July 24, 2009
F1 Practice: Hungary 2009!
Much to my surprise, the Legendary Announce Team was on a "Hungary is a really good track" kick today during P2. "Because of the terrain (the Hungaroring is built in the valley of three hills) It's a great place to watch the race." "The race always gives us some special memory." "It's a driver's track."
But yet, after the first lap there's usually no action to speak of, the drivers hate it, and it's more of a destruction test than a race at times. No, I'm going to go out on a limb here and disagree with the L.A.T.: it's a horrible track.
On track, there wasn't much to report. Oh, the Ferraris were having serious problems with grip again, and Felipe Massa in particular looked like he was driving on an ice rink, but they've had those problems before, too. McLaren were on top of the timesheets all day. Heikki Kovaleininninninnie was fastest until the final second or so, when Lewis Hamilton turned in the quick lap of the session. The very interesting result, though, was that the entire field back to 17th place was separated by just one second. That's pretty tight, and makes Quals look particularly exciting.
In other news, the New Kid On The Track (NKOTT), Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari has been at the center of a firestorm of controversy. It turns out that, before today, he had turned a grand total of ZERO laps ever in a Formula 1 car. He's done some straight-line runs (which are all that are allowable under the regulations), but not even many of those. He earned his FIA SuperLicense, without which one cannot drive in F1, by winning last year's British Formula 3 championship.
There are many ways to earn a SuperLicense. Winning or being in the top three of some FIA-sponsored series (Formula 3, GP2, F3000, etc), or finishing in the top six of the Indy Racing League or CART can earn you one. Driving 300km in a F1 car at race speeds within 2 days can, with approval of the FIA, earn you one (this is how Fast Yuji Ide earned his provisional SuperLicense). You can also be granted one by unanimous vote by the FIA license board, but that's not very common... if Slappy Schumacher was hired to drive a F1 car again, that's how he'd qualify, I'm sure.
Many drivers have mentioned that NKOTT is going to be something of a risk out there. Nobody doubts he has the skillset to be a F1 driver, just that he doesn't have the experience. I tend to be more of the "If you're good enough, you're experienced enough" school of thought (see Vettel, Sebastian, US Grand Prix, 2007), but the drivers certainly have the right to voice their concerns. And, for the record, NKOTT was dead last on the timesheets today, 1.8 seconds behind.
Finally, BMW had something weird on their car during Practice 1 today. Take a look:
Eventually, the LAT's tech wonk, Steve Matchett, suggested that perhaps it's something related to testing for the 2010 car. Since there's no testing allowed outside of race weekend, he said, maybe the 'table' is to simulate the design of the bodywork for next year's chassis, so as to check sightlines and visibility over the nose. "After all, it'd be a bad thing if you put the driver in the car and he says 'it feels great, but I can't see anything'!"
Certainly there's no way the aerodynamic techies would let something like that hit the track, what with that flat front screwing up airflow! It wasn't there in P2, so it seems like Matchett has the right of it, or at least is in the neighborhood.
Quals tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, I'm working at the Duck U. Bookstore in the morning, then having lunch with Momzerduck and Ph.Duck afterwards, so don't look for the report to be up until the evening. See ya then!
UPDATE: Almost forgot the most important news! David Coulthard's Chin has been rehired by Red Bull as the team's third driver, replacing NKOTT. This means that if Mark Webbo or Seb Vettel get sick, or injured, or are otherwise unable to race, The Chin will be back!
But yet, after the first lap there's usually no action to speak of, the drivers hate it, and it's more of a destruction test than a race at times. No, I'm going to go out on a limb here and disagree with the L.A.T.: it's a horrible track.
On track, there wasn't much to report. Oh, the Ferraris were having serious problems with grip again, and Felipe Massa in particular looked like he was driving on an ice rink, but they've had those problems before, too. McLaren were on top of the timesheets all day. Heikki Kovaleininninninnie was fastest until the final second or so, when Lewis Hamilton turned in the quick lap of the session. The very interesting result, though, was that the entire field back to 17th place was separated by just one second. That's pretty tight, and makes Quals look particularly exciting.
In other news, the New Kid On The Track (NKOTT), Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari has been at the center of a firestorm of controversy. It turns out that, before today, he had turned a grand total of ZERO laps ever in a Formula 1 car. He's done some straight-line runs (which are all that are allowable under the regulations), but not even many of those. He earned his FIA SuperLicense, without which one cannot drive in F1, by winning last year's British Formula 3 championship.
There are many ways to earn a SuperLicense. Winning or being in the top three of some FIA-sponsored series (Formula 3, GP2, F3000, etc), or finishing in the top six of the Indy Racing League or CART can earn you one. Driving 300km in a F1 car at race speeds within 2 days can, with approval of the FIA, earn you one (this is how Fast Yuji Ide earned his provisional SuperLicense). You can also be granted one by unanimous vote by the FIA license board, but that's not very common... if Slappy Schumacher was hired to drive a F1 car again, that's how he'd qualify, I'm sure.
Many drivers have mentioned that NKOTT is going to be something of a risk out there. Nobody doubts he has the skillset to be a F1 driver, just that he doesn't have the experience. I tend to be more of the "If you're good enough, you're experienced enough" school of thought (see Vettel, Sebastian, US Grand Prix, 2007), but the drivers certainly have the right to voice their concerns. And, for the record, NKOTT was dead last on the timesheets today, 1.8 seconds behind.
Finally, BMW had something weird on their car during Practice 1 today. Take a look:
Look directly in front of the driver.
At first, the LAT speculated that the team neglected to remove the platform that the team places a video monitor on when the car is in the garage. The monitor allows the driver to see telemetry, replays, or even the FIA video feed, but usually the base is designed to sit on the bodywork directly, no 'table' needed. Eventually, the LAT's tech wonk, Steve Matchett, suggested that perhaps it's something related to testing for the 2010 car. Since there's no testing allowed outside of race weekend, he said, maybe the 'table' is to simulate the design of the bodywork for next year's chassis, so as to check sightlines and visibility over the nose. "After all, it'd be a bad thing if you put the driver in the car and he says 'it feels great, but I can't see anything'!"
Certainly there's no way the aerodynamic techies would let something like that hit the track, what with that flat front screwing up airflow! It wasn't there in P2, so it seems like Matchett has the right of it, or at least is in the neighborhood.
Quals tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, I'm working at the Duck U. Bookstore in the morning, then having lunch with Momzerduck and Ph.Duck afterwards, so don't look for the report to be up until the evening. See ya then!
UPDATE: Almost forgot the most important news! David Coulthard's Chin has been rehired by Red Bull as the team's third driver, replacing NKOTT. This means that if Mark Webbo or Seb Vettel get sick, or injured, or are otherwise unable to race, The Chin will be back!
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July 20, 2009
F1 on TV: Hungary 2009
It's twisty, it's slow, it's dull, and it's not Monaco? Then it must be Hungary!
Here's the trackmap... look at it and weep:
Occasionally called "Monaco without the glamour", the Hungaroring is one of the slowest tracks on the F1 schedule. With only one turn that could remotely be called fast (#10, and even that's a nearly-90o bend), and one of the shortest straights on the calendar (only 700m), the main concept for the teams is to crank on as much wing as possible, coat the tires in superglue, and anything else they can think of to gain downforce. Five of the corners on this track are taken at about 60mph... that's a huge amount.
The slow speeds and usually hot air temperatures throw in another problem for the teams: cooling. Both the driver and the engine suffer mightily from the heat at Hungary. While there isn't much they can do for the man, don't be surprised if we see huge radiator ducts and cut-away body panels at the back of the car. Even then, we might see some overheating... unless it rains.
There's only one good passing spot here, Turn 1. Unfortunately, the slow speeds and the processional nature of the track generally render the Hungarian GP a snoozefest.
Fear not, fellow F1 fans! We here at F1 Update! will take one on the chin for you and deliver our usual stellar* performance for the race recap, so you won't miss a thing, and SPEED will do their usual good work on bringing us the sights.
They start off on Friday from 7am to 840am, with LIVE coverage of Friday's Second Practice. Skipping on to Saturday, from 7am to 830am we get plausibly live coverage of Quals.
On Sunday, however, we switch over to FOX (for the last time this season) from 2pm to 4pm for tape-delayed coverage of the Grand Prix of Hungary.
In other F1 news:
*As expected, Jamie Alguersuari was officially named as the driver who gets SeaBass' recently vacated race seat at Toro Rosso. Just in time for the cars to get a much needed aero update... don't be surprised if the youngest driver in F1 history scores a point, and makes SeaBass look just that much worse.
*Danica Patrick recently told the LA Times that she's not interested in driving for USF1 next year. "I'd say it's probably not F1," she responded when asked what series she'd be racing in. "I've had opportunities to take it a step further with Formula 1, and I don't want to lead anyone down a path. It's not in my heart to go there. I've explored Europe before. I particularly like to be here and I like my family and I like my friends and I like my creature comforts of my home country." Unless Bernie Ecclestone, misogynistic gnome that he is, leaves the sport, we'll probably never see Patrick in a F1 car.
*There are reports that Nelson Piquet Jr needs a good showing at Hungary to save his seat. The official Renault press release for Hungary says that he's "targeting a top-10 grid spot and points in the race." After Hungary, F1 takes another three-week break, which would be an ideal time to kick Piquet to the curb. There's ominous music in the background...
*Max Mosley has officially stated (again) that he won't run for re-election as FIA President. Until we (metaphorically) see his body buried at the crossroads with a stake in his chest and his mouth full of garlic, I won't believe he's gone. Maybe not even then, if Jean Todt gets elected in his place.
*"stellar" in the same way that brown dwarfs and black holes could be called "stellar".
Here's the trackmap... look at it and weep:
Occasionally called "Monaco without the glamour", the Hungaroring is one of the slowest tracks on the F1 schedule. With only one turn that could remotely be called fast (#10, and even that's a nearly-90o bend), and one of the shortest straights on the calendar (only 700m), the main concept for the teams is to crank on as much wing as possible, coat the tires in superglue, and anything else they can think of to gain downforce. Five of the corners on this track are taken at about 60mph... that's a huge amount.
The slow speeds and usually hot air temperatures throw in another problem for the teams: cooling. Both the driver and the engine suffer mightily from the heat at Hungary. While there isn't much they can do for the man, don't be surprised if we see huge radiator ducts and cut-away body panels at the back of the car. Even then, we might see some overheating... unless it rains.
There's only one good passing spot here, Turn 1. Unfortunately, the slow speeds and the processional nature of the track generally render the Hungarian GP a snoozefest.
Fear not, fellow F1 fans! We here at F1 Update! will take one on the chin for you and deliver our usual stellar* performance for the race recap, so you won't miss a thing, and SPEED will do their usual good work on bringing us the sights.
They start off on Friday from 7am to 840am, with LIVE coverage of Friday's Second Practice. Skipping on to Saturday, from 7am to 830am we get plausibly live coverage of Quals.
On Sunday, however, we switch over to FOX (for the last time this season) from 2pm to 4pm for tape-delayed coverage of the Grand Prix of Hungary.
In other F1 news:
*As expected, Jamie Alguersuari was officially named as the driver who gets SeaBass' recently vacated race seat at Toro Rosso. Just in time for the cars to get a much needed aero update... don't be surprised if the youngest driver in F1 history scores a point, and makes SeaBass look just that much worse.
*Danica Patrick recently told the LA Times that she's not interested in driving for USF1 next year. "I'd say it's probably not F1," she responded when asked what series she'd be racing in. "I've had opportunities to take it a step further with Formula 1, and I don't want to lead anyone down a path. It's not in my heart to go there. I've explored Europe before. I particularly like to be here and I like my family and I like my friends and I like my creature comforts of my home country." Unless Bernie Ecclestone, misogynistic gnome that he is, leaves the sport, we'll probably never see Patrick in a F1 car.
*There are reports that Nelson Piquet Jr needs a good showing at Hungary to save his seat. The official Renault press release for Hungary says that he's "targeting a top-10 grid spot and points in the race." After Hungary, F1 takes another three-week break, which would be an ideal time to kick Piquet to the curb. There's ominous music in the background...
*Max Mosley has officially stated (again) that he won't run for re-election as FIA President. Until we (metaphorically) see his body buried at the crossroads with a stake in his chest and his mouth full of garlic, I won't believe he's gone. Maybe not even then, if Jean Todt gets elected in his place.
*"stellar" in the same way that brown dwarfs and black holes could be called "stellar".
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July 19, 2009
Henry Surtees Killed
Henry Surtees, 18-year-old son of F1 and motorsports legend John Surtees, was killed today while driving in a Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch, England.
During the second race of the weekend, Jack Clarke spun and smacked into the barrier outside of Westfield Bend. One of Clarke's rear wheels was torn from his car, where it rolled into the racing line just as Surtees swept by.
Surtees, in the blue & yellow car, was struck in the head by the tire and knocked unconscious. His car then drove straight on into the wall of the next turn, Sheene Corner, at 140mph. It took the first corner worker less than five seconds to reach him after the car came to a stop.
He was quickly extracted from the car and taken to the track's infield care center, where he was stabilized. He was then airlifted to Royal London Hospital, where he passed away a few hours later.
We here at F1 Update! extend our sincere condolences to the Surtees family.
During the second race of the weekend, Jack Clarke spun and smacked into the barrier outside of Westfield Bend. One of Clarke's rear wheels was torn from his car, where it rolled into the racing line just as Surtees swept by.
Surtees, in the blue & yellow car, was struck in the head by the tire and knocked unconscious. His car then drove straight on into the wall of the next turn, Sheene Corner, at 140mph. It took the first corner worker less than five seconds to reach him after the car came to a stop.
He was quickly extracted from the car and taken to the track's infield care center, where he was stabilized. He was then airlifted to Royal London Hospital, where he passed away a few hours later.
We here at F1 Update! extend our sincere condolences to the Surtees family.
Henry Surtees 2/18/1991 - 7/19/2009
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July 17, 2009
SeaBass Cooked!
In what might be the least surprising move in F1 history, Toro Rosso today fired Sebastian Bourdais from his driver duties.
SeaBass, a four-time consecutive driver's champion in ChampCar, ran 27 races in F1, earning a total of six points. He had two seventh place finishes in 2008, and two eighth place finishes this season. Meanwhile, his teammates have consistently outscored him. Last year, Sebastien Vettel scored 35 points, including the team's first victory and 9 total points-paying finishes. This year, rookie Sebastian Buemi has three points. Of course, other than the points scored, SeaBass has outperformed Buemi in finishing position.
Still, for someone with his obvious driving talent, SeaBass has been a disappointment, though perhaps Toro Rosso has pulled the trigger a little too fast. SeaBass is threatening legal action for breach of contract.
The team has not yet named a replacement, but it's widely assumed that third driver Jaime Alguersuari will be given the drive. If so, he'll become the youngest driver in F1 history at 19 years, 125 days at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
In what might be the least surprising move in F1 history, Toro Rosso today fired Sebastian Bourdais from his driver duties.
SeaBass, a four-time consecutive driver's champion in ChampCar, ran 27 races in F1, earning a total of six points. He had two seventh place finishes in 2008, and two eighth place finishes this season. Meanwhile, his teammates have consistently outscored him. Last year, Sebastien Vettel scored 35 points, including the team's first victory and 9 total points-paying finishes. This year, rookie Sebastian Buemi has three points. Of course, other than the points scored, SeaBass has outperformed Buemi in finishing position.
Still, for someone with his obvious driving talent, SeaBass has been a disappointment, though perhaps Toro Rosso has pulled the trigger a little too fast. SeaBass is threatening legal action for breach of contract.
The team has not yet named a replacement, but it's widely assumed that third driver Jaime Alguersuari will be given the drive. If so, he'll become the youngest driver in F1 history at 19 years, 125 days at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
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July 12, 2009
Rubens Barrichello's Entire Post-Race Interview
Taken from the BBC's race coverage, this is a transcription of their post-race interview with disgruntled BrawnGP driver Rubens Barrichello:
Reporter: Where did it go wrong?
Rubens Barrichello: Well, I guess it's uh on the strategy, on the pit lane. Uhm it was a good show from the team how to lose a race today. For me it's um terrible upset with the way things gone because you know it uh... I did all I had to do. I had to go first on the first corner and that's all I did. And then uh and then uh they made me lose the race. Basically.
Reporter: What can you do from a driver's point of view? Will you sit down and talk about this because it's not the first time it's seem to have happened.
RB: I don't know. I mean if uh you know if uh... If it is really what's going on, it's uh we're gonna end up losing both championships and thats uh that's even more terrible, so (clears throat) I feel sorry for myself. I feel sorry for the team. Uhhhh... to be very honest with you, I wish I can get on the plane and go back home right now. I don't want to talk to anybody in the team because I don't wanna understand, it'll be a lot of 'blah blah blah blah blah' and I don't wanna hear that.
Reporter: Are you saying the team are definitely favoring Jensen?
RB: No, I'm not saying that, I'm saying that there was a good show how to lose a race today. I'm not saying that they favor anyone.
Reporter: Thank you.
Reporter: Where did it go wrong?
Rubens Barrichello: Well, I guess it's uh on the strategy, on the pit lane. Uhm it was a good show from the team how to lose a race today. For me it's um terrible upset with the way things gone because you know it uh... I did all I had to do. I had to go first on the first corner and that's all I did. And then uh and then uh they made me lose the race. Basically.
Reporter: What can you do from a driver's point of view? Will you sit down and talk about this because it's not the first time it's seem to have happened.
RB: I don't know. I mean if uh you know if uh... If it is really what's going on, it's uh we're gonna end up losing both championships and thats uh that's even more terrible, so (clears throat) I feel sorry for myself. I feel sorry for the team. Uhhhh... to be very honest with you, I wish I can get on the plane and go back home right now. I don't want to talk to anybody in the team because I don't wanna understand, it'll be a lot of 'blah blah blah blah blah' and I don't wanna hear that.
Reporter: Are you saying the team are definitely favoring Jensen?
RB: No, I'm not saying that, I'm saying that there was a good show how to lose a race today. I'm not saying that they favor anyone.
Reporter: Thank you.
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July 11, 2009
F1 Quals: Germany 2009!
Ladies and gentlemen, history has been made today in what might have been the most suspenseful Quals this season! Here's the provisional grid, and prepare to be amazed:
Q1 started out dry, but towards the end it began to rain, which pretty much put paid to some strategies. SeaBass and Glockenspiel were both waiting until the end to make their push for Q2 and wound up shooting themselves in the foot. To boot, Glockenspiel wound up blocking HWMNBN who was on a hotlap towards the end of the session. While HWMNBN still made it into Q2, Timo was penalized after quals was over and will actually be starting from dead last.
Q2 is where the excitement occurred. Everybody charged out of the pitlane on dry tires, but it took less than a half-lap to teams to realize that intermediates were the right way to go. First Kazoo Nakajima went spiraling off-track, followed quickly by Felipe Massa. Then into the exact same turn that sent the previous two drivers pirouetting, we had three cars go side-by-side in an impending pile of carbon-fibre wreckage. Miracles (or driver skills) do occur, however, and all fifteen cars made it back to the pits for Inters... except for Red Bull's Mark Webber, who decided to give drys a try for a hot-lap. It didn't work, and he wound up desperately crawling back to the pit, ego damaged but his car in one piece.
Everybody turned a lap or two on the Inters, but Brawn's Rubens Barrichello, maybe the best judge of weather on the grid, found a gap in the rain and slapped on a set of supersofts. His 1:34 wound up nearly a second-and-a-half faster than anybody else could manage as the rain began to fall again.
Meanwhile, Nelson Piquet Jr managed to do something he had never succeeded in doing before: he outqualified his teammate, HWMNBN. Look for Piquet to be found dismembered and eviscerated in the morning.
The story of Q2, however, was the history-making session of Force India's Adrian F'n Sutil. Never before has a Force India car made it out of Q2... in fact, on those occasions when they've made it into Q2, they've usually been 14th or 15th at the end. Not today. Sutil, driving on his home track, found a nice groove in the weather and managed to hoist himself into Q3 with the third best lap of the session. In doing so, he has earned himself a nickname: F'n, said in admiration. Amazing job... but it would only get better.
In Q3, it looked like it would be the usual routine: Brawns and Red Bulls fighting for the pole, and in truth, that's exactly what happened... but not before the reborn McLarens of Hamilton and Kovaleininninnie made it known that they had to be taken seriously. Perhaps not for a win, but the mere fact that both drivers were in Q3 means that the recent aero changes have fixed whatever ailed the Glare with Wheels.
A quick flurry of fast times in the last couple minutes of the session juggled the top four positions. Both Brawns and both Red Bulls were on pole at one time or another, but Mark Webber, the last to come around on a hot-lap, claimed his first ever pole position and looks to be the favorite for the race by far.
All of which, however, paled in comparison to the performance of Adrian F'n Sutil. Despite having more fuel onboard than the three cars behind him (678.5kg for Sutil to 673.5kg for Massa), he still brought his Force India home in seventh, the best ever for that team. Here's the best part: it's a legitimate result. We may very well be seeing the newest entry into annals of Bizarro Season... but it's great to see. Adrian F'n Sutil, we salute you!
Fuel loads show that Red Bull and McLaren have both apparently caught up with the Brawns. Where it was common to see them on pole with the most fuel, now Button and Barrichello both have nearly 10kg of fuel LESS onboard, and nearly 15kg less than the polesitter. That might be because of the cool track temps (the Brawn car is easy on the tires, but that also means that on cold tracks it's hard for them to get heat into the rubber, ergo less traction), or it might just mean that the team hasn't been able to keep up with the development pace of the other two.
Looks to be a promising race on Sunday... we might just see Webber get his first ever victory, and possibly Force India's first ever points-paying finish. The race is on Fox at 2pm Pond Time, so see you then!
Q1 started out dry, but towards the end it began to rain, which pretty much put paid to some strategies. SeaBass and Glockenspiel were both waiting until the end to make their push for Q2 and wound up shooting themselves in the foot. To boot, Glockenspiel wound up blocking HWMNBN who was on a hotlap towards the end of the session. While HWMNBN still made it into Q2, Timo was penalized after quals was over and will actually be starting from dead last.
Q2 is where the excitement occurred. Everybody charged out of the pitlane on dry tires, but it took less than a half-lap to teams to realize that intermediates were the right way to go. First Kazoo Nakajima went spiraling off-track, followed quickly by Felipe Massa. Then into the exact same turn that sent the previous two drivers pirouetting, we had three cars go side-by-side in an impending pile of carbon-fibre wreckage. Miracles (or driver skills) do occur, however, and all fifteen cars made it back to the pits for Inters... except for Red Bull's Mark Webber, who decided to give drys a try for a hot-lap. It didn't work, and he wound up desperately crawling back to the pit, ego damaged but his car in one piece.
Everybody turned a lap or two on the Inters, but Brawn's Rubens Barrichello, maybe the best judge of weather on the grid, found a gap in the rain and slapped on a set of supersofts. His 1:34 wound up nearly a second-and-a-half faster than anybody else could manage as the rain began to fall again.
Meanwhile, Nelson Piquet Jr managed to do something he had never succeeded in doing before: he outqualified his teammate, HWMNBN. Look for Piquet to be found dismembered and eviscerated in the morning.
The story of Q2, however, was the history-making session of Force India's Adrian F'n Sutil. Never before has a Force India car made it out of Q2... in fact, on those occasions when they've made it into Q2, they've usually been 14th or 15th at the end. Not today. Sutil, driving on his home track, found a nice groove in the weather and managed to hoist himself into Q3 with the third best lap of the session. In doing so, he has earned himself a nickname: F'n, said in admiration. Amazing job... but it would only get better.
In Q3, it looked like it would be the usual routine: Brawns and Red Bulls fighting for the pole, and in truth, that's exactly what happened... but not before the reborn McLarens of Hamilton and Kovaleininninnie made it known that they had to be taken seriously. Perhaps not for a win, but the mere fact that both drivers were in Q3 means that the recent aero changes have fixed whatever ailed the Glare with Wheels.
A quick flurry of fast times in the last couple minutes of the session juggled the top four positions. Both Brawns and both Red Bulls were on pole at one time or another, but Mark Webber, the last to come around on a hot-lap, claimed his first ever pole position and looks to be the favorite for the race by far.
All of which, however, paled in comparison to the performance of Adrian F'n Sutil. Despite having more fuel onboard than the three cars behind him (678.5kg for Sutil to 673.5kg for Massa), he still brought his Force India home in seventh, the best ever for that team. Here's the best part: it's a legitimate result. We may very well be seeing the newest entry into annals of Bizarro Season... but it's great to see. Adrian F'n Sutil, we salute you!
Fuel loads show that Red Bull and McLaren have both apparently caught up with the Brawns. Where it was common to see them on pole with the most fuel, now Button and Barrichello both have nearly 10kg of fuel LESS onboard, and nearly 15kg less than the polesitter. That might be because of the cool track temps (the Brawn car is easy on the tires, but that also means that on cold tracks it's hard for them to get heat into the rubber, ergo less traction), or it might just mean that the team hasn't been able to keep up with the development pace of the other two.
Looks to be a promising race on Sunday... we might just see Webber get his first ever victory, and possibly Force India's first ever points-paying finish. The race is on Fox at 2pm Pond Time, so see you then!
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F1 Quals: Germany 2009 is DELAYED
There must have been some lightning somewhere between Pond Central and SPEED, because the picture for their coverage of Quals was breaking up or freezing every twenty seconds or so. Completely unwatchable, so I'm currently downloading the BBC's version and I'll report on quals later today.
Please, no spoilers until I post about it here.
Please, no spoilers until I post about it here.
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July 10, 2009
F1 Practice: Germany 2009!
It's nice to have F1 back on the telly!
Now that we're halfway through season, it's just possible that we're starting to see the big teams beginning to catch up with Brawn and Red Bull. None other than Lewis Hamilton took fast-lap honors in P2 today, beating out Seb Vettel and Jensen Button. Of course, the usual warning about "trusting no time set in Practice" applies, but it was still kinda good to see McLaren back up front.
Never mind that Heikki Kovaleininninnie was 17th.
The current weather forecast for the race is cool and rainy, which is exactly the conditions we had today. Might make for a fun race, that.
Unfortunately, if you trust the rumors flying about, this is going to be the last F1 race for SeaBass. He's never quite gotten a handle on the series, which is quite puzzling considering the success he had in ChampCar. It's not the same type of racing, obviously, but it's not like he's Yuji Ide or something: SeaBass has talent!
Offtrack, there's been another falling out between FOTA and FIA. Someone said something, or the table was the wrong shape, or the team principals didn't like the water, or whatever it was, the FOTA teams marched out of a meeting with the FIA en masse. For all we know, the breakaway series is still possible. Tell you what... if there's any solid news, I'll report it, but until then just assume the two sides are grumbling at each other.
Feh.
Quals tomorrow!
Now that we're halfway through season, it's just possible that we're starting to see the big teams beginning to catch up with Brawn and Red Bull. None other than Lewis Hamilton took fast-lap honors in P2 today, beating out Seb Vettel and Jensen Button. Of course, the usual warning about "trusting no time set in Practice" applies, but it was still kinda good to see McLaren back up front.
Never mind that Heikki Kovaleininninnie was 17th.
The current weather forecast for the race is cool and rainy, which is exactly the conditions we had today. Might make for a fun race, that.
Unfortunately, if you trust the rumors flying about, this is going to be the last F1 race for SeaBass. He's never quite gotten a handle on the series, which is quite puzzling considering the success he had in ChampCar. It's not the same type of racing, obviously, but it's not like he's Yuji Ide or something: SeaBass has talent!
Offtrack, there's been another falling out between FOTA and FIA. Someone said something, or the table was the wrong shape, or the team principals didn't like the water, or whatever it was, the FOTA teams marched out of a meeting with the FIA en masse. For all we know, the breakaway series is still possible. Tell you what... if there's any solid news, I'll report it, but until then just assume the two sides are grumbling at each other.
Feh.
Quals tomorrow!
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July 06, 2009
F1 on TV: Germany 2009!
*tap tap tap* Is this thing on? It is? Okay, good.
*ahem*
FINALLY. It's been three weeks since the last race (or at least it will be, on Sunday), and the layoff has been driving me bugnutty. I even watched the entire NASCAR race on Saturday night, and I never do that (bring back the name "Firecracker 400", NASCAR... what's wrong with you guys?). But, finally, we're back to the real stuff.
And, even better, we're returning to a good track in Germany. The last time we were at the Nurburgring GP-Strecke, aka "Nurb Jr", it was the 2007 European Grand Prix. There was a spot of rain and Markus Winklehock's Spyker (wow, a Spyker siting!) wound up leading by over 30 seconds after the first couple of laps. (Trivia point: Winklehock is the only driver in F1 history to start both last and first in the same race, thanks to the red flag that came out while he was leading)
Ah, but that was then, and this is now. Spyker is now Force India and Winklehock hasn't driven a F1 car again. But we're back at the Nurb Jr, and all is right with the world. Let's take a look at the track map:
It was the Dunlop Kehre that we had the most fun in 2007, as it sits at the bottom of a fairly steep downhill section and cars would be swimming completely out of control at that point.
Alas, Nurb Jr isn't a patch on the infamous Nordschleife, aka "The Green Hell," but it's a helluva lot safer. For those who might be interested, here's an onboard video from 2007 when Nick Heidfeld took a BMW F1.06 around the Nurb at about 2/3rds speed. Here's a better video of the track at full speed, with other cars.
Oh, yeah, the race. It's a fairly decent high-speed circuit, with the added bonus of not really having a "technical" section (though turns 1 thru 4 basically serve the same purpose). However, the turns fairly scream for a car with good grip, so this would be a "low-medium" downforce track. I'm guessing the FIA'll be using the supersoft/medium compounds again.
We'll get to see Practice 2 LIVE on SPEED this Friday, from 7a to 840a. Quals will be plausibly live on Saturday from 7a to 830a, also on SPEED.
But the race will be Sunday, from 2p to 4p, on FOX. Check your local listings!
See ya then!
*ahem*
FINALLY. It's been three weeks since the last race (or at least it will be, on Sunday), and the layoff has been driving me bugnutty. I even watched the entire NASCAR race on Saturday night, and I never do that (bring back the name "Firecracker 400", NASCAR... what's wrong with you guys?). But, finally, we're back to the real stuff.
And, even better, we're returning to a good track in Germany. The last time we were at the Nurburgring GP-Strecke, aka "Nurb Jr", it was the 2007 European Grand Prix. There was a spot of rain and Markus Winklehock's Spyker (wow, a Spyker siting!) wound up leading by over 30 seconds after the first couple of laps. (Trivia point: Winklehock is the only driver in F1 history to start both last and first in the same race, thanks to the red flag that came out while he was leading)
Ah, but that was then, and this is now. Spyker is now Force India and Winklehock hasn't driven a F1 car again. But we're back at the Nurb Jr, and all is right with the world. Let's take a look at the track map:
It was the Dunlop Kehre that we had the most fun in 2007, as it sits at the bottom of a fairly steep downhill section and cars would be swimming completely out of control at that point.
Alas, Nurb Jr isn't a patch on the infamous Nordschleife, aka "The Green Hell," but it's a helluva lot safer. For those who might be interested, here's an onboard video from 2007 when Nick Heidfeld took a BMW F1.06 around the Nurb at about 2/3rds speed. Here's a better video of the track at full speed, with other cars.
Oh, yeah, the race. It's a fairly decent high-speed circuit, with the added bonus of not really having a "technical" section (though turns 1 thru 4 basically serve the same purpose). However, the turns fairly scream for a car with good grip, so this would be a "low-medium" downforce track. I'm guessing the FIA'll be using the supersoft/medium compounds again.
We'll get to see Practice 2 LIVE on SPEED this Friday, from 7a to 840a. Quals will be plausibly live on Saturday from 7a to 830a, also on SPEED.
But the race will be Sunday, from 2p to 4p, on FOX. Check your local listings!
See ya then!
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July 04, 2009
Darth Bernie Is An Idiot
I suppose it isn't any surprise to hear that Bernie Ecclestone is an idiot. What is a surprise is just exactly how much of an idiot he is.
In 2005, Ecclestone insulted Danica Patrick and women racers in general saying that "(He's) got one of those wonderful ideas ... women should be dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances." A few years earlier, he said that a female racer "...would have to be a woman who was blowing away the boys. ... What I would really like to see happen is to find the right girl, perhaps a black girl with super looks, preferably Jewish or Muslim, who speaks Spanish."
In 2008, he laughed off Spanish fans that wore blackface and were audibly shouting racist remarks at Lewis Hamilton, saying "I don't think it was anything to do with racism. There were a few people in Spain and that was probably beginning as a joke rather than anything abusive. I think people look and read into things that are not there. All those things are all a bit of a joke and people are entitled to support who they want to support. I don't see why people should have been (insulted by it). These things are people expressing themselves."
However, we've discovered that Darth Bernie believes that Adolph Hitler was a great leader who "got things done," and that "...we did a terrible thing when we supported the idea of getting rid of Saddam Hussein. He was the only one who could control that country. It was the same (with the Taleban)."
He went on to say that Hitler really wasn't a dictator because he might have had to have been convinced to do "things". Things like, oh, I dunno, the Holocaust, Bernie? Obviously someone's never read Mein Kampf.
Darth Bernie said these things in the context of an interview regarding the Emperor Max Mosley, saying that he'd do a "super job leading Britain. He's a good leader with people. I don't think (Mosley's) background would be a problem."
It's curious that Ecclestone is talking about dictators like Hitler and Hussein while speaking about Mosley, who's recently been accused of being a dictator himself.
I'd call all of this part of the F1 Bizarro Season that's ongoing, but to be honest it's truly par for the course for Ecclestone. Sadly, this moron has at least as much power as Mosley in F1.
Adequate representation of me as I think about that fact.
Just once, just one time, I'd like to believe that the leaders of F1 weren't trying to kill off the sport. Yet it's impossible for me to come to any other conclusion. What the hell is going on here???
In 2005, Ecclestone insulted Danica Patrick and women racers in general saying that "(He's) got one of those wonderful ideas ... women should be dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances." A few years earlier, he said that a female racer "...would have to be a woman who was blowing away the boys. ... What I would really like to see happen is to find the right girl, perhaps a black girl with super looks, preferably Jewish or Muslim, who speaks Spanish."
In 2008, he laughed off Spanish fans that wore blackface and were audibly shouting racist remarks at Lewis Hamilton, saying "I don't think it was anything to do with racism. There were a few people in Spain and that was probably beginning as a joke rather than anything abusive. I think people look and read into things that are not there. All those things are all a bit of a joke and people are entitled to support who they want to support. I don't see why people should have been (insulted by it). These things are people expressing themselves."
However, we've discovered that Darth Bernie believes that Adolph Hitler was a great leader who "got things done," and that "...we did a terrible thing when we supported the idea of getting rid of Saddam Hussein. He was the only one who could control that country. It was the same (with the Taleban)."
He went on to say that Hitler really wasn't a dictator because he might have had to have been convinced to do "things". Things like, oh, I dunno, the Holocaust, Bernie? Obviously someone's never read Mein Kampf.
Darth Bernie said these things in the context of an interview regarding the Emperor Max Mosley, saying that he'd do a "super job leading Britain. He's a good leader with people. I don't think (Mosley's) background would be a problem."
It's curious that Ecclestone is talking about dictators like Hitler and Hussein while speaking about Mosley, who's recently been accused of being a dictator himself.
I'd call all of this part of the F1 Bizarro Season that's ongoing, but to be honest it's truly par for the course for Ecclestone. Sadly, this moron has at least as much power as Mosley in F1.
Adequate representation of me as I think about that fact.
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June 28, 2009
F1 News & Notes
There comes a day in every child's life where they realize that there is no Santa Claus. For some it comes early, for others late, but a fortunate, lucky few keep their sense of wonder and joy alive for all their days, brightening the lives of all they come in contact with.
Max Mosley is not one of those. In fact it seems likely that as a toddler, Max stood up in his crib and threw rattles and pacifiers at his false-beard-clad father on December 25th.
I've come to this conclusion regarding the Emperor Mosley only recently. As we are all aware, a looming disintegration of F1 was avoided at the last moment only by Mosley's confirmation that he will not stand for re-election when his current term as President of the FIA comes to an end in October. As could have been predicted by anybody with two synapses to rub together, this was hailed by the press as a victory for the FOTA teams over the much-disliked Mosley. At one point, Ferrari chief (and de facto head of FOTA) Luca di Montezemelo used the word 'dictator' in reference to Mosely.
While in truth the Emperor has been a dictator for much of his time as the FIA President when it comes to F1, it may come as a shock to hear that he doesn't much care for such a description. Perhaps that's because of his father's ties to the National Socialist movement just prior to WWII, or maybe he just prefers the title Emperor. Either way, Mosley is throwing his rattles again, except now he's about to ruin our Christmas.
On Friday, he issued a statement insisting that di Montezemelo retract his comment, apologize, and correct the "many inaccurate statements" in the FOTA press release of Wednesday. If this isn't done, says Mosley, he will reconsider his decision to step down as President and run for the office again.
I feel like I'm 17 years old and just opened my presents... and got nothing but socks.
From all appearances, the FOTA declaration calling off the split was based entirely on Mosely's departure. Now that he might not leave, we're essentially right back where we were before last Wednesday's meeting.
Now I feel like I'm six years old, just opened my presents... and got nothing but socks.
In other news, there's a rumor floating around that Manor, Campos, and USF1, the three new teams on the grid next season (if there is a next season), will be allowed to run their engines at 20000rpm, while the "old" teams will continue to be restricted to 18000rpm. On the face of it, that seems like like quite the advantage, worth perhaps as much as 10mph or so in straightline speed. In truth, it probably won't work out to be much of an advantage at all. Consider that those engines will still have to last three race weekends; those extra rpms will make life harder on those powerplants. Also consider that the engines will be built by Cosworth, which hasn't been in F1 since 2006. No knock on Cosworth, they're a fine marque with a long and very successful history in Formula 1, but the new engines will be essentially untried. In a world where tolerances are measured in microns and a grain of sand can turn an engine into a flaming lump in seconds, untried engines are always a worry. Letting them run at 20Krpm might be as much a curse as a blessing.
Next, it appears that Ferrari is seriously considering throwing in the towel on 2009 to concentrate on next year's car. Luca di Montezemelo is blaming the team's poor chassis on poorly defined rules (i.e. the double diffuser dilemma) and KERS. Of course, both rule changes can be laid right at the feet of Emperor Mosley, but that's just a coincidence I'm sure.
Finally, USF1's Sporting Director, Peter (Smarmy) Windsor was interviewed on SPEED's Wind Tunnel show tonight, and he was asked about the rumor that a major sponsor for the team was Chad Hurley, one of the creators of YouTube. In a display Fred Astaire would have been proud of, Windsor danced around the question quite adroitly, while promising that there were announcements coming forthwith. He DID, however, deny that Pamela Anderson was going to be involved in the team in some way.
For which fact, we should all be very grateful. I wouldn't even wish that on Max Mosley.
Max Mosley is not one of those. In fact it seems likely that as a toddler, Max stood up in his crib and threw rattles and pacifiers at his false-beard-clad father on December 25th.
I've come to this conclusion regarding the Emperor Mosley only recently. As we are all aware, a looming disintegration of F1 was avoided at the last moment only by Mosley's confirmation that he will not stand for re-election when his current term as President of the FIA comes to an end in October. As could have been predicted by anybody with two synapses to rub together, this was hailed by the press as a victory for the FOTA teams over the much-disliked Mosley. At one point, Ferrari chief (and de facto head of FOTA) Luca di Montezemelo used the word 'dictator' in reference to Mosely.
While in truth the Emperor has been a dictator for much of his time as the FIA President when it comes to F1, it may come as a shock to hear that he doesn't much care for such a description. Perhaps that's because of his father's ties to the National Socialist movement just prior to WWII, or maybe he just prefers the title Emperor. Either way, Mosley is throwing his rattles again, except now he's about to ruin our Christmas.
On Friday, he issued a statement insisting that di Montezemelo retract his comment, apologize, and correct the "many inaccurate statements" in the FOTA press release of Wednesday. If this isn't done, says Mosley, he will reconsider his decision to step down as President and run for the office again.
I feel like I'm 17 years old and just opened my presents... and got nothing but socks.
From all appearances, the FOTA declaration calling off the split was based entirely on Mosely's departure. Now that he might not leave, we're essentially right back where we were before last Wednesday's meeting.
Now I feel like I'm six years old, just opened my presents... and got nothing but socks.
In other news, there's a rumor floating around that Manor, Campos, and USF1, the three new teams on the grid next season (if there is a next season), will be allowed to run their engines at 20000rpm, while the "old" teams will continue to be restricted to 18000rpm. On the face of it, that seems like like quite the advantage, worth perhaps as much as 10mph or so in straightline speed. In truth, it probably won't work out to be much of an advantage at all. Consider that those engines will still have to last three race weekends; those extra rpms will make life harder on those powerplants. Also consider that the engines will be built by Cosworth, which hasn't been in F1 since 2006. No knock on Cosworth, they're a fine marque with a long and very successful history in Formula 1, but the new engines will be essentially untried. In a world where tolerances are measured in microns and a grain of sand can turn an engine into a flaming lump in seconds, untried engines are always a worry. Letting them run at 20Krpm might be as much a curse as a blessing.
Next, it appears that Ferrari is seriously considering throwing in the towel on 2009 to concentrate on next year's car. Luca di Montezemelo is blaming the team's poor chassis on poorly defined rules (i.e. the double diffuser dilemma) and KERS. Of course, both rule changes can be laid right at the feet of Emperor Mosley, but that's just a coincidence I'm sure.
Finally, USF1's Sporting Director, Peter (Smarmy) Windsor was interviewed on SPEED's Wind Tunnel show tonight, and he was asked about the rumor that a major sponsor for the team was Chad Hurley, one of the creators of YouTube. In a display Fred Astaire would have been proud of, Windsor danced around the question quite adroitly, while promising that there were announcements coming forthwith. He DID, however, deny that Pamela Anderson was going to be involved in the team in some way.
For which fact, we should all be very grateful. I wouldn't even wish that on Max Mosley.
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June 24, 2009
The Emperor Falls
Peace reigns throughout the land as the results of today's World Motor Sports Council meeting were revealed:
There will be no breakaway FOTA series, with all teams committing to F1 through 2012.
The rules for 2010 will mirror the current rules and regulations.
Teams will cut costs "to early 1990s levels" within two years.
Technical help will be given by the current teams to the three new teams next year.
Darth Bernie Ecclestone may have made some financial concessions to the teams, giving them a larger slice of the F1 pie.
...and Emperor Max Mosley, the sinister dark lord who nearly ruined the greatest racing series in the world with his power plays, is gone as the head of the FIA as soon as his current term is up in October.
There are tifosi Ewoks dancing as fireworks light up the skies over Monaco Endor. FOTA The Rebel Alliance has blown up the FIA's monolithic oligarchy Death Star.
Now the question becomes: will another rise to take the fallen Emperor's place? His hand-picked successor is Jean Todt, former team principal of Ferrari. Ferrari International Assistance, indeed.
But that is a question for another day. For tonight, Good has triumphed over Evil.
There will be no breakaway FOTA series, with all teams committing to F1 through 2012.
The rules for 2010 will mirror the current rules and regulations.
Teams will cut costs "to early 1990s levels" within two years.
Technical help will be given by the current teams to the three new teams next year.
Darth Bernie Ecclestone may have made some financial concessions to the teams, giving them a larger slice of the F1 pie.
...and Emperor Max Mosley, the sinister dark lord who nearly ruined the greatest racing series in the world with his power plays, is gone as the head of the FIA as soon as his current term is up in October.
There are tifosi Ewoks dancing as fireworks light up the skies over Monaco Endor. FOTA The Rebel Alliance has blown up the FIA's monolithic oligarchy Death Star.
Now the question becomes: will another rise to take the fallen Emperor's place? His hand-picked successor is Jean Todt, former team principal of Ferrari. Ferrari International Assistance, indeed.
But that is a question for another day. For tonight, Good has triumphed over Evil.
Fans at the 2005 USGP get it right.
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June 22, 2009
While We're Waiting
... for either the next round of the F1 Championship or Wednesday's meeting of the World Motor Sports Council, here's a little thing I found.
Yes, that's right, it's a race between the Safety Cars and the Medical Cars at the 2006 USGP!
Okay, no, it's not. It just looks like it. See, every time F1 goes to a circuit, the drivers of the Safety and Medical cars have to know the layout of the course. The Medical Car in particular has to know the fastest way around the circuit... a driver's life may depend on it.
So, they get their own practice session... and boy, you gotta love their noise! Those V8s sound like what a race car should sound like, all full of grunt and growl.
Oh, and in case you're wondering? The lap record at the Indy roval is 1:10.339, set by Rubens Barrichello in 2004 in the Ferrari F2004, which had a V10 in the back... and was a frickin' F1 car, not a hopped-up street vehicle.
I'd say a 1:59 and change is pretty good, all things considered.
Okay, no, it's not. It just looks like it. See, every time F1 goes to a circuit, the drivers of the Safety and Medical cars have to know the layout of the course. The Medical Car in particular has to know the fastest way around the circuit... a driver's life may depend on it.
So, they get their own practice session... and boy, you gotta love their noise! Those V8s sound like what a race car should sound like, all full of grunt and growl.
Oh, and in case you're wondering? The lap record at the Indy roval is 1:10.339, set by Rubens Barrichello in 2004 in the Ferrari F2004, which had a V10 in the back... and was a frickin' F1 car, not a hopped-up street vehicle.
I'd say a 1:59 and change is pretty good, all things considered.
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June 20, 2009
F1 Quals: Britain 2009
Shocker at Silverstone! Let's take a look at the provisional grid:
Okay, Vettel on pole isn't a surprise. It's his third of the season, and his second in a row. Barrichello and Webber aren't a surprise, either. Trulli? Toyota's quick, so it's no surprise to see him fourth. But Jenson Button in sixth? Lewis Hamilton 19th? Good merciful heavens.
But wait, don't forget about fuel loads. Button must be running heavy. Except he's not: he's at 657.5kg, but Vettel has 666.5kg, the most of anybody in the top 10.
Uh-oh. Not only that, but Vettel had the fastest times in all three quals, AND the fastest sectors of all as well. Could it be that the RB5 has caught up with Brawn?
In a word, yes. Silverstone has seen Adrian Newey roll out some new aerodynamic modifications to the front of the Red Bull chassis.
Compare this to the original nose on the RB5. It used to be very narrow, almost fragile in appearance. Now it is much wider (though narrower than the Renault). Can such a change make that much difference? I guess we'll find out on Sunday afternoon!
Okay, Vettel on pole isn't a surprise. It's his third of the season, and his second in a row. Barrichello and Webber aren't a surprise, either. Trulli? Toyota's quick, so it's no surprise to see him fourth. But Jenson Button in sixth? Lewis Hamilton 19th? Good merciful heavens.
But wait, don't forget about fuel loads. Button must be running heavy. Except he's not: he's at 657.5kg, but Vettel has 666.5kg, the most of anybody in the top 10.
Uh-oh. Not only that, but Vettel had the fastest times in all three quals, AND the fastest sectors of all as well. Could it be that the RB5 has caught up with Brawn?
In a word, yes. Silverstone has seen Adrian Newey roll out some new aerodynamic modifications to the front of the Red Bull chassis.
Compare this to the original nose on the RB5. It used to be very narrow, almost fragile in appearance. Now it is much wider (though narrower than the Renault). Can such a change make that much difference? I guess we'll find out on Sunday afternoon!
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F1 Practice: Britain 2009 (and other stuff)
Due to some... extreme weather here, Pond Central's recording suite only managed to tape the first 10 and the last 15 minutes of today's second Practice session from Silverstone. Oh well. For what it's worth, however, the best action came after the session had officially ended.
Force India's Adrian Sutil ended up an incredible third on the session's timesheets. Greatly enthused by having a competitive car, even if for one day, he came into the pitlane... where he promptly ran over the nose of his teammate's car, which was being pushed back into the garage.
The FIA, in turn, has decided to bring legal proceedings against FOTA. Their statement reads, in part: "The actions of FOTA as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount to serious violations of law including wilful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari's legal obligations and a grave violation of competition law."
Interesting how the team with the red cars, FIA's long-time favorite, have suddenly become the red-headed stepchild.
With all this rhetoric on the table, the Legendary Announce Team described the fracas like a divorce. The couple have seperated and filed papers against each other... now the real negotiations can begin. Throw in a meeting of the World Motor Sports Council next week, and there's a halfway decent chance that this will all be finished then.
The solution is easy and obvious: Max Mosely must go. Unfortunately, Mosely knows this and has already gone on record as saying that he will not, under any circumstances, step down. If that, indeed, is the case and he stays on as president of the FIA, then there is no chance of reconciliation whatsoever. At this point, Mosely can't back down on the budget cap without losing whatever credibility he has with the rest of the FIA, at which point he may as well actually have stepped down.
So what will happen when FOTA breaks away from F1 and starts their own series? Unfortunately, there is precedent, and it isn't pretty. In 1996, Tony George, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, broke away from CART, and formed his own series, the Indy Racing League (IRL). While CART had the stronger hand for a while, they eventually went bankrupt and merged into the IRL... in 2008. With the split of the two series, the fanbase was fractured, with the only race for both series that drew any attention being the Indianapolis 500. Eventually, casual fans stopped caring, and even the Indy 500's ratings plummeted. American open-wheel racing, which pre-split was incredibly popular, became an irrelevancy in the world racing scene.
In this particular split, the two sides each have their own advantages. FOTA has the big names (Ferrari and McLaren), plus the best drivers in the world. The FIA, however, has a big hammer. They have the ability to ban any driver or team that participates in the FOTA series from ever racing in a FIA-sanctioned event again. They can also ban any circuit that hosts a FOTA race from ever hosting a FIA event again. They can also lay sanctions on any driver that competes against a FOTA driver (even in a charity event, or the Race of Champions), including banning them from FIA events. Considering the way Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA have treated Silverstone, I suspect that they'll be willing to host one of the FOTA races.
About the only place that the FIA doesn't have much of a foothold is in the United States. The only major series under their banner here is the NHRA.
I suspect, however, that the FOTA teams will have the fans, and they have the money. That'll be the deciding factor in the success or failure of any spinoff series... and I bet that, in the end, if it does come to a schism between the series, FOTA will succeed. After all, Ferrari, McLaren, Button, Alonso HWMNBN, Massa, Raikkonen, Hamilton and so forth are a heckuva lot easier to cheer for than Max Mosely.
Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Force India's Adrian Sutil ended up an incredible third on the session's timesheets. Greatly enthused by having a competitive car, even if for one day, he came into the pitlane... where he promptly ran over the nose of his teammate's car, which was being pushed back into the garage.
Oops.
So, with a dearth of action on the track, let's concentrate on the action occurring off the track. On Thursday, the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), feeling that their negotiations with the FIA over the budget cap have stalled and have no chance to recover, announced their intention to break away from F1 and start their own series.The FIA, in turn, has decided to bring legal proceedings against FOTA. Their statement reads, in part: "The actions of FOTA as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount to serious violations of law including wilful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari's legal obligations and a grave violation of competition law."
Interesting how the team with the red cars, FIA's long-time favorite, have suddenly become the red-headed stepchild.
With all this rhetoric on the table, the Legendary Announce Team described the fracas like a divorce. The couple have seperated and filed papers against each other... now the real negotiations can begin. Throw in a meeting of the World Motor Sports Council next week, and there's a halfway decent chance that this will all be finished then.
The solution is easy and obvious: Max Mosely must go. Unfortunately, Mosely knows this and has already gone on record as saying that he will not, under any circumstances, step down. If that, indeed, is the case and he stays on as president of the FIA, then there is no chance of reconciliation whatsoever. At this point, Mosely can't back down on the budget cap without losing whatever credibility he has with the rest of the FIA, at which point he may as well actually have stepped down.
So what will happen when FOTA breaks away from F1 and starts their own series? Unfortunately, there is precedent, and it isn't pretty. In 1996, Tony George, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, broke away from CART, and formed his own series, the Indy Racing League (IRL). While CART had the stronger hand for a while, they eventually went bankrupt and merged into the IRL... in 2008. With the split of the two series, the fanbase was fractured, with the only race for both series that drew any attention being the Indianapolis 500. Eventually, casual fans stopped caring, and even the Indy 500's ratings plummeted. American open-wheel racing, which pre-split was incredibly popular, became an irrelevancy in the world racing scene.
In this particular split, the two sides each have their own advantages. FOTA has the big names (Ferrari and McLaren), plus the best drivers in the world. The FIA, however, has a big hammer. They have the ability to ban any driver or team that participates in the FOTA series from ever racing in a FIA-sanctioned event again. They can also ban any circuit that hosts a FOTA race from ever hosting a FIA event again. They can also lay sanctions on any driver that competes against a FOTA driver (even in a charity event, or the Race of Champions), including banning them from FIA events. Considering the way Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA have treated Silverstone, I suspect that they'll be willing to host one of the FOTA races.
About the only place that the FIA doesn't have much of a foothold is in the United States. The only major series under their banner here is the NHRA.
I suspect, however, that the FOTA teams will have the fans, and they have the money. That'll be the deciding factor in the success or failure of any spinoff series... and I bet that, in the end, if it does come to a schism between the series, FOTA will succeed. After all, Ferrari, McLaren, Button, Alonso HWMNBN, Massa, Raikkonen, Hamilton and so forth are a heckuva lot easier to cheer for than Max Mosely.
Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
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June 16, 2009
F1 on TV: Britain 2009
Once again, F1 returns to the green lands of Albion and the legendary "birthplace" of Formula One, Silverstone Circuit (the site of the first official Formula One World Championship race, in 1950). Once a RAF bomber base, hosting No 17 Operational Training Unit flying the Vickers Wellington, it now becomes the busiest airport in England on race day (thanks to the atrocious traffic jams on the limited access roads to the track, helicopter transportation is common).
Let's take a look at the track map for this legendary circuit:
There is no better track to point out the incredible manueverabilty of a F1 car than Silverstone. My favorite complex of turns in Formula 1 located here, 2 thru 6: Maggots, Becketts, Chapel. Seeing a car zip through this left/right/left/right/left complex is awe-inspiring. In fact, because most of Silverstone is high-speed corners it's the second-fastest circuit on the F1 calendar, behind only Monza which is nothing but straightaways with an odd turn thrown in here and there.
The setup for this jewel of a track isn't, however, low downforce and balls-to-the-wall. Those fast turns require more traction than you'd expect, and as a result you'd want to look more towards a medium downforce setup. At Monza, you could practically take the wings off and still be able to race... try that at Silverstone and you'd wind up in the grass immediately.
It's a tragedy that this is (theoretically) the final F1 race at Silverstone. Beginning next year, the British Grand Prix moves to Donington Park, which is a nice circuit but it's no Silverstone. So enjoy it while you can... and the good folks at SPEED will bring us their usual yeoman coverage, beginning with Friday's Second Practice, running from 8a to 940a.
Quals comes to us on Saturday, from 7a to 830a. Will we see Britian's Button 'n' Brawn on pole? Will Red Bull show who's boss? Or will Toyota snap out of its funk? My money's on Button, with Vettel #2.
The race on Sunday, however, will once again be on FOX, from 2pm to 4pm. Again, that's Central Pond Time, so subtract two hours for, oh let's say San Francisco or Portland.
There'll be a replay on SPEED next Tuesday from 12n to 2p... so if you miss it on Sunday, there's your chance to see the last F1 race at Silverstone!
Let's take a look at the track map for this legendary circuit:
There is no better track to point out the incredible manueverabilty of a F1 car than Silverstone. My favorite complex of turns in Formula 1 located here, 2 thru 6: Maggots, Becketts, Chapel. Seeing a car zip through this left/right/left/right/left complex is awe-inspiring. In fact, because most of Silverstone is high-speed corners it's the second-fastest circuit on the F1 calendar, behind only Monza which is nothing but straightaways with an odd turn thrown in here and there.
The setup for this jewel of a track isn't, however, low downforce and balls-to-the-wall. Those fast turns require more traction than you'd expect, and as a result you'd want to look more towards a medium downforce setup. At Monza, you could practically take the wings off and still be able to race... try that at Silverstone and you'd wind up in the grass immediately.
It's a tragedy that this is (theoretically) the final F1 race at Silverstone. Beginning next year, the British Grand Prix moves to Donington Park, which is a nice circuit but it's no Silverstone. So enjoy it while you can... and the good folks at SPEED will bring us their usual yeoman coverage, beginning with Friday's Second Practice, running from 8a to 940a.
Quals comes to us on Saturday, from 7a to 830a. Will we see Britian's Button 'n' Brawn on pole? Will Red Bull show who's boss? Or will Toyota snap out of its funk? My money's on Button, with Vettel #2.
The race on Sunday, however, will once again be on FOX, from 2pm to 4pm. Again, that's Central Pond Time, so subtract two hours for, oh let's say San Francisco or Portland.
There'll be a replay on SPEED next Tuesday from 12n to 2p... so if you miss it on Sunday, there's your chance to see the last F1 race at Silverstone!
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June 12, 2009
F1 New Teams Announced!
The official team entries for the 2010 F1 season has been released. While there's still some conditional teams listed (Toyota, Brawn, McLaren, BMW-Sauber and Renault) and one team that wants to be conditional (Ferrari), we now have an idea who'll be taking the grid.
The conditional teams, of course, are still trying to break the salary cap issue, the next deadline for which is June 19th. At which point, the whole grid may very well be changed... but until then, let's run with what we've got.
The current 10 teams were all accepted for the grid, as expected. The fun stuff comes from the three new teams added to the series.
CAMPOS is currently running in F3, and is the reigning GP2 champion. Since its inception in 1998, the team has run in a number of different series, winning six drivers championships and five constructors titles. They'll be based out of Valencia, where they share a facility with a different GP2 team and the Mexico A1GP team. Plenty of experience here, and a technical partnership with Dallara should make the actual building of their chassis go quite smoothly.
MANOR has been around since 1990, and has mostly concentrated on Formula Renault in the past, though they ran in F3 as recently as 2008. A long line of championships (19 team titles... obviously they ran in multiple series some years) testifies to their abilities. They've also had some good luck with their drivers, too, as the team has had Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Antonio Pizzonia driving for them at one time or another. The team's technical director will be Nick Wirth, who founded the Simtek F1 team back in the '90s. He was the March F1 aerodynamicist in 1988 and 1989, and chief designer with Benneton F1 from '96 thru '99. Wirth has also designed the 2004 and 2005 IRL championship chassis, as well as Honda's American LeMans Series (ALMS) racers. An impressive resume for the team on paper, at least.
It's official, there'll finally be an American team on the grid! USF1 made a splash a few months back when they announced their plans to join the series, and now their dream has come true. F1 Update! now has a new favorite team. The only newbies on the block, with no prior experience as a team, they do have a lot of experience in motorsports at the upper levels of management. The announced Team Principal, Ken Anderson, has 30 years of racing experience, has designed many Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar series championship winners, was the the tech director for both Onyx and Ligier F1 teams, and brings a stout background in aerodynamics to the team to boot. Team director Peter ("Smarmy") Windsor has 35 years history in F1. He's been a reporter (most recently as the 4th member of SPEED's Legendary Announce Team), a team manager (for Williams' most recent F1 championship team), managed Ferrari's chassis and suspension development teams, was a consultant for various F1 drivers, and reportedly runs a rather secretive driver training facility to boot. The team will be dual-based in Charlotte, NC, where the chassis will be designed and built, and in Spain, where the team will race from for most of the F1 season.
All three teams will race with Cosworth engines, the first time since 2006 that the engine manufacturer has been in the sport.
Now we'll see if the big teams and the FIA can get their acts together...
The conditional teams, of course, are still trying to break the salary cap issue, the next deadline for which is June 19th. At which point, the whole grid may very well be changed... but until then, let's run with what we've got.
The current 10 teams were all accepted for the grid, as expected. The fun stuff comes from the three new teams added to the series.
CAMPOS is currently running in F3, and is the reigning GP2 champion. Since its inception in 1998, the team has run in a number of different series, winning six drivers championships and five constructors titles. They'll be based out of Valencia, where they share a facility with a different GP2 team and the Mexico A1GP team. Plenty of experience here, and a technical partnership with Dallara should make the actual building of their chassis go quite smoothly. MANOR has been around since 1990, and has mostly concentrated on Formula Renault in the past, though they ran in F3 as recently as 2008. A long line of championships (19 team titles... obviously they ran in multiple series some years) testifies to their abilities. They've also had some good luck with their drivers, too, as the team has had Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Antonio Pizzonia driving for them at one time or another. The team's technical director will be Nick Wirth, who founded the Simtek F1 team back in the '90s. He was the March F1 aerodynamicist in 1988 and 1989, and chief designer with Benneton F1 from '96 thru '99. Wirth has also designed the 2004 and 2005 IRL championship chassis, as well as Honda's American LeMans Series (ALMS) racers. An impressive resume for the team on paper, at least.It's official, there'll finally be an American team on the grid! USF1 made a splash a few months back when they announced their plans to join the series, and now their dream has come true. F1 Update! now has a new favorite team. The only newbies on the block, with no prior experience as a team, they do have a lot of experience in motorsports at the upper levels of management. The announced Team Principal, Ken Anderson, has 30 years of racing experience, has designed many Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar series championship winners, was the the tech director for both Onyx and Ligier F1 teams, and brings a stout background in aerodynamics to the team to boot. Team director Peter ("Smarmy") Windsor has 35 years history in F1. He's been a reporter (most recently as the 4th member of SPEED's Legendary Announce Team), a team manager (for Williams' most recent F1 championship team), managed Ferrari's chassis and suspension development teams, was a consultant for various F1 drivers, and reportedly runs a rather secretive driver training facility to boot. The team will be dual-based in Charlotte, NC, where the chassis will be designed and built, and in Spain, where the team will race from for most of the F1 season.All three teams will race with Cosworth engines, the first time since 2006 that the engine manufacturer has been in the sport.
Now we'll see if the big teams and the FIA can get their acts together...
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June 06, 2009
F1 Quals: Turkey 2009!
Have we just seen a tiny chink appear in the Brawn's armor? The provisional grid for the Grand Prix of Turkey will be as follows:
Sebastian gets the clean sweep of qualifying, having the fastest speed in all three sessions. Of course, the Red Bull RB5 got its new double diffuser at Monaco but that's hardly a good place to shake down new equipment. Now that it's out on the open road, so to speak, it may just be that the Brawn has been supplanted as the best car.
Not to say that's for sure, however, because as usual the Brawns have more fuel on board than Vettel. The polesitter weighs in at 649.5kg, Button is at 655.5kg, and Barrichello 652.5kg. That extra weight might equal another lap or two on the first stint, and that may very well be the entire difference between the two marques.
All hail Adrian Sutil and Force India! For the second race in a row, they managed to get out of Q1... while Lewis Hamilton's McLaren failed to get out of Q1 for the second race in a row. In Monaco, of course, Hamilton stuck it into the wall, but no such excuse here: the MP4/24 is just a dog. Everywhere it went, the rear end was twitching like an burlesque dancer's. To be blunt, Hamilton and Kovaleininninnie are too busy keeping the car from killing them to be competitively fast.
The Ferraris, which looked so promising yesterday, will have quite a task ahead of them if they want to keep the title of "Turkish Grand Prix Victors" entirely in-house. Not bloody likely, though, considering that Massa has less fuel that Button, and Kimi about 3kg more. Not an impressive result.
Finally, BMW must be feeling a little bit better. They didn't look too bad in quals, and at least one of their drivers made it to Q3. It's the right direction, at least.
I'm not sure which version of the race I'll be watching tomorrow: Fox'll have SPEED's coverage at 2pm central, but I should also have the BBC's broadcast in my possession by noon. So, which I watch will determine when the F1 Update! will be posted. See you then, whenever it is!
Sebastian gets the clean sweep of qualifying, having the fastest speed in all three sessions. Of course, the Red Bull RB5 got its new double diffuser at Monaco but that's hardly a good place to shake down new equipment. Now that it's out on the open road, so to speak, it may just be that the Brawn has been supplanted as the best car.
Not to say that's for sure, however, because as usual the Brawns have more fuel on board than Vettel. The polesitter weighs in at 649.5kg, Button is at 655.5kg, and Barrichello 652.5kg. That extra weight might equal another lap or two on the first stint, and that may very well be the entire difference between the two marques.
All hail Adrian Sutil and Force India! For the second race in a row, they managed to get out of Q1... while Lewis Hamilton's McLaren failed to get out of Q1 for the second race in a row. In Monaco, of course, Hamilton stuck it into the wall, but no such excuse here: the MP4/24 is just a dog. Everywhere it went, the rear end was twitching like an burlesque dancer's. To be blunt, Hamilton and Kovaleininninnie are too busy keeping the car from killing them to be competitively fast.
The Ferraris, which looked so promising yesterday, will have quite a task ahead of them if they want to keep the title of "Turkish Grand Prix Victors" entirely in-house. Not bloody likely, though, considering that Massa has less fuel that Button, and Kimi about 3kg more. Not an impressive result.
Finally, BMW must be feeling a little bit better. They didn't look too bad in quals, and at least one of their drivers made it to Q3. It's the right direction, at least.
I'm not sure which version of the race I'll be watching tomorrow: Fox'll have SPEED's coverage at 2pm central, but I should also have the BBC's broadcast in my possession by noon. So, which I watch will determine when the F1 Update! will be posted. See you then, whenever it is!
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June 05, 2009
F1 Practice: Turkey 2009!
Take a sheet of 2-grit sandpaper. Apply this vigorously to the side of a very large, very old, and very very pissed off bull.
That was the sound Sebastian Vettel's engine made when the Red Bull's gearbox tried to select two gears at the same time... or the driveshaft came adrift... or whatever it was that happened to it. No matter what it was, it was not a pleasant sound at all, and one I've never heard from a F1 car before. The smoke wasn't bad, but something got really codswallopped in there.
In other news, nobody has any idea how McLaren is going to do. Heikki Kovaleininninninnie was fastest on the day, but Lewis Hamilton was well down the timesheets. He also had multiple spins, and his car looked very twitchy all day. On the other hand, Heikki's didn't look anywhere near as bad... I wonder if they're running different equipment?
The news of the day, however, was that only HWMNBN could get anything out of the softer of the two tire compounds, hauling his Renault up to second only .006 seconds behind. Everybody else, however, looked like they were driving on pudding when they put on the softs. Look for long stints on the hard compounds to begin with, so teams can minimize the time spent on the softs. Funny, usually softer tires work better around this particular track.
Quals on Saturday.
That was the sound Sebastian Vettel's engine made when the Red Bull's gearbox tried to select two gears at the same time... or the driveshaft came adrift... or whatever it was that happened to it. No matter what it was, it was not a pleasant sound at all, and one I've never heard from a F1 car before. The smoke wasn't bad, but something got really codswallopped in there.
In other news, nobody has any idea how McLaren is going to do. Heikki Kovaleininninninnie was fastest on the day, but Lewis Hamilton was well down the timesheets. He also had multiple spins, and his car looked very twitchy all day. On the other hand, Heikki's didn't look anywhere near as bad... I wonder if they're running different equipment?
The news of the day, however, was that only HWMNBN could get anything out of the softer of the two tire compounds, hauling his Renault up to second only .006 seconds behind. Everybody else, however, looked like they were driving on pudding when they put on the softs. Look for long stints on the hard compounds to begin with, so teams can minimize the time spent on the softs. Funny, usually softer tires work better around this particular track.
Quals on Saturday.
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June 01, 2009
F1 on TV: Turkey 2009!
This week the mighty F1 Circus stops in Istanbul. Nope, no They Might Be Giants jokes here. I'll leave that to the highlights package guy at Speed Channel... he ALWAYS uses one of their songs when they're at the Istanbul Otodrom.
I won't mention which one.
Track map time!
Surprisingly enough, it's another Hermann Tilke circuit... but wait! No "Adventure" layout here! In fact, it's far and away his best F1 track design, and the only one of his to have a legendary corner. Yes, this is the home of Quad-8, the infamous quadruple-apex turn that is the key to a good lap. Done right, it's a beautifully balanced high-speed turn... but be wrong by a couple of inches and you're into the runoff area and praying that nobody noticed. Many people have noticed some similarities between famous turns in motorsports and turns on this circuit. For example, Turn 1 and 2 here has a passing resemblence to Laguna Seca's famed Corkscrew (though without the incredible downhill plunge), and Turn 11 has been nicknamed "Faux Rouge" due to the similarity with the famous complex at Spa (though without the incredible uphill climb).
Jenson Button has a history with Quad-8. A couple of years ago, when Honda actually was sporty and looking like they were going to be challenging the big boys (kinda like BMW last year), Button had shown that he loved the Istanbul circuit by ripping off fast practice lap after fast practice lap... and he was the only driver who made Quad-8 look easy.
And then came Quals. Through the first seven turns, he was amazing. Then came Quad-8, a slight bobble, and voomph! No pole for you, Jenson. Ever since, he's been gunshy around that bend.
Turkey is also one of only two counter-clockwise tracks on the F1 calendar (Brazil being the other). This lends an extra amount of fatigue to the drivers... they're used to going clockwise around racetracks, and their neck muscles are developed to do so. Now, however, they have to go the other way... to the weak side, you could say.
Running counter-clockwise also adds another difficulty to the teams, in that the refuelling receptacle on the cars needs to be moved to the left-hand side. While this requires a minor change to the bodywork, and practically no change to the fuel tank itself (the tank doesn't move, the connecting hose between the tank and the receptacle does), it does cause some minor consternation amongst the pitcrews. Usually, the right side tire changers have their backs to the garages... but now they'll have their backs to the pit lane, with cars zipping by behind them. I don't care how professional they are, and they are arguably the best in the business, a change like that has to throw you off a little bit.
This track has been owned by the Ferrari drivers, with Kimi Raikkonen winning in 2005 (though he was with McLaren at the time), and Felipe Massa the winner of the other three races. The question is, will that institutional memory be enough to boot BrawnGP from the top step of the podium?
We'll begin to find out on Friday, from 6a to 740a, as SPEED brings us live coverage of 2nd Practice. More questions will be answered on Saturday, from 6a to 730a, when we get plausibly live coverage of the Quals session, also on SPEED.
Then comes the race, which will NOT be live. The Grand Prix of Turkey is the first of this year's four races on Fox, so check your local listings for times (though it's expected to be from 2p to 4p). The only replay will be on SPEED on Tuesday, June 9th, from 12n to 2p.
All times are Central Pond Time, so subtract two hours if you are Vaucaunson's Duck, who lives in San Francisco.
Of course, F1 Update!'ll be all over this race, so see you then!
I won't mention which one.
Track map time!
Surprisingly enough, it's another Hermann Tilke circuit... but wait! No "Adventure" layout here! In fact, it's far and away his best F1 track design, and the only one of his to have a legendary corner. Yes, this is the home of Quad-8, the infamous quadruple-apex turn that is the key to a good lap. Done right, it's a beautifully balanced high-speed turn... but be wrong by a couple of inches and you're into the runoff area and praying that nobody noticed. Many people have noticed some similarities between famous turns in motorsports and turns on this circuit. For example, Turn 1 and 2 here has a passing resemblence to Laguna Seca's famed Corkscrew (though without the incredible downhill plunge), and Turn 11 has been nicknamed "Faux Rouge" due to the similarity with the famous complex at Spa (though without the incredible uphill climb).Jenson Button has a history with Quad-8. A couple of years ago, when Honda actually was sporty and looking like they were going to be challenging the big boys (kinda like BMW last year), Button had shown that he loved the Istanbul circuit by ripping off fast practice lap after fast practice lap... and he was the only driver who made Quad-8 look easy.
And then came Quals. Through the first seven turns, he was amazing. Then came Quad-8, a slight bobble, and voomph! No pole for you, Jenson. Ever since, he's been gunshy around that bend.
Turkey is also one of only two counter-clockwise tracks on the F1 calendar (Brazil being the other). This lends an extra amount of fatigue to the drivers... they're used to going clockwise around racetracks, and their neck muscles are developed to do so. Now, however, they have to go the other way... to the weak side, you could say.
Running counter-clockwise also adds another difficulty to the teams, in that the refuelling receptacle on the cars needs to be moved to the left-hand side. While this requires a minor change to the bodywork, and practically no change to the fuel tank itself (the tank doesn't move, the connecting hose between the tank and the receptacle does), it does cause some minor consternation amongst the pitcrews. Usually, the right side tire changers have their backs to the garages... but now they'll have their backs to the pit lane, with cars zipping by behind them. I don't care how professional they are, and they are arguably the best in the business, a change like that has to throw you off a little bit.
This track has been owned by the Ferrari drivers, with Kimi Raikkonen winning in 2005 (though he was with McLaren at the time), and Felipe Massa the winner of the other three races. The question is, will that institutional memory be enough to boot BrawnGP from the top step of the podium?
We'll begin to find out on Friday, from 6a to 740a, as SPEED brings us live coverage of 2nd Practice. More questions will be answered on Saturday, from 6a to 730a, when we get plausibly live coverage of the Quals session, also on SPEED.
Then comes the race, which will NOT be live. The Grand Prix of Turkey is the first of this year's four races on Fox, so check your local listings for times (though it's expected to be from 2p to 4p). The only replay will be on SPEED on Tuesday, June 9th, from 12n to 2p.
All times are Central Pond Time, so subtract two hours if you are Vaucaunson's Duck, who lives in San Francisco.
Of course, F1 Update!'ll be all over this race, so see you then!
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