Official Discussion Thread of the 2009 Formula 1 Season

Probably yes. I honestly can't be bothered about it, and since I've got to leave town next weekend, I might not even bother watching it live.
I'm just looking for a McLaren flogging on the field. Lewis win.

Or maybe Brawn's Jenson making a win maybe, to show the critics that the title is deserving.

Imagine if he started off with points then the 6 wins in 7 races... what would have been....


God I'm feeling so british.
 
Might be because we (the fans) are bored as batshit with the Formula 1 equivalent of a cheeseburger. It looks good and the price is very attractive (for Bernie), seems like a good idea. But it tastes like shit and is bad for your health.
 
I'm really exctied for Abu Dhabi, for the same reason as Espy. McLaren really look like they want to win it, and it would be great for them to win the last race for motivation in the winter...
 
hahaha can't blame then, you know. They know what they like and they like what they see.
 
Good read and I even agreed with most of it :)

Only thing I have to disagree with is Sutil not having a proper team mate to compete with...Fisi was definitely not that much worst than Sutil and if you check the WDC table you'll see Fisi actually has 3 more points...I fail to see how you can say Sutil had no proper team mate to compete with"
 
Great driver summary Necx0, look forward to reading some more in 2010!
 
Good read and I even agreed with most of it :)

Only thing I have to disagree with is Sutil not having a proper team mate to compete with...Fisi was definitely not that much worst than Sutil and if you check the WDC table you'll see Fisi actually has 3 more points...I fail to see how you can say Sutil had no proper team mate to compete with"

What I meant by that was, Sutil has been touted on occasion as the next big thing. However I don't regard Fisi as really a good benchmark. Solid driver but he was blown away by Alonso, came second best to Heikki (who we now know to be not top-tier) and blown away by Kimi as well.

Perhaps you are right though, Fisi has out performed him this year in the Force India so if he can't beat Fisi.....???
 
Nice summary, but I have one doubt. Algersuari, in World Series by Renault he wasn't that good. This year he ended on 6th position (even his teammate was 4th), won 1 race and 2 times was 3rd. That's all. Overall his driving history isn't that bad, but isn't impressive also. For example Alonso or Kubia were able to win that formula just in their first season.

What I'm saying, yes he is good driver, but not on F1 level. Maybe he (and Grosjean) need some more testing in F1 or some more time in lesser formula. I think he's just lucky being part of Red Bull's driver programme.

I know that there are drivers who didn't win any series and were not bad F1 drivers. Here is the main problem. No testing during the season. When in winter break teams could try several drives and pick the best we got Buemi, but new driver during the season is just a guess.
 
Wut. Wut wut.


F1 Live said:
Former McLaren racer Mika Hakkinen has expressed surprise that the Woking-based team is on the search for a new driver. The Mercedes-powered team, driven by Hakkinen to back to back championships in 1998 and 1999, is openly contemplating a new team-mate for Lewis Hamilton.

But Hakkinen told Germany's Auto Bild that McLaren should retain his countryman Heikki Kovalainen.

"They're looking for a driver? Really? I didn't know," he joked while trackside at the DTM finale in Hockenheim.

While the leading candidate for Kovalainen's seat is another Finn, Kimi Raikkonen, Hakkinen believes Kovalainen's contribution to McLaren is underrated. "It's never one person who makes a big operation fantastically successful, it is teamwork," he insisted.



"If you look at the performances of Lewis and Heikki, you have to look not only at the black and white race results, but also what happens in the background," said Hakkinen.

"Those two do a fantastic job," he added, before adding: "Looking for a new driver? Why should they do that?"


Yes but.... with 1 win due to a engine blow.... uh.... no.
 
you have to look not only at the black and white race results

omg guise i think he's being racialist.



Really, i can see what he's saying, Heikki isn't BAD and seems to just be struggling to get his setup right for him, but a team like McLaren doesn't want just one driver who can compete for wins consistently no matter what the reason. If he can't make the setup work for him in all the time he's had, they're not wrong to get someone who CAN make it work.

Edit:
'Scuse me, wasnt me who said that, it was F1 Live -.-

Yeah but hitting "Quote" doesn't include any quotes in what you're quoting, so I lazily copy+pasted a bit into the quote from you and I couldn't be bothered deleting your name and typing "Hakkinen" in instead ;) Cleaned it up now.
 
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omg guise i think he's being racialist.



Really, i can see what he's saying, Heikki isn't BAD and seems to just be struggling to get his setup right for him, but a team like McLaren doesn't want just one driver who can compete for wins consistently no matter what the reason. If he can't make the setup work for him in all the time he's had, they're not wrong to get someone who CAN make it work.
'Scuse me, wasnt me who said that, it was F1 Live -.-
 
I just read that Mercedes will make a clean break with McClaren. Is there any truth to this?
 
^ So far only rumours. Nothing official, so we can't say whether there's any truth to the story. But the near-certainty is that Mercedes want to also buy a small stake in Brawn GP.
 
There's also the fact that McLaren is completely building their new supercar by themselves. That's a pretty good indication of the split.
 
I thought Benz owned 40% of McLaren? They can't very well split from a company they have such a major interest in just like that. Or are the rumors that they're wanting to sell their stake completely?
 
Or maybe just completely not get involved with the F1? Meh don't know
 
I just read that Mercedes will make a clean break with McClaren. Is there any truth to this?

I call BS. McLaren, as mentioned above, is partly-owned by Mercedes. It just makes no sense to drop them after one mediocre season. Stealing Newey away from Red Bull, that would be an option, or buy Brawn's whole operation, shut it down for good and place Ross as the head of McLaren racing... but breaking with McLaren? There's no profit in this, neither monetary nor in terms or won races.
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The new supercar being built independant of Merc is, as far as i got it, due to the fact that it's not a one-of mini series but the start of a whole McLaren car lineup, financed indepenently of the F1 team by external backers...

^ So far only rumours. Nothing official, so we can't say whether there's any truth to the story. But the near-certainty is that Mercedes want to also buy a small stake in Brawn GP.

...or sponsor them, which most likely won't be in the form of $$$ but in the form of free engines and support for them. Noting's official there, too, but Merc have to do something for Brawn after Brawn won the championship instead of Merc's factory team - just leaving BrawnGP hanging with their shoestring budget would make Merc look bad.
 
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I thought Benz owned 40% of McLaren? They can't very well split from a company they have such a major interest in just like that. Or are the rumors that they're wanting to sell their stake completely?

I think they have been looking to sell, and last I heard McLaren were willing to buy it back for a lot less than what they sold it for in 1999.

It's all just guesswork and rumours at this stage, but as the saying goes, there's no smoke without fire. It might only be a small fire, but I think we'll hear more of this story as it develops over 2010.
 
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