[demonrail666]

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?

[the ikara cult]

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

[demonrail666]

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.

[pantophobia]

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.

[PAULYBEE2656]

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.....

 

[PAULYBEE2656]

Originally Posted by █████████

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

the usual mosley/ecclestone circus. fucking clowns.

,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!

[demonrail666]

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.

[PAULYBEE2656]

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

[PAULYBEE2656]

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

[demonrail666]

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.

[the ikara cult]

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.

[pantophobia]

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

[PAULYBEE2656]

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!

[demonrail666]

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)

[pantophobia]

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

[Florya]

The other commentator (not Brundle) was fucking awful.

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

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by pantophobia

Hamilton and Alonso should be lucky they got any points

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.

[PAULYBEE2656]

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!

[greedrex]

you're just a bunch of sissies