Official F1/Motorsport thread

[SH4R4KU]

This was one of Michael Schumacher's many strengths, his abillity to technically diagnose and explain the performance issues of the car. In contrast, I remember seeing a documentary about high speed racing and they did a spot on Mark Blundell in the IRL.. at one point his engineer asked what was wrong with the car and Mark replied "It's bollocks mate." wow thanks!

Yeh, agreed.

I think more people need to watch Days of Thunder. Then they'll understand.

[Shez]

Talking of Brundle, he was involved in the most exciting race I have ever seen, anyone wanna have a guess when it was?

I hope someone else saw it, because it truly was fantastic.

[Roddie]

Are you talking about the Australian one when his Benson & Hedges Jordan went flying off at the first corner? or maybe the Canadian one when he passed Schumacher but his car died?

[Richard.John]

And then he got out of said B&H Jordan and calmly went racing again. Balls the size of melons and made of titanium, I tell ya.

[Shez]

doh! I meant Blundell not Brundle.

[Alastair]

Oh dear oh dear:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7948455.stm

Formula 1 has introduced a new points system that will see the driver with most wins crowned world champion.

The current points system will still operate to decide a tie if two drivers have the same wins and to define all other championship positions.

Had the new rules been in place in 2008, Lewis Hamilton would have lost the title to runner-up Felipe Massa.

From 2010, there will be an optional budget cap of ?30m that will reduce some teams' spending by 90%.

The new rules were approved by the World Motor Sport Council of governing body the FIA at a meeting in Paris on Tuesday.

It rejected a proposal by the F1 Teams' Association to tweak the points system to 12-9-7-5-4-3-2-1 from first to eighth places.

Instead, the current 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 system will stay in place.

The budget cap is an attempt to make F1 more accessible to new teams.

Teams choosing to operate within the budget cap will be allowed more technical freedom.

Those teams will be allowed: a more aerodynamically efficient (but standard) underbody; movable wings; an engine which is not subject to a rev limit or a development freeze.

Teams can choose to spend what they like, but operate within more restrictive technical rules - and therefore have a theoretically slower car.

[sharky_ob]

Not impressed. I suppose we'll have to wait and see what effect this has, but I don't like this knee-jerk reaction to what happened at the end of last season.

[abigsmurf]

I think it's good the championship will go to the driver with the most wins. Car failure is too harsh under the current points system and it encourages processions at the front of the race. Why should someone risk 8 points to get an extra 2 at the potential cost of all his points?

Car reliability should be for the constructors championship, the driver championship should be about the drivers skill.

I can't see that budget cap working. The richer teams will be able to use their extensive research capabilities to get around additional limitations and distance themselves from the standardised cars.

I would've liked to have seen teams free to do their own research and testing, but any parts they come up with have to have their designs made available to be manufactured by other teams.

[Richard.John]

The wins idea is ****e. Eccle$tone has got his medals then....

[Senna]

Just when they make some positive changes like bringing back slick tyres and reducing downforce....

What a load of bollocks. Jesus.

Time for Ecclestone to exit right. 12 points for a win would have been by far the better move, not this shoddy populist PR exercise stunt. Yet who is this popular with? Certainly not the majority based on reactions.

If the McLaren really is as slow as expected, Hamilton can already kiss the championship goodbye unless McLaren can bring it up to speed very quickly. From past experience if a car is fundamentally slow at the beginning of a season, very rarely (with exceptions obviously) can it be transformed quickly enough, and the ban on testing will make this even more unlikely.

Anyway, cynicism aside, I cannot wait for Melbourne in a week and a half's time. Winter breaks are too barren....

[Senna]

I've had another couple of minutes to think over this.

I now not only think this is a stupid idea, I think it is an INCREDIBLY stupid idea.

I don't know why I am so angry over this, because it's just a sport at the end of the day, and nobody has died. But Jesus. I'm so furious over this I may even start up my own protest group

This post on 606 brings up a great point over the matter.

Just look at the reaction!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A48728091

Edit: This is the best point.


"We will never see top drivers charge through the field if they qualify poorly.

Instead they will turn the engine down and save it for the next race."

Too true. This just hasn't been thought through properly has it? Repeal. Repeal.


Also: the point is highly correct that if a driver wins 6 out of the first 9/10 races say, the championship will be effectively decided well before the end of the season. We will probably never have a last race or penultimate race decider anymore.

[Richard.John]

This seems to have slipped under the radar...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73753

And a good point about why the 'medals' system is crap, from many comments on James Allen's blog.

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/index.htm

At the very least, just imagine if one driver won six races and DNF'd the rest, and his championship rival won five races, and finished second in all the others. The former would be champ even though he would have huge points deficit compared to his main rival. Bonkers and it could happen.

It's basically returning to the best 11 results decides the champ system which they binned in time for the 1991 season, and rightly so.

[Duddyroar]

One word: madness.

When it Bernie going to be put down? He's clearly not in possession of all his marbles any more.

[sharky_ob]

Mike, I will join your protest group. Get it set up lad!

This rule change is just stupid, end of.

[TheForce]

I hoped they would go for the 12-9-7... etc. points system, but what they came up now is not good for the sport if you ask me... it's unfair for the more reliable but a bit slower cars. Also if one car is superior in the beginning of the season it's almost impossible for the other teams to catch up with an fair chance to win the championship.
Nah, I don't see this going to work.... but, I really hope that I'm wrong though and we will have an fantastic season !

That said, I can also understand the other side of this, this could make them battle more hard for a victory, maybe a more do or die overtakings.... But then the stewards shouldn't punish the drivers to much for racing and trying to overtake other cars.

I'm already glad the motorsport season is starting again, I have enjoyed the Superbike races from the last weeks and MotoGP and F1 is almost to start again as well !!