2009 Formula 1 Pre-Season Thread

Now everyone, try and look really surprised as you read this...

Barrichello admits Ferrari team orders

Rubens Barrichello has admitted the Ferrari team gave him clear team orders in his years at Ferrari. The Brazilian was Ferrari's second driver and was even threatened to get fired if he wouldn't move over for team mate Schumacher.

Speaking with Brazilian TV show Fantastico Barrichello said: "At the Austrian Grand Prix (2002) I was told over the radio 'Do you know that Michael is behind you? It is important for the championship'. The intensity of my conversation with the team increased with every lap while there were just a few laps to go and then I was told that they would take a closer look at my contract if I wouldn't move over.

"For me it was pretty clear. Take my foot off the pedal or get fired. When I asked Michael (Schumacher) if he knew what was going on he said he had nothing to do with it. But I have documents at home to prove that he was very well aware of everything that took place."

Well I'd never have guessed...

Source
 
It's a bit of a grey area, to be honest. Team orders this year meant that the title was decided by just a single point. However, the team order at Austria from Ferrari was just the Ferrari team jerking off to Schumacher. How do you police something that's arguably subjective like that?
 
Now everyone, try and look really surprised as you read this...



Well I'd never have guessed...

Source



OHMYGOD YOU'RE JOKING! :lol:




The Dacia Sandero is going to be the new safety car!:D


LOL it'll cause the mother of all accidents if it goes out on track!
 
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72252

Red Bull buys back Toro Rosso stake

By Pablo Elizalde Tuesday, November 25th 2008, 17:46 GMT

Dietrich Mateschitz and Gerhard BergerEnergy drinks giant Red Bull has bought back the 50 per cent stake in the Toro Rosso Formula One team owned by Gerhard Berger.

Berger had purchased the stake from Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz back in 2006, after the Austrian billionaire had bought the Minardi team and renamed it.

On Tuesday, Mateschitz announced he had bought Berger's shares back, taking complete control of Toro Rosso.

"I am very grateful to Gerhard for his huge input," said Mateschitz. "Together we turned Toro Rosso into a team that qualified on a regular basis in the top 10 and collected world championship points."

Toro Rosso were the best of the Red Bull-owned squads this year, taking their maiden victory at the Italian Grand Prix and finishing ahead of Red Bull Racing.

The team's future had been in some doubt for some time after Mateschitz announced his intention to sell his stake earlier this year.


553px-Lol_que.jpg
 
That's one way to control your sister team...buy it...
 
Bit late in the thread i know.. But a few things (obvious ones that i'm sure have already been stated).

1. Why all these crappy and pointless rule changes when the last two seasons of F1 have been fantastic??

2. KERS... Awful, awful idea.. Lets face it, the best kind of racing is where two closely matched cars dogfight for position, each driver trying to dupe the other into running wide or off-line. Having a simple button that gives one driver a massive power boost takes away the thrill of a genuinely excellent overtaking move. Or you know, the fact that you can fight a push to pass by pushing your own.. push to pass. Does anyone know of any petition anywhere?? Please god?? Can we get rid of this god awful idea???

am i missing something here? KERS... Kinetic Energy Recovery System.... from the sounds of that...thats not a push to pass system, unless of course all the energy recouped is stored and used as an overtaking aid?

im not entirely sure how that would work or how they even intend to recover energy from an F1 car!!! they could do it with thermo-electrics on the exhaust, BMW have the tech, they could recover heat that way... perhaps they have a dyno or something that engages on the engine when you use engine braking.

EDIT: seems that is what they are doing..... storing energy for later to use as an overtaking aid. sounds interesting to me, will it ruin the racing? im not sure i mean its only 60kW max which isnt alot (80hp ish, so about 10% of the engine power and for a short period of time too) and with or without it overtaking should be pretty fraught anyway as the driver infronts gonna fight it. i think ill hold off on that judgement till i see it in action.... ive got a feeling it'll either work great and spice things up, turn the whole thing into a overtaking farce or be of such little consequnce that they might as well of not bothered with KERS at all.

...lol super-caps to store energy, if you get a shock from one of those you WILL know about it and you WILL definately be travelling somewhere pretty fast.
the only other thing ive seen super capacitors used for is a rail gun ... and thats serious shit!
 
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Couple that small bump in power to the ability to flatten the wing to reduce aerodynamics and you pretty much do have a "push to overtake" button, which i think is a shame.

Engines being equalized, medals, ugly cars, no silverstone... :cry: I cant imagine it possibly getting worse.
 
GREAT NEWS!!!!

http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/72244




Good to see Martin officially confirmed... and Ted Kravitz is also moving over! Fantastic... The best two guys in the ITV team get the move that they deserved. And two outspoken characters in the studio in the form of DC and EJ...



Now the only thing left to make it absolutely perfect is to BRING BACK "THE CHAIN".
To James Allen: Time to go, time to go, time to go time to go time to go, time to goooo, time to goooooo, time to gooooo, FUCK OFF!

If only F1 wasn't going to be destroyed within the next two years I'd be extactic!
 
am i missing something here?

Yes. The power recovered is only released when the driver presses a button, and not otherwise. So, yeah, that's a push to overtake button...
 
Couple that small bump in power to the ability to flatten the wing to reduce aerodynamics and you pretty much do have a "push to overtake" button, which i think is a shame.

However, the other driver has a "push to stay in front button", so it isn't as simple as people make out. Cars are not going to just drive around the car in front like some people seem to think. I imagine the amount of extra overtaking will be minimal.
 
Santander to switch from McLaren to Ferrari26 November 2008


Spanish bank Santander will become sponsor of the Scuderia Ferrari as of 2010 according to the bank's president. Emilio Botin, the bank's president, confirmed at a football meeting in Paraguay his bank will move from McLaren to Ferrari.

Santander joined the McLaren team as a major sponsor in 2007 when Fernando Alonso joined the Woking base team. Fernando Alonso and McLaren ended their partnership at the end of their first season though and it was impossible for the bank to end its contract early. The team signed a contract for three season that will come to an end at the end of the 2009 Formula 1 season.

"Santandar will become Ferrari's sponsor as of 2010, this is one thing that is certain," said Botin. According to Spanish media Santandar's sponsorship is another sign the Italian's are extremely interested to sign double world champion Fernando Alonso. Botin would love to see the Spaniard at Ferrari but remains realistic: "Alonso is the best driver in the world and we would love to work with him again. Unfortunately this is not our call though."

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2008/11/26/santander-to-switch-from-mclaren-to-ferrari/


Suckers...:p
 
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72254

Ecclestone: Medal system next year

By Charles Bradley Wednesday, November 26th 2008, 10:35 GMT

Bernie EcclestoneBernie Ecclestone has declared that his controversial medal system to decide the Formula One world drivers' champion will be introduced next year.

Speaking at the announcement of a technology partnership between F1 and Korean electronics giant LG in London today, Ecclestone said he expects his plan to be ratified at the next FIA World Motorsport Council meeting.

"It's going to happen," said Ecclestone. "All the teams are happy. The whole reason for this was that I was fed up with people talking about no overtaking. The reason there's no overtaking is nothing to do with the circuit or the people involved, it's to do with the drivers not needing to overtake.

"If you are in the lead and I'm second, I'm not going to take a chance and risk falling off the road or doing something silly to get two more points. If I need to do it to win a gold medal, because the most medals win the world championship, I'm going to do that. I will overtake you."

Ecclestone added that his system would promote a more exciting world championship fight.

"This year, we saw on a number of occasions Lewis not overtaking Massa for that reason," said Ecclestone. "If he'd driven for me, tried it and made a mistake, I would have complained. It's just not on that someone can win the world championship without winning a race."

When asked of the timescale for implementing his plan, Ecclestone replied: "Next year. I'm hoping it will be approved at the next FIA meeting."

When then asked if it was fair that someone who wins six races but doesn't finish any others, beats someone who had finished every race in second place, Ecclestone replied: "He'll have to try harder next year."

Under the proposed medal scheme, Felipe Massa rather than Lewis Hamilton would have won this year's world championship with six race victories to Hamilton's five.


Bernie needs to DIE NOW!
 
Memo to Bernie: Fuck off.


Having said that, this is all just his bullshit - it'll never happen and he knows it.
 
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