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F1 Wheres? Kimi, Juan, & Everyone Else

steve45

Monkey
Sep 30, 2003
483
1
Dundee, Scotland
mclaren's car sucks plain and simple.
williams is just not doing well
BAR has just had a little luck recently, there car is working well for them, but there drivers are just not good enough to beat shuey

face it schuey is the best there is just now, he deserves every win he gets, he's in it for the love of it now.

as the summer comes round i reckon ferrari are gonna have a lot more competition though.
hopefully mclaren will get there new car ready for summer and have it dialed in, they really need a boost there current set up sucks, the car just dosnt have it to be up there on the podium, mercedes really need a boot up the backside they've made a good engine before they should be able to make one again.
 

Echo

crooked smile
Jul 10, 2002
11,819
15
Slacking at work
Watching all the Ferrari sheep piling on the bandwagon with all their red flags is more entertaining than anything that has happened in a race in the last few years.
 

Andyman_1970

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2003
3,105
5
The Natural State
Schuey has had some sucky starts from the pole though, I mean to get out dragged to the 1st turn by a Honda last race and then a Renault this time (from P4 no less).

I will say Ferrari and Schuey are impressive, but the impressive gets old.

I do like how Renault (I like Alonso) and BAR Honda have taken the place that McLaren / Williams were the last few years. Bless Kimi's little heart, he has had a bad year. Could Juan be any more of a whiner?

What's up with these rule changes for next year? Spec tire, spec engine (v8), spec electronics, "normal" H type shifter...........sounds like CART except in Europe (which would suck IMO).
 

Echo

crooked smile
Jul 10, 2002
11,819
15
Slacking at work
Originally posted by Andyman_1970
What's up with these rule changes for next year? Spec tire, spec engine (v8), spec electronics, "normal" H type shifter...........sounds like CART except in Europe (which would suck IMO).
They are proposed changes for 2006 I think. But the rest of your statement I agree with.
 

scottishmark

Turbo Monkey
May 20, 2002
2,121
22
Somewhere dark, cold & wet....
Originally posted by Echo
They are proposed changes for 2006 I think. But the rest of your statement I agree with.
close, 2008. not a fan of the idea myself but if the sport REALLY does need to cut costs then i suppose they have little choice. also the cars are definetely getting too easy to drive, watching Sato cornering one handed last weekend kinda took the piss a bit!
 
D

Dingus McGee

Guest
Originally posted by Echo
Watching all the Ferrari sheep piling on the bandwagon with all their red flags is more entertaining than anything that has happened in a race in the last few years.
Fair-weather Tifosi....yuck.

Go Minardi! Go Zsolt Baumgartner :rolleyes: :dead: :D
 

Andyman_1970

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2003
3,105
5
The Natural State
Originally posted by scottishmark
close, 2008. not a fan of the idea myself but if the sport REALLY does need to cut costs then i suppose they have little choice.
I agree that the sport needs to cut costs, but not at the expense of the cars. One of the hallmarks of F1 is that the cars are the most technically advanced in the world. For me that is part of the appeal. These changes would turn it into just a Euro form of the US CART series (ssssssnnnnnnnnoooooooozzzzzzzeeeeeeee).

How about cutting cost of all the "support" items, like private jets, multi million $ "motor homes" to entertain celebs and such. I think there is plenty of fat to be cut in the sport, just leave the cars alone (IMO).

Originally posted by scottishmark
also the cars are definetely getting too easy to drive, watching Sato cornering one handed last weekend kinda took the piss a bit!
I would say driver workload is dependant of alot of factors, "ease" of driving (which I argue the "hi tech" cockpits are no less more work intensive than say a "simple" cockpit) due to a "simple" cockpit, is just one of those factors. Those "driver aids" such as the paddle shift on the steering wheel, not only enhance preformance but also safety (both hands are kept on the wheel more).
 

scottishmark

Turbo Monkey
May 20, 2002
2,121
22
Somewhere dark, cold & wet....
Originally posted by Andyman_1970

I would say driver workload is dependant of alot of factors, "ease" of driving (which I argue the "hi tech" cockpits are no less more work intensive than say a "simple" cockpit) due to a "simple" cockpit, is just one of those factors. Those "driver aids" such as the paddle shift on the steering wheel, not only enhance preformance but also safety (both hands are kept on the wheel more).
i dont think its even up for debate anymore, over here we also have the advantage of Martin Brundle doing the commentary and Mark Blundell doing the pundit thing............ general opinion is that the cars are now definitely easier to drive. this is one of the other main reasons why manual gearboxes might be back and traction control out, etc

And Sato was definitly driving round one of the fastest corners on the calender with one hand off the wheel mid-race!
 

Andyman_1970

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2003
3,105
5
The Natural State
Originally posted by scottishmark
i dont think its even up for debate anymore, over here we also have the advantage of Martin Brundle doing the commentary and Mark Blundell doing the pundit thing............ general opinion is that the cars are now definitely easier to drive. this is one of the other main reasons why manual gearboxes might be back and traction control out, etc
I think the FIA is contracting itself fundamentally. They say they want to reduce costs, ok fine. Why then mandate a major redesign for a gearbox (semi-auto) that has worked for 10 years? Implementing that change will incure some big develpment cost on the front end for sure, how does that save cost?

I think we saw Mark Webber (correct me if I'm wrong Speed channel viewers) being interviewed, he indicated no matter the gearbox the best driver would come out on top. As much as I hate to say that driver is Schuey right now. He is an excellent driver, I just get tired of seeing him run away with it.

I think there are better ways to improve the "show" as it were (which I agree needs to be done).
 

Hawkeye

Monkey
Jan 8, 2002
623
0
Naperville, IL
As I said before Ferrari sells cars to support the race team. Until other teams start to get sponsers with that kind of capital or until F1 starts with heavy weight penalties Ferrari will win.

On a side note Jeff Gordan was doing some testing for Williams this past weekend which was a NASCAR off weekend. Rumor is that Gordon is sick of the rednecks throwing stuff at him and the death threats and is considering moving to open wheel racing.

As you may remember Jaun Montoya and Jeff swaped cars at Indy a couple years back.
 

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
Costs are incredible...but is anyone actually going broke?

It can't just be the engineering, otherwise I'd have to think that Sauber would be doing better this year. (Not an original though...the guys on Speedvision have been saying it all year.)
 

Andyman_1970

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2003
3,105
5
The Natural State
Originally posted by Silver
Costs are incredible...but is anyone actually going broke?
I haven't seen any news of any teams going broke, but that doesn't mean that it's not happening. I know for a while Eddie Jordan's team was having some $ problems, maybe late last season.

I think the cost issue stems from the dominance of Ferrari and their 300+ mil annual budget compared to the "performance" of the second tier teams and their respective budgets. From appearances alone it would seem that $ is giving Ferrari it's sucess (in a roundabout way), so control cost and level the playing feild and improve the "show".
 

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
It usually goes in cycles though, doesn't it? Ferrari won't be on top forever (as soon as Schumacer retires, I'm guessing their dominance will end.)
 

Andyman_1970

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2003
3,105
5
The Natural State
Originally posted by Silver
It usually goes in cycles though, doesn't it? Ferrari won't be on top forever (as soon as Schumacer retires, I'm guessing their dominance will end.)
True, look at Barichello (sp?), he does pretty good but he's not nearly as sucessful as Michael (he has the "same" car, same team, same engineers, same support, etc).
 

scottishmark

Turbo Monkey
May 20, 2002
2,121
22
Somewhere dark, cold & wet....
Originally posted by Silver
Costs are incredible...but is anyone actually going broke?

It can't just be the engineering, otherwise I'd have to think that Sauber would be doing better this year. (Not an original though...the guys on Speedvision have been saying it all year.)
that'll be because they are now basically the ferrari B-team! seriously, that car is a modified version of last years ferrari!
 

Andyman_1970

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2003
3,105
5
The Natural State
Originally posted by scottishmark
that'll be because they are now basically the ferrari B-team! seriously, that car is a modified version of last years ferrari!
If they are driving essentially last years F2003GA, then why is Sauber doing so poorly? I would argue this is an example of how the car is not the only factor in how well a team does (hint hint FIA).

Edit: don't they (Sauber) have this years Ferrari engine and gearbox also??? (I may be wrong on that)
 

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
I think they have the Ferrari 2004 engine and gearbox. The chassis is pretty much a copy of the 2003 Ferrari, if you believe the commentary.

I'd be more worried about parity if Ferrari was finishing every race 1-2. Barrichello doesn't have 40 points...there is still a race for 2nd.