I'm still surprised at the decision itself, but I'm even more surprised at the suddenness of it; I thought I was reading news reports just recently about how much Senna was looking forward to the British Grand Prix (Senna twittering about going to the Cosworth shop to name their engines and riding around Silverstone like nothing is wrong as little as 14 hours ago...) and how he thoughtby zulu_85 - F1
Yeah I agree, I hate to say it but the left-hand corner says "Malboro" to me even more than the barcodes did. I suppose they've still got to get that association in there somewhere as long as Phillip Morris is still backing them and then again they've got, what, another 3-5 years before the EU spots the obvious thing about it...by zulu_85 - F1
Yeah I'd have to agree - for me the Grand Prix had controversy, a stand-out, gutsy drive from an unfancied driver and a horrific accident to keep us all talking for quite some time. Otherwise I'd say about, what, 80% of the field spent the entire race just staring at the gearbox of the guy ahead? We forgive Turkey because the McLarens were right on the tail of the Red Bulls and then ofby zulu_85 - F1
David Coulthard was saying that the crash is an example of what might happen next year with the new regulations. What does everyone here think about that? (Unless I've already missed that discussion...?) One thing I don't agree with is his remarks about Heikki being in the wrong for trying to defend his position. Coulthard should know from personal experience that there was nothing iby zulu_85 - F1
@badger27 - yep @SAMF1 - depends whether MasterCard want to enter as a title sponsor or not I guess. Certainly I'd prefer the Renault colours. We can only hope!by zulu_85 - F1
Mentioning Simtek and Pacific - if we compare this year with 94, I'd say Hispania are pretty much on par with Simtek, in my opinion, in terms of Qualifying pace at least (just the easiest data for me to use at the moment, can't vouch for accuracy or stuff like that). At Monaco however Kovalainen's fastest qualifying lap was, by my reckoning, 3.268 off the eventual pole time. That gby zulu_85 - F1
I think it's been said before but actually if the 107% rule, as it appears next year (fastest time set in Q1), had already been in place this year then Hispania would have only failed to race at Bahrain and at Malaysia (and given that it rained they may have even got special dispensation) and in fact both cars would take part in half the races we've had so far. I agree though that in thby zulu_85 - F1
Yeah, I thought most of the Russian money Petrov "promised" didn't appear at all - so few Russian companies were interested in sponsoring him in the end that Putin even put in a letter of recommendation. Megafon, that Russian mobile company, haven't even continued their sponsorship of Renault this year (as far as I know). I think the only hugely notable Russian sponsor - if noby zulu_85 - F1
Just to add one final thing from wikipedia - and hopefully one final thing to this diversion which I can only apologise for - but: America usually refers to either: *The Americas *The United States of America Perhaps you can see now where I was coming from when I made this error?by zulu_85 - F1
Any other Grands Prix coming up to the end of their contract? India, America, Rome and Russia seem (fairly) set to join in by 2013. I would have thought that Bernie wants to ditch another established Grand Prix or two for them - this does seem to be his MO when it comes to growing bored of one place and wanting to go somewhere new... 'cause, if Korea goes back to war, I'd imagine theby zulu_85 - F1
I would like to see the Petrov-Alonso incident from several more angles before I decide who was most at fault. Still there is a shot out there of Petrov and Alonso reconciling after the race and looking at both their post-race interviews I don't think there's any suggestion of the matter being taken any further, nor is there any noticeable animosity or blame between them. Still, I was aby zulu_85 - F1
marcl Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What was Legend on about today saying Trulli has > only been out qualid by one team mate, Alonso, > Ralf, Kovy, HHF all did. So infact every team > mate has. > I heard that and wondered about that myself, but I think, hearing it again he was actually referring to Monaco - Trulli was never out-qualifieby zulu_85 - F1
Same news for people who don't want to read it in the Mail I'd hope he doesn't go for the Senna look - if not for the fact that I'd expect Bruno would have a few things to say about that... Thing is, if he's redesigning his helmet to give him more luck - is it to resemble the helmet of other Monaco winners? Well, that'd be Senna and Schumacher, and I thinkby zulu_85 - F1
Nah, I mean I'm not going to argue about the value of the Royals; I will agree that the life of a royal is one of unequalled luxury and more-over privilege. I'm sure the royals do *something* to fill their days though it may not seem much to us commoners. My deposition towards the Monarchy is based somewhat on my general distrust/disgust of politicians in the UK though. If we were to beby zulu_85 - F1
gav Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > if it were me at the wheel, an "accidental" > oversteer would occur, crashing rear first. > > > There's nothing to crash into any more. > > I hate the royal family. Such a hard life having > your entire care paid for while your duty to the > nation is to turn up at an eby zulu_85 - F1
I was very happy with the old Silverstone, didn't really see the need to change it - however I'm really looking forward to seeing the new layout in action now - 'specially since Martin sold it effectively with "imagine what I'm doing only a hell of a lot faster"by zulu_85 - F1
*Is* Ferrari going to drop Phillip Morris any time soon though? As silly as the news story is, it appears that the branding is now far too much for Australia - It's not coming into force until 2012 but will Ferrari have to show horrific depictions of smoking-related illnesses on their cars at future Australian Grand Prix or something...?by zulu_85 - F1
Well we could look at our most recent champion - looked very promising in 2000 of course, but didn't exactly blow Ralf Schumacher away, nor did he Fisichella during 2001. And as marcl said, the rookies this year really didn't get to do a huge amount of testing beforehand. Sure, Petrov had more testing than Di Grassi or the HRT boys (though both had tested F1 cars in the past) but most oby zulu_85 - F1
I did read a season preview, I think maybe on espn, which suggested that Petrov could only silence his doubters if he matched Kubica on points and pace, which I think is a bloody tall order and a mite unfair. Personally I think the Renault *is* a decent car - not a race-winning car yet - and probably while Kubica is performing miracles with it, Petrov is probably not quite there yet as well.by zulu_85 - F1
Did Jensen expect them to push him out of the hole his rear tyres had made so he could try and get going again, or push\carry him all the way out of the gravel trap? I think Petrov spearing through the scene really emphasised the point of what everyone else has said about Marshal safety. I don't know though, if a Marshal comes across a driver who seems adamant on demanding a push, does thby zulu_85 - F1
gav Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Palmer was OK, but his problem was he was preceded > by Hunt (big mouth, said it straight and liked > most) and succeeded by Brundle. I think that's probably the fairest way of looking at it - the comparison doesn't help, but I *still* think he was very dull to listen to. Could provide excellent insightby zulu_85 - F1
Race could have been worse, but for me too, definitely hoping for a much better race at Melbourne. Happy for Lotus, I think they've got a lot to be happy with there. Great shame for Vettel - I think though that it gives the indication that Ferrari are not utterly dominant; Vettel probably could have won if not for the exhaust and Webber probably would have been up in the mix if not for thby zulu_85 - F1
Boris Becker does seem to be BBC Sport's resident German, and it does seem apt, as Muks said, both German and its one sporting legend praising another...but I don't know, I personally had the impression that, historically, Boris didn't like Schumacher that much. Might be wrong though. While we're on the subject of commentators though and whose worse than the other, may I gaby zulu_85 - F1
Yeah, DC said something fairly similar - at least along the lines that Dallara are highly competent chassis manufacturers; once the team have sufficiently explored the capabilities of what they have right now they should be considerably faster - maybe Senna's statement that they should be faster than Virgin and Lotus will ring true in the near future. I think I may have been too harsh on theby zulu_85 - F1
Shame about Chandhok, really have to feel for him. :\ 23-car grid it will be then. Still can't really judge too much from the session I believe, although I think Alonso is looking pretty good...by zulu_85 - F1
There has been a lot of talk about reintroducing the 107% rule again, which would scupper most of the new team's chances of actually racing this year, but with speeds that remind me of the old Forti cars, even if they see the end of the race they're running the risk of not even being classified. Personally I think Virgin and Lotus are just very slow, but I do believe they have the abiby zulu_85 - F1
Well personally I'm of the belief that the grid is not full if it does not have 26 cars, so from the spectacle point of view I'm disappointed that Stefan couldn't be allowed in, but dem the rules, well, legal procedures at any rate. If I'm bitter I could be annoyed at USF1 for not getting their act together, either in getting their bloody car ready or admitting earlier that thby zulu_85 - F1
Yeah, I saw those comments about Heikki's evaluation of the Lotus - I found it funny how GPUpdate led with "Lotus better than expected" while espn led with "It's even worse than a Minardi!" At any rate, I was just happy to see the name "Minardi" reappear in the news... Campos' chances of actually competing are looking up - they are to launch on Tby zulu_85 - F1
gav Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why can't Stefan test already if they're as ready > as is being made out. > > I know it's an official test, but it's not like > the pit-lane and track are overflowing with cars. > > I think the chances of seeing them are low. For > all we know, Bernie's words in their fby zulu_85 - F1
StefanGP has announced that they are to hold their own tests a week from now regardless - I don't think that is dependent on whether the slot is free, as StefanGP seem determined to be at Bahrain even if the FIA turns them away. However, I agree, the indecision is hurting all three teams at the moment.by zulu_85 - F1