105 replies to this topic

[Spacemans Bong]

Australian GP right now on SPEED.

Er. Thats it for now.

[cgori]

Malaysian GP this weekend.

Kimi looked pretty badass in Australia a couple weeks ago.

[Spacemans Bong]

Kimi won that race at a canter. I liked one of his post match quotes which said he almost fell asleep during the race!

Qualifying for the GP of Malaysia today and Massa beats out Alonso at the last second with a blistering lap. Ferrari had to work for it today but they have serious pace.

[Spacemans Bong]

Massa's pole lap

Grid positions for Malaysian Grand Prix (tonight on SPEED at 11pm):

1 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1min 35.043secs
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:35.310
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:35.479
4 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:36.045
5 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:36.543
6 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:36.829
7 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:36.896
8 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:36.902
9 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:37.078
10 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:37.345
11 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 1:35.630
12 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:35.706
13 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 1:35.766
14 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri 1:35.945
15 Jenson Button (Gbr) Honda 1:36.088
16 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.145
17 Scott Speed USA Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.578
18 Anthony Davidson (Gbr) Super Aguri 1:36.816
19 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:36.827
20 Alexander Wurz (Aut) Williams 1:37.326
21 Christijan Albers (Ned) Spyker 1:38.279
22 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Spyker 1:38.415

[cgori]

What a great race result for McLaren. I wonder how much truth was to the rumor about Ferrari holding back on Kimi's car to preserve the points, it sounds plausible to me. Kimi seemed plenty in command at Melbourne to me, I'm sure they are told once they are well in front to hold up, so that could explain your feelings about his drive.

Lewis Hamilton is pretty frickin awesome. Great 1-2 combo for McLaren (disclosure: I love McLaren, dating back to Hakkinen's first year there)... but in general I am just happy that we have a competitive field at the top finally, and it's not just Ferrari, Ferrari, Ferrari. (2nd disclosure: I think Kimi is a fantastic driver, so it's great to see my favorite team battling a driver I like).

[Tony the Pony]

What a great race result for McLaren.

Ha! I saw in the Bild that people in Germany want to have the German anthem played when McLaren wins instead of God Save The Queen. Mercedes owns 40% of McLaren, and according to the Bild tabloid it is a German car.

;-)

I was only rooting for McLaren when Senna was driving one. My favourite manufacturer was Lotus, mostly because of the Senna show at Monte Carlo in 1984.

Link to Bild article

EDIT: added link

Edited by Tony the Pony, 11 April 2007 - 04:45 PM.

[Spacemans Bong]

Hamilton's doing remarkably well, the best debut since JV in my opinion. He has operated with remarkable poise and that's his best attribute. He is extremely smooth. Holding off Massa in the early part of Malaysia showed real talent. I'd like to see how he can do chasing down another car before he's anointed the next great British driver, but he'll certainly win GPs in the future, and this year.

Bahrain next week. My least favorite circuit on the calendar. It'll be interesting to see how Ferrari deals with the McLaren fight back. Forza.

[cgori]

My favourite manufacturer was Lotus, mostly because of the Senna show at Monte Carlo in 1984.

I loved Lotus enough to buy one of their cars...

[cgori]

Hamilton's doing remarkably well, the best debut since JV in my opinion. He has operated with remarkable poise and that's his best attribute. He is extremely smooth. Holding off Massa in the early part of Malaysia showed real talent. I'd like to see how he can do chasing down another car before he's anointed the next great British driver, but he'll certainly win GPs in the future, and this year.

Bahrain next week. My least favorite circuit on the calendar. It'll be interesting to see how Ferrari deals with the McLaren fight back. Forza.

Yea, I'm glad to see him live up to the mega-hype, where Button (for example) could not. That drive against Massa was superb, the pass-repass-repass sequence early on was stuff I haven't seen in a while. (Damn, I miss the glory days of CART now)

I read some stuff this week, and I guess they briefly alluded to it on the telecast, about the flexible floor issue, it seems that McLaren was not depending on this property, or more likely engineering it out and then requested the clarification at the last possible moment, to be most disruptive to the Scuderia, Renault, and others for the week's GP. Typical F1 politicking.

I suspect you see Ferrari push very hard at Bahrain for a top finish to show they've "still got it" -- I really believe Kimi had to back off last week for fear of reliability problems and the need to maximize constructors points.

[Spacemans Bong]

Qualis on for Sahkir in an hour. Did I mention I hate this track?

[cgori]

Qualis on for Sahkir in an hour. Did I mention I hate this track?

Yea. This was not my favorite race ever. I watched it while doing something else and I did not appear to miss much. Lewis Hamilton continues to impress though. He's got game...

[Boston_Red]

Yea. This was not my favorite race ever. I watched it while doing something else and I did not appear to miss much. Lewis Hamilton continues to impress though. He's got game...

It was a decent race. I really felt for Coulthard, came up from last to 7th with some great passing moves, then his hydraulics went. Hamilton is very smooth - there is more to come from him. Kimi was a bit rough around the edges for me, but was pushing for most of the race.

[DanoRedSox]

Spain has come and gone, Hamilton is top of the world without winning a race, can you imagin if hewon the championship without winning a race. The guy has a great driving brain and will be around for years to come, hopefully he'll drum up some interest in what I view as a dying sport.

[Spacemans Bong]

The Grand Prix of Canada is live on FOX right now.

Should be a good race, considering you can actually overtake at Montreal.

[Spacemans Bong]

Well that wasn't boring.

[Fiskian Pole Shot]

I certainly hope that the traditional NASCAR fan got a chance to at least watch the beginning of that race. It really had everything. Lewis Hamilton finally had his coming-out party. Is there any question that he is the future of F1?

[Spacemans Bong]

I wish the FOX broadcast was a little better. Stupid amounts of commercial breaks and way too hurried front and back. They could have used a half hour for Peter Windsor to interview people, show some highlights and tell people a bit about F1, rather than breaking in while the cars were nearly done with their formation lap and trying to post the grid in one minute.

The race was excellent though. Shit race for Ferrari, but only the most bitter McLaren fan couldn't love Sato going around the outside of Alonso. Canada seems to put forth a good race almost every year, and once every few years it puts out a race like this that descends into near-farce, but is damn exciting all the same.

Edited by Spacemans Bong, 10 June 2007 - 02:16 PM.

[ernieshore]

Per various reports, Alonso is already complaining that Hamilton is receiving extra-special treatment from Mclaren. That didn't take too long.

Indy should be interesting - especially since I will be there camping outside the track for three days.

[Fiskian Pole Shot]

Hamilton won the pole for Indy tomorrow, Alonso second. Alonso had the fastest lap of the day, but it was in Q2.

[Spacemans Bong]

24 heures du Mans on.

[Spacemans Bong]

Fuck me, I hate McLaren. Hate them.

But this fella is good. Really, really good. I think he's the sports story of the year so far. A prodigy who was so good that he didn't even have to do an apprenticeship for a lower team and steps into a McLaren and drives the pants off the car, so well that he beats his teammate, the defending double world champion. And he's handsome, articulate and black.

[cgori]

Hamilton won the pole for Indy tomorrow, Alonso second. Alonso had the fastest lap of the day, but it was in Q2.

In my flurry to get out the door on Sunday I didn't see this post. I was also there, sorry we didn't meet up.

What a great race that was, lots of mid-pack passing, and finally no Red on top of the podium.

[ernieshore]

It really was an exciting race to attend. I remarked to a friend after the race how quickly it went.

And though certiainly not like the first couple years, it seemed liked a good overall crowd. Friday practice and Saturday seemed very well-attended this year. I thought without M.Schumacher and Montoya attendace might fall significantly. But the Brazilians and Poles from Chicago provided a great atmosphere. And the Eastern Europeans made the campground outside the track especially lively.

Overall: a great time...although it was VERY hot. Hopefully, it will return to Indy next year. I'm not sure if anywhere else would attract some of the casual racing fans that Indy gets.

[cgori]

Laguna Seca built a full set of F1-style pit garages over the past 3ish years...

[Spacemans Bong]

Laguna Seca built a full set of F1-style pit garages over the past 3ish years...

There's no way F1 goes to Laguna Seca. The safety issues, the access issues, the short length of the track (which would make overtaking almost impossible) and its ownership by a non-profit will preclude that. It sucks because it's such a better circuit than Indy, but I'd rather see F1 go to Road America, though there'd be safety issues there too.

Edited by Spacemans Bong, 27 June 2007 - 11:36 AM.

[cgori]

There's no way F1 goes to Laguna Seca. The safety issues, the access issues, the short length of the track (which would make overtaking almost impossible) and its ownership by a non-profit will preclude that. It sucks because it's such a better circuit than Indy, but I'd rather see F1 go to Road America, though there'd be safety issues there too.

Yea, I know. I think there could be overtaking under braking into the hairpin though, especially since there are 2 viable lines. You honestly think there are serious safety issues now? The last problem was up at the Corkscrew after the CART fatality they took some steps to fix that area. The runoffs are plentiful and FIA-certified.

Road America is extremely unlikely, the configuration of the main straight and pit entrances would make an F1-style pit-garage setup pretty difficult. Also the paddock would need serious reconfiguration to deal with the security/control (I drove there about 5 years ago, spent 2-3 days at the place). And if you think the access issues would be bad at Laguna, I have one phrase for you re: Road America: "frost heaves" ... god those roads were horrible.

It's actually sad how lacking in large-scale-infrastructure road courses America is. I never really thought about it in this context before, and I have driven an awful lot of them over the years (Watkins, VIR, Roebling, Road Atlanta, Road America, Mid-Ohio, etc), they all have really crappy access or facilities, at least when you are talking about an event on the scale of an F1 race. I guess Watkins would be a possibility (and a nice nod to history) but I think the community already hates having the NASCAR event there and wouldn't tolerate another invasion like that.

Edited by cgori, 28 June 2007 - 04:11 PM.

[Spacemans Bong]

The community probably wouldn't mind F1 or could rationalize it just because there's such a long history of F1 there and you can't underestimate the difference in crowds - rednecks vs the F1 crowd. Watkins would need massive investment though, from facilities to safety.

I don't think you could overtake into the Andretti hairpin because the straight isn't long enough. The modern F1 car in its stupid, ugly, overly aerodynamic-reliant form needs a straight of at least a kilometer to overtake into, and that straight at Laguna Seca is about 2/3rds km. I think a few years ago you could have done it but not now. Plus an F1 car would lap that track under a minute.

You honestly think there are serious safety issues now?

Yeah, Turn 7 onto the Rahal Straight doesn't have a lot of run off. That's a quick, difficult corner as well. The MotoGP guys have mentioned that it's not the safest corner they ride through on the calendar.

I think you could build garages in Road America on top of the hill and extend the pit exit out to the first corner to gain some extra room. You'd have to move in the kink a little to gain some run off, as you can't move the walls back there with the railroad line behind the corner.

It's unusual. We have probably the best set of natural road courses anywhere in the world, but they all have craptastic facilities.

[LondonSox]

Lewis Hamilton rocks Silverstone taking Pole in the very last lap of qualifying, pretty amazing as he had been the slowest of the four big guns of Ferrari and Mclaren until the very last second, and somehow found up something like half a second of pace in that last lap. That should be one hell of a fun place to be tomorrow, if he wins it's going to be one mother of a party

[czar]

Formula 1 will not return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2008.

[ernieshore]

Formula 1 will not return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2008.

That's not a shock, although it is disappointing for those of us who have been to Indy over the last several years. It was nice to attend an affordable F1 race.

I guess I will be making a trip to Montreal next year.

[ernieshore]

So long Scott Speed...


Speed Axed

[cgori]

And... we're back.

[Blessyouboys84]

McLaren is fined $100 million, and docked all it's constructor points.

The $100 million penalty includes McLaren's expected loss of income, and McLaren still could be penalized for the 2008 championship, FIA said in a statement after a hearing.

McLaren escaped the harshest possible penalty, as FIA could have kicked the team and its drivers out of the 2007 and 2008 championships. In December, FIA will decide on any possible sanctions against McLaren for the 2008 season.

Link

[Tony the Pony]

McLaren is fined $100 million, and docked all it's constructor points.

Wow. Exit Alonso?

I guess McLaren will have to iron a few things out with Banco Santander and Renault with ING before Alonso can go back to Renault, but I doubt we'll see Alonso drive a McLaren next year.

Yammer, do you have any take on whether Ron Dennis himself was the person that went to Mosely to basically anounce this entire affaire?

[bosox4283]

For the few of us paying attention to Formula 1, this weekend is a HUGE race. Hamilton has a 4-point advantage over Alonso going into Brazil, and with the Championship on the line, it'll be a very exciting race. On top of that, there is all the Hamilton-Alonso-McLaren drama which, while kind of annoying, heightens the anticipation of the race.

[HakkyNH]

The last race isn't until 10/21, but next week should be chock full of wild rumors, accusations, pettiness amongst teammates, public griping, etc. In other words, a normal week for F1!! Three guys can win the championship with Hamilton and Alonso having the best shot, and Raikkonen needing to place 1 or 2 and some major help from the McLaren teammates. The best part of the season ending in Brazil is we get to see the race (& qualifying) here at a reasonable time of day, rather than the usual routine of getting up at 6:30 on a Sunday for the Europe races or staying up way late for the Far East ones. Me, I'm pulling for Hamilton to hang on for the Title.

[bosox4283]

Thanks...I didn't even bother to check the date of the race. I saw so many rumors and accusations that I assumed that the race was this weekend.

[RedSoxinIsrael]

Very interesting race today.

[bosox4283]

Raikkonen wins the race and the 2007 Championship. Alonso finished third and Hamilton 7th.

But wait! It might not be over yet! There are rumors that BMW might have used an illegal fuel, which would disqualify them from the race and therefore put Hamilton 5th. Of course, that would make him the champion.

This shit is worse than a made-for-TV drama.

[Spacemans Bong]

Raikkonen wins the race and the 2007 Championship. Alonso finished third and Hamilton 7th.

But wait! It might not be over yet! There are rumors that BMW might have used an illegal fuel, which would disqualify them from the race and therefore put Hamilton 5th. Of course, that would make him the champion.

This shit is worse than a made-for-TV drama.

They got cleared though, so Raikkonen wins.

Alonso looked delighted on the podium. I wonder if he passes Hamilton and goes "Count da ringzzzz" to him.

[cgori]

They got cleared though, so Raikkonen wins.

Alonso looked delighted on the podium. I wonder if he passes Hamilton and goes "Count da ringzzzz" to him.

There appears to a steward's appeal in process now. This seriously is made-for-tv-drama level shit.

[Spacemans Bong]

There appears to a steward's appeal in process now. This seriously is made-for-tv-drama level shit.

I doubt they win though. Even in the past fuel irregularities have usually meant a fine and loss of constructor's points, not disqualification. Besides, this is McLaren/Ferrari. The FIA strongly dislike Dennis and the best politickers in the sport at Ferrari.

Dennis is clutching at straws.

[HakkyNH]

Bump! Season starts tonight, 12:30 AM from Australia. Live on Speedchannel.

Lewis Hamilton on pole, and a Pole (Kubica) alongside Hamilton on the front row. Raikkonen had some trouble in qualifying and will start 15th, but his teammate Massa will start 3rd. Alonso also had mechanical trouble and qualified poorly.

Should be a good race though, the season opener always is. The off season in F1 always seems far too long.

[pockmeister]

This story was plastered on the front of the News of the World rag in the UK yesterday. It's one of these news stories that you see and then say to yourself "Really...no...surely he couldn't be so stupid...oh, actually..."

http://www.timesonli...icle3649197.ece

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/66248

Suffice to say, FIA President (and hence in charge of all motorsport, including F1) Max Mosley is alleged to have been part of a 'sadomasochistic orgy' with five prostitutes that was alleged to involve Nazi role-playing. And the News of the World have the video. Go to www.notw.co.uk if you're brave.

It's interesting to note at this point that Max is the son of pre-WW2 British Union of Fascists leader Oswald Mosley. Just thought I'd point this out.

Enjoy.

[Infield Infidel]

It's not everyday you see the phrase "Nazi orgy" in a headline.

I don't see how he survives. He already tried to leave a few years back, and they already have his successor, Jean Todt, in line. Out of him and Bernie, I always thought Mosley was the less creepy one.

[Infield Infidel]

a pretty biting right-up on Time.com

especially the last bit

Whether he does (leave) will likely have little to do with financial considerations, as the position is unpaid. Besides, as Mosley once said, "Money doesn't turn me on." Unfortunately for him, the world now knows what does.

edit: added (leave)

Edited by Infield Infidel, 05 April 2008 - 08:20 AM.

[ragecage]

I'm not sure how much of this is new to F1 fans, but there is a great article on the spy scandal in the new Wired.

link

The other plus here, is that reading this article lead me to watching a bunch of Schumacher/Momtoya clips on YouTube, which I greatly enjoyed.

[splendid splinter]

What a colossal fuck-up by Hamilton yesterday in the Canadian Grand Prix, missing the red light at the end of pit road and running straight into the back of Raikkonen's Ferrari, knocking both of them out of the race. I found it mildly interesting that he "chose" to cream Kimi and not Kubica. Probably just a knee-jerk reaction, or perhaps he thought he really could get around him to the left and avoid the crash, but he certainly "helped" himself by knocking out the driver most likely to challenge him for the overall points title this year, from the team in the lead for the Constructor's championship. I know Kubica is now the overall points leader, but Kimi and Lewis will clearly be the favorites over the course of the entire season.

Still, nice to see Kubica win the race. I was at Montreal last year when he put his car into the wall and pinwheeled across the racetrack. We thought he might be dead at the time.

[Cuzittt]

Sebastian Vettel... Youngest Driver to win an F1 Race... in a Toro Rosso? The world turned upside down in Monza today.

Scuderia Toro Rosso... first Italian Constructor not named Scuderia Ferrari to win an F1 Race since 1957.

[Spacemans Bong]

From pole. And in dominant fashion.

Now a lot has changed, because they never had an Adrian Newey designed car with strong Ferrari engines and a driver who they were able to keep from McLaren, but ten years ago if you said that a team with a clear lineage to little Minardi would win a Grand Prix - the Italian Grand Prix, at Monza, from pole, no less - I would still have stomach pains from laughing so hard.