Official F1/Motorsport thread

[Duddyroar]

Setting himself up for a job there by any chance...?

Well it worked - he's been confirmed as part of the BBC's team next season.

[Richard.John]

Confirmed?

The DC vs Kravitz mud slinging is great though. Losing your job can piss you right off.

[VR46]

Well it worked - he's been confirmed as part of the BBC's team next season.

Thought it was only a rumour so far ... roll on Sundays race, really looking forward to it.

[Senna]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article4910142.ece

This is where the Coulthard/BBC story has originated from.

So, looks like a Brundle/Legard commentator combination, and hopefully a Suzi Perry (mmmmm) and Coulthard presenter/pundit pairing.

Not sure what is the best news - Brundle as commentator or no James Allen

P.S. That pro-Hamilton bias in that Schumacher interview is ridiculous. 'What makes Lewis Hamilton so good?'

To which the answer should be: 'What makes him less likeable than Alonso and Vettel?' or 'What makes Vettel and Alonso probably even faster?'

Really hope this isn't a sign of things to come at the BBC next year as is the case with James Toseland on Moto GP coverage. The difference there is that James Toseland is a down-to-earth, more naturally likeable person.

[TheForce]

I think it's quite normal the top drivers of your own country gets extra attention compared to drivers from other countries.
I always switch between the dutch and german TV channels when watching F1 and you don't want to know how the germans are talkin about their drivers (they cannot do anything wrong..) and can you imagine we had to watch every week on the dutch TV that idiot Christian Albers (if some can even remember him?...)

[Senna]

Yeah, I remember Albers. He cocked up really badly one time on a pitstop didn't he?

I get your point regarding bias on F1 coverage for same-nationality drivers, but the difference here is that this interview was carried out by the BBC, who are supposed to be impartial.

Granted, they are nowhere in the same region as ITV's at-times painful broadcasting.

[Roddie]

Speaking of Suzi Perry, what happened to her as a presenter on the MotoGP? Haven't seen her in a while (maybe it's not been as long as I think, but don't remember her at last 2 races at least).

I think Brundle as commentator and Allen not is equally good news. There will always be nationality bias, regardless of whether it's on ITV or BBC. Look how much coverage Button used to get, it's not exactly surprising they've become so excited now they've got someone outpacing the double world champion in the same car and now in for a good shout at the championship.

I still remember Christijan Albers! I watch him in the DTM, which is a series he used to be good at, until he left for F1, failed miserably at it, and now has come back to the German Touring Cars, but with a 2 year old car.

[VR46]

Qualifying/Race times for this weekend

SAT Qualifying 06:00
SUN Race 05:30

Glock and Alonso fastest in Friday afternoon Practice.

[MonkeyWrench]

Just got back to the hotel from qualifying. Bloody marvelous day, rained a little before qualy kicked off but then was dry and warm during. I`m not sure if it`s been broadcast back over there yet (other than that early morning slot), great performance by

->Open Spoiler<-

Hamilton. I did a cheer and a fist thrust into the air and noticed there was no one else celebrating, I seemed to be the only english fan there

! One of the Renaults almost become a cropper on the 2nd to last bend right in front of us, a pretty impressive powerslide. Glock also did pretty well also following on from his performance on Friday. Can`t wait for the race tomorrow.

I`ve never been to a race before and I was really surprised by how much sound TV broadcasts miss. These cars create tons of bass when they are down shifting, makes your rib cage rattle! They`re also a lot louder than I thought they were, I mean you know they`re loud, but they`re BLOODY loud. Thankfully I took some ear plugs.

No doubt I`ll be posting again tomorrow...

[Richard.John]

The sound is what blows people away about F1. As you say, you don't know loud until you hear an F1 engine. Enjoy.

With all this talk of cost cutting, I fear we may lose Williams at some point. I mean they are the only independent left on the grid, with no Billionaires to bail them out so the future may be bleak. I am amazed that the VW group hasn't shown an interest in F1 and thus bought them by now. Audi could do with an F1 portfolio to counter its rivals in tech and prestige.

This got me thinking about money and how the teams pour it down the drain to some extent. They spend millions building a car, then bin it at the end of the year and build a new one which is 99&#37; the same as the previous. Why do they do this? Well because all the other teams do of course and so on. What if they agreed a chassis, engine and drivetrain development freeze for, say, five years? The teams could use the same car design basically and have pre set limited areas of improvement body wise, for example. The fans don't care what goes under the bodywork, whether a car has a lighter carbon fibre this or that, than a rival. Surely folks watch for the action the sport brings not the technical aspect.

[saif]

Isn't part of the reason the big manufacturers are involved to do with the R&D bonus? If they had not development on the major aspects of a car, there is little benefit. NOBODY does anything for the fans - it is all a cash generating exercise.

[Richard.John]

Their primary concern is making money by selling cars I would say. That's why Toyota entered anyway.

[Roddie]

Obviously next year is bringing the biggest changes in a while, but I don't think you can say they bin their car at the end of the year. Very rarely is one season's car not just an evolution of the previous year's car.

[Richard.John]

As I said 99&#37; the same. That's an exaggeration of course but you get the idea. What I mean is they spend a ton on designing a new car that might be just a bit faster than the old. To the uninformed, why build a new car if last season's was good enough to win the championship? If they all agreed to freeze development, they wouldn't need to. It's more complicated of course, just my two pence worth.

[Roddie]

Okay, I understand the car is 99&#37; the same as the previous one, and my point is that it's like that because they don't just bin the car at the end of the year and start from scratch.

Your car might be good enough to win the championship one year, but it won't be good enough to win it the next year because everyone else will move forward and I think we need that. Why would we want all the teams to stay where they are now? We need teams like BMW and Renault to have the ability to develop and improve so that can compete with, if not surpass Ferrari and McLaren.