2007 Formula 1 Season

Yes, I would like to see Schumacher back in F1, I think he only retired because Ferrari hired Kimi...
 
He retired because everyone talked up the fact that Kimi would win the championship this season, and Schumi wouldnt want to be beaten in his team by the new guy. Schumi's probably kicking himself.

I also think Ferrari have made a mistake by making a long wheel based car. Expect a lot of teams to copy McLarens idea for next season, eg. Low drooping nose and mid-wheel base.
 
I also think Schumacher didn't want Massa to lose his seat at Ferrari, hence him helping Massa out alot this year.
 
See when Massa went through the red light, Massa made loads of excuses and Michael just stayed on the wall.
 
Hamilton seems to be the title favourite now. He seems to have the lead in points now and he is fast where it matters in Q3, even if Fernando is faster in practices and the other two qualification. The Ferrari might be slower than the Mclaren in Canada and USA but with testing for the next GP in France, it could change and give maybe Ferrari the edge to close the gap to Mclaren. The way Massa handles the DSQ in Canada, giving the thumbs down, does not show that he is mature enough to win the championship. Fernando seem to have the pressure now. I think it is good for the spectator of F1. Michael Schumacher does not need to prove himself anymore, he already won more than what other people can achieve. It is time to move on. I don't think Ferrari major problem is Michael, maybe Kimi thinks he is a problem hanging out with his mechanics. I think it is the no testing during the Canada and USA period that is the problem for Ferrari.
 
Paul said:
Hamilton seems to be the title favourite now. He seems to have the lead in points now and he is fast where it matters in Q3, even if Fernando is faster in practices and the other two qualification. The Ferrari might be slower than the Mclaren in Canada and USA but with testing for the next GP in France, it could change and give maybe Ferrari the edge to close the gap to Mclaren. The way Massa handles the DSQ in Canada, giving the thumbs down, does not show that he is mature enough to win the championship. Fernando seem to have the pressure now. I think it is good for the spectator of F1. Michael Schumacher does not need to prove himself anymore, he already won more than what other people can achieve. It is time to move on. I don't think Ferrari major problem is Michael, maybe Kimi thinks he is a problem hanging out with his mechanics. I think it is the no testing during the Canada and USA period that is the problem for Ferrari.
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I guess he is the favourite now, but I he hasn't really shown that hes dominant over Alonso. Alonso fucked up his qualifying time in P3 and so Hamilton got pole and held onto it. I think he's just on a hot streak, but he really getting used to standing on the podium.
 
I'm still tipping Alonso for the title - I just feel that's he still the stronger of the McLaren drivers and he knows how to put together a championship at F1 level. No disrespect to Hamilton though - he continues to surprise me, and be I'd rapt if he did take the title.
 
I must say that this year has been pretty surprising to me uptil now. I really thought that Kimi would walk away with the title but boy was i wrong...

I don't believe that the Ferrari is bad, i do believe that the set-up is bad. They really have to put more attention to it if they want to stop McLaren in my opinion.
 
Another German publication, the specialist magazine Auto-Bild-Motorsport, said Schumacher could be on the verge of returning to the red cockpit as a test driver - and the 38-year-old may even have already driven the current F2007 single seater in 'secret tests.'
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And there was another quote about him not being at Indy, instead he went to play football somewhere and scored 3 goals...lol.
 
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39711

Four-time world champion Alain Prost believes his former team McLaren?s policy of allowing its drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton to race on equal terms will ultimately backfire.

The team-mates are locked in a fascinating battle at the top of the drivers? standings, with the latest duel going rookie Hamilton?s way at Indianapolis after a race-long fight with the Spaniard.

Team boss Ron Dennis has long declared that both drivers have equal status at McLaren, although he admitted to ITV Sport following his current pair?s monumental battle last weekend that a consequence of that policy is that more pressure is created inside the team.

Prost, who had a bitter rivalry with Ayrton Senna at McLaren in 1988-89, has warned the Woking squad that it is employing a dangerous strategy.

?I think that now it is a mistake to have two equal cars within the same team,? the Frenchman told Spanish newspaper El Pais.

?In the end it will work against them because it creates too much tension.?

Points leader Hamilton?s dazzling start to his Formula 1 career, including the way he has been able to take on and beat the double world champion, has stunned even the most seasoned of F1 observers.

The British star underwent an intense period of preparation ahead of his debut, including hours of work in McLaren?s state-of-the-art race simulator.

Prost, who won 51 grands prix in his illustrious career, reckons this simulator work is part of the reason Hamilton has found the MP4-22 easier to drive than Alonso has.

?Now the simulator has reached an amazing level of perfection; it is even able to simulate weather conditions, rain, wet asphalt, wind, everything,? Prost said.

?And Hamilton has used the simulator much more than Alonso and his driving style is much smoother, less abrupt than the Spaniard?s.

?As a result I think that McLaren finds it easier to set up the cars to suit Hamilton?s style.

?But that can't disguise the fact that Alonso is a super driver, a great, great driver.?
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At least Prost had a right to be angry at his teammate... Alonso can't complain about buckteeth until he starts swerving in front of Alonso, deliberately taking him out going into the first corner, etc. :p
 
Day 1 Practice at Silverstone

Day 1 Practice at Silverstone

Ralf sets day one pace at Silverstone

Tuesday, 19, June, 2007, 22:46

Toyota?s Ralf Schumacher put his first corner crash at last weekend?s US Grand Prix behind him to set the pace on the opening day of the Silverstone test on Tuesday.

All teams, except Honda and Super Aguri, flew straight to Britain following the North-American double header for the first day of the three-day test at the Northamptonshire circuit.

And it was the under-pressure Schumacher who led the way, setting a best time of 1m22.794s after 71 laps.

Toyota?s programme, along with those of most of the teams present, concentrated on set-up and tyre evaluation work ahead of next month?s British GP.

?In general it was a successful day and we made it through everything that we had planned,? Schumacher said.

?We were concentrating on set-up work, primarily targeted at the British Grand Prix.

?We also looked at some different aero settings and did some qualifying runs.

?The conditions were very good, particularly in the morning, although the wind picked up in the afternoon.

?We had one stoppage after lunch while we changed some suspension settings but overall things went well.?

Championship leaders McLaren began what it says will be its most comprehensive test session of the season so far with Pedro de la Rosa at the wheel of the MP4-22.

The Spaniard was just over 0.1s away from Schumacher?s benchmark time.

Mark Webber kicked off Red Bull Racing?s first evaluation of a new aero update for the French GP on July 1 and was third fastest on the timesheet.

However the Australian completed only 42 laps as a hydraulic actuator problem delayed his programme.

Heikki Kovalainen was fourth for Renault, with Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer fifth.

BMW Sauber?s Nick Heidfeld posted the session?s sixth best time as he tested some new aero and mechanical parts on the team?s F1.07 car, before sitting out the final hour with a slight back pain

Toro Rosso driver Tonio Liuzzi only arrived at Silverstone half way through the day?s running after his flight from Indianapolis was delayed.

Nevertheless the Italian still managed to fit in 50 laps as STR tested its new quick-shift gearbox.

Williams tester Kazuki Nakajima was by far the day?s busiest driver and completed a mammoth 124 laps, despite causing a red flag when he went off the circuit at Brooklands ? with the off damaging his car?s front wing.

Spyker completed the teams present with its test drivers Giedo van der Garde and Adrian Valles sharing the running.

Testing times from Silverstone (Tuesday June 19)

1. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m22.794s

2. DE LA ROSA McLaren 1m22.915s

3. WEBBER Red Bull 1m23.329s

4. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m23.510s

5. BADOER Ferrari 1m23.768s

6. HEIDFELD BMW 1m23.841s

7. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m24.125s

8. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m24.665s

9. VALLES Spyker 1m25.394s

10. VAN DER GARDE Spyker 1m25.931s
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Source
 
Isnt van der Garde the driver who signed for both Super Aguri and then Spyker??
 
Hill rejects Olympics comparisons

Wednesday, 20, June, 2007, 17:58

BRDC president Damon Hill has rejected the argument that the British government should bankroll the country?s grand prix because it has been willing to throw large amounts of public money at the 2012 Olympics.

The financing of Silverstone?s redevelopment remains crucial to the long-term future of the British GP ? and, by extension, to the UK?s position as the fulcrum of the motorsport industry.

F1?s commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone has made it plain that Silverstone?s place on the calendar after the current contract expires in 2009 is contingent on an upgrade of its facilities.

In order to afford both this capital investment and the sanction fees demanded by Ecclestone?s Formula One Management company, the BRDC has put in place a ?master plan? whereby it will borrow against the value of the site, which should increase if planning permission for the redevelopment plan is granted.

Even so, the money is unlikely to be available to bring Silverstone up to the lavish standard set by some of the newer F1 venues, which have relied substantially or wholly on state funding.

Some motorsport figures ? including Hill?s predecessor as BRDC president Sir Jackie Stewart ? have argued that the government should ?put its money where its mouth is?.

Stewart and others have drawn attention to the contrast between the ever-rising bill the government is set to foot for the Olympics and its unwillingness to commit significant funds to the British GP.

But Hill, who has always been sceptical about the arguments for large-scale public subsidy, does not regard this as a valid criticism.

?I think the government would be sticking its neck out a hell of a lot to put money into what is perceived to be a very rich sport,? he said on Wednesday.

?I know people will say they can find billions for the Olympics ? but that?s different, it?s the development of an inner-city area for the future as well as a sporting event.

?To me it?s a slightly different case.?

The future of the British race has often been thrown into doubt by stinging criticisms from Ecclestone and his apparent visceral dislike of the BRDC.

But Hill believes Bernie?s broadsides are partly a negotiating tactic and partly reflect a justified feeling that the BRDC has been slow to implement change in the past.

?You have to always understand that Bernie is a negotiator, and the job of FOM is to achieve the best rates it can for its events,? he said.

?The comments from Bernie are inevitably designed to improve his negotiating position.

?I can completely relate to what he?s saying.

?When you see the new countries that have joined Formula 1 and have fantastic facilities, great architecture ? who wouldn?t want that?

?But we can only do what we can do.

?I think Bernie?s frustrated that it?s so difficult to get progress, and I can understand that,? he added.

?There are some valid criticisms that can be levelled at the BRDC ? I don?t think they are beyond criticism by any means.

?There clearly need to be steps taken to allow Bernie to talk to someone who can give him the answers during contract negotiations, and we?ve now got that in place.?

To this end, Hill said the BRDC has divested itself of any role in running the commercial aspects of Silverstone.

?The BRDC are the trustees, or the guardians, of Silverstone,? he said.

?The operation is now run by Silverstone Holdings, and we have three very experienced businessmen to lead that.

?It?s quite a change in the way it?s going to operate over the next few years.?
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Source
 
Schumacher to make racing return in December
21 June 2007

Michael Schumacher will be back in action this winter at the 2007 Race of Champions at the Wembley Stadium in England. The seven-times world champion joined the event back in 2004 when current Renault driver was able to beat him in the shoot-out.

"I enjoyed the atmosphere in 2004, both with the other drivers and in the stadium where the fans seemed to clearly enjoy themselves," Schumacher told Sky Sports. "I hope my participation can help the event organisers raise even more funds for the Institute for Cerebral and Medullary Disorders (ICM), which I'm one of the founder members of, and which the Race of Champions is supporting for a fourth year."

It is rumoured that the organisers of the Race of Champions are trying to get Hamilton to join the event too.
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Source

Should be interesting to see how rusty he's got.
 
Devon said:
It's spelt quiet!!! That's twice you've spelt it wrong...the past few posts you've posted have been pretty pointless and annoyed me...I think you deserve a ban.



The Reb Bull/Toro Rosso site is better :p they have some pretty funny stuff on their site. And you can read riddles from Mark Webber, like the one below.

A man is driving a black car, along a black road. There is a black dog lying down on the black road. How does the man avoid hitting the dog?

Answer
He sees it, it?s daylight

Also, those interested in getting their face on the RBR cars for the British GP and raising some money Spinal Cord Research Foundation can go to this site at http://www.facesforcharity.com to donate. Much better then Honda MyEarthDream site. :p
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HondaF1 said:
What the f*** are you on about? What does that have to do with F1? Why are you making such ridiculous posts lately? Are you high?

It doesn't make sense as it's spelt wrong and is in Yoda-speak. Paul, I have a problem with the fact that you want to get to 333 posts then stop posting, and your recent posts have been terrible and make no sense at all.

Please stop it Paul unless you actually have something to say about Formula 1.
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http://forums.finalgear.com/showthread.php?t=17747

What you guys said really hurt. I'm really sorry if you guys are offended, but at least private message me. :( I mean, most of this post here are just suggestion from people and most of them are from what they read at the news. It is not like everyone here contribute anything special. Tell me one special suggestion from anyone here that is not related to news (such as practice time sheet that i can access myself) that they read on F1 and that they can see the future on F1. :mad:
 
Some of your posts just didn't really contribute anything to the discussion. And by 'some', I mean 'a lot'. Calm down mate and lets not turn this into a soap opera :p

And just so this isn't entirely spam, I'm glad to see Schumacher back in the RoC and it should be a good event.
 
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