Saturday, December 26, 2009

Montreal GP - Tickets

Tickets are on sale for people who have previously attended. This being said, mine have been ordered. We will be sitting at the Senna turn of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (hopefully). Ticket prices don't seem to have gone up too much, which is pretty good.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Schumacher to make F1 return.

Its official. Michael Schumacher will be back for the 2010 season, but not in a red car. That will be pretty strange, as most of his career was spend in a red car.

He has signed a 3 year contract with Mercedes, and more importantly (for him) with Ross Brawn, the one behind most of Schumacher's championships (and more importantly Jenson Button's 2009 world championship)

I can't say that I am thrilled with his return, but it will be interesting to see how he holds up against the younger racers.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Team Lotus

Lotus have signed Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalinen to be their drivers for next season.

Really, seems to be a safe choice, rather than a flashy one. Both men are solid drivers, with flashes of brilliance, but will be good for a team that is just starting to get back into the game.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

FIA's award ceremony

Button and Brawn were presented with their Championship trophies.

Too bad that Brawn is no longer now, and will soon be Team Germany (Mercedes), and McLaren will soon be Team Britain. Add Team USF1, and then there will be an interesting brawl. Virgin who was one of Brawn's only sponsors seems to have taken up residence with one of the new teams, to become Team Virgin, which just occurred to me is a really funny name.

Go Go Team Virgin... (lol)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Quick Update

Sorry no update for quite some time, but there just hasn't really been anything going on lately.

Silverstone has been granted license for the next 15 years, so Donnington won't be hosting (what a shock).

There is talk of every team getting together and unveiling all their car prototypes at the same time (seems a little odd, but quite cost-saving)

There will be a new points system next year to compensate the fact that there will be 13 teams on the grid. the top 10 finishers will be getting points. 25, 20, 15, 10, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2, 1. I think that this is an excess of points for the top 3. I can see starting at 15, but 25 seems like a lot of points and that it would be really hard to catch up from the back. Then again I resisted when they went from the top 6 to the top 8 runners too.

Change may be good, this will be left to be seen.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Montreal GP back on!

Last night it was announced that the FIA and the organizers for the Canadian GP has reached a deal, and that it was back on for the next 5 years!!

I'm thrilled about this, because going to the race was one of the coolest things that I have ever done.


Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Button to McLaren

I'm going to be short and sweet about this one, Mercedes bought out the Brawn GP team, and seem intent on turning it into some sort of Super German team (much like USF1, who claim to only want to employ American drivers), McLaren seem to be trying to do the same thing with the Brits.

I think that we may be seeing a repeat of the scraps between Alonso and Hamilton the year that they shared the team.

I just hope that McLaren give both drivers an equal chance, as Button doesn't do well as second, and Hamilton never has had to. It could lead to an interesting season of scraps.

Raikkonnen has "elected" to take next year off from F1, being unable to get a seat with the team that he wanted to (Button took his spot).

I am so not happy about this one. My two favourite drivers going to teams that I dislike, this really sucks

Monday, November 16, 2009

Mercedes acquire Brawn GP

Mercedes now have a stake in two F1 teams. Ross Brawn will remain as team principle, but there is a lot of speculation about who the new drivers will be.

Mercedes deal with McLaren expires in 2015, then there may be another split. The current rumours are that Hamilton and Button will switch teams, but who knows.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

No news is not totally bad news...

...just makes for really boring updates. Renault is still a team for the moment, but they have said that they will announce a decision at a later date.

I think that is all in the car news.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Renault's future uncertain in F1

Earlier this week, a meeting was called by the board of directors about the future of the Car Manufacturer's future in F1. Members of the F1 team were not invited to participate in the colsed door session.

It was decided that a full decision would be reached by the end of 2009. the 3 decisions are to pull out entirely, to just make engines, or to stay a team.

**pleasepleaseplease stay a team**

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Toyota to leave F1

It was announced today that Toyota will not be competing in the F1 championship next season. They are withdrawing due to economic issues, but will continue to participate in racing at a grassroots level.

This leaves another 2 drivers without a drive. Trulli and Glock, as well as the new guy Kobayashi.

There are only about 8 drivers confirmed for next season, and a dwindling number of teams. They are down to 12 now, 3 new ones, and 9 who have competed in previous championships.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Abu Dhabi GP

Started out as a fairly quiet race, there were a few little skirmishes, but that was all.

Then the first round of pit stops started, and the drama began, there were a few skirmishes, but nothing to report. Hamilton then was warned over the radio about a potential brake failure, and was subsequently told to come in and retire.

His retirement from the GP, made it so the two Red Bull cars were then one-two. This continued on until the last two laps, when Button made a valiant charge to try and pass Webber and take second. He came really close, but to no avail.

The last race of the season ended as a Red-Bull one-two, with Button in third.

As for the current gossip, Barachello who had been rumoured to not be a Brawn next year, was confirmed to go to Williams with an unknown GP2 driver Hulkenberg.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Abi Dhabi Qualifying

No real excitement, the drivers seem to be taking to the new circuit, and Hamilton (McLaren) was the shocker coming from behind to take pole. Vettel and Webber (red bull x2) were in second and third respectively, Barachello (Brawn), was 4th, and ironically enough the reigning world champion was in 5th, behind all his rivals in the run-up for the championship.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Kobayashi to race for Toyota in Abu Dhabi

Timo Glock has been declared unfit to race (due to a broken vertebrae in his back). it will be Kobayashi's second race in Formula 1.

It promises to be an interesting race, as none of the drivers have had a chance to drive the circuit yet. Levels the playing field.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Todt elected as new president of the FIA

I don't know what to think, on the one hand, Mosley is gone, but on the other hand, he was the one that Mosley backed.

Todt is best known for having been the Ferrari team boss in the Schumacher era.

I will try to wait to pass judgement on him.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Mosley's Done Tomorrow!!

The reign of the current president of the FIA is just about done. Mosley has had a very colourful career in his 16 year reign of the FIA.

While there are many negative things that I can say about him (and certainly have in the past), I will focus this time on what he did that was right. He brought in major safety reforms since he started, some of which was met with a lot of criticism, but had it not been for his reforms that he fought for, F1, and motorsport in general would be a lot more fatal.

This year he has been in the press a lot with the sweeping reforms that he tried to push on F1, which almost destroyed the sport, but it did open up the sport up to a few new teams, but at the same time, it did do in some of the exclusivity. 26 car grids, who would have thought that they would have seen the day.

Hopefully the next president is as good as he was, much as it pains me to admit it.

The election is tomorrow.

Abu Dhabi

With Button and Brawn wrapping up the championship last week, one might think that the season is over, but there is one more race. This promises to be a really interesting race, as none of the drivers have ever been on this circuit. It may really show what they are all made of.

I don't love many of the new circuits, because they are all engineered on computers, and meant to be challenging, I miss the old tracks (Montreal, Nurbergring, even Monaco) that go more with the geography of the land moreso than the new ones (China, Singapore, Turkey, Bahrain). However it is a dedicated track, and that gives it points in my book, I am not a fan of the street tracks (even though I mentioned Monaco, but that is such an epic race, it needs to me mentioned)

However, there is still a week wait before anything happens. Can't wait, then the updates will probably slow down a bit, because all the drivers and teams will disappear back to their factories and plan for next season.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Brawn VS Everyone else

This is a really odd thing that the Brawn mechanics did today (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_f6rtPKrzQ), they helped another team out, without need to, without reason. Granted McLaren is their engine supplier, but still. Last year in Singapore, when Massa had a very similar incident, none of the other teams would help, they all just sat back and laughed. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMZnmBC3kas&feature=related).

Graned Brawn was not a team last year, and until the first race of this season they were very much the underdogs (team formed 3 weeks before the season started, picked up two drivers without contracts...) And today they have both the Drivers Championship, and the Constructors championship. Not bad for a little team that shouldn't be.

Hats off to Brawn for jumping in and helping out another team, when most of the others wouldn't have.

Brazilian GP (Race)

Massa (Ferrari, out with head injury) was asked to wave the checkered flag. At least the stewards are letting him do something. Poor guy, he wasnted to be back for his home race.

First lap was AMAZING, there are 3 cars out, 2 major accidents, and the beginning of a brawl.

Kovalinen (mcLaren) jumped his pitstop, and ripped out his fuel rig spraying fuel into the pit lane. This is a huge mistake, and actually caused a huge fireball engulfing Raikkonnen's (Ferrari) car. that was more than a little scary.

Alonso (renault), Sutil (force India), and Trulli (Toyota) are all out. Trulli caused the accident, crashed into Sutil, and bounced into Alonso, Alonso never stood a chance to get out of the way. I'm a little bummed about that, it os one of the last two races that I will cheer for him.

Button is up to 7th place, due to the accidents, and some due to the fact that there were some inexperienced drivers ahead of him. Vettel (red bull) got a warning from his engineers that he had to baby his engine, it was starting to overheat in the parade lap. A good sign for Button, and he is still behind, even after all the drama.

Kovalinen (McLaren) is under investigation for the pit lane for the "optional extra" of driving off with his fuel rig still attached. Button up to second, but hasn't pitted yet.... Barachello is behind him in third.

Holy drama, this is an insane race. Heidfeld (BMW)'s fuel rig malfunctioned, and he ran out of gas on the track. Poor guy, there is no way to tell if the rigs are working or now. Rosberg (Williams) is out with gearbox problems, and Nakajima (Williams) just crashed into the back of a car getting out of the pit lane, and ran down the rails, and crashed into the tyre wall.

No rain yet, and at the end of the first round of pit stops there has not been any drama for a little while.

Come on Button.... pick up the pace.... you are so damn close to winning the Championship, don't blow it now... This is brutal, statistically Button should win it this race, but the wait is killing me. Come on Button, have a good stop. In and out new tires, and fuel in 6 seconds... a little slow for a splash and dash. He is now WAY down in 7th being held up by Kovalinen. Vettel pitted after him, and got out ahead, in 5th.

Hamilon (mcLaren) is driving fairly well today, and seems to be benefitting from the KERS system on the hills. He just bumped Barachello off the podium. (boo). Barachello just got a puncture, and has to go in for new tires. Poor guy has no luck today. This puts Button to 5th, so even if Webber the race, Button wins the Championship!!

Weber wins the race, Kubica in second, and Hamilton in third in the race.

BUTTON WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP, and BRAWN took Constructors!!!! I'm so happy, he's been driving for 10 years, I remember his first race.. but all that is another time.
On a bittersweet note, this is the second to last race that I will cheer for Alonso, another one of my favourite driver, because after Abu Dhabi in two weeks, he goes to Ferrari.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Brazilian GP (Qualifying)

This being in the same time zone as Brazil is really annoying, especially for Qualifying... I have to wait forever for the results, but on the up side, I don;t have to get up early for tomorrow's race.

It is the rainy season in Brazil, and the 60-minute qualifying session actually took them 2h41m to complete.

Not looking good for Button, he is back in 14th. His teammate Barachello is on pole, and is only 14 points behind going into the race. If he wins, and Button doesn't doesn't get any points, then they are 4 apart going into the final round in Abu Dhabi (a new track that no one knows at all).

Anyway, the saving grace is that Vettel is in 15th place, behind Button, which mean that he has to get past Button to make a dent in the points.

At this point I could go into a huge study of comparative stats, but they are boring, and I will leave it at this.

Starting Grid P1, Barachello (Brawn), P2 Webber (Red Bull), and P3 Sutil (Force India).

It is going to be an interesting race, I will leave it at that.

Monday, October 12, 2009

MASSA'S IN AND GLOCK'S OUT.

elippe Massa (Ferrari) did his first bit of testing in a spec car today, first time back in an F1 car since his accident!!  He won't be back for the final races this season, but is hoping to be in good enough shape to be back for the first race next season.  Due to the testing ban, he is a 2007 Ferrari spec car.  Apparently they sell them, and he is currently in a privately owned one.  How cool would it be to OWN a F1 car... I have a new dream... It can live with the MGB, the Caterham, the Matrix, and whatever else I drive.  Of the three listed, I own one.  (I;ll be the chick living in a little run down house, with a 10 car garage in pristine shape)

Timo Glock (Toyota) on the other hand, had an accident in qualifying in Japan, and acquired a huge cut on his leg.  It was enough to keep him from racing, but he had promised to be back next race... This didntt happen, he was later complaining about back pain, and was taken in for more x-rays, and he fractured a vertebra.  He's out probably for the rest of the season.

More testament to all the safety features that are in the F1 cars.  It really is amazing that people can have such huge crashes and just walk away from them, or just to sustain very minor injuries.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

KUBICA (BMW SAUBER) JOINS RENAULT

 Well, the title pretty much says it all,  Kubica is taking Alonso's spot in Renault when he goes to Ferrari at the end of the season.  Kubica is a really talented driver who is probably best known for an enormous crash in Montreal in 2007.  That wasn't the year I was there, but you can see the bleachers where Dad and I were during the race.  He also came back to race in Montreal in 2008 and won it (the ONE f1 race that I attended live).

I've started looking for a new place to put all my F1 stuff.  Still looking for a name for the blog.  Any suggestions?

The one reccomendation that I have is from a friend of mine and it is: Sparkplugs and Bigjugs: Trish's guide to F1.  (I love it, but it isn't much good as a blog name, just the title)


Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Massa's back in a car!

So during the Hungarian GP this year, Massa was hit by a suspension spring, and suffered a concussion, and multiple skull fractures.

Anyway, he has finally been cleared to start testing in a 2007 Ferrari F1 car!! He has been doing some practise in a cart, and some on the simulator, but this is a HUGE step, and he is looking to come back next march for the 2010 season.

This whole thing says so much about the safety in the cars and how much better the are now then they used to be. Same with the helmets. He should have died.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Suzuka Race (Japan GP)

Twas an intense race (as they usually are, moreso at the end of the season). Vettel started on pole, and lead the entire race, that boy could do no wrong yesterday, which mean that Brawn is going to have to start doing a lot better than they have been lately. Due to grid penalties, Barachello started 6th (his qualified spot), and Button in 10th (knocked down 5 places due to speeding past a yellow flag).

This did not bode well for Button to clinch the championship this race, as in order to do so he had to get 5 more points than Barachello. (I'lll tell you right now, it didn't happen). However there was lots of excitement in this race anyway. Webber who was 4th in the championship, totaled his car in practise, so it had to be rebuilt, and due to this had to start from the pit lane (a huge disadvantage, as you miss the warmup lap, as well as making sure that you are totally dead last because you can't start until the last car has passed by the exit. He had a terrible race, and ended 2 laps down due to issues with his (rebuilt) car.

The race was fairly uneventful, there were some minor electrical malfunctions, and a few other small touches, but with 8 laps left Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) had an run in with a sign and a tire barrier (not the worst accident I've seen, not by a long shot). Anyway, this brought the Safety Car out (bunches all the cars up, and slows them down to give crews time to clear the debris). It went back in with 5 laps to go, and then there was a quick sprint to the finish. Vettel was still leading at that point, and got very lucky having just passed a back marker (Grosjean, Renault), and he was blocking Trulli (Toyota) in second place, which meant that even if he had a terrible restart, he still had a chance to win it because Trulli had to lap Grosjean before he could go after Vettel.

Brawn didn't get the Constructors Championship, they only scored 3 points (Barachello in 7th, 2 points, and Button in 8th, 1 point).

Vettel won, Trulli in second, and Hamilton in Third.

On to Brazil in 2 weeks!! IN a way I hope that the quest for the drivers title keeps going until the very end in Abu-Dhabi, as it builds the suspense, but in a way, I just want Button to take it already, he's been trying for it for so long, and he really is a good driver.