The Mighty Motorsport Thread 2009
 

New F1 season starts next week, 27-29 March, in Melbourne.

One 'new' team, one new driver and lots of new regulations makes this season impossible to predict, for me at least.

McLaren: Hamilton and Kovalainen.
Ferrari: Raikkonen and Massa.
BMW Sauber: Kubica and Heidfeld.
Renault: Alonso and Piquet.
Toyota: Trulli and Glock.
Toro Rosso: Buemi and Bourdais.
Red Bull: Webber and Vettel.
Williams: Rosberg and Nakajima.
GP Brawn: Button and Barrichello.
Force India: Sutil and Fisichella.

Good news, at least for those of us who've been forced to watch coverage on ITV this past twelve years, is that F1 is back on the BBC. So no more adverts and no more James Allen. And what's more, could this even mark a return for 'The Chain'?

Anyway, i know a few of you here are interested in this too, as well as other areas of motorsport, so...

Predictions? Concerns? News?

thank fuck they backed up on that Most wins = Championship idea. Honestly, you have the most engrossing season in ages and then you try and change everytthing?!?!

I liked ITVs F1 coverage, i dunno if theyve got the same commentary team as before? It would be cool if they had some guest commentators now and then, but the best bit in F1 ever was when Murray Walker was still commentating and announced "we'll see you after the break... OH!" just as some massive crash happened and they cut to an ad for Cheese Strings or something

The commentary team for the BBC is going to be Jonathan Legard, Martin Brundle, David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan, Jake Humphrey and Lee Mckenzie.

Really glad they brought Brundle over from ITV and Coulthard could really be a masterstroke. Recently racing so he'll know the current drivers and hardly one to keep his opinions to himself. Although the policy of not having the commentators at the actual track, just reporting from a UK studio, might be a bit odd. Will have to see if makes a difference though.

i have no idea if any F1 races will even be shown this year on a channel i get, it doesn't help that they canceled the american grand prix i am already missing the 12 hours of sebring right now in the american le mans series

boooooo nascar

once again, fia rejected the "12 points" system.

the usual mosley/ecclestone circus. fucking clowns.

speed are showing f1 no????? they showed sebring last night...
aas for nascar, ive only got in skysports there over christmas and said "right ill give this nascar a lash" my god its addictive..amazing racing, bristol tonight...fuck yeah!!

anyhoo f1

yep.. thank fuck they got rid of the wins to champoin ruling.. thats dumb as fuck.... i mean no one agreed with it....great idea in principal but it would have meant say massa winning the first 5 races and then crashing in every other one whilst say finishing 2nd in every race..massa gets the title... fuck that!!!!

new points system will probably be 12/9/7/5/4/3/2/1 but why dont they bring in a point for pole and a point for fastest lap!!!! makes sense..

my main concern regarding this year is the total amount of changes to the regs if it has widened the playing field...and if the kers system and how it will react when involved in a crash.....

looking at the testing times it seems to me that no, the playing field has shrunk.... this year seems wide open...

also brawn f1, what a story, obver a second faster than anyone all over the last 2 weeks testing! incredible for a team that didnt exist last month.... honda must be really kicking themselves in the balls right now!

best thing about this year..bbc, no ad breaks and no james allen!!!!!! but arent the commentators at trackside its only the studio panel in england????

also the cars actually look different this year, you can tell them apart if they were all painted white!!!

my predictions for the year.. championship to be close but im backing kubica..... followed closely by massa and alonso...

my predictions for melbourne.. fuck knows?
pole.... button

race.. massa, button, webber

first retirement... seb buemi because he will realize that he doesnt really deserve to be in a f1 car just yet and brick it!

cant wait for melbourne.. and the bbc are showing all sessions via the bbci on thursday and friday... with quali and race live on bbc1....


also the btcc and incdycar series look like they are gonna be sweet as well this year, not to mention gp2, the new formula 2 series, euro and british f3 and the rest!!! bring it on...


also ireland to win a1gp....go on adam carroll.....

,mosely to be gone by june...ari vatenen or jean todt to replace him!!! this will drag on and on... they are bringing in new win rule in 2010...it wont work!

a great point about earning a point for getting pole. I'm not so sure if I'd be happy about awarding one for fastest lap too though. Although in principal it might make things interesting. It would possibly work better if that point went towards the constructor's title as it strikes me as having more to do with the car than the driver.

You're dead right about Brawn. An incredible situation that could really mix things up. Plus I do rate Button as a driver and it's exciting to think he might actually have an opportunity to prove himself in a truly competitive car.

Ideally, being a fan of McLaren more than I am of any individual driver, I'd like to see them remain serious contenders while Ferrari drop down the rankings, with Brawn making a real fist of a bid for the title ... so long as McLaren ultimately pip them to it.

My only other hope is that we don't see a return to the circus of steward enquiries that so marred last season. Races to be won or lost by drivers, on the track, rather than by track-side officials.

stewards have to have at least been observing for 5 consecutive races before actually stewarding now...its a step in the right direction!!!

rosberg fast, nakajima ultra spectacular.,.brawns fast, hamilton 3rd last!!! and thats only after 2 practice sessions....roll on the qualifying tomorrow morning......

Set my alarm for 5am to watch qualifiying.

Insane!

I know there's an appeal against Brawn and the other teams regarding their diffuser but even so, this season looks like it's got the makings of being one of the strangest I can remember.

From a British perspective it's going to be fascinating seeing how our media respond to Button should he look like being a real challenger for the driver's championship.

Right now it looks like no one can touch Brawn and I do hope that they don't simply turn this season into a one team and two-driver affair. My other fear is that, if say Button does end up winning the championship. his victory becomes overshadowed by the impact of the regulation changes.

Whatever happens it looks like this season won't be business as usual.

I've set my alarm for 6 tomorrow morning.

I can't wait.

And YES: THE CHAIN IS BACK.

Prediction for tomorrow: Button.

not gonna set my alarm for tomorrow, ive earned my sleep.
But i heard someone say you coulda got 700-1 at the end of last season on Jensen winning the first race of the season. Is it me or is F1 better the more spanners they throw in the works.

i may be able to stream it live online, assuming i am still awake at 12:30 and may have to settle for a CCTV broadcast in low bitrate, but if it works it works

what a result... not for my facebook fantasy team but for the sport...great way to start the season..a front row and a 1=2 for a team that didnt exist 2 months ago....wonderful shit...and yknow its not gonna change for the next few races either! all long haul away races, malaysia, bahrain and china.......

as for kubica and vettel...well they were trying hard but i think they leaned on each other a bit much...this is gonna be a cracker of a season....

hamilton lucked in on trullis penalty..... ferrari were all at sea.... and buemi...great first f1 race! fair play to him!

roll on malaysia next week, and the first british touring car race at brands and the first indy car race at st petersburg..

and now nascar from martinsville later!! bye!

Buemi definitely impressed me. Early days yet but he certainly didn't look out of place.

The Brawn 1-2 was awesome to see. Although I'm also relieved they didn't just run away with it. Although McLaren, Ferrari and Renault are off the pace (slightly) on what I saw today it's hardly a case of Brawn and then the rest.

Once again Massa had me scratching my head as to how he was ever a world title contender, flat-spotting all over the place. And yet again Kimi seemed somewhere else altogether.

It's definitely true that Hamilton must be wondering how on earth he ever made third. An excellent drive by him though considering that McLaren the far from being the third best car out there.

Drivers of the race for me were Button and Hamilton (both near faultless performances) and Buemi (a solid debut)

Kubica should have been more patient, and his impudence cost both him and Vettel a podium

Hamilton and Alonso should be lucky they got any points, maybe cause my coverage has been bad, but i expected the Renaults to challenge more, and Ferrari just fell of the fucking map just shocking, the Brawn Mercedes were just so dominant, i wonder if they can hang in there in the long run

The other commentator (not Brundle) was fucking awful.

He sounded like he was commenating on a royal wedding or something,

I'd agree that Hamilton was lucky to make the podium, but thought that he had an excellent race considering he was at the back of the grid in a car that was way off pace compared with the front runners. He used KERS brilliantly I thought. I'm not one to blindly celebrate all things Hamilton but credit where it's due, he was world class yesterday.

brundle is a legend jeff...one of the finest commenators ever....... the 2nd best racer turned mic jockey after james hunt...

as for kubica..nah, it wasnt his fault at all..vettel screwed up but then again kubica didnt give him much room, racing accident...end of story...penalty was stupid but whats even stupider..

4 days later, they disqualify hamilton from the race for "tryiong to fool the stewards" and reinstate trulli in 3rd....what the fuck is the fia at...they cant make a desicion and stick to it..ive never seen so much backtracking and stupid rule bending desicions being made by the fia ever....all in the last couiple of months..

max mosely has to go or there is gonna be a drivers strike, they wont put up with this indesicive governing body...... what will happen next..a ten place grid penalty if your car isnt italian made???? unbelievable goings on!

you're just a bunch of sissies

also on kers, its pants and i agree with eddie jordan, come mid season everyone will have it and it will negate the use of it or brawn will keep winning without it and no one will use it cuz it adds weight to the car..... its dumb, pointless and artificial...it doesnt do a lot for the environmental side eiter...bin it before one backfires in an accident and kills a marshall by electrocution or even a driver..... imean a loaded kers has not been crashed yet and there were major shocks in testing whilst mechanics worked on cars..... imagine one dioscharging whilst being refuelled in a crowded pit lane...it doesnt warrant the risk in my opinion........

roll on sepang, they are expecting a monsoon like rain as the race is held at 5pm local time and it always rains in the evening heavy in malaysia..... im not making any predictions at all apart from the fact that brawn and toyota are gonna be very strong again....

Yeah. i wasn't aware of the safety issues with kers but that only adds to my reservations. It just seems unnatural.

This is the very kind of thing i was hoping would'nt blight F1 this season. If Hamilton and McLaren did cheat then they deserve their punishment, but the sport simply can't sustain this constant practice of changing results so long after the race has finished. It's going to get to a stage where it's pointless watching a race at all, just waiting a few days until the 'official' result is released.

Besides infringements relating to the car, there has to be a policy now where all driving incidents (such as the one between Vettel and Kubica) have to be settled by the stewards during the course of the race or at least before the podium. I think fans can tolerate stewards making the odd mistake far more than they can this insane practice of rewriting of results.

Saw the qualifiying for Malaysia. A very close call in terms of car performance. Button is supposed to like the track and, having gained pole, has to be favourite. The prospect of rain is bound to play its part though.

Signals coming from the FIA seem to suggest that McLaren's punishment over the Trulli affair may not stop with them being disqualified from the Australian Grand-Prix. Another shadow that'll be hanging over F1 for weeks to come I'm sure. Add to that the diffuser controversy and the uncertainty about KERS, this season has all the makings of being even messier than the fiasco two seasons ago.

thats what really rocked!!!
Rallying without any limitations. like formula one on gravel, dirt and asphalt. (yes it cost some lifes, but...yes)
want it back!
the only good german drver I really liked for his style and his attitude: Walter Röhrl

Well that was interesting.

yes..gropu 4 was amazing...but highly lethal too, many deaths due to silly spectators and stupid officials allowing them to stand wherever they wanted..... but hey, it was banned for a good reason....shame the ford r40 never managed to get going tho..great car and now all group 4 cars rule rallycross worldwide...metros, quattros, etc etc....insane machines...check out a film called "too fast to race".... awesome footage....

as for the grand prix...greatrace cut short by the inevitablilty of a monsoon which happens daily every evening in malaysia...wityh this knowledge it still seems odd the fia decided to run the race 2 hours late, ok, the europeans are out of bed an tv figures rocket up but at what cost.....

it seemed odd to me as well that the cars were ordered to the grid, drivers ordered to remain in cars and be ready for a restart when it was bloody obvious there wouldnt be one and if there was the drivers would refuse to race because it would have been suicide.... only to wait for the alloted 2 hours to elapse to declare the race over...it seemed dull and merely done to fill up the allocated worldwide tv schedule.. the race should have been declared done after about 20 minutes of red flag, it was obvious then that they couldnt have met half distance..... anyone who doubt the drivers ability to race in such conditions should think back to adelaide in 1989...


great result tho..button and toyota look good and damn that red bull is a s quick as it is good looking.....roll on the next one! bahrain??? yeah bahrain..at least it will be dry!

I predict torrential sand storms.

...and we all forgot about shanghai...

another great race and are we gonna have a normal race this year????

fantastic driving by the red bull pair, great result and highly deserved....this opens up the championship big time..... as for ferrari...well they are in trouble big time....

time to get rid of kers, if all the kers teams are struggling and only 3 cars had it in china and they did practically nothing, it doesnt seem to be worth the hassle..... and what will red bull do when they bolt on their new now 100% legal double diffuser....that car is certainly quicker than the brawn on face value i reckon...next week is bahrain, more of the same please!!!

Shanghai was a tremendous race.

Ferrari just seem to have lost the plot completely. I sound like a scratched record on this, but Kimi just seems to be doing all he can to get dropped. The ice lolly incident in Malaysia, the general lack of enthusiasm in Shanghai. I'm sure he must be seen as a bit of an embarrassment by his team. The car's clearly not up to it, but at least Massa is making some kind of effort. Kimi just doesn't seem to want to know.

Absolutely agree about kers. I wouldn't be at all surprised if within a few races no team is using it.

And am I alone in not liking this whole thing in qualifying where you fuel up for the race in Q3? I know it's been like that for at least a couple of years now but I'm sure It'd be far more interesting if all the cars used the same fuel (and then put their actual race fuel in afterwards). As it is, qualifying doesn't really prove anything. Call me old fashioned, but shouldn't grid position be given in order of car/driver, rather than strategy?

yeah but if it was a level playing field the same cars would rise to the top all the time, thats why they introduced the fuel thing, it is artificial i agree..
see they are going to ban refuelling for the 2010 season!!!!! that will be interesting..is it safer in the pits or is it more dangerous out on track......
the tyres will certainly have to be a lot harder for a start...

as for bahrain, bmw should really get their drivers new jobs and leave the sport, that was the worst display of an f1 team i think ive ever seen and i include the life team, andrea moda and lola in that...at least they tried!!!!

this weekend sees irealnd about to clinch the a1gp title.... live on sky1 (not skysports) sunday at 1.30pm.... dont miss it!!!!

Yeah, I just read about the no fuel change thing. Like you say, it seems quite an odd decision. Although not as odd as Mosley's optional budget cap which seems to say you can spend whatever you like but if you do you have to spend it on making a car that won't be competitive. I've never understood optional rulings. It's either a rule or it isn't. I'm in favour of the budget cap, but it has to be universal.

yes..you cant be half pregnant!
at least with the budget cap, 4 or 5 more temas are now interested in going in on the sport..it would be nice to see a full grid of gp cars again, we havent had that for over 10 years now!

also a note...last weeks nascar race in talledega ended quite amazingly spectacular..7 fans were hurt, not seriously but what an end to a 3 and a half hour 180+mph race...

Yeah, as I said, I'm in favour of the budget cuts. The idea that teams will be able to start running at a profit again is essential for the sport's survival (I only wish they'd do the same in the premiership). I just find the whole option thing counter-productive.

Interested to know what people thought of McLaren's rather limp wrist slap over the lie-gate thing. Strikes me that Bernie was desperate not to have the defending world champion (and biggest public draw) out of the tournament for three races and so brokered some kind of a deal with the board of judges to keep him on the track. I mean I really can't see a suspended three match ban going to a team like Red Bull. And I say that as a McLaren/Hamilton fan.

And ABSOLUTELY YES, regarding BMW. I can see a lot of team reshuffles at the end of the season, both at BMW and Ferrari. I'd certainly be surprised if Dominicalli (sp) is still running the show at Ferrari next season, or even by the end of this one, if things don't dramatically improve for them very soon. This is hotting to be an intriguing season both on the track and on the pit-wall.


As interesting as F1 is right now, that was fucking AMAZING! I really must make more effort to watch nascar. Everything i hear about it, and whenever I see clips it just seems really full-on.

what the fuck! What did you do with the owls?

They were freaking out the black kids so I got rid of them.

i can tell you're not being honest with me.

Look at the poor little devil. One look at that signature and he's a gibbering wreck. It was the right thing to do I suppose, given the whole post Obama thing.

Besides, I always found your previous avatar strangely erotic. Why did you change that? Not the coloureds again i take it.

so you're asking me to imagine that your new sig man was filmed reacting to your old sig?
ok i can do that.
but i still don't believe you.

BRING BACK THE OWLS