2007 Formula 1 Season

[HondaF1]

Welcome to the 2007 Formula 1 Season

This is a section for testing, between rounds and general F1 news.

Each race will have it's own thread. Please discuss races in the appropriate thread.



Class Of 2007
Back Row Liuzzi, Speed, Sato, Davidson, Albers, Sutil, Rosberg and Wurz
Middle Row Trulli, R Schumacher, Webber, Coulthard, Heidfeld and Kubica
Front Row Button, Barrichello, Massa, Raikkonen, Alonso, Hamilton, Fisichella and Kovalainen

[HondaF1]

Busy night. Just found this on foxsports.com.au


Melbourne considers night race

March 15, 2007

THE Victorian Government will consider any plan to transform the Australian Grand Prix into a night race.

Tourism Minister Tim Holding said last night the Government had the final word and would look closely at any bid.

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone and Australian GP chairman Ron Walker believe a world-first night race is needed to attract huge European television audiences.

Mr Ecclestone said it was a "terrible shame" that many Europeans missed the race because of the time difference.

His campaign already has won the support of top Australian driver Mark Webber.

"It's a great idea. It's such an amazing experience to race cars at night," Webber said.

"I'm surprised they haven't thought of it before. Melbourne has a good opportunity here."

Ecclestone is determined to make Grand Prix racing in the Asia-Pacific more viewer-friendly for European fans.

"It's a terrible shame that the first grand prix of the new season should be staged in the afternoon in Australia," he said from England.

"Having to get up and watch it in the night over here is not the best way to get the show on the road."

The cost of surrounding the 5.3km circuit with enough light towers to meet safety and broadcast standards looms as a major hurdle.

The event could lose up to $30 million this year.

Walker said the cost of converting the circuit for night-time racing would be compensated by booming international TV ratings.

"There's a huge revenue stream from free-to-air TV if it goes into European daytime hours," he said.

"The Grand Prix is not just about local entertainment. It's about broadcasting our brand to the rest of the world.

"If we can tap into an additional billion people in their time zone by conducting the race at night, we have to think about it."

Walker also dismissed environmental concerns.

"People said years ago that if you have an F1 race at Albert Park, the ducks would fly away and never come back," he said.

"If you look at the ducks during the race, they don't move: they're too busy eating."

But Toyota driver Ralph Schumacher said: "I don't think it is realistic enough. Unless they invest millions in lights and have realistic conditions to drive in, it won't happen."

Port Phillip Mayor Janet Bolitho said noise and light levels would have to be checked against EPA guidelines.
----

A sign of desperation perhaps??

[Red_Bull]

Can't see it happening tbh. The event is already losing millions of dollars so I can't see why the government is going to build light towers at a cost of several million, despite the international ratings. Its too much of a risk and the Victorian Government will surely not be able to justify spending taxpayer money on such a scheme.

Bad for us Aussie TV viewers - we already spend our late nights watching (delayed) telecasts, now we have the same situation for the Aus GP?


Not sure what the Finalgear culture is regarding F1 here. Do we get race specific threads on F1? Or will one giant thread cover it? I propose we have threads for each race (depending on demand) and use this thread to discuss season happenings. Just throwing it out there...

[SV]

Yea usually a seperate thread was made
It would be called something like F1: Melbourne

have a look on page 3 of the motor sports section, there is a few examples.

[Blythy]

we can have several threads, one for each race and another for general season progress which would be pinned

[HondaF1]

Ah ok, I only joined after last season so I wasnt sure.

For once, R Schumacher (Oh I hope they leave it like that on the timing sheets ) has made a good point for once.

[Lurch0001]

Having to get up and watch it in the night over here is not the best...

Oh, boo-fucking-hoo. Welcome to our world.

[unknownspeedster]

does anyone remember the term length of melbournes contract with the F1? and before F1 will return to adelaide Ron Walker will have to be sacked from chairman postion on the board of the australian GP cause hes a melborune supporting F##k head (my $1.50)

[lv2xlr8]

Originally Posted by Lurch0001

Oh, boo-fucking-hoo. Welcome to our world.

x2. I live in the states so practically every race is at an awkward time.

How could they possibly covert it to a night race when the GP is just a few days away? They would need a hell of a lot of light structures and to build them to code in such a short time slot? Not gunna happen.

Would definitely be cool thought.

EDIT: We should definitely have a thread for each race, it'll be a lot better organized that way.

[teletubby-warrior]

Originally Posted by lv2xlr8

How could they possibly covert it to a night race when the GP is just a few days away? They would need a hell of a lot of light structures and to build them to code in such a short time slot? Not gunna happen.

They're thinking of turning it into a night race next year...

[Red_Bull]

Originally Posted by unknownspeedster

does anyone remember the term length of melbournes contract with the F1? and before F1 will return to adelaide Ron Walker will have to be sacked from chairman postion on the board of the australian GP cause hes a melborune supporting F##k head (my $1.50)

It expires in 2010.

[Terrorist]

A night race would be awesome. I don't think they'd delay the telecast.
The weekend is going to be non-stop F1 coverage 9am-4pm on ch10, im wondering whats going to fill up the time vacated by the v8's.

[phuckingduck]

I'd think they'd have to add some sort of a lighting apparatus to the cars for a night race, even with track side lighting. Would be cool to see lights on the cars 8)

Does anyone know where I can get high res maps of the circuits? Most of the ones I can find are tiny little things, or .swf, and still tiny.

[maxorido]

Can't wait! I'm rooting for...

Lewis Hamilton
Mark Webber
David Coulthard
Jarno Trulli
Ralf Schumacher
Robert Kubica
Heikki Kovaleinen
Rubens Barrichello

[Sausageman]

They're discussing a Singaporean GP at night as well. I love how that article refers to 'Ralph' Schumacher. Australian media always gets F1 wrong.

Also, Bridgestone are marking the soft compound tyres with a white ring.

[Red_Bull]

Originally Posted by maxorido

Can't wait! I'm rooting for...

Lewis Hamilton
Mark Webber
David Coulthard
Jarno Trulli
Ralf Schumacher
Robert Kubica
Heikki Kovaleinen
Rubens Barrichello

Anyone else?

[Sausageman]

I can't see why you would root for DC, Ralf or Barrichello. My opinion is that their glory days are over.

[lv2xlr8]

Originally Posted by teletubby-warrior

They're thinking of turning it into a night race next year...

Oh, that explains a lot.

[HondaF1]

Im interested to see how Rubens and Davidson go this year. Rubens, in my opinion is going to have his last season with Honda and maybe F1, and I reckon Davidson is being groomed at Super Aguri to be his replacement and slot into Honda Eco Warriors!!

[Sausageman]

Originally Posted by HondaF1

Rubens, in my opinion is going to have his last season with Honda and maybe F1, and I reckon Davidson is being groomed at Super Aguri to be his replacement and slot into Honda Eco Warriors!!

I disagree. If they are grooming Davidson to replace Barrichello then who is going to replace Davidson? Also, I think Rubens and Jenson make a strong team.