September 10, 2009
F1 Weekend Reports May Not Happen This Race
Okay, here's the deal. As you're all aware, Momzerduck has a poorly functioning liver. What I've been trying to not mention this past week is what's been going on.
This past Saturday, she went to the ER with terribly swollen legs... so swollen that they hurt quite badly, and they also had a bad rash (we thought). It turns out the fluid built up so much in her legs that they became infected; that was the rash-like substance.
She wound up staying in the local hospital until Tuesday afternoon, at which point the docs decided two things: A) she was going to be hospitalized at least through the weekend, and 2) she'd be better treated if she was moved to a hospital in Chicago, where her liver specialist was based... and the Transplant Board (the keepers of The List) was located.
She's doing okay there, though she's not getting anywhere near enough sleep (a common complaint of hospital patients everywhere... everytime they doze off, another doctor or nurse comes in). They've put her on a new medication, which is already starting to show some good results in regards to her legs, but she's going to be in the hospital at least through the weekend dealing with this.
I am going into Chicago to see her after work tomorrow, and the earliest I'll be back is Saturday afternoon or evening. I might be staying through Sunday, we dunno yet. As a result, there's no way in the world I can do Friday Practice coverage, and likely won't do Quals, either, unless it's just a quick blurb Saturday night.
I'll be recording Sunday's race, but there's no way of knowing when I'll get a chance to watch it... it might not be until Monday or Tuesday night.
So, just wanted to warn y'all.
This past Saturday, she went to the ER with terribly swollen legs... so swollen that they hurt quite badly, and they also had a bad rash (we thought). It turns out the fluid built up so much in her legs that they became infected; that was the rash-like substance.
She wound up staying in the local hospital until Tuesday afternoon, at which point the docs decided two things: A) she was going to be hospitalized at least through the weekend, and 2) she'd be better treated if she was moved to a hospital in Chicago, where her liver specialist was based... and the Transplant Board (the keepers of The List) was located.
She's doing okay there, though she's not getting anywhere near enough sleep (a common complaint of hospital patients everywhere... everytime they doze off, another doctor or nurse comes in). They've put her on a new medication, which is already starting to show some good results in regards to her legs, but she's going to be in the hospital at least through the weekend dealing with this.
I am going into Chicago to see her after work tomorrow, and the earliest I'll be back is Saturday afternoon or evening. I might be staying through Sunday, we dunno yet. As a result, there's no way in the world I can do Friday Practice coverage, and likely won't do Quals, either, unless it's just a quick blurb Saturday night.
I'll be recording Sunday's race, but there's no way of knowing when I'll get a chance to watch it... it might not be until Monday or Tuesday night.
So, just wanted to warn y'all.
Picture unrelated.
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September 08, 2009
F1 on SPEED!: Italy 2009!
Monza. Flat-out, eyeball-watering, bury-the-pedal-and-hold-on speed. Nothing more, nothing less. And the Italian nation loves it.
Here's the map:
There was once a time when the various chicanes didn't exist, when a driver only had to move the steering wheel five times a lap. Those days are gone, sacrificed in the name of safety, and I think that's a good thing... though to be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing a F1 car go blasting around the circuit at full throttle. Still, Monza is the fastest track on the calendar.
In fact, it's so fast that the FIA has decreed that there's going to be new, higher, curbs at Variante del Rettifilo and Variante della Roggia this race, to prevent drivers from straightlining those chicanes. I'd also suggest landmines and deep pits with tigers at the bottom.
The Parabolica is the fastest turn in F1, nearly 180mph as you exit. You hit 210 just before the first chicane. Over three-quarters of a lap is done at full throttle. Just astonishing numbers in comparison to the rest of the season.
And SPEED'll be bringing us their usual coverage , starting on Friday with LIVE video from 2nd Practice from 7am to 840am. Saturday brings us Quals from 7am to 830am. The race itself is Sunday, from 630am to 9am, with a replay at 330pm (all times Pond Central).
Hopefully, I'll be bringing you the usual sterling reportage you've come to expect from F1 Update! on Sunday as well.
See ya then.
Here's the map:
There was once a time when the various chicanes didn't exist, when a driver only had to move the steering wheel five times a lap. Those days are gone, sacrificed in the name of safety, and I think that's a good thing... though to be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing a F1 car go blasting around the circuit at full throttle. Still, Monza is the fastest track on the calendar.
In fact, it's so fast that the FIA has decreed that there's going to be new, higher, curbs at Variante del Rettifilo and Variante della Roggia this race, to prevent drivers from straightlining those chicanes. I'd also suggest landmines and deep pits with tigers at the bottom.
The Parabolica is the fastest turn in F1, nearly 180mph as you exit. You hit 210 just before the first chicane. Over three-quarters of a lap is done at full throttle. Just astonishing numbers in comparison to the rest of the season.
And SPEED'll be bringing us their usual coverage , starting on Friday with LIVE video from 2nd Practice from 7am to 840am. Saturday brings us Quals from 7am to 830am. The race itself is Sunday, from 630am to 9am, with a replay at 330pm (all times Pond Central).
Hopefully, I'll be bringing you the usual sterling reportage you've come to expect from F1 Update! on Sunday as well.
See ya then.
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September 04, 2009
Nelson Piquet Jr's Revenge
Hell hath no fury like Nelson Piquet Jr scorned.
Today, the FIA officially charged Piquet Jr's former team, Renault, with 'fraudulent conduct' in relation to the 2008 Grand Prix of Singapore. In that race, you may remember, HWMNBN pitted early in the race (lap 14), and almost instantly after he exited the pit lane in 15th place, Piquet Jr spun and crashed, bringing out the safety car.
The charges levied against Renault stem directly from evidence provided by Piquet Jr, and read (in part): "The team representatives have been called to answer charges, including a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, that the team conspired with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, (HWMNBN).â€
Article 151c reads as follows: "c) Any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally."
This is the same section the FIA used to hit McLaren with the Death Penalty back in 2007, by the way. In that case, the World Motor Sport Council essentially said that, while they could find no evidence that McLaren used any of Ferrari's designs in their car, they didn't need to have proof. McLaren was fined $100million, and the team was excluded from the results of the 2007 season.
While that penalty seemed harsh at best, and draconian at worst, I would have to assume that the FIA is looking at a similar penalty now for Renault. Unfortunately, they have only the word of a disgruntled ex-employee to go on... but they need nothing more, apparently.
If, in fact, Renault is excluded from the remainder of the season, don't expect to see their cars on the grid for the rest of the year. Unlike the McLaren Penalty, where the drivers were cleared of any wrongdoing in the matter, one would have to assume that HWMNBN would be slammed, since he benefited directly (and may have even come up with the idea) from the team's orders. Since Piquet Jr is already out of F1, the team's other car will probably be yanked by the FIA out of anger or spite.
The rest of the fallout could be even worse. Considering the rumblings coming out of Renault as of late (and, in fact, for the past few years), there's every chance that the team would officially withdraw from F1 and shut down.
I find it... interesting... that HWMNBN is involved with both of these cases. Unsurprising, but interesting. There's a reason HWMNBN is called HWMNBN, after all, and it all stems from the 2007 McLaren Debacle. He's already proven that he's not above trying to screw his teammate for an advantage, and with the backing of team principal Flavio Briatore, who knows what mischief he'd be capable of brewing.
Also interesting is the question of what will happen to Piquet Jr now? Will he be hailed as a whistleblower who got bent over by his more powerful teammate, with his driving suffering as a result? Or will he be forever known as a mediocre racer who ratted out the team that paid him megabucks while getting crap performances from him?
Time will tell, and we'll find out the result of the FIA's hearing on September 21st... ironically, the Monday before this year's Grand Prix of Singapore.
Today, the FIA officially charged Piquet Jr's former team, Renault, with 'fraudulent conduct' in relation to the 2008 Grand Prix of Singapore. In that race, you may remember, HWMNBN pitted early in the race (lap 14), and almost instantly after he exited the pit lane in 15th place, Piquet Jr spun and crashed, bringing out the safety car.
Even at the time, it seemed an odd crash.
When the pit lane opened two laps later, everybody went in for fuel and tires, leaving HWMNBN in first place, a position he would never relinquish as he garnered Renault's first win of the season.The charges levied against Renault stem directly from evidence provided by Piquet Jr, and read (in part): "The team representatives have been called to answer charges, including a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, that the team conspired with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, (HWMNBN).â€
Article 151c reads as follows: "c) Any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally."
This is the same section the FIA used to hit McLaren with the Death Penalty back in 2007, by the way. In that case, the World Motor Sport Council essentially said that, while they could find no evidence that McLaren used any of Ferrari's designs in their car, they didn't need to have proof. McLaren was fined $100million, and the team was excluded from the results of the 2007 season.
While that penalty seemed harsh at best, and draconian at worst, I would have to assume that the FIA is looking at a similar penalty now for Renault. Unfortunately, they have only the word of a disgruntled ex-employee to go on... but they need nothing more, apparently.
If, in fact, Renault is excluded from the remainder of the season, don't expect to see their cars on the grid for the rest of the year. Unlike the McLaren Penalty, where the drivers were cleared of any wrongdoing in the matter, one would have to assume that HWMNBN would be slammed, since he benefited directly (and may have even come up with the idea) from the team's orders. Since Piquet Jr is already out of F1, the team's other car will probably be yanked by the FIA out of anger or spite.
The rest of the fallout could be even worse. Considering the rumblings coming out of Renault as of late (and, in fact, for the past few years), there's every chance that the team would officially withdraw from F1 and shut down.
I find it... interesting... that HWMNBN is involved with both of these cases. Unsurprising, but interesting. There's a reason HWMNBN is called HWMNBN, after all, and it all stems from the 2007 McLaren Debacle. He's already proven that he's not above trying to screw his teammate for an advantage, and with the backing of team principal Flavio Briatore, who knows what mischief he'd be capable of brewing.
Also interesting is the question of what will happen to Piquet Jr now? Will he be hailed as a whistleblower who got bent over by his more powerful teammate, with his driving suffering as a result? Or will he be forever known as a mediocre racer who ratted out the team that paid him megabucks while getting crap performances from him?
Time will tell, and we'll find out the result of the FIA's hearing on September 21st... ironically, the Monday before this year's Grand Prix of Singapore.
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September 03, 2009
Filling For Felipe, Fisi Flees F.I. For Ferrari
Sometimes rumors really are true, I suppose. Giancarlo Fisichella, who's driven for the up-and-coming Force India team for the past two seasons, was today released from his contract by team owner Vijay Mallya. He was then signed by Ferrari to fill the injured Felipe Massa's seat for the rest of the season.
"I’m in seventh heaven," said Fisichella in an interview with Ferrari.com. "I still can’t believe it that the dream of my life comes true and I want to thank Ferrari and Chairman Luca di Montezemolo. Over the last week some really incredible things happened to me: the pole position and then second place at Spa and now I’m called by Ferrari to race the last five races of the season for them. I’ll give my best to recompense the Scuderia for this great opportunity they gave me: I know that it won’t be easy, but I’ll give it everything to gain the best possible results." He then wiped the drool off his chin.
I suppose I don't blame Fisi. If I was handed my dream job on a silver platter, I'd likely quit whatever place I was working at so fast, I'd burn stripes in the carpet on my way out the door. Still, his incredible enthusiasm about leaving Force India for Ferrari seems... I dunno, unseemly.
Vijay Mallya said, "For Force India, this sport is a team effort and removing one part, even a major one, will not significantly affect our performance. The competitiveness of the team seen in Belgium was a result of hard work in the factory and wind tunnel and we have further developments coming for the final races, so we are confident this momentum can be sustained. We are now looking forward to a strong finish to the season."
There are rumors that Force India still owes Ferrari some four million dollars from last year's engine contract. Mallya (personal net worth: $1.4billion) denied, however, that there was any financial settlement between the teams for Fisi. Take that for what it's worth, I suppose.
And while I've been quite hard on him over the past two races, spare a moment's thought for Luca Badoer, the man Fisichella is replacing in the cockpit. Sure, Badoer was brutally slow during his two-race span for Ferrari, but he served the Scuderia well over the past 10 years as the team's primary test driver. He had an almost impossible task in front of him, being dropped into the seat of a F1 car that he hadn't driven and was expected to perform well when he hadn't driven in a race since 1999. When he, an Italian, got a chance to drive for the legendary Italian team, he peed the opportunity right down the leg of his firesuit, just in time to miss out on driving at his home track of Monza.
That's gotta hurt, and hurt bad. I hope Ferrari keeps him on as their test driver; he deserves that, at least.
Meanwhile, Force India has yet to name their replacement for the departed Fisichella. It's expected that their test driver, Vitantonio Liuzzi will be tabbed. He last drove in F1 during the 2007 season; Liuzzi was replaced at Toro Rosso by the now-fired SeaBass.
So... there you have it.
Fisi celebrates Force India's crowning moment of awesome.
"We have chosen Fisichella because we can expect him to make a valuable
contribution in this final part of the season," said Stefano
Domenicali, team principal for Ferrari. "Giancarlo has shown, throughout his long career, that he
is fast and competitive and we are therefore proud to be able to run an
Italian driver in our home race.""I’m in seventh heaven," said Fisichella in an interview with Ferrari.com. "I still can’t believe it that the dream of my life comes true and I want to thank Ferrari and Chairman Luca di Montezemolo. Over the last week some really incredible things happened to me: the pole position and then second place at Spa and now I’m called by Ferrari to race the last five races of the season for them. I’ll give my best to recompense the Scuderia for this great opportunity they gave me: I know that it won’t be easy, but I’ll give it everything to gain the best possible results." He then wiped the drool off his chin.
I suppose I don't blame Fisi. If I was handed my dream job on a silver platter, I'd likely quit whatever place I was working at so fast, I'd burn stripes in the carpet on my way out the door. Still, his incredible enthusiasm about leaving Force India for Ferrari seems... I dunno, unseemly.
Vijay Mallya said, "For Force India, this sport is a team effort and removing one part, even a major one, will not significantly affect our performance. The competitiveness of the team seen in Belgium was a result of hard work in the factory and wind tunnel and we have further developments coming for the final races, so we are confident this momentum can be sustained. We are now looking forward to a strong finish to the season."
There are rumors that Force India still owes Ferrari some four million dollars from last year's engine contract. Mallya (personal net worth: $1.4billion) denied, however, that there was any financial settlement between the teams for Fisi. Take that for what it's worth, I suppose.
And while I've been quite hard on him over the past two races, spare a moment's thought for Luca Badoer, the man Fisichella is replacing in the cockpit. Sure, Badoer was brutally slow during his two-race span for Ferrari, but he served the Scuderia well over the past 10 years as the team's primary test driver. He had an almost impossible task in front of him, being dropped into the seat of a F1 car that he hadn't driven and was expected to perform well when he hadn't driven in a race since 1999. When he, an Italian, got a chance to drive for the legendary Italian team, he peed the opportunity right down the leg of his firesuit, just in time to miss out on driving at his home track of Monza.
That's gotta hurt, and hurt bad. I hope Ferrari keeps him on as their test driver; he deserves that, at least.
Meanwhile, Force India has yet to name their replacement for the departed Fisichella. It's expected that their test driver, Vitantonio Liuzzi will be tabbed. He last drove in F1 during the 2007 season; Liuzzi was replaced at Toro Rosso by the now-fired SeaBass.
So... there you have it.
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September 01, 2009
Our Friend Zsolt
I need to set this up. The year is 2004. The race is the United States Grand Prix. The broadcaster is Hungarian. The subject is Zsolt Baumgartner, three laps behind the eventual winner (Slappy Schumacher). 11 of the 20 cars in the race have retired, leaving Zsolt in 9th place, behind only Giancarlo Fisichella... who is about to have a malfunction.
Zsolt the Bolt is about to earn his first and only point, and the only point ever earned by a Hungarian driver in F1. Enjoy the broadcasters!
Zsolt the Bolt is about to earn his first and only point, and the only point ever earned by a Hungarian driver in F1. Enjoy the broadcasters!
This may have been the happiest I have ever been in my years of being a F1 fan.
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August 29, 2009
F1 Quals: Belgium 2009!
I can't believe what I just saw. I never thought I'd ever be typing this combination of words in this order. Not even in my wildest dreams did I think this was even possible.
Here goes:
Force India is on the pole for the 2009 Grand Prix of Belgium.
Here's the grid:
Here's the frightening thing: Fisichella and Sutil's speed seems to be legit. They were 1st and 4th in Q1, 3rd in Q2, and obviously fastest of all in Q3. That sort of performance isn't a fluke.
Wait, this grid gets even more strange the farther down you go! Look at positions 12 thru 14: reigning driver's champion Lewis Hamilton, two time driver's champion HWMNBN, current driver's championship points leader Jenson Button, and Hamilton's teammate Heikki Kovaleinninnie. All knocked out in Q2, with Button and Hamilton just barely making it into that session to begin with, and all of them behind Adrian Sutil in the other Force India!
In fact, the grid doesn't look truly normal until you get to those knocked out in Q1: Buemi, NKOTT, Kazoo and Lettuce aren't strangers to dying in Q1.
Then you get Luca Badoer, who becomes the first Ferrari driver to qualify dead last in two consecutive races... EVER! Sixty years and that has never occurred before.
And why this sudden burst of performance from Giancarlo Fisichella? Some say that he's been tabbed to replace Badoer after Spa; Fisi for his part has always said that as an Italian, it's been his dream to drive for the Scuderia, and that he'd quit whatever drive he had immediately if it was offered to him.
Or it might be down to fuel loads. His 648kg weight is less than Trulli or Heidfeld (656.5kg and 655kg, respectively), but he's heavier than Rubens Barrichello (644.5kg).
Or it might just be the Kingfisher that's probably flowing freely tonight in Mumbai. No matter how it happened or how you look at it however, Force India has earned their first ever pole. They were Jordan when I became a F1 fan, then turned into Midlands, then Spyker, then, finally, Farce India.
Well, they are a Farce no more. All hail mighty FORCE INDIA! Maybe they'll even earn their first point. Hey, stranger things have happened.
The weather forecast calls for just a slight chance of rain, and temperatures in the mid-60s. But this is Spa-Francorchamps; the teams have probably packed parkas, bermuda shorts, and a lot of umbrellas (not to mention snowshoes and sled dogs) into their transporters. The weather is terribly unpredictable and really can change at any time. In fact, during quals today, at one point it was sunny at one end of the track, cloudy at the other, and raining in the middle of the circuit, but NOT where it was actually getting on the driving surface. Your guess is as good as anybody else as to what the weather'll be. Which is one of the reasons why Spa is such fun.
See you Sunday!
Here goes:
Force India is on the pole for the 2009 Grand Prix of Belgium.
Here's the grid:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Mercedes | 1:45.102 | 1:44.667 | 1:46.308 |
| 2 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:45.140 | 1:44.503 | 1:46.395 |
| 3 | Grizzly Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:45.566 | 1:44.709 | 1:46.500 |
| 4 | Rubens Barrichello | Brawn-Mercedes | 1:45.237 | 1:44.834 | 1:46.513 |
| 5 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:45.655 | 1:44.557 | 1:46.586 |
| 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:45.579 | 1:44.953 | 1:46.633 |
| 7 | Timo Glockenspiel | Toyota | 1:45.450 | 1:44.877 | 1:46.677 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:45.372 | 1:44.592 | 1:46.761 |
| 9 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:45.350 | 1:44.924 | 1:46.788 |
| 10 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:45.486 | 1:45.047 | 1:47.362 |
| 11 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:45.239 | 1:45.119 | |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:45.767 | 1:45.122 | |
| 13 | HWMNBN | Renault | 1:45.707 | 1:45.136 | |
| 14 | Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 1:45.761 | 1:45.251 | |
| 15 | Heikki Kovalaineninnie | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:45.705 | 1:45.259 | |
| 16 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:45.951 | ||
| 17 | NKOTT | STR-Ferrari | 1:46.032 | ||
| 18 | Kazoo Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 1:46.307 | ||
| 19 | Lettuce Grosjean | Renault | 1:46.359 | ||
| 20 | Luca Badoer | Ferrari | 1:46.957 |
FORCE FRICKIN' INDIA!
But the rest of the grid is weird, too! Jarno Trulli second? Is this the single most unlikely front row of all time? Grizzly Nick Heidfeld's BMW third? BrawnGP didn't even exist a few months ago, and 4th is disappointing for them now. The BMW of Robert Kubica is 5th, for heaven's sake. Here's the frightening thing: Fisichella and Sutil's speed seems to be legit. They were 1st and 4th in Q1, 3rd in Q2, and obviously fastest of all in Q3. That sort of performance isn't a fluke.
Wait, this grid gets even more strange the farther down you go! Look at positions 12 thru 14: reigning driver's champion Lewis Hamilton, two time driver's champion HWMNBN, current driver's championship points leader Jenson Button, and Hamilton's teammate Heikki Kovaleinninnie. All knocked out in Q2, with Button and Hamilton just barely making it into that session to begin with, and all of them behind Adrian Sutil in the other Force India!
In fact, the grid doesn't look truly normal until you get to those knocked out in Q1: Buemi, NKOTT, Kazoo and Lettuce aren't strangers to dying in Q1.
Then you get Luca Badoer, who becomes the first Ferrari driver to qualify dead last in two consecutive races... EVER! Sixty years and that has never occurred before.
And why this sudden burst of performance from Giancarlo Fisichella? Some say that he's been tabbed to replace Badoer after Spa; Fisi for his part has always said that as an Italian, it's been his dream to drive for the Scuderia, and that he'd quit whatever drive he had immediately if it was offered to him.
Or it might be down to fuel loads. His 648kg weight is less than Trulli or Heidfeld (656.5kg and 655kg, respectively), but he's heavier than Rubens Barrichello (644.5kg).
Or it might just be the Kingfisher that's probably flowing freely tonight in Mumbai. No matter how it happened or how you look at it however, Force India has earned their first ever pole. They were Jordan when I became a F1 fan, then turned into Midlands, then Spyker, then, finally, Farce India.
Well, they are a Farce no more. All hail mighty FORCE INDIA! Maybe they'll even earn their first point. Hey, stranger things have happened.
The weather forecast calls for just a slight chance of rain, and temperatures in the mid-60s. But this is Spa-Francorchamps; the teams have probably packed parkas, bermuda shorts, and a lot of umbrellas (not to mention snowshoes and sled dogs) into their transporters. The weather is terribly unpredictable and really can change at any time. In fact, during quals today, at one point it was sunny at one end of the track, cloudy at the other, and raining in the middle of the circuit, but NOT where it was actually getting on the driving surface. Your guess is as good as anybody else as to what the weather'll be. Which is one of the reasons why Spa is such fun.
See you Sunday!
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August 28, 2009
F1 Practice: Belgium 2009!
A beautifully sunny afternoon at Spa-Francopants for Friday's Second Practice session. Quite the change from the first practice session, where it poured down buckets. Ah, that lovely Spa weather... it's kinda like the weather we get here in the Midwest: don't like what you've got? Wait a few minutes, it'll change.
For those unfamiliar with the layout of Spa-Francophone, here's a quick lap around courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen and ITV, from 2007 or 2008:
Well, everybody'll have farm implements on their cars tomorrow, as Lewis Hamilton had fast lap of the session, though only .016 seconds ahead of Timo Glockenspiel's Toyota. A win, a second place, and now this? Yup, McLaren's back.
Down at the other end of the timesheet, the Marc Gene watch continued as Luca Badoer was, again, embarrassingly slow, over two seconds behind Hamilton, and nearly a second behind 19th place. Further endearing himself to the other drivers and teams, his car shed a wheel spat early in the session, bringing out a red flag as the debris was sitting dead-center in Blanchemont. No, it wasn't his fault, but it still happened to Capitano Lento.
Quals in the morning, with any luck! See you then.
For those unfamiliar with the layout of Spa-Francophone, here's a quick lap around courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen and ITV, from 2007 or 2008:
Note the elevation map shown at the beginning...
There are rollercoasters with fewer dips and hills than Spa.
Second practice was fun to watch, simply because of the track. While nobody was particularly troubled, nobody seemed to have a firm handle on the beast either. Everybody save McLaren had loads of wing cranked off, so all the cars could be described as "squirrely". The McLarens, twitchy at the best of times, had so much wing dialed on that the Legendary Announce Team declared it "a barn door."There are rollercoasters with fewer dips and hills than Spa.
Well, everybody'll have farm implements on their cars tomorrow, as Lewis Hamilton had fast lap of the session, though only .016 seconds ahead of Timo Glockenspiel's Toyota. A win, a second place, and now this? Yup, McLaren's back.
Down at the other end of the timesheet, the Marc Gene watch continued as Luca Badoer was, again, embarrassingly slow, over two seconds behind Hamilton, and nearly a second behind 19th place. Further endearing himself to the other drivers and teams, his car shed a wheel spat early in the session, bringing out a red flag as the debris was sitting dead-center in Blanchemont. No, it wasn't his fault, but it still happened to Capitano Lento.
Oops.
So, enjoy your Badoer while you can, because he probably won't be around much longer. Drivers rumored to be replacing him include the aforementioned Gene, Nico Hulkenberg aka the driver with the name most made for F1Update!, HWMNBN (with some weird contract finagling), and the dearly departed SeaBass, late of Toro Rosso.Quals in the morning, with any luck! See you then.
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August 24, 2009
F1 on SPEED!: BELGIUM, man, BELGIUM! 2009!
It doesn't get any better than this. We leave the boring street circuit in Valencia and head to the most exciting and vibrant track on the F1 calendar, the Swimming Pool at Spa-Francorchamps. While Silverstone is probably my favorite circuit overall, if someone held a gun to my feathered head and said "only one track ever again," I'd probably choose Spa.
There's nothing you need in a race course that Spa doesn't have. Elevation changes, high speed straights, both high- and low-speed turns, legendary curves, history out the ears, and rain. Lots and lots of rain. In fact, 2008's Grand Prix of Belgium was far and away the most dramatic race in a season chock-filled with drama.
Let's take a look at the track map for this wonderful circuit:
The named turns alone are worth the price of admission: La Source, Eau Rouge, Raidillon, Beau Rivage, Pouhon, Blanchimont... any one of them would be the stars of a lesser track, but here they weave a course that pretty much every driver, and every F1 fan, loves. From a steep climb at Eau Rouge that makes Raidillon a blind turn, to the steep downhill starting around 11 and ending around Blanchimont, no track on the calendar has more or steeper elevation changes.
Yet for all that, it's a very fast track, and will probably have the lowest downforce settings we've seen yet this year. Monza will have lower yet, of course, but Spa is just a lot more fun than the Italian track.
Of course, the ever-present threat of rain at this track in the Ardennes means that the setup is almost a crapshoot. Do you plan for rain and crank on the wings and raise the ride height, only to suffer if it's dry? Or do you take off wing angle, lower the chassis as far as it'll go and go for the speed, only to find that you can't stick to the road in the rain? Headaches abound for the unwary, not to mention ping-ponging off the barriers before Raidillon.
No, it doesn't get any better than Spa-Francopants, and the good sprouts at SPEED will be bringing us their usual stellar coverage, beginning with Friday's Second Practice live from 7am to 840am. Saturday brings us the plausibly live Quals session, from 7am to 830am. The race, then, is on Sunday, LIVE, from 630am to 9am. Bring your inflatable rafts and water wings, and let's go racing!
There's nothing you need in a race course that Spa doesn't have. Elevation changes, high speed straights, both high- and low-speed turns, legendary curves, history out the ears, and rain. Lots and lots of rain. In fact, 2008's Grand Prix of Belgium was far and away the most dramatic race in a season chock-filled with drama.
Let's take a look at the track map for this wonderful circuit:
The named turns alone are worth the price of admission: La Source, Eau Rouge, Raidillon, Beau Rivage, Pouhon, Blanchimont... any one of them would be the stars of a lesser track, but here they weave a course that pretty much every driver, and every F1 fan, loves. From a steep climb at Eau Rouge that makes Raidillon a blind turn, to the steep downhill starting around 11 and ending around Blanchimont, no track on the calendar has more or steeper elevation changes.
Yet for all that, it's a very fast track, and will probably have the lowest downforce settings we've seen yet this year. Monza will have lower yet, of course, but Spa is just a lot more fun than the Italian track.
Of course, the ever-present threat of rain at this track in the Ardennes means that the setup is almost a crapshoot. Do you plan for rain and crank on the wings and raise the ride height, only to suffer if it's dry? Or do you take off wing angle, lower the chassis as far as it'll go and go for the speed, only to find that you can't stick to the road in the rain? Headaches abound for the unwary, not to mention ping-ponging off the barriers before Raidillon.
No, it doesn't get any better than Spa-Francopants, and the good sprouts at SPEED will be bringing us their usual stellar coverage, beginning with Friday's Second Practice live from 7am to 840am. Saturday brings us the plausibly live Quals session, from 7am to 830am. The race, then, is on Sunday, LIVE, from 630am to 9am. Bring your inflatable rafts and water wings, and let's go racing!
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August 22, 2009
F1 Quals: European Grand Prix @ Valencia 2009! (UPDATED)
McLaren's back. Badoer's slow. Really slow.
Here's the provisional grid:
Two races ago, McLaren looked like they were destined to be backmarkers for the rest of the season. Last race, Hamilton won. This time around, a front-row lockout bodes well for the team's fortunes. It's come too late for them to get into the top three in Constructor's points or for Lewis to make a run for the Drivers' championship, but they've suddenly become legit competitors for wins. That might seem obvious since they won in Hungary, but did anybody really think that Toro Rosso had suddenly become winners last year, just because Seb Vettel triumphed at Monza?
Robert Kubica is showing signs of life now that BMW has decided to withdraw from F1. While 10th isn't all that great, in Q2 he looked like he was a serious contender for a while, topping out around 4th before slipping back. There's no question he's quick, we've seen that already... it must be that his car is rubbish.
We're still waiting for fuel loads to be reported, and for information on what happened to Kazoo Nakajima's Williams in Q1. For no reason that anybody could tell, the engine apparently just cut out, causing him to spin and roll to a stop.
Luca Badoer just looks lost right now. He was 1.5 seconds behind NKOTT, good enough for dead last on the grid, nearly 3.5 seconds behind the fastest speed set in Q2. The LAT brought up a good point, saying that testing is a whole different animal than racing. Boiling down what they said, it's similar to the difference between singing karaoke in your local bar... and performing in an arena in front of 50000 people. They also thought that giving the seat to Badoer was something of a "thank you" for his decade of thankless service as the test driver for Ferrari, and that perhaps it's something of a white flag on the season as well. After all, their other tester, Marc Gene, is an active racer who won at the 24 Hours of LeMans this year (as well as having raced in F1 as recently as 2004) and would probably be a lot more competitive. Could it be that Ferrari really has given up on 2009?
I think they're right when they said if he's still in the cockpit (barring substantial improvements) after next week's race at Spa-Francopants, they've decided to concentrate on 2010.
Race on Sunday!
UPDATE: Fuel loads are in, and Rubens Barrichello looks like he's in the catbird seat. With a total weight of 662.5kg, he's 9.5kg heavier than Lewis Hamilton and 7.5kg more than Kovaleinninninnie. Everybody behind him back to 7th is lighter than him as well, though not by much. So, fast lap in Q2, more fuel onboard, and still P3? Yep, that's promising for ol' Rubino. Now to see if he can actually get the car in gear when the lights go out.
Oh, and Luca Badoer is lighter than everybody ahead of him, except for NKOTT, up to 15th. In fact, Jarno Trulli, two places ahead of him, is almost 18kg heavier. Yeeeeeeesh!
Here's the provisional grid:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:38.649 | 1:38.182 | 1:39.498 |
| 2 | Heikki Kovalaineninnie | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:38.816 | 1:38.230 | 1:39.532 |
| 3 | Rubens Barrichello | Brawn-Mercedes | 1:39.019 | 1:38.076 | 1:39.563 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:39.295 | 1:38.273 | 1:39.789 |
| 5 | Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 1:38.531 | 1:38.601 | 1:39.821 |
| 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:38.843 | 1:38.782 | 1:40.144 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:39.039 | 1:38.346 | 1:40.185 |
| 8 | HWMNBN | Renault | 1:39.155 | 1:38.717 | 1:40.236 |
| 9 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:38.983 | 1:38.625 | 1:40.239 |
| 10 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:38.806 | 1:38.747 | 1:40.512 |
| 11 | Grizzly Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:39.032 | 1:38.826 | |
| 12 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:39.145 | 1:38.846 | |
| 13 | Timo Glockenspiel | Toyota | 1:39.459 | 1:38.991 | |
| 14 | Lettuce Grosjean | Renault | 1:39.322 | 1:39.040 | |
| 15 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:38.912 | 1:39.514 | |
| 16 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Mercedes | 1:39.531 | ||
| 17 | Kazoo Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 1:39.795 | ||
| 18 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:39.807 | ||
| 19 | NKOTT | STR-Ferrari | 1:39.925 | ||
| 20 | Luca Badoer | Ferrari | 1:41.413 |
Two races ago, McLaren looked like they were destined to be backmarkers for the rest of the season. Last race, Hamilton won. This time around, a front-row lockout bodes well for the team's fortunes. It's come too late for them to get into the top three in Constructor's points or for Lewis to make a run for the Drivers' championship, but they've suddenly become legit competitors for wins. That might seem obvious since they won in Hungary, but did anybody really think that Toro Rosso had suddenly become winners last year, just because Seb Vettel triumphed at Monza?
Robert Kubica is showing signs of life now that BMW has decided to withdraw from F1. While 10th isn't all that great, in Q2 he looked like he was a serious contender for a while, topping out around 4th before slipping back. There's no question he's quick, we've seen that already... it must be that his car is rubbish.
We're still waiting for fuel loads to be reported, and for information on what happened to Kazoo Nakajima's Williams in Q1. For no reason that anybody could tell, the engine apparently just cut out, causing him to spin and roll to a stop.
Luca Badoer just looks lost right now. He was 1.5 seconds behind NKOTT, good enough for dead last on the grid, nearly 3.5 seconds behind the fastest speed set in Q2. The LAT brought up a good point, saying that testing is a whole different animal than racing. Boiling down what they said, it's similar to the difference between singing karaoke in your local bar... and performing in an arena in front of 50000 people. They also thought that giving the seat to Badoer was something of a "thank you" for his decade of thankless service as the test driver for Ferrari, and that perhaps it's something of a white flag on the season as well. After all, their other tester, Marc Gene, is an active racer who won at the 24 Hours of LeMans this year (as well as having raced in F1 as recently as 2004) and would probably be a lot more competitive. Could it be that Ferrari really has given up on 2009?
I think they're right when they said if he's still in the cockpit (barring substantial improvements) after next week's race at Spa-Francopants, they've decided to concentrate on 2010.
Race on Sunday!
UPDATE: Fuel loads are in, and Rubens Barrichello looks like he's in the catbird seat. With a total weight of 662.5kg, he's 9.5kg heavier than Lewis Hamilton and 7.5kg more than Kovaleinninninnie. Everybody behind him back to 7th is lighter than him as well, though not by much. So, fast lap in Q2, more fuel onboard, and still P3? Yep, that's promising for ol' Rubino. Now to see if he can actually get the car in gear when the lights go out.
Oh, and Luca Badoer is lighter than everybody ahead of him, except for NKOTT, up to 15th. In fact, Jarno Trulli, two places ahead of him, is almost 18kg heavier. Yeeeeeeesh!
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August 21, 2009
F1 Practice: European Grand Prix @ Valencia 2009!
Wow, it was good to see the F1 Circus back on track. Lots of interesting stuff today, so lets get right to it.
For the first time in modern memory, we have a decent chance of seeing a non-penalized, still-running Ferrari finishing last in a Grand Prix. Luca Badoer, replacement driver, was over three seconds/lap slower than the fastest time set in P1, good for dead last in the session. In P2, he was 18th, but only because Lewis Hamilton's McLaren had a rather impressive slide that took him around two corners sideways only three laps into the second session. When his front suspension went over a curb, something broke and the team apparently didn't have a replacement immediately at hand. Badoer probably would have been 19th otherwise, probably not what Ferrari had in mind. He only managed to beat out NKOTT.
Oh, and he got four three separate penalties for speeding in the pit lane, to boot. At least he was fast SOMEwhere.
Meanwhile, Lettuce Grosjean and his hair, the new New Kid On The Track, managed to bring his Renault home in a neat 13th. His teammate, HWMNBN, got the home crowd excited with the only sub-1:40 lap of the day, for the fast lap honors. Just before he did that, however, he managed to screw up the final turn, locking up his brakes and slithering into the BMW of Grizzly Nick Heidfeld, who had wisely (if uselessly) moved as far away as possible from HWMNBN's racing line. The front-right tire of the Renault got in the way of the left-rear of the BMW, with the inevitable result occurring:
In an e-mail to me, Official First Reader of The Pond Mallory asked me if the Legendary Announce Team's repeating of something Ferrari team boss Luca di Montezemelo said was true. I'm afraid to say that yes, it is true. See, di Montezemelo stated a week or two ago that he'd like teams to have the option of entering THREE cars in a race, as opposed to the current practice of two. While the LAT suggested that would mean a potential 39 car field, that's not what di Montezemelo was actually talking about. Instead, he wanted to actually limit the number of teams to eight or fewer, so as to do away with new teams altogether. Of course, this would also raise operating costs (which is against the wishes of the FIA's cost-cutting measures) by at least a third. Also of course, there aren't many teams that could afford running three cars; Ferrari for sure, and perhaps McLaren and Toyota could do it... maybe. Gee, who would win the Constructor's Championship?
If there was a 39-entry field, though, we'd see a return of the pre-qualifying period, where the fastest 26 or 28 cars only would be allowed into quals. I'm fine with that idea, but only if we really had that many discreet entries.
I'm sure di Montezemelo doesn't believe that would ever happen, though.
Quals in the morning!
For the first time in modern memory, we have a decent chance of seeing a non-penalized, still-running Ferrari finishing last in a Grand Prix. Luca Badoer, replacement driver, was over three seconds/lap slower than the fastest time set in P1, good for dead last in the session. In P2, he was 18th, but only because Lewis Hamilton's McLaren had a rather impressive slide that took him around two corners sideways only three laps into the second session. When his front suspension went over a curb, something broke and the team apparently didn't have a replacement immediately at hand. Badoer probably would have been 19th otherwise, probably not what Ferrari had in mind. He only managed to beat out NKOTT.
Oh, and he got four three separate penalties for speeding in the pit lane, to boot. At least he was fast SOMEwhere.
Meanwhile, Lettuce Grosjean and his hair, the new New Kid On The Track, managed to bring his Renault home in a neat 13th. His teammate, HWMNBN, got the home crowd excited with the only sub-1:40 lap of the day, for the fast lap honors. Just before he did that, however, he managed to screw up the final turn, locking up his brakes and slithering into the BMW of Grizzly Nick Heidfeld, who had wisely (if uselessly) moved as far away as possible from HWMNBN's racing line. The front-right tire of the Renault got in the way of the left-rear of the BMW, with the inevitable result occurring:
Liftoff! We have liftoff!
Heidfeld's Beemer was rather broken upon landing, and stayed in the pits for the remaining 15 minutes or so. HWMNBN at least had the decency of cleaning up after himself, running over his front wing and dragging it into the pit lane. Awfully nice of him.In an e-mail to me, Official First Reader of The Pond Mallory asked me if the Legendary Announce Team's repeating of something Ferrari team boss Luca di Montezemelo said was true. I'm afraid to say that yes, it is true. See, di Montezemelo stated a week or two ago that he'd like teams to have the option of entering THREE cars in a race, as opposed to the current practice of two. While the LAT suggested that would mean a potential 39 car field, that's not what di Montezemelo was actually talking about. Instead, he wanted to actually limit the number of teams to eight or fewer, so as to do away with new teams altogether. Of course, this would also raise operating costs (which is against the wishes of the FIA's cost-cutting measures) by at least a third. Also of course, there aren't many teams that could afford running three cars; Ferrari for sure, and perhaps McLaren and Toyota could do it... maybe. Gee, who would win the Constructor's Championship?
If there was a 39-entry field, though, we'd see a return of the pre-qualifying period, where the fastest 26 or 28 cars only would be allowed into quals. I'm fine with that idea, but only if we really had that many discreet entries.
I'm sure di Montezemelo doesn't believe that would ever happen, though.
Quals in the morning!
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August 20, 2009
F1 News 'n' Notes Before Valencia
With the F1 Circus setting up its tents in Valencia, we've got some nuggets and tidbits of information being handed out like cotton candy and peanuts.
*Norbert Haug, president and overseer of all Mercedes-Benz motorsport activities, got a little dig in at the FIA today. In the usual Thursday pre-race interviews, Haug was asked about the lifting of the one-race ban handed to Renault after the Hungarian Grand Prix. His response was classic: "It's good to see that a harsh punishment is sometimes reversed. I would like to know what that's like." Of course, the Death Penalty handed down to McLaren-Mercedes in 2007 had nothing to do with his comment.
*Campos F1, one of the new teams coming in for 2010, reportedly is going to name their driver lineup soon. Expected to be in the Campos cars are Russian GP2 driver Vitaly Petrov and current McLaren third driver and F1 Update! long-time favorite Pedro de la Rosa, better known around these parts as "Pete Rose." Petrov is an interesting choice. He's currently third in the GP2 standings, and would be the first Russian F1 driver ever, which could be important considering that there's a push to place a Grand Prix in Russia.
*As expected, Renault did name Romain "Lettuce" Grosjean as the replacement for the fired Nelson Piquet Unemployed. Lettuce immediately declared himself a French driver. He actually was born in Switzerland, but his mother is French, and he has dual nationalities and passports. "In motorsports, my nationality is clearly French, because all all of the support in my career was coming from France, never Switzerland," said Grosjean. Being French, of course, he will never win a F1 race, because one lap from the end he'll see a white flag and pull over. (*badum-pssshhhhh!*)
*Ferrari's replacement for Felipe Massa, Luca Badoer, has managed to get some time in the F60 recently. Earlier this week, he drove about 120 miles over two days on Bridgestone's ultra-hard demonstration tires as a TV commercial was filmed. The runs were all in a straight line, and at least he got some practice with the gearbox. In interviews, Badoer has said that Valencia "will basically be a test session" for him.
*Finally, as was earlier speculated, new team USF1 announced that YouTube CEO and co-founder Chad Hurley had signed on as the team's "primary investor." No word if this means that the YouTube logo will be plastered on the car. Considering Bernie Ecclestone's problems with the video website (which is why it's often hard to find current F1 clips there), one can only hope it WILL be, in a prominent spot. The other interesting bit of news is that the car's livery will probably be blue. See, back in the old days, a team's nationality determined their car's color. Britain was green, Italy was red, Germany was silver... and America was blue. It's a throwback, and I'm loving it.
See you tomorrow for Practice!
*Norbert Haug, president and overseer of all Mercedes-Benz motorsport activities, got a little dig in at the FIA today. In the usual Thursday pre-race interviews, Haug was asked about the lifting of the one-race ban handed to Renault after the Hungarian Grand Prix. His response was classic: "It's good to see that a harsh punishment is sometimes reversed. I would like to know what that's like." Of course, the Death Penalty handed down to McLaren-Mercedes in 2007 had nothing to do with his comment.
*Campos F1, one of the new teams coming in for 2010, reportedly is going to name their driver lineup soon. Expected to be in the Campos cars are Russian GP2 driver Vitaly Petrov and current McLaren third driver and F1 Update! long-time favorite Pedro de la Rosa, better known around these parts as "Pete Rose." Petrov is an interesting choice. He's currently third in the GP2 standings, and would be the first Russian F1 driver ever, which could be important considering that there's a push to place a Grand Prix in Russia.
*As expected, Renault did name Romain "Lettuce" Grosjean as the replacement for the fired Nelson Piquet Unemployed. Lettuce immediately declared himself a French driver. He actually was born in Switzerland, but his mother is French, and he has dual nationalities and passports. "In motorsports, my nationality is clearly French, because all all of the support in my career was coming from France, never Switzerland," said Grosjean. Being French, of course, he will never win a F1 race, because one lap from the end he'll see a white flag and pull over. (*badum-pssshhhhh!*)
*Ferrari's replacement for Felipe Massa, Luca Badoer, has managed to get some time in the F60 recently. Earlier this week, he drove about 120 miles over two days on Bridgestone's ultra-hard demonstration tires as a TV commercial was filmed. The runs were all in a straight line, and at least he got some practice with the gearbox. In interviews, Badoer has said that Valencia "will basically be a test session" for him.
*Finally, as was earlier speculated, new team USF1 announced that YouTube CEO and co-founder Chad Hurley had signed on as the team's "primary investor." No word if this means that the YouTube logo will be plastered on the car. Considering Bernie Ecclestone's problems with the video website (which is why it's often hard to find current F1 clips there), one can only hope it WILL be, in a prominent spot. The other interesting bit of news is that the car's livery will probably be blue. See, back in the old days, a team's nationality determined their car's color. Britain was green, Italy was red, Germany was silver... and America was blue. It's a throwback, and I'm loving it.
See you tomorrow for Practice!
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August 17, 2009
F1 on SPEED!: European Grand Prix at Valencia 2009!
As the F1 Circus reawakens from its midsummer slumber, we find ourselves headed to Valencia, on the east coast of Spain, for the European Grand Prix. It's the second year for this track, and one can hope that we'll have a better competition than we did for the inaugural race.
Let's take a look at the track map, shall we?
Deemed a "street circuit," since most of the course runs through and around the marina district of the city, we discovered last season that it really has little in common with real street tracks like Monaco or Singapore. The streets are wide and mostly smooth, there's plenty of runoff area where it's needed, and other than a stray pigeon or two, there's not a whole lot of drama to the circuit. In other words, it's a Hermann Tilke course.
Of course, that was last year. This year, if you remember (it has been a while since we last had a race, after all), we had a whole raft of rule changes that may make a difference.
The signature of Valencia has to be the gazillion turns. Sure, a few of them a hard to consider an actual turn, per se (21, 22 and 23, we're looking at you), but 25 is the definite record for modern circuits (no, I'm not counting the old Nordschliffe). Visually, the bridge between turns 9 and 10 is probably the highlight, though it does have competition in the form of the marina and the nicely renovated buildings attendant to it. Since it was the harbor for the 2007 America's Cup yacht race series, the city did a lot of beautifying to the marina area, and it showed.
However, at 200mph, you don't get to see much of it. Further belying its so-called street circuit origins, Valencia is a low downforce, high-speed track. As a result, it is hard on the brakes. Turn 12 in particular is a test of the carbon-carbon pads, where the cars have to slow from a track-high-speed of about 201mph down to around 80-90mph. All this abuse is quickly followed by turn 17, where they do it all again though only from about 160-180mph. For all the go-fast-stop-go-fast-stop-go-fast nature of the circuit, though, it's relatively easy on the engines, though Kimi Raikkonen might disagree with that assessment.
Fortunately for the organizers of the race, Renault's one-race suspension resulting from HWMNBNed wheelless excursion in Hungary has been lifted, meaning that Spain's favorite son will be able to race in Valencia. Perhaps he'll finish a lap this time.
Thankfully for all involved, the TV coverage returns to where it belongs, on SPEED Channel, for the rest of the season. Their regular excellent coverage begins on Friday morning from 7am to 840am, with live coverage of the day's Second Practice session.
After that, we get Quals on Saturday morning, plausibly live, from 7am to 830am. Later that night, though, Legendary Announce Team member Steve Matchett takes on a tour of the Ferrari factory in the special show "Ferrari: A Look Inside," from 11pm to 1130pm. We don't often get a chance to see the inner workings of a F1 team's factory, and doubly so for the secretive Scuderia Ferrari, so this might be very interesting viewing indeed.
Finally, however, we'll get our F1 at the right time of day. The 2009 European Grand Prix comes to us LIVE on Sunday, from 630am to 9am with a replay from 330pm to 6pm that same day.
Of course, we here at F1 Update! will be all over the race with our usual sterling coverage. Ahem.
In one last bit of news, Felipe Massa is recovering very well indeed from his head injury at Hungary. In fact, there's some rumblings coming out of Italy that he may very well return to the cockpit of the F60 in time for Monza, two races after Valencia. If so, that'll be one of the great medical miracles of our time, considering the multiple skull fractures he suffered. While I hope he really is fully healed less than two months after the accident, I suspect that it's just the Italian press trying to stir up some circulation numbers. After all, Slappy Schumacher's accident was six months ago, and he wasn't able to stand the gaff, though the neck gets a tougher workout in a F1 car.
Either way, the fact that there's even a chance the doctors might okay him to race again this season is incredible news. I wouldn't've put a wooden lira on that bet four weeks ago.
Let's take a look at the track map, shall we?
Deemed a "street circuit," since most of the course runs through and around the marina district of the city, we discovered last season that it really has little in common with real street tracks like Monaco or Singapore. The streets are wide and mostly smooth, there's plenty of runoff area where it's needed, and other than a stray pigeon or two, there's not a whole lot of drama to the circuit. In other words, it's a Hermann Tilke course.
Of course, that was last year. This year, if you remember (it has been a while since we last had a race, after all), we had a whole raft of rule changes that may make a difference.
The signature of Valencia has to be the gazillion turns. Sure, a few of them a hard to consider an actual turn, per se (21, 22 and 23, we're looking at you), but 25 is the definite record for modern circuits (no, I'm not counting the old Nordschliffe). Visually, the bridge between turns 9 and 10 is probably the highlight, though it does have competition in the form of the marina and the nicely renovated buildings attendant to it. Since it was the harbor for the 2007 America's Cup yacht race series, the city did a lot of beautifying to the marina area, and it showed.
However, at 200mph, you don't get to see much of it. Further belying its so-called street circuit origins, Valencia is a low downforce, high-speed track. As a result, it is hard on the brakes. Turn 12 in particular is a test of the carbon-carbon pads, where the cars have to slow from a track-high-speed of about 201mph down to around 80-90mph. All this abuse is quickly followed by turn 17, where they do it all again though only from about 160-180mph. For all the go-fast-stop-go-fast-stop-go-fast nature of the circuit, though, it's relatively easy on the engines, though Kimi Raikkonen might disagree with that assessment.
Fortunately for the organizers of the race, Renault's one-race suspension resulting from HWMNBNed wheelless excursion in Hungary has been lifted, meaning that Spain's favorite son will be able to race in Valencia. Perhaps he'll finish a lap this time.
Thankfully for all involved, the TV coverage returns to where it belongs, on SPEED Channel, for the rest of the season. Their regular excellent coverage begins on Friday morning from 7am to 840am, with live coverage of the day's Second Practice session.
After that, we get Quals on Saturday morning, plausibly live, from 7am to 830am. Later that night, though, Legendary Announce Team member Steve Matchett takes on a tour of the Ferrari factory in the special show "Ferrari: A Look Inside," from 11pm to 1130pm. We don't often get a chance to see the inner workings of a F1 team's factory, and doubly so for the secretive Scuderia Ferrari, so this might be very interesting viewing indeed.
Finally, however, we'll get our F1 at the right time of day. The 2009 European Grand Prix comes to us LIVE on Sunday, from 630am to 9am with a replay from 330pm to 6pm that same day.
Of course, we here at F1 Update! will be all over the race with our usual sterling coverage. Ahem.
In one last bit of news, Felipe Massa is recovering very well indeed from his head injury at Hungary. In fact, there's some rumblings coming out of Italy that he may very well return to the cockpit of the F60 in time for Monza, two races after Valencia. If so, that'll be one of the great medical miracles of our time, considering the multiple skull fractures he suffered. While I hope he really is fully healed less than two months after the accident, I suspect that it's just the Italian press trying to stir up some circulation numbers. After all, Slappy Schumacher's accident was six months ago, and he wasn't able to stand the gaff, though the neck gets a tougher workout in a F1 car.
Either way, the fact that there's even a chance the doctors might okay him to race again this season is incredible news. I wouldn't've put a wooden lira on that bet four weeks ago.
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August 11, 2009
Slappy's Out!
Retired seven-time World Driving Champion Michael 'Slappy' Schumacher has called off his comeback. Tabbed to replace the injured Felipe Massa, Slappy hadn't been behind the wheel of a F1 car since early 2007. After a 67-lap test in the F2007 last week, he had severe neck pain.
Today it was revealed that his neck pain has not responded to treatments and that the motorcycle accident in February that injured the neck in the first place was somewhat worse than previously known. Slappy had suffered "fractures in the area of head and neck" in the crash. The amazing g-force loads experienced by a F1 pilot exacerbated the injuries, and instead of risking further damage or not obtaining medical clearance right before the upcoming European Grand Prix at Valencia, Slappy decided to end his comeback.
"I am disappointed to the core. I am awfully sorry for the guys of Ferrari and for all the fans who crossed fingers for me. I can only repeat that I tried everything that was within my power. All I can do now is to keep my fingers crossed for the whole team for the coming races."
To be honest, if Ferrari had let the severity of Slappy's injuries be known, the news of his comeback wouldn't've been hailed as such a wonderful thing, but with skepticism. As it was, Slappy's physical fitness was already in question, even without knowing all the details of the injury. There's no question Ferrari knew how bad the injury was, so either they honestly believed that a 40-year old with a broken neck who hadn't sat behind the wheel of a F1 car in three years could recover and drive well... or this was all just a weird publicity stunt.
I'm leaning towards the first, but I can't completely rule out the second. After all, this IS Formula 1 (and Ferrari) we're talking about here. There's been stranger things done.
Ferrari has named team test driver Luca Badoer to take over driver duties for Valencia, which is now looking like the least interesting race ever. No Schumacher, no Renault (pending review of their suspension), no hometown hero in HWMNBN, and a frankly boring track? Yeesh.
UPDATE: Luca Badoer's highlight in Formula 1 probably wasn't even in a race, but at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
Today it was revealed that his neck pain has not responded to treatments and that the motorcycle accident in February that injured the neck in the first place was somewhat worse than previously known. Slappy had suffered "fractures in the area of head and neck" in the crash. The amazing g-force loads experienced by a F1 pilot exacerbated the injuries, and instead of risking further damage or not obtaining medical clearance right before the upcoming European Grand Prix at Valencia, Slappy decided to end his comeback.
"I am disappointed to the core. I am awfully sorry for the guys of Ferrari and for all the fans who crossed fingers for me. I can only repeat that I tried everything that was within my power. All I can do now is to keep my fingers crossed for the whole team for the coming races."
To be honest, if Ferrari had let the severity of Slappy's injuries be known, the news of his comeback wouldn't've been hailed as such a wonderful thing, but with skepticism. As it was, Slappy's physical fitness was already in question, even without knowing all the details of the injury. There's no question Ferrari knew how bad the injury was, so either they honestly believed that a 40-year old with a broken neck who hadn't sat behind the wheel of a F1 car in three years could recover and drive well... or this was all just a weird publicity stunt.
I'm leaning towards the first, but I can't completely rule out the second. After all, this IS Formula 1 (and Ferrari) we're talking about here. There's been stranger things done.
Ferrari has named team test driver Luca Badoer to take over driver duties for Valencia, which is now looking like the least interesting race ever. No Schumacher, no Renault (pending review of their suspension), no hometown hero in HWMNBN, and a frankly boring track? Yeesh.
UPDATE: Luca Badoer's highlight in Formula 1 probably wasn't even in a race, but at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
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July 31, 2009
Formula1.com: Not Partisan At All!
So, I guess Formula1.com, official FIA corporate shills website for F1 has made their rooting interests known to all. Here's a screenshot from today's front page:
Yep, that's Slappy, staring majestically at the address bar... and, no, usually the page color isn't Ferrari Red.
One gets the feeling that if, say, David Coulthard's Chin or Jack Newtown made a triumphant return to F1, they wouldn't get a banner on the front page... Could we be a little less blatant, guys?
Yep, that's Slappy, staring majestically at the address bar... and, no, usually the page color isn't Ferrari Red.
One gets the feeling that if, say, David Coulthard's Chin or Jack Newtown made a triumphant return to F1, they wouldn't get a banner on the front page... Could we be a little less blatant, guys?
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July 29, 2009
BMW Out, Slappy In! And Other News (UPDATED)
Busy day in the F1 world!
BMW announced that they would be withdrawing from Formula 1 racing effective at the end of the current season. The company restructured their entire motorsports division, citing a desire to "dedicate more resources to developing new, sustainable road car technologies."
The German manufacturer took over the Sauber-Petronas team in 2006, and in 2008 finished second in the Constructor's Championship, behind Ferrari (McLaren were excluded, otherwise they would have finished 2nd). The team's shining moment would have been the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, when they got their first victory behind Robert Kubica, with Grizzly Nick Heidfeld finishing second. 2009 has been a horror story for them, however, earning only eight points to date.
At the moment, it is unknown what BMW is going to do with the team's infrastructure: sell it off, much like SuperAguri did, or attempt to spin it away in one piece, like Honda did with their team (now BrawnGP). This all came as a surprise to Grizzly Nick, who said on his website "BMW's decision no longer to compete in Formula One was totally unexpected. I feel very sorry for the members of the team with whom it has been my privilege to work over the years. I would like to thank all of them for their tremendous support and for everything we have achieved together."
Unless another BrawnGP-like resurrection occurs, expect Kubica and Heidfeld to be in quite a bit of demand during the "silly season". After all, Manor Motorsports needs drivers...
In the other bit of surprising news, god help us all, Michael "Slappy" Schumacher is back.
I find it ironic that I may have brought this upon us. Just a few days ago, in a post dealing with the FIA SuperLicense, I mentioned that if the FIA votes unanimously to give a driver a license, he can be given one without meeting any of the requirements, then added "if Slappy Schumacher was hired to drive a F1 car again, that's how he'd qualify, I'm sure." When will I learn?
Anyway, Slappy will be undergoing a special training program to prepare for his first race back, at Valencia in a month. Not that he's out of shape, particularly for a 40-year-old, but he hasn't driven a F1 car in anger since he retired in 2006. If nothing else, his neck muscles have to be built up in a hurry to deal with the g-forces. He has never driven Ferrari's current car, and with the testing ban in place, he won't get to until Friday practice for Valencia. Still, there's that little thing about seven world championships...
...and at least the Official First Reader of The Pond, Mallory, will be happy.
Finally, it's pretty safe to say that while Renault may not be on-track due to their penalty in Hungary, Nelson Piquet Unemployed will not be. Team boss Flavio Briatore said after the Hungarian Grand Prix that "...when a driver lacks results, he opens the book of excuses and begins: the fault is the weather's, a spectator's sunglasses, a spin on the straight, this and that... I expected more from Nelson."
Piquet's response was somewhat... um... energetic: "Flavio is a business man, but he doesn't understand sh*t about F1." Now, we're not saying that Piquet is wrong, but that's never a good thing to say about your boss... particularly when it's true.
Romain Grosjean, please pick up the white courtesy phone.
UPDATE: Felipe Massa was able to answer questions in three different languages (English, Portugese, and Italian) today. He also took his first steps since the accident, and will be transferred out of Intensive Care within the day. Docs are saying that he'll likely be discharged within two weeks. How cool is that?
BMW announced that they would be withdrawing from Formula 1 racing effective at the end of the current season. The company restructured their entire motorsports division, citing a desire to "dedicate more resources to developing new, sustainable road car technologies."
The German manufacturer took over the Sauber-Petronas team in 2006, and in 2008 finished second in the Constructor's Championship, behind Ferrari (McLaren were excluded, otherwise they would have finished 2nd). The team's shining moment would have been the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, when they got their first victory behind Robert Kubica, with Grizzly Nick Heidfeld finishing second. 2009 has been a horror story for them, however, earning only eight points to date.
At the moment, it is unknown what BMW is going to do with the team's infrastructure: sell it off, much like SuperAguri did, or attempt to spin it away in one piece, like Honda did with their team (now BrawnGP). This all came as a surprise to Grizzly Nick, who said on his website "BMW's decision no longer to compete in Formula One was totally unexpected. I feel very sorry for the members of the team with whom it has been my privilege to work over the years. I would like to thank all of them for their tremendous support and for everything we have achieved together."
Unless another BrawnGP-like resurrection occurs, expect Kubica and Heidfeld to be in quite a bit of demand during the "silly season". After all, Manor Motorsports needs drivers...
In the other bit of surprising news, god help us all, Michael "Slappy" Schumacher is back.
The birth of "Slappy"
With Ferrari making the intelligent decision to keep the injured Felipe Massa out of the cockpit for the rest of the season, the team needed a replacement driver for the second half of the season. The team's test drivers, Luca Badoer and Marc Gene, would have to be called merely serviceable: both have driven in F1, though not since 2004 (Gene) and 1999 (Badoer). And there's that little thing about seven world championships. I find it ironic that I may have brought this upon us. Just a few days ago, in a post dealing with the FIA SuperLicense, I mentioned that if the FIA votes unanimously to give a driver a license, he can be given one without meeting any of the requirements, then added "if Slappy Schumacher was hired to drive a F1 car again, that's how he'd qualify, I'm sure." When will I learn?
Anyway, Slappy will be undergoing a special training program to prepare for his first race back, at Valencia in a month. Not that he's out of shape, particularly for a 40-year-old, but he hasn't driven a F1 car in anger since he retired in 2006. If nothing else, his neck muscles have to be built up in a hurry to deal with the g-forces. He has never driven Ferrari's current car, and with the testing ban in place, he won't get to until Friday practice for Valencia. Still, there's that little thing about seven world championships...
...and at least the Official First Reader of The Pond, Mallory, will be happy.
Finally, it's pretty safe to say that while Renault may not be on-track due to their penalty in Hungary, Nelson Piquet Unemployed will not be. Team boss Flavio Briatore said after the Hungarian Grand Prix that "...when a driver lacks results, he opens the book of excuses and begins: the fault is the weather's, a spectator's sunglasses, a spin on the straight, this and that... I expected more from Nelson."
Piquet's response was somewhat... um... energetic: "Flavio is a business man, but he doesn't understand sh*t about F1." Now, we're not saying that Piquet is wrong, but that's never a good thing to say about your boss... particularly when it's true.
Romain Grosjean, please pick up the white courtesy phone.
UPDATE: Felipe Massa was able to answer questions in three different languages (English, Portugese, and Italian) today. He also took his first steps since the accident, and will be transferred out of Intensive Care within the day. Docs are saying that he'll likely be discharged within two weeks. How cool is that?
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July 27, 2009
Massa's Condition Update III
Some grim news came out of Hungary this afternoon as it was announced that Felipe Massa was still suffering from swelling of the brain. That's bad enough, and explains why he'd been in a medically-induced coma for so long, but the really horrible news is that the Brazilian may have suffered damage to his left eye.
If that is the case, and he can't recover whatever vision is lost, then this incident may very well have ended his F1 career.
The doctors are saying that it'll be at least a week before they can judge whether or not Massa has suffered any impairment from the brain damage, though they did take him off the ventilator and pulled him out of the coma. He'll remain in intensive care for the forseeable future, however.
If that is the case, and he can't recover whatever vision is lost, then this incident may very well have ended his F1 career.
The doctors are saying that it'll be at least a week before they can judge whether or not Massa has suffered any impairment from the brain damage, though they did take him off the ventilator and pulled him out of the coma. He'll remain in intensive care for the forseeable future, however.
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Massa's Condition Update II
Even better: he is now able to move his hands and legs, and is "actively communicating", said Hungarian Defense Ministry spokesman Istvan Bocskai. That would suggest that there isn't significant brain damage.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemelo is supposed to pay him a visit today. Despite this, Felipe Massa's condition is expected to improve.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemelo is supposed to pay him a visit today. Despite this, Felipe Massa's condition is expected to improve.
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July 26, 2009
Massa's Condition Update
Felipe Massa remains in a "life-threatening, but stable" state, and will be kept in a medically induced coma for the next 48 hours.
Peter Bazso, the medical director of the AEK Military Hospital in Budapest, also said that he's "in an acute phase. What can come next, we don't know." The good news is that there was no neurological damage and the results of brain scans were "encouraging." He will be given another CAT scan later today, according to the Ferrari press office.
Massa was woken up briefly so doctors could check on his condition and so he could see his family.
I think it's safe to say that he's probably going to be out for the rest of the season.
Peter Bazso, the medical director of the AEK Military Hospital in Budapest, also said that he's "in an acute phase. What can come next, we don't know." The good news is that there was no neurological damage and the results of brain scans were "encouraging." He will be given another CAT scan later today, according to the Ferrari press office.
Massa was woken up briefly so doctors could check on his condition and so he could see his family.
I think it's safe to say that he's probably going to be out for the rest of the season.
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July 25, 2009
F1 Quals: Hungary 2009, Massa Seriously Injured
Okay, here's the results, then we'll get to the important stuff:
However, that's all secondary. Felipe Massa was involved in a very hard crash right towards the end of Q2. At first, it was thought that there was some malfunction with the car, as tiremarks showed that he never even tried to make the turn at Turn 4, and went straight into the barrier at Turn 5.
Then came the news that Rubens Barrichello, who went out in Q2, was hampered by rear suspension problems: something important, but not crippling, came off the suspension, something called a damper spring, which is the F1 version of a shock absorber. It weighs about two pounds and is made of steel, "about the size of a microphone" as the BBC reporter put it.
Then came the video:
Felipe Massa was last known to be in "serious, life-threatening, but stable condition", after requiring surgery to fix a skull fracture, cuts to his chin and forehead, and a concussion. He was sedated and on a respirator, in intensive care, and was expected to be woken up on Sunday morning. Obviously, he's out of the Hungarian Grand Prix, and may be out of the next race in four weeks. The latest news is that his life is no longer in danger.
A dreadful coincidence, coming so soon after the death of Henry Surtees.
Race tomorrow.
However, that's all secondary. Felipe Massa was involved in a very hard crash right towards the end of Q2. At first, it was thought that there was some malfunction with the car, as tiremarks showed that he never even tried to make the turn at Turn 4, and went straight into the barrier at Turn 5.
Then came the news that Rubens Barrichello, who went out in Q2, was hampered by rear suspension problems: something important, but not crippling, came off the suspension, something called a damper spring, which is the F1 version of a shock absorber. It weighs about two pounds and is made of steel, "about the size of a microphone" as the BBC reporter put it.
Then came the video:
Felipe Massa was last known to be in "serious, life-threatening, but stable condition", after requiring surgery to fix a skull fracture, cuts to his chin and forehead, and a concussion. He was sedated and on a respirator, in intensive care, and was expected to be woken up on Sunday morning. Obviously, he's out of the Hungarian Grand Prix, and may be out of the next race in four weeks. The latest news is that his life is no longer in danger.
A dreadful coincidence, coming so soon after the death of Henry Surtees.
Race tomorrow.
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F1 Quals: Hungary 2009 Will Be Even More Delayed
Last night's thunderstorms have, apparently, done something bad to Pond Central's satellite feed, or SPEED is trying to clear dead crows out of its antennae, or something, because I'm just getting a black screen with choppy voice during today's coverage of the Hungarian Quals.
I'm pretty sure it's on SPEED's end, because none of my other channels are affected.
So I'll either have to d/l coverage, further delaying the F1 Quals report, or I can just go and base it all off of coverage from the F1 website, which is cheating.
It seems like even the weathergods have a problem with Hungary. The 2007 Hungarian GP is the only race I've missed in five years.
I'm pretty sure it's on SPEED's end, because none of my other channels are affected.
So I'll either have to d/l coverage, further delaying the F1 Quals report, or I can just go and base it all off of coverage from the F1 website, which is cheating.
It seems like even the weathergods have a problem with Hungary. The 2007 Hungarian GP is the only race I've missed in five years.
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