F1 Silly Season 2009!

[Nick Koan]

Glock is out for Brazil and Kamui Kobayashi is in.

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/153387/...nterlagos.html

[Nick Koan]

Qualifying ran very long today guys. If you DVR'd it with normal specs, you may have only made it to the start of Q2. Also, since it was so delayed, the interviews won't even be shown as they have to cut to NASCAR.

Speed will replay qualifying tonight at 1:30 AM EST, probably with a lot of the delay cut out, and with interviews.

[skimonkey30]

Originally Posted by Nick Koan

Qualifying ran very long today guys. If you DVR'd it with normal specs, you may have only made it to the start of Q2. Also, since it was so delayed, the interviews won't even be shown as they have to cut to NASCAR.

Speed will replay qualifying tonight at 1:30 AM EST, probably with a lot of the delay cut out, and with interviews.

same here I have to re-record tonight

I wish the forecast was rain for tomorrow that would make for one hell of a championship battle

[Nick Koan]

Luckily I was watching it live, so I saw it in entirety already, but I kinda want to watch the interviews.

[Dean]

Fuel & Pit Stops:

WTF? I can't believe all the issues with fueling this year, and worse, F1's response for next year. Did I hear correctly, no refueling next year at all.

Why can't they simply make an interlock so the car can't move with the fuel hose attached? Why the best engineering in the world can't figure out how to get fuel into the car reliably just blows my mind as well. And sending a car without the amount of fuel they wanted back out also makes no sense.

Am I missing something? I know it is all about minimizing time in the pits, but something is basically wrong with F1 pitting with all the issues this year with fuel and wheels that goes well beyond human error. or maybe it is all about human error and lack of technical control of the pit stop?

You would think there would be a better solution than just eliminating fueling.

[MikeK]

Originally Posted by Dean

You would think there would be a better solution than just eliminating fueling.

I agree, although I am happy about one side effect: 3rd qualifying session will be done with a light fuel load.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Dean

Fuel & Pit Stops:

WTF? I can't believe all the issues with fueling this year, and worse, F1's response for next year. Did I hear correctly, no refueling next year at all.

Why can't they simply make an interlock so the car can't move with the fuel hose attached? Why the best engineering in the world can't figure out how to get fuel into the car reliably just blows my mind as well. And sending a car without the amount of fuel they wanted back out also makes no sense.

Am I missing something? I know it is all about minimizing time in the pits, but something is basically wrong with F1 pitting with all the issues this year with fuel and wheels that goes well beyond human error. or maybe it is all about human error and lack of technical control of the pit stop?

You would think there would be a better solution than just eliminating fueling.

Fueling is being eliminated for competition and cost reasons, not safety. The goal is to force teams to make cars more fuel efficient because if you can finish the race on 10 less gallons, that's 10 less gallons of fuel weight you have to carry. Basically it's exactly what we've all been talking about being a good idea for F1 to be greener.

And this isn't without precedent, it was what, 3 years ago they didn't allow tire changes? And in previous seasons in the past they've gone the no refueling route, IIRC.

As far as the refueling rigs. They're pressurized setups designed for military helicopters. All the teams are mandated to use the same setup from one manufacturer. My guess is if the teams were designing the rigs, they'd deliver the fuel about 10 times faster, and would kill the whole crew if there was a failure.

I think all the pit errors lately are due to the very tight competition on track. When the whole field qualifies within half a second of the leader, passing in the pits becomes more and more the only way to make up positions. Put more pressure on the pit crews and you get more mistakes.

[Dean]

Fixing the total amount of fuel would accomplish the same thing without eliminating fueling.

IMHO fueling and tire changes are part of racing and should be part of F1.

For the most part, from what I have seen, the fueling issues have not been with the equipment, it has been with the humans: drivers and crew.

I just don't think it would be that difficult to prevent a car that still has a fuel rig attached from being put in gear or the clutch released and to have a means to not release a car that has a wheel miss attached. You can't stop every mechanical pit issue, but the tight competition you describe is generating dangerous conditions and preventable accidents.

Maybe the penalties for pit mistakes just have to be more onerous?

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Dean

Fixing the total amount of fuel would accomplish the same thing without eliminating fueling.

IMHO fueling and tire changes are part of racing and should be part of F1.

For the most part, from what I have seen, the fueling issues have not been with the equipment, it has been with the humans: drivers and crew.

I just don't think it would be that difficult to prevent a car that still has a fuel rig attached from being put in gear or the clutch released and to have a means to not release a car that has a wheel miss attached. You can't stop every mechanical pit issue, but the tight competition you describe is generating dangerous conditions and preventable accidents.

Maybe the penalties for pit mistakes just have to be more onerous?

Fixing the fuel amount is not the same as no refueling. By forcing the cars to carry all their fuel, there's actually more advantage to the cars with better mileage.

Ferrari attempted an electronic system to automate pit stop releases last season. Remember how well that worked when Ferrari was botching stops every other race? My guess is any technological changes to the way pit stops work will result in more failures before less simply due to equipment bugs. Any team that gets trapped in the pits because the fueling rig sensor won't release the car will demand to be able to control their own stops again.

[skimonkey30]

No Loeb in Abu Dhabi:

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...21091802.shtml

[sperry]

Originally Posted by skimonkey30

No Loeb in Abu Dhabi:

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...21091802.shtml

No loss. There have been enough Sebastians in F1 as of late.

[Nick Koan]

http://www.crash.net/f1/video/154015...nnel_exit.html

Here's a lap at Abu Dhabi in one of those two seater F1 cars, including the interesting pit exit. It looks like Bruno Senna was driving. I don't know who the passenger was.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Nick Koan

http://www.crash.net/f1/video/154015...nnel_exit.html

Here's a lap at Abu Dhabi in one of those two seater F1 cars, including the interesting pit exit. It looks like Bruno Senna was driving. I don't know who the passenger was.

Looks like the hotel the track goes "through" is a little before the half-way point of the video. Looks more like it's just a causeway connecting two halves of the hotel that goes over the course. The track isn't really "inside" the hotel.

[sybir]

I would just like to note that I love David Coulthard.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/26/r...-in-an-f1-car/

Some of his great quotes over the years:

http://www.enterf1.com/news/079-the-bite-point.asp

[Nick Koan]

And reports are that Glock is sitting out again, and Kobeyashi will be driving Abu Dhabi. That might be it for Glock, at least at Toyota.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Nick Koan

And reports are that Glock is sitting out again, and Kobeyashi will be driving Abu Dhabi. That might be it for Glock, at least at Toyota.

Yeah, that's a pretty shitty way to end a career.

[sperry]

Salary estimates for 2009 drivers:

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...28194037.shtml

As ever, the figures are all but impossible to verify, but it still makes interesting reading...

2009 driver salaries – US $ (m)
1 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F60 - 45
2 . L. Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 - 18
3 . F. Alonso - Renault R29 - 15
4 . N. Rosberg - Williams Toyota FW31 - 8.5
5 . F. Massa - Ferrari F60 - 8
6 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF109 - 6.5
7 . S. Vettel - Red Bull Renault RB5 - 6
8 . M. Webber - Red Bull Renault RB5 - 5.5
9 . J. Button - Brawn Mercedes BGP 001 - 5
10 . R. Kubica - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 4.5
11 . H. Kovalainen - McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 - 3.5
12 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 2.8
13 . G. Fisichella - Ferrari F60 - 1.5
14 . S. Buemi - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR4 - 1.5
15 . R. Barrichello - Brawn Mercedes BGP 001 - 1
16 . J. Alguersuari - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR4 - 0.5
17 . A. Sutil - Force India Mercedes VJM02 - 0
18 . K. Nakajima - Williams Toyota FW31 - 0
19 . V. Liuzzi - Force India Mercedes VJM02 - 0
20 . R. Grosjean - Renault R29 - 0

If this doesn't make Kimi look like the biggest douche alive, I dunno what else could. $45M and still he's disinterested in his job as a professional race car driver?!? What an assclown. No wonder Ferrari is willing to pay him to GTFO of Alonso's car next season. Alonso in a Ferrari is going to be a force to be reckoned with... too bad I'm not a fan.

[Nick Koan]

Trulli and Sutil keep bickering about the crash from Brazil.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.a...47286&PO=47286

I think Trulli was fully at fault in the incident, but he keeps fighting it like crazy.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Nick Koan

Trulli and Sutil keep bickering about the crash from Brazil.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.a...47286&PO=47286

I think Trulli was fully at fault in the incident, but he keeps fighting it like crazy.

If I had to blame someone it was Trulli's fault. But it was more a "racing incident" than anything. Someone checks up on lap 1... there's going to be some carnage.