F1 - 2009 season

[jarmo]

Driver with most race wins to become 2009 champion

Formula One racing?s governing body, the FIA, has approved a change to the points systems for this year?s drivers? championship, which will see the title awarded to the driver with the most race wins. The rest of the standings, from second to last place, will be decided by the current points system.

If two or more drivers finish the season with the same number of wins, the title will be awarded to the driver with the most points, the allocation of points being based on the existing 10, 8, 6 etc. structure. The constructors? championship is unaffected.



/jarmo

[*Timothy*]

I really like this change.


I do worry that it's going to make the drivers push a a little to much and we could see more accidents.

[jarmo]

Technically you could win a championship by winning just a few races early on in the season.

The championship could be decided in May. If one driver has won several races up until then and then the rest of the wins are divided between several drivers...

You could just finish four races all year and be the champion. If you win them.... So the reliability of the car isn't that important. Winning is.




I don't know why they rejected the idea to give a winner more points.



/jarmo

[*Timothy*]

I actually thought about that after my post.


the winner getting more points would have made more sense.

it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out and if they will keep it for the next season.

[Drew]

The cars look... Different.....

I don't like the rear wing/spoiler at all. I think it looks horrible.

Is this what you were talking about with the cars looking 'different' Jarmo?

[jarmo]

The cars look... Different.....

I don't like the rear wing/spoiler at all. I think it looks horrible.

Is this what you were talking about with the cars looking 'different' Jarmo?

Yeah.

Does anybody think overtaking will be easier?

KERS is supposed to help, but it can be used to keep a faster car behind you too....





The FIA is really trying hard to confuse everybody.

For this season we got all kinds of new rules and regulations.

That'll change in 2010....





/jarmo

[Drew]

Yeah.

Does anybody think overtaking will be easier?

KERS is supposed to help, but it can be used to keep a faster car behind you too....

I think there will be a lot of uproar from drivers, owners, and fans if it does turn out that the faster cars will be held up by slower cars simply becasue they are unable to pass.

The FIA is really trying hard to confuse everybody.

For this season we got all kinds of new rules and regulations.

That'll change in 2010....

Will there be even more changes in 2010? Are there talks of an entirely different format?

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

It's funny how much all the racing leagues have changed in this decade.

 

Makes me sick.

[jarmo]

Will there be even more changes in 2010? Are there talks of an entirely different format?

Today I read about a proposed budget cap....




/jarmo

[Grouse]

Looks like the proposed rule change will be delayed for a year.

FIA willing to postpone championship rule

The FIA has said that if the Formula 1 teams are not willing to accept the proposed rule where the driver who scored the most race wins in a season will become the F1 champion the FIA is willing to introduce this rule in 2010.

In a statement issued by the FIA the FIA said that "on 17 March, the FIA World Motor Sport Council unanimously rejected FOTA's proposed amendment to the points system for the Formula One Drivers' Championship. The 'winner takes all' proposal made by the commercial rights holder (who had been told that the teams were in favour) was then approved.

"If, for any reason, the Formula One teams do not now agree with the new system, its implementation will be deferred until 2010."

[jarmo]

Looks like the three teams with their own interpretation of the diffuser rule were fastest in today's practice sessions...

No wonder the rest are protesting.



/jarmo

[Ignatius]

3 of the top 5 favorites didnt even make it to Q3 and Massa finished 7th and kimi 9th! 

[leatherebel]

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/3/9070.html




Universal Music Group International and its JV company All The Worlds is pleased to announce the signing of an agreement with Formula One Administration Limited creating F1 ROCKS?, a pioneering and electrifying new global entertainment platform.

F1 ROCKS? fuses the world?s most popular annual sporting series with the most iconic music stars to create an unrivalled experience for F1? and music fans alike. At the core of F1 ROCKS? is a series of spectacular multi-artist live music events from glamorous Formula 1? race locations around the world. The combination of live performances from the world?s biggest acts together with stars from the world of movies, sport and fashion will create TV shows & Digital content that will be broadcast and streamed to a global audience.

?The partnership between the world's most thrilling sport and the world's biggest music company is one of the most exciting entertainment initiatives to be launched anywhere,? said Lucian Grainge, Chairman/CEO of Universal Music Group International.

?The combination of music, megastars and motor sport will create a groundbreaking, all-new entertainment spectacular, channeled through the multiple platforms open to our two global brands. I'm very much looking forward to working with Bernie. He had the imagination to see the potential in F1 Rocks from the very beginning, and we want to make it a huge success on a global scale."

Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of the Formula One Group added: ?I have always said that we are in the entertainment business and this deal marks a new dimension for Formula One. It is the result of many months of discussions with Lucian and I am very pleased we are now ready to go. Universal are the biggest players in the music industry and we have high hopes for what we can achieve together.?

[jarmo]

3 of the top 5 favorites didnt even make it to Q3 and Massa finished 7th and kimi 9th! 

The Toyotas were disqualified.




/jarmo

[Grouse]

McLaren disqualified from Australian Grand Prix

The McLaren team has been disqualfied from the Australian Grand Prix following a detailed stewards' investigation into the incident involving the Englishman and Jarno Trulli on Sunday; the World Champion passed the Toyota under safety car conditions as the Italian ran off the circuit, before then slowing to allow Trulli to retake his position.

For repassing the McLaren, the Toyota driver was handed with a 25-second time penalty which resulted in him losing both his podium position and indeed any chance of points, as the tightly packed field finished the race under the safety car. As Toyota withdrew what would be a seemingly hopeless appeal this week, Trulli reminded onlookers of his version of events: "When the safety car came out towards the end of the race, Lewis Hamilton passed me but soon after he suddenly slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. I thought he had a problem, so I overtook him as there was nothing else I could do."

Hamilton admitted to passing the Toyota as it ran across the grass at Turn 15, subsequently explaining that his team then instructed him to yield to Trulli. "I was behind Trulli under the safety car, and clearly you're not allowed to overtake under the safety car but he went off in the second to last corner," he explained to SpeedTV on Sunday. "He went wide and onto the grass, I guess his tyres were cold. I slowed down as much as I could, but was forced to go by. I was then told to let him back past, but I don't know if that's in the regulations and, if it isn't, I should really have had third."

Despite those comments, however, the stewards claim that Hamilton made no mention of this during their post-race investigation into the incident just minutes later, stating that he infact did not slow down to allow the Toyota to retake the place. Having received a recording of McLaren's radio broadcast during the race, the FIA has removed entire team from the final results of the race for providing 'deliberately misleading' information. This includes the second driver, Heikki Kovalainen, who will effectively not suffer the consequences having retired at the end of the first lap.

The governing body has also lifted Trulli's penalty, which places the Toyota driver back into the third position he originally achieved in Australia.


http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/04/02/mclaren-disqualified-from-australian-grand-prix/

[jarmo]

Baldisserri gets factory role in reshuffle

By Jonathan Noble    
Monday, April 13th 2009, 15:06 GMT

Ferrari has announced a restructuring of its trackside operations in a bid to turn around its disastrous start to the season - with team manager Luca Baldisserri being switched to a factory-based role.

Following crisis talks at Maranello last week to discuss why the outfit has failed to score a point in the first two races of the year, its worst start to a campaign since 1992, the team has ramped up efforts to ensure it changes the situation as soon as possible.

As part of that bid to help improve the performance, the team has decided to set up a new Working Party to fast-track car improvements that are essential if Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa are to start delivering the results needed to keep them in the title hunt.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74449



/jarmo

[jarmo]

FIA declares double diffuser designs legal
The FIA appeal court has declared the double-decker diffuser designs used by Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams as legal

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74475




/jarmo

[jarmo]

This season is becoming boring.

Good for Jenson and Brawn, but it's not very exciting when the same team and driver wins every race..... Well that wouldn't be bad if somebody else had a shot at winning and Jenson just beat them by being a better driver. That's not really the case now though.


I wonder how happy Bernie and Max will be once they realize the TV viewers and ticket buyers find other things to spend their time/money on when the championship is decided before the summer is over.

On top of that, they're trying hard to kill F1 by making it a low budget racing series without the top names in motor sports.




/jarmo

[GypsySoul]

New York Post, Wednesday, May 13, 2009

MAMA MIA! FERRARI MULLS F1 PULLOUT
By LENN ROBBINS

Imagine baseball without the Yankees, basketball without the Celtics, football without the Cowboys. That's what Formula One racing would be like without the legendary Ferrari race team.

The Italian team burned some serious rubber yesterday when it announced after a board meeting in Italy that it was considering pulling out of Formula One racing because of a disagreement with International Automobile Federation's (FIA) World Motor Sport Council over a controversial rules change.

The FIA is proposing a budget cap beginning in 2010 that Ferrari claims would create a "two-tier series" within Formula One.

The proposed cap of 45 million Euros, approximately $60 million U.S. dollars, has Ferrari ready to put it in reverse, according to a statement released yesterday.

"The [Ferrari] Board considers that if this is the regulatory framework for Formula 1 in the future, then the reasons underlying Ferrari's uninterrupted participation in the World Championship over the last 60 years -- the only constructor to have taken part ever since its inception in 1950 -- would come to a close."

Ferrari dealerships in New York and Connecticut declined to comment on the developments, directing inquiries to their headquarters, Ferrari North America of Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

In an e-mail, Ferrari's public-relations coordinator, Steven Ford, said, "Sorry, but there isn't anything we can help you out with from here."

However, one New England dealer told The Post he doubted Ferrari's proposed pullout would ever get in gear.

"My guess is they would never do that," Jesse Berger, the finance manager at Ferrari-Maserati of New England, said.

"Formula One is like a soap opera. There's always a lot of drama over rules changes."

But it's hard for Formula One aficionados to remember drama like this. No Ferrari? Mama Mia!

Teams that stay beneath the cap will have more freedom to share and implement technical advancements. The idea is to make Formula One more competitive for the smaller companies that don't have the financial clout of a Ferrari.

FIA's deadline of May 29 to file entries for the 2010 championship has exacerbated an already volatile situation. Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo is expected to meet with FIA president Max Mosley in the next few days to discuss the situation.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Why waste the money if you aren't allowed to compete properly?

I hope the FIA makes the necessary changes, if they don't, I'll give Ferrari a pat on the back for doing what is right.