2253 replies to this topic

[_R_]

Right idea, wrong Mosley.

we're aiming for Bernie more than Mosley

[DrDickAction]

So no one else wanted to say it, eh? Fine, I'll be the son-of-a-bitch of the group:

Right idea, wrong Mosley.

[kngrsll]

i cant stand mosley, but news like that always sucks...

in for a great spanish GP though.

[cafcwest]

we're aiming for Bernie more than Mosley

After all the money his wife just took, I'm hoping/expecting a heart attack any day now

[Skyliner]

After all the money his wife just took, I'm hoping/expecting a heart attack any day now

I'm hoping Bernie's daughters come by my house.

[chiuey]

I'm hoping Bernie's daughters come by my house.

me too

[MrHahn]

me too

Why would you want Bernies daughter to go to Skyliners house?


ZOMG Skyliner crush?!??!

[chiuey]

Why would you want Bernies daughter to go to Skyliners house?


ZOMG Skyliner crush?!??!

who do you think I trade my hair collection with?

[Skyliner]

Why would you want Bernies daughter to go to Skyliners house?


ZOMG Skyliner crush?!??!

It's more common than you would think.

[Skyliner]

who do you think I trade my hair collection with?

[Robert]

After reading what Kimi said, is Ferrari going to have the updated floor / diffuser in Spain or just some pre-planned aerodynamic update?

Please respond

Raikkonen to get lighter chassis for Barcelona


Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari F2009. Formula One World Championship, Rd 4, Bahrain Grand Prix, Qualifying Day, Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain, Saturday, 25 April 2009 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari F2009. Formula One World Championship, Rd 3, Chinese Grand Prix, Qualifying Day, Shanghai, China, Saturday, 18 April 2009

Kimi Raikkonen will race a lighter Ferrari chassis in this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in a bid to increase the benefit he gains from KERS. Raikkonen’s heavier physique, relative to team mate Felipe Massa, means accommodating KERS has proven more of a challenge than on the Brazilian’s car, hence the new lightweight F60.

The new chassis (number 279) is part of a planned development programme which began at the end of 2008. Ferrari insist the reduced weight will in no way compromise the safety of Raikkonen’s car and the revised chassis has already passed the mandatory FIA crash test. The team are also confident of improved KERS reliability following extensive work on the system since the last round in Bahrain.

Like most of their rivals, Ferrari will be bringing a revised aero package to Spain, including some elements originally scheduled for introduction later in the year. The champions will race a new diffuser, which they describe as ‘only a first attempt at designing a part that was not part of the initial design’.

Accommodating the new diffuser has been a complex task, with engineers having to redesign much of the F60’s electronics and hydraulics systems in order to relocate components at the rear of the car. The revised design was tested at Vairano last week as part of the allowed aero test days, with Marc Gene at the wheel.

[mads]

[_R_]

Fernando Alonso said today that he misses being pushed to the limit by a top team-mate like Lewis Hamilton. The pair were team-mates at McLaren Mercedes in 2007, before the Spaniard fell out with the Woking-based team's management and returned to Renault.

At the time the double world champion complained bitterly about his status in the team and spent much of the uncomfortable season claiming that he should enjoy number one status over then rookie Hamilton due to his championship success.

Since then the Spaniard returned to Renault alongside Nelson Piquet. However, in 22 starts the Brazilian is yet to out-qualify his illustrious team-mate who does now enjoy number one status at the Anglo-French team. Recalling his season with Hamilton in the adjoining garage, Alonso said in Barcelona: "We had a good competition which helped each other to find our limits.

"I can say that maybe I am missing that competition in a way because, as I said, it was quite fun to really push and find new limits from ourselves," he added.

Alonso insists his problems were with McLaren's ‘big bosses’ rather than Hamilton, and had kind words for the reigning world champion when asked about the damage done to Hamilton's reputation by 'lie-gate'.

"I think to really help the reputation or whatever has been damaged, I think will be very easy if he keeps winning," said Alonso.

"The maximum we can do is driving the car, winning races, winning championships. This is the best thing you can do," he added.

awwww nelson awwww...

Drivers on Thursday sided strongly against Max Mosley, after the FIA President suggested the sport could live without Ferrari.

The powerful teams, using their commitment to F1 as their weapons, are locked in a fierce political battle with the governing body over the controversial budget cap plans.

"Without Ferrari it's not Formula One anymore," said Giancarlo Fisichella at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso agreed that contemplating F1 without the famous Italian team is ‘impossible’, while 2008 title winner Lewis Hamilton said he ‘couldn't imagine it’.

Elsewhere in the paddock, Ferrari's Felipe Massa said he didn't want to put himself ‘in the middle’ of the debate but admitted a distaste for the current state of F1 politics.

"It would be nice to have a better sport, you know," the Brazilian said. "Less political and more sport is all I can say.
"

Rubens Barrichello, who drove for the Maranello squad for six years, said reacting to Mosley's comments was too ‘polemic’.

Mark Webber, however, went to the heart of the matter, rejecting Mosley's plans for the voluntary cap.

"To have two different regulations, for me as a driver, that's not attractive at all," said the Red Bull driver. "I want the guy at the other end of the tennis court to have the same racket as me, basically."

[_R_]

Every season, the first European race is an opportunity for at least one team to show off an impressive new 'motor home'.

In 2009, as F1's paddock regulars throng the Circuit de Catalunya, the main talking point on Thursday was Ferrari's new paddock presence, seen for the first time.

Side by side, the two huge structures standing multiple stories high are a match for the most majestic offerings of grandee rivals BMW and McLaren.

Marlboro red and with furtive mirror windows, glass frontage and top story terraces, the structures will stand at the foot of the paddock - second only to the FIA area and Bernie Ecclestone's motor home - for the entire European season, thanks to Ferrari's constructors' title triumph of 2008.

[Robert]

One has to wonder; how does the other half live?

[Redliner]

Isn't free practice tonight?

[_R_]

Isn't free practice tonight?

couple more hours...
I'll make a thread...

[_R_]

Now you see it, now you don't. The unpopular 'winner takes all' scoring system has now been erased from the 2010 sporting regulations.

After the recent World Motor Sport Council meeting, the FIA published the rules for next year, and Article 6.1 of the sporting regulations said the drivers title 'will be awarded to the driver who has been classified first in the greatest number of races'.

The governing body tried to introduce Bernie Ecclestone's favoured system this year, but the late change was vetoed by the Formula One Teams' Association.

It seems that the Article 6.1 inclusion of 30 April was simply a mistake.
The article now explains that the drivers' title 'will be awarded to the driver who has scored the highest number of points'.

thank god...

[_R_]

Ferrari's board of directors will discuss the Italian squad's future in Formula 1 tomorrow, the team announced on Monday.

Amid growing tension between the teams and the FIA over the introduction of a budget cap for 2010, Ferrari said in a statement on Monday its board will analyse the current situation and its future involvement in F1.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and FIA president Max Mosley have been at loggerheads over the introduction of the budget cap, which the Italian reckons could damage the sport.

Mosley said earlier this month that Formula 1 could survive without Ferrari, the only team who has competed in every championship since 1950.

Red Bull's two Formula 1 teams will not be entered in next year's world championship, their owner Dietrich Mateschitz has confirmed, unless changes are made to budget cap rules introduced by the FIA.

With AUTOSPORT having revealed at the weekend that Toyota will not lodge its entry unless plans for a two-tier F1 are dropped, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso are also set to join a boycott led by manufacturer teams.

Mateschitz visited the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday, amid high political tension between the teams and FIA about cost-cutting rules that have been introduced for next season.

And he made it clear that Red Bull would join a host of manufacturer teams in withholding their entries for 2010 for now.

"If the proposed rules for 2010 remain unchanged, we will not enter next year's championship," said Mateschitz as part of an interview that appeared in the Austrian Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper on Monday.

"And I guess that won't do the works teams either. So possibly only two or maybe three of the existing teams will enter the championship.

"The conditions for 2010 at the moment make it impossible to sign in. But I hope there will be a meeting and a settlement before the entry deadline."

AUTOSPORT understands that unless a deal can be hammered out between FIA president Max Mosley and the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) when they meet before the Monaco Grand Prix, then the five manufacturer-backed tams plus the two Red Bull outfits will not lodge their entries.

Williams, Brawn GP and Force India are therefore likely to be the only teams to enter the championship. They will do so not because they do not support the opposition to a two-tier formula, but because their core business is racing in F1 - so to not be racing in 2010 would risk their company's futures.

Efforts have been made by Bernie Ecclestone in the last 48 hours to get the situation moving, with talk that the teams would like a set of technical regulations that allows any outfit to be competitive for 60 million Euros per year - with little to gain from spending more than that.

As well as the budget cap, there are concerns from teams about the FIA's governance of future rules.

In particular, sources suggest there is unease about the manner by which the FIA introduced the 2010 budget cap at an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, plus a new proposal that means teams have no guarantee of stopping rule changes proposed by the FIA alone.

A new Article 8 of Appendix 5 of the 2010 Sporting Regulations states: "The TWG and the SWG will be consulted on any proposal for change to the Technical Regulations or Sporting Regulations which did not originate in either Group and their comments, if any, will be made available to the World Motor Sport Council when such proposal is discussed."

Ferrari, which has had some form of technical 'veto' on rule changes is particularly unhappy about this situation. Sources suggest that an official statement from Ferrari is expected at some point this week to clarify its position in the controversy.

When asked for Ferrari's position on the matter by AUTOSPORT, team principal Stefano Domenicali said: "This weekend, I had other problems that took place. For sure as you know we are trying to find a solution because this situation with the actual regulations is something that we do not think is the right way to go. We want to find a solution."

[DrDickAction]

fuckin wow.

What would get everyone on the same page...double the cap and make it mandatory?

[_R_]

double the cap and make it mandatory?

I would say spread it out over the course of a couple seasons... going from unlimited budget to roughly 10-20% of what the top teams are spending in the matter of a couple months is insane to expect... cut 33% this year, then another 40% next year and make it mandatory by the 2011 season to be at £50 - 60M or something... (i still say £40M is too low)

for the new teams what want to sign up, drop the FIA entry fee if they commit to like 3-5 seasons, give them some TV money and help with travel expenses their first season instead of holding that out...

[DrDickAction]

I would say spread it out over the course of a couple seasons... going from unlimited budget to roughly 10-20% of what the top teams are spending in the matter of a couple months is insane to expect... cut 33% this year, then another 40% next year and make it mandatory by the 2011 season to be at �50 - 60M or something... (i still say �40M is too low)

for the new teams what want to sign up, drop the FIA entry fee if they commit to like 3-5 seasons, give them some TV money and help with travel expenses their first season instead of holding that out...

this is about the only solution that wouldn't piss off existing teams/alienate all of the new teams queued up for next season.

Is it just me or have management missteps, backpedaling, and fiascos been coming at an ever increasing rate out of bernie & max. Senility maybe?

[MrHahn]

If the budget cap doesn't change Webbah and Vettel better 1-2 it in the championship

[_R_]

errari has confirmed that it will not enter next year's world championship unless plans for a voluntary £40 million budget cap are changed.

Although the team had expressed private reservations about the rule changes and governing processes for 2010, it finally went public with its intentions in a statement issued following a board meeting at Maranello on Tuesday afternoon.

"The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of the FOTA's endeavours to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula 1 are the priorities for the future," said the statement.

"If these indispensable principles are not respected and if the regulations adopted for 2010 will not change, then Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula 1 world championship. "

Entries for the 2010 world championship close on May 29, with Toyota and Red Bull's two F1 teams having already announced in public that they will not enter if the rules remain unchanged.

It is thought likely that the other manufacturer teams will also join a 'boycott' of lodging an entry by the deadline - with only the current independents Brawn GP, Williams and Force India outfits set to apply.

As with other teams, Ferrari's main cause of concern is the possibility of a two-tier F1 - which would come into force should some teams adopt to run under budget cap restrictions next year while others choose unrestricted finances.

Regarding the FIA's World Motor Sport Council meeting on April 29 that ratified the 2010 regulations, the Ferrari statement said: "Although this meeting was originally called only to examine a disciplinary matter, the decisions taken mean that, for the first time ever in Formula 1, the 2010 season will see the introduction of two different sets of regulations based on arbitrary technical rules and economic parameters.

"The Board considers that if this is the regulatory framework for Formula 1 in the future, then the reasons underlying Ferrari's uninterrupted participation in the world championship over the last 60 years – the only constructor to have taken part ever since its inception in 1950 – would come to a close."

Although Ferrari is totally opposed to a two-tier F1 system, and has questioned whether or not it is possible for a £40 million budget cap to be introduced next year, the Italian outfit is also concerned about governance of the sport.

As well as being unhappy about the way the rules were pushed through last year, Ferrari thinks there has not been enough consultation with the teams.

"The Board also expressed its disappointment about the methods adopted by the FIA in taking decisions of such a serious nature and its refusal to effectively reach an understanding with constructors and teams," added the statement.

"The rules of governance that have contributed to the development of Formula 1 over the last 25 years have been disregarded, as have the binding contractual obligations between Ferrari and the FIA itself regarding the stability of the regulations."

In light of the developments regarding next year's entry, Ferrari said its president Luca di Montezemolo had been told to look at alternative activities for the racing team.

"Ferrari trusts that its many fans worldwide will understand that this difficult decision is coherent with the Scuderia's approach to motor sport and to Formula 1 in particular, always seeking to promote its sporting and technical values," said the statement.

"The Chairman of the Board of Directors was mandated to evaluate the most suitable ways and methods to protect the company's interests."

Despite Ferrari's strong stance, the FIA said earlier today that it was optimistic a solution to the matter could be found soon. Di Montezemolo is expected to meet with FIA president Max Mosley in the next few days to discuss the situation.

Ferrari laying it down

[Redliner]

Ferrari laying it down

It's a bluff. I hope Mosely won't call on this bluff tho. Too much suspense for me!