[steve45]

***SPOILERS***

Well, anyone watching it this weekend?
they just ran the new quali format, what do you think?

well in my opinion this new quali format is a great sucess, i was on the edge of my seat, havnt enjoyed quali this much since the old 12 lap hour long format.
ok so the first 10 minutes session 3 wasnt so exciting, but damn the end was nothing short of amazing.

to say i'm not a ferrari fan would be an understatment, but i have to say i'm very happy for them, looks like schumy and massa are going to be good team mates, brilliant match, pushing each other brilliantly.

damn shame about kimi, but i have to say, i'm not particularily suprised, although i thought it would have been the engine to go not the suspension.

anyway looking forward to the race, christ that felt like a race in itself.
should be intresting to see how fuel stratigies pan out, renaults look like they are running heavy, montoya as well, kimi will be probably be going deep as well.

anyway, i'm happy i like the new format, congrats to ferrari, bring on tomorrow


the grid for tomorrow.

1. M Schumacher 1:31.431
2. F Massa 1:31.478
3. J Button 1:31.549
4. K Alonso 1:31.702
5. J Montoya 1:32.164
6. R Barrichello 1:32.579
7. M Webber 1:33.006
8. C Klien 1:33.112
9. G Fisichella 1:33.496
10. N Heidfeld 1:33.926
11. J Villenurve 1:32.456
12. N Rosberg 1:32.620
13. D Coulthard 1:32.850
14. J Trulli 1:33.066
15. V Liuzzi 1:33.416
16. S Speed 1:34.606
17. R Schumacher 1:34.702
18. C Albers 1:35.724
19. T Monteiro 1:35.900
20. T Sato 1:37.411
21. Y Ide 1:40.270
22. K Raikkonen

 

[stevew]

I think this guy might be a bigger fan.

I haven't watched a GP race since around 92-93.

Who couldn't be a fan of Ferrari.

 

[Echo]

Leave it to a Ferrari fan to love a new format that put the best driver in the fastest car out of contention.

 

[ummbikes]

I think this guy might be a bigger fan.

.

Damn..That is amazing.

 

[steve45]

Leave it to a Ferrari fan to love a new format that put the best driver in the fastest car out of contention.

i think you read it wrong, i'm NOT a ferrari fan, FAR FAR from it, i'm a Mclaren guy, have been since i was a little kid.

 

[Echo]

I think this guy might be a bigger fan.

I haven't watched a GP race since around 92-93.

Who couldn't be a fan of Ferrari.

Holy crap.

 

[Echo]

i think you read it wrong, i'm NOT a ferrari fan, FAR FAR from it, i'm a Mclaren guy, have been since i was a little kid.

Got that, sorry... I have accidentally given you the worst insult possible

 

[valve bouncer]

Isn't there an American bloke in it this year? How's he going?

 

[partsbara]

'modern art propelled by burning money'... clive james

clives take on F1 racing...

 

[Ciaran]

Isn't there an American bloke in it this year? How's he going?

You know us 'Mericans don't race.... we just go in a circle real fast for 500 miles.

I have been a Villeneuve fan since he was in Atlantics. His father was a bit before my time so I never got to watch him drive, but I have seen films.

Up or down, I stick with Jaques. Sometimes he pisses me off for being a primadonna. Other times he gets his head together and drives his ass off.

As far as constructors goes I tend to root for McLaren.

In the end I love it all no matter who wins. And after watching an F1 race all I want to do is head down to the local kart track!

 

[Transcend]

Wow, that video was insane. THE GEARBOX WORKS??

 

[steve45]

Isn't there an American bloke in it this year? How's he going?

scott speed, 16th, nothing spectacular, but pretty good considering its his first F1 qulifying, he's in a Squadero Torro Rosso aka red bull Jr.
the team is looking quite good considering that it was minadri last season(the worst team on the grid, both drivers(speed and liuzi) put in some decent times, almost obviously something to do with the fact they are running a rev limited V10 as apposed to the V8's that every other team have to run.
be intresting to see what happens to them during the race.
they without a doubt have the most reliable engine/car on the grid, with that bullit proof understressed V10, so they could end up well placed tomorrow if they dont put the cars off the track.

 

[maxyedor]

No Minardi no care
But seriously this should be another interesting season, can't wait for Canada to roll around, PRESS PASSES b1tches!

And the Toro Rosso is damn ugly!

 

[valve bouncer]

Scott Speed huh? Great name for a racing-car driver.

 

[Silver]

I think this guy might be a bigger fan.

That guy could have cured cancer and AIDS in his spare time, I think...that's amazing.

 

[jebfour]

Scott Speed huh? Great name for a racing-car driver.

Speed did good in his first outing if you ask me. "To finish first, you first have to finish". He did have the "oddball" engine package but he still managed to keep the car in one piece and move up a few places....

Strange....used to see him at the kart tracks all over Nor-Cal just a few years ago and now he is in F1. Guess I shouldn't feel bad that his laptimes were several seconds faster than mine. Wait a minute....my progamable ignigtion was built by his dad (Mike Speed) and he personally loaded the codes into it.... He MUST have been trying to keep me down!!! Yeah, that's it....

 

[BillT]

Leave it to a Ferrari fan to love a new format that put the best driver in the fastest car out of contention.

So we should just give Kimi pole for the rest of the year and excuse him from qualifying? McLaren needs to work on the fragile nature of their cars as I believe it will most certainly drive Kimi to seek greener, make that redder, pastures at another team next year like Ferrari.

Anyways, it was a great race with competitve battles all over the field. The two biggest surprises for me were:

1. The pathetic pace of the Toyotas - they were battling amongst themselves towards the back of the pack.

2. The fantastic pace of the Cosworth powered Williams cars. They had 2 cars in the points and their rookie, Nico Rosberg, set fastest lap.

 

[maxyedor]

So we should just give Kimi pole for the rest of the year and excuse him from qualifying? McLaren needs to work on the fragile nature of their cars as I believe it will most certainly drive Kimi to seek greener, make that redder, pastures at another team next year like Ferrari.

Anyways, it was a great race with competitve battles all over the field. The two biggest surprises for me were:

1. The pathetic pace of the Toyotas - they were battling amongst themselves towards the back of the pack.

2. The fantastic pace of the Cosworth powered Williams cars. They had 2 cars in the points and their rookie, Nico Rosberg, set fastest lap.

You forgot about Kimi coming from 21st to 3rd, that's a quality driver right there

 

[Andyman_1970]

Yeah Kimi is limited by the car, anyone that can drive from the back of the grid to P3 with a full load of fuel, hard compound tires (he only had 1 pit stop as opposed to the 2 or 3 of the other cars) is very talented. I like McLaren, don't get me wrong, but their cars are on the razors edge of reliability.

It was nice to see Schumi back on the podium.

2 years ago I was a big Renault/Alonso fan..........but not so much this year.

I enjoyed the race, and was nice to see Nico Rosberg do well also.

Toyota should be ashamed for all the money they throw at their F1 effort that they have not done any better than they have.

 

[BillT]

You forgot about Kimi coming from 21st to 3rd, that's a quality driver right there

I didn't forget about him...just expected him to do it, while the pace of the Toyotas and the Williams (actually the Cosworth powered, Bridgestone shod cars) were surprises.

 

[steve45]

good race, nothing spectacular, but a solid good start to the season.

toyotas with supposedly biggest budget in F1, what a horrific failure of a team, seriously they need to think about doing what Redbull are doing, buying the best engineers to make a car worthy of the podium, at the moment it seems they are just throwing money at the problem and hoping for the best, they also need good drivers, or they arnt going anywhere, what a joke, mind you it is the start of the season.

dont even get me started on massa, i think one work sums him up ROOKIE.

OH and noob team Super Aguri, they provided much hilarity, couldnt get there men off the grid in time, giving there driver a stop go before the race had even started, and that shambles of a pit stop they had, shameful utterly shameful, lets hope they improve a lot.

but seriously what a race by kimi, signature last to podium.
kimi really is a special driver, i reckon it'd be a very unwise move if kimi left for ferrari, although i'd rather he not move at all, he'd be much better suited for redbull, with mclarens chief designer adrian newey on board amd mclarens cheif dynamacist(sp?), i'd expect redbull to have a serious championship contending car next year even more so the next year, they are going to be a force to be taken very seriously, especially with the buget they have in hand.

 

[Andyman_1970]

dont even get me started on massa, i think one work sums him up ROOKIE.

Yeah I was really surprised to see how bad he choked with Alonso breathing down his neck..................

 

[BillT]

but seriously what a race by kimi, signature last to podium.
kimi really is a special driver, i reckon it'd be a very unwise move if kimi left for ferrari, although i'd rather he not move at all, he'd be much better suited for redbull, with mclarens chief designer adrian newey on board amd mclarens cheif dynamacist(sp?), i'd expect redbull to have a serious championship contending car next year even more so the next year, they are going to be a force to be taken very seriously, especially with the buget they have in hand.

I seriously doubt Kimi will stay at McLaren with them bringing Alonso aboard next year and I don't really think that Red Bull has the budget to compete with Ferrari. Though Red Bull is reported to have the largest entertainment budget and throws the best parties which may sway the Finn, but he'll have his best shot at winning the championship with Ferrari.

 

[Andyman_1970]

For some reason I can see Nico Rosberg going to McLaren.........just a hunch........

 

[Echo]

So we should just give Kimi pole for the rest of the year and excuse him from qualifying? McLaren needs to work on the fragile nature of their cars as I believe it will most certainly drive Kimi to seek greener, make that redder, pastures at another team next year like Ferrari.

I'd like to see him stay at McLaren, and have McLaren get their sh!t together.

My point is that the new qualifying format sucks ass. IMO.

 

[Andyman_1970]

Yeah I'd like to see Kimi stay at McLaren as well...............

I think the new qualifying format does what it was intended to do.......get the maximum number of cars on the track for the spectators during qualifying.

 

[BillT]

I think from the fan's perspective, the new qualifying format is a huge hit as we have meaningful action during the entire hour. The last format sucked because you only saw the car do one lap. The 2 day qualifying from the early part of last season was just asinine. The old, old format of the hour session was good in theory and had alot of drama towards the end when the big boys came out to set fast laps, but wasn't interesting from beginning to end.

I really don't see Kimi and Alonso on the same team - too much desire to be number 1 that is backed with talent for them to coexist peacefully.

 

[ghostrider]

The new Mclaren Mercedes is the sweetest looking car on the grid, by far. If I ever make it to a race I'll probably get thrown out of the pitlane for humping the sidepod.

Kimi's drive was awesome, as was Rosberg's. Scott Speed did fine for his debut.

Looks like a good season is shaping up. I wonder how long it has been since a tobacco free car has one the title? (Don't answer that - I could figure it out if I had the time, I'm guessing Prost in a Williams).

 

[steve45]

If I ever make it to a race I'll probably get thrown out of the pitlane for humping the sidepod.


I wonder how long it has been since a tobacco free car has one the title? (Don't answer that - I could figure it out if I had the time, I'm guessing Prost in a Williams).

hahaha, i could just imagine it, ron dennis, just staring at you with a raised eyebrow and arms folded.



theres a point, i thought ALL tobacco sponcership was banned this season onwards:wonky2: yet i seen, malboro and lucky strike, logos clearly on overalls cars etc of ferraris and honda, or is this just a european thing?
i could swear that the fia banned it though, could be wrong though.

 

[Andyman_1970]

I guess I just don't think Alonso is that good, he's no Schumi or Kimi. Don't get me wrong he's talented, and had a good car last year, but I think that's more a function of reliablity than outright speed or skill on his part.

I doubt the R26 would have been as good as the MP4-21 with full fuel and hard compound tires as we saw the McLaren pull off yesterday.

 

[steve45]

I guess I just don't think Alonso is that good, he's no Schumi or Kimi. Don't get me wrong he's talented, and had a good car last year, but I think that's more a function of reliablity than outright speed or skill on his part.

I doubt the R26 would have been as good as the MP4-21 with full fuel and hard compound tires as we saw the McLaren pull off yesterday.

i agree, he's a talented driver definitly above average, but as you said he's no kimi or schumi, kimi is without a doubt the most promising talent on the grid at the moment, if he can get a reliable car under him i can see him consistantly pulling off schumi style performances, he knows when to push and how hard to push, he's fast, he's very cool under pressure, i think alonso is just too conservative.

theres no doubt in hell that if the mp4-21 was more reliable he'd have won the 05 season outright, the mp4-21 is one of the all time greatest cars, i'm sure its gonna be one of the cars that is looked back on with very fond memories, i'd have liked to see that with soft compund tires and a light fuel load.

 

[steve45]

just a heads up guys, Malyasian GP this weekend
times are really screwed up as its on the other side of the world, so check out the times so you dont miss it.

 

[Andyman_1970]

and like you, if I saw an MP4-21 up close I'd probably hump the side pod..........LOL

 

[Echo]

just a heads up guys, Malyasian GP this weekend
times are really screwed up as its on the other side of the world, so check out the times so you dont miss it.

Those ones are tough. Most GP's we have coffee and bagels, for those Asian ones we're drunk at the race start.

 

[Andyman_1970]

just a heads up guys, Malyasian GP this weekend
times are really screwed up as its on the other side of the world, so check out the times so you dont miss it.

Is it this coming weekend (March 17-19) or is it the next (March 24-26)? I think its the weekend of the 25th.

This coming weekend is the 24 hours of Sebring, and the new Audi R10........

 

[ghostrider]

I've got $5 per race for somebody who can capture the race in DVD format and let me download it. I refuse to pay $60 per month for cable and my inlaws are getting tired of me showing up at odd times on Sundays to watch.

 

[scottishmark]

thought america didn't like diesel?

pretty sure its the 25th, in fact i'll check..........

..... nope its this weekend coming (19th) www.itv-f1.com (very good f1 site)

 

[BillT]

The MP4-21 was such the fragile flyer...great, practically unbeatable, when it did not self destruct but its fragile nature is why it will just be a footnote in the history books compared to the F2002 and F2004.

The Maylaysian GP is this weekend - I believe the race starts live at 1:30 am Eastern on Sunday.

 

[Andyman_1970]

Wow there's usually a 2 week gap between GP's...............but this weekend is going to be busy racing wise...........NICE!!!!

 

[BillT]

The usually have a couple of back to back weekend (usually Canada and US GP's along with one in Europe), but this year we get to start off with one.