ING BELGIAN GRAND PRIXPos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:47.284 26

2 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:47.623 0.339 26

3 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:47.878 0.594 27

4 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:47.932 0.648 24

5 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:48.104 0.820 26

6 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:48.428 1.144 29

7 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 1:48.557 1.273 31

8 15 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 1:48.958 1.674 24

9 12 Timo Glock Toyota 1:48.997 1.713 26

10 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 1:49.068 1.784 25

11 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:49.139 1.855 25

12 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:49.185 1.901 26

13 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:49.611 2.327 30

14 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:49.625 2.341 14

15 9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:49.849 2.565 18

16 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:49.986 2.702 27

17 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:50.117 2.833 19

18 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:50.125 2.841 30

19 16 Jenson Button Honda 1:50.464 3.180 25

20 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:50.905 3.621 25

[hansrubens]

It was a very interesting Belgian GP with a controversial end.

 

Raikkonen was leading Hamilton with just two laps to go when it starts to rain. Hamilton was much quicker and he tried to overtake Kimi in the last chicane but they touched and Hamilton had to cut the chicane and took the lead. (Starts on the 50th second of the video)

 

The basic rule is when you cut the track and gain a position you must give it back. That was exactly what Hamilton did and overtook Kimi on the next corner.

 

The stewards decided after the race that he didn't do it on the right way and gave him a penalty of 25 seconds.

 

I found it a weird decision and I think they are just helping Ferrari. Anyway it was a great race but sometimes I think that it is forbidden to overtake.

 

SpeedTV

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74TZngbIS9I

[Scaparri]

If the FIA does not reverse this decision, I will not watch another F1 race for the rest of the year and will probably lose almost all of my interest in the series; not that the FIA cares if an American won't watch an F1 race.

 

But seriously, when you have three-time world champ, Niki Lauda, chastising the organization and saying that it is the worst decision in F1 history, you know they screwed up.

[verticalzero]

F1 like Football is fixed. I bet they don't want a "Black" guy to win the F1 Championship

[TheStig]

I hate Lewis Hamilton, but I agree that it was a stupid call to say he didn't give the position back. I mean he did, then passed Kimi again, then the Williams got in the way, and Kimi got by, then passed, then finally crashed! Kimi is my driver, and I'm a Ferrari fan, but I really think that was a bad call and an obviously bad one to anybody with eyes. Give McLaren the win, Lewis did it right.

 

And boy, what a start it was! I was surprised that Sebastian Bourdois didn't change the nose of his car and still ran terrifically! And smart move on BWM's part to throw the semi-wet tires on Nick's car at the end there.

[TheStig]

Sooooooooooo Vettel just won the Italian Grand Prix!!!!

 

I'm happy for him, he's one of my favorite drivers.

[Scaparri]

With the ruling coming in on the Spa controversy, it's official: Formula 1 is dead to me. I don't care who you support, it seems plain as day to me that the officials that day severely screwed up and I can't help but question their motives. Lewis and Kimi went into the Bus Stop side-by-side, and after cutting the chicance, Lewis let Kimi completely go by. How did he not "sufficiently surrender the advantage gained?"

 

I understand that the FIA laws don't allow appeals to these types of penalties. I think it's pretty stupid, but I understand. However, I don't understand why a penalty this harsh was assessed in the first place. This single penalty seriously jeopardizes the integrity of Formula 1. And quite frankly, for me, I no longer feel the competition is fair and legitimate because of it. So with that said, I am done with F1 until something happens that shows me the operations have changed.

[hansrubens]

^

 

Instead of a positive change things are getting worse.

 

It really seams that the FIA is helping Felipe Massa to his first title.

 

He was involved in two crashed and both times the blame was on him but he only got one drive through penalty. They even gave Bourdais a 25 second penalty after the race so Massa took two points instead of one.

 

All these problems could be fixed if they re-introduce the gravel pits.

When there is gravel the drivers will be more careful and brake earlier.

 

Well if anyone is still interested in the video of all these incidents.....

 

Official FIA footage

 

I'm very disappointed in F1 right now but I don't quit watching it.

[hansrubens]

.....And justice for all.

 

Lewis Hamilton is the new World Champion.He needed to finish in 5th position in yesterday's Brazilian GP and that is exactly what he did and took the championship by one point.