3530 replies to this topic

[chiuey]

is that the honda version of the pit lights?

It really makes you realize how disparate Honda are for coverage that they are willing to introduce pit lights late in the season, just so they can fuck up and get air time.... so sad, so so sad.

[_R_]

It really makes you realize how disparate Honda are for coverage that they are willing to introduce pit lights late in the season, just so they can fuck up and get air time.... so sad, so so sad.

i was reading on it eariler today, apparently, it won't turn green until the fuel hose is removed from the car regardless of what a "lollipop man" does, he can't over ride that...

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

Oct.10 (GMM) The current controversial safety car rules will be scrapped following next month's final race of the 2008 season.

It has been agreed to minimally revert to the old system, whereby the pitlane will stay open for refuelling even immediately after the deployment of the safety car.

The recent Singapore grand prix reinvigorated the debate about the current rules, after Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg finished first and second mainly due to the way the rules can arbitrarily shake up the race order.

It is expected that, to accompany the revised system for 2009, drivers will need to adhere to a minimum lap time as they drive slowly after deployment of the SC, as has been trialled several times in free practice this year.

Drivers will be alerted about the deployment of the Mercedes sedan by the illumination of a yellow cockpit light, and have just five seconds to acknowledge the alarm by pressing a button.

The minimum time system is possible due to the standard ECU, and GPS positioning.

The new rules are an improvement but not perfect, BMW-Sauber team manager Beat Zehnder told Auto Motor und Sport.

"If at the time of (race) neutralisation you were just past the pits, it will be a problem because you will have do a full lap.

"But at least the new rule prevents you losing places or time against your immediate opponents," he added.

[Redliner]

i was reading on it eariler today, apparently, it won't turn green until the fuel hose is removed from the car regardless of what a "lollipop man" does, he can't over ride that...

I think the Ferrari system was like this except they had a lollipop over-ride on it...SuckstobeMassa

[vietlol]

press butan, receive bacon

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

press butan, receive bacon

i've tried.. it never works

[vietlol]

I lold

[Shi]

I lold

[MrHahn]

I lold

Michael not Micheal

[mads]

ack to back Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso has admitted he would assist the title challenge of Ferrari's Felipe Massa in the last two races of 2008.

After his disastrous tenure at McLaren last year, the Spaniard makes clear he is not barracking for the British team's Lewis Hamilton, who leads the points standings against Massa by five points.

In the official post-race press conference at Fuji Speedway, Alonso admitted he agreed with the stewards' decision to penalise Hamilton for his first corner incident.

The 27-year-old later told Italy's Sky: "I didn't know why he (Hamilton) had been penalised. After last year, I want Ferrari to win. I will help Massa if I can."

Despite backing Massa over Hamilton, however, Alonso admits he has not been overly impressed with either driver's championship campaign.

"They have thrown away many points," Spain's Diario AS newspaper quotes him as saying.


"After 16 races the leader has 84 points, but I had that many after nine races in 2006," Alonso recalls.

Also unimpressed is the winner of multiple Champ Car titles Sebastien Bourdais, who lost his championship points at Fuji after stewards investigated his collision with Massa.

"He's fighting for the title and taking unnecessary risks like that, as he did with (overtaking) Webber as well.

"You've got everything to lose and nothing to gain. It is a sign of arrogance," the Frenchman charged.

Source: GMM

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

ack to back Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso has admitted he would assist the title challenge of Ferrari's Felipe Massa in the last two races of 2008.

After his disastrous tenure at McLaren last year, the Spaniard makes clear he is not barracking for the British team's Lewis Hamilton, who leads the points standings against Massa by five points.

In the official post-race press conference at Fuji Speedway, Alonso admitted he agreed with the stewards' decision to penalise Hamilton for his first corner incident.

The 27-year-old later told Italy's Sky: "I didn't know why he (Hamilton) had been penalised. After last year, I want Ferrari to win. I will help Massa if I can."

Despite backing Massa over Hamilton, however, Alonso admits he has not been overly impressed with either driver's championship campaign.

"They have thrown away many points," Spain's Diario AS newspaper quotes him as saying.


"After 16 races the leader has 84 points, but I had that many after nine races in 2006," Alonso recalls.

Also unimpressed is the winner of multiple Champ Car titles Sebastien Bourdais, who lost his championship points at Fuji after stewards investigated his collision with Massa.

"He's fighting for the title and taking unnecessary risks like that, as he did with (overtaking) Webber as well.

"You've got everything to lose and nothing to gain. It is a sign of arrogance," the Frenchman charged.

Source: GMM

your title rival is ahead in the standings, running out of the points.. you're out of the points too, but pretty close to getting some to close up the gap.. how the hell is that "everything to lose and nothing to gain"? what the hell was he going to gain by staying behind webber?

everything to lose and nothing to gain is hamilton and macca waiting as long as they did for that tire change in last year's china gp, while he was in the lead and with a chance to close out the WDC..

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

if ron wasnt holding a pen then this would be borderline inappropriate..

[HighTachPres]

After 16 races the leader has 84 points, but I had that many after nine races in 2006," Alonso recalls.

but it is fun to see a mixed grid

[HighTachPres]

if ron wasnt holding a pen then this would be borderline inappropriate..

but the real question..... would you?

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

but the real question..... would you?

you tell me... you're the one with yellow fever...

[HighTachPres]

you tell me... you're the one with yellow fever...

she's HALF!
and japanese is milky, not yellow

and to answer your question.... well i'll at least have to see nudez of her first

[yonson]

Well, since Kimi is officially out of the chip runnings, I'm all aboard the Kubica train...


Go Pole Go!!!!!!11oen

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

FOTA to consider refuelling ban

By Jonathan Noble Tuesday, October 14th 2008, 09:24 GMT

A ban on refuelling, shorter races, wide-scale testing restrictions, and a competitive element to Fridays are some of the ideas that will be discussed by Formula One teams in China this week.

The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) is holding a series of meetings in Shanghai this week to decide on ways to make the sport better.

Sources suggest that FOTA's Sporting Working Group is to focus on revisions to the format of a race weekend - with the 'blue sky' discussions to include such wide sweeping changes as a refuelling ban.

It is understood that teams are keen to make the most of the opportunity provided to them by the FOTA talks. The idea of a refuelling ban surfaced following the host of pit stop problems this year - and plans to talk about it have been given a new urgency in the wake of Felipe Massa's bungled stop in Singapore.

And although a refuelling ban would mean an overhaul of car design because of the size of current fuel tanks, one way to minimize the impact could be to have shorter races.

McLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh, who chairs the SWG discussions, confirmed that discussions in China would be about the race weekend format and a possible widespread testing ban.

"Yes, we're looking at the race format and testing," he said. "I think there are quite a few good ideas on the agenda which would change the format of racing and change the format of the weekend.

"Hopefully, together we'll come up with some agreement on how we can change the weekend in a positive way. But we've got to be careful in making changes that we retain some of the purity that is important in Formula One.

"We've got to look at our agenda on Friday and decide whether that's a worthwhile agenda where we can make more spectacle and have a bit of competition on that day, and we're going to review what we do on Saturday and Sunday to see if we can make it a little bit less predictable.

"But you'd have to say, based on today's showing and in recent races, it's fairly unpredictable at the moment."

flav might get his wish of a sprint + feature race afterall...

[_R_]

flav might get his wish of a sprint + feature race afterall...

if they do that, i hope they do a reverse grid for the feature race...

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

if they do that, i hope they do a reverse grid for the feature race...

i don't see why not if they were going to the sprint+feature format..

i'd also like to see points for laps led (to give drivers more incentive to fight for grid position rather than overtaking after the pit rotations), fastest lap and pole position.. this would pretty much completely revamp the points structure tho, so it's unlikely.

[_R_]

Ferrari is still lagging behind with development of a KERS system for 2009.

The Italian team's engine boss Gilles Simon admitted last month that Ferrari is "struggling' with the technology, raising the prospects that the 2009 car will debut without an energy-recovery system.

The situation led to Force India, Ferrari's F1 customer, shopping around for a new supplier, with business director Ian Phillips confirming in Japan that its Maranello based partner is being 'non-committal' about next year's package.

"I cannot deny that we are lagging behind," Ferrari's Technical Director Aldo Costa is quoted as saying by Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.

He admitted that Ferrari's progress with KERS is behind that of 'most teams'.

"Let me just say that I would prefer if our system was already in the testing phase.
We now have to do a lot in a short time frame."

Costa added that Ferrari is targeting the debut of its KERS system for a group test in mid-January that "we really must not miss."

He said: "During the battle for the world championship we have put a lot of effort into the F2008, and now we must also focus on next season."

[_R_]

Rubens Barrichello is set to test an IndyCar following next month's Interlagos race, which could turn out to be the last Grand Prix of his long Formula One career.

The 36-year-old Brazilian said at Fuji last weekend that the 'silence' at Honda is becoming 'tiresome.' as he bids to remain with the Japanese team in 2009.

Honda, however, seems more likely to sign either Fernando Alonso or Bruno Senna as Jenson Button's team-mate next year, raising the prospect of F1's longest-running driver career coming to an end.

It was already rumoured that Barrichello's best option outside of Formula One was the premier Brazilian stock car series, which houses former Brazilian F1 racers Tarso Marques, Luciano Burti, Ricardo Zonta and Antonio Pizzonia.

But the South American motorsports portal Grande Premio claims that Barrichello is to test a Honda-powered Penske IndyCar next month, possibly at the Homestead track in Florida.

[_R_]

Another former F1 racer has backed Gerhard Berger's view that 'too many penalties' are being dished out by FIA stewards this year.

"In the 20 years I've been involved in F1 as a driver and spectator I don't think I've seen so many penalties in one season," the former McLaren driver Mark Blundell, who is now an analyst for Britain's television coverage, wrote in his column for the Daily Telegraph.

At Fuji Speedway last weekend, championship contenders Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa received penalties for on-track incidents, as did Sebastien Bourdais for what appeared a normal racing collision.

"It's political correctness gone mad. An important point is being missed: these guys are racing tooth and nail. Things happen when racing at 200mph," Blundell, 42, said.

"I understand the concern about safety but this is getting ridiculous. We might as well dig two grooves around each circuit, put two cars side by side like a Scalextric set and let someone control the action from the pits.

"The authorities are losing the plot," he charged.

Bourdais' 25-second time penalty, costing him his championship points and handing Ferrari's Massa another point, was undoubtedly the most contentious in Japan.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport contends that the decision even contradicted race director Charlie Whiting's instruction - that drivers emerging from the pitlane have right of way over those already on the track.

"It was a normal racing incident. The decision was ridiculous," the magazine said.

[_R_]

F1's two main championship challengers headed from Fuji to Shanghai following the Japanese Grand Prix amid a wave of press criticism.

The sport's title protagonists at this time of the season are usually being prepared for looming heroism, but their antics at Fuji Speedway has left sections of the media wondering about the credentials of the next champion.

'2008 threatens to exist in the memory as the year of missed opportunities; a wasted championship,' Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport charged.

Corriere dello Sport explained: 'Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton in Japan continued their desperate attempts to lose the title.'

Spain's sports newspaper Marca pointed the finger mainly at Hamilton, who from pole position incurred a penalty, crashed with Massa, and finished the race out of the points.

'History repeats,' Marca said, harking back to the Briton's lost 2007 title. 'He had the best car and pole position, but was unable to take a back seat to his ego.'

Another Spanish newspaper remarked: 'Alonso showed that he is without peer, if his car is competitive.'

France's Le Parisien dismissed Hamilton and Massa as 'young and unstable' challengers, and former McLaren driver Mark Blundell agrees that the pair have displayed a 'lack of maturity' at times this year.

1996 world champion Damon Hill told BBC radio's Five Live: "Lewis is impatient to win that first title, but you can't force it."

Even Hamilton's bosses were unimpressed with his overzealous first lap at Fuji Speedway. "Lewis can sometimes be a bit too fiery," Mercedes' Norbert Haug told the German press.

McLaren chief Ron Dennis added: "It would have been nice if Lewis had been a little bit more prudent in the first corner."

i would bold the parts that stand out to me, but every single thing said is true...

[Redliner]

i would bold the parts that stand out to me, but every single thing said is true...

Wow. Too bad for Woobens. He's doing a better job IMO than JB...but it's true, they need someone younger. For me, as a life-long Honda fan-boi I'd love to see FA at Honda. I don't think that'll happen though. The next Senna would be baddass tho

@ everyone snappin' at Lewis. He should just shut up and drive. He's acting like Emo last year, except in the opposite direction...

I'm loving FA right now - he just sits back and drives. A true mark of a champion -- last year he learned something important about himself. I'm glad he's not whining and just driving. Of course...I hope it continues on if he ever gets challenged by a team-mate again...but that's unlikely in his future as teams will k now how to handle FA's fiery...

I wish KR was like that...