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2009 Formula One Thread

MOFS said:
:eek:

F1/ open wheel motorsport is dead.
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The more people try to regulate a sport the worse it becomes.

F1 should be about the fastest and greatest. The best drivers should be able to drive the fastest cars. It's a battle about technology and courage.
But with all the irritating exaggerated limitations, its kinda getting:
"Who can win the battle of the politics?"
"Who can bend the rules just enough without being fined?"
"Who can cover up how much money was spent the best?"

And when will the first completely Europe-free F1 season start..?
Why is Monaco so important? Because of the entourage, the history. Who gives a cr@p about a brand new circuit in Bahrain etc. One HUGE gravel pit, where a German has put some tarmac... and *boom* because such a country doesn't whine so much about sponsorship and "quiet weekends", they get the F1 races.
How can F1 be without Spa? Or Monaco? Hockenheim? Monza?

I really try to enjoy watching F1. But for some years now I mutter to myself: why do I bother watching this?

Oh, and the cars are SOOO UGGGLYY.
Nascars are cool. Indy's look really fast (and they are!), A1GP looks far better.... heck even the WTCC look better.

Would be something if football teams got a budget limit... :rolleyes:
 
i have looked around in a few automotiv blogs/site and the support for the new series is overwhelming. at this point i hope that the decision is taken and they just move forward, unless major changes within FIA occur (starting with mosley's resignation).
 
I'm on my iPhone so I can't really type as much as I'd like.

CWallace; how would removal of Super Licenses be a threat to drivers in a championship where that FIA has no say?

MacsRGreat; People like you need to understand that the heart of F1 IS the regulations. The whole point is to engineer as much as possible from restrictive rules. The constant changing is to stop gaping holes appearing as technology advances. Of course the rules used to be more basic - in the past science was more basic, you can't regulate something that hasn't been discovered yet.

FOTA would have no trouble sorting out a series, especially when one of their aims is to cut ticket costs, and therefore the cost to the tracks. They also open a lot of Class 2 tracks that aren't eligible for F1.

Could it also be possible for Bernie to jump ship? The FIA and FOM aren't one, and they have their own interests. If he did then FOTA get to keep the name and the FIA are left with nothing.

One thing I don't understand is how Max had given the teams a deadline to enter or face expulsion. Now the teams have decided not to he's suing them. There's no current Concorde agreement and the FIA have already proved that the contract between them and Ferrari is broken so I don't see how that will stand. Max is realising he's losing everything and he's getting scared.

With all that said, I still think the FOTA teams will end up in F1 under their own rules and with Max forced out.
 
SpookTheHamster said:
MacsRGreat; People like you need to understand that the heart of F1 IS the regulations. The whole point is to engineer as much as possible from restrictive rules. The constant changing is to stop gaping holes appearing as technology advances. Of course the rules used to be more basic - in the past science was more basic, you can't regulate something that hasn't been discovered yet.
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I know that, and all racing series have those challenges. :rolleyes:
But, F1 has stepped into the territory of exaggerating those limitations. That was what I am saying.
I don't know why they think that "making it cheaper" really gets more fun into the sport.
Sport doesn't work that way. The fans want to see improvement despite limitations, and applaud the effort to overcome them.

Look at football: The ultimate usage of the free economy surrounding the sport is the hardest challenge!
If every football team in Europe were capped to a budget of, say, € 50,000,000 per year it would doom the sport. The real challenge of the clubs then is to get "around it".... :rolleyes:
It should be a fine balance between cashflow, expectance, courage and the occasional enormous piece of luck.

It just seems that the politics surrounding F1 in Europe exceeds racing.
 
MacsRgr8 said:
The more people try to regulate a sport the worse it becomes.

F1 should be about the fastest and greatest. The best drivers should be able to drive the fastest cars. It's a battle about technology and courage.
But with all the irritating exaggerated limitations, its kinda getting:
"Who can win the battle of the politics?"
"Who can bend the rules just enough without being fined?"
"Who can cover up how much money was spent the best?"
Click to expand...

Oh dear. Imagine if we had turbos. Or six-wheelers. Or automatic transmission. Or complete skid control. Or unlimited regs. We'd just have cars in a procession 3 secs behind each other, with not a hope in hell of overtaking each other. With no relevance to modern car engineering, so once a team doesn't win, they just pull out, and all we're left with is Ferrari.


MacsRgr8 said:
And when will the first completely Europe-free F1 season start..?
Why is Monaco so important? Because of the entourage, the history. Who gives a cr@p about a brand new circuit in Bahrain etc. One HUGE gravel pit, where a German has put some tarmac... and *boom* because such a country doesn't whine so much about sponsorship and "quiet weekends", they get the F1 races.
How can F1 be without Spa? Or Monaco? Hockenheim? Monza?
Click to expand...
Monaco is so important because one mistake means you're out of the race. Remember such "great" GPs as Magny-Cours? Imola? A1? Total drearfests with boring tracks. Turkey is a stunning track, and at least we have some overtaking at Malaysia, China etc. And why is F1 so big? Because of non-european countries as well as Europe. I presume you don't mind Brazil? Japan? Great circuits, long history of producing drivers, cars. Motorsport is a business. Europe can only provide so much of it , and making this balance is what the FIA try an work.
 
Once more....

I understand and like limitations, as those are the challenges the engineers have to face!

But, I dislike the exaggerated limitations of F1 ATM.

Of course I like Brazil and Japan, and definitely the Brickyard. My point about the European tracks is that it's the politics that are dragging the races sway to the countries who don't give a cr@p about "political correctness", and they're absolutely right to do so.
But, I do dislike moving away from the heritage. F1 is an auto sport. Cars are being manufactured and raced by these manufactures. And these manufacturers like to race their cars against each other in their countries.
Taking them to places like the middle-east and far-east, is good, but not if that means leaving the origin. It should be to expand the sport, not run away.

Hope you understand me now.
 
SpookTheHamster said:
CWallace; how would removal of Super Licenses be a threat to drivers in a championship where that FIA has no say?
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It wouldn't bother them to compete in FIA Formula One, but could it stop them from competing in other FIA-sanctioned series?

Kimi, for example, has said he'd like to do rallying when he retires from F1. If WRC requires an FIA license (Super or otherwise) and the FIA won't give him one, then he's SOL isn't he?

Though I suppose they could always come over to NASCAR or IRL. :p
 
CWallace said:
It wouldn't bother them to compete in FIA Formula One, but could it stop them from competing in other FIA-sanctioned series?

Kimi, for example, has said he'd like to do rallying when he retires from F1. If WRC requires an FIA license (Super or otherwise) and the FIA won't give him one, then he's SOL isn't he?

Though I suppose they could always come over to NASCAR or IRL. :p
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those aren't fia sanctioned events?
 
MOFS said:
Oh dear. Imagine if we had turbos. Or six-wheelers. Or automatic transmission. Or complete skid control. Or unlimited regs. We'd just have cars in a procession 3 secs behind each other, with not a hope in hell of overtaking each other. With no relevance to modern car engineering, so once a team doesn't win, they just pull out, and all we're left with is Ferrari.
Click to expand...

Is that what happened when regs were looser?
I remember the turbo/rubber side skirts era being a lot more interesting than these last 10 years or so.
I'm sure the aeros of the previous few seasons were designed to stop following cars getting close.
 
scotthayes said:
I remember seeing it race and had one for my Scalextric set
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So did I, though it made no difference to the Scalextric car because the front wheels didn't do anything. :)

1309049_600.jpg


Jody Scheckter actually won a race in the six wheeler, but described it as "a piece of junk!" when he left Tyrrell.
 
OllyW said:
So did I, though it made no difference to the Scalextric car because the front wheels didn't do anything. :)


Jody Scheckter actually won a race in the six wheeler, but described it as "a piece of junk!" when he left Tyrrell.
Click to expand...

Don't forget this one:
sixwheelwilliams.jpg


A Williams. But I think 6 wheels were banned before it could race...
 
CWallace said:
It wouldn't bother them to compete in FIA Formula One, but could it stop them from competing in other FIA-sanctioned series?

Kimi, for example, has said he'd like to do rallying when he retires from F1. If WRC requires an FIA license (Super or otherwise) and the FIA won't give him one, then he's SOL isn't he?

Though I suppose they could always come over to NASCAR or IRL. :p
Click to expand...

The FIA could never take away a license from the driver's country (eg the MSA in the UK).

The FIA doesn't really cover many series, and there are alternatives to all of them.
 
In actual racing news: Nico topped the charts today in Saturday practice followed by his teammate Nakajima(sp?) and JARNO TRULLI all 3 Toymota powered cars.
 
bartelby said:
Don't forget this one:
sixwheelwilliams.jpg


A Williams. But I think 6 wheels were banned before it could race...
Click to expand...

It was. F1 magazine did a feature on "the fastest possible car", with a 6-wheeled (4 rear wheels), auto transmission, slicks.

Ted Kravitz has just said that Renault and Toyota refuse to join up to an F1 championship. This does not look good.:(

EDIT: And Max has just called Renault "loonies" [lunatics, if that's a peculiarly British slang].
 
bartelby said:
Is that the one that's on right now?


Where he calls FOTA "loonies"
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Interesting interview with Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill and Sterling Moss. No Jonny Herbert? Hope they don't get involved in a debate on Donnington – Damon and Jackie are members of the BRDC, probably Sterling too!:p

EDIT: Trust Eddie to spoil my party ...
 
xUKHCx said:
Yeah it was.

I was wondering if it was Jake's or Jenson's?
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I remember during the F1 Forum Jake using a Blackberry (it had a physical keyboard at least), so I guess it's Jenson's.

EDIT: This is looking like one of the most unpredictable qualifying sessions of the seasons. The Brawns appear to need a couple of laps to warm up, and the Toyotas are very rapid. Everyone is struggling for grip.
 
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