Formula 1 fans

[thatguy1807]

Hey everybody, as we near the start of the F1 season on March 27 a thought came to me, I wonder if my fellow wetshavers watch Formula 1. What were your thoughts about the dramatic final race for the 08 season, did your driver win the championship or did he lose it when somehamiltonone passed someglockone to ruin somemassaone's race? I'm going for Kimi and Ferrari if your wondering. What do you think about the new regs (I hate the new front wing). Share your thoughts about the pinnacle of motorsport.

[GoldenMonkey]

No, last season sucked, since BMW didn't win the constructors, Kubica didn't win the championship, McLaren bored us to death, Kimi was a letdown, Alonso was still feeling the effects of Lewisgate, we had WAY too much coverage of Hamilton's dad, and that insufferable...oh, forget it. The best thing about the year though was watching Massa choke (love Ferrari, hate him) and watching the emergence of Sebastian Vettel. Here's to '09!

Rules changes? Love the slicks, hate the KERS, hate the small rear wing, hate the huge front wing, etc. I think we'll see more front ends torn off, more rear ends snapping loose, diceier more desparate racing, a lot more parity across the field, and teams scrapping KERS altogether by the end of the season. C'mon Bob, show the lads how to RACE!

[GreatDane]

As much as it pains me to admit it sometimes, I'm a hardcore McLaren fan, and I miss Coulthard.

How's that for ya?

[GoldenMonkey]

As much as it pains me to admit it sometimes, I'm a hardcore McLaren fan, and I miss Coulthard.

How's that for ya?

DC was a real kick in the pants, that's for sure. Never one to shy away from telling us what he REALLY thinks, lol. I thought he was going to KILL Massa this year, when he put him off...

[pablo_h]

Hey everybody, as we near the start of the F1 season on March 27 a thought came to me, I wonder if my fellow wetshavers watch Formula 1. What were your thoughts about the dramatic final race for the 08 season, did your driver win the championship or did he lose it when somehamiltonone passed someglockone to ruin somemassaone's race? I'm going for Kimi and Ferrari if your wondering. What do you think about the new regs (I hate the new front wing). Share your thoughts about the pinnacle of motorsport.
Australian F1 on this weekend :w00t:
Thanks for reminding me.
Yeah I follow F1, normally streaming it live in any way I can. I'm not involved in the ferrari/mcLaren camps, but love seeing up and coming drivers and teams, like vettel.

[bluepunk18]

Eagerly awaiting the start of a new season. I was sad to see Massa lose at the last possible moment last year. I can't stand Hamilton and his smuggy-full-of-himself attitude. He is no Michael Schumacher, and he never will be. He needs to stop acting like he is. :mad: Thats better! I hate to admit it, but I kinda miss Takuma Sato and Honda this year. Although I'm looking at team Ross Braun to see what they bring to the table.

As for new regs, yeah, the cars look weirder than ever. I for one am curious about the KERS system and wondering how many more people will get shocked/electrocuted as the season goes on. Hopefully they worked out all the bugs. Also, I wish we got BBC coverage in Canada, as I believe Mr. Coulthard is supposed to be annoucing F1, am I correct?

[Aevum]

hamilton is a 1 off champion,
and the change of regulations and mechanics this year makes it too early to see whos favorite,

BrawnGP are said to be leading the pack, the McLaren engine but without the chasis problems they are expiriancing, also keep an eye out for BMW, theres been reports of early trouble at McLaren and as for renault, Alonso dosnt seem too happy with the car,

we shall see how the grid stands saturaday morning,

[TetchyPete]

I'll probably watch the first couple of races to see if the new regs make any difference, but if it turns out to be the 'won and lost in the pits' procession that it has been in recent years I won't bother with the rest of the season.
Moto GP is way more exciting :w00t:

[Magicpixie]

[QUOTE=Aevum;1084629]hamilton is a 1 off champion,
[QUOTE]

You say that like it's a bad thing...:rolleyes:

Let's bear in mind he's the youngest ever world champion - a distinction he took from Alonso if I'm not mistaken - and he hasn't had many seasons to BE world champion; two, isn't it? :smile:

[philamac]

I am a long time Grand Prix fan.

Coulthard may have a drive this week-end!

This is the season where Lewis Hamilton really shows us what he can do, and will be a tough learning process for him. My opinion is that he is overly pampered, and that scrapping it out in the midfield with more experienced drivers will cause him to throw his toys out of the pram pretty soon.

I am hoping that Jenson Button gets a chance to prove that he has what it takes to challenge for the World Championship. I think he would be a worthy champion, certainly a more likeable champion than the current incumbent.

The cars look a bit odd, but then they always do, until the next season.

[homebrewer]

I'm looking forward to this season, but not the new regulations at all.... especially KERS. This is the highest echelon of racing, not a place to develop hybrid technology!

I've said it since the early 90's, and I still say it today.... Bring back the turbochargers!

[Giant]

I love F1, although I have to admit that I haven't watched as much as I used to since Jacques Villeneuve lost his ride. Admittedly, he deserved to lose his spot anyways. Nothing like a cokcy driver who doesn't produce, and blames his team. Still, I love thinking about the good old days when Williams-Renault and Ferari had some epic battles. By the way, Villeneuve also won the championship in his second season. In his first season, he came in second to teammate Damon Hill.

These days, I generally find myself cheering for Williams, or BMW. I have always despised Ferari, who generally do well because they have the largest budget.

I have mixed feelings about the rule changes. On one hand, I like the fact that they are trying to level the playing field, but on the other hand, I think that some of the changes go a little too far.

But all in all, I am definitely excited for the season. I have watched the early morning races (that's when they tend to air here because of the time difference) with my father for years. It's sort of a tradition for us.

[GoldenMonkey]

Yeah, Villneueve and Hill at Williams was a heyday for me too...I loved those guys!

[philamac]

I have always despised Ferari, who generally do well because they have the largest budget.



I thought that when Alonso and Schumacher were slugging it out Renault had a budget twice that of Ferrari, and a couple of seasons ago Toyota had the largest budget?

[pablo_h]

These days, I generally find myself cheering for Williams, or BMW. I have always despised Ferari, who generally do well because they have the largest budget.

I was a williams fan for a long time, and I like to see BMW do well and beat mclaren and ferrari these days. But since williams went crap and then turned into williams/toyota after BMW left, I've pretty much forgotten about williams and support the newer teams which where doing better than williams, like RBR.
I really want to see if Red Bull have a decent package and if vettel can deliver this season.

edit; Qual 1 is on live right now, team brawn topping the charts, button #1, bar #2, webber in the red bull #3

qual 2 is bar #1, button #2 and vettel #3 :lol:
Toyota look very strong too
The maclarens are out at 14 and 15, hamilton had mechanical problems and might have to get a 5 pos penatly and start from the last position too.

[Aevum]

there was a prerace issue with the back air diffusers which control how the airflow from under the car is released,
now, the ones used by williams, toyota and brawnGP were over sized according to original FIA parameters, this gave them an advantage as for controlling grip and traction,

the other teams were awaiting a ruling as to if they were legal before fitting them, and the FIA finaly declared them legal yesteday, giving no time to make any chasis modifications, meaning that the teams who took the risk on it got the payoff, except toyota, which got disqualified due to illegal modifications to the back spoiler,

[pablo_h]

That was a crazy race!
Vettel and Kubica :a13:
How lucky was rubens? :sorcerer:
Button lead from start to finish, rubens drove like it was a demolition derby and got lucky with #2 for a brawn 1-2, Trulli got into the podium in #3, but was later on disqualified. That lucky SOB Hamilton got gifted position #3 as trulli was penalised

[MouldyCrow360]

I'll be watching the re-run of the race this afternoon. To watch it live would have meant staying up until about 5am. I'm pulling for Toyota and Timo by the way.

[Dalejr]

I watch F1 as well as Nascar, IRL, etc. I almost stopped watching F1 when Micheal retired but started rooting for Kimi, I can't stand Massa, I don't know if it's his attitude or what but I don't like him. Very surprised at how Brawn formerly Honda could go from backmarkers all last year to the best team out there, just like that' but oh well. Bernie needs to retire before he ruins the sport altogether!!! Hope this season provides some good racing, based on this first race its headed in the right direction, sad that both Ferrari's DNF.

[ouch]

Anyone remember the Brabham "fan car" from 1978? Best fudging of the rules ever.

[Chacki]

I do indeed , i also remember the 6 wheeled Tyrrell P34...

F1 eh , crazy bunch of nut jobs.

Got to hand it to Brawn tho.. You could see the Grin on his face from the other side of the track.


Edit - might find some of these interesting - http://users.telenet.be/aerogi/Racing/Weird/Weird.htm

[Aevum]

they made a wager, that the FIA would declare the diffusers legal, and the bet paid off, lets see what happens when renault, ferrari and mclaren fit them, i suspect that in 2-3 races, the brawnGP cakewalk will end,

[MouldyCrow360]

Anybody hear this bit of news? Jarno Regains Third (http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/4/9113.html) Too bad about Hamilton being disqualified, but that sure helps Toyota.

[philamac]

Anybody hear this bit of news? Jarno Regains Third (http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/4/9113.html) Too bad about Hamilton being disqualified, but that sure helps Toyota.

Hamilton does look to be throwing a few hissy fits, he drove OK yesterday though. But I do find myself checking the BBC regularly this morning to see if anybody has been disqualified:lol:

I loved Raikkonen, everyone sitting in cars waiting for a re-start that will never come, and Kimi in his shorts and flip flops raiding the freezer for ice-cream. Seems to be a straight talking sort of chap. Lewis on the other hand irritates me as he talks like a Labour spin doctor (plenty of words, no content). I hope he keeps his head down and learns something from his current experience.

[bluepunk18]

...I loved Raikkonen, everyone sitting in cars waiting for a re-start that will never come, and Kimi in his shorts and flip flops raiding the freezer for ice-cream. Seems to be a straight talking sort of chap. Lewis on the other hand irritates me as he talks like a Labour spin doctor (plenty of words, no content). I hope he keeps his head down and learns something from his current experience.

+1 :lol: I'm glad that Brawn GP made something good out of the old Honda team, even if they had to use Mercedes engines to do it. Good for them! Sucks to see a race rained out, though. I for one am glad to finally see Button and Barrichello winning races again. Gotta feel bad for Ruebens, he's always played the number 2 driver. I'd like to see him win a few. Everyone ready for the next race?

[thatguy1807]

Wow, I thought this thread got lost. So far the 09' season is going not good but not bad for me. I'm happy for Jenson and Rubens, I'm happy that Hamilton is doing so poorly, I can't stand him. I'm also mad how poorly Kimi and Ferrari are doing, I would also like to see Heikki atleast finish one race this season. The FIA needs to sort the whole rear diffusior thing out so the field will hopefully be a little more evenly matched.

[bluepunk18]

I agree with what you're saying, Thatguy. My friend pointed out that perhaps Ferrari isn't doing so well this year because of all the time, energy and development money they spent last year trying to better Mercedes. They used it up and didn't really reserve anything for this new season. I also can't stand Hamilton.

[philamac]

Brawn's diffuser is within the rules, so now everybody can concentrate on qualifying and racing.

First practice in Shanghai sees Hamilton back at the top of the timings, followed by Button. A McLaren resurgence will be interesting since Ron Dennis has just left the team completely. The return to Europe should also settle things back down .

Either way it looks to be that there will be two British drivers slugging it out for the world championship. I can't think when that last happened.

[strat1117]

The new cars look too much like Indy cars to me. I want the old rules back (say 2002-2003), with Michelin and Bridgestone battling it out every week and Michael driving for Ferrari.

[bluepunk18]

... Ferari, who generally do well because they have the largest budget.

Sorry to nitpick here, but recently Toyota, believe it or not, spent more money than Ferrari on F1. Having sold so many Prius' has given them loads of money to throw at their team in the hope of winning a few races.

Looking forward to Malaysia. Too bad its so stinkin' early in the morning for us here in North America...:mad:

[pablo_h]

Sorry, F1 is for the people that realise the you don't need 6L engines to get performance. Why try to keep the US audience happy when nearly all of them don't get it. Yes you need to turn left and right, around a 'circuit', not an oval. Yes, you don't need a 5L+ V8 to get 200hp, smaller engines can get that power and way more too.

Just joking, the worst race for me was the south american one at the end of the season, such a crappy time, like 4am. That was torture for me when the championship was still up in the air, aways being the last race on the calendar.
edit: BTW apologies, I didn't notice you were in canada

[bluepunk18]

Note to F1 and Bernie Eccelstone, Please bring back the V10s :biggrin:

[pablo_h]

wooh, great race in germany.
Mark webber got pole and the dominance of brawn looks to be ending. Great improvements from McClaren and ferrari too.
Sutil from team india gets a great qual result as well. The brawns do not like the cool weather
Mark Webber gets pole! Go Aussie!

The race just finished, but I'll justsay that barrichello gets to the lead from the start over mark webber.
Now spoilers for people planning to watch the race later. DO NOT CLICK ON SPOILER IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE RACE LATER, I TELL THE RESULTS IN THE SPOILER.
Mark webber is very aggressive and doesn't like barrachello beating him off the line. He swerves to cut rubens off, resulting in contact. Hamiltion takes off like a bat out of hell and gets contact with webber as well. Result, webber gets a drive through penalty for the contact with rubens, hamilton gets a puncture and his race is over.
Brawns don't work to well at all and get 4th and 5th.
Even though webber gets a drive through penalty, he drives faster than every one else and still wins the race. The red bull is an awesone car and mark is a brilliant driver. Vettel gots stuck in traffic but still ends up 2nd.
Massa gets lucky enough to come in third.
Neither of the brawn drivers are happy, rubens is really upset with the team. He was first during the first few laps, but poor strategy and maybe deliberate planning means he ended up 5th. They stuffed up to put him in 4th, and deliberately domted him to 5th by letting his team mate JB past
Whether you are planning to watch later or not, I have to say it's a great race with heaps of drama. Worth watching if you are a fan but didn't intend too.
No telling who is going to win for over 50% of the race. Things go from bad to worse, then back to good again for some drivers, and good to bad to very bad for some others.

[Fnord5]

I enjoy road courses most.

I was in San Francisco at the Ferrari store, and they had an actual F1(maybe CART) I was floored by how tiny it was.

I asked my girlfriend if we could go halvsies on it. :lol:
She said sure and asked me how much, and just walked away when I gave her a ballpark figure.:tongue_sm

[Koss]

I enjoy road courses most.

I was in San Francisco at the Ferrari store, and they had an actual F1(maybe CART) I was floored by how tiny it was.

I asked my girlfriend if we could go halvsies on it. :lol:
She said sure and asked me how much, and just walked away when I gave her a ballpark figure.:tongue_sm

Hahaha! That is a pretty calm reaction I think actually...:lol:

[bluepunk18]

Good race this past weekend. I was sad to see Sutil end up finishing so poorly. I was really thinking there for a few minutes that Force India might score their first team point this race. Congrats to RedBullRacing and Mark Webber, the Thunder from Down Under! :lol:

[pablo_h]

Man was he excited to win that race. I mean he probably would have been excited anyway if everything just worked out nicely and he led from start to finish as the original plan must have been.
But I really think it meant much much more to win after getting a penalty as well, to paraphrase, he did it the hard way, it was an earned win not a gifted win.

edit:
First winner I've seen looking up at the flag during the anthem, and then later say 'this is great for australia too', and "for all you supporters, thankyou, for all you doubters, hello to you too"
:lol: