Re: 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread I'm still dismayed at the Alonso signing if only because the only thing I hate more than Ferrari is that arrogant prick Fernando Alonso. I actually feel bad for my Tifosi friends, though now they get to suffer a season with that asshole after McLaren had to in 2007.
Re: 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread It´s just speculation right now but looks like we still might get 13 teams instead of 12 next season. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/de ... -russia-f1
Re: 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread I'll be damned if I see a fucking Rusky in F1 next year. I pray Sauber takes Kobayashi, that boy's got talent.
Re: 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread With more drivers and teams the points system got changed. To be honest I would have liked if the difference between first and second was a bit bigger.
Re: 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread What does everyone here think of Schumacher returning? It´s said that he has verbally agreed to signing for Mercedes (Brawn). It´s still just speculation right now but I would love to see him back.
Re: 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread Brawn and him go WAY back, and if they teamed back up, they'd be a power-house that would fuck Ferrari UP. To get an idea of just how integral Brawn was in the process of Michael winning his first Driver's Championship, go read Steve Matchett's Life In The Fast Lane. Yes, that's the Steve Matchett from SPEED's F1 broadcasting team. A lot of people don't realize it, but he was a mechanic for Bennetton back in the day, and was on the team (led by Brawn) that saw Michael win his first championship. Matchett was also one of the guys on fire in the famous Hockenheim pit-lane fire. He was the rear jack man, and to hear/read his description of what it was like to be on fire, in the pits, knowing that he couldn't move or others would catch on fire or worse, is pretty incredible. (Basically, he was holding the rear of the car up with the jack, caught on fire, and knew that if he dropped the jack/car, the driver would have left the pits, ripping fuel rigs apart and making it even worse than it was... so he stayed there, holding the car up, while engulfed in flames, waiting for the fire crews to come and handle the situation). This is a pic of him, and is the cover photo of his book. Fucking unreal. I highly recommend both of those books for an insight into an F1 team, and the incredible team-builder that Michael is. It really shows how much more he is than just a "driver".
Re: 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread And they did hire him. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/12/ ... auber.html He was quite impressive in the 2 races he had last year in my opinion. This will seem to be the first season in ages that I will actually be excited about a F1 season. Pretty much stopped watching and caring after Häkkinen left.
Re: 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread <a class="postlink" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8428353.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsp ... 428353.stm</a> 6 minute interview with Schumacher about returning to F1. It will be weird seeing him racing in a silver arrow.
Re: 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread US F1 now has its own channel on YouTube, check it out. http://www.youtube.com/user/USF1Team#p/a/u/0/5HTZ9ZsfHxs
Re: 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread I can't exactly downplay the following of F1, as I follow AMA racing a bit, but... Is this thread gonna be active? Do people care that much? Outside of the South, that is...
Re: 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread First off the South is NASCAR country so it's more like will people IN the South care...probably not. F1, however, is the most popular spectator and televised sport in the world after soccer so yeah, people will care. The 2009 season is over but expect a 2010 F1 season thread when the time is right and if the previous history of this board (that includes TMMB) serves me right it will be fairly active. A few members on here, Nettdata, Senna Vs. Prost, myself and a few others, are active F1 fans that watch most if not all races. If you want to get in to F1 then this is a great place to start since we have a wealth of knowledge on the sport, and other motor sport disciplines as well. As for following the AMA, why bother? Since DMG took over it's been a disaster. Just look at the 2009 season, Mat Mladin stated in the latest Cycle News that if it wasn't for their incompetence he wouldn't have retired. 2010 is going to be even worse. Judging by your avatar you're in to motorcycle racing, I suggest you follow MotoGP and WSBK and British Superbike if you can. Also watch HD Theater if you have it because they broadcast World Speedway and Isle of Mann. Here's a link to my blog if you want info on MotoGP & WSBK: http://www.thepillionracer.com/
Re: 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread Agreed. It's the off-season, and that means that there's not too much to talk about or discuss, other than Michael coming back. Even then, we'll see how he does in some practice sessions. It'll get busy when things pick up.
I'm keen to see MS try to challenge next season as I cannot remember off-hand ANY driver winning the F1 World Championship over the age of 40, with the exception of Juan Manuel Fangio. It's simply because the aging process fucks up the ability of the drivers to stay fit enough to win championships, or something. Who knows - maybe I'm wrong and he'll clean up next year, but I seriously doubt it. It WILL, however, be the most competitive season we've seen for years. I'm wondering now if McLaren will come out with their car in Orange and Black (I remember reading somewhere that those are McLaren's colours) or stick to Silver - I somehow think Mercedes will be the only silver car out there next season...
The bullshit to end all bullshits. Briatore appeals the FIA's verdict to ban him for life AND IT ACTUALLY GETS REVERSED! So now he's allowed back in even though he is a proven race fixer. Go figure. My favorite quote: "The decision handed down today restores to me the dignity and freedom certain people had arbitrarily attempted to deprive me of." http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/01/05/motosport.renault.briatore.appeal/index.html
Very interesting article/interview with Kimi about him joining the Red Bull WRC team rather than staying in F1. <a class="postlink" href="http://en.redbulletin.com/articles/kimi/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.redbulletin.com/articles/kimi/</a>
<a class="postlink" href="http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/5796.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/5796.html</a> Interesting interview with Eddie Irvine. He answers quite straightforwardly and acutely in my opinion. (sorry couldn´t think of a better words in English) Also Schumi testing with a GP2 car: <a class="postlink" href="http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-news/225899/schumacher-begins-jerez-gp2-test/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-new ... -gp2-test/</a>