The Formula One Thread

[sospiro]

Good race in Canada but wrong result.    I wanted Fernando to win.

Ferrari should have brought Nando in sooner for tyres but the Maccas' tyres lasted better anyway. I thought we'd seen the last of Ron-smugmug-Dennis??

[Opus106]

From 2011, any driver whose best qualifying lap exceeds 107% of the fastest Q1 qualifying time will not be allowed to take part in the race. Under exceptional circumstances, however, which may include setting a suitable lap time in a free practice session, the stewards may permit the car to start the race. Should there be more than one driver accepted in this manner, the grid order will be determined by the stewards.

More.

[sospiro]

More.

Fuel draining
With immediate effect, if a sample of fuel is required after a practice session the car concerned must have first been driven back to the pits under its own power.


 

[Opus106]

Fuel draining
With immediate effect, if a sample of fuel is required after a practice session the car concerned must have first been driven back to the pits under its own power.


 

Prior to your post, I did not take notice of the words 'With immediate effect.' Good rule change, indeed.

[Lethevich]

I don't understand the 107% rule being introduced now, when there are already new teams who have been struggling with the no mid-season practicing rule. Isn't this just punishing the ones that need the most support?

[Lethevich]

It's been a long time since I've seen an F1 car upside-down. Usually the way they are built and the nature of many of the accidents keeps them quite effectively on the ground.

Amazing to see Webber walk away from it right away.

[Papy Oli]

frightening onboard pics when he takes off... 

[Marc]

frightening onboard pics when he takes off... 

Really?

http://www.youtube.com/v/Q5EDfCvhnQQ

Nice view of the beautiful sky.

I watched my first Formula 1 races in the early 70s, and they definitely caused somed nightmares.

Luckilly, the sport has changed, and Webber is now able to survive this.
In the early days that was almost impossible. I remember that almost any crash ended in a blistering fire .... those cars were like racing firebombs then.

[sospiro]

Webber was very lucky.

Well done Seb but it's about time the FIA sorted the Safety Car regs.  I'm surprised Alonso's helmet didn't give off steam like my pressure cooker does but he might yet score more points.

[Opus106]

I loved the comment from Horner after he congratulated Vettel on the win (and I might be paraphrasing):  Germany's best result for today.

[Opus106]

A wonderful comeback for Silverstone -- the best race of the season so far!

An entertaining football match last night, a fast race with plenty of overtaking this evening. Yes, tonight's final is going to be a downer.

[Lethevich]

F1 has been getting better and better since the years of (pre-retirement) Schumacher-induced boredom - somehow despite the fact that the number of impressive crashes has decreased from those times (remember when Monaco was a guaranteed pile-up every first lap?).

It was nice fun to watch, and I hope Alonso doesn't get too bitter about the penalty - I feel that he won't be able to seriously challenge for another championship until he quits whining about baggage that other drivers can just shrug off. Kobayashi has been great once again, and is slowly dispelling the previously unfortunate stat that Japanese race drivers in F1 tended to be quite hazardous to be around - either doing well or crashing out (Sato was definitive of this kind of driver).

[sospiro]

Great race & pleased for Webber but he needs to stop whining so publicly. "Not bad for the No. 2 driver" 

[sospiro]

Congrats Lewis. With a superior car, Red Bull are doing their level best to lose both WDC & WCC

Standings after Spa

1      Lewis Hamilton 182
2      Mark Webber 179
3     Sebastian Vettel 151
4     Jenson Button 147
5     Fernando Alonso 141
6     Felipe Massa 109
7     Robert Kubica 104
8     Nico Rosberg 102
9     Adrian Sutil 45
10    Michael Schumacher 44
11    Rubens Barrichello 30
12    Kamui Kobayashi 21
13    Vitaly Petrov 19
14    Vitantonio Liuzzi 12
15    Nico Hulkenberg 10
16    Sebastien Buemi 7
17    Pedro de la Rosa 6
18    Jaime Alguersuari 4
19    Heikki Kovalainen 0
20    Karun Chandhok 0
21    Lucas di Grassi 0
22    Jarno Trulli 0
23    Bruno Senna 0
24    Timo Glock 0
25    Sakon Yamamoto 0

[Lethevich]

Ferrari seem to be a wonderful curse to the best drivers at the moment. I hope Alonso doesn't go the way of Räikkönen.

Isn't it remarkable how some commenters suggested Button joining McLaren might have been a bad move due to potentially two top drivers being too big to work with one another, and yet it is currently this team that is looking the most at ease with each other among the majors.

[RJR]

Well, is it unusual that a Classical Music maniac is JUST as fanatical about F1?  Sacred Cantatas can't be heard when you're thundering down the Hangar Straight @ 200mph or high speed wheel jostling uphill into a completely blind Eau Rouge corner with a Ferrari less than a foot in front of you and an erratic rookie six inches off collision beside you.   
Formula One is fabulous racing.
For a while there, certainly before the last two or three seasons, it had become frumpy and predictable, it lost its drama and became like watching a procession of cars doing the same thing every two or three weeks.  Sad to say that for over a decade it became boring.     At the beginning of the milleneum I thought the introduction of Juan Pablo Montoya would spice things up, but it didn't.  F1 was spending stupid money trying to make things better, but F1 became pretty stupid itself.  The only saving grace over the last 15 years was Michael Schumaker forging himself the status of legend. 
Then something changed (again), and it wasn't just Lewis Hamiltons arrival.
New, exciting circuits like Valencia and a night-time race in Singapore.  New drivers who were hungry, Vettel, Albers (why was he dropped?), Hamilton, Kubica (watch out for him, he is FAST) and the rest...Nowadays, sometimes even a no hope car can win. 
Driver development is interesting too.  Massa, turning from a podgy young off-a-lot with Sauber in 2002 to a polished and focused professional with Ferarri in 2008.  Polands first ever F1 driver in Robert Kubica, putting to shame more experienced drivers who were expected to beat him....
2009 intrioduces a season with rule changes which will wipe the historical board.  Gone are the stupid groove tyres (which were introduced 12 years ago to slow the cars down!), and back come the slicks, making for faster need-to-control racing.  Slicks are back to make the cars faster  because the new aerodynamic rules slow the car down - but the aerodynamic changes mean less downforce, significantly increasing the chances of car overtaking.  Also introduced is an energy conservation system which will allow the cars to use a 'boost' button when they think it strategically necessary.  A similar feature can be found in Johnathan Palmers racing series, but bringing it to F1 really spices things up.
16 Days to go before the new season starts.  Can't wait.
What Classical Music would fit the character of F1?  Beethovens 5th at high tempo?  George Crumbs 'Black Angels'?  Last three minuites of Furtwanglers Beethoven 9?  Well, it has always troubled me, and I've not found something to fit yet.  Any suggestions would be terrific.


PS:  If no-one is interested in F1, too bad, for the coming Summer this post will be regular at least by me.

Two years later but the what hay. The final movement of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra might do the trick.

[Opus106]

The most depressing positive-sounding headline I have read: Toro Rosso aiming for eighth with 'unconventional' STR6

[mahler10th]

PS:  If no-one is interested in F1, too bad, for the coming Summer this post will be regular at least by me.

That was my first post...Well, what a load of blethers, I hardly got past Spain in the Calendar that year, and became conspicuous by absence the following year.

Ach well, a new season beckons...AND A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT KIND OF RACING IT WILL BE...

[mahler10th]

What a wierd looking F1 car this season.
1999 meets 1971?

[Opus106]

Looks like Lady Luck is smiling at Senna, Jr.



Renault race driver Robert Kubica has been diagnosed with multiple fractures to his right arm, leg and hand after suffering a high-speed accident on Sunday while competing in the Ronde di Andora Rally in Italy.

Kubica, a regular in rallying events alongside his F1 career, was airlifted from the scene of the crash and has been undergoing surgery at the Santa Corona Hospital in Pietra Ligure. His co-driver Jakub Gerber was unhurt.

It means Kubica will be forced to miss this week’s Formula One test session at Jerez in Spain, and also puts him in doubt for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix next month. Top of the list to stand in for the Pole will be Bruno Senna, who raced for HRT last season and was announced as a Renault third driver earlier this week.

Reports suggest that Kubica lost control of his Skodia Fabia and hit a wall during Sunday’s opening rally stage. Renault are expected to release more details on his condition later on Sunday.

Formula1.com