Official F1/Motorsport thread

[Senna]

When you say that, given the right set-up, Prost was almost unbeatable, I would say there is some truth in that. In their 2 seasons together at McLaren, Prost proved himself the equal of Senna over the course of a season. Races like the French GP at Paul Ricard saw Senna have no answer to Prost's pace on occasion.

Prost in the mid 80's especially was in his prime at a time when fuel conservation saw race tactics and controlled pace placed at a premium.

But with Senna there was the aggression, the passion, the intensity. In death his legend was cemented, and the way it happened live on TV only made it even more enduring. Suzuka 1990 for me is the only black spot on Senna's career.

Prost and Senna - both amazing drivers, both would knock spots of most of today's field, but for me Senna just stands out because he summed up what motorsport means for me - on the limit, total concentration, never give an inch.

[Richard.John]

They would both, most likely, be in my top five of all time, I feel. MS has to be in there too as stats don't lie.

[ChrisF]

Max Mosley's son found dead: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8036232.stm

[Richard.John]

Fernando and Lewis: In mutual respect shocker...

Seems that these two are saying nice things about each other these days, a far cry from 07 or 08 it seems. Personally I think it's nice to see as they are probably the two best drivers in F1, and maybe they have realised that, like Senna-Prost, they need and feed of each other to some degree.

[Bort]

Spanish Grand Prix

Barcelona, 8-10 May 2009

Saturday 9
Third practice: 1100-1200 (1000-1100 BST)
BBC coverage (UK): 1000-1100, Red Button/5 Live sports extra/online
Qualifying: 1400 (1300 BST)
BBC coverage (UK): 1210-1415, BBC One/Red Button/5 Live sports extra/online

Sunday 10
Race: 1400 (1300 BST)
BBC coverage (UK): 1210-1500, BBC One/Red Button/5 Live/online.
Interactive forum: 1500-1600 ,BBC Red Button/online

[NW2013]

D'oh, Ferrari! D'oh! Shaping up for a good race tomorrow. Can't believe how competitive this season is compared to last. I think the BMW is now competing with Renault for the fugly award.

[Bort]

[B]Pos  Driver                Team                  Weight (kg)[/B]
 1.  Jenson Button         Brawn Mercedes        646.0
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      RBR Renault           651.5
 3.  Rubens Barrichello    Brawn Mercedes        649.5
 4.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               655.0
 5.  Mark Webber           RBR Renault           651.5
 6.  Timo Glock            Toyota                646.5
 7.  Jarno Trulli          Toyota                655.5
 8.  Fernando Alonso       Renault               645.0
 9.  Nico Rosberg          Williams Toyota       668.0
10.  Robert Kubica         BMW Sauber            660.0
11.  Kazuki Nakajima       Williams Toyota       676.6*
12.  Nelson Piquet         Renault               677.4*
13.  Nick Heidfeld         BMW Sauber            676.3*
14.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren Mercedes      683.0*
15.  S?bastien Buemi       STR Ferrari           678.0*
16.  Kimi R?ikk?nen        Ferrari               673.0*
17.  S?bastien Bourdais    STR Ferrari           669.0*
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     McLaren Mercedes      657.0*
19.  Adrian Sutil          Force India Mercedes  675.0*
20.  Giancarlo Fisichella  Force India Mercedes  656.0*
* declared weight

Stolen from Autosport.

[VR46]

Yep Qualifying has given us a interesting grid, should be a good race. Button/Vettel/Rubens for the top spots if nothing untoward happens to them.

Kimi and his advisor's need a severe boot up the arse. Can't believe Ferrari have made the same n00b mistake twice in a handful of races. Good showing from Massa though.

[Paulos G]

Should indeed be a good race. Be interesting to see how well Massa can use KERS at the start.

[Richard.John]

Anyone else reckon that Toyota's threat not to register for 2010 season is just their way of finding an excuse to pull the plug? The teams are going to have to accept some form of budget cap as it is.

[Flabio]

Most teams seem broadly in favour of the cap, it's the whole 'if you agree to this cap you don't have to follow the same tachnical rules as the ones that don't'.

I suspect if they upped the cap a bit and ditched the two tier thing, it would stop being an issue.

[NW2013]

Surprised by how light Button is. Should give Vettel a bit of an advantage as he should have a few laps of clear running at low weight at the first stops. Great job from Massa considering the weight he's running.

It's strange that both RBR cars appear to be on the same strategy. Don't most teams do something different with the other driver in case of crashes, weather, etc, etc?

[Largo]

love a good crash

[ShadowDancer]

That was spectacular!

[Richard.John]

Well done JB. He really is driving like the champ elect. The Italian press will be sharpening their knives as we speak. WTF is going on at Maranello?