OT: Racing 2010 (Spoiler Alert)

[GB_Simo]

Ha, I'd be the same if it was my team up there. Saying that, my team is Williams so I'd be a tiny bit sceptical too. If by some miracle my boy Rubinho wins a race for Frank I might possibly explode with joy.

[pk500]

Ha, I'd be the same if it was my team up there. Saying that, my team is Williams so I'd be a tiny bit sceptical too. If by some miracle my boy Rubinho wins a race for Frank I might possibly explode with joy.

I would spontaneously combust along with you, Adam. Willies is my favorite team, too, and Rubinho is one of the most genuinely nice dudes in the paddock.

This would have been heresy five years ago, but I'm also rooting for Schumacher to smoke all the kiddies' asses, too. Come on, I'm pushing 45, so I need to root for the 40-year-old dude!

[Rodster]

I like the look of the new Virgin VR-01 color scheme.





Supposedly this car was created and tested for performance on a computer simulation, then was built. So no wind tunnel testing. I would say impressive if they are competitive with the rest of the field because as Richard Branson has said he wanted to come into F1 if the cost came down. Unfortunately I think Sir Richard is going to meet reality pretty quickly when he compares his car to the others.

[pk500]

Was the Virgin car launched in a farmer's field? Shouldn't it be painted in John Deere green or Cat Diesel yellow?

[GB_Simo]

That's my Silverstone you're talking about, swine...it's also a tidy-looking thing, that VR-01. Nick Wirth had success designing the ALMS Acura using CFD but his F1 track record is mediocre at best, so it'll be interesting to see how competitive this effort is.

Rod, people who've had a chance to analyse Valencia properly believe fuel loads played a part in Ferrari's times and fuel corrected, the McLaren may be a shade quicker. I haven't had time to sit down and go through the figures at all so can't comment myself. Jerez is going to be interesting, especially once Mercedes put the 2010 front wing and diffuser on and Red Bull show their hand.

[Rodster]

Adam, Alonso has admitted he's not sure how fast his car is compared to the rest of the bunch. Button has admitted his car is off the pace of the Ferrari's but not sure by "how much"?

We haven't heard Lewis speak and give his thoughts. There are those in the media who say don't read too much into the times but then there are articles by Sarah Holt and Will Gray who say the same thing but also say the Ferrari's are surely quick and it's now the benchmark in the initial tests.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/formula-1 ... icle/1898/

"Traditionally, testing times are not easily comparable as the teams all work on different programmes - and that has been accentuated this year by the ban on refuelling, which has created increased fuel options and an even greater uncertainty in times because of the different weights different teams could be running.

That said, there have already been some interesting mutterings - and open admissions - from the paddock about who has laid down the benchmark and who is already playing catch-up.

As said before, it's true the times set mean relatively little, but as Button pointed out, there is no smoke without fire.

"Ferrari was fast," he said. "We don't know how fast, but you can't do that time if you are not competitive."

The new Ferrari, in fact, seems to be fast on the slower runs - those where it was running heavier fuel loads - as well as the much lighter runs when the fastest times of the session were set.

And even more intriguingly, Alonso's fastest time was actually set eight laps BEFORE he finished the run he was on - so his fastest time was set while still carrying a not insignificant amount of fuel."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sarahholt/20 ... o_a_f.html

"It's fair to say none of the teams are going to know all of the answers after just three days' running their 2010 cars, built to accommodate maximum fuel loads following the banning of in-race refuelling for the first time in 16 years and, in some cases, to atone for last season's disastrous design flaws.

Ferrari's red machines looked consistently impressive and topped the timesheets for three days. That will please the Italian team immensely after they endured their worse start to a season in nearly 30 years in 2009.

New recruit Fernando Alonso clocked the fastest time of the test on its final day as he scorched round Valencia's Ricardo Tormo track in one minute 11.470 seconds, to eclipse Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa's best mark of 1:11.722 by 0.252 seconds.

Alonso's best lap was set during a period when he was running with low fuel levels - but not low enough to take anything away from his pace.

Given the brilliant Spaniard's fiery determination to win a third world championship title now he has finally arrived at Ferrari, his immediate pace looks potentially ominous for those trying to stop him."

[GB_Simo]

Then there's, for example, James Allen, who holds the McLaren as the benchmark based on "estimated fuel-corrected times" having obtained what information he could from engineers present. It's a fact that Hamilton put together a run of 20 or so laps on Tuesday that was spectacular, that Alonso's fastest run was half the length and that Button seems to be managing expectations, but what does it mean? Valencia is neither a tyre circuit nor an aero circuit, after all.

I was saying to PK the other day that I'm already incredibly excited about Bahrain, because that's the first time we'll really start to see the true picture. Remember BMW in 2008, who were about as quick as custard until Saturday practice in Melbourne and then suddenly took off, and one Felipe Massa's "we have the car we hoped for" last year. This year, until and unless people start doing full race simulations later in testing, we're not going to have any real idea at all of how cars are behaving on full tanks and how they alter as the fuel burns off. Tyre management is going to play a role too, and while Jerez will tell us more about that, nothing in pre-season is going to paint the full picture.

Good, isn't it?

[pk500]

F*ck yes, it's good. I haven't been this stoked for the start of an F1 season in quite a few years.

[toonarmy]

I agree that the times thus far are fairly meaningless. There are too many variables at work at this point, and too many unknowns to get excited or unexcited about particular lap times. In fact, this year in particular I don't think even the first race or two will be very conclusive in revealing who may or may not win the championship, constructor's or driver's. There is going to be enormous analysis and adjustments being made once the teams get a feel for not only the new fueling rule, but also in regard to tires. I think it's fairly safe to say that Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes will contend at the top, but who else will be there, if any? That may not be answered so readily.

Normally I do not give much of a rat's piss about the new teams except on a casual basis, but this season is completely different. It will be exciting to see how the new teams fare against the entire field, as well as against each other. Namely, I cannot wait to see how Lotus perform over the course of the season. Gascoyne is good at what he does and perhaps he can help Lotus overachieve a bit. I cannot remember ever going into an F1 season with so many layers of interest as this one -- new teams, new drivers, return of a legend, new rules, quality of drivers on the grid, etc. And, oh yeah, there's a World Cup taking place this summer as well. Sporting Nirvana for me.

[Rodster]

I see believing these initial test times is a lot like Global Warming. I guess it all depends on who you believe. As Al Gore would say, y'all are just deniers.

I have my doubts about two teams making the grid for 2010. The first is an easy one because these have admitted it and that's Campos. They are trying to find additional funding and Bernie is pulling for them.

The other has just denied the rumors and speculation and that's USF1. Peter Windsor keeps saying they are working their butts off and will be on grid at Bharain. They have yet to pass the F1 crash test, they've signed two rookie non- American drivers (who by the way was supposed to be made up of US drivers). They were late on a payment because a sponsor dropped out. He said they were replaced.

So Peter Windsor gets my FIA award for smoke and mirrors.

[Rodster]

Piquet qualifies in 7th place and Danica in 12th for their first ARCA race. Props to Nelson doing so well. I think Danica should stick to Indycars. I know i'm in the minority but i've always thought she is mostly marketing and a decent (average) racer excluding sex.

[GB_Simo]

Have USF1 signed Valles yet? I'd read that they required the successful applicant for the role of driver 2 to bring 8 million of some currency or other. Why an American with that kind of money to spend would want to spend it with USF1 is something of a mystery to me, and all signs do point to them being right up Sh*t Creek, but we'll see.

I'm interested in the Stefan GP operation, who appear to be awfully serious about getting on the 2010 grid. Kazuki Nakajima is apparently contracted to race, and as for the other driver, nothing's confirmed but it seems that someone's been getting ideas from somewhere.



I can't imagine where.

Rumours that the driver in question has received handwritten letters on petrolheadblog.com headed notepaper beginning, "Dear Ralfie, I need a new friend..." are thought to be wide of the mark.

[GB_Simo]

I have my doubts about two teams making the grid for 2010. The first is an easy one because these have admitted it and that's Campos. They are trying to find additional funding and Bernie is pulling for them.

I bet he is. Remind me, what's the name of that Brazilian fella they've signed to drive for them?

[Rodster]

I have my doubts about two teams making the grid for 2010. The first is an easy one because these have admitted it and that's Campos. They are trying to find additional funding and Bernie is pulling for them.

I bet he is. Remind me, what's the name of that Brazilian fella they've signed to drive for them?

My bad Adam, I meant to say Stefan GP instead of Campos. Bernie thinks both Campos and USF1 won't make the grid for Bahrain and he's pulling for Stephan GP and want's Ralph Schu to get a seat.

[GB_Simo]

Surely nobody genuinely wants that. I'd imagine even Ralf's father shrugs when he's asked about it.

Edited, because I'm being a bit harsh. The Ralf Schumacher that drove for Williams up to mid-2003 would be a welcome addition, because he was genuinely a fine racing driver. Not as good as he thought he was, granted, but plenty good enough. The man cruising and collecting for the rest of his career, especially after that Indy shunt that seemed somehow to knock something out of him, must be better served staying at home.

Edity edit: Fine, this is all my fault. Happy now?

[pk500]

Adam, you're being too kind to Ralf the F*g. Ralf only was effective when the car was perfect.

I've read and heard from my friends in the F1 media that Ralf was incapable of hustling a car when it wasn't perfectly suited to his liking.

[GB_Simo]

I always had it down as an issue of desire rather than talent - I'll never forget seeing him at Silverstone in '98 in the wet, dragging the Jordan from the back to 6th place. The thing was still a dog at that stage, and he flew. As time went on, I felt he didn't tend to look like he was all that interested no matter how the car seemed.

Mind, as far as only being effective when the car is perfect goes, it works if the car is good enough often enough. Ask Jenson.

I'll raise the shields now, shall I?

[Rodster]

I tend to agree with Adam that Ralf was a very good F1 driver if he wanted to be. My perception of Ralf was that he wanted others to confuse him with his brother so that way he never had to show up at the track.

[toonarmy]

Ralf was a competent F1 driver, and that is about as kind as I can be about his ability. He drove without passion or balls the vast majority of the time he was in F1.

As for USF1, Campos, and Stefan, Bernie is making himself look bad by seeming to undermine USF1 and Campos in favor of Stefan. Perhaps he is panicky because the new points system will be a bit of a farce if USF1 and Campos cannot make it to the grid this season. Bernie has almost certainly been meddling in the Campos/Stefan and Dallara chassis situation in order to give Stefan a better shot at entry. It will be intriguing to see who actually makes it to the grid. Windsor still appears confident that USF1 will compete this year, as he claims passing the crash test is just around the corner and was delayed due to massive development time put into the car. I'll believe it when I see it. This entire situation with USF1/Campos/Stefan is actually pretty absurd considering how close we are to the start of the season.

[pk500]

Ralf was a competent F1 driver, and that is about as kind as I can be about his ability. He drove without passion or balls the vast majority of the time he was in F1.

Ding-DING! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

[Rodster]

If this post on the Autosport board is true then both Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor are frauds. I went to the AR1.com boards which linked the following post to the Autosport forums:

http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?s ... try4123537

edit: take the following with a large dose of salt. Bernie and others have their doubts about USF1. What do you guys think?

[GB_Simo]

I'm sure it was USF1 that PK was referring to last year when he used the term "racing vapourware", and I've heard too many people saying the same things to really believe that USF1 are going to make Bahrain. It's very, very widely rumoured that they're way, way behind on the chassis and in a whole world of financial trouble.

Chad Hurley seems to have been suggesting recently that he gave them some start-up capital but isn't involved long-term, which directly contradicts everything USF1 have said about his involvement and sounds like the talk of a man very keen to distance himself from the whole affair. It's certainly not what I'd want to hear my highest-profile backer saying.

[Rodster]

So is this Bernie's way of ensuring teams in trouble money wise can still race in F1, please say it ain't so.

Campos and US F1 could miss first three races

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/8320.html

[pk500]

I'm sad to say "I told you so" in this case. It would have been really cool to have a U.S.-based team on the grid.

[Rodster]

I'm sad to say "I told you so" in this case. It would have been really cool to have a U.S.-based team on the grid.

Yeah it sux well at least we don't have to listen to Peter Windsor butt licking F1 during SPEED's coverage.