nu2rx8

Great drive by Lewis Hamilton inspite of the teams strategy blunder!

This championship is shaping up nicely for Lewis and McLaren with the final 8 tracks giving no clear edge to either them or Ferrari:
Hungary - McLaren
Europe - McLaren? (new street circuit)
Spa -Ferrari
Monza - Ferrari/ possibly push
Sinapore - McLaren? (new street circuit)
Japan - McLaren
China- Ferrari
Brazil - Ferrari

CERAMICSEAL

I don't know why there are any haters amongst spectators of this sport. I just enjoy practically all of it. It is true, unfortunately, that when Hamilton puts on a tremendous performance some people are upset. I think he's no more arrogant than any of the other competitors. He is brimming with the type confidence that a champion MUST have, not to mention *****.

Well done Lewis. A win to remember.

Seal.

RWatters

iTrader: (5)

First off, Hamilton is a great driver. Props to him for the win. I about **** my pants when they tried comparing him to Senna though. Sorry but he's not that good regardless of what rain stats may say.

But.. and it's a HUGE but.. talk about being handed a race on a silver platter! Team orders gets him around Heikki, then both Massa and Piquet just pull over on the straights and give him in the inside line? Seriously!? Did we forget how to defend a position in F1?

Why is Massa driving for Ferrari? He can't pass, he can't defend his position, and he can't drive in the rain. Yes he wins (when he starts on the pole, the weather conditions are perfect, his car is perfect, and his pits are perfect), but come on it's without a doubt the best chassis in F1 so something tells me even Bourdais would have a chance in that car.

For being dry that was a damn good and entertaining race. I was stoked to see Renault get their first podium and I definitely find it rather fitting that Piquet got it and not Fernando "Exit clauseeeee!" Alonso.

CERAMICSEAL

What will Lewis have to do to be worthy of the comparison to Senna? I'm not saying he's as good but just questioning in order to know the criteria.

Seal.

RWatters

iTrader: (5)

More than 1.5 seasons under his belt, win a championship or two (that's a big one), drive some completely junk cars to win (face it: he'll never have that problem), do some insane stuff to win, etc.

I'm not saying the guy isn't good. He's incredible! However, I think the fap-fest that the Speed announcers put on can go quite overboard at times and when they tried comparing him to Senna and Schumacher that was one of those times.

I'd LOVE to see Hamilton in a car that sucks to see how he would do then. That, in my opinion, would be the driving test that truley matters because it would be the test that proves the driver. A good driver can obviously drive a good car, but a fantastic driver can take a bathtub and turn it into a first place. That was the test that proved how good Senna and Schumacher were.

CERAMICSEAL

Well expressed. Thank you.

Seal.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

http://www.f1technical.net/news/9946

One of the BMW Sauber F1 mechanics suffered an electric shock after touching a car fitted with KERS today during the test session at Jerez. Christian Klien, who was at the wheel of the car, came back in the pits after an installation run. As the mechanics wanted to push the car into the garage, the first one to touch the F1.08 fell to the ground after receiving an electric shock.

After being pulled away from the car by his colleagues, the mechanic was brought to the medical centre to be examined. The mechanic suffered no serious injury.

At the moment, the BMW Sauber F1 Team is investigating what was the cause of the electric shock this morning.

This is the second serious incident with the Kinetic Energy Recovery System in less than a week. Last Thursday, the Red Bull Racing factory at Milton Keynes had to be evacuated after a battery system test of their KERS went wrong.

BlueRenesis82

Good thing they are all going to this new system. Looks like its running flawlessly!

Celronx

iTrader: (1)

Yep, it will definately make watching races more interesting. I'll be taking bets on the number of crewmen injured in each race, the pot going to the closest guess.

Pit stops will be fun. The race fuel and high voltage electricity in close proximity.......

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

F1 chiefs agree to form new body

Formula One team bosses will form a new body to work with the sport's governing body, the FIA, and supremo Bernie Ecclestone to take the sport forward.

The 10 team principals agreed to establish the Formula One Teams Association at a meeting at Ferrari headquarters in Maranello on Tuesday.

F1 is running without a Concorde Agreement, which agrees the terms by which the teams race and share revenue.

It is hoped the new body will pave the way for a new agreement being reached.

The last Concorde Agreement was agreed in 1981 but expired at the end of 2007 as the teams and FIA president Max Mosley failed to thrash out a deal.

The old Concorde Agreement gave the teams a central role in the rule-making process but now the FIA has absolute power over the rules.

The new body should ease the way for teams to safeguard their interests as the sport moves forward.

606: DEBATE

Team chiefs met with Ecclestone and Donald McKenzie, who was representing financial backers CVC Capital Partners.

Ferrari said in a statement that the meeting was "extremely constructive" but did not provide any further details.

The statement added: "The teams have subsequently agreed unanimously that they will establish the new Formula 1 Teams' Association to work with the FIA and FOM to agree upon regulations and commercial conditions which will provide a framework for a strong and dynamic sport."

The formation of the new body comes as the FIA prepare to implement changes to F1 in 2009.

Part of those changes will see a reduction in aerodynamic development and the phased introduction of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS).

This technology will channel energy generated under braking into batteries that can then be used to power the cars.

Mosley is also keen to press on with his plan to decrease team budgets by 50% and to make the sport greener.

The FIA chief hopes to implement these measures in three years' time with a further aim of cutting fuel consumption in half by 2015.

Mosley is also hopeful that a new Concorde Agreed will be agreed this autumn.
Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/spo...ne/7532948.stm

Published: 2008/07/30 11:35:25 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

German company buys Super Aguri assets

By Pablo Elizalde
Wednesday, July 30th 2008, 08:46 GMT

Formtech GmbH, a German tool design and construction company, has purchased the fixed assets on sale from the liquidators of the Super Aguri F1 team.

Formtech, who manufactures high-precision parts for the automotive and Formula One industry, will use the F1 facilities at the Leafield Technical Centre to expand into the composite manufacturer and supplier market.

"Formtech is pleased to be able to take advantage of this unique business opportunity," said Formtech's managing director Franz Hilmer.

"With our plans of company growth and manufacturing expansion, the location at the Leafield Technical Centre enables us to establish a presence in an important geographical area for motorsport engineering.

"We shall be employing a number of ex-Super Aguri staff who are experienced in the field of composite design and manufacturing and make full use of the sites spacious facilities and up-to-date machinery.

"A further goal of Formtech is to attract suitable individuals and companies with aspirations of running their own motorsport team to purchase the F1 race equipment from Formtech."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/69517

BlueRenesis82

That new team body will just be trying to work so that the teams don't have to adapt to ridiculous rule changes like they do now, plus trying to eke more money out of FOM and CVC.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

I agree. I don't know how KERS is going to add to F1. The system has now hurt more workers, in the past month, than any refueling accidents in the past 2 yrs.

BlueRenesis82

Well, KERS just marks the third different engine format that has been forced on the teams in less than 10 years. What they should have done was stick with the V10 format, since everyone knew how to make those engines work. Why they forced a switch to the V8 with all the money wasted on development and testing is beyond me. Same thing with having the V8's frozen, and then forcing a switch to KERS. All this wasted money has really hurt the privateer and the smaller teams, look at Jordan, Minardi, Sauber.

alfy28

i wont say anything about todays race. might really hurt some fans feelings . dont want to spoil it, but something happens to a driver at the wrong time. i want to laugh, but i like this driver. not a huge fan of him, but i like the most out of hte team he drives for . but yah also grats toyota

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

Hamilton & Massa had some bad luck. I'm beginning to think that Massa is the better driver on the Ferrari team, despite his poor results from the beginning of the season. Kimi dosn't seem to be able to get the job done.

PerSmitt

Massa's performance is really a "in your face" to all the people claiming he was worthless in the beginning of the season. Bad luck can happen to anyone though.

nu2rx8

Yeah i don't undstand all of the Massa bashing either. That said I honestly can't rate him alongside Kimi, Alonso, and now Lewis.

If Massa's in the lead and the car is near perfect, no one is going to beat him. In that respect he actually reminds me of a young DC or Damon Hill and there's a fair number of wins and a WDC btw those two.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

http://www.f1technical.net/news/10089

KERS-debate still goes on

The teams that resist calls from rival outfits to delay the introduction of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) in Formula One are BMW Sauber and Williams while Honda and McLaren would be happy either way. So that leaves six teams who are in favour of pushing the introduction a year back due to safety concerns.

Last week, the teams met at Maranello and Hungary to discuss the subject. The teams aren't only concerned on safety, after the incident at Red Bull Racing and BMW Sauber F1 Team, but also about the escalating costs of the technology.

To have a clear vote on the matter however, the newly founded FOTA needs seven votes, not six. As this is not the case, it appears that the introduction of KERS looks certain to go ahead in 2009.

Flavio Briatore is the one leading the teams who want to postpone the system. He declared: "BMW should be warned after having that accident, and Frank I do not understand. We have calculated that developing and running the system will cost €700,000 per race. If Frank tells me that his development costs only 2 million, than I can only laugh. Does he really think he can do the job with two million against manufacturers, who spend ten times as much?"

At the moment, Honda is the only team that has successfully run the technology without problems. In July, the Red Bull Racing factory at Milton Keynes had to be evacuated after a fire alarm that was triggered by one of the batteries of the system. Less than a week later, during the test session at Jerez, one of the BMW Sauber mechanics was received a heavy electric shock when he touched a car that was equipped with KERS.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/69709

By Jonathan Noble Thursday, August 7th 2008, 16:27 GMT

A major revamp of the Eastern Creek track in Australia could be enough to tempt the country's Formula One race there when its current contract with Melbourne expires.

That is the view of one of the key figures behind the Sydney circuit, who believes that if plans for an overhaul of the track are given the go-ahead then they could be enough to help the country host an F1 night race.

Allan Moffat, a board member of the Australian Racing Drivers' Club, which has commissioned a report into redeveloping the track, believes the upgrade could put the track in contention for a grand prix when Melbourne's deal runs out in 2015.

"Bernie Ecclestone will get sick of Melbourne's refusal to host a night race," Moffat told the Australian Daily Telegraph.

"We would be in a position to take advantage. It would cost three times as much to develop a suitable facility on virgin land. We have the basis for it right here in the middle of Blacktown, Australia's fastest growing area."

The report on the track has put forward new plans, which include a new configuration, reversing its direction - with work possibly completed within two years.

Clive Bowen, from the Apex company that prepared the new plans, said: "The circuit would be one of the most exciting and demanding in this country, and the equal of many internationally.

"It has been designed to challenge the most accomplished driver, yet also appeal to corporate users."
.................................................. ......

For your reference, here is a link to info about the track.
http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Eastern_Creek_Raceway

alfy28

"McLaren's 'J-damper' secret now exposed


http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...21091858.shtml
So-called 'J-dampers' are set to become commonplace on Formula One cars, as the intriguing history of the previously secret technology is revealed.

We recently reported that Renault delayed debuting similar technology earlier this year because of the spy scandal surrounding engineer Phil Mackereth's defection from McLaren.

In the World Motor Sport Council hearings before Christmas, it was revealed that among Mackereth's McLaren drawings was a device referred to as a 'J-damper'.

"What's a J-damper?" Renault engineering chief Pat Symonds replied memorably to the press at Montreal in June.

Symonds' answer may have been disingenuous, but it subsequently emerged that Force India recently started using on its 2008 car what boss Mike Gascoyne referred to as an "inerter damper".

'J-damper' was simply a codename developed by McLaren and the technology's inventor to put their rivals off the scent of what the device actually did.

McLaren has been using the inerter damper since 2005 - a year before Renault's mass damper system was banned.

It has emerged that, three years ago, McLaren penned an exclusive confidentiality agreement with the famous Cambridge University, the scene of the J-damper's birth and the owner of its patent.

Business Weekly reports that, with the McLaren agreement now lapsed, Cambridge has licensed the J-damper to the leading damper company and F1 supplier Penske Racing Shocks, thus allowing any other team to deploy the device.

Penske Racing Shocks' technical director Jim Arentz said: "We are confident that the ingenuity of Cambridge now combined with Penske ... will promote greater exposure of the inerter in motor sport."

BlueRenesis82

Nothing about Valencia? How boring and lame it was? Talk about processional.

IB Tim

OK boys what is going on out there???

nu2rx8

All I can say is TGIS...Thank God Its Spa! They should race here (and Turkey) three times a year.

Massa appears to have won practice, but pole could go to anyone. Surprisingly Kimi looks very average so far depite owning this place in recent years.

IMO, both Mclaren's will fight for pole, but unless it rains, Massa will dominate this one.

The mid-pack fight s/b very intersting btw Alonso, the BMW's, Toyota's and dare I say it STR's

T.T.

If you were Vettel, how would you feel moving to Red Bull next season when the Ferrari engine in the STR clearly makes it faster?