Yeah but if RB manages to pass Button and win the championship.... I'm rooting for the "old" guy myself
In a small way, Brawn may be in the same kind of position of awkward wealth as Ferrari. If Merc buy into the team as many expect (75% the last I read) it's thought a Button-Rosberg partnership will be part of the deal; Brit-German team with British and German drivers. If that comes around, whither Rubens? His recent form may be making decisions (perhaps decisions already taken) difficult to justify. One of them claims one of their drivers will be American. I read Lotus claim they're going to run Malaysian drivers (and they're trying to pull Petronas as a sponsor away from whoever they're supporting this year). And Toyota are still wavering. They've also already said they aren't keeping Trulli on the payroll next year and told Glock to feel free to shop around for another seat.
Japan GP qualifying was crazy! I'm not sure how many accidents there were but I know there were three red flags. Strategies were greatly affected for some who ended up having trouble getting in hot laps at crucial times, and I think only eight cars who made it through Q2 were able to compete in Q3! One local yellow (for Buemi's second crash!) came just as a batch of drivers were on their final Q2 hot lap and four of them drove through the yellow (and Buemi's debris) without slowing. Quali continued though the Q2 results were already in dispute, so the rulings weren't meted out until hours later. Webber didn't run because his car was still being put back together after a big crash in morning practice (will start P20). Liuzzi had to have a gearbox change, though that was done before quali so his demotion was expected (-5 grid positions). Kovalainen damaged his gearbox when he crashed during quali (-5). Barrichello, Button, Alonso and Sutil were penalized for not slowing through Buemi's debris/local yellow (-5). Buemi was penalized for driving his heavily damaged car back to the pits (-5). Glock crashed heavily and was taken to the hospital to have a cut in his leg dealt with. They're not sure whether he'll start the race and since there are questions as to whether the reserve driver (Kobayashi) will be allowed to drive, Toyota may only run one car.....though that's Trulli and he qualified P2! For anyone tracking teams/drivers in contention for the championship, Vettel P1 and Webber P20, and after penalties Button P11 and Barrichello P9. Assuming there aren't any other surprises, here's the provisional grid and weights: 1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 658.5kg 2. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 655.5 3. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 656 4. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 660 5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 661 6. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 684.5 7. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 686 8. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 650 9. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 660.5 10. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 682.5 11. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 658.5 12. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 675 13. Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari, 661.5 14. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 665.4 15. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 695.7 16. Romain Grosjean, Renault, 691.8 17. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 689.5 18. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 682.5 19. Timo Glock, Toyota, n/a 20. Mark Webber, Red Bull, n/a
Ok, figure this one out. Alonso was eliminated from Q3 and apparently felt it was because he slowed on his fastest lap due of Buemi's local yellow while others raced straight through it and finished laps that lifted them into the top 10. He started stirring the pot about yellow flag violations as soon as he jumped out of his car, and was interviewed at the time speculating that he might end up a few places further up the grid after all the dust settled. Why stir the pot if he was one of the violators? I must have missed something.
I guess that provisional grid was adjusted incorrectly. The stewards have to go through the sequence of events and determine the order in which the offenses occurred, then they apply each penalty one at a time and adjust the order after each before moving on to the next. They're still not sure they're done, with the potential for further adjustments, including a review to determine when/whether Buemi impeded Kubica while driving back to the pits with a broken car. However, even if that doesn't change anything the order is already quite a bit different: 1 Vettel 2 Trulli 3 Hamilton 4 Heidfeld 5 Raikkonen 6 Barrichello 7 Sutil 8 Rosberg 9 Button 10 Kubica 11 Kovalainen 12 Buemi 13 Alguersuari 14 Fisichella 15 Nakajima 16 Alonso 17 Grosjean 18 Liuzzi Pit lane: Webber Glock can't start and the reserve driver isn't allowed to take his place at this point.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: No surprise, but the FIA updated the starting order! Sutil/Rosberg, Kubica/Button, and Buemi/Alguersuari all swapped places compared to the version I posted earlier, and according to Speed this is still ahead of the review of Buemi's alleged blocking of Kubica as he limped back to the pits..... 1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 658.5kg 2. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 655.5 3. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 656 4. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 660 5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 661 6. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 660.5 7. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 684.5 8. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 650 9. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 686 10. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 658.5 11. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 675 12. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 682.5 13. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 665.4 14. Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari, 661.5 15. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 695.7 16. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 689.5 17. Romain Grosjean, Renault, 691.8 18. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 682.5 19. Mark Webber, Red Bull, n/a
It ended up a fairly hum-drum race for many I suppose. One columnist (James Allen) wrote "This race was one for the connoisseurs really." I guess that makes me a connoisseur then since I enjoyed it. New speculation: McLaren may drop Merc and buy BMW's F1 engine division. Neither McLaren nor Merc are as happy with the McMerc partnership these days as in the past and, since the new Sauber team will run Ferrari engines next year (that is, assuming they make it onto the grid), the BMW engine group is a left-over anyway. Plus Merc are reportedly very interested in hooking up with Brawn (w/ Button and Rosberg) next year. Piquet Jr: Have you noticed how pretty much every F1 team type who's spoken about Piquet Jr has called him some version of "unemployable" in F1? Virgin have said they won't employ a cheater. So, guess where NPJ is having a seat fitting? That's right, it's for one of NASCRAP's "truck" teams. Makes sense to me. After all, where else are you going to find so many teams who are not only willing to hire but actively seeking drivers willing to endanger others on the track?
Ye, I caught the Nelsinho bit. The classic quip about it from Hobbs: "F1. The stepping stone series to NASCAR Trucks." :lol:
That's right! I forgot they mentioned it during the telecast when I read about it in a few places yesterday. On a different note, here's a quote from McMerc Principal Nigel Whitmarsh. Comes after he questioned the value of taking F1 to S. Korea. His use of the blasphemous 4-letter F-word -- free -- ought to have Bernie grinding his teeth down to nubs in anger: Of course Bernie only cares about a venue if the sponsors or the government are willing and able to pay the big fees for the privilege, and the S. Korean gov't already opened the cash drawer to fund an event in 2010.
A NA/US presence would be an ideal cause for FOTA to take on. More so even then any seemingly unfair regs FIA is thinking of. With good chunk of retail business for most of the teams coming from US, it should be a no brainer.
And so the musical seats starts in earnest. The Renault Formula One team confirmed on Wednesday that it has signed current BMW Sauber star Robert Kubica to drive next year, replacing two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who will move to Ferrari. AND..... Toyota Formula One driver Jarno Trulli is the latest open-wheel driver to set his sights on NASCAR--maybe. The 35-year-old Italian is slated to drive a Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota at Lakeland International Speedway next month, joining former F1 driver Mika Salo, who also will test for the team. However, Trulli said that his test is merely for fun. “NASCAR is one of the most significant motorsport series in the world, and I was very curious to see the racing firsthand,” he said. “I asked the Toyota guys in the U.S. if it would be possible to one day test a car just for fun and before the Belgian Grand Prix, they offered me the chance to do so later in the year. . . . [But] I want to stress that this is purely an opportunity to experience another category of motorsport for personal enjoyment,” said Trulli. “My commitment is 100 percent to Formula One.” In addition to Trulli and Salo, disgraced former Renault F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr. will test a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Toyota run by Red Horse Racing next week. However, Piquet also has downplayed his test, claiming he still wants to find an F1 drive and that he is merely interested in driving as many different types of cars as possible.
Ecclestone suggests Briatore could prove innocence Bernie Ecclestone has hinted that his friend and business partner Flavio Briatore has a chance of one day returning to the Formula One paddock. Briatore, 59, was banned for life by the FIA over the crash-gate scandal, but F1 chief executive Ecclestone said he thought the penalty is harsh and should be appealed. Ecclestone, who co-owns the London football club Queens Park Rangers with Italian Briatore, has now told his official website F1.com: "If Flavio has new evidence - and he said that he has - then he should come forward right away." Briatore recently raised the prospect of a lawsuit against the FIA's verdict, vowing that when he is victorious, he will invite all his supporters to a great party. Ecclestone said he heard about the Singapore race-fixing allegations from Nelson Piquet Snr in May, and immediately discussed it with his friend Briatore. "He denied it and said, 'That's absurd!' I believed him," he revealed. Asked whether he will ever see Briatore back in the paddock, 78-year-old Ecclestone answered: "Who knows?" And when asked what he would say if Briatore asked for a race pass, the F1 supremo added: "I would say no. Until he's proved that he is innocent."
I rarely pay any attention to anything about David Coulthard, but the excuse he gave in this one makes me smile. DC gets knuckles rapped over F1 display (uk.eurosport.yahoo.com)
You know he was sitting there at the end of that nice, long, straight bridge thinking something like "This is crap! These people aren't here to watch an F1 car putter along at 60mph! Screw the speed limit!"
Massa Back in the Saddle Injured Ferrari Formula One ace Felipe Massa finally got back in the cockpit on Monday, lapping the team's Fiorano track in a two-year-old race car. He reported that he felt fine as he prepares to return in 2010. “The moment I got into the car, it was exactly like before the accident, as if nothing had happened,” Massa said. “It was important to demonstrate to the people who work with me that nothing has changed, that I can be competitive and that I can contribute to what will be the new car and to next year's fight for the title.” Massa was injured in July during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. He suffered skull fractures after being hit in the helmet by a spring that flew off the Brawn GP car of Rubens Barrichello. Massa is aiming to be ready for the start of the 2010 season. He's spent the summer and fall recovering from the accident and has tested karts for three days. His session at the Fiorano circuit was interrupted by a thunderstorm, but he returned in the afternoon and logged about 100 kilometers, or 62.1 miles, in total. The 28-year-old drove a F2007 fitted with GP2 tires. It was borrowed from Ferrari's customer program, to avoid F1's ban on in-season testing. He said he plans to attend the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he's won twice and recorded three poles, but only as a supporter for the Scuderia. The team has ruled out a return for Massa this season. He also said the test session erased any doubts in is mind that he can stage a comeback. “I knew that everything was alright, 95 percent, but after today, I can even cancel the last five percent of doubt I still might have had,” he said. Next season, Massa will be paired with Fernando Alonso, who is moving to Ferrari from Renault.