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[jey_16]

Also seems like Lewis' balls have finally dropped.

trying to match Button i see.....it looks stupid though, i think Ron will be telling him to shave it off :lol

 

[subzero9285]

Webber tops Friday session

Mark Webber and his Red Bull Racing team returned to the top of the timesheets at Jerez as the weather finally gave the teams a break on Friday.

After days of rain, the sun finally made an appearance for most the session, allowing teams to work on their programmes following the frustration of the opening two days.

Australian Webber set the best time of the day, and of the week so far, after a lap of 1:19.299 early in the afternoon. His time was also the best at Jerez this year, nearly two tenths of a second quicker than last week's benchmark, set by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Source

[B]Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps[/B]
 1.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:19.299  115
 2.  Alonso        Ferrari              (B)  1:20.115  132
 3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:20.394  101
 4.  Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth    (B)  1:21.432  138
 5.  M.Schumacher  Mercedes GP          (B)  1:21.437   79
 6.  Kubica        Renault              (B)  1:21.916  100
 7.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:21.939   69
 8.  Kobayashi     BMW-Sauber           (B)  1:22.228   28
 9.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:22.564  120
10.  di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth      (B)  1:23.504   34
11.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth       (B)  1:23.521   68

 

[subzero9285]

Schumacher

“Today was a nice end to my testing days in Jerez this week and it was great to finally have some consistent dry running. We are on schedule with our programme but at the same time, we are well aware that there is still a lot of work ahead of us. The final test in Barcelona next week will be an important test in this respect and will give us valuable information about the performance of the car.”

Source

 

[subzero9285]

Robert Kubica

“In the morning it was damp so we just did an installation lap to check everything was working and waited for the track to dry. The conditions were quite windy, which has a big influence on the car, but we were able to test quite a lot of things so I’m pretty pleased with the day.”

Alan Permane, Chief Engineer

“Finally the weather improved and we managed to complete a productive day of work. Early on the track was still damp, but it dried out quite quickly and we got some useful set-up work done with Robert, which has taken us in a good direction. We also spent some time doing procedural work and practice starts with a heavy car. Robert also ran a couple of different dry tyre compounds to compare them, which was useful.”

Soure

 

[subzero9285]

Campos get new owners

The Campos team has confirmed that shareholder José Ramon Carabante has purchased the Madrid-based outfit from founder Adrián Campos, with ex Midland and Spyker boss Colin Kolles moving in as Team Principal.

"I would like to thank Bernie Ecclestone, who worked tremendously to support our efforts to keep the team viable," Carabante commented. "The whole rescue operation has been a race against time, with the goal having always been to run two competitive cars at the first Grand Prix of the F1 season in Bahrain."

"I could not resist this tremendous challenge and am very excited to join forces in this new team," continued Kolles. "Over the next ten days we will review the entire operation, find the extra funding to ensure the team will make the first race in Bahrain, announce the line-up for 2010 in due time and make the operation viable under José Ramon Carabante's new ownership."

Source

 

[Momo]

Campos get new owners

Source

Over the next ten days we will review the entire operation, find the extra funding

New owners, same old shit?

 

[avaya]

LOLOLOLOL

Pikeys.

Can die in a fucking fire.

 

[Somtaaw]

New owners, same old shit?

Maybe he meant pick some pay drivers to fill the budget.

 

[Wes]

I'm so happy Kobayashi got a drive. He is who I will be supporting the most this year. Fell in love with his driving style at the end of last season.

 

[Flo_Evans]

I'm so happy Kobayashi got a drive. He is who I will be supporting the most this year. Fell in love with his driving style at the end of last season.

So you like crazy drivers eh? :lol

 

[subzero9285]

Some images from testing.

Hi-res versions

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/subzero9285/Sub/2nd/schu_merc_jere_20100219-1.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/subzero9285/Sub/2nd/petr_rena_jere_20100218-1.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/subzero9285/Sub/2nd/kova_lotu_jere_20100219-1.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/subzero9285/Sub/2nd/gloc_virg_jere_20100219-4.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/subzero9285/Sub/2nd/alon_ferr_jere_20100219-6-1.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/subzero9285/Sub/2nd/vett_buem_jere_20100218.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/subzero9285/Sub/2nd/vett_redb_jere_20100217-3.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/subzero9285/Sub/2nd/webb_alon_jere_20100219.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/subzero9285/Sub/2nd/webb_redb_2010_0219-3-1.jpg

 

[subzero9285]

UK TV schedules for the flyaway races.

Bahrain

Sakhir, 12-14 March, 2010

Friday 12 March
Practice one: 0655-0835, BBC Red Button/online
Practice two: 1100-1230, BBC Red Button/online

Saturday 13 March
Practice three: 0755-0855, BBC Red Button/online
Qualifying: 1100 (coverage details to be finalised)

Sunday 14 March
Race: 1200 (coverage details to be finalised)

Australia

Albert Park, Melbourne, 26-28 March

Friday 26 March
Practice one: 0125-0305, BBC Red Button/online
Practice two: 0525-0705, BBC Red Button/online

Saturday 27 March
Practice three: 0255-0405, BBC Red Button/online
Qualifying: 0600 (coverage details to be finalised)

Sunday 28 March
Race: 0800 (coverage details to be finalised)

Malaysia

Sepang, 2-4 April 2010

Friday 2 April
Practice one: 0255-0435, BBC Red Button/online
Practice two: 0655-0835, BBC Red Button/online

Saturday 3 April
Practice three: 0655-0805, BBC Red Button/online
Qualifying: 0900 (coverage details to be finalised)

Sunday 4 April
Race: 0900 (coverage details to be finalised)

I know it's a bit early, but the anticipation is starting to get to me.

 

[subzero9285]

Look out for Ferrari's pit stop at the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHaqEVFqXgU&feature=player_embedded

 

[Tenacious-V]

Look out for Ferrari's pit stop at the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHaqEVFqXgU&feature=player_embedded

Can't be said enough, Renault's livery looks 1000x better than the McD's monstrosity of last season.

 

[subzero9285]

Latest times

1	J. Button McLaren 	1:18.871 	1:19.568 		16
2 	R. Kubica Renault 	1:19.114 	1:26.489 	+0.243 	42
3 	V. Liuzzi Force India 	1:19.650 	1:24.255 	+0.779 	29
4 	N. Rosberg Mercedes 	1:20.150 	1:22.632 	+1.279 	33
5 	F. Alonso Ferrari 	1:20.574 	1:23.809 	+1.703 	39
6 	K. Kobayashi Sauber 	1:20.751 	1:21.876 	+1.88 	30
7 	J. Aguersuari Toro Rosso1:21.053        1:25.167        +2.182  50
8 	M. Webber Red Bull 	1:21.194 	1:23.907 	+2.323 	43
9 	N. Hulkenberg Williams 	1:21.919 	1:24.515 	+3.048 	60
10 	T. Glock Virgin 	1:22.856 	1:23.629 	+3.985 	8
11 	J. Trulli Lotus 	1:24.686 	1:30.452 	+5.815 	43

Renault seem to be finding some genuine pace now, which is encouraging. They've been mediocre for several years now and it would be good to see them competing with the big guns again.

 

[Dead Man]

Look out for Ferrari's pit stop at the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHaqEVFqXgU&feature=player_embedded

Jesus that was fast. Was that with the new wheel nuts? With no refueling, the pit stops will be soooo fast, and there will be time to be made up on tyre changes for the first time in years.

 

[subzero9285]

Jesus that was fast. Was that with the new wheel nuts? With no refueling, the pit stops will be soooo fast, and there will be time to be made up on tyre changes for the first time in years.

Yes.

The aim for this season time wise is 3 seconds or less. Williams have already reached this benchmark, and I'm sure the rest of the grid will follow suit. Wouldn't be surprised if a team manages 2.5 seconds this season.

 

[DrM]

Jesus that was fast. Was that with the new wheel nuts? With no refueling, the pit stops will be soooo fast, and there will be time to be made up on tyre changes for the first time in years.

You think that was fast? We will see 3-4 seconds long pit stops on the race, this was barely a practice pit stop. IMO wheel nuts will not bring any advantage, i only see several possible problems with new whell nuts.

Ferrari and Mercedes are using the pit stop signaling light, but it is still unknow if they will use it in the season.

 

[Somtaaw]

US F1 co-founder Ken Anderson has admitted that he is in discussion with the FIA to reach an agreement that will allow for the new team to miss the first four races of the 2010 Formula 1 season.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81616

 

[Dilly]

Screw that, give Stefan GP their spot.

I really hope Kubica is a championship contender, he deserves it.

 

[h3ro]

Jerez Testing Times for today:

1 J. Button McLaren 1:18.871 1:22.963 85
2 R. Kubica Renault 1:19.114 1:22.417 +0.243 100
3 K. Kobayashi Sauber 1:19.188 1:23.455 +0.317 113
4 V. Liuzzi Force India 1:19.650 1:22.921 +0.779 71
5 N. Rosberg Mercedes 1:20.150 1:24.600 +1.279 110
6 F. Alonso Ferrari 1:20.436 1:24.128 +1.565 101
7 J. Aguersuari Toro Rosso 1:21.053 1:23.573 +2.182 120
8 M. Webber Red Bull 1:21.194 1:22.407 +2.323 73
9 N. Hulkenberg Williams 1:21.919 1:22.503 +3.048 137
10 T. Glock Virgin 1:22.856 1:49.032 +3.985 18
11 J. Trulli Lotus 1:23.470 1:27.320 +4.599 122

Pics of some new wheels Ferrari tried out:

Black Turbo wheels. YES.

 

[Funky Functionality]

I hope the fact that Button was the only driver to break into the 1:18s at Jerez will quiet some of the haters. I can't wait to see how the Hamilton/Button dynamic plays out throughout the season.

 

[Momo]

Hopefully Button and Hamilton can run into each other every race. :lol

Hey, I want nice things too!
(not a ferrari fan, btw, nor mercedes, I follow drivers not teams)

 

[subzero9285]

Villeneuve return getting closer

"We have already agreed terms with Nakajima and we expect to conclude a deal with Villeneuve," the businessman continued. "We think it is a good decision for us and it makes sense for him."

Source

 

[Momo]

I've read about this 2 days ago i think, on the bbc rumour page, but still, stefan needs to get an entry.

 

[h3ro]

I've read about this 2 days ago i think, on the bbc rumour page, but still, stefan needs to get an entry.

Agreed. The whole USF1 situation is a joke. A shady operation through and through. Unbelievable that they are so unprepared for the season and they don't deserve an entry or any sympathy from the FIA.

Bring on Stefan.

 

[Momo]

Campos are no better though, would have loved to see them replaced by lola/prodive(aston martin), as far back as the selection period. Well maybe next year.

 

[Cereal KiIIer]

Villeneuve return getting closer
Source

Cannot wait! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp37Rl2J_fg

 

[Pimpwerx]

You think that was fast? We will see 3-4 seconds long pit stops on the race, this was barely a practice pit stop. IMO wheel nuts will not bring any advantage, i only see several possible problems with new whell nuts.

Ferrari and Mercedes are using the pit stop signaling light, but it is still unknow if they will use it in the season.

The wheel gunner rises to prominence once more. I bet some NASCAR guys got poached in the off-season. That's my guess anyway, as those guys are magicians with 4-5 lug nuts. PEACE.

 

[Pimpwerx]

I hope the fact that Button was the only driver to break into the 1:18s at Jerez will quiet some of the haters. I can't wait to see how the Hamilton/Button dynamic plays out throughout the season.

I hope it bodes well. Button was supposed to be a good test driver, with feedback and all. And Lewis has proven to be one as well IMO. I think having English throughout the team (not sure about the test driver) might bode well. One thing's for sure. Button can't be worse than Kov. How dreadful that kid was. PEACE.

 

[ElyrionX]

I think having a dedicated f1 thread is a good idea. There was just too much crap to sift through in the megathread and the op in this thread has been a great update for me since I don't follow f1 news regularly.

 

[speedpop]

UK TV schedules for the flyaway races.

I know it's a bit early, but the anticipation is starting to get to me.

Don't worry. They're throwing the ads up on TV for the F1 already over here.

 

[subzero9285]

Lets inject some showbiz gossip into this thread;

Lewis and Nicole back together

Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton have got back together, according to reports.

According to The Sun, Scherzinger told a Hollywood shop assistant this week that she was looking to buy "my wedding dress... this year".

A friend of the pair said of their split: "They took a tough decision and both regretted calling it off almost immediately."

Source

 

[subzero9285]

Soucek signs for Virgin as test driver

Virgin Racing has confirmed that Formula 2 Champion Andy Soucek has been signed up as official test and reserve driver ahead of the team's maiden season in 2010. The Spaniard replaces Portugal's Álvaro Parente, who lost the seat due to sponsorship issues.

"I am thrilled to be joining Virgin Racing," commented the 24-year-old, who will continue racing in other series throughout the year. "This role offers me a great opportunity to prepare myself for the Formula 1 environment, which is naturally where my longer-term ambitions lie.

"I look forward to learning from Timo and Lucas as well as soaking up as much information as possible from engineering meetings and time on the simulator. I would like to thank John Booth (Team Principal) and Nick Wirth (Technical Director) in particular for the faith they have shown in me at this stage in my career."

Source


No Ralf return in 2010

Although he was linked with a race seat at the hopeful Serbian outfit Stefan GP, the Cologne newspaper Express says the German will be a mere commentator when his brother is competing in Bahrain next month.

34-year-old Schumacher's DTM employer Mercedes has scheduled the former 6-time GP winner for an event in Berlin in mid-March, when he will give expert race commentary for a gathering of the marque's guests and clients.

The report was confirmed by official Walter Muller.

"It is true, Ralf Schumacher will be our star guest," he said.

Source


Alonso: McLaren debacle good for my career

Fernando Alonso says he looks back on his ill-fated season with McLaren in 2007 as an experience that was "good for my career".

"2007 was very difficult but I learnt a lot personally," the 28-year-old, now regarded as a favourite for the title with Ferrari in 2010, said in an interview with Britain's Guardian newspaper.

"It was good for my career to take that step of joining McLaren and growing up. I learned how to work with a team and also to withstand the media pressure.

"Now I am much more prepared for everything in Formula One -- and in life as well," he said, insisting that his only role in the spygate scandal was being "in the wrong place at the wrong time".

Alonso said it is possible that Jenson Button, who has similarly joined McLaren as the reigning world champion to be Hamilton's teammate, will encounter similar problems.

"Obviously I don't know how McLaren is now but if Jenson arrived in my time then, for sure, it would be very tough for him," he said.

"But, hopefully, it's now better for Jenson because I learned a lot from that season and McLaren did as well."

Source

 

[subzero9285]

Posted by navanman in the motorsport thread.

Ferrari has attacked the FIA's push to bring new teams into Formula 1, in the wake of the problems currently surrounding Team US F1 and Campos Meta.With neither outfit yet having a car ready to run, and US F1 hoping to miss the first few races of the season, the sport is facing up to the fact that it will probably not have as full a grid as it had hoped to have for 2010.And in a column published on Ferrari's official website on Tuesday, the team has openly attacked the FIA's policy of encouraging new teams - labelling it as a 'holy war' ? and suggests the sport may have been better off looking after manufacturers like Toyota and BMW, who walked away.

"Of the thirteen teams who signed up, or were induced to sign up, for this year's Championship, to date only eleven of them have heeded the call, turning up on track, some later than others, and while some have managed just a few hundred kilometres, others have done more, but at a much reduced pace," the Ferrari column titled 'the Horse Whisperer' claimed.

"As for the twelfth team, Campos Meta, its shareholder and management structure has been transformed, according to rumours which have reached the Horse Whisperer through the paddock telegraph, with a sudden cash injection from a munificent white knight, well used to this sort of last minute rescue deal."However, the beneficiaries of this generosity might find the knight in question expects them to fulfil the role of loyal vassal. All this means, it is hard to imagine the Dallara-designed car showing its face at the Catalunya Circuit, with Sakhir a more likely venue to witness the return of the Senna name to a Formula 1 session.

"The thirteenth team, US F1, appears to have gone into hiding in Charlotte, North Carolina, to the dismay of those like the Argentinian, Lopez, who thought he had found his way into the Formula 1 paddock, (albeit with help from chairwoman Kirchner, according to the rumours) and now has to start all over again."Amazingly, they still have the impudence to claim that everything is hunky-dory under the starry stripy sky."

Ferrari also makes it clear it is unimpressed by the situation surrounding Stefan Grand Prix, which is still hoping to secure an entry for this year's championship.

"Next, we have the Serbian vultures," continued the column. "Firstly, they launched themselves into a quixotic legal battle with the FIA, then they picked the bones of Toyota on its death bed."Having got some people on board, around whom there was still a whiff of past scandals, they are now hovering around waiting to replace whoever is first to drop out of the game, possibly with backing from that very same knight in shining armour whom we mentioned earlier."

And Ferrari clearly lays the blame for the situation at the door of former FIA president Max Mosley, who clashed with the manufacturers last year in his bid to encourage new teams in."This [situation] is the legacy of the holy war waged by the former FIA president," he explained. "The cause in question was to allow smaller teams to get into Formula 1."This is the outcome: two teams will limp into the start of the championship, a third is being pushed into the ring by an invisible hand ? you can be sure it is not the hand of Adam Smith ? and, as for the fourth, well, you would do better to call on Missing Persons to locate it."In the meantime, we have lost two constructors along the way, in the shape of BMW and Toyota, while at Renault, there's not much left other than the name. Was it all worth it?"

Ferrari's criticism of the new teams situation is not new, with the Italian outfit having claimed back in May last year that F1 would perhaps be better off rebranding itself as 'Formula GP3' if the grid became full of the new outfits who had originally lodged entries early last year.[ /QUOTE]

 

[Steppenwolf]

This thread split is really bad. Now we discuss the same stuff in two threads. Have we read even a single post about Nascar in the whole last week in the other thread?

I say let the crybabys be crybabys and go back to normal.

 

[Pimpwerx]

This thread split is really bad. Now we discuss the same stuff in two threads. Have we read even a single post about Nascar in the whole last week in the other thread?

I say let the crybabys be crybabys and go back to normal.

PLEASE let's do this. The search is still down. I haven't read much about anything other than F1 because I favor this thread now over the megathread. I apparently missed V8 Supercars this weekend, and some talk about Superbikes (which I used to follow when Fogerty and Edwards were in it). I know that when the season kicks off, it will be even harder for me to care about the other sports, so I prefer being forced to read all things motorsport in the megathread.

Can we straw poll and see what people think? I'd bet even the majority of people in this thread would agree on remerging. PEACE.

 

[Pimpwerx]

Lets inject some showbiz gossip into this thread;

Lewis and Nicole back together

Source

Good. She's far more attractive than Mika's ice queen wife (who had her moments, I might add), but maybe not as nice a catch as JPM's girl from years back. PEACE.

 

[Leunam]

What was the issue again? NASCAR fans are free to talk in there all they want, even if F1 is the primary focus. I love seeing all the news and photos from other motorsports as well, the photos being one of my favorite things about the thread.

 

[S. L.]

i don't mind a split thread but then it should be 'forbidden' to talk about f1 in the other thread. right now with have bits of info spread over both threads and its really annoying to jump back and forth between both.

 

[subzero9285]

Okay, this thread split isn't really working right now and we've already had people give their views on what course of action we should take. The reaction was split down the middle and still seems to be. So, as the thread starter, I guess I have some authority and this is what I think we should do;

1. Stop using the F1 thread for now and carry on using the megathread for all motorsport discussion,
2. Keep the F1 thread open for qualifying sessions and races, just concentrated discussion, no news, previews, round-ups or images and use the megathread during the interludes between races. I'll bump the thread before the start of the qualifying sessions and races, and if I'm not around someone else can do it.

Feel free to give more suggestions.

 

[Momo]

Okay, this thread split isn't really working right now and we've already had people give their views on what course of action we should take. The reaction was split down the middle and still seems to be. So, as the thread starter, I guess I have some authority and this is what I think we should do;

1. Stop using the F1 thread for now and carry on using the megathread for all motorsport discussion,
2. Keep the F1 thread open for qualifying sessions and races, just concentrated discussion, no news, previews, round-ups or images and use the megathread during the interludes between races. I'll bump the thread before the start of the qualifying sessions and races, and if I'm not around someone else can do it.

Feel free to give more suggestions.

I heavily space out when I see NASCAR, Cart, MotoGp, IRL, Funnycars etc :/

 

[Leunam]

I'm for a single motorsport thread.

For new people, seeing news and images of different motorsports can help them ease into other parts of the sport. People who only followed F1 may start following MotoGP, WRC, etc. That to me is a huge plus since I am new to F1 myself, so seeing other news/images posted brings my interest into other sports.

From the other thread.

 

[GuessWho]

can't wait to go this year.

 

[Pimpwerx]

I heavily space out when I see NASCAR, Cart, MotoGp, IRL, Funnycars etc :/

If if helps you and others to better navigate the megathread, I'm willing to compromise and say we put the sport we're discussing in the subject header. So F1, NASCAR, whatever. Something like the compromise we struck in the manga thread. That way, you can use your browser search function to quickly jump from post to post that's relevant to your specific topic.

IMO, that's extreme, but if it helps some people who only want F1, then I'm willing to compromise. Besides, when you reply to or quote someone, it should automatically repeat the subject.

I'm not gonna PMS over the split or nothing, it's not that serious to me. I just know that I'm 16 days away from shutting out all other form of motorsports because I will be completely absorbed by the F1 season. This year is fascinating for so many reasons, it's also kind of a shame some potential converts will miss out. PEACE.

 

[h3ro]

I think this thread should be used for the actual races. Meaning we all gather here for FPs, Quali and the race itself, while using the Mega-Thread for all news and nonsense outside the track.

I think posts here should be limited to actual on-track events, while the other one should be used for new car developments/technology, silly season rumors, FIA court nonsense and so on.

Does that work for everyone?

 

[Reno7728]

What about 1 mega-thread (let this thread die IMO) but maybe a dedicated thread for each race weekend purely for the discussions on each race and all the KOBAYASHIII and OMG CRASH!!! that splits up the thread every other week or so.

Or maybe keep this thread for the livebloging style

I think this thread should be used for the actual races. Meaning we all gather here for FPs, Quali and the race itself, while using the Mega-Thread for all news and nonsense outside the track.

I think posts here should be limited to actual on-track events, while the other one should be used for new car developments/technology, silly season rumors, FIA court nonsense and so on.

Does that work for everyone?

what he said basically :lol

 

[the_log_ride]

Subscribed.

Glad there's a dedicated F1 thread.

 

[Pimpwerx]

I think this thread should be used for the actual races. Meaning we all gather here for FPs, Quali and the race itself, while using the Mega-Thread for all news and nonsense outside the track.

I think posts here should be limited to actual on-track events, while the other one should be used for new car developments/technology, silly season rumors, FIA court nonsense and so on.

Does that work for everyone?

Works for me, since practices see light traffic, qualies a lot of people sleep through, and race posts are usually along the lines of, "LOL @ the Virgin going down another lap." That might actually work. I trust practice and race classifications should be listed in this thread and not the other. PEACE.

 

[subzero9285]

I think this thread should be used for the actual races. Meaning we all gather here for FPs, Quali and the race itself, while using the Mega-Thread for all news and nonsense outside the track.

I think posts here should be limited to actual on-track events, while the other one should be used for new car developments/technology, silly season rumors, FIA court nonsense and so on.

Does that work for everyone?

Perfect.