Buying a seat is nothing new. Almost every other series is filled with mid to back markers that have the cash to "rent a ride".
When did they start showing race reruns on Speed during the F1 off-season? They're showing the Spanish GP right now.
I understand your feelings towards a lying cheater, but if I was in a position today to hire a team principal for team f1 farkus, Flavio would be the man! :cornut: Something that hasn't risen to the surface yet for the coming season is the boring collection of characters that now make up the F1 paddock. Briatore could add the color that will be lacking and I personally would welcome him back...but time will tell. opcorn:
:lol: Color works for me, pompous jerk doesn't. I couldn't stand the guy long before the "crash-gate" biz came to light. Plus I've read (even from folks other than Piquet) that the guy didn't understand the racing and didn't care about it. As far as I could tell he was in it for the sake of promotion, specifically to boost his income, and loved the attention he got, and that he put up with the annoyance of the "silly" racing because that was where he could get those things. I understand the concept of taking the bad with the good and if the guy can deliver the good then he might be worth a look, but to me his focus is on self-aggrandizing exploitation.....sort of like Bernie.....and I'd rather avoid getting any of that stink on my own hands. I don't think I'd even be willing to shake hands with either of them. On the other hand, I'm not in the biz and have nothing riding on the sort of success his brand of "management" might produce. It's easy for me to be judgmental. Plus all I know is from hearsay...could all be lies...though I doubt it...
Well, now that MBZ has completely divested itself of it's McLaren ties, does this open the way for them to throw all their weight behind their own (Brawn) team? If it came down to it, would they give their own team's engines a slight edge in HP, the way Ferrari supposedly did with their customer engines? With (as a friend of mine calls him) "Chop Schuey" now their #1 driver and Nico already whining about him getting preferential treatment on the track in days past and being a bad influence, will they pull out all the stops to get their man to the front and keep him there? I think this season will come down to who can lap the back markers the best, as I think there willl be a large difference in lap times between the established teams and the newbies. The Hamster's always been good at overtaking, if they give him the chassis and HP this year to do it, Vettel is also strong at carving thru the slowpokes - he should have a great year too. Who else will shine? Will Campos and USF1 even make the grid?
Can Schumacher be F1's savior? Can Schumacher be F1's savior? By Peter M. De Lorenzo (Posted 1/3, 3:30pm) Detroit. The return of Michael Schumacher to Formula 1 could be just what the disintegrating fortunes of the sport has needed. Racked by years of abject stupidity, rampant greed and unbridled hubris, F1 has become a motorsport circus that revolves around a singular raison d'etre - thanks to Bernard Ecclestone and his minions - of extracting as much money as possible from whichever city, state, national government or individual track promoter dumb enough to hand the cash over - no questions asked - for the privilege of having the F1 space ship land on their race tracks for a few days, with the meter running, of course. Any semblance of pure, "for love of the game" motorsport fell by the wayside long ago as Bernie and the like-minded team owners conveniently forgot about the integrity of the sport and trampled everything and everyone in their path, especially the enthusiast fans who once actually gave a damn. Sure there have been great stories of late (Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton) and great individual races over the years, but it's clear that F1's greed circus has outlived its usefulness among rational entities, which is why Ecclestone has basically abandoned maintaining and courting traditional countries and venues in favor of "new" markets where money is no object and glittering speed palaces - each grander than the previous one - are constructed for the edification of the government egos at work, even if only but a handful of that country's citizens can afford to make their way to the gate, let alone pay their way in. And into this fine mess comes 40-year-old Michael Schumacher - he will turn 41 in January - fresh from a three-year layoff, ready to be reunited again with his old mate Ross Brawn in the newly-renamed Mercedes Grand Prix team. The marquee driver of the last decade and arguably the greatest F1 driver of all time - although btw he's not my greatest of all time - is coming out of retirement to prove that he still has it, and in the process of doing so the powers that be in F1 are hoping he can grab the sport by the scruff of the neck and shake some life back into it. A tall order indeed. There's no question that Michael's return will elevate the interest level in the sport, at least initially. There's something undeniably appealing about the prospect of a champion who left the sport at the absolute top of his game coming back to see just where his talent rates with the current crop of young stars. Not that Schumacher completely left the game, of course. Every once in a while we'd hear of Schumacher showing up at a karting event featuring today's stars and not only being right on pace but more often than not beating the field soundly. Or running in the Race of Champions, or doing production vehicle development for Ferrari, and even riding racing motorcycles. So people in the know expect Schumacher will no doubt be right on pace right from the first day of pre-season testing. But I wonder if along with the return of the "great" Schumacher we'll get a dose of the "petulant" Schumacher too? The guy who would do everything in his power to win championships, even if it meant crashing into other drivers in order to take them out of contention. Or the "robot" Schumacher, the guy with the superior car and the superior team who made it look too easy and sucked the very life right out of the sport? I think the 2010 Schumacher will be different. Out of the sport for just long enough to miss it terribly, Schumacher will be reinvigorated, reenergized, and hungry to prove to the doubters and the haters that he's not only back in the sport, but he's back in the sport to win. And he's more than capable of doing so, too, so I will not be surprised at all if he succeeds. But in the midst of this comeback I believe we'll see a different, more interesting Schumacher as well. Instead of the cold corporate robot, we'll see a man who has gained a deeper appreciation for the sport since he's been out of it, and dare I say we'll see a man who is back in it because he flat loves it, which will be refreshing to see. At this point it doesn't really matter which Schumacher shows up, because the sport of F1 is in such desperate need for any positive spin that involves the actual racing that Michael's return will no doubt be portrayed as the Second Coming. And that will be just fine by me.
Skip the first sentence and those first two paragraphs are flat out absolutely spot on!!! IMHO. As to what Schumacher will bring, dunno. I think this guy is probably right about his coming back with a new appreciation, etc, but I figure he'll be frustrated at one point or another and that's when we'll see what he's currently made of. I think the cheerleaders need to stop saying it's about Schumacher coming back to see how good the new guys are and put them in their places. It implies we're going to see him at the top of his game racing Hamilton, Alonso, etc, at their peak, but Schumacher's peak probably came and went a few years ago so we'll not get to see that happen unless Merc invented a time machine we don't know about yet. Still, should be entertaining anyway...or at least interesting.
Yeah talk, talk, talk, talk, talk...64 more days of it. :crazy: IMO the most exciting part of MSchumacher's return is that it merely adds another layer to the cake...I don't think we'll see the total domination that he bored us with in the past and THAT is just fine by me.
@Nathan: That was a wordy, but insightful post! I too hope to see a passionate, sporting, Schumacher, but I really hope he has to struggle to keep pace with the leaders. After all, my boy 'Nando beat him before. My expectations (hopes, really) for this coming season are for all of the drivers and teams to be challenged by the new rules (no refueling, new points distribution, etc.) and by the new combinations of players, and to see some real competition coming down to driver skill / talent / brass ones, vehicle performance based on construction quality and design innovation, and strategy in the new rules framework. I'm disappointed by the addition of new tracks in strangely similar venues with cookie-cutter dynamics, and the glaring lack of a US weekend, but eager to see competition continue at tracks like Spa, Monaco, and Interlagos. The "uh-oh's" were pretty tough for F1 fans; here's hoping the "teens" bring some real excitement back to the series! _Dave_
The sounds of F1 cars will be back back in the USA! Well one or two of them will be anyway... ...and Bernie wants a SAAB. Genii team up with Bernie Ecclestone to bid for Saab Automobile - Saabs United
Having announced a radical overhaul to the Formula 1 points system just last month, the 2010 season could yet be run under a different points table, according to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport. The mooted revision comes amid criticism that the new points system, awarding 25 points instead of 10 to first place and extending the scoring from the top eight through 10th place, did not address the principle complaint about the old system – namely, that race winners should gain a more significant points advantage. Instead, the revised table would expand the difference between first and second from five to seven points, according to the following system: 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 (the announced distribution is 25-20-15-10-8-6-5-3-2-1). Of course, this would not address the other criticism of the new points system – that such a major change would render points comparisons to prior seasons meaningless.
I surprised there isn't more moaning about this points redo biz given the impact it could have.....esp. if they get it wrong. They're trying to address two issues at once, and despite the language used I think the primary driver is extending the points paying positions to motivate the larger field of back-markers. On that count, I think they could go even further but that would further complicate the effort to make a system that's acceptable to all at the podium end of the scale while still awarding a greater points advantage to the winner. I'm trying to understand that last part though. Why a greater points advantage for race winners? The only thing that I can think of that would matter to me is trying to keep people from playing the strategic numbers game for the sake of the championship instead of racing for wins at every track. I'm all for it if that's the motivation. Is that the point or am I missing something?
If it's about money and competition and all the other stuff, why not adopt a system similar to NASCAR? Laps lead, etc. Being that it is F1 they could add points for best looking girlfriend/wife, most stylish eye wear, best post race interview, etc.
:lol: Domenicali (Ferrari) said there's a proposal to add points for pole position and the fastest lap of the race. I'd rather swap those for fastest lap in quali and most laps led. Fastest lap in quali may or may not win pole. Fastest lap in the race could still be run by a guy playing the points game and driving conservatively while most laps led means someone trying to actually "race" rather than just counting points or trying to win on fuel and/or tire strategy. And I'd rather see them add a few of these competition based point rewards instead of increasing the points difference between first and second position.....make 'em work for the extra points.