Official F1/Motorsport thread

[Shez]

I think Hamilton is struggling to adapt to the challenge coming from Button - Most people expected him to deal with the Button threat easily, and its been nothing like that, not this season at least.

He mentions Button in nearly every interview, and despite his best efforts, his body language screams disappointment - He needs to find a way to deal with this or he is going to implode.

Ignoring the media requests, and shutting up shop isn't working, i've never understood why he doesn't do interviews on grid - Not when his team mate is so open to it. He's falling out of favour on the track, in the team, and with the media. You only have to read the BBC website to see that button is their darling, and if you saw the red button coverage on Sunday, its clear why.

Great racer, and far more enjoyable to watch that 95% of the drivers on the track, lets hope he sorts himself out in time for next season, because Button could quite easily carry his form from this season, and Hamilton will not be able to deal with it in his current state.

[Bort]

Bummer to start the day on.

Dan Wheldon died yesterday in the Indy Car Las Vegas 300 in a bad pile up. Probably best if you don't watch the footage on youtube.

Every time I've seen him race he seemed like a very nice guy.

[Atticus]

Yeah, just read about that. Very sad news You just don't expect to be reading about motorsport tragedies like this in this day and age.

[Flabio]

Indy is still insanely dangerous, they have hardly any of the safety features that are mandatory in F1 now.

I'm not even going to watch the footage of this one, Alex Zanardi's one a few years back was bad enough, and he somehow survived his (lost both legs).

[PeteJ]

Horrific crash, one of the worst I've seen to be honest. Very sad

[fallenangle]

Maybe someone posted earlier but no mention of the BTCC which finished for this year yesterday. As expected the turbo charged Honda's dominated at Silverstone and after Jason Plato's puncture in the first race the competition was effectively over. Matt Neal won but despite his undoubted driving skills regularly displayed throughout the season for me it had a hollow feel because it was so inevitable.One wonders what woud have happened if the Honda's had been pegged back right from the start of the season rather than the incremental changes made to the engine rules from race meeeting to race meeting.

[Gradius]

Marco Simocelli in critical condition after crash in Moto GP in Malaysia. Never good to see a riders helmet come off. They have cancelled the race too.

Not a good week for motorsport.

[NW2013]

Yeah, it was disturbing. They didn't show many replays so I'm still not sure how it happened. Wasn't good to see him lying face down on the track without a helmet.

[Atticus]

Was watching this morning and just read the very sad news. RIP Marco ... devastated

[Flabio]

Sounds like it was a pretty freakish accident the way the BBC site are describing it. Not really a bikes fan, but on the few occasions I've seen him race he seemed to be a bit like Kobayashi in the F1, going for moves that other people wouldn't. big crowd favourite as a result, and a huge loss.

[bwi]

Saw this happen and when i saw the helmet come off, i just had a really bad feeling. RIP Marco

[Bort]

Shame, nice guy and he could have grown into a very good rider.

[NW2013]

RIP Marco. As the commentators were saying today it seemed he was starting to get his act together and getting good results, like the podium last week, and was up for a factory Honda ride next year. Valencia will be an odd race.

[MartyG]

RIP, definitely a character who wasn't afraid to trade paint but that just made the racing more exciting. Moto GP is a dangerous game, but when the helmet came off you knew it wasn't going to be a good outcome

Post race press conference, pretty sobering stuff: http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2011...rco+Simoncelli

[TheForce]

very very sad indeed... When I saw the accident and the helmet rolling over the grass I had a very bad feeling already that it would/could be very serious. Got a very cold feeling when watching it, same feeling when back in 94 when Senna died.

He will be greatly missed for the sport.

RIP nr.58 ....