Official Discussion Thread of the 2009 Formula 1 Season

That's a very bad midget, very bad! I want as many races as possible in each year.
 
Less Spa in favour of more Hockenheim?

If we needed any further proof of his senility, that is it.
 
Though anly going to Spa every 2 years sounds horrible, it also has to be said that the Belgian government is somewhat... reluctant to pay up millions of Euro's every year to get F1 here without really getting anything in return. Each and every year it's the same discussion "should we, or shouldn't we", thus always creating the fear that F1 might leave Spa, because we don't want to pay up, and that it might never come back.
At least this way there would certainty of at least having a race at Spa every 2 years. Also, the Belgian government would (I suppose) be less reluctant to make the investment if they didn't have to do it every year.
Even though I agree it sucks, I also believe it might just be for the best in the long run.
 
This is very interesting:

Turning the McLaren MP4-24 Into A Winner
Part 1
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr0hH3Sg6Hw[/YOUTUBE]
Part 2
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pG5h8YTIJA[/YOUTUBE]
Part 3
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP3tCuR1YDM[/YOUTUBE]
Part 4
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWsiZsxkidk[/YOUTUBE]
 
Good to hear that Canada will be back on the calendar in 2010!
 
:lol: How awesome would a YouTube livery be!
 
And post USF1 videos on Youtube, only for them to be removed two days later with the message "This video is no longer available due to a copyright request by Formula One Management"... :lol::|
 
Montreal offers $75 million to get F1 race back

Following on from the comments from Bernie Ecclestone on Monday that the Canadian Grand Prix will be back on the calendar next year, something the F1 teams are urgently demanding, a story has appeared in the Canadian paper the Globe and Mail with details of the offer on the table.

According to the paper?s well informed F1 writer, Jeff Pappone, Ecclestone rowed back a little this week from his initial enthusiasm, saying ?We?re doing our best to make sure it happens.?

Pappone?s story says that Canadian GP officials met Ecclestone in London two weeks ago with a proposal. The deal on the table now is for less money than the one rejected by Ecclestone last time around, but this reflects the economic situation in North America.

?Apparently the proposal was about $75-million over five years,? says the story, ?Much less than the offer rejected by Ecclestone last November. It is also thought the deal included a promise to pay Ecclestone the money he was owed under the previous arrangement.

?Last November, the city offered Ecclestone a five-year package for $110-million in sanctioning fees as well as 75 per cent of the first $10-million in profit and 25 per cent of the rest. In addition, the estimated $20-million from the race?s advertising and luxury box revenue would have gone to Ecclestone. His counter offer of a guaranteed $175-million over five years to keep Montreal on the F1 calendar was too steep for the city and the race was pulled.?

I posted recently on CVC?s business plan for F1, which envisages the sanctioning fees for races rising by almost 10% year on year, from $374.9 million in 2009 to $445 million in 2012. Discounts are surely not part of that plan. But F1 cannot afford to be absent from North America and with a new Concorde Agreement now having been signed, teams appear to have more say over how things are run. They are calling for races in all the key markets, as their statement yesterday showed,

?FOTA?s attention will now turn to other issues we believe to be in the long-term interest of F1: racing at the best tracks, in front of the biggest audiences and expanding F1?s reach.?

With this kind of pressure coming from teams and no other suitable North American venue in the pipeline for 2010 maybe a deal will be done to take the sport back to one of its most popular venues.
Click to expand...
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/
 
Is that a big amount or tiny? I have no idea. How much does the asian countries or Abu Dhabi pay?
 
Schumacher gets ?12,000 crash helmet
If you ever ask the question, ?What should I pay for a crash helmet?? invariably you will get the answer, ?What?s your head worth??

Felipe Massa?s miracle escape from the incident at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he was hit on the head by a 500g metal spring at 150mph, is testimony to the strength of the modern F1 crash helmet and makes you realise how invaluable it is.

I?ve spoken to a few drivers lately who never really considered being hit on the head until the tragic incident of Henry Surtees and then a week another freak accident, for Massa. It?s woken them up to the risks, but in terms of designing into the cars ways of ensuring this can never happen, it?s a very difficult area in which to improve safety.

Massa?s helmet maker, Schuberth, has had a long relationship with Michael Schumacher and for his comeback at Valencia in 12 days time he will be sporting a new model costing ?12,000, according to German newspaper Bild, which always has the Schuey stories first.
Picture 9

This new helmet has seven stars on it, one for each of his world championships and has the names painted on it of his wife and children, who presumably will be viewing this comeback with mixed emotions, given the circumstances of the recent accidents. They may well have believed that Michael had put the dangers of F1 behind him.

The area around the visor, where Massa was hit by the spring, has been strengthened on Schumacher?s helmet with titanium. The message is, he?s leaving nothing to chance and this is classic Schumacher.

It is amazing, scanning the German and Italian media at the moment. It?s as if the clock was rolled back and it was 2000 all over again. Every move by Schumacher is reported and subjected to analysis and pictures. He celebrated his 14th wedding anniversary with his wife, went karting for four hours to work on his race fitness and took his top off for a while and there are articles about what great shape he is in. Apparently he is aiming to be back at his fighting weight of 69 kilos. Depending on who you believe, he had four or five kilos to lose to achieve that.

The FIA scales will not lie, so we will see whether he achieves his objective in the three week time frame.

He may have missed the thrill of the racing, these past two and a half years, but you can be darned sure he hasn?t missed the three ring media circus that accompanies the every move of a sporting superstar.
Click to expand...
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/
 
meh.. I don't think a 12000pound helmet can help against freak accidents as weird as that
 
Singapore's contract is 5 years.

Sadly, I think the general trend will be more tracks in Asia/developing cities.. *sigh*
 
What we've all been waiting for...

Ask the Expert - Ferrari?s Kimi Raikkonen
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari. Formula One World Championship, Rd 8, British Grand Prix, Qualifying Day, Silverstone, England, Saturday, 20 June 2009 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari F2009. Formula One World Championship, Rd 10, Hungarian Grand Prix, Race, Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, 26 July 2009 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) - 1st place British Formula Renault Championship, Croft, England. 25 June 2000. World ? Batchelor/Sutton Kimi Raikkonen (FIN), FIAT Punto Abarth, on stage 1. World Rally Championship, Rd9, Neste Oil Rally Finland, Jyvaskyla, Finland. Thursday 30 July 2009. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN), Ferrari. Wrooom F1 Press Ski Meeting 2009, Madonna di Campiglio, Trentino, Italy. 13-14 January 2009.

What record did Finnish ice hockey team the Espoo Blues set during the 2007/2008 season? How many Grands Prix did James Hunt win during his Formula One career? How many times has Kaj Lindstrom competed in Rally Finland? And when did snowboarding become an Olympic sport?

These are just some of the questions we thought Ferrari?s Kimi Raikkonen would take in his stride after he agreed to be the latest participant in our personal trivia test, ?Ask the Expert?...

Q: Just after you started in Formula One racing, which of your fellow drivers was quoted as saying ?I am not afraid of Kimi, but he is definitely one of the strongest rivals I have come up against??
Kimi Raikkonen: Michael.
Correct - it was indeed Raikkonen?s predecessor at Ferrari, Michael Schumacher.

Q: You were born in 1979. Which driver and which team took the F1 title that year?
KR: Hunt?
Incorrect - it was Jody Scheckter and Ferrari.

Q: How many races did Marcus Ericsson win for your Raikkonen Robertson Formula Three team this year?
KR: He clinched two wins.
Correct

Q: You won the Formula Renault series in 2000. Can you remember by how many points?
KR: 56.
Correct - Raikkonen scored 316 to Ryan Daziel?s 260.

Q: You?re a fan of Finnish ice hockey team, the Espoo Blues. During the 07/08 season they set a new team record. What was it?
KR: 12 wins in a row.
Correct

Q: On your Formula One debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix, you crossed the line seventh but were classified sixth. Why?
KR: Wasn?t it Panis who got a time penalty?
Correct - following the race, BAR?s Olivier Panis was handed a 25-second time penalty for a yellow flag infringement.

Q: Why was the 2003 European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring so special for you?
KR: My first pole position.
Correct

Q: How many world rally championship events has Marcus Gronholm won?
KR: 25?
Incorrect - it?s actually 30.

Q: If the newspapers are to be believed, who is the only other sportsman to top your earnings?
KR: Tiger Woods.
Correct

Q: You made your World Rally Championship debut recently at Rally Finland. Who won the rally last year?
KR: Loeb
Correct - it was Sebastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena.

Q: In 1998 another Raikkonen made headlines in Finland. What for?
KR: I think his first name was Ville. But no idea what he did.
Call us generous but we think that deserves half a point - Ville Raikkonen won a bronze medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics for the sprint event in the Biathlon.

Q: You drove Rally Finland alongside Tommi Makinen's former co-driver Kaj Lindstrom. How many times had Lindstrom previously competed in Rally Finland?
KR: Ten times?
Correct

Q: In 2008 Finland?s postal service celebrated your world championship by issuing a special sheet of stamps. They were released as part of a series to commemorate the postal service?s birthday, but which birthday?
KR: I don?t know.
Incorrect - it was the service?s 370th birthday.

Q: One of your favourite charities is SOS Children?s Village Finland. In which district did the charity set up its first village back in 1965?
KR: In Tapiola.
Correct

Q: You?re a firm fan of Walz Hardcore motorcycles. How long did it take to build your bespoke Iceman II bike?
KR: I think nobody has the right answer for that. I guess that normally it takes one year, but I got mine in 10 months.
Correct

Q: You have been known to use the pseudonym ?James Hunt? when entering non-F1 events. How many Grands Prix did Hunt win during his F1 career?
KR: Ten.
Correct

Q: You are one of eight Finns to have competed in Formula One racing. How many of the other seven can you name?
KR: Heikki, both Mikas, Keke, JJ, Kinnunen. One is missing, right. I have no idea who that was.
Correct on six counts - it was indeed Mika Hakkinen, Leo Kinnunen, Heikki Kovalainen, JJ Lehto, Keke Rosberg and Mika Salo. The driver Raikkonen couldn?t remember was Mikko Kozarowitzky.

Q: You are a keen snowboarder. When did snowboarding become an Olympic sport?
KR: 1998.
Correct

Q: Only one other Finn has raced for Ferrari - Mika Salo. What was his best result for the team?
KR: Second in Hockenheim in ?99.
Correct - at the German Grand Prix, deputising for Michael Schumacher.

Q: You have set the fastest race lap an amazing 35 times during your F1 career. Only two men have bettered that total. Can you name them?
KR: Michael and Prost.
Correct - Michael Schumacher (76) and Alain Prost (41).

Final score: 22.5 points from a possible 28
Ask the Expert rating: 80%

Current leader board:
1. Heikki Kovalainen - 86%
2. Mark Webber - 84%
3= Lewis Hamilton - 80%
3= Kimi Raikkonen - 80%
5. Kazuki Nakajima - 73%
6. Sebastien Buemi - 72%
7. Robert Kubica - 70%
8. Jenson Button - 69%
9. Giancarlo Fisichella - 68%
10. Nico Rosberg - 66%
11= Sebastian Vettel - 64%
11= Rubens Barrichello - 64%
13= Jarno Trulli - 58%
13= Timo Glock - 58%
15. Nick Heidfeld - 57%
16. Adrian Sutil - 54%
Click to expand...
 
Schumacher to test with 2007 car again

10/08/2009

Having been denied permission to test with the 2009 contender, Michael Schumacher will carry out two further days of running with Ferrari's 2007 car this week.

The German will be in action at Mugello on Tuesday and Wednesday wit the F2007, two weeks after he completed 67 laps in the same car at the same track.

In anticipation of his return to F1 racing later this month, Ferrari requested permission for the German to test its 2009 contender, however, Williams and the Red Bull teams vetoed the move, a decision which has since been approved by Max Mosley.

As part of his preparations for his Grand Prix return, Schumacher, who has admitted to feeling twinges in his neck muscles, has also been Kart testing in northern Italy.
Pitpass.com
Click to expand...

sniffpetrol said:
BREAKING NEWS: Michael Schumacher permitted to test using 'someone else's neck' until his is better.
Click to expand...
:lol:
 
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