F1 - 2009 season

[jarmo]

It's not only Ferrari. It's them along with Renault, Toyota, Red Bull, Toro Rosso.....




/jarmo

[Drew]

Flashback to last years race, Kimi had a real bad day practically running over another car on the track. Hopefully he can get things turned around here in Monte Carlo. I've always enjoyed this race thru the streets of what seems to be a really beautiful city. 

[elmir]

'FERRARI TO SIGN UP, TOYOTA TO QUIT'
Friday 29th May 2009
http://www.planetf1.com


Ferrari and the other FOTA members, barring Toyota, are all expected to sign up for next year's Championship by the close of play today.

The teams have until today, Friday 29th May, to sign up for the 2010 Formula One season after Max Mosley pushed forward the deadline.

However, in the build-up to D-Day there has been a great deal of political tension between the teams and Mosley as the FIA President put into place plans to introduce a budget cap and two-tier regulations that would favour those agreeing to the cap.

This resulted in some of the teams; Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Toyota; threatening to quit the sport.

But after weeks of wrangling, the two parties have reportedly agreed to a ?85m restriction in 2010 with the cap dropping to ?40m the following season. There will also be one set of regulations for all teams while the existing teams have undertaken to help out any new entrants by supplying cheap parts and technical expertise.

"We are not meant to say anything, but you can expect Ferrari and the others to sign up," an insider told the Daily Mail.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph is reporting that Ferrari's 'entry will be conditional on the response of the FIA, the sport's governing body, to a proposal submitted this morning by the Formula One Teams Association. The proposal will demand assurances regarding the stability, governance and rule-making within the sport.'

But while Ferrari are expected to sign up, one team that reportedly won't is Toyota as the Japanese manufacturer is believed to be pulling out of Formula One at the end of the season.

'As for Toyota, they are looking for an elegant exit. Their Formula One project has failed to deliver fruit, despite annual expenditure of around ?300m,' claimed the Daily Mail.

'With their fellow Japanese manufacturers Honda having withdrawn last December, they can depart without too much embarrassment at home. Grand prix racing can live without them, if not Ferrari.'

The FIA will announce the names of next season's participants on June 12.

[jarmo]

What a boring season this has turned out to be.....

 



/jarmo

[jarmo]

FOTA teams to launch breakaway series

By Jonathan Noble    Thursday, June 18th 2009, 22:43 GMT

The Formula One Teams' Association announced on Thursday night that it is setting up a breakaway championship.

Following a four-hour meeting at Renault's Enstone factory, the eight members of FOTA - Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Brawn, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso - said they had grown frustrated with the FIA's stance against the organisation, and had no option but to create a series of their own.

"The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship," said a statement issued by FOTA after the meeting.

"These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.

"The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series."

F1 teams were given until Friday evening to remove the conditions attached to the provisional entries they posted earlier this month, or risk being left off the grid in 2010.

FIA president Max Mosley wrote to the teams yesterday offering them some of the concessions that they wanted to see regarding governance of the sport, but made it clear that he was sticking to plans for the introduction of a budget cap.

In his letter, Mosley also urged the teams to sign up to the championship before sorting out the final version of the regulations and a redrafted Concorde Agreement.

In response to that letter, the teams met at Renault's Enstone headquarters on Thursday evening for lengthy talks, where they finally decided that there was no way a compromise deal could be reached with the FIA.

The teams expressed frustration that their efforts to try and improve F1 had been rebuffed by the governing body and the sport's commercial rights holder.

"Since the formation of FOTA last September the teams have worked together and sought to engage the FIA and commercial rights holder, to develop and improve the sport," said the statement.

"Unprecedented worldwide financial turmoil has inevitably placed great challenges before the F1 community. FOTA is proud that it has achieved the most substantial measures to reduce costs in the history of our sport.

"In particular the manufacturer teams have provided assistance to the independent teams, a number of which would probably not be in the sport today without the FOTA initiatives. The FOTA teams have further agreed upon a substantial voluntary cost reduction that provides a sustainable model for the future.

"Following these efforts all the teams have confirmed to the FIA and the commercial rights holder that they are willing to commit until the end of 2012.

"The FIA and the commercial rights holder have campaigned to divide FOTA.

"The wishes of the majority of the teams are ignored. Furthermore, tens of millions of dollars have been withheld from many teams by the commercial rights holder, going back as far as 2006. Despite this and the uncompromising environment, FOTA has genuinely sought compromise."

The announcement by FOTA looks certain to overshadow the British Grand Prix, which takes place at Silverstone for the final time this weekend and which Mosley is expected to attend tomorrow.

With FOTA's stance now seemingly leaving no room for a deal possible, it's likely that more new teams will be added to the FIA's 2010 Formula 1 entry list.

The inclusion of Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso on that roster remains open to debate, however, with the FIA claiming that the teams committed themselves to F1 in a deal agreed several years ago.




/jarmo

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Lovely racing series.

LONDON -- Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone faced criticism from politicians and Jewish groups Saturday after being quoted as saying that Adolf Hitler "got things done."

In an interview with London's The Times newspaper, Ecclestone expressed a preference for "strong leaders," citing former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Max Mosley, outgoing head of Formula One's governing body, as examples.

He was quoted as saying that democracy "hasn't done a lot of good for many countries -- including this one."

"In a lot of ways, terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was in the way that he could command a lot of people, able to get things done," Ecclestone was quoted as saying.

"In the end he got lost, so he wasn't a very good dictator."

Ecclestone also said the West had been wrong to depose Iraq's Saddam Hussein, saying: "He was the only one who could control that country."

The Board of Deputies of British Jews told The Times that Ecclestone's views were "quite bizarre," and Jewish Chronicle editor Stephen Pollard said he was "either an idiot or morally repulsive." Labour Party lawmaker Denis MacShane told the newspaper that the remarks revealed ignorance of history and "a complete lack of judgment."

Calls to Ecclestone's London office were not immediately returned Saturday.

Ecclestone, who owns F1's commercial rights, is no stranger to controversial remarks. He once said women should dress in white "like all other domestic appliances."

In The Times interview, Ecclestone said that had been a joke, adding: "I would love to have a good lady race driver and preferably black and Jewish, too, but they might take maternity leave."


Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press






Shouldn't he be glad Hitler made some bad decisions?  Like Dunkirk?

[Drew]

Is this what the people who run F1 have to offer to the public?

[Grouse]

I'm suprised nobody has mentioned Massa's accident here.
I really hate the Ferrari team so at first I was happy to see a Ferrari go off. But when I saw the replay it send a shiver down my spine. It instantly reminded me of Henry Surtees's crash last week. I really hope Massa pulls through.

[elmir]

Massa is out from racing for a while, it seems....and now Renault has been banned from Valencia...I wonder if Briatore would release Alonso to race in his home grand prix in a red car?

[Dickeye]

Thinking of Massa 24/7, Wishing him well, hope he pulls through

[IzzyDutch]

Exit BMW.. maybe Toyota and Renault will follow soon (they're about to sign the Concorde agreement which legaly makes them committed to 2012).

But that's what you get with those bloody factory teams, no commitment, no full racing heart (F1 is good promo for our normal activities) and once results are a bit down, we'll just bail

Hopefully another new entry (private team) will take over BMW, like Superfund, Lola, Prodrive or N Epsalon. F1 needs a full 26 car starting field for next year with lots of private teams. Cause the more factory teams are present the more money spent and I think many will agree that those small private teams just had something the cold factory teams don't have.. teams like Jordan, Prost, Arrows etc.

[jarmo]

Ferrari planning to substitute Schumacher for Massa

Ferrari announced on Wednesday that they plan to draft in Michael Schumacher to replace the injured Felipe Massa at forthcoming Grands Prix, until the Brazilian is able to race again.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/7/9703.html



/jarmo

[jarmo]

Renault fired Piquet....

Not surprising.




/jarmo

[IzzyDutch]

There seems to be two kinds of people regarding the Piquet case, the first camp says the team is to blame, not enough support, lack of care updates compared to Alonso etc. just didn't have a good chance and the second camp says support or not, Piquet really hasn't shown anything worthwhile at all in the Renualt in the past few years. Not a single moment which said 'hey, now that prooves the guy can really drive right there'.

Personally, I belong to the 2nd camp.. doesn't matter about being good in previous classes, if you can't make it in F1 then you don't belong there. I remember a Ricardo Rosset being very fast in lower classes and even in F3000, only to end up as one of the worst F1 drivers ever. (Youtube his name and you'll see why, apart from not being fast - his problem was with braking late, couldn't handle that as Arrows '96 date showed). Sure Piquet had a podium last year in Germany, but that was mainly luck in the rain. Maybe he's a decent driver who'll be good in other classes (touringcars etc.) but I don't think in F1.

But, it looks like Piquet Sr. is gonna take over the BMW team along with the teamowner of the GP2 Super Nova team.. so he'll probably have a drive next year.

Interesting note aside about Bourdais, the Dutch commentator mentioned last week that Bourdais' problem was with driving a car that had a little amount of fuel in it, not so much with driving the car when it was tanked off. But appearantly Bourdais didn't have the right reaction time for it, they found this out at the RBR simulator which all the RBR drivers had to go through. They could see in the simulator that for example he was reacting to late when the car was understeering. Appearantly Brendon Hartley, the 19y old Red Bull testdriver who was let go some weeks ago aswell, had the same thing and that's why he wasn't put in Sebastien's seat but Jami was, cause he came out fine in the simulator.

[jarmo]

To be honest, I think it's a combination of both.

He might not be the exceptional driver, but I also don't think he ever got a fair shot at Renault.

The team is built around Alonso.

No fucking way was he gonna allow himself to be beaten by a rookie, like he did in 2007, again.


People use him (Alonso) as an example of a guy who gets the whole team behind him in pushing forward. Well it's always easier to get things done when you're clearly the #1 in the team and have their full support.




/jarmo

[GypsySoul]

Injuries force Schumacher to call off F1 comeback
BERLIN, Tue Aug 11, 07:29 AM

Michael Schumacher on Tuesday announced he has called off his much-anticipated Formula One comeback because of lingering injuries from a motorcycling crash earlier this year.

The seven-time world champion was to fill in for injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa and hoped to return at this month's European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain.

Schumacher said on his Web site he informed top Ferrari officials on Monday evening that "unfortunately I'm not able to step in for Felipe."

Schumacher, 40, retired at the end of the 2006 season. Since then, he has raced occasionally in a motorcycling series but was injured in a crash in February.

"The consequences of the injuries caused by the bike accident in February, fractures in the area of head and neck, unfortunately have turned out to be still too severe," Schumacher said. "That is why my neck cannot stand the extreme stresses caused by Formula One yet.

"I really tried everything to make that temporary comeback possible. However, much to my regret it didn't work out," he added.

"Unfortunately we did not manage to get a grip on the pain in the neck" which arose after he tested an old Ferrari at the Mugello circuit in Italy, Schumacher said.

The German won 91 races in 250 starts in an F1 career spanning 15 years beginning in 1991.

"I am disappointed to the core. I am awfully sorry for the guys of Ferrari and for all the fans which crossed fingers for me," Schumacher said.

"All I can do now is to keep my fingers crossed for the whole team for the coming races."

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo thanked Schumacher for his loyalty to the team in attempting an F1 comeback.

"I am very unhappy that a problem means that Michael cannot return to racing," Montezemolo said. "In the past few days, I could appreciate his great efforts and extraordinary motivation which had spread through the team and fans around the world.

"No doubt his return would have been good for Formula One and I am sure it would have seen him fighting for wins again," he added. "In the name of Ferrari and all the fans, I wish to thank him for the strong attachment he displayed for the team in these circumstances."

Ferrari announced that team test driver Luca Badoer will race in Massa's place at Valencia. Badoer, an Italian, was first floated by Italian media after a crash took Massa off the race circuit.

The 28-year-old Massa underwent surgery on multiple skull fractures after he was hit in the helmet by a loose part from another car and crashed into a protective tire barrier during qualifying for Ferrari at the Hungarian Grand Prix last month.

Montezemolo said Ferrari decided to give Badoer "the chance to race for the Scuderia after he has put in so many years of hard work as a test driver."

Last week Schumacher said he was slimming down for the race, but complained of some neck pain.

"I only have to admit that my neck pinches a bit. We have to get a grip on that as health has priority ? that's the clear arrangement made with Ferrari and, by the way, with my wife, too," Schumacher said.

[Genesis]

Damn, I was soooo looking forward to watching Lewis Hamilton vs. Schumacher. Oh well...

[jarmo]

Damn, I was soooo looking forward to watching Lewis Hamilton vs. Schumacher. Oh well...

Really?


A Schumacher that wasn't allowed to drive the car before the race (thanks to the test ban).

The same goes for the new guy at Toro Rosso.

This test ban is ridiculous!

You design a car and if it turns out to be crap, too bad! Try again next year!



/jarmo

[Genesis]

Damn, I was soooo looking forward to watching Lewis Hamilton vs. Schumacher. Oh well...

Really?


A Schumacher that wasn't allowed to drive the car before the race (thanks to the test ban).

The same goes for the new guy at Toro Rosso.

This test ban is ridiculous!

You design a car and if it turns out to be crap, too bad! Try again next year!



/jarmo

Well that was mainly because Renault didn't agree to let Ferrari test.

I agree with the test ban (at least in principle). Track testing costs a lot of money. That means teams like Ferrari and McLaren can test to their hearts delight to get their cars right. Other lesser fortunate teams have to plan their testing and restrict it to a maximum of maybe 3 times a year. That's hardly fair. Besides, there's always race practice

[jarmo]

Williams and the Red Bull teams didn't let Ferrari test because the rules are the same for everyone. Which is a fair point.


I'm sure there are other ways of limiting testing instead of a complete ban.

Right now young drivers can't get any F1 experience as test drivers before making their race debuts.





/jarmo