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a new season has begun - with some new faces on the podium! :D :thumbs:
Brawn GP did a nice job!
Vettel vs. Kubica - could have been better ;)
KERS - a nice new feature
let us see how this season continues! maybe not so :couchsleep: as it was the last years
:cheers:
Yeah it was a shame about Vettel and Kubica with only 3 laps to go. Mario Thiessen from BMW implied that Brawn should have been concerned if Kubica had been able to pass Vettel safely. The 10-place grid penalty for the Malaysian Grand Prix that Vettel has received seems harsh to me.
Also, Trulli's penalty seems strange to me. I'm not feeling bitter about it just because Hamilton was able to gain another place, it just seems a strange rule that if you mess up behind the safety car, you're not allowed to drive ahead back to your rightful place. Unfortunately, they didn't broadcast Trulli's mistake here, so I don't know how much "time" he lost, but he couldn't have lost too much if he was able to get back to where he thought he should be, unscathed.
I'm not sure KERS is making an awful lot of difference. At the start of the race, it was hard to say for sure if it gave a significant boost because Barichello's problem caused congestion. The seven cars running KERS in this race had spectacularly lacklustre performances overall though.
Overall it seemed like the kind of race where a lot of people got lucky due to other's mistakes. Exciting nonetheless and I hope Brawn GP continue to succeed!
edit: I forgot to mention, Sebastien Buemi did a great job in his first race!
I was pleased to see JB get the flag. Well deserved after putting up with Honda to the death. And ol' Ruben on the podium and still giving a bit of stick. Strange about the TOY boy tho', still can't figure that one, mebbe just another of the FIA's obscure rules.. Mind you tho', Ross Brawn getting backed by the "Golden Boy" (or should it be Golden B*lls!!!) may just be a lethal combination cos Branson has a lot of good luck with most things he gets involved with. Never could figure why....
Still, high hopes for an exciting season and early days for the developement of all the new rules. KERS ain't that new, been tried in the US if I remember but mebbe alright for a lite weight driver but that weight penalty for some of them where every gram is measured and trimmed? Think that's a wait and see mebbe.
A Formula 1 thread! This is a good sign. Perhaps intelligent life exists on the Web after all.
:thumbs:
In the States it's still difficult to follow Formula 1 on television, because actual broadcasts of the sport don't exist over here: one has to have a cable subscription, but I find that to be money ill spent. "Hundreds of channels and still nothing's on."
:(
My enthusiasm for the sport, which has waxed and waned over the decades, began in the early 1960s and culminated in 1980 with the one and only Formula 1 race I've ever attended: the Long Beach Grand Prix, Nelson Piquet winning. Since then -- especially in light of the medieval, stultifying and whimsical Ecclestone/Mosley lock on the sport -- I've been merely an occasional fan.
:rolleyes:
But I shall henceforth look to this thread for news! I'm very glad it's here.
:)
=^..^=
Welcome Flyvapnet!
How did you like being track-side on a race day? I've only ever been to a testing session (Silverstone last year) but that was very exciting indeed - getting to see the cars and drivers in the flesh was a treat! I must admit though, I do prefer watching the action on TV, with all the onboard footage and always being where the action is.
It doesn't sound like you caught the first race of the 2009 season? If not, you missed a great race and if it was anything to go by it should be a great season, so try and tune in for the rest.
I think the tyres had a big impact on the race. Very strange that the two compounds were so very different.
I think KERS will make a bigger diference on the power tracks and the ones with longer straights where the push to pass will help a lot, and the big stops will regenerate the KERS system faster.
The two tyre compounds have been chosen specifically to be further apart than the hard vs. soft from last season. The whole reasoning was to make it more interesting because it is tougher for the teams to choose when to use each set.
Also, generating the energy quicker for your KERS battery might not help that much because the regulations state you can only boost for 6.6 seconds per lap. As long as you've got it when you want it, that's all that counts.
Watching Kimi, it seemed he was wasting his KERS, mostly, or mebbe hadn't got the hang of it. Didn't get much of a view on how the KERS cars were using theirs tho'. Nice to see the return of slicks and the 2 grade difference in compounds adds an extra "technical guesswork" element so maybe the smaller teams can get some extra luck with this. As a long term follower of F1 and one time competitor/wannabe in lower grades of motorsport, and having been briefly involved with some of the technical stuff, my interest is being revitalised this season and it will be nice to see some of the more sober drivers having a go or taking a risk and mebbe even losing it all and evening the odds somewhat can only be good though I must admit, I miss the "Fantasy Island" technical stuff which came with the freedom which produced the Lotuses of yore. Keeping the cost down can only be good, but too much rigidity in the regs takes away a lot of the appeal of this unique sport.
And there are plenty of websites now putting out the racing in full more or less so viewing is not tied to those paying exhorbitant cable fees. Nice to see the Beeb doing it as well and IPlayer is useful for those without a scheduler or even for getting it to friends not in the correct internet area. :D
Thanks for your kind welcome, alpha! Indeed, attending that Formula 1 race was a thrill. We spent four days there, having driven down the U.S. west coast from Portland in Oregon to Long Beach in California in my trusty Volvo 142. Whilst we were eating breakfast at a nearby restaurant, Dan Gurney and Phil Hill came in and sat at the adjacent table: a good omen, it seemed to us.
We then decided to walk the course; and whilst doing so, Emerson Fittipaldi came jogging past and flashed us a big smile. It was good to see these famous drivers in the flesh! On race day itself, the most exciting lap for us was the first: the cars, still in a group, came past at full throttle in an ear-splitting roar -- the air filling with the smell of, shall we say, products of combustion.
Unfortunately, the finish and start lines were on opposite sides of the course; so we didn't get to see the standing start. (We had seats near the finish line.) So I can't but agree with you, that television is the superior way to actually watch such a race -- much like golf, ironically.
:D
=^..^=
Lewis Hamilton and McLaren have been disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix for intentionally misleading the stewards regarding the controversy with Jarno Trulli behind the safety car in the closing stages of the race.
Link
Quote:
"We could not rule out further action at this stage," an (FIA) spokesman said after announcing the decision to strip Hamilton of third place and the six world championship points.
Thanks for the linky Alpha. I didn't catch the incident but no doubt this will raise some further controversy and we'll be reading and seeing more of this to make our own judgement. I know the FIA do monitor all the transmissions as I was involved with some of the original data and radio TX/RX work for the FIA and other bodies as well as a couple of the teams. Had a great time with one team in particular and still keep in touch with one wellknown boss who used to race stupid YANK Tanks :D:thumbs:
Hmm... well, having watched the Youtube stuff and read all the stories on http://msn.planetf1.com/news/0,18953,3429,00.html I think all the stewards should have to do a 5 hour exam on the rules cos some of them seem a bit biased. This is just another confused decision and a quite harsh penalty imposed by an interpretation of confusing rules by people who should be, given their powers, much better trained and is putting off many fans who are potentially money earners for the sport. Past time the FIA had more driver representation at the track and among the stewards and clarified some of their complex rules and took these powers away from poorly trained stewards. I think Lewis was terrified by a previous hoohah and both he and Trulli were confused by the situation and these "instant" decisons should be held off till all the technical info, and there is loads of it, can be interpreted after the bruhaha has died down. And make the rules non interpretable till ALL the evidence is heard and seen.
Latest on this is Hamilton has lost his place and could be kicked out for the rest of the season for this now IF THAT's not Freaking VERY Biased I don't what is.
Another win for Jenson and Brawn GP! It's a shame the race couldn't continue after the red flags but it was exciting while it lasted.
and the leaders like Ferrari and McLaren do not have the performance as they usually have...
yes, a great win for Button and Brawn! But Timo Glock did also a great job with his Toyota and selecting the right tires for the right situation on the track ;)
Kimi gave up - it made no sense to continue the race under these circumstances - too much water on the track and it got to dark - they started the race at 5:00 pm local time...
all in all a nice grand prix!
Oh, I think you mean http://www.myboinc.com/FormulaBoinc/ ))))
Way to go JB :guntotin:. It's so good to see he can now prove his skill and competence in a race winning chassis. I know it's pretty close across Toyota/BMW (maybe)/Williams/RBR but seems even in the wet, the chassis handles well and is superior certainly to the Toy in wet, or super wet/monsoon conditions as in Malaysia/Singapore or most places round that area. But looks like Bernie and the TV companies have it badly wrong with this stupid 'late' local starting time and I can't really see the logic as time zones are a fact of life and most fans watch races at whatever time either when it happens or via repeats or don't they know most EU and US have recorders of some description? Even new fans can watch in full on the web somewhere or catch the repeats at more normal times. I just feel a bit sorry for Lewis that he doesn't stand up for his own views a bit more as the last incident in OZ showed but I can't help feeling there is more to the story and maybe the team forced a loyal employee to do 'the falling on your sword' trick. But until the FIA and Charlie W and the rest of the hierarchy, mebbe including the teams?, allow full transparency and or ensure fully trained officials staff the operation, then their will be suspicions and speculation. I still like and admire the dedication and loyalty of Lewis but mebbe he is too 'under the thumb' from some older, powerful members of the team. I certainly can understand as can anybody who has been involved in highly sponsored very expensive Motor Sport.
But I love it that the skill of Button combined with the talents of long termer Ross and the money of 'Golden Ba**s' Bransen is making for a close start to an exciting season and the FIA have gone back to a formula that makes all teams have their chance in what may well be a very close finish to an exciting season.
wow, what a fantastic weekend for Sebastian Vettel!
Pole position with only one lap per qualification mode and the won the race in the rain!
I'd be interesting if the Red Bulls keep their performance or if Brawn GP is coming back...
Ferrari still has ZERO points
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...28192114.shtml
Senna film to begin shooting in May.
(w00t! Button! :guntotin:)