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

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

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.