OT: Racing 2008-2009 (Spoiler Alert)

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 3:51 pm

Yeah, but this title chase would have been moot today if the FIA hadn't screwed Hamilton and McLaren over the Spa incident.

I agree: No more titles or races decided in a courtroom or FIA tribunal.

Thank God Glock was on slicks and was losing traction badly. Otherwise, I would say his surrender of the position to Hamilton would have smelled like dead fish sitting in the sun for a week, especially considering Glock and Hamilton are buddies from their GP2 days.

Take care,
PK

Smurfy · Post by **Smurfy** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 3:58 pm

Now that I've had time to change to a clean pair of undies I just want to say I'm glad it's over and that Hamilton won. If he ever makes it this tense again I hope his girlfriend denies him sex for at least two months.

I guess the FIA will have to invest in a weather control machine over the winter.

[Edit: Addition] Well, if Glock had changed tires then he wouldn't have come into play at the end. It wouldn't have mattered that Vettel had passed Hamilton. Toyota's gamble only served to make things more difficult for Hamilton.

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 5:47 pm

Anyone with the opportunity might want to have a listen to the BBC Radio 5 Live coverage of the end of the race. I've no idea what they were looking at, but they missed Glock's slow last lap and crowned Felipe Massa as world champion...

I'm not sure my words can say as much about that race as the three laps I spent jumping around my living room shouting at the television did. I want to try and say some more, but I've no idea where I should start. As great a piece of drama and sporting theatre as you could ever hope for.

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 5:50 pm

pk500 wrote:Yeah, but this title chase would have been moot today if the FIA hadn't screwed Hamilton and McLaren over the Spa incident.

I agree: No more titles or races decided in a courtroom or FIA tribunal.

Amen.

pk500 wrote:Thank God Glock was on slicks and was losing traction badly. Otherwise, I would say his surrender of the position to Hamilton would have smelled like dead fish sitting in the sun for a week, especially considering Glock and Hamilton are buddies from their GP2 days.

Thank God Trulli was a tenth slower than Glock that last lap. That's hopefully going to save us all from having to endure a winter of 'he only won because Glock let him'.

Let's say a word for Massa as well. I'm not sure I expected it of him, but the manner in which he's accepted the loss of a title in such a heartbreaking fashion has an awful lot of class about it, and his entire Brazilian Grand Prix weekend was exemplary.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 6:46 pm

I don't think Jonny Noble's lead at autosport.com is hyperbole:

>>>In perhaps the most dramatic Formula One World Championship finale of all time, Lewis Hamilton became the sport's youngest ever title-winner after snatching fifth place from Timo Glock on the last corner of the last lap.<<<

I still can't believe how breathtaking this race was today. The Brazilian GP trumps the Le Mans 24 Hours and Petit Le Mans as the best race I've seen this year.

So much drama. So much fun.

Take care,
PK

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 6:50 pm

Nice that he could piss off all the racists in Spain.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:01 pm

A freaking unbelievable finish. I couldn't believe how helpless Hamilton's would-be pursuit of Vettel looked exiting each corner. Then I noticed the Toyota squirming around the track as Vettel and Hamilton approached traffic--I assumed it was Glock and couldn't believe Hamilton's good fortune.

One of the most exhilarating finishes of any race I've watched and certainly the most exciting 5th place battle I've watched!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 8:12 pm

Just saw Massa's post-race comments, as I turned off the race at the checkered so I could record the final three quarters of the Bills' game. (I was recording the Oilers' game simultaneously, too.)

Man, what class. That kid has grown into a man, a real team leader, this season. I hope Massa wins a World Championship during his career.

And after today's drive, I think it's a foregone conclusion that Vettel will be a World Champion sooner than later. That kid is fantastic.

Take care,
PK

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 11:56 pm

The highlight for me was when the cameras cut to Massa's Family jumping up and down in a group hug.
I pissed my self at his Dads face when it looked like someone told him his son hadn't won, Priceless.
Tip, next time wait for the race to end.
But now the smoke has cleared its a shame there had to be a loser Massa was pure class and must feel all fuzzy inside knowing he can pull off a drive like that when its needed, id say look out for him next year.

Unbelievable finish.

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 5:08 pm

Not sure if this is of any interest, but I'll post it anyway: alternative Interlagos commentary from John Hindhaugh, Tim Gray, Nick Daman and Toby Moody, live from Hindhaugh's living room:

http://audio.mpix.org.uk/specials/f1_brazil.mp3

Right click, Save As and it should work alright, hopefully.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 5:39 pm

Jimmydeicide wrote:The highlight for me was when the cameras cut to Massa's Family jumping up and down in a group hug.
I pissed my self at his Dads face when it looked like someone told him his son hadn't won, Priceless.
Tip, next time wait for the race to end.
But now the smoke has cleared its a shame there had to be a loser Massa was pure class and must feel all fuzzy inside knowing he can pull off a drive like that when its needed, id say look out for him next year.

Unbelievable finish.

Sort of reminds me of that classic Jeremy Shockey playoff video where he starts talking smack on the sideline and his expression totally changes when his field goal kicker blows the can't miss winning field goal. It went from yeah beat your your ass to, WHAT he missed?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 5:54 pm

Jimmydeicide wrote:But now the smoke has cleared its a shame there had to be a loser Massa was pure class and must feel all fuzzy inside knowing he can pull off a drive like that when its needed, id say look out for him next year.

If Vettel was in a red or silver car next season, I think he'd be lights out on the rest of the field.

What the hell happened this weekend to my other favorite outside of the "big two," Kubica? Talk about out to lunch -- damn, that dude wasn't within a mile of the cafeteria!

Take care,
PK

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 1:55 am

Might be 5 teams duking it out next season if they progress like they are, Renault, Torro Rosso, Bmw,and the other two.
Tough to say really we all know next years car doesnt mean its going to be an improvement cough honda cough.
And is it true The engines have to do 3 races next year ?

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:42 pm

Jimmydeicide wrote:Tough to say really we all know next years car doesnt mean its going to be an improvement cough honda cough.
And is it true The engines have to do 3 races next year ?

New aero regs next year, mind, as well as the introduction of KERS, so it'll be interesting to see if any of the teams that gave up on 2008 (Williams and Honda in particular) make great strides.

I think the engines have to go three races next year, yes, but I've stopped paying much attention until they get the cost-saving rules settled.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:21 pm

pk500 wrote: What the hell happened this weekend to my other favorite outside of the "big two," Kubica? Talk about out to lunch -- damn, that dude wasn't within a mile of the cafeteria!

Take care,
PK

Listening to Matchett during the race, he was saying from folks at McClaren that the car at Interlagos was some 2 sec. quicker than the one they ran at Melbourne. So it seems to me, as Matchett mentioned, that the continuing development of the top two teams was just way too much for BMW too keep up with. I think Matchett mentioned something like $20M worth of money put into development at McClaren just since China, or something equally absurd.

I sort of agree about Vettel but the proof in the pudding is in the eating, as they say (or as they should say. . . .). I do think he is one of those few special drivers that really enhances the team's ability to improve the car, like Schumi was and clearly Alonso is now. And who knows how much Bergher had to do with that Toro Rosso improvement? I'm sort of disappointed that Sebastian is now headed to the 'big' RB team, since the TRs were so much better than their bigger brothers in the 2nd half of the season, but I honestly don't know much about where either team is getting their engines next season or any of that.

Whatever happens, Vettel's racing and his tremendous enthusiasm and overall personality make him very hard to root against. Thing is, there are a lot of drivers I could say it's hard to root against them this last season, and I think that's a good thing, even though it's always nice to have a black hat out there in the field. But Vettel seems pretty special to me. He's such a smiley kid!

This was a great season to me, and I have certainly never seen anything even close to what happened on Sunday. Take that with a grain of salt, because I don't really follow racing outside of F1, but my goodness, starting with the amazing home atmosphere for Massa, to the insane cloud burst two minutes before the start, right down to that crazy finish - what a race! What a season! What a Championship!

Smurfy · Post by **Smurfy** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 9:13 pm

I'm very curious how Nakajima will turn out next year. He's booted a number of people this season, but he wasn't completely destroyed by Rosberg in the way I thought he would be. Mind you, I'm sure Rosberg didn't have much to motivate him for at least the second half of the season.

Regarding Vettel, I'm gonna post a link to my pics of him again

http://picasaweb.google.com/FerhadPics/ ... fFormula1#

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 11:32 am

Decisions from today's FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting, straight from the FIA press release:

FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
From 2009, engine life will be extended from two to three races.
During the 2008 season a review took place of the stewarding arrangements in F1. The current panel of stewards consists of two international stewards and one national steward, all of whom must be eligible for the FIA's super licence. For 2009, the following updates will be made:
- Any national steward participating who is officiating for the first time will be required to 'observe' a minimum of one Grand Prix prior to their event.
- At five Grands Prix in 2009, a number of trainee Stewards, nominated by their ASN and selected by the FIA, will be invited to attend.
- Before each Grand Prix, a short CV of each steward will be posted on the FIA website.
- With the benefit of a new replay system available to the stewards, all incidents will be investigated and appropriate action taken during the race, unless it is essential to seek further evidence afterwards.
- Following the race, a short written explanation of steward's decisions will be published on the FIA website. This will supplement the formal steward's decision which largely defines the breach of the rules.
- Where appropriate, additional film evidence that the public may not have seen but which was reviewed by the stewards, will be made available on both the FIA and FOM websites.
Note: No former driver is excluded from seeking their ASN national stewarding licence and then, as with all of the existing stewards, if they gain the necessary level of experience in stewarding events at a national, regional and international level the FIA can consider them for a steward's super licence.

CALENDAR
2009 FIA Formula One World Championship
29/3 AUS Australia
5/4 MAL Malaysia
19/4 CN China
26/4 BRN Bahrain
10/5 E Spain
24/5 MC Monaco
7/6 TR Turkey
21/6 GB Great Britain
12/7 D Germany
26/7 H Hungary
23/8 E Europe (Valencia)
30/8 B Belgium
13/9 I Italy
27/9 SGP Singapore
4/10 J Japan
18/10 BR Brazil
1/11 AE Abu Dhabi

My editorial comment: It's absolute INSANITY for the F1 season to end at Abu Dhabi, a nation with no motorsport heritage and a circuit that will be another bland, lifeless Tilkedrome in the middle of the desert.

Brazil is the perfect spot for the finale. A great, old circuit that breathes history and teems with fan passion. Plus the Brazilian finale is on prime-time TV in Europe and midday in the U.S.

Plus there has been a decent driver or two from Brazil ...

Inexplicable decision. But then, is anything rational or sensible in F1 these days?

Take care,
PK

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 12:05 pm

I think it may be one of the new night races no? if so may not be so bad.
Whats the odds the championship will come down to the last corner on the the last race again?

Errr...quite high you say, especially with all these impressionable new stewards awarding fake penalty's to keep it close.

Sure made this year exciting though .

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 12:25 pm

Jimmydeicide wrote:I think it may be one of the new night races no? if so may not be so bad.

I'm not sure of the location of the circuit in Abu Dhabi, and location matters.

The inaugural MotoGP night race this March in Dubai was nothing special because there was no stunning night backdrop. Once you looked past the floodlights, all you saw were vast expanses of darkness. Nothing visually compelling whatsoever.

What made Singapore so exciting, besides the jumbled nature of the race, were the lights of the Singapore skyline creating an electric backdrop, a great visual.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 12:39 pm

More pure class from Massa. From autosport.com:

<<<<<<<

Defeated Formula One title contender Felipe Massa has revealed that he wants to greet new world champion Lewis Hamilton in person and congratulate the McLaren driver on his title success.

The Brazilian came within a lap of achieving his life's ambition, but while he won the Brazilian Grand Prix, the title slipped from the Ferrari driver's grasp as Hamilton passed Timo Glock to take the fifth position he needed to win the championship on the last corner of the final lap.

"I want to meet Hamilton and his father to tell them they deserved the title," Massa told Italian newspaper Gazetta dello Sport.

"I re-watched the race on TV: for Lewis that last lap was a drama, he was locking the wheels everywhere as he was trying to recover," added Massa, who also dismissed out of hand wild conspiracies that the Toyota driver may have moved over to help Hamilton.

"Glock didn't let himself be overtaken on purpose," said Massa.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo added that he didn't realised Hamilton had passed Glock initially, but said Massa's defeat will build his character and make him a stronger competitor next year,

"I did see the overtaking manoeuvre, but I wasn't thinking of Glock, I thought it was a lapped car," he told the newspaper. "I don't know however, if I had enough time to jump up from the armchair, as the truth revealed itself immediately.

"My pain was for Massa, for what he had done, for his perfect race. But he was strong, good and fair.

"Experiences like these make your life better. Together with the man, a great driver is growing at Ferrari."

>>>>>>>

My admiration and respect for Massa has mushroomed since Sunday. The kid has grown into a man.

Take care,
PK

Kruza · Post by **Kruza** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 2:58 pm

pk500 wrote:Decisions from today's FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting, straight from the FIA press release:

FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
From 2009, engine life will be extended from two to three races.
During the 2008 season a review took place of the stewarding arrangements in F1. The current panel of stewards consists of two international stewards and one national steward, all of whom must be eligible for the FIA's super licence. For 2009, the following updates will be made:
- Any national steward participating who is officiating for the first time will be required to 'observe' a minimum of one Grand Prix prior to their event.
- At five Grands Prix in 2009, a number of trainee Stewards, nominated by their ASN and selected by the FIA, will be invited to attend.
- Before each Grand Prix, a short CV of each steward will be posted on the FIA website.
- With the benefit of a new replay system available to the stewards, all incidents will be investigated and appropriate action taken during the race, unless it is essential to seek further evidence afterwards.
- Following the race, a short written explanation of steward's decisions will be published on the FIA website. This will supplement the formal steward's decision which largely defines the breach of the rules.
- Where appropriate, additional film evidence that the public may not have seen but which was reviewed by the stewards, will be made available on both the FIA and FOM websites.
Note: No former driver is excluded from seeking their ASN national stewarding licence and then, as with all of the existing stewards, if they gain the necessary level of experience in stewarding events at a national, regional and international level the FIA can consider them for a steward's super licence.

CALENDAR
2009 FIA Formula One World Championship
29/3 AUS Australia
5/4 MAL Malaysia
19/4 CN China
26/4 BRN Bahrain
10/5 E Spain
24/5 MC Monaco
7/6 TR Turkey
21/6 GB Great Britain
12/7 D Germany
26/7 H Hungary
23/8 E Europe (Valencia)
30/8 B Belgium
13/9 I Italy
27/9 SGP Singapore
4/10 J Japan
18/10 BR Brazil
1/11 AE Abu Dhabi

My editorial comment: It's absolute INSANITY for the F1 season to end at Abu Dhabi, a nation with no motorsport heritage and a circuit that will be another bland, lifeless Tilkedrome in the middle of the desert.

Brazil is the perfect spot for the finale. A great, old circuit that breathes history and teems with fan passion. Plus the Brazilian finale is on prime-time TV in Europe and midday in the U.S.

Plus there has been a decent driver or two from Brazil ...

Inexplicable decision. But then, is anything rational or sensible in F1 these days?

Take care,
PK

I agree with Brazil being the perfect spot for the F1 series finale. No way should this be changed in order to add Abu Dhabi to the schedule. The dates for these races should be rearranged or something.

Kruza

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 3:18 pm

F1 cars will look like race cars in 2009, not aerodynamicists' wet dreams:

Thank God.

Take care,
PK

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 6:19 pm

Count me in favor of liking the new F1 cars as well.

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 7:10 pm

Testing times from Barcelona today bring with them yet another chance to be impressed by Sebastien Loeb

The new-look F1 cars are growing on me. It'll take me a bit to get used to the wing dimensions, I expect, but certainly that BMW looks much better for having cleaner surfaces.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 7:21 pm

GB_Simo wrote:Testing times from Barcelona today bring with them yet another chance to be impressed by Sebastien Loeb

The argument easily can be made that two of the world's best drivers are not in Formula One. I present Mr. Sebastien Loeb and Mr. Valentino Rossi as Case Exhibits 1A and 1B, in no particular order.

Take care,
PK