UN-Official Formula 1 Thread

[annunaki]

Ferrari is improving a little bit too. They even led the race for a bit!

I expect Red Bull to keep improving, especially once they get the new diffuser after Monaco.

Brawn proved the race pace is still quite solid in Bahrain though.

The race in Barca should be good to see where teams stack up but it tends to be a bit of a snoozer. They should have left the final corner alone.

 

[ragged]

Wow, Ferrari have made a big step. Massa 7th with fuel load and quali 4th, and worse yet, none of the 3 cars in front of him have kers, he'll make a big run down to the first corner, if he doesn't muck it up. Man, am I the only one that sees the jealousy building in Reuben towards Jenson. Man it was all over his face in the post quali press conference. Even worse, apparently, Button used Reubens' setup!

 

[majorloser]

It was a good race. Just a shame so many cars got knocked out in the first set of turns.

Kudos to Brawn GT for another excellent race

 

[sploo]

...Man, am I the only one that sees the jealousy building in Reuben towards Jenson. Man it was all over his face in the post quali press conference. Even worse, apparently, Button used Reubens' setup!

Not sure I'm seeing that. The BBC coverage showed the drivers (Jenson/Ruebens/Mark) chatting before they went out for the podium. Ruebens just seemed a bit disappointed as to how his car was handling towards the end of the race, and Jenson appeared pretty sincere in his consolation (as I think he expected Ruebens to take the race too).

The tall and short of it was that Ruebens was on the theoretically faster strategy, but Button did an amazing job on the harder tyres (apparently he was way faster than everyone else on that unfavoured rubber).

I would actually like to see Ruebens get a win though - he comes across as a really decent guy.

 

[ragged]

I was talking about post qualifying press conference. I really think there is a little bit of something going on. Even after the race, Ruben said he would be asking "questions" as to why he was left on a 3 stopper. Race was boring though, all I want to know is how Webber came out of nowhere to grab 3rd?

 

[annunaki]

Rubens did seem a bit miffed at the post race press conference. Oh well, he should be used to it.

Jenson has been driving superbly this season. His lead in the championship is becoming quite healthy. Vettel & Rubens appear to be the only ones capable of challenging that lead, but that would require Button to be finishing very low or out of the points regularly. Unfortunately for them, I do not see that happening any time soon.

Once Red Bull adds their diffuser, they may be able to consistently challenge for wins/win regularly. This would allow Vettel to challenge Button, but overtaking him will be very difficult now.

If Ferrari can continue their rate of development and get rid of the mistakes they should be able to take a win before long.

 

[ragged]

This 2 tier technical regulation is BS. Budget cap is one thing, but having two sets of rules in F1 is ridiculous. Mosley/Ecclestone/CVC are all senile old fools. I hope the manufacturers leave. Ferrari, Toyota, BMW, Renault, Mclaren as well as RedBull should all leave. That's the vast majority. I'm tired of all these changes.

 

[annunaki]

I loved the idea of opening the regulations, but I thought that 40m was a bit low.

This is going to get interesting!

 

[ragged]

Opening the regs is fine, but not with a two tiered system. We'll see what happens though.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Finally got a chance to see the race.

WTF is wrong with Ferarri?

I'm okay with other teams being better than them, heck I like most of the drivers in F1 today, but the dumb mistakes are just driving me mad.

I enjoyed the race for the most part. I'm glad to see Mark Webber achieving some success finally. He's not screwing up much any more.

 

[annunaki]

Finally got a chance to see the race.

WTF is wrong with Ferarri?

I'm okay with other teams being better than them, heck I like most of the drivers in F1 today, but the dumb mistakes are just driving me mad.

I enjoyed the race for the most part. I'm glad to see Mark Webber achieving some success finally. He's not screwing up much any more.

I agree. It is about time he starts getting some return during a race. He's a legitimate contender for a win in Monaco. He usually goes pretty well around there.

The Toyata's should go well there, at least in the hands of Trulli.

I would look for Alonso... possibly Hamilton... to be quick there also.


Ferrari is bugging me. If they could straighten out the mistakes and such, they would be having an OK season so far. The car is not that bad... now, they are making things look worse than they really are.

I would expect the following to be fighting very heavily for the podium and/or a win:

Button, Webber, Alonso, Vettel, Barrichello, Trulli

The big question will be who gets the strategy right with safety car periods???

I would expect at least 1-3 safety car periods with these new front wings.




I would also expect lap times to get very close to 2004 levels. With mechanical grip up, which is so vital around there, the lap times could drop a fair amount compared to the last 3-4 years.

 

[ragged]

Well, hopefully Rubens gets his first 09 win. Seems to be going. Nico is again at the top of the time sheets. Yawn, why can't they turn it into race pace.

 

[annunaki]

Williams may have something in Monaco. They always seem to go well there. Reliability and finishing has been their problem in the past though.

Lap times in FP2 were in the low 1:15 range. I would expect that by the end of Q2 they could be touching close to low 1:14 or so. It would not surprise me to see the '04 lap record get broken this weekend as the track rubbers in. Current record is 1:14.439

 

[majorloser]

I may never be able to attend a Monaco Grand Prix in person, but I finally have SpeedHD channel from Dish. I can only hope the picture quality is good.

 

[majorloser]

I figure this is going to be either a race with a whole bunch of broken front wings or drivers not following very close. As always, the Nouvelle Chicane will be littered in carbon fiber parts.

 

[ragged]

Yeah, whoever get P1 is likely going to win. 1st lap should be interesting as always. Hope it rains.

 

[majorloser]

Hope it rains.

As long as it rains after the start of the race. I don't want to see another safety car start.

A little rain with those cars and they'll be sliding through the tunnel.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Yeah, whoever get P1 is likely going to win. 1st lap should be interesting as always. Hope it rains.

I respect Monaco but the track is so impeding to modern F1 cars it usually means a snoozer of a race for me...

I think they should let the drivers use shifter carts for this race only...that would be sweet!

 

[STRONGBADF1]

As long as it rains after the start of the race. I don't want to see another safety car start.

A little rain with those cars and they'll be sliding through the tunnel.

Yeah, the safety car start is the worst.

 

[majorloser]

Monaco lived up to it's glory today. A beautiful day for racing. Not a cloud in the sky. Man, I wish I could have been one of the lucky (wealthy) who were in attendance.

But I'll just have to settle for hi-def and a comfy recliner chair.

The race had an outcome pretty much what I expected. It was nice to see Kimi have a good race with no problems.