[PAULYBEE2656]

yes..he was actually standing in front of dc yesterday when speaking to him..... its a bit weird!

as for the race, no ferrari or any car is gonna use kers, there is no point at monaco, no where really to use it bar off the line.... kers should be totally forgotten about........ i mean power boost and not one kers car has hit pole or done fastest lap yet??

ferraris are running light, cant see them anywhere near the podium, button will walk away from the field..... rosberg.....podium..but yknow its monaco, anything can happen...it will be a long race...but not as long as the indy 500!!! bring it on..im off to cut the lawn in preparation for the afternoon!!!!

[demonrail666]

An interesting, more than exciting, race today. Certainly looks like Ferrari are competitive. Button has to be thinking about the possibility of becoming champon. Being English, I'm obviously a bit biased but would love to see it. Button drove like an absolute champion today.

Anyone notice Piquet's little dig at Buemi? Hilarious. I wonder which of the two will be in an F1 car next season. lol. What a prat.

[demonrail666]

No mention of the Turkish Grand Prix yet.

Not a great race in terms of deciding the winner I suppose (at least after the first lap and that stint where Vettel was right on Button's tail) but some great drives nonetheless. Webber seemed to capitalise on Vettel's weird strategy but generally drove an excellent race I thought, and fully deserved second. Good to see Kubica slowly begin to make progress too. Button though was quite brilliant and, without wishing to repeat myself, has to now be thinking very seriously about the possibility (likelihood?) of becoming Drivers Champion. The likelihood of Vettel, Webber and Barrichelo taking points off one another in the remaining races means that even if Button were to finish third in the rest of the races it's unlikely that he'll be overtaken, and if he now finishes no higher than second in all of the remaining grand prixs he's champion. The only thing that I can see really hampering Button's chances now is reliability.

[PAULYBEE2656]

yeah, sorry...forgot to post anything... yknow..this season is so damn close but button is just driving beautifully.. ok the car is damn good but jenson has really stepped up a gear and looks uncatchable... but in reality, the field is so close its unreal!

a thought, if the fia went ahead with championship by most wins instead of points like they were gonna do, button would probably be champion right now! no one i9s gonna win more than 5 races this year!

tonnes of shit politically in f1 again but yknow all this thing about boycotting 2010, its all smokescreen and manouverings.... f1 will have alk the teams plus hopefully 4 more in the field for next year...a full grid of f1 cars, that hasnt happened in well over 12 or 13 years!!!

[demonrail666]

I agree about the smokescreen regarding a boycott. I thought Ferrari might be serious about leaving F1 but I can't see it.

'Beautifully' is the right way to describe Button's driving so far. As they said on the commentary, he's only made perhaps one or two (minor) driving errors all season.

I have to say that Barrichelo sounded totally ridiculous after the race with his 'it's always me' thing. He's in probably the best team on the grid and is in no way treated in the same way that he was when he was at Ferrari. Saying that, he is going to have to start coming to terms after the next couple of races at most (assuming he doesn't win them) that his role within Brawn will be to secure the constructers title and to help secure Button's title. As far as I can see, both Brawn drivers were given an equal chance - and if anything, judging from Ross Brawn's own comments, he might even have favoured Rubens over Button at the beginning of the season, at least in terms of respect. It's just that Button has had an incredible season so far while Barrichelo has just had an excellent one.

[PAULYBEE2656]

i feel for rubens tho.. you cant blame him for getting frustrated, i mean he played 2nd fiddle to michael for years as ferrari do not possess the ability to run 2 cars equally for 2 star drivers (proof this year and last with massa and kimi?) and rubens now finds himself in his 16th season with suddenly a front running car...he doesnt want to play second fiddle to anyone let alone jenson button and he has had the bad luck (there was some...) that nbrawn has etched out! shame cuz i reckon he truly deserves a championship! but brawn cant afford to looose him, he has too much experience and brains and skill and alos he and ross brawn know each other so well! but at the end of the day... i dont think team orders will come into play, common sense will tho!

ross has been suprised by button, f1 has been suprised by button..... its a wonderful story and part of me wants to see jenson win every single race left this year! but part of me wants to see red bull catch up, especially mark webber...rubens to win a few and lets have an end of season scrap with 4 or 5 drivers in it!

[pantophobia]

Peugeot 1-2, Audi dethroned finally, awesome to see a turnabout after Sebring

 

 

[PAULYBEE2656]

yeah huge win for peugeot..... but will they repeat it again..they are french and all!!!!

seriously tho, some of the driving at le mans this year was pretty dire.... some seemed to forget it was a 24 hour race and not a sprint! still tho, great great event and one i shall attend in the near future!

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by PAULYBEE2656

part of me wants to see jenson win every single race left this year! but part of me wants to see red bull catch up, especially mark webber...rubens to win a few and lets have an end of season scrap with 4 or 5 drivers in it!

I know exactly what you mean. Jenson winning every remaining race would be an incredible thing to watch but it would be at the expense of the tournament in terms of interest. Apparently the destinations at the end of the season that have invested huge sums to put on a race are concerned that the championship will effectively be over by the time it reaches them.


Regarding Le Mans, i had vague plans of going to it this year but predictably put them on the back burner to the extent that i never got around to it. Something i'd definitely like to attend at some point though.

[PAULYBEE2656]

yeah indianapolis 500, monaco gp , le mans 24 hour are 3 races i have to attaend at some point in my life!

as for the circuit owners investing to see a championship decider..... fuck them, if they are stupid enough not to understand the sport well let them eat cake! championships have been decided many times before the end of the season, in fact more often than not.... its just money talking..bring back tracks like montreal, austria, mexico and sod little places in the far east that no one without a franchise in a computer company lives.... sod them, f1 needs to remember its history before history forgets f1.. im not gonna beat on this drum again but did you see how many fans were at turkey? i counted about 15! that looks worse on telly than a championship being won with 3 races left..

look at the indianapolis 500, and the irl is supposed to be a poor series with no supporters at all....

 

no point in having races where no one sees them, but then again, no point in charging a months salary for tickets!!! f1 has to loose that elitist approach and get to grips with its fans.......... sorry drum banging complete!

[demonrail666]

I couldn't agree more. While i don't object to F1 expanding into new territories, the fact that the new territories it chooses to expand into happen to be oil-rich countries with no obvious interest in the sport besides finance and prestige is surely bad for F1 long-term. I love the track at Turkey but did notice an almost total lack of spectators. And all this while doubts continue to shadow plans to secure the long-term future of the British Grand Prix.

[PAULYBEE2656]

as for new tracks..i really hope they bring f1 to the algarve circuit in portimao..... that track is just stunning, it would instantly become a classic..very like spa in its style... a1 gp was great there.....

[PAULYBEE2656]

and now silverstone.......

not bothered with any predictions only to say the sorry state the sport is in...

this move to create a breakaway championship is going to destroy f1 as we know it..... its not good for the governing body, for the temas, for the image of the sport but most importantly for the fans....

max to resign, maybe even as early as this weekend, bernie to get the support of the 2 teams who signed up for 2010 williams and force india..... the whole lot will be in one group, carry on as normal for next year and let the new guy (jean todt anyone???) deal with the bullshit about budget capping..... the sport cannot sustain 2 championships and it makes a mockery of the integral ethos of formula one......... (f1 1950-2009)

history will show this crap doesnt work... the usac/cart split of 1979 is proof as is the irl/cart split of 1995...... it dilutes both championships in to non events......i sincerely hope f1 sorts itself out or abu dhabi will be the last grand prix i will watch and ive seen em all since monaco 1979.............

[demonrail666]

Yes I've been following this too.

It's now just one big power play between FOTA and the FIA to decide who needs the other more or, more dramatically, whether they need each other at all. FOTA clearly believe that the commercial power is with the teams and the drivers more than it is the F1 name and, to be honest, I think they're probably right. The best chance now for F! is, as you say, for Mosley to resign - although i'm not even sure that'd be enough to sort things out now. If Button wins this years driver's championship, he could end up being the last driver ever to do so.

[PAULYBEE2656]

i reckon all sides wills ee sense and carry on as normal maybe toyota will withdraw but a breakaway..no winners at all..

how about ilverstone, what a dull race.... only spark of exitement was kovalinen forgetting his mirror signal manouevere..... vettel, absolute perfect drive..the 2nd half of the season may well be close..brawn have been caught!

[demonrail666]

I think it's interesting how this whole breakaway thing increasingly seems to to revolve around the conflicting egos of Mosley and Briatore (neither of whom I have any time for). I'm perhaps a little less optimistic than you in terms of some kind of agreement being reached. From what I've read the breakaway already has huge financial backing from banks and talk of turning it into a roadshow that'd finally recognise the US certainly makes it more appealing than the FIAs current commitment to oil rich countries with lots of money but no fans. i honestly don't know. I think it could be a success but i can't disagree with something Mosley said in a pre-race interview: that inter-team squabbling would potentially prove fatal if they went it alone.

Yeah, the race was terribly dull. I did enjoy Hamilton and Alonso's battle with each other at the back. They were obviously racing for pride more than points but it was good to watch anyway. Red Bull have definitely caught Brawn and I'd say Vettel, although maybe less consistent, is easily the match of Button as a driver.

It'll be fascinating to see how Brawn and Red Bull compare in Germany. I suppose the key issue now for both teams is reliability and how they deal with their second drivers. It's too early yet but, assuming that the real challengers for the drivers championship will be Button and Vettel, it's going to be interesting to see how Webber and especially Rubens take to the idea of playing rear gunner.

All in all, not a classic season so far in terms of on-track excitement, I'd say, but definitely the most fascinating that I can remember.

[PAULYBEE2656]

all i have to say is webber...... brillinat, couldnt be happier.....amazing drive despite being penalised for "causing a collission", what bollocks!

[demonrail666]

Yeah. I agree. A brilliant victory and a nonsense penalty. Probably my favourite race of the season so far.

Red Bull definitely have an edge now. In terms of the driver's title, I think Button's gonna be OK so long as he stays ahead of Rubens and the Red Bulls keep taking points off one another. Assuming he doesn't significantly start catching up with Button in the next couple of races, it'll be interesting to see how Brawn deals with Rubens in terms of race strategy - and more significantly, following yesterday's outburst, how Rubens deals with them. I can increasingly see Red Bull taking the constructors title though. I just don't think Brawn have the money to compete in terms of upgrades.

Couldn't believe Hamilton at the beginning. A mixture of bad luck and madness surely cost him a podium at least.

[PAULYBEE2656]

 

no gp last week but a sad loss to the sport...henry surtees (son of f1 champion 1964 john surtees (pictured above) ) died in a freak accident in the second formula two race at brands hatch last sunday. an errant wheel from joe clarkes spinning car bounced accross the track and came into contact with henrys helmet, immediatly henry was fatally knocked out and the car at unabaited speed hit the barrier and came to rest with the throttle wide open. initially the accident didnt look much , he was knocked out alright but personally i thought he would be fine, it wasnt til a couple of hours later that the whole picture was revealed.......

 

these cars should have tethers stopping the wheels from becoming detached in a crash but relativly slow speed accident , these tethers failed miserably with fatal consequences..... this was the most unacceptable death ive ever seen at a racetrack and indeed the saddest...... such a waste of talent.......

here is the clip if you wish to view it....german language, british eurosport removed all clips from youtube

[demonrail666]

Yes. I read about it this morning. Considering just how safe motor racing has become it's all the more shocking to see such an avoidable tragedy as that. As you said, a terrible waste of a talent and a life. A very sad day for motorsport but hopefully one it can learn from.