1381 replies to this topic

[MrHahn]

It was a long while ago, sometime around 2002 when Schumacher was killing it - Button popped up and said pretty much the same as he just did with Hamilton

EDIT: I totally cant find the article, can anyone remember that? I'm sure I'm not going crazy

[Nacho]

It was a long while ago, sometime around 2002 when Schumacher was killing it - Button popped up and said pretty much the same as he just did with Hamilton

EDIT: I totally cant find the article, can anyone remember that? I'm sure I'm not going crazy

He had a contending car in 04 and 06. As much as i was/is a fan of his, he should probably check his excuse box.

[vietlol]

Does he have a spiritual connection with Senna? If not he cant win.

[kngrsll]

He had a contending car in 04 and 06. As much as i was/is a fan of his, he should probably check his excuse box.

i wanted jens to win so bad...

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

looks like lewis' days as #1 are limited...

[Redliner]

Slow F1 news day...

[DocGolem]

Toro Rosso wanted to sign Juan-Pablo Montoya as a replacement for Red Bull-bound Sebastian Vettel.

Franz Tost, STR’s Team Principal, has revealed that he looked into whether the Colombian was interested in a return to F1. “Unfortunately he no longer wants to be in Formula One,” Tost told Auto Motor und Sport. The magazine also claimed that Nelson Piquet Jr was also offered Vettel’s seat, but Piquet is staying with Renault.

Who will take Vettel’s seat then? Swiss rookie Sebastien Buemi, Japanese journeyman Takuma Sato and Brazilian glamour boy Bruno Senna are all rumoured to be in the frame - two of those three drivers could end up with a drive in 2009, as Sebastien Bourdais isn’t guaranteed to keep his seat either.

http://www.gridcrash...bbed-toro-rosso

It would be fun to see JPM back on the grid with his antics.

[Redliner]

http://www.gridcrash...bbed-toro-rosso

It would be fun to see JPM back on the grid with his antics.

Eh. I don't really care for a guy that doesn't wanna be in F1. But some personality would be nice...

[vietlol]

Come back Juan

[_R_]

I do agree with Jenson though, Lewis out of the gate has had one of the best cars on the grid... if he started on a lower tier car like everyone else, i doubt he'd be the driving god everyone thinks he is...

hell, look at what happened to Alonso this year in a crappy car... and we all know the dude can drive the wheels off a car... (literally and figuratively)

[_R_]

Ferrari is the F1 team that made the best use of its budget in 2008. The constructors’ champions spent $2.4m per point this year - less than any of its rivals.

At the other end of the scale, Force India and Super Aguri (deceased) failed to score at all, giving no return on their comparatively meagre budgets. Honda spent almost 12 times as much per point scored as Ferrari. Full breakdown below.

As Red Bull and Toro Rosso are run by the same company, we can take their totals together: for a combined $292.9m they scored a total of 68 points, costing $4.3m per point.

Interestingly, that is very close to the average paid per point by all the F1 teams combined: $4,378,133.90.

In a closely-fought season, Ferrari spent half a million dollars more per point than it did in 2007. BMW, reflecting its progress, spent over half a million less than it did last year. More information: 2007 F1 teams budgets versus points scored.

[DrDickAction]

interesting....I would've thought STR would be way up at the top

[Nacho]

I do agree with Jenson though, Lewis out of the gate has had one of the best cars on the grid... if he started on a lower tier car like everyone else, i doubt he'd be the driving god everyone thinks he is...

hell, look at what happened to Alonso this year in a crappy car... and we all know the dude can drive the wheels off a car... (literally and figuratively)

What a tired argument. Look at what happened to Hekki in the same McLaren. And again, let's not forget that Lewis paced the very same Fernando Alonso you're speaking of in the exact same car his rookie year.

[vietlol]

Honda fails spectacularly again

[yonson]

I wish I was a billionaire, I'd have an F1 Team!

[MrHahn]

I do agree with Jenson though, Lewis out of the gate has had one of the best cars on the grid... if he started on a lower tier car like everyone else, i doubt he'd be the driving god everyone thinks he is...

hell, look at what happened to Alonso this year in a crappy car... and we all know the dude can drive the wheels off a car... (literally and figuratively)

Then you have Vettel in a lower car, running rings around him on more than 1 occasion

[Nacho]

Then you have Vettel in a lower car, running rings around him on more than 1 occasion

Ferrari powered Adrian Newey designed car..... Certainly seems like it'd be shitty....

[MrHahn]

Lower, not shitty. That title is left for Bourdais driving it

[b7r]

http://www.gridcrash...bbed-toro-rosso

It would be fun to see JPM back on the grid with his antics.

I'd be a very very happy man if this happened, but I've given up on seeing JPM back in an F1 car. He's done with it all.

[Redliner]

What a tired argument. Look at what happened to Hekki in the same McLaren. And again, let's not forget that Lewis paced the very same Fernando Alonso you're speaking of in the exact same car his rookie year.

When you look at drivers, you'll see 4 drivers at the top of their game, able to deliever a WDC. Lewis, Alonso at the top slot followed closely by Massa & KR at the moment. These 2 guys are followed by some very good talent in Kubica and Vettel. These 2 guys are full of potential and I hope they see a WDC in their future.

These 6 guys seem to have something more than just car control. A mental edge that gives them that fight and lets them take that fight right to the end, never giving up. No matter what they say outside of the car, once they get in the car, they forget everything and just get on with the job at hand and are able to find that extra thousandths needed for every lap. Lap after lap. Granted, they aren't perfect and all make mistakes in the car too...

But I fully expect that if you put these guys in slower cars, I would expect that they'd still score points because of that underlying mental edge...

Button on the other hand...not there. He was beat by woobens

[_R_]

What a tired argument. Look at what happened to Hekki in the same McLaren. And again, let's not forget that Lewis paced the very same Fernando Alonso you're speaking of in the exact same car his rookie year.

let me just say that I don't think Jenson is WDC material... he's a good mid-fielder, but that's about it...

But, looking at what happened to Hekki, he has complained most of the season that he's been treated as a number 2 and not an equal... which gives credit to what Alonso was complaining about last year... McLaren is team Hamilton, the way Ferrari was team MS when he was there... he number 2 won't stand a chance... even if he does have the skill... I'm not saying that the car makes the driver, but I do think Hekki is better than what he's shown this year... he just needs an equal fighting chance...

Assuming Alonso was given the exact same treatment as Lewis, you think they would've been tied at the end of the season? Personally, I think Alonso would've taken the title last year if the inner-team issues weren't there...

and lord knows i'm not an alonso fan though he is growing on me now that he just shuts up and drives...

[_R_]

A new row over money, with the Formula One teams on one side and the sport's ruling bodies on the other, looks set to intensify.

Britain's The Guardian newspaper reports that the teams, now allied together and pledging undying unity in the FOTA alliance, are angry about the huge debts being serviced by Formula One's owners CVC.

The newspaper said the more than $5 billion debts are requiring interest payments of more than $230m per year - with the teams suspecting that the FIA are in cahoots with CVC and Bernie Ecclestone amid the latest push to radically slash costs.

They are reportedly concerned that the annual debt payments total more than the commercial revenue they receive from CVC.

"We have had banks, oil companies, financial institutions and pharmaceutical companies with us as sponsors. We have raised this money. Why do we have to keep cutting costs?" a FOTA insider is quoted as saying.

"The sport earns a lot of money so let's look at our share," he added.

Ecclestone, CVC and F1's holding company Delta3 are, however, staying firm, insisting that teams receive more commercial revenue today than at any other time, even amidst a global financial crisis.

But another insider told The Guardian that the teams are keen to sit down with F1's commercial parties to renegotiate their share - also given Ecclestone's push into new markets that are willing to pay higher race sanction fees.

"(The calendar) used to be 12 races, then a maximum of 17. There used to be 80 percent of the races in Europe and now 80 percent are across Asia: the costs to the teams are much higher now," the insider said.

greed

[Redliner]

greed

And the plot thickens...for all the wrong reasons not related to racing...

[yonson]

And the plot thickens...for all the wrong reasons not related to racing...

:hsughwerd:

[Nacho]

let me just say that I don't think Jenson is WDC material... he's a good mid-fielder, but that's about it...

But, looking at what happened to Hekki, he has complained most of the season that he's been treated as a number 2 and not an equal... which gives credit to what Alonso was complaining about last year... McLaren is team Hamilton, the way Ferrari was team MS when he was there... he number 2 won't stand a chance... even if he does have the skill... I'm not saying that the car makes the driver, but I do think Hekki is better than what he's shown this year... he just needs an equal fighting chance...

Assuming Alonso was given the exact same treatment as Lewis, you think they would've been tied at the end of the season? Personally, I think Alonso would've taken the title last year if the inner-team issues weren't there...

and lord knows i'm not an alonso fan though he is growing on me now that he just shuts up and drives...

I can see the argument being for quali fuel loads, but look at the race performances as well. Claimed #2 or not, look at what he did in Monza against Vettel. His only victory came from an engine failure form Ferrari on a freak day. He can't keep pace with Hamilton one to one during the race. He can't even put the car close enough in the field to assist his teammate if need be, how can he expect to be given preferable treatment. Even a designated #2 like Woobens could stay with Michael and give him breathing room from his opponets. Hekki got ate up in the last part of the season whenever he was tasked with blocking others from his WDC contending teammate.

Alonso and Hamilton traded optimal strategies (afaik), but Alonso was used to being #1 always so he complained. Hell, at the end of the season, after the spy scandal and Alonso complaining, i think he was probably given slightly preferable treatment by the team to help alleviate rumors of his being slighted by McLaren. But both drivers rivaled each other on track, and neither was ever a total runaway as far as pace. I think Lewis drove better last year than this year, and I think that he was every bit as quick as Alonso under the circumstances in 07 (no pressure on Hamilton the rookie and Alonso not liking his new environment/a teammate that can and did challenge him).

IMO, giving Hekki optimal quali and race strategy would be worthless because I honestly don't think he'd be able to convert them to wins. Hell, for a bit of the season it looked like BMW Sauber would take McLaren in the constructors because of Hekki's weak performances.