OT: Racing 2013 (Spoiler Alert)

[GB_Simo]

Rod, I don't know anything for certain but would suggest you're onto something as regards Alonso. From what I understand, he and his management wouldn't now be all that distressed if an exit route were to present itself...

A quick word for Felipe. For all that we've criticised him, and Lord knows I have in recent years, that man has plenty to be proud of, hasn't he? To come back from his injuries at all was something, given that we know how recovery from major head trauma is a drawn-out affair. Never forget, too, that had it rained 30 seconds later that São Paulo afternoon, Felipe Massa would have been a world champion, and that the class and dignity with which he accepted defeat showed him to be that rarest of creatures in an F1 paddock, a genuinely decent man.

[pk500]

Very well said about Massa, matey. He's a sportsman in the truest sense of the word. Sadly, F1 is losing two of those guys after this season, Massa and Webber.

Button might be the only one left.

[pk500]

Montoya back to IndyCar in 2014 with Penske. Ka-boom. Good day for North American open-wheel racing.

[Dave]

Montoya back to IndyCar in 2014 with Penske. Ka-boom. Good day for North American open-wheel racing.

Fantastic news. I was bummed hearing about him turning down Andretti, seemingly for Furniture Row. Some of my favorite on-board shots were from Montoya in his CART days.

[XXXIV]

Vettel is good.

Alonso giving Webber a ride was pretty cool.

[GB_Simo]

He is. Very.

Speaking of very good things, I saw Rush last night. Switch off your inner racing historian - and you will need to, because various real-world events are spiced up, or placed out of sequence (or, in the case of BTCC race winner Rob Austin's one-line portrayal of Brett Lunger, men from Delaware mysteriously acquire an accent from the English Midlands) - and you will have a fine old time. Daniel Bruhl's portrayal of Niki Lauda is exactly as brilliant as the trailers made it seem, Chris Hemsworth isn't a million miles away from James Hunt and the 2 hours flew past. The ending is lovely, surprisingly touching and though I won't spoil it for you, it confirmed to me that Ron Howard and his crew really did wanted to entertain the masses without alienating the fanatics. I reckon they did a cracking job.

[XXXIV]

Good news! Been looking forward to this one.

[pk500]

Thanks for the review, Adam. Can't wait to see this film this weekend or next week.

[Dave]

Just for the hell of it, here's a Senna qualifying video Simon Pagenaud linked to on Twitter tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK6RZdb-Ooo

Those were some angry beasts, I needed to exhale after that lap.

[GB_Simo]

Every time I watch that video, I'm convinced the bit where he catches Piquet and Grouillard doing nothing much in the middle of the road is going to end in a massive shunt. I'm sure he set that lap after going to the scene of Martin Donnelly's career-ending big one - how anyone could witness that scene and then turn in a lap like this one boggles my mind.

[Rodster]

There is a possibility of a 22 race F1 season for 2014. Some are provisional but it's also possible they could all be on the calendar.

March 16 - Australia GP, Melbourne
March 30 - Malaysia GP, Sepang
April 6 - Bahrain GP, Sakhir
April 20 - China GP, Shanghai
April 27 - Korea GP, Mokpo (provisional)
May 11 - Spain GP, Barcelona
May 25 - Monaco GP, Monaco
June 1 - GP of America, New Jersey (provisional)*
June 8 - Canada GP, Montreal
June 22 - Austria GP, Red Bull Ring
July 6 - Britain GP, Silverstone
July 20 - Germany GP, Hockenheim
July 27 - Hungary GP, Hungaroring
August 24 - Belgium GP, Spa-Francorchamps
September 7 - Italy GP, Monza
September 21 - Singapore GP, Marina Bay
October 5 - Russia, Sochi
October 12- Japan GP, Suzuka
October 26 - Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina
November 9 - Mexico, Mexico City (provisional)*
November 16 - USA, Circuit of the Americas
November 30 - Brazil, Interlagos
* (subject to circuit approval)

[pk500]

The greatest and winningest chief mechanic in IndyCar and Indianapolis 500 history, George Bignotti, died today at 97. RIP.

[XXXIV]

He is. Very.

Speaking of very good things, I saw Rush last night. Switch off your inner racing historian - and you will need to, because various real-world events are spiced up, or placed out of sequence (or, in the case of BTCC race winner Rob Austin's one-line portrayal of Brett Lunger, men from Delaware mysteriously acquire an accent from the English Midlands) - and you will have a fine old time. Daniel Bruhl's portrayal of Niki Lauda is exactly as brilliant as the trailers made it seem, Chris Hemsworth isn't a million miles away from James Hunt and the 2 hours flew past. The ending is lovely, surprisingly touching and though I won't spoil it for you, it confirmed to me that Ron Howard and his crew really did wanted to entertain the masses without alienating the fanatics. I reckon they did a cracking job.

Agree 100%!

Saw it today. Loved it today. Turned up my new found fondness of F1 to 11.

Bruhl and Hemsworth are both great as is everyone else in the movie. Just so very well done from start to finish.

9/10

[DChaps]

Formula 1 - Former F1 test driver Maria de Villota found dead in hotel room. Looks like cause of death was cardiac arrest, due to detachment of brain tissue. RIP....

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/form ... 5--f1.html

[pk500]

Formula 1 - Former F1 test driver Maria de Villota found dead in hotel room. Looks like cause of death was cardiac arrest, due to detachment of brain tissue. RIP....

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/form ... 5--f1.html

Aftereffects of her horrible accident last year, sadly. She was just rebuilding her life, too. Recently was married, became FIA representative for road safety, etc.

Very, very sad.

[XXXIV]

I was going to post that vettel was good and read that....Very sad...

RIP Maria

[GB_Simo]

Am I alone in thinking that nothing about Scuderia Toro Rosso signing Daniil Kvyat for 2014 makes sense? He has a shot at winning the GP3 title but is currently 2nd in the championship against a fairly moderate field, has never raced anything further up the ladder than that and, though he fairly ran away from the field at Monza the other week, not a single thing about his season or career to date has screamed "I need to be in F1, yesterday."

Speaking of being further up the ladder, what does this do for Dr Marko's driver development programme, which has at least two drivers operating at a higher level than Kvyat but apparently unworthy of an F1 seat? Unless JEV is on his way out of STR at the end of 2014 (which would be unjust to say the least, unless he's replacing a Ferrari-bound Vettel at RBR once Alonso firms up his Maranello exit route...ah, the joys of idle speculation), where can Antonio Felix da Costa realistically go from here? Not to F1, it would appear, in which case you wonder what purpose is being served by his remaining in the Red Bull Junior ranks.

All very, very peculiar, methinks.

[pk500]

Helmut Marko is a Machiavellian asshole. He has screwed far more young drivers through the Red Bull program than he has helped.

There's no rhyme or reason behind promotions or eliminations from the Red Bull junior program. It's all subject to Marko's peculiar and twisted whims.

[GB_Simo]

This the same Helmut Marko whose influence led to Red Bull funding being pulled from Sauber in 2001, when Peter Sauber declined Marko's choice Enrique Bernoldi (eventual career record: 28 F1 starts, 0 points) in favour of his own selection, one Kimi Raikkonen (record to date: 191 F1 starts, 963 points, 20 wins, 1 world drivers title). Quite the talent-spotter.

[pk500]

A hearty salute to American Ben Spies, who was forced to retire from MotoGP this morning at age 29 due to shoulder problems. Dude burned like a meteor across MotoGP from 2010-12, leaving the sport too soon.

[F308GTB]

A hearty salute to American Ben Spies, who was forced to retire from MotoGP this morning at age 29 due to shoulder problems. Dude burned like a meteor across MotoGP from 2010-12, leaving the sport too soon.

He just wants to race his bicycle

While unfortunate that he is leaving motorized sport, hopefully the shoulder won't prevent him from racing his bicycle. He's actually a very talented bike racer, and his team, Elbowz, dominated the Texas racing scene as well as being one of the top regional/national amateur teams in the US. No doubt we'll see him again on the track albeit under his own power.

[pk500]

Exactly what I thought, James. Honestly, Ben has shown more passion for bicycle racing than motorcycle racing the last 18 months. Hell, he almost quit after last season. So riding for and running Elbowz is the logical progression for Spies.

His shoulder injury won't prevent him from bike racing if he stays upright. The forces placed on the shoulder racing a 275-horsepower motorcycle at 210 mph are on a different planet compared to those exerted in competitive cycling.

[F308GTB]

Ho hum. Seb wins another title. The one thing the India race did for me was continue my resolve not to go to that part of the world. The smog was terrible

[Rodster]

Congrats to Seb for a 4th title in a row. Some want to put him with the elite drivers in F1 history, I can't. He's really good but for me he's not in the class of the all time greats. Having a dominant car the last few years will add the trophies. The one thing Seb hasn't shown me is the ability to take a sub par car and win races and make it competitive. I remember when Schumacher joined Ferrari and drove that sled to a few victories and Alonso nearly winning the title twice in a much slower car.

This article pretty much sums it up for me http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/mot ... w--;_ylv=3

[XXXIV]

Gratz to Seb the robot driving machine.

Im pretty new to F1 and from my newb non ferrari point of view, it is not just that the guy wins almost every race , its the dominant style in which he does it.

also is Webber a s*** driver?

I see that they fined the dude for celebrating.