Celebrating Five Glorious Years of Heikki Kovalainen: Formula 1 in 2012

Let's kick this old school:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6bZoseoKJOA/TVC7iNUDlMI/AAAAAAAASbk/zt94YyXtu2Q/gpljackiestewartjimclar.jpg

PS: nobody post until Vettel wins Championship No. 3 at the Korean GP in October and we don't watch because it's all too boring (lol and on Sky Sports), kthx.

The age of austerity hits:

The BBC has revealed its Formula 1 presenting team for the 2012 season.

Jake Humphrey remains as presenter, alongside chief analyst Eddie Jordan and co-commentator David Coulthard, while Ben Edwards joins as commentator.

Experienced F1 car designer Gary Anderson has been recruited as technical analyst, while Lee McKenzie remains as pit-lane reporter.

James Allen becomes Radio 5 live commentator, joined by Jennie Gow as radio pit-lane reporter.

James Allen becomes Radio 5 live commentator

http://i1.sndcdn.com/avatars-000002851689-gf6d64-crop.jpg?5d75100

Formula One driver Adrian Sutil to stand trial over 'nightclub fracas'

The former Force India Formula One driver Adrian Sutil will stand trial this month on a charge of causing bodily harm, in relation to a nightclub fracas in China last April, a Munich court said on Friday.

The German, who has yet to find a race seat for 2012, though he has been linked to Williams, is charged with attacking and injuring Eric Lux, the chief executive of Genii Capital, the owner of the Renault F1 team, in a Shanghai nightclub after the Chinese Grand Prix last year.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jan/13/formula-one-driver-adrian-sutil

Oh, and they might be calling this guy as a witness:

http://www.gq.com/images/style/2012/01/lewis-hamilton/lewis-hamilton-06.jpg

I ride height the new double diffuser?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96952

and I feel bad for Kubica. He didn't need a broken leg to hamper his recovery.

Mosley v Google: battle to remove pages

Google has removed hundreds of web pages relating to former motorsport boss Max Mosley's sex life from its search results index, Britain's Leveson Inquiry on press standards has heard.

Mr Mosley told the inquiry in November he had spent over £500,000 ($750,000) trying to restore his reputation after a March 2008 News of the World article alleging he had a "sick Nazi orgy", something he strongly denied.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/mosley-v-google-battle-to-remove-pages-20120127-1qkbe.html

http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/images/12/2008/05/medium_MaxMosleyVidClip.jpg

wouldn't mind it if google could remove that from my brain cache tbh

Here is the nose on the Caterham (formerly Lotus, not to be confused with Lotus):

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/wp-content/uploads//2012/01/Caterham-f1-nose.jpg

Apparently all cars this year will have those nose to pass regulations. F1 Technical Working Group, you've done it again!!

oh btw it got released early because it was debuting in F1 Racing and next month's edition got printed early.

The biggest surprise is that anyone still reads F1 Racing in 2012.

I mean, it was shit enough over a decade ago, imagine how bad and pointless it would be now?

You need the side view to really see how ugly it looks.

Sutil convicted, yet Bertrand Gachot remains the only driver to actually end up in jail.

lotus changing to caterham - makers of the old lotus seven - is a fukkin masterstroke

Sutil, celebrating with a friend, yesterday.

http://badgergp.com/images/2012/01/adrian-sutil-dolphin-3.jpg

That dolphin is a real man, much unlike ex-friend Lewis Hamilton:

http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/320x480/k_n/lhamilton_usgq_11jan12_Peggy-Sirota_GQ_b.jpg

lolwut

http://www.pitpass.com/images/cars/700x260/ferrari/2012F2012.jpg

lolol what a ridiculous-looking car

world's most expensive spatula.

Business in the front, party in the back.

...but enough of Lewis Hamilton's GQ shoot, how about that new Ferrari?

The stepped noses are so embarrassing for everyone involved.

i am now officially used to it so it doesn't bother me anymore (still NAGL) but i think there's one that has a rounded nose (McLaren) - i'm not any expert on downforce but wouldn't having a steep angled nose have a negative effect on the car? yes there would be downforce but wouldn't there be a push back effect as well? doesn't seem aerodynamic.

anyway, i'm still going to the Austin race in November

After Red Bull's performance over the past two years maybe everyone just said, "fuck speed. downforce is all that matters."

The stepped-nose thing seems to be intended to prevent debris from coming straight at the driver, as well as making it more difficult to 'scoop' a car up from behind, tossing it into the air. So the nose revisions are just safety regs, if I remember right, and not intended to contribute to anything aero-wise. There's a great article on the new nose regs online.

I'm still not exactly clear on how McLaren dodged this - the nose must be within regs but it sure doesn't look at first glance like it could be.

Just saw the Toro Rosso. Predicting that front nose to snap off by Practice 2 in Melbourne.

can i just say the 1979 Ensign N179

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyqn823le81qbm0mn.jpg

biodiesel made from millions of little bugs, scooped, compressed, made into hi-octane all in seconds

Testing with the Finns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkSSgC3Qbzo

bernie ecclestone with opinion 4 u on the arab spring:

"A lot of kids having a go at the police."

Looks like we gotta change the name of this thread

ha I knew I'd seen that ensign before..

http://www.jugstompers.com/images/wild_bill-1.jpg

Looks like we gotta change the name of this thread

This is slightly embarrassing than "Keeping Jenson Button Employed" and 'im winning the championship, through.

lol. we're up to date.

http://indycar.cdn.racersites.com/prod/photos/341658/HOME.jpg

Er, farewell then...

in b4 Bernie sez something sexist: Marussia take on female test driver Maria de Villota

NASCAR is so ahead of the game in this department.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zq0JRaww4Zo/T0ppG6Acd5I/AAAAAAAADkQ/GAPzsJkdWvU/s1600/danica-patrick.jpg

sorry for the huge

They're not that hug...oh, wait.

Thanks, that really brightened up my day ...

Thought this little thing with Schumi was fun

Hey, it's the Australian Grand Prix weekend! And the big story is...Bernie's Bogan Daughter: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/labor-mp-kelvin-thomson-slams-the-50m-cost-of-the-f1-gp-saying-it-is-bankrolling-the-lifestyle-of-bernie-ecclestones-billionaire-bogan-daughter/story-e6frfmqi-1226300210612

"You're not a communist state there, are you? Any money that my children have got, they didn't steal."

bernie ecclestone great train robbery
About 26,900 results (0.27 seconds)

Congratulations to the GQ Model on his Pole Position.

More importantly: Grosjean starts third. Raikkonen starts...er, eighteenth?

Lucozade gives Jenson Button wings...wait, what?

You know what? I haven't seen a last lap like that in years (for 8th to 12th, that is).

But anyway, Alonso ~makes u think~: https://twitter.com/#!/alo_oficial/status/181304815693987842/photo/1

Perez had a brilliant race

I hear that. Sixth for KOBAYASHI~! too. PETER SAUBER IS THE GREATEST DRIVER SCOUT IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY.

I'm getting more and more convinced that "Charles Pic" is a fictional character btw,

WETTTTT RAAAAAAAAAACE

Stock the fridge with Magnums, the track is in a undriveable state.

RED FLAG!!

CAN WE GET SOME MAGNUMS UP IN THIS AREA??

The EXCITEMENT that is A NUMBER OF GAZEBOS.

omg perez

omg perez
― merrick & toro rosso (haitch), Sunday, March 25, 2012 10:15 AM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

FERRARI-powered Sauber "runs wide" before it is about to overtake a FERRARI for the lead, shock horror.

gotta lose one before you win one, i guess

Or in Michael Schumacher's case, win heaps before you lose heaps.

FERRARI-powered Sauber driven by a guy who'll probably be in the other Ferrari by Monaco "runs wide" before it is about to overtake a FERRARI for the lead, shock horror.

lol i was just going to say, how long until 'massa out' starts - it's a shame but he's just not anything like what he used to be

great race. really enjoyed it. Senna doing well this year.

Britishers: how is the Sky coverage?

Yeah this was gripping. I'd gotten used to really boring races and making the best of it that it was fantastic to have an actual race, with real competition all over the place.

Perez astonishing. It sure looks to me that a decision was made to not really try for the win, which is a shame. I think Perez was telling Alonso 'don't you think I couldn't have taken you today' immediately after getting out of the cars. I wanted him to win but it was probably best to keep the points and not piss off Ferrari.

Re Sky: this is kind of a bizarre minor point, but to me it's cool to finally see Kravitz after the BBC made sure you never, ever saw him, he's really suited to prodding at space-age monitors in the Technobubble or Skylab or whereever that studio is. Miss Jordan and DC though, Hill is fine but he's very bland compared to them.

I cannot see how Massa lasts the season. They're going to deny it to the ends of the earth, until they take him for a little drive in the woods.

It seems suspect maybe but it also seems totally nuts that Perez would have ran off the track like that on purpose.

Not suggesting that was deliberate - but if it were me driving and I'd gotten that message, I might have run off the road simply because I wasn't concentrating on the drive any longer. The pit stop thing definitely seemed like an attempt to hold Perez back, and the message got sent to drive the point home that second place suited everyone just fine. Perez took Sauber by surprise, I think. Nothing nefarious or awful, just unfortunate since he could have taken Alonso with many laps to spare. Sauber of course denies any scheming, which makes sense since from his point of view it isn't scheming to settle for second.

Gotta say it's great to have a race in which there's something to talk about instead of marvelling at somebody's 15-second lead they keep for the entire race!

Worst-case scenario at the time for Sauber would have been some horrible clash with Alonso defending like a maniac, Perez running into him, and Hamilton just gliding into first

Alex Wurz on the Austrian tv (he's pretty fantastic as a commentator, doesn't hesitate to tell the tv sports guys they're being idiotic when they're being idiotic, and actually speaks English so that pit radio bits aren't immediately followed by "well, I couldn't really hear that" any more) said he thought that was a good young driver going for it and blowing it, and that a more experienced driver probably would have backed off a bit sooner. When his sports guy co-commentator made the Ferrari shenanigans suggestion, Wurz (who never misses an opportunity to criticize Ferrari's role in F1) said he thought it was just too soon in the season for that.

Never soon for the Maranello Krew, especially when they know they've got a rubbish car. Alonso, despite being a knob, is a terrific driver and probably wrung the neck of that car get it over the line in first.

Everything in this NYT blog piece is horrific, but that last photo just broke my heart.

"A lot of kids having a go at the police."

lolwut nico on pole

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NMt76rhC764/0.jpg

Bernie Ecclestone, 81, the F1 supremo, speaking at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, said of Bahrain: "I know people who live there, and it's all very quiet and peaceful."

The comments provoked a storm on social media sites as local activists said there were fears of a clampdown on protesters to prevent disruption to the event.

Pictures emerged of Ecclestone's image being burned in Bahrain posted on a Facebook page called "Pearl Family Circle – Martyrs' Square".

Sounds promising.

Brundle with the up to date references, "I haven't been this disappointed since 'Shrek 2'."

Hey, imagine if all this great racing and overtaking was for the LEAD?

http://www.yallaf1.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/d10brn2039.jpg

"Did I ever tell you about the 1982 season?..."

Disastrous Button stop robbed us of a hell of a finish for first, but all that duelling for the other spots was pretty great. Pretty open so far this year.

Schumi's supercool "hey, shit happens" reaction to idiocy in the Mercedes pit = A++.

he seemed genuinely chuffed for Rosberg all weekend.

I'm reading someone's ~think piece~ which argues that this isn't Mercedes' first win since 1955, but rather Tyrrell's 43rd win. Which technically is sorta true and ~makes u think~.

ALSO CONTINUING ON FROM CRAIG POLLOCK'S "TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE"

Wild race!

Nice article on the technical reasons for the sudden reversal of fortune of Vettel and Webber.

I don't think a similar article can be written yet about Ferrari - Brundle mentioned at one point during Malaysia, the problem seems to be mystery performance issues that crop up between the wind tunnel/computer model/manufacturing/testing phases of building the car. So there's not much they can actually talk about in public and not much for people to find out, since they don't know themselves. That's my impression anyway ...

Big shock this race, happy for Rosberg. It was unreal seeing him in Vettel's place from last year. I agree about Schumacher's attitude (my guess is he talked to the gun guy who was suitably distraught) which was awesome. He can smell podium, and would not want to slag anyone on the team when he's that close. Also he is a total pro who actually does seem to care about people around him ... unless they get in his way. Well done Mercedes and Ross.

Disappointed for Kimi, once the tires died that was it. It was as if somebody had whacked the back of his head with a two-by-four as people passed him at will.

Love these crazy deviation-from-average-lap-time graphs.

so this is gonna be great: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17767985

I heard today on a podcast that Kimi's tires didn't fall off the cliff. He got off the racing line and picked up so many marbles he couldn't hold speed through the corners until he wore them off.

That's what the Speed Channel commentators were saying.

BBC guys were saying his tires were shot.

suck on that, BEEB! USA! USA! USA!

Yeah, I'd heard the marbles thing too. I should have taken a bit more time with that post - either way the tires prevented Kimi from doing well towards the end, I felt bad for him since I wanted him to do well ...

Independent is saying two Force India mechanics have left the country, evidently in reaction to what Gukbe linked to upthread. This whole thing is so awful.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/20/bahrain-unrest-f1-bernie-ecclestone

Ecclestone comments are...predictable.

Oooh Anonymous will bring down ... the F1 web site

If I get up early enough and actually use the F1 app for the iPad, it'll probably show purple when in fact they are the SLOWEST laps of the race.

oh no where will I get FOM's press releases/fluffy copy now

So I watched this despite my bleeding liberal heart. I have read that there might be a dead protester, which casts a pall. Force India's defense of missing P2 as a "strategy" seemed absurd and awful. I felt really bad when the footage showed some rich prince on top of a stand/building with a couch and an attractive woman at his side, then a bunch of white people in sunglasses sitting in the stands.

All that said, qualifying was pretty good! I can't remember seeing virtually every team using two sets of softs in qualifying. Apparently the sand on the track is ripping up the tyres and the optimum laps for softs is 3 and primes is 11 (though I seem to remember hyperbole like that on some tracks last year and they could stretch them longer in the actual race without a significant drop off).

I hope the race is good. Everyone seems to be locking up on turn 13 (I think that's the one) so that might help even it out. Even if Vettel gets away and makes it clear around the first corner, I imagine the tyre situation could keep it interesting and competitive. There was very little between Red Bull and McLaren.

The haze and the lack of vegetation on the track is kind of unreal, the whole thing looks like CGI to me

i think it's kind of pretty as a track. very unreal, though, yes.

i'm finally playing through F1 2011 for the Xbox btw and I can't believe how many tracks I hate. Shockingly I love the Hungarian one.

So this is going ahead then.

I HATED HATED HATED the Hungaroring when playing Grand Prix 2 back in the day, sadly it's "not too bad" today compared to some other circuits (lol Valencia).

btw can we start a fund to bring back Istanbul Park and its 'Faux Rouge'.

The Heppenheim Kid & The Ice Man are back.

I am getting a bit confused by these races tbqh.

Confused how? About what factors lead to success or failure in these races? Or just how close everybody is?

Beginning of 2011, Lotus looked fantastic - I remember at the start of China, they just blasted by everyone. By the end of 2011 you'd forgotten they were even on the track. I would love to read something on what the hell happened during 2011 for them, technically. They've sorted it out now, whatever that was.

Really rooting for Kimi with this one - like he said in interviews he really only had one chance to overtake and didn't make it.

Since you all have been mentioning the video game I looked it up - wow, that thing is amazing, it looks like a total blast. If it existed for Mac I'd be all over it (I think the online version of it is more like a manager thing rather than a racing thing?)

Never played the online version, but i do love the Xbox version I've got, even if it frustrates the hell out of me sometimes.

I had just assumed re: Lotus 2011 that they weren't producing high-enough quality upgrades through the season and they just dropped off. Maybe it's also a symptom of the high speed emphasis that featured in this race? Even without the blown diffusers, Vettel's speed in the corner was way better and, for whatever reason, he could fly out of that first corner and rebuild his slight lead so Kimi was always left where he was going down that long straight again.

Checked and it looks like the racing in the online version is strictly viewed from overhead, no steering involved - so it looks like a 'football manager' kind of thing. I'd rather drive ...

What did you think of Rosberg shoving people off the track twice? That was crazy but Alonso slipstreaming to the pit entrance and breaking away was crazier (and I think he did that twice as well, the camera people didn't focus on the second time though)

I haven't seen any news of a penalty on Rosberg, but if there isn't one I'd be surprised. Alonso seemed more upset that he Rosberg didn't leave him space to get around. But yah, his slipstream thing was nuts. I didn't see it the second time.

loled at Alonso v Hamilton reactions though. Alonso gripes and complains, Hamilton just passes him off track anyway (apparently this had happened in the GP2 as well?).

One thing I noticed playing through the game is that some of the newer tracks (India, especially) feature more solid run-off areas on the sides of the track compared with Spa or Monza, which seems to rely on gravel. In the game (and I am playing it on the Medium setting as I work it out) you can run off the track a bit in India and lose only a little bit of speed and time, but when you hit the gravel at Spa or Monza (especially with my set up on those tracks) you're basically fucked. So it was interesting to see the Bahrain off-track bit be solid enough to maintain speed and even overtake. I'd like to see how the stewards rule on it.

Rosberg was cleared. Alonso's response:

Fernando Alonso ‏ @alo_oficial

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I think you are going to have fun in future races! You can defend position as you want and you can overtake outside the track! Enjoy! ;)))

Ahhhh hah ha that's excellent - I do feel for the guy though, that looked scary

The team radio stuff that ends up on air is determined by the teams though right? So Hamilton might have been bitching a blue streak and we'd never know.

Not really into installing bootcamp or whatever, though I'm sorely tempted. That game looks sooooo good.

"“I can only say that if, instead of such a wide run-off area there had been a wall, I’m not sure I’d be here now to talk about it.” - Alonso

I really don't know what to think about it other than a. looked scary b. I don't understand the overtaking rules cos I'm a noob c. the stewards evidently don't think it's a big deal

Did they determine what was up with Hamilton's left rear tyre during the pit stops?

Oh yeah, Whitmarsh talked about it

I think the defensive rules is you have one move, but after that move you have to give space. Alonso seems to be interpreting that to meant that after Rosberg more or less pushed him off the track and Alonso pulled back, Rosberg should have basically let him by, maybe. Rosberg's issue with Hamilton is that he didn't pull back - he just kept going off track and passed him. It felt dangerous to me, and I was reminded of that incident last year where, I think it was Schumacher, running Rubens almost into a wall by not allowing him to get by.

xpost re McLaren:
Evidently it's a recurring mechanical issue rather than gross pitstop stupidity, though I really don't get how after the first set of problems they couldn't replace everything on that side? Maybe a defect in all parts that were made

reviewing the Rosbergs, it doesn't look as if it's really his fault, Ham and Alonso just get stuck in and refuse to back off

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bea17BeLepI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iQurrE15bA

Yeah, I guess not. It does seem like a very aggressive defensive move, but then he was coming up against aggressive driving. I guess Alonso interpreted Rosberg's move back to the racing line to be a second defensive move, but it really wasn't.

Yeah you can see Ros is just doing his thing (he wasn't pulling a Schumi from last year and weaving all over the place) - one thing I read though is people thought that Hamilton shouldn't have gained a place by overtaking off the track.

I don't know if you're familiar with these video game race/GP reviews, they're pretty fun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeWU0GkBwjo

ha. quite enjoyed that actually.

re: the video game - i tend to play 20% of the full race, which means i get to pit stop and have to change tyres, but it also means I don't have to deal with looking after my tyres that much (unless its raining, which can be a nightmare). Still, I was really tempted to play the full race for Abu Dhabi this weekend just to see it get dark.

I don't mean to turn this into a drooling-over-video-game thread but the texture and the detail in this is really astonishing

- guy who plays one video game every two years so is easily astonished

My races aren't long enough to worry about tyre drop-off, but I did an hour of driving in the rain in practice and you definitely feel the Intermediates drop off when the dry line starts forming, so you have to ride off the line to pick up some water to cool them down. Trickiest part is figuring out when to switch from inters to a dry tyre, as I'm not as good as sticking to the racing line as the computer is.

About what factors lead to success or failure in these races? Or just how close everybody is?

BOTH

I mean, Formula 1 is supposed to be about boring consistency, right?

Er...well, by that I'm surprised that Mercedes can be winners one week and midfielders the next, with Red Bull at the opposite poll. China and Bahrain aren't radically different circuits, you know (lol Tilke lol) except in climate.

btw I don't "get" everyone getting butthurt about The Ros...oh no wait I get Alonso being butthurt because he's the Spanish Mansell.

Couple things I would say about that (confusion re success/failure):
Everyone is really close this year. It doesn't take very much at all to fall five places back in quali, and conversely it doesn't take much to get on the front row - tenths or hundredths of a second are the difference.
There have been unpredictable events that set people way back - Schumi in Bahrain, the McLaren pit stops.
Biggest factor, again - tires. Lotus and Sauber seem to have perfect car balance that evens wear, whereas McLaren seem to be really heavy on the rear tires, especially if the track is cooler.

At this point Red Bull are sorting themselves out by giving Vettel a config that he can drive well. I wouldn't expect him to completely own the rest of the season, but I would bet he'll pick up a number of wins.

Aye, otm about tyres...it's obvious on one level but not apparent on the surface. The FIA's backstage shenanigans with Pirelli is highly underrated when you think about, the crazy variability at different temperatures amongst the teams is a somewhat genius...but it's not as visible as DRS ZONES!!!!

Yeah the tires really create a tenterhook of randomness ... but isn't that kind of the point to em?

I wonder if anybody does a game featuring tracks that don't exist/aren't used like Detroit, that would be a blast

waht is a "Williams", guys

this is fantastic. bring it home pastor!

COME ON PASTOR, BEAT EL MANSELLO!!

VENEZUELA REPRESENT

What a fun race. One of the best from an often boring track.

This is only the most incredible result in ever. I mean, a Venezuelan dude winning in a Williams?

For a driver oft-derided as a "pay to play" competitor I'm very happy for Maldonado.

that was really impressive when alonso was putting the pressure on - didn't flinch once.

loving this stuff with the tyres. i always thought they should've been engineered to brutally drop off like that from the point they went with a single supplier.

seemed doubly worse this weekend. how often do they jump a tyre grade (i.e. soft to hard)?

Is it me or does this thing look impossible to overtake on?

Who is Michael Schumacher? Is this a new guy or something?

LIKE MONZA 1971 UP IN THIS AREA

no actually like that time with gilles villeneuve at jarama

Put your hands up for Mark Webber, he's got the widest car on the track.

What a beautiful parade with announcers hoping desperately for some rain-soaked drama.

"The McLaren garage says it'll be raining in FIVE minutes!"
"Well, from here, I can see a really dark cloud..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seqYJ9azUbw

Good race! Hamilton deserved it. Good for Grosjean and Perez.

Liked Mercedes' high tech attempts to fix the DRS problem.

when all else fails...

Everyone's tyres falling off a cliff makes for interesting finishes but it is no way to determine who is the best driver or who has the best car.

Didn't watch this live (lol 3am), so I tormented the Sky Sports coverage thinking this will be great...and then they had Jacques Villeneuve co-hosting.

Anyway, lol at Alonso's tyres.

Vettel was on David Letterman last night, having done a promo event for the NJ track earlier. Apparently that's a thing that's actually happening.

Supposedly for next season. Austin looks possible for this fall, but it doesn't seem close to finished. Either would be better than racing at Indy ever again.

Letterman was really repping for Indy and Vettel was just saying "yeah yeah".

Austin better be finished, i just bought tickets.

24 hours of Le Mans this weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJDGaiAZm6M

I want tickets but need some things to align first. Sure aren't cheap.

EZ, do you live in Austin?

Dallas.

ah ok

will revive an Austin thread when the time comes

cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWa2ZSZcUq8

Apparently that's a thing that's actually happening.

Not until the millions have been processed into the account of Bernie Ecclestone, Esq.

Letterman was really repping for Indy and Vettel was just saying "yeah yeah".

ahahahahaha

Speaking of Indy and IndyCar, THEY HAD TO DELAY THE BELLE ISLE RACE FOR TWO HOURS WHILE THEY FIXED UP THE TRACK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RACE.

I'm looking forward to Le Mans because this reject IndyCar chassis the car of the future is racing!

http://www.motorward.com/wp-content/images/2012/03/Nissan-DeltaWing-1.jpg

We probably should mention Anthony Davidson's broken back, because some random Euro dudes in an Audi hybrid won Le Mans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsG0LUMrNsk

Alonso doesn't make Q2 (at Valencia!) because both Force India cars are in the Top Ten.

Good times.

Shout out to Luca di Montezemolo: you might be Italian but this isn't the 1970s, dude.

lol

Fun qualifying. Wacky season.

2 tenths of a second between pole and first.

uggggghhhhh alonso

hahahahahahahaha Vettel.

c'mon Kimi.

^^ overtaking under yellow flags, wtf go back to rallying

COME ON GROSJEAN

It looked to me like Kimi made the move prior to entering the local yellow zone. Definitely didin't complete it until they were under the yellow though.

OH COME ON

you jinxed him.

King Boy Pato, aka The Murray Walker of the Internet.

The question I want answered: WTF has happened to Button? He seems to have just lost the ability to race.

smooth move from The Pastor

Hamilton made some extra moves leading up to pushing Maldonado off track. Doesn't excuse Pastor cutting back into the track afterwards.

can't believe Schumi and Webber finished third and fourth after fighting for tenth with 7 laps left.

Boo hiss to Alonso winning, but this Alonso/Raikkonen/Schumacher podium in 2012 is the height of surrealism.

It's a very 2006 podium.

You know, that might be the most enjoyable Valencia race I can remember. The tires allowed for passing on track, there were pit problems, contact, cars retired; everything.

Fun race! Felt bad for Grosjean.

didn't watch this cos 'valencia is shit' apparently. raging

out of complete accident i caught this from start to finish, not watched an f1 race since last season. really enjoyed it, great race and gorgeous looking place.

even when Vettel had an 18 second lead and before the Safety Car and everything Lotus were apparently totally relaxed that their strategy for Grosjean to win would work. I want to know what that strategy was. Same with Hamilton...why ease off so early if you were going to do a two-stop strategy anyway?

Button just can't get those tyres to work for him at all. I wonder what's going on.

~the longest qualifying session ever~, too bad nobody is there to watch it and I'm watching Le Tour, only switching over during ad breaks

"There has been a fair bit of black humour around on Saturday, as Formula 1 took in the scale of the nightmare caused by the traffic problems on Friday.

"Good luck with the Olympics," HRT driver Pedro de la Rosa shouted with a smile at a group of English journalists.

And Andy Murray's achievements at Wimbledon gave further opportunity to the satirists. 'For the first time in 74 years a British man has...' a voice interrupted, saying: 'Got into Silverstone.'"

that last line is classic.

Anyone can win tomorrow...

...except Massa.

Kobayashi should try out for the professional ten-pin bowling circuit.

that was a bit scary.

Another great race. Alonso driving the tires off that Ferrari week after week is something to behold.

I hope they nix the Red Bull diffuser bullshit going forward. Spirit of the law vs. letter of the law always has me siding with spirit.

Glad to see Vettel penalized. Totally passed outside the boundaries of the track and was not ahead when he made the choice to run wide.

Hamilton harrying Vettel and Alonso was pretty lol

Sorta enjoyed Jenson telling Seb that he went and told the school principal about that.

So far this is the Hungarboring.

Stayed boring. Dullest race of the year.

Yeah, an ol school snoozer. Month away from the next one.

I'm having deja vu watching Kimi juuuuuuuuust not managing to pass the leader - agreed dull race

Dunno if this is the place for pics of the Hunt/Lauda movie but here they are

Recommend cranking the Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack to this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LA9Aw7Se-0

alright brilliant work on finding an actor that looks like nothing like James Hunt did

Didn't everybody 40 years ago look like Charles Atlas?

Oh man this grid is crazy

WTF who knew the press would publish those tweets?

OMG

DAMN

that was the biggest muppet start since... spa '98 probably!

@LewisHamilton WTF happened to my steering? Here's my telemetry from the start...

Grosjean brainless. Not the first time.

Ah yes, totally Grosjean's fault there.

the alonso in-car shot is bonkers

scary all around.

Alonso is lucky not to get decapitated. Nasty, nasty, avoidable crash.

Gif of Alonso in-car please

did pastor actually jump that start or just get a helluva gateway?

It looked ridiculously close to a jump.

looked like a jump to me.

Er, not that it matters much now...

stewards should be able to punish him with a cuff to the head for being a doofus.

Ya boys on Sky Sports claim that this comes under 'natural law', as he wouldn't have been caught up in the La Source shenangians if Pastor didn't get the juuuump.

Poor Kobayashi. What was up with his brakes at the start?

No idea. The commentators were saying it was no big deal, but I don't remember them saying what was the cause of it.

scheisse!

hairy German balls all around.

schuey quite lucky to have pit lane there, that was a huuuuuge lock-up

Yeah, but not sure what needs to be investigated about it.

Damn Kimi's pass

Better than Webber on Alonso last year.

http://localhostr.com/file/4Q4qXQ83i0zF/gif4.gif

f1 car to the noggin at 100mph would probably smart a bit.

Saward sez:

Romain Grosjean had been given a one race ban for causing the accident in Spa.
It is likely that Jerome d’Ambrosio will get the drive in Monza
Pastor Maldonado has been given two five-place grid penalties for Monza for a jumped start and causing a collision with Timo Glock.

I dunno if this was the "impact" that Grosjean was hoping for this season.

BTW the last driver banned from a GP for causing a first lap accident was this guy:

http://agrisoft-systems.de/kawasaki/image_gallery/newspics/eddie_irvine/images/eddie93.jpg

IThis post adds some context which is really helpful, I think. I hadn't really thought about incidents in lower competitions.

Grosjean seemed genuinely horrified and admits that he'd almost killed Alonso and Hamilton, whereas Maldonado seems to always find someone or something else responsible. (There was footage of Whiting shaking his head, 'you're a dumbass'-style, at Maldonado at the start)

Last person with a ban was Mika Hakkinen (missed Hungary 1994); before him Schumacher (missed Italy and Portugal 1994), and before him Irvine (missed Pacific, San Marino, and Monaco 1994). (I have learned from this that the 1994 season was especially insane and bizarre all around.)

And you can relive 1994 at length right here

Sorry Pato, I was too pedantic there, you'd mentioned 'for causing a first lap accident'

Oh, I basically wanted to post a lol 90s Irvine picture but surprisingly, those were thin on the ground.

So here's something more recent:

http://www.racing-1.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/irvine.jpg

Zinardi wins at Brands Hatch!

Insider knowledge!

Seriously, Zanardi is THE GREATEST GUY EVER.

Anyone with a big prediction...on who's going to be conducting the PODIUM INTERVIEW today?

!!! MASSA ALMOST LEADS A GRAND PRIX !!!

And then he immediately starts dropping back and hampering the fast drivers behind him.

Well, that goes without saying.

Vergne will be feeling that in the morning. My tailbone hurts just watching that.

lewis hamilton's tag-heuer advert: "let me tell you a story." the story appears to be:

• some dudes made some watches
• time passes, they're still making watches
• lewis hamilton is a (former) world champion

he really could tweet that, you know

Alonso is pushing just a wee bit

DALEKS IN THE SAUBER GARAGE???

Finally they punish Vettel for driving like a twat.

poor Button. :(

hahaha yes

Back to regular service for JB.

(laughing at Sebby V btw)

Hey, remember Ferrari Team Orders?

good thing it's legal now.

lol 4ever if Perez can get up to Massa

lololololoooooool

Perez on fire!

where on earth has this come from

He waited forever to change tires, which is a huge part of it.

Remember both Sauber's were fast in qualifying at Spa but got cleared out in that first corner.

hahahaha Seb.

SAVE THE ENGINE

Nice to tell him right after the pit entrance.

ILX's favourite driver is BACK and WINNING (in some sort of minor rally): http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/88563.html

RIP Formula 1's Doctor and Fly Fishing Expert, Prof Sid Watkins: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102485

This is rather good read btw: http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/2012/09/13/lunch-with-professor-sid-watkins/

Thanks for the Motorsport Watkins piece!

Have to say I am psyched for Austin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvQV-l8JWJ0

The weather forecast suggests that rain might fall during the race on Sunday night.

Better stock up on Magnums and pagodas.

ok just got my hands on F1 2012 xbox game. first impression: these cars are hard to drive, no wonder pastor and roman are always stacking into people through the first turn. I am having a steeper learning curve trying to get my F1 mojo back (last competitive season: F1 97 on playstation!) than schumacher has probably had during his comeback. DRS and KERS are kinda hilariously appropriate for a game though.

second impression: the heavy rain effect is terrifying tbh.

third impression: lol dadrock soundtrack.

ladies and gentlemen, charles pic!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102741

"community service", lololol

you want craziness, try playing F1 2012 on an iPhone (xp)

!!! FLAVIO BRIATORE TO STAR IN THE ITALIAN VERSION OF "THE APPRENTICE" !!!

Flav naturally wears sunglasses in the boardroom: http://theapprentice.cielotv.it/

would watch

haha pastor, jesus!

he will never die wondering, that's for sure.

If I was in a Williams, I'd do crazy shit like that too.

Let me tell you a story about a gearbox...

I'm not a Hamilton fan but that's still a shame.

Yes, because that really helps Alonso.

I was more annoyed that it puts Vettel in the lead. He's the only driver I dislike more than Lewis.

HISTORY REPEATS

Schumacher out of control. Again.

incidentally, how good would button running up vettel's arse under safety have been?

CRAZY OLD MAN??!?

massa asserting himself as the true south american wild man there

I thought Massa was going to cause a helluva mess there.

He was attempting Pastorality

If you like Lewis Hamilton's Twitter, then good news for you in 2013: he'll be tweeting a lot more from back in the midfield.

Also: Sergio Perez is set to become a) the Mexican Senna or b) the Mexican Kovalainen.

And here's an exclusive sneak preview of Michael Schumacher's car for next season:

http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2008/12/Schumacher_450x300.jpg

I keep singing "pastor maldonado left-hand side" to the tune of "pass the dutchie" every time his name is mentioned, I'm really starting to annoy myself.

Schumacher will land at Sauber and have one final glorious season. Mark my words.

"Hello, may I speak to Herr Marussia about a business proposal for 2013..."

Can we get Schumacher in the Ferrari for one year? Someone needs to bump Massa.

Yeah no word from Ferrari, they *have* to announce *something* soon here, don't they?

I think next year is going to suck mightily for Lewis, but 2014 could be good for him when they introduce the 1.6L turbo ters/kers V6. Happy for Perez who absolutely deserves this, and for Jenson and Whitmarsh who will no longer have to deal with tantrums and endless bitching. I think LH is a little batty, anyway, his reactions on camera to winning are so weird and guarded. It's as if his successes aren't as real to him as his disappointments, like blaming others engages him more.

Schumi should really get a gig testing cars, I can see him making sure roll cages work on track, for instance ...

Yeah no word from Ferrari, they *have* to announce *something* soon here, don't they?

di resta is on dis ting no hype

I endorse that message

If I were anywhere near Schumi on track I would be sweating since you know he's going to be a monster trying to get one last win before he vanishes and becomes a commentator and triathlete or something

Meaning that he would likely shove me into a wall

lol Hamilton btw. just generally.

Mr E's timing here is ... interesting

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that controversial environmentally-friendly new engines which are due to be introduced to the sport in 2014 are likely to be scrapped. He says the move will save the teams as much as 30% of their projected budgets, which will help them stay in business during the economic downturn.

HUGE MASSIVE NEWS:

While Psy was in the US, it was announced that he, as ambassador of the Formula One Korean Grand Prix, will perform "Gangnam Style" at the event during the 2012 edition.

And, er, in lesser news, Schumacher has announced that he's retiring again.

it's a minor miracle that a 43 year old can get into a modern F1 car and be solid. any other driver who wasn't schuey would've been at the back. doesn't make the comeback a success - some of the mistakes have been pretty dumb - but he always over-drove a shit car, you know? which points to the real issue. it does make me think ross brawn is an absolute genius for selling out to merc at percisely the right time.

to play devil avocado, you can look at the car being bad and ask why he couldn't galvanise everybody around him in the same way he did during the ferrari years to improve things, but it's a different time. if merc thought he'd be able to do that again they were kidding themselves.

Devil avocado? I'll have to remember that one.

Classic 30 Rock.

So is the Mercedes car going to be competitive next year?

I can imagine it'll be like when alonso went back to renault - for the first half of next season they can probably rely on hamilton's raw pace to get them up in threatening positions, from which point he'll either get podiums or blow the car up trying. we'll know by then if they've got the car properly together.

at least they have someone to focus development around now - you can develop a car around hamilton's taste because he's a world champion and has years left in his career, unlike schumacher (they took an each-way bet between schuey and rosberg without getting behind either and it's why the car is no good, imo).

rosberg will be finished at merc by this time next year.

Ah, okay. I had read somewhere that they weren't expecting the Mercedes to be competitive until 2014, and even then it was based on some supposed new regulations that I think might have been scrapped. Can't recall where I read that.

that's probably right as far as a real title challenge goes.

rosberg will be finished at merc by this time next year.

Rosberg has the potential to fit the role of dependable second banana quite well so if he doesn't mind being LewHaw's lackey (and they are solid bros, remember dat), I reckon he will be kept around if he doesn't suddenly start driving off the road every second race.

xp Gukbe: Merc is one of the manufacturers of the 2014 PURE engine, so people imagine that would give them more of an advantage over the teams that just purchase engines. (Historically the manufacturer-teams are actually less successful aside from Ferrari, afaik)

Liked this piece positing a Coca-Cola/Monster/Mercedes/Hamilton brand promotion synergy

THANKS FOR COMING TO JAPAN, FERNANDO

Ahahaha, Grosjean is totally a law unto himself.

No, Sergio, you're not going to be allowed to do that in Uncle Ron's car.

lol who is this massa guy on the podium

/!\ Arrest warrant issued for Force India boss Vijay Mallya. /!\

Indian GP is in two weeks btw, we could see our first arrest in the F1 paddock since Andrea Moda's Andrea Sassetti got arrested for arson at the 1992 Belgian GP.

that'd be cool. But damn unlikely.

/!\ GROSJEAN DOESN'T HIT ANYONE AT THE FIRST CORNER /!\

He did manage to go off-track, through.

ASTROTURF

Psy waves the chequered flag and Lewis carries an astroturf scarf across the line. Well done, Korea.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/571/2012koreagangham.jpg

Aside from epic LH/Kimi battle this was very zzzzzz ...

Good on Massa, it must have been great for him to know he could have taken Alonso if need be.

Too late; didn't watch.

Heads up to all the US F1 fans here (only me!?), but NBC has picked up the broadcasting rights for the next four years.

me too! I hope they do a good job.

As long as they hire the Ghost of Chris Ekonomaki, all will be well.

Teams that won't win the 2013 Constructors' Championship: Ferrari

haha, kimi interviewed on the podium by coulthard affecting the classic nonchalant form; so laidback he's practically horizontal.

that really was some drive by vettel.

Was prepared for a really tedious race but it turned out to be the best of the year. I was screaming at the screen to PIT KIMI NOW before Alonso took him down. What a race. Kimi is Snake Plissken.

Agreed on Vettel's drive, that was amazing ... even if as LH said, he was the luckiest man alive. Even the things that went wrong for him eventually ended up helping him.

Happy to see: a serene Hamilton after he'd been eliminated, saying howdy to the pit; Rosberg and Karthikeyan both walking away from that crash, and being able to laugh about it.

I never watch F1 but happened to watch some last night. Man, that Abu Dhabi track is really cool looking!

Kimi's "Leave me alone" radio message was A+ Iceman.

Bob Hauk: Remember, once you're inside you're on your own.
Snake Plissken: Oh, you mean I can't count on you?
Bob Hauk: No.
Snake Plissken: Good!

The cherry on top of the weird podium scene was DC looking like he was this close to decking Vettel

So cool to finally see the cars driving around the Austin track.

I was all set to go to this then the price shock hit. Bascially my price estimates doubled and it became too much to bear.

;_:

I was priced out too. Stupid expensive.

reserved a motel in LaGrange for $85 dollars a night back in March. went to check on it in September and they had jacked the price up to $250/night

That's some crazy bullshit!

Leave Austin alone, they know what they're charging.

Peter Windsor, the man who gave us 'USF1', says swearing is bad because something to do with America: http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/94656.html

USFU1, amirite

u rite

Vettel on pole again; Formula 1 press writes up twenty articles asking, "is Vettel really that good? Can't be as good as Alonso!"

148,000 people the first two days. Silverstone levels of attendance thus far.

pretty decent race so far.

Yeah really enjoying it. What was Vettel complaining about with that overtake?

I think he thought Hamilton was too close to his side? If so, it's because Vettel didn't give him enough space even though he was good and got via DRS.

great inaugural COTA race.

that is an excellent track imo. are there any upcoming races in other classes on it, le mans prototypes or something?

I believe the next race is MotoGP in April.

I really dug the COTA track too. Horner was saying it's obvious they'd intentionally stolen bits of other tracks, which sounds awful but it came together really well - it feels a bit like Interlagos and looks like great fun to drive. New tracks get a lot of complaints these days but most everyone seems well pleased.

It's totally Tilke's greatest hits - bit of Turkey, bit of that. But it looks like it'll be the best Tilke track for passing, at least.

also: V8 Supercars next year

I don't "get" that part of the marketing plan.

Not sure if I enjoyed the GP as much as everyone else did (well, until the podium ceremony), possibly because it was on at 6am on a Monday morning. As good as Lewis' stalking of Seb was, I preferred PASTOOOOR's barging past B. Senna. If that didn't bring a smile to the face of Sir Frank, nothing will.

Can't get too excited about Brazil either; I want Vettel to win because OL' HAIRY EYEBROWS but it would be something of an anti-climax, if you know what I mean.

!!! SUTIL MIGHT BE COMING BACK TO FORCE INDIA !!!

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/forc_suti_vale_2011-1.jpg

He probably won't be able to get visas for several races so it seems a weird choice.

Charles Pic moves up to the dizzying heights of...Caterham?

McLaren lock out! Nicely done.

Poor Alonso :(

yeah but red bull have a special qualifying car that is highly illegal and that is making alonso look bad (just ask any internet f1 b0ard)

oh, please let it end this way.

This is nuts

absolutely goofy.

Dammit! It was so close. Alonso is champion in my book. There is no way that car is even close to the Red Bull and yet it's only a few points that separate them at the end of the season. Remarkable.

still remember alonso in qualifying for his debut GP, melbourne 2001 - one of my pals and I went along and got a good position in a braking area with some trees throwing shade, so you could see all the cars' brakes heat up. so you could tell really easily that alonso was going in metres later than everybody else in that piece of shit minardi!

Had to wait almost a day to watch this.

Bloody 'ell.

CRAZY RAIN RACE + OL' HAIRY EYEBROWS NOT WINNING + THE HULK LEADING SOME LAPS = PRETTY AWESOME

http://en.rian.ru/images/17446/72/174467200.jpg

u mad, marussia?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/104598

lol butthurt

<3 interlagos, what a mental race

'PETROBRAS' is one of the most awkward brand names of all time, u feel me

360-degree video from a Red Bull test run

A friend of mine has to research how Formula 1 works (teams, money, development, etc) for his job. Anybody know of any good sites/books that might give a solid rundown?

I follow a lot of F1 stuff and the only people I've found so far who really work the financial side are Buxton and Saward. Saward in particular made it clear to me how the prize money is structured as an incentive and life support, ie the race for tenth place really is life or death for teams. You'll never hear anyone on TV actually talking in depth about money, sponsorship, etc and how it affects the sport - it's mentioned in passing.

The unapproved bio of Ecclestone is interesting not in that it demonstrates he's obnoxious (we all knew that) but how brilliant he is at a. structuring deals and b. playing the media.