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F1 2009 megathread

Re: New Q rules?

FOTA to discuss new qualifying format next month.

Interesting... One proposal is to have all cars to jump on track at the same time with the same amount of fuel and then drive for 14 laps, the slowest lapping driver being eliminated each lap, following a run for pole when the final six have been reached. I personally think this could definately spice qualifying up... Can you imagine a front runner having an off and having to start near the back? Could definately mix the field up... I think it's a great idea myself. Makes it so not the lightest car on track automatically goes to pole, makes it so the consistently quick car heads to pole. Another proposal is a championship point goes to the pole sitter as well as some prize money.
I dunno. The old Q rules were working just fine for some of us while still keeping the drama going for everyone. I'm not entirely opposed to the change if the teams can live with it. I would think it must be maddening to the engineers and team owners who are refining their strategy every day to have it all tossed into a cocked hat every year or 2. But this change aims at upping the entertainment value in the vein of change for change's sake.

I suppose Bernie could argue that it's really necessary for the show; I mean it is about the show, not about true competition on an unchanging playing field like (relatively speaking) stick and ball games. No one argues with that comparison do they?

What's next? drivers have to wear ski boots, an eye patch and boxing gloves? :rolleyes: I prefer keeping at least some stability to the rules to make it easier on the competitors. I do agree with a point and money for pole though. JMHO.
 
SebastienBuemi_1527839.jpg


STR Co-Owner says "Buemi is likely."

What the shit, lame. Buemi managed 6th in GP2 last year, went slowest of all three drivers at Barcelona, and is obviously the most inexperienced of the three, yet Dietrich Mateschitz, co-owner of STR, says Sebastien Buemi is very likely to end up at STR in 2009. This puts a damper on my hopes to see Sea Bass and Taku at STR in 09. :\




f1-2008-gen-tm-1320.jpg


Webber's Surgery a Success.

Everything went well for Mark Webber after his biking accident when a car apparently ran into him. While Webber is out for the rest of testing, reports are saying that he will be ready for Melbourne.
 
Re: Poor Bourdais

yet Dietrich Mateschitz, co-owner of STR, says Sebastien Buemi is very likely to end up at STR in 2009. This puts a damper on my hopes to see Sea Bass and Taku at STR in 09. :\
Well then, I guess this news just might be the final nail in Bourdais' coffin? I was kinda hoping Gerhard was more bark than bite and that his relatively positive reactions to SeaBass coming on strong in the 2nd half of the season would bode well for Bourdais getting another season.

And Takumo probably has some money'd connections? Just guessing. There's no more rumors about Sato bringing Honda engines/KERS to STR is there?

In any case, it ain't lookin' good for our boy Bourdais. :mad:
 
Re: Poor Bourdais

Well then, I guess this news just might be the final nail in Bourdais' coffin? I was kinda hoping Gerhard was more bark than bite and that his relatively positive reactions to SeaBass coming on strong in the 2nd half of the season would bode well for Bourdais getting another season.

And Takumo probably has some money'd connections? Just guessing. There's no more rumors about Sato bringing Honda engines/KERS to STR is there?

In any case, it ain't lookin' good for our boy Bourdais. :mad:

I haven't heard any rumors of Sato bringing Honda engines and KERS systems to STR, but I think you're right... This latest decision by Red Bull very well could put SeaBass in danger, but at the same accord, it very well could give him the seat. Red Bull can afford to run STR without the aid of outside sponsorship, and if money is no longer an object, it's very possible that Bourdais could retain his seat at STR in 09. The whole Buemi thing is still beyond me--I can't imagine why STR wouldn't want Bourdais and Sato as their drivers, as Bourdais brings championship experience while Sato offers a history of Formula 1 experience, but I guess nowadays its all the rage to pickup a young and rising star. If you look at it, all the teams save Ferrari have hot young drivers at the helm-- Hamboy and Kovy @ McLaren, Bobby the Bowler @ BMW, Vettel @ Redbull, Piqrash @ Renault, Kazoo and Nico @ Williams, Sutil @ Force India, Glock @ Toyota, while Buemi is gunning for STR and Senna / di Grassi are shooting for Honda.
 
Re: STR

Red Bull can afford to run STR without the aid of outside sponsorship, and if money is no longer an object, it's very possible that Bourdais could retain his seat at STR in 09.
Hmmmm, could be. I hope you're right. I'd hate to give up my Rockstar white but if it would help, I'd switch to Red Bull. :smile:

As for Buemi, yeah, I don't know about him. But he's been the test driver, so they've had a good look at him for a year. I'd guess that has to be worth something. Maybe they asked him to test/do some stuff recently that slowed him down? Something is going on behind the scenes; whether it's skullduggery or not, that's the question.

As for Takumo, he got better at the end, but for some, he's always been a question mark; at the very least, his early days' reputation still haunts him.

And as for the topic of Youth............whew, now there's a bottomless discussion abyss. Don't think I'll go there........at least not today.
 
2008 Team budget.

Toyota 445.6m

Mclaren 433.3m

Ferrari 414.9m

Honda 398.1m

Renault 393.8m

Bmw 366.8m

Red Bull 164.7m

Williams 160.6m

Toro Rosso 128.2m

Force Ind 121.8m

S Aguri 45.6

It is amazing with McLaren, with 100 mill fine and they still able to out spend Ferrari.

Honda.... What a shame.

And I didn't know Williams' recent year budget is that small. Feel kinda sorry for them.
 
In case you haven't seen this video.


The effort to drive the old F1 car is a lot more physical.

Also, on fast corners, modern F1 car is clearly faster, but on tight corner, older car is faster. Check out the last corner, seems like the Ferrari is faster, but Honda pulled through the last corner and finished the lap faster.

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2008 Team budget.

Toyota 445.6m

Mclaren 433.3m

Ferrari 414.9m

Honda 398.1m

Renault 393.8m

Bmw 366.8m

Red Bull 164.7m

Williams 160.6m

Toro Rosso 128.2m

Force Ind 121.8m

S Aguri 45.6

It is amazing with McLaren, with 100 mill fine and they still able to out spend Ferrari.

Honda.... What a shame.

And I didn't know Williams' recent year budget is that small. Feel kinda sorry for them.

This is an interesting post. I believe Williams budget, as with any team who doesn't build their own engines is smaller than those who do by a wide margin.
 
Kovalainen says strategy cost him wins
3 December 2008 by Keith Collantine

Heikki Kovalainen believes McLaren’s approach to the 2008 season cost him race wins.

In a candid interview with the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell, Kovalainen has confirmed that some behind-the-scenes goings-on during his first season with McLaren often made “good results impossible”.

“Only once was I lighter (on fuel) than Lewis,” said Kovalainen, referring to qualifying, “and that was at Silverstone, where I was on the pole.

“In all the other qualifyings I was fuelled more heavily. I was often the heaviest guy in the top six or seven.

“Obviously this has an effect also in the race,” he insisted, pointing out the compromise in track position, tyre wear, and time lost in traffic.

When rumours began gathering pace that Kovalainen’s seemingly lacklustre performances this year might threaten his seat for 2009, the Finn said he had no doubt about his position.

“The team knew exactly what was taking place,” he said. “If I had been at the front more often, then I would have won more frequently.

“So that’s something we have to look at for the coming year,” Kovalainen said.



So much about him and ham being equal...
 
So much about him and ham being equal...

They are only equal if both drivers are similar with their skills.

Kov is no where near Hamo.

Last year were different story, Hemo and Alonso where on par, even with that, Alonso had the upper hand with the team until Hamo caught up.
 
They are only equal if both drivers are similar with their skills.

Kov is no where near Hamo.

Last year were different story, Hemo and Alonso where on par, even with that, Alonso had the upper hand with the team until Hamo caught up.

I don't think it's really fair to say Kovy isn't "anywhere near" Hamster. Throw Hamilton in the absolutely abysmal R27 Renault and see how he does... and if Hamilton really was fueled lighter most races, the outcomes make sense. Do I think Hamilton is better than Kovalinen? Sure. Do I think he's leaps and bounds better? Not even slightly.
 
I don't think it's really fair to say Kovy isn't "anywhere near" Hamster. Throw Hamilton in the absolutely abysmal R27 Renault and see how he does... and if Hamilton really was fueled lighter most races, the outcomes make sense. Do I think Hamilton is better than Kovalinen? Sure. Do I think he's leaps and bounds better? Not even slightly.

Kov was no where near Hamo during the fire half of the season at McLaren, but Hamo was pertty much 99% of Alonso last year.
 
I don't think it's really fair to say Kovy isn't "anywhere near" Hamster. Throw Hamilton in the absolutely abysmal R27 Renault and see how he does... and if Hamilton really was fueled lighter most races, the outcomes make sense. Do I think Hamilton is better than Kovalinen? Sure. Do I think he's leaps and bounds better? Not even slightly.

I still don't understand the bias against Hamo in this forum. I'm not actually a fan, but it seems there is just so much Hamo bashing going on that often doesn't make sense to me. I know I'm not the first to ask this, but why exactly is he so reviled?

With regard to him being leaps and bounds better than Kov, at this level, would you really say anyone is leaps and bounds above? Hasn't finishing position in F1 almost always had as much to do with your ride as that person behind the wheel? And for that matter, how well your ride matches your particular driving style?

In terms of fuel, I don't think the outcome "makes sense" simply based on lightness, does it? If fuel strategy was so simple, would it not be in McLaren's best interest to have Kov be more competitive? Why then not put 1 lap more fuel for Q3 to properly stack the stops and be done with it? Yet to my eyes, many times Kov fell off the pace and couldn't stay with the leaders, yet first pit was in line with the other front runners.

Anyway, I found it interesting to hear his comments; a sign of frustration to be sure. Wish I could say I was looking forward to '09, but the departure of Honda has diminished my enthusiasm. :frown:
 
Re: New Rules

where's Bill Mahrer when you need him? :rolleyes: Some pretty interesting stuff. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21039.html. No testing. No refueling after 2010. Need to baby the engines. on and on. But none sound as sweeping as the no tire change rule that we suffered through.

Well, I must be having an off day and need someone to slap me, because I'm not feeling terribly skeptical of these new rules. And the good news is that there doesn't seem to be any highly vocal nay-sayers..........yet. I guess the engine de-tuning thing seems to have quieted Ferrari. So I'll just say that, right now, I choose to believe this can work for the "good" (continuation) of F-1 and that the show won't look much different. After all, it's all relative as I can personally attest to, being firmly planted in mid-pack. :redface:

2 cents.
 
Re: New Rules

where's Bill Mahrer when you need him? :rolleyes: Some pretty interesting stuff. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21039.html. No testing. No refueling after 2010. Need to baby the engines. on and on. But none sound as sweeping as the no tire change rule that we suffered through.

Well, I must be having an off day and need someone to slap me, because I'm not feeling terribly skeptical of these new rules. And the good news is that there doesn't seem to be any highly vocal nay-sayers..........yet. I guess the engine de-tuning thing seems to have quieted Ferrari. So I'll just say that, right now, I choose to believe this can work for the "good" (continuation) of F-1 and that the show won't look much different. After all, it's all relative as I can personally attest to, being firmly planted in mid-pack. :redface:

2 cents.
They did "no refueling" for many years until 1994 to increase the "excitement."

No testing is not good, but will be really really cool. This way, no one knows any thing until the day of practice. I like that.
 
Re: Rubens: An A for effort

I wonder if he would even race for no salary, like Ayrton Senna was willing to race a while back, was it for Williams? I really hope something gets done and he gets to race. I still believe he has what it takes.

The question is not about salary, is about the sponsorship the driver can bring to the team.

RB is a great guy and deserves another chance, but Bruno can bring more money because of his name.

Be honest with you guys, I hope Honda changes their mind and continue the team under a different approach. Perhaps sell part of the team or continue to supply engines.

I can't see why the engines will cost them that much money simply because the design freeze.

Honda needs to keep their name in the sport, get rid of the green BS and find some backers/sponsors.

Handing a team over to any buyers when they supposedly came up with a great package for next season is just flat out stupid. When they won the championship as an engine suppliers, their world wide sales were much lower, and the impact of the sport did almost nothing for their European and S. America market, and yet they stuck around. Perhaps due to the reason that they're winning.

The root for Honda is racing. Soichiro Honda raced in F1 when he had no money, before he build cars- as a motorcycle company.
 
Honda set to reveal buyer search details (from Autosport)

Honda Racing are expected to reveal details about the progress of their search for a new buyer for the team in the New Year, having confirmed that there has been a 'high level' of interest in the Brackley-based outfit.

CEO Nick Fry and team principal Ross Brawn have been working flat out to find a new owner since Honda's shock announcement earlier this month that they were withdrawing from F1.

It is understood that there have been discussions with various interested parties regarding a takeover of the team.

The outcome of the talks depend not only on the financial terms of a deal, but future management and organisational plans too.

No firm details of who the interested parties are have been revealed, but the state of discussions has left Fry optimistic that the team can go public with developments after the Christmas period.

"We have had a high level of interest in the team since Honda Motor Co. announced their withdrawal from Formula One," Fry told autosport.com.

"Since that time, Ross and I have been engaged in ongoing discussions with Ponyboy from NSXPrime and several other less serious potential new owners who have expressed an interest in purchasing the team."

Fry had said in the immediate wake of Honda's exit announcement that there needed to be serious interest from buyers by Christmas if they were to have a realistic chance of starting the season in Australia.

The fact that discussions with buyers are at an advanced stage is a cause for optimism, and Fry has confirmed that work is ongoing with the team's new car - the first to be created under the leadership of Brawn.

"Work on the development and build of our 2009 car continues during the next few weeks to ensure that our objective of being on the grid at Melbourne at the end of March will be achieved," he explained.


I'll be sure to let you guys know how it goes. ;)
 
Re: OK, now we're getting somewhere

"Since that time, Ross and I have been engaged in ongoing discussions with Ponyboy from NSXPrime............
The fact that discussions with buyers are at an advanced stage is a cause for optimism, ............

I'll be sure to let you guys know how it goes.
I've always said it was bad management. With the right management team doing just what they do best and nothing more, this could work.:tongue:

I'll work on P.R. and snappy gonzo style race reporting. :biggrin: Peter Windsor ain't got nothing on me. :rolleyes:
 
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