Formula One Season 2009 chat

[Reverend Gooner]

The only thing i would say is that i hope any punishments are metted out on the team and not Lewis Hamilton as Lewis was only doing what he was told by a superior.

I'm not sure about this, if he was ordered to go along with what Dave Ryan was saying he didn't have to comply. I know the line that claims that he had to do as he was told but he has a mind of his own and he could have told the truth. If he had told the truth and Mclaren tried to take sanctions against him they would have been on very sticky ground because he was merely telling the truth. It isn't right for any employer to force an employee to lie.

Of course not but drivers not complying with team orders is dodgy ground. Plus Dave Ryan was there 35 years, his opinion is highly respected. Of course he could have ignored Ryan but we all know that Hamilton is a Team player with a capital T. He is all about the team, always gets involved with the team and has a close relationship with all the members so it is in his nature to stick with the team and do what they say.

Either way i have read that it is unlikely any further action will be taken against him so they must be of the opinion that the team is to blame.

I would love a grand prix with no controversy and bullshit, come on....... i dare you.





I know i keep repeating myself but i am still disgusted that Vettel got penalised for that accident. If you are trying to encourage overtaking why ruin his next race for a simple racing incident.

[rogerthornhill]

This is from the BBC F1 site and having read it I'm getting the impression that McLaren are in serious trouble.

McLaren are to answer charges that:

- On 29 March, 2009, told the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton to allow Jarno Trulli to pass when both cars were behind the safety car, knowing this statement to be untrue.

- Procured its driver, Hamilton to support and confirm this untrue statement to the stewards.

- Although knowing that as a direct result of its untrue statement to the stewards, another driver and a rival team had been unfairly penalised, made no attempt to rectify the situation either by contacting the FIA or otherwise.

- On 2 April, 2009, at a second hearing before the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix, (meeting in Malaysia) made no attempt to correct the untrue statement of 29 March but, on the contrary, continued to maintain the statement was true, despite being allowed to listen to a recording of the team instructing Hamilton to let Trulli past, and despite being given more than one opportunity to correct its false statement.

- On 2 April, 2009, at the second stewards' hearing, procured its driver Hamilton to continue to assert the truth of the false statement given to the stewards on 29 March, while knowing what he was saying to the stewards was not true.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 985669.stm

[Cheese]

If i was Lewis i'd say f**k Formula1 i'm off to Indycar or something.
And as for McLaren i'd call it a day in Formula1 aswell

I know i'm a McLaren fan - so yes i'm maybe a bit bias at times - but surely the world can see the FIAaco are against McLaren and there personel?

It's f***ing shit watching a race and then going out for a few hours after only to come back a find the position you finished has changed.

[Fordy]

If i was Lewis i'd say f**k Formula1 i'm off to Indycar or something.
And as for McLaren i'd call it a day in Formula1 aswell

I know i'm a McLaren fan - so yes i'm maybe a bit bias at times - but surely the world can see the FIAaco are against McLaren and there personel?

It's f***ing shit watching a race and then going out for a few hours after only to come back a find the position you finished has changed.

but they cheated mate

i dont doubt things always seem to go the way of ferrari but mclaren dont help them selfs by braking rules all the time

[Cheese]

I do think they should be punished. But i bet that the punishment is alot bigger than any other team or driver.

I'm not saying it was right to do, but a decision goes your way are you likely to come out and say actually no he didn't do that? Look at football does a player get a goal but then say no it shouldn't count because i was actually offside?

Anyways Toyota and McLaren sorted it out on the track. Why the stewards had to get involed is anyones guess? McLaren didn't appeal nor did any other team.

McLaren lied after the stewards got involed. They wouldn't never have lied otherwise.

I hope you get what i'm trying to say - i'm not for one minute saying McLaren was right to lie because they wasn't. I'm just saying it's getting blown well out the water here.

[Cheese]

Malaysia start time under review

Officials in Malaysia have confirmed they will review the start time of next year's Grand Prix after last weekend's race was ruined by monsoon rain.

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone switched the start to 5.00pm local time to increase the television audience in Europe.

But after a tropical storm made conditions impossible for drivers, the race was abandoned after 33 laps.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak said: "In the future, we may allocate a different time, perhaps a night race."

And Mokhzani Mahathir, chairman of the Sepang International Circuit where the GP was held, said he consulted Ecclestone after the race and they had agreed to look again at the starting time.

"I had a talk with Bernie just now and we will review it.

"As to exactly what time we will start next year, we are not sure but we will review the timing for next year's race," he added.

Ecclestone himself brushed off criticism surrounding the start time, saying he has no regrets about his decision.

"No, I just have regrets about the rain," he said.

"I don't see anything wrong with the start time, we just didn't know about the rain."

Australia and Malaysian organizers refused to organise night races last year, but agreed to push back the timing of the race to 5.00pm (0900 GMT) this season to suit European fans.

Mokhzani said they could install a lighting system to illuminate the circuit if the race gets delayed in future years but heavy rain will still be an issue as it makes track conditions dangerous.

© [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7985631.stm]BBC Sports | Formula 1

Good job too.
If the race had started at 2pm local time like normal, firstly it would have missed the monsoon, secondly if rain did cause the race to stop at least there would have been time to wait to see if it could be restarted before it got dark.

[Cheese]

© Formula1.com

KERS for Kubica but not Ferrari in China

This weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix is set to see different cars using KERS. Robert Kubica is expected to test BMW Sauber’s system in Friday practice, while Ferrari will run without theirs following problems at the last round in Malaysia.

To date BMW Sauber have only raced KERS on the car of Kubica’s much lighter team mate Nick Heidfeld, who suffers less from the weight penalty that comes with using the system. However, with the team believing the layout of the Shanghai circuit could bring benefits even to the Pole, they plan to use Friday’s practice sessions to find out.

In contrast, Ferrari have opted to drop their KERS system for the China weekend after the reliability issues that hit Kimi Raikkonen at Sepang, instead choosing to focus on other elements of the F60’s performance, which has thus far proved disappointing, failing to bring the world champions a single point.

The other teams that used KERS in Australia and Malaysia - McLaren and Renault - are both expected to continue with their systems in Shanghai.

I wonder whats causing Ferrari to have reliability issuses with KERS? All the other teams seem to be ok with it.
A blow for Ferrari in my opinion. The Shanghai track has long straits and fast bends, perfect for KERS users.

[Cheese]

Shanghai results

First Practice
Friday, 17 April 2009
Position Country Driver Car number Team Fastest Lap
1 great britain Lewis Hamilton 1 McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.334
2 great britain Jenson Button 22 Brawn-Mercedes 1:37.450
3 brazil Rubens Barrichello 23 Brawn-Mercedes 1:37.566
4 finland Heikki Kovalainen 2 McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.672
5 australia Mark Webber 14 Red Bull-Renault 1:37.752
6 italy Jarno Trulli 9 Toyota 1:37.764
7 germany Nico Rosberg 16 Williams-Toyota 1:37.860
8 germany Timo Glock 10 Toyota 1:37.894
9 spain Fernando Alonso 7 Renault 1:38.089
10 france Sebastien Bourdais 11 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.195
11 finland Kimi Raikkonen 4 Ferrari 1:38.223
12 germany Sebastian Vettel 15 Red Bull-Renault 1:38.274
13 switzerland Sebastien Buemi 12 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.307
14 germany Adrian Sutil 20 Force India-Mercedes 1:38.319
15 brazil Felipe Massa 3 Ferrari 1:38.418
16 germany Nick Heidfeld 6 BMW Sauber 1:38.456
17 italy Giancarlo Fisichella 21 Force India-Mercedes 1:38.460
18 poland Robert Kubica 5 BMW Sauber 1:38.463
19 japan Kazuki Nakajima 17 Williams-Toyota 1:38.730
20 brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 8 Renault 1:38.825

[BennisBergkamp]

Hamilton with fastest lap? Curious...

[Cheese]

Yeah he was in the first session.
It could be that he had a light fuel load and others had heavy fuel loads.
In the second session he was mid grid, so that would be the obvious reason for a fastest lap first time round.

McLaren had added something to the diffuser though so that could also be helping out with grip and speed.

[Cheese]

Second Practice
Friday, 17 April 2009
Position Country Driver Car number Team Fastest Lap
1 great britain Jenson Button 22 Brawn-Mercedes 1:35.679
2 germany Nico Rosberg 16 Williams-Toyota 1:35.704
3 brazil Rubens Barrichello 23 Brawn-Mercedes 1:35.881
4 australia Mark Webber 14 Red Bull-Renault 1:36.105
5 germany Sebastian Vettel 15 Red Bull-Renault 1:36.167
6 italy Jarno Trulli 9 Toyota 1:36.217
7 japan Kazuki Nakajima 17 Williams-Toyota 1:36.377
8 germany Timo Glock 10 Toyota 1:36.548
9 finland Heikki Kovalainen 2 McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.674
10 france Sebastien Bourdais 11 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.800
11 germany Adrian Sutil 20 Force India-Mercedes 1:36.829
12 brazil Felipe Massa 3 Ferrari 1:36.847
13 great britain Lewis Hamilton 1 McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.941
14 finland Kimi Raikkonen 4 Ferrari 1:37.054
15 switzerland Sebastien Buemi 12 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:37.219
16 brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 8 Renault 1:37.273
17 poland Robert Kubica 5 BMW Sauber 1:37.491
18 germany Nick Heidfeld 6 BMW Sauber 1:37.544
19 spain Fernando Alonso 7 Renault 1:37.638
20 italy Giancarlo Fisichella 21 Force India-Mercedes 1:37.750

[Cheese]

© BBC Sports | Formula 1

England's Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton led the way with the quickest times in the first two practice sessions for the Chinese Grand Prix.

A revamp to Hamilton's McLaren helped the world champion to his best showing of the season in the first session.

But Button was quickest in the second session as Brawn looked pacey in bright and breezy conditions in Shanghai.

Button was 0.025 seconds clear of Nico Rosberg's Williams in second, ahead of the second Brawn of Rubens Barrichello.

Jenson Button's second practice time was more than half a second faster than Lewis Hamilton's pole-position time for the 2008 Chinese Grand Prix.

The 29-year-old early-championship leader trailed team-mate Rubens Barrichello for much of Friday's second session but posted his leading time of one minute, 35.679 seconds with eight minutes remaining.

The two Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel again showed their speed as they clocked the fourth and fifth fastest times respectively.

Hamilton, who was running with a new interim diffuser and front wing in Shanghai, faded in the second session and ended up 13th quickest.

Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was ninth fastest in second practice after a late charge saw him move up the field.

Earlier in the day Hamilton provided a rare positive note for his beleaguered McLaren team by topping the timesheets in the first session.

The defending world champion pulled out all of the stops to set a time 0.116 seconds quicker than Button, who was second quickest.

McLaren were quick to react to Wednesday's decision by F1's governing body the FIA to uphold the legality of the controversial 'double-diffuser' design.

Renault also have a new diffuser with them in China but will not use it until Saturday, BBC Sport understands.

Ferrari's frustrations continued as Kimi Raikkonen laboured to 11th and Felipe Massa 15th, and both drivers had problems with their tyres.

The two Ferrari drivers stood on the podium in China in 2008, but they looked unlikely to repeat that feat as Massa was 12th and Raikkonen limped in 14th fastest in second practice.

Raikkonen in particular struggled with grip and ended up on the grass as he fought his way around the long left-handed turn 13 to cap off a miserable day for Ferrari.

The Ferrari drivers were among a number of competitors who struggled with 'graining' - when small pieces of rubber break away from the surface and stick to the tread reducing grip.

Both Renault and Williams drivers, Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber and Toyota's Timo Glock all either spun or spent time off the track.

Fernando Alonso had a torrid time in the second session coming off twice before finishing 19th in his Renault.

Neither Ferrari used their energy storage and power boost system (Kers) in Shanghai after they encountered reliability problems with the system in Malaysia.

Robert Kubica used BMW Sauber's Kinetic Energy Recovery System (Kers) for the first time this season in China, but the Pole struggled to 18th in first practice and improved just one place in the second session.

Toyota continued their consistent start to the season with Jarno Trulli finishing sixth, and Timo Glock in eighth - in both practice sessions.

Williams' Nico Rosberg, who was quickest in five of this season's first six practice sessions, was seventh fastest in first practice and second quickest in the afternoon session.

[SE13]

Yeah he was in the first session.
It could be that he had a light fuel load and others had heavy fuel loads.
In the second session he was mid grid, so that would be the obvious reason for a fastest lap first time round.

McLaren had added something to the diffuser though so that could also be helping out with grip and speed.

They were saying on the radio news that it was a completely new diffuser, and there was a suggestion that it could be better than that of team Brawn.

However the second practise maybe puts things into a different light.... (I'll have the radio on at 12, so will listen to what they say this time)

[Cheese]

Yeah he was in the first session.
It could be that he had a light fuel load and others had heavy fuel loads.
In the second session he was mid grid, so that would be the obvious reason for a fastest lap first time round.

McLaren had added something to the diffuser though so that could also be helping out with grip and speed.

They were saying on the radio news that it was a completely new diffuser, and there was a suggestion that it could be better than that of team Brawn.

However the second practise maybe puts things into a different light.... (I'll have the radio on at 12, so will listen to what they say this time)

It's must better than what they had.
McLaren were smart, they had an idea that the diffuser appeal would be thrown out so have been working on one since Australia, (also probably why they were the only team not to appeal the original verdict.) Not sure why other teams didn't.

[Fordy]

all this as made me like f1 a little less and not for the reason you think

its because this as proved that the driver as very little to do with who wins its the car