The Official Formula One Thread

[Mavrick]

I'm hoping webber brings back some action later on when he gets the Softs on. There was an interview with Hamilton by BBC and she asked him about his feelings that the stewards wern't going to investigate it, and there was silence and some muffled voices in the background. (it was just an audio interview) So I'm notsure what happend there.

I don't think theres anything to be investigated realy anyway. Hamilton should have been more aware, he admited in the interview he didn't even know who it was that hit him.

It's gunna be a boring Title fightfor the rest of the season because Seb dosen't even need to win anymore races to keep the title, he just needs point finishes.

[Mavrick]

Brilliant drive from Shumi, 24th to 5th place great way to mark your 20th anniversary

[Trace17]

Turned the tv off, no need to listen to the German anthem again, watch Seb give me the finger and hear a 10 minute narrative from him on the race I just watched. His presser speeches are so boring.

Was it just me, or was the last half of the race quite...bland? Besides Schumi passing Rosberg and Alonso being passed twice, it just seemed really boring.

Well done Schumi & Button. And you too Webber, consider a Mustang could beat you off the line. Is he worst race-starter in history? Every single time...

I'll take this opportunity to congratulate Seb on the WDC. Not only did you win, but Lewis failed and Alonso lost more ground than he could have. Seb has it in the bag, just a matter of when he seals it. Shame we will be deprived of a last-race title thriller like last year.

Originally Posted by Mavrick

I'm hoping webber brings back some action later on when he gets the Softs on.

They put Mark on the harder tyres. I don't know why, unless they thought he couldn't make it. I like to think if he would have had the softs on, he would have chipped away more time. If he got within the DRS zone, it would have been a fight.

[Hatter]

Excellent racecraft shown by Vettel. I keep saying how it's not last year and this race showed that nicely.

Schumacher well what can I say. Wait I know: It was a Brilliant drive Coulthard and Brundle. So was Button's but how come Button gets a brilliant drive from you guys and Schumacher merely gets a great drive comment. +19 is brilliant not matter how you look at it.

Webber should jump into a simulator and do 20 practice starts a day.

Overall if you didn't enjoy that, you don't like formula 1 racing.

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by Trace17

Turned the tv off, no need to listen to the German anthem again, watch Seb give me the finger and hear a 10 minute narrative from him on the race I just watched. His presser speeches are so boring.

Was it just me, or was the last half of the race quite...bland? Besides Schumi passing Rosberg and Alonso being passed twice, it just seemed really boring.

Well done Schumi & Button. And you too Webber, consider a Mustang could beat you off the line. Is he worst race-starter in history? Every single time...

I'll take this opportunity to congratulate Seb on the WDC. Not only did you win, but Lewis failed and Alonso lost more ground than he could have. Seb has it in the bag, just a matter of when he seals it. Shame we will be deprived of a last-race title thriller like last year.



They put Mark on the harder tyres. I don't know why, unless they thought he couldn't make it. I like to think if he would have had the softs on, he would have chipped away more time. If he got within the DRS zone, it would have been a fight.

Yup, Sebs had it tied up since the last race really. The only way he can lose is by DNF'n every race from now on and Webber finishing 1st every race. Pretty much the only way anyone will gain enough points

This fact takes away a lot of the excitement for me, we don't usually get a clear winner until the last but 1 or 2 race. But we still have 7 races with a clear world champion already, and the constructers titles been wrappad up for much longer.

Not to say we won't have exciting races but there's nothing to be won or lost, ie. the WDC :/ It's like I'm playing a season of F1 2010! You know your gunna win it.

Button lost his wing mirror at the start I think, the front wing that came off from sennas colision flew back and hit buttons mirror. It was pretty lucky it didn't hit him in the head.

[Hatter]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Button lost his wing mirror at the start I think, the front wing that came off from sennas colision flew back and hit buttons mirror. It was pretty lucky it didn't hit him in the head.

While it's still up. Skip to 2:03 or such. Nearly another impalement like what happened to Massa.

Webber Goes Into Anti Stall, Button's Mirror Get's Taken Out Spa Belgium 2011 - YouTube

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by Hatter

While it's still up. Skip to 2:03 or such. Nearly another impalement like what happened to Massa.

Webber Goes Into Anti Stall, Button's Mirror Get's Taken Out Spa Belgium 2011 - YouTube

Thats what I saw erlier on BBC, was prety close, and I can understand why there are talks about the pros and cons of closed cockpits. But I doubt we will ever see them.

[Trace17]

Originally Posted by Hatter

Schumacher well what can I say. Wait I know: It was a Brilliant drive Coulthard and Brundle. So was Button's but how come Button gets a brilliant drive from you guys and Schumacher merely gets a great drive comment. +19 is brilliant not matter how you look at it.

1) Button represents the UK. The BBC will support him more than a German. The UK audience loves him, so they'll give it up for the fans.

2) I fully expect Schumi to go right by a bunch of backmarkers. There is absolutely no reason he should finish below 16-18 unless there's big mechanical problems or he's in a wreck. Now, don't get me wrong, P24 to P5 is extremely impressive, and I personally would call it brilliant, but they might see it as less, considering half of his overtakes were backmarkers or DNFs (i.e. Alg and Buemi were free overtakes). On the other hand, Button was making moves up front, even on Alonso. Like I said, don't really agree, just why I think they are that way.

Webber should jump into a simulator and do 20 practice starts a day.

I think his new strategy is to sit on the front straight longer, keeping sponsors in view for a bit longer and hopefully increasing revenue. He's a businessman.

Overall if you didn't enjoy that, you don't like formula 1 racing.

This coming from a huge Seb fan.

Do you think if the Colts beat up on the Giants 60-0 in the Super Bowl, and a Giants fan said, "man that was boring and I didn't enjoy that at all.", why would a Colts fan expect them to enjoy it? They're not a fan. It's one thing to recognize that the winner did a superb job, but by no means should everyone enjoy watching it.

I said it before, and I'll say it again - the first half of the race was chaotic mayhem and was incredibly exciting. After Lewis crashed, things calmed down, Seb ran away with it again, and it was a lot more boring compared to the first half. Maybe if I was a Seb fan, I would have liked it, but alas I'm not.

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Button lost his wing mirror at the start I think, the front wing that came off from sennas colision flew back and hit buttons mirror. It was pretty lucky it didn't hit him in the head.

No kidding! Man that was very close to hitting him in the head. And either it was incredibly strong or those sidemirrors are made of paper. Probably a bit of both

[Mavrick]

The FIA have released a confirmed calendar for the 2012 season following a fax vote by members of the World Motor Sport Council. The addition of the United States round makes for a 20-race season, which will get underway in Australia on March 18. The season finale will take place in Brazil on November 25.

2012 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar:

• 18/03 Australia
• 25/03 Malaysia
• 15/04 China
• 22/04 Bahrain
• 13/05 Spain
• 27/05 Monaco
• 10/06 Canada
• 24/06 Europe
• 08/07 Great Britain
• 22/07 Germany
• 29/07 Hungary
• 02/09 Belgium
• 09/09 Italy
• 23/09 Singapore
• 07/10 Japan
• 14/10 Korea
• 28/10 India
• 04/11 Abu Dhabi
• 18/11 United States
• 25/11 Brazil

[Trace17]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

The FIA have released a confirmed calendar for the 2012 season following a fax vote by members of the World Motor Sport Council. The addition of the United States round makes for a 20-race season, which will get underway in Australia on March 18. The season finale will take place in Brazil on November 25.

2012 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar:

• 18/03 Australia
• 25/03 Malaysia
• 15/04 China
• 22/04 Bahrain
• 13/05 Spain
• 27/05 Monaco
• 10/06 Canada
• 24/06 Europe
• 08/07 Great Britain
• 22/07 Germany
• 29/07 Hungary
• 02/09 Belgium
• 09/09 Italy
• 23/09 Singapore
• 07/10 Japan
• 14/10 Korea
• 28/10 India
• 04/11 Abu Dhabi
• 18/11 United States
• 25/11 Brazil

Not a fan. Okay, because I'm selfish, because I was perfectly able to attend the USGP in the summer, but not sure now that it's in November. I'll have to wait until it's closer to know. And it seems so far away...14 months!

Monza this week. Fast track, I read earlier this week that there was an estimated 30% difference in downforce from the top 3 and the backmarkers.

Heidfeld's out for the season. Shocker.

Oh, and I may or may not have ordered this from amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Bull-Formula-Car-Manual/dp/0857330993/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315359690&sr=8-1

[Hatter]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mot...year-deal.html

Mclaren looking to secure Button long-term is probably more important than keeping Hamilton. That way they can afford to allow Hamilton to still be reckless since Button can be their safety net. Beats getting a lackey for Hamilton and risk losing out on points entirely when Hamilton makes a driving error.

[Trace17]

Seb took pole, big surprise there. Oh wait, no it's not. The end of Q3 was a huge anti-climax. Webber was a little off pace, but Button was up there.

[Hatter]

Originally Posted by Trace17

Seb took pole, big surprise there. Oh wait, no it's not. The end of Q3 was a huge anti-climax. Webber was a little off pace, but Button was up there.

Actually it was. Red Bull were not expected to challenge for pole. That from the mouth of not just Mclaren but Vettel himself a few days ago.

[Trace17]

Originally Posted by Hatter

Actually it was. Red Bull were not expected to challenge for pole. That from the mouth of not just Mclaren but Vettel himself a few days ago.

Well of course they're always going to play that card. Seb or the team aren't going to say, "Yeah, we expect to take pole by a second here." whether they actually do or not. They will always say it will be tough or it's not their best track or some other team should have a better chance, but at the end of the day, it's still them getting pole. They're just lying to everyone. It's a trap!

I'm curious why Button went in at the end of his lap. He would have had second. Wonder if they were hoping for 3rd for the grippier side of the track? No idea, very odd. Or they were trying for pole and saw Seb's first two sector times and called him in.

[Mavrick]

Why does Seb even bother celebrating? If I won that often I'd be pretty "meh" about it by now.

[Hatter]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Why does Seb even bother celebrating? If I won that often I'd be pretty "meh" about it by now.

If it feels like meh after you win a race, it's time to retire.

[Mavrick]

Seb hints at a move to Ferrari saying "One day, who knows..." I wouldn't really call that a hint.

[Trace17]

Finger wins again. It just seems like a ctrl+v nowadays. Copy, paste, repeat. Kinda pathetic that he can actually win the title in Singapore if he wins, Alonso finishes outside of the top 5 and Webber and Button are off the podium. If my math is right. It might not be.

Going to be a boring end to the season.

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Why does Seb even bother celebrating? If I won that often I'd be pretty "meh" about it by now.

Wasn't Monza his first win with Torro Rosso? So kind of an anniversary of sorts, for him.

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Seb hints at a move to Ferrari saying "One day, who knows..." I wouldn't really call that a hint.

I believe Lewis said the same thing. "Who knows." Nobody is ever going to to rule out Ferrari entirely. They really need to get rid of Massa though. Nowhere near the driver he used to be.

On another note, I can't believe the FIA gave Liuzzi a 5 place grid penalty! Really? That's not a penalty at all!

[Trace17]

Originally Posted by Trace17

Seb took pole, big surprise there. Oh wait, no it's not. The end of Q3 was a huge anti-climax. Webber was a little off pace, but Button was up there.

I'll just quote myself for this week too. It's pretty much all a carbon copy at this point.

Kobayashi got airborne out of Turn 10 though. That was exciting. Hit the wall, but he's fine.

And if you haven't heard, they've had some kerb issues at the track all weekend. I don't have the exact turn numbers (I think 6, 8, 13 and 14), but two were replaced and I think two kerbs were completely removed and the white lines repainted and the drivers told not to cross them. That's what I heard yesterday though, they might have all be replaced today.

Oh and RBR booked a "reception" facility and ordered 80 some odd hats too for this weekend. Just in case.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Why does Seb even bother celebrating? If I won that often I'd be pretty "meh" about it by now.

One thing you can't do is take anything for granted, especially in sports. There's no denying Vettel's good fortune the past few seasons, and Red Bull has arguably the most complete package in F1 right now, but there's ebb-and-flow to this sport and anything can change in less than a blink of an eye. While Vettel's victories seem effortless and almost a given, this streak can't continue forever, which is why every victory has to be savoured when one happens.