Wednesday 29 July 2009

BMW and they left no money on the bedside table either

And now it's BMWs turn to throw it's toys out of the pram and complain loudly "we've paid a fortune to be here, why aren't we winning !!!!!"

Good riddance to bad sports. They had the chance to go for the title last year and take Kubica all the way. But they stepped back and said "No vee havf for zee 1 vin and zee third place, we vill now build a championship car for zee races next year" Which turned out to be crap.

pffft rubbish

Monday 27 July 2009

The future

As I predicted then, the Mclarens and Ferraris are going to be taking points away from Redbull and Brawn. Brawn however have more worries than the woking boys getting in the way. It looks like they have a real problem with the development of that car which is now eating its tires and yet stilll not getting them up to any sort of working temperature. Couple that with a potential issue with a suspect rear suspension unit and there is going to be a lot of head scratching going on there. Remember too that the F1 world will close down for 2 weeks now. The factories have to be closed so the personel can go and have a holiday. Mandated by the FIA that, so they have to close stuff down. So two weeks closed down then one week to get it all up and running again, and then it's off to Valensia followed by Spa the weekend after Spain. With no testing at any point and you have to wonder if they can solve any of their problems before the Italian GP.

A resergent Mclaren and Ferrari, a fast Redbull and Williams punching above its weight means any predictins for the top 10 wil rely on ;uck more than form and judgement.

It's all rather exciting isn't it :D

Hungary like the Wolf

Hurrah for the Plucky lad from Woking and the hard working McLaren Boys.

We have our 4th different winner of the season and a real shock result for some of you. Only Webber in the Redbull got the fastest lap. There were no Brawns on the front row, they were nowhere on the fastest lap table and managed to knoble poor old Massa in to the bargin. What has happen to the once mighty Brawns? They should have been all over this track like a bad case of swine flu. But no they were messing around in the midfield fight over steer and understeer and graining tires and a whole world of rubbishness. It was like they were Hondas or something.

At the time of writing Massa is still in Hospital but is now out of his induced coma and is responding to the doctors. Having seen some of the photos floating around the internet of Massa after he’s been pulled form the car, I have to say he is a very lucky man. The Left side of his head looks like it’s been hit with a cricket bat. He’s lucky to still be able to see. Let’s hope he’s able to return to racing, let along before the end of the season. Watching the car plough head long into the barrier is bad enough, watching the driver get brained first then hit the barrier just brought back memories of Senna.
I’ll let you know who is going to replace him for Valencia when they announce it.

So. Mclaren have burnt the candle at both ends and turned a dog of a car into a race winner. Well done to them. With Kovy in the top 10 too, it shows that they now have a car that both drivers can go and drive. They’re leading the car, not waiting to see what it’ll do half way round the corner. I don’t think they’re going to go on and blow the rest of the field away and steel the silverware from under the Brawns noses, but they’re Hamilton is definalty going to be a feature of the top 5 for the rest of the season.

Alonso also poped up to remind everyone that he can actually drive a car, even if it does have three wheels. To which the FIA to very great exception and have banned Renault for the next round in Valencia. Maybe if Henry Surtees hadn’t been killed by a loose wheel a few day earlier, or Massa not got brained by debry. Then Renault might just have got a fine. But they did and Renault didn’t So don’t expect Alonso to get pole next race.

So Hamilton returns to the top step, along with Kimi 2nd and Webber 3rd.

Kimi saves some pride for Ferrari who had a lot to deal with this weekend. The car was quick but they couldn’t chase Hamilton down. I think both the Mclaren and Ferrari benifited from having KERS systems here. Where over taking is so difficult. They could hunt down the non KERS cars and pass with ease. Kimi did a good job and didn’t fall asleep as usual. I still think he’s going to get fired come the end of the season.

Webber, keeps the momentum of Germany with a solid 3rd. Despite almost hitting Kimi in the pits, and the team generally arsing around all weekend.

4th for Rosberg who is a regular in the top 10 now, Williams look to do a good job at last.

5th Kovalainen proves the Mclaren was really suited to this track, can he go on and make a fist of the final races.

6th Glock, Toyota looked to be down and out on Saturday with rubbish practice and qualifing. But here we are with Glock in the points again. Making the best of things.

7th Button, Oh how it’s all starting to go wrong. The development program has turned a great car into a dog. Quick call the Woking boys to see how it should be done !!

8th Trulli, who actually drove sideways to try and pass some one. No, I can’t believe is either. However, he is doing a lot of Charity work for that Italian town that got flatten in the earth quake. Which is jolly stirling stuff and so I don’t dislike Trulli quite as much as I used to.

9th Nakajima who didn’t hit anything for a change.

10th Barrichello, who proably complained that he wasn’t given as much help as button and threw a big tantrum about it later.

Saturday 25 July 2009

Hungarian Qualifying

Have Brawn lost that winning way ?

This is supposed to be the track that Brawn bounced back and showed the rest of the grid how it was done. Yet here we are with Button struggerling to trouble the sharp end of the grid, whilst Barrichello fails to make it through to Q3. 6 months ago we all though the Brawns where going to walk it like Schumacher used to do in the glory years. Championship won by the British GP. But then it all started to go wrong at Turkey, with Redbull running faster all weekend, only Vettel cocking up 1 corner all wekend saving Button. We tought that was just a blip, before the onward march to glory. But then the Brit and German GP confirmed that the championship favourite

It looks like something broke on the back of Barrichellos car. Which then hit Massa before he attempted to crash test the armco. Watching in car footage afterwards made for uncomfortable viewing as memories of Senna at Imola came flooding back. A cut to the forehead, concussion and dammage to his skull makes him a lucky boy. 10 years ago he might not have been so lucky.

So Alonso picks up the pole, he's frighteningly light on the old fuel, so it'll be interesting to see if he can turn this into a win. But pole in this place is almost as good as a win. Vettel and Webber make it up to 2nd and 3rd in the end, Vettel with more fuel than Webber too. Hamilton with his KERS in 4th has got to be worth a punt for a podium, a win with a fair wind and bit of the old Hamilton Luck. He's got less fuel than the Redbulls, but thet just means he's going to be faster off the line. Let's hope Webber isn't so aggressive as he was in Germany.

Rosberg next to Hamilton followed by Kovelinem and Kimi means Button in 8th is going to have his work cut out to make something good happen here. Right now the Redbulls are the team with their hands on the silverware. Button has a lot of fuel, maybe two stopping in a attempt to leap frog the Redbulls.

It's going to be another tactical race.

Monday 20 July 2009

The Hungarian GP

The Hungarian F1 Gp

Hungary has two things. Dust all over the circuit and corners, lots and lots of silly little corners.

It’s a lot like Monaco with complex series of corners linked together; the driver has to be smooth and controlled, concentrating on sticking to the line and waiting for the right moment to overtake.

This means Hungary is a circuit that has Brawn written all over it. There are a few high speed corners for the Redbulls to pull away on, but then it’s a short straight and a slow series of corners up next, for the Brawns to catch and pass on. Cars have to be nimble, accelerate, stop quickly and look after the rubber. Nervous, twitchy cars don’t go well at all here,
Off line its dirty and dusty, the circuit doesn’t get much use for the rest of the year, so it takes 3 days of racing for the track to rubber in. So going off line here and the next thing the car is bouncing over is the grass. There is lots of run off to bounce over too because the average speed is so low here. Accidents are rare; cars usually expire in the heat and dust.

Both Ferrari and McLaren are talking up their Hungarian races. Given how well Hamilton was going before Webber took him out, I’m inclined to believe McLaren here. They might not have sorted that car out, but hey have made it more drivable and predictable. So, with a good run at qualifying, a clean getaway off the line and who knows what a KERS car can achieve here!
Ferrari meanwhile has got Massa running well again, Kimi less so. But they do have a neutral car that while not very fast, can be driven hard on the slower circuits.

So this race is going to come down once again to the qualifying, and then the first lap. Whoever can get ahead of the McLaren’s and Ferraris is going to have a clear run to the flag. Maybe Hamilton and Massa will fight it out at the head of the field, whilst the Brawns and Redbulls fight to get through. Vettel and Webber will be fighting each other; both believe they can take the title. Barrichello has had his chance so he’ll have to give way to Button.

This is going to be a close tactical race with non-title contenders getting in the way.

Meanwhile over at Torro Rosso, young Mr Bourdais has been given his marching orders and shown the back door to America. Some unpronounceable Spanish chap called Alguersuari (No I have no idea how you pronounce that either) will be taking over from him for the rest of the season. Though I believe then Sebastian Loeb will be getting a drive this year at some point.
Mr Alaberkerky is the current British F3 champion and is currently racing in the World Series by Renault, with little success. He’s got the seat over more experienced drivers because he’s part of the Redbull young driver program, and Redbull are bankrolling the Torro Rosso boys. The Boss of Torro Rosso in a fantastic display of confidence in their new young signing said “I do not expect anything from him”.
He’ll last longer then Piquet, but only because he’s got an awful lot of money backing him.

Monday 13 July 2009

German F1 gp, It's an ozzy win

Well that was all very exciting wasn’t it !

Exactly what have McLean done to turn a rather rubbish car into a pocket rocket. If it hadn’t been for Webber getting all unnecessary off the line, we could have had a bit of a fight there, as it was despite getting a drive through penalty for attempting to punt Barrichello into the pit all. Webber won a flag to flag victory in a pretty dominate display.

Webber was blindingly fast all weekend, with a solid pole on Saturday ahead of the lighter Brawns of Button and Barrichello. Qualifying was all about being on the tack at the right time, with sudden cloud burst turning the track into a skating rink in the blink of an eye. The track would get slippery for 5 minutes then dry out and give the drivers a tilt at posting fast laps. Though it all the Brawns and Redbulls fought it out to be at the front. Joined for a change by both of the Mclarens. I’ve no idea why they’re suddenly up the sharp end of the grid. New areo bits and a rear diffuser have contributed and looked to have solved most of the problems.

But Webber got the job done from very light Brawns and a slow Vettel. Hamilton pulled it up to 5th, which given his last few months is a s good as a win.

Come Sunday and is was bright and clear with neer a cloud in the sky, almost no chance of any rain or anything other than a Redbull demonstration race. Which is what we got, Webber punted Barrichello out of the way, punctured Hamilton’s rear tire and drove off into the distance. He had a drive through for punting Barrichello, which delayed him for 30 seconds odd, but still cruzed home a mile up the road. It looked easy for him, and I suppose he deserves it, despite taking out Hamilton in turn one.

Vettel makes it second, but he wasn’t really at the races and didn’t look like challenging Webber at all. Still it’s another 1-2 for Redbull whilst Brawn fail to make the podium

Massa makes get’s a podium and makes his seat safe for another year. Like Mclaren Ferrari have got on with rebuilding their car, but it’s too late to challenge for the big prize. Expect Massa to be doing well form no on though. Meanwhile Kimi is having a rough old time of it. Once again taking out Force Indias Sutil who was having a cracking race. What is it with Sutil and Kimi, don’t think like each other or something.

Rosberg has a very good weekend and comes home in 4th. Normally by now Williams are floundering down at the back of the finishing pack. This year they look pretty racy. Not talking to FOTA is working out for them I think.

Button, has another damage limitation race, they’ll go much better in Hungary next where it’s warm and slow. But another high speed corner circuit, he couldn’t get the tires up to temperature and lost time with graining tires and no grip where it mattered.

Meanwhile Barrichello is throwing a massive tantrum about the team not liking him and button is stealing his lunch money and a whole bunch of other things that mean he’s not being allowed to win. To which Mr Brawn rolls up and says “Rubins had the 11th fastest lap. You can’t win a race if your best lap time is the 11th fastest. Shut it”

Alonso got the fastest lap, He was pretty racy all weekend, even spinning on on the way to the start line. maybe that Reanult is starting to come good like the Mclaren and Ferrari. That or Alonso was so insenced about being out qualified by Piquet for the first time ever that he went a bit mad ?

Kovy next to prove the Mclaren is getting better

Glock in 9th from the pit road once again shows that Trulli is awful and dull and should be fired

Heidfeld in 10th showing how rubbish the Beemer still is.

Wednesday 8 July 2009

FOTA unhappy with the FIA ... yet again !

So the FOTA teams haven't been consulted on the new rules. FOTA (or the world car manufactures as they should really be called) want to have a say how they brands are promoted. that means they want to make the rules up.

The FIA as head of world motorsport and the rule makers (as in any other sport) keep telling the manufactures to stop pushing in the tuck shop line and do as they're told.

It all started with Max telling all and sundry that this sport needs to be cheap and cheerful and so there were going to be a set of rules for teams running to a budget and they'ed get to have a huge advantage and stuff. the established car maunfactures didn't like the sound of that so started throwing their weight around and asking for more tuck shop privileges and a choice of either dime bars, snikers and Mars bars not trackers and oat cakes which may well be healthy but taste like shite. Max said he was incharge and they could all fuck right off

Then Bernie stepped in and said the school guv'ners (CVC who own the comersial rights to F1) were not happy ... not happy at all. And that Max ought to consider his future and knee caps very carefully. know what i mean guv.

Then Max called all the FOTA chaps Loonies at the british GP

So Max and Bernie and Monty and Flav all sit down in a smokey room and thrash out a plan.

they walk out of the room and say "ha, it was all a misunderstanding, tuck shop privilages are back on and, i'll quit as headmaster. But we're going to have some new boys (who i might have choosen personaly because they're all old mates) and I'm still ace and the FOTA chaps are a bit nutty but not Loonies"

FOTA told everyone that Max "is a fucking nutter dictator who wanted to bugger the upper 5th in the showers after rugger practice and he smelt of moth balls and was mad and we always hated him ha ha ha ah ah a"

Max didn't like the dictator slur, and said "fuck you, i'm thinking of staying on now unless you bastards take that back"

FOTA said "fuck off grandad"

Bernie said "hitler was a rubbish dictator and the Saddam is greatly missed"

Then Bernie said "sorry about the hitler thing, he was a bad man, but Max is aceness incarnate"

Now it appears that the FIA have told the FOTA chaps that becuase they got all arsey and thretend to go and play with their own ball, they can't now have a say in how the new rules will be made. FOTA though they had a say becuase they were on the list of teams to take part next year which got published a few weeks ago.

But the FIA are saying FOTA said they wern't playing until the concorde agreement had been signed, which it won't be until after the rules are worked out.

FOTA have thrown their arms into the air and are now gathered round the back of the bike shed telling all the 4th year girls that they could have Max if they wanted too.

Max is calling them all a bunch of yobs who should just grow up.

Monday 6 July 2009

Welcome back sports fans.

We’re all off to sunny Germany and the Nurburgring 2009.

It’s fast and smooth, ideal for the Redbulls and Brawns to fight it all out. The weather looks to be changeable, with rain up until Friday and cloud all weekend.
Now, when Brawn turned up to a cold Silverstone they had a real problem getting the tires up to temperature. The is because Button is ever so smooth and Barrichello is slow. The Redbulls work their tires hard, which wears them out faster, but means they get more grip faster too.

If Nurburgring is cold then Vettel on his home circuit is going to be a shoe in for the win. Long fast high speed flowing corners really suit the Redbulls, Webber too looked pretty handy on a cold English track, so he’ll be pushing Vettel hard.
Brawn claim they aren’t worried at all and Ross is talking Up Barrichello and his chances. Unlike Silverstone, where they hardly touch the brakes, Germany has lot’s of tight hairpins after long straights. Big heavy breaking zones suit the Brawns so they’ll be closer to the Redbulls than the last time out, the question will be by how much.

I think the cold weather is going to play into Vettel hands, but what to I know.

As for the rest, it’s been very quite on the news front. Bernie is walking around telling everyone that Hitler did a rubbish job and Saddam was a misunderstood organisational genius. i.e. Max is ace and I love his dictatorial style baby. If as everyone suspects Jean Todt gets the FIA fuehrer roll, how will Bernie deal with him I wonder. Being Max’s bezzy mate gave Bernie a lot of scope to build an empire, something he did with glee. I wonder if Todt or the next chap is as accommodating.

Anyway Ferrari are talking up a good race, with Alonso already signed for 2010 apparently and either Glock or Rosberg signed for 2011, how much effort will Kimi and Massa be putting in? Or rather will Kimi start putting any effort into racing anytime this year? I doubt it personally.

Else were Toyota looked to have fixed what ever problems they had with good qualifying and racing at Silverstone. This track should suit them too, so expect Trulli to have a tilt at the pole on Saturday.

Williams are still in the top 10 at the moment but Renault (soon to be Briatorie) is chasing them down. Well Alonso is, if only to remind his new employers how good he is in a rubbish car. Piquet is already downloading the unemployment forms for next year.

McLaren claim that this is going to be the last throw of the dice for the 2009 car, if that doesn’t work they’ll start working on the 2010 car after this weekend.

BMW will be hoping for something good to happen this week, it’s the mid point of the season and so far they have bugger all to show for a lot of money.

Friday 3 July 2009

Ooooooooh.

I'm off to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, at some Ungod hour of saturday morning.

excited ... yes.

pictures ... oh yes.