F1 2009 megathread

[lightguy]

Re: Those fendered' bastards !!!!

Yeah, my first faultable contact (requiring a meeting with the Stewards) in 5 years. And the guy (his first SCCA race) refused to take responsibility; apparently saying I owed him racing room. I couldn't f'ing believe it. I should have hauled his ass to the Steward of the Meet with the video and gotten him a stiff penalty, but it was 105F, 430 PM on Sunday and all I wanted to do was load up and go home. But I made my point to him on the Sports Racer Forum, very hostile territory for us FM guys.

Same exact thing happened to me at the end on the longest straight at Texas World Speedway. Have no idea what the speeds were. Tire to tire spun my car which was T-boned by 2 other cars. Guy who caused it went on unscathed. Later in the same race he put another car out. After getting a ride in the tow truck back to the pits I wanted to "talk" to him. He had important business elsewhere and had left after parking his car. Left his crew chief to answer all questions and protests. A friend with an in car camera caught everything and we presented it to the stewards. Rich daddy's boy Btard had his license pulled.
I was wanting to pull something else.

 

[lightguy]

Re: Guess the old circus is just ho-hum?

Well, the Schumi circus was quickly over not long after the FOTA/breakaway circus left town. So, we're back to the old circus of the Brawn-Red Bull fight.

Guess it's old hat though, since I have not seen any Brackley factory leaks (real or imagined) or any teeth-gnashing, desk-pounding, anguished cries here or anywhere over whether or not the Killer Bees have solved their problem or if they're as dead as a 22 day old worker bee (life span=20 days).

Well, nevertheless, I'm starting to move up to the edge of my seat for this weekend. Hope the buzz on WindTunnel next Sunday nite is that Ross is still the golden boy.

Ross and crew do not have to be stellar. A few points here and there will suffice. Mclaren, Ferrari, and Renault just have to hold Red Bull down to clinch the title.

I thought the last few years were crazy but this one has to be the most turbulent in F1 history. Period. Fasten your seat belts.

 

[NSXrebel]

Re: Guess the old circus is just ho-hum?

Ross and crew do not have to be stellar. A few points here and there will suffice. Mclaren, Ferrari, and Renault just have to hold Red Bull down to clinch the title.

I thought the last few years were crazy but this one has to be the most turbulent in F1 history. Period. Fasten your seat belts.

Exactly! If McLaren and Ferrari had not improved their game, then yes I would agree the Killer Bees would have to fight harder to win the WDC and WCC. We still have 7 races left, so who knows.

 

[92 white 0650]

Re: Noteworthy

Yes, yes, it's only practice, but I'm grinning about this
Sutil and Fishy 6th/8th
Vettel 9th
Webber 14th
Nice hot track. :smile:
Fred's launch of quick Nick

 

[myhui]

Jenson Button’s 250mph Bugatti Veyron up for sale – a snip at £899,995

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2009/08/...-bugatti-veyron-up-for-sale-a-snip-at-899995/

 

[NSXrebel]

1 L Hamilton McLaren
2 H Kovalainen McLaren
3 R Barrichello Brawn
4 S Vettel Red Bull
5 J Button Brawn
6 K Raikkonen Ferrari
7 N Rosberg Williams
8 F Alonso Renault
9 M Webber Red Bull
10 R Kubica BMW Sauber
11 N Heidfeld BMW Sauber
12 A Sutil Force India
13 T Glock Toyota
14 R Grosjean Renault
15 S Buemi Toro Rosso
16 G Fisichella Force India
17 K Nakajima Williams
18 J Trulli Toyota
19 J Alguersuari Toro Rosso
20 L Badoer Ferrari


Rubens and Jenson are on the clean side, so that could play to their advantage. I also suspect they might have slightly more fuel than the McLarens.

 

[Miner]

Rubens and Jenson are on the clean side, so that could play to their advantage. I also suspect they might have slightly more fuel than the McLarens.

JB in the 3rd row, just not a good spot for him, even if he's on the clean side. Kimi with KERS will present a problem. Expect the Macs to sail off, Vettel in 3rd.

Miner

 

[69XSN]

This season is becoming quite exciting, I like the unexpected turn of events. Come on Rubens it's time to put a championship on the resume, I just think he deserves it.

 

[92 white 0650]

Re: Looking good............strategically

From someone on RealBrawn

early weights posted. NOT VERIFIED YET!!! if so, looks pretty good IMO.

1. Lewis Hamilton – 653,0 kg
2. Heikki Kovalainen – 655,0 kg
3. Rubens Barrichello - 662,5 kg
4. Sebastian Vettel – 654,0 kg
5. Jenson Button – 661,5 kg
6. Kimi Räikkönen – 661,5 kg
7. Nico Rosberg – 665,0 kg
8. Fernando Alonso – 664,5 kg
9. Mark Webber – 664,5 kg
10. Robert Kubica – 657,5 kg
11. Nick Heidfeld – 677,0 kg
12. Adrian Sutil – 672,5 kg
13. Timo Glock – 694,7 kg
14. Romain Grosjean – 679,2 kg
15. Sébastien Buemi – 688,5 kg
16. Giancarlo Fisichella – 692,5 kg
17. Kazuki Nakajima – 702,0 kg
18. Jarno Trulli – 707,3 kg
19. Jaime Alguersuari – 678,5 kg
20. Luca Badoer – 690,5 kg

And (rumor has it) Vettel is being put back to 14th for redflagging the practice session.

Disappointed in Sutil. And if Badoer doesn't get his $hit together, he couldn't even drive for me!!

 

[myhui]

I read last night a report quoting Button saying they swapped setups between the two drivers to verify things as much as possible. That's a great way to isolate the problems and to generate new ideas.

 

[92 white 0650]

Re: Bad Badoer

My, my, my, when the buzz is that Peaky, of all people would have been a better choice for that seat relative to what we saw so far.........that's a pretty sharp slap in the face.

Someone tweeted to Phil Huff that Badoer was withdrawing and going to Spa to get a week's head start on that race. For about 3.759 seconds, I believed it :redface: and thought, "Yeah, makes sense."

But here's the real . Matchett described the one race he worked with him long ago. Steve said he was withdrawn and "hard to read" which usually means very poor communication skills. Doesnt' sound like good test driver material to me.

 

[92 white 0650]

Re: Damned if you do, damned if you don't?? or not

Now this is really interesting. James points out a real potential conundrum for Kovy

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2009/08/kovalainens-catch-22-situation-for-the-race/

He's got a shot at being a hero and upstaging Hamo. But on the other hand, he'll be expected to be a team player and block Ruby. Of course, this isn't chess and all hell breaks loose when the lights go out. But there's a small chance some considered strategy could come into play during the first stint. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm something to think about. :wink:

 

[69XSN]

McLaren basically gave it away, but in any case, GO Rubens.

 

[92 white 0650]

Re: Well, Kovy did anyway

Kovy:

He's got a shot at being a hero and upstaging Hamo. But on the other hand, he'll be expected to be a team player and block Ruby.

FAIL See you next year with a new start up team. :wink:

McLaren basically gave it away

As for the pit stop; that's racin'. Unfortunate timing, I think. Hamo decided to dive in at the last second when the team told (needed? expected?) him to stay out one more lap? It might be that neither side made a mistake.

 

[NSXrebel]

Re: Well, Kovy did anyway

Kovy:
FAIL See you next year with a new start up team. :wink:

As for the pit stop; that's racin'. Unfortunate timing, I think. Hamo decided to dive in at the last second when the team told (needed? expected?) him to stay out one more lap? It might be that neither side made a mistake.

Also, Rubens had about 5 more laps of fuel than Hamo, so even if his pit crew hadn't been caught off guard, Rubens probably would have come out of the pit ahead of Hamilton and would have been an even closer race.

 

[Miner]

JB stunk up the joint. At the rate things are going, though, he'll end up being world champion despite running middle of the pack for half the season.

 

[92 white 0650]

Re: Jens, what's the deal?

JB stunk up the joint. At the rate things are going, though, he'll end up being world champion despite running middle of the pack for half the season.

Yeah, and what is his problem with starts? Oh wait, this time, he noted some irregularity with the clutch on the recon lap, so maybe that killed his start.

As for tires, did they get that choice right? Seems like JB went fastet in the last stint with SS tires?

Hate to rejoice at RBR's bad luck with, well, the engines at least, but it puts the Killer Bees in a much better position. :smile:

 

[NSXrebel]

Whitmarsh admits the pit screw up didn't cost them the win.

http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3408_5509557,00.html

 

[92 white 0650]

Re: Badoer.....King Hiro; who's worse?

Someone tweeted to Phil Huff that Badoer was withdrawing and going to Spa to get a week's head start on that race. For about 3.759 seconds, I believed it and thought, "Yeah, makes sense."

We have not seen this kind of ridiculousness since Hiro retired years ago from CART. I mean, when he's pulling over in the pit out lane to let Grosjean go by, jeez, he couldn't even drive for me !!!

Anyway, someone should take all the unused video of Baddy and put together a "Funniest Home Video." I'd buy it. What a wanker !!!

 

[Miner]

Re: Badoer.....King Hiro; who's worse?

We have not seen this kind of ridiculousness since Hiro retired years ago from CART. I mean, when he's pulling over in the pit out lane to let Grosjean go by, jeez, he couldn't even drive for me !!!

Anyway, someone should take all the unused video of Baddy and put together a "Funniest Home Video." I'd buy it. What a wanker !!!

He has been the test driver for the team that won 8 (maybe 7) constructor's championships in the last 10 years. I hoped for a better showing, but I suspect the team will get useful information from him about making the car better.

 

[myhui]

Re: Ruby

How are you interpreting these stats? What do they say to you?

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/8/9797.html

Q: Rubens, second in the drivers’ championship now. When you drove down the pit lane to parc ferme all the teams were out there to applaud you. Rarely could there have been a more popular win. Sum up your feelings at this moment.
RB: Well, I mean it has been 17 years. When I come into the track I come 15 minutes earlier and when I go out it takes me 15 minutes more because I know everyone. I have worked with almost 80 per cent of the paddock. All my wins seem to be so emotional. They are part of it as well, all the teams that I worked with as well. It has been a fantastic day. A hard win today to push all the way through but it is so delightful and I want to thank everyone who supported me, so ‘thanks.’​

 

[92 white 0650]

Re: Refresh my memory

How are you interpreting these stats? What do they say to you?

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/8/9797.html

Q: Rubens, second in the drivers’ championship now. When you drove down the pit lane to parc ferme all the teams were out there to applaud you. Rarely could there have been a more popular win. Sum up your feelings at this moment.
RB: Well, I mean it has been 17 years. When I come into the track I come 15 minutes earlier and when I go out it takes me 15 minutes more because I know everyone. I have worked with almost 80 per cent of the paddock. All my wins seem to be so emotional. They are part of it as well, all the teams that I worked with as well. It has been a fantastic day. A hard win today to push all the way through but it is so delightful and I want to thank everyone who supported me, so ‘thanks.’

What were the stats and what was the point being made in the subject post?

No question this was perhaps the most popular win in recent memory, but I'm missing your point.

 

[myhui]

Re: Refresh my memory

What were the stats and what was the point being made in the subject post?

The stats point out that Rubens has won several races over the years and have consistently come close to Michael Schumacher's finishing position.

Regardless of those stats, I hold the personal view that Rubens is my favorite driver.

 

[Ponyboy]

Not a whole lot of passing but it was exciting to see how Rubens turned the tide and won the race.

Badoer drove perhaps, IMHO, the worst F1 performance I've ever seen. If they learn anything from him it's that they'll get nothing from him being in there except the expense of running the car.

 

[92 white 0650]

Re: Collecting limited edition "Baddy" jokes

Well, I guess we get one more race to watch and hear about Baddy. Fortunately for him and unfortunately for us sarcasm loving jokers, he'll do much better at Spa since he knows the track and...............he actually was picking up the pace by race end.

He has aptly demonstrated that there is a little meaning to that phrase "racecraft". :redface:

He'll be as forgotten as month old news by the race after that. So, let me hear all the Baddy jokes you can think of. These kind of stories generate one-liners that find their way into my race reports. :biggrin::biggrin: