Formula 1

[Noxide]

That is complete and utter bull****

Ecclestone and Mosley should quit now, because they are old and getting bored and now they come up with all this crap!!

If they ban refuelling, then we have Formula 1 drivers in A1 cars.
There is so much action in the stops. It's exciting, and now they want to take it away.

Idiots.

I am now angry.

[Lemmings]

The end of Formula 1 as we know it...

[DipShyt]

Raikkonen blasts McLaren
2008-10-15 13:49

Shanghai - Defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen on Wednesday crtiticised McLaren for ruining his chance to win in Japan last week and vowed to go all out for a Ferrari one-two in China on Sunday.

The Finn is adamant that he could have won at Fuji had it not been for the first corner fracas that saw both Ferraris, and Heikki Kovalainen's McLaren, forced wide by Lewis Hamilton's ambitious attempt to wrest back the lead.

It effectively cost Raikkonen any chance he had of retaining his world title with a top two result needed to stay in the hunt. He finally finished third.

"I was ahead of the rest, just like we had planned. And when you turn into the first corner in front of everybody else, you should be there also when you come out of it," said the Finn.

"I have no idea what the drivers behind me were thinking. They braked so late that it was impossible to avoid the following chaos.

"It was an unexplainable mistake by the two cars from McLaren, who actually expelled me from the fight for victory at the Japanese GP. If I had managed to get unharmed through the first corner, I could have won."

World championship leader Hamilton was slapped with a drive-through penalty for impeding Raikkonen, sparking rumblings around the track that he was becoming an irresponsible driver.

Raikkonen said it was disheartening to give up the world title and said he would do all he could to help teammate Felipe Massa, five points adrift of Hamilton, overtake the Briton in the championship race.

"It's true Sunday's result was a 'sayonara' to the drivers' title although I knew since Spa that there wasn't much hope left," he said.

"Since January I tell you that I gave it my best to win the title again. And if I won't win I'll try it again next year. I know how to become a world champion.

"Now we're going to China. Let's see what we can do there, where I won last year. Shanghai is a very demanding track and I really like it.

"Our goal is a one-two win. I'll give it all to help Felipe and the team to gain the results we want."

[sulphide]

haha yeah. never did liked hamilton. now apparently his driving is in question too.

[DipShyt]

F1's survival in danger
2008-10-15 14:50

Max Moseley

London - A slimmed-down Formula One championship using standardised engines is being proposed to ensure that the sport survives the global economic crisis.

Drastic cost reductions will be discussed at a meeting next week in Geneva hosted by FIA president Max Mosley with the 10 team chiefs.

Ahead of the summit, Mosley has warned that current costs are "unsustainable."

F1 team owners splashed out a combined $1.6bn in 2008 following the arrival of Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya's Force India team. That's up from $1.47bn in 2007, according to a report from industry monitor Formula Money.

"Even before current global financial problems, teams were spending far more than their incomes, in so far as these consist of sponsorship plus FOM (Formula One Management) money," Mosley says in documents sent to the teams, published on Wednesday by The Times of London and verified by the FIA. "As a result, the independent teams are now dependent on the goodwill of rich individuals, while the manufacturers' teams depend on massive handouts from their parent companies."

Mosley is concerned about the fate of small teams. Super Aguri's two-year stint in F1 ended in May when the Japanese team withdrew from the championship due to financial difficulties.

"There is now a real danger that, in some cases, these subsidies will cease," Mosley said. "This could result in a reduction in the number of competitors, adding to the two team vacancies we already have and reducing the grid to an unacceptable level.

"The FIA's view is that Formula One can only be healthy if a team can race competitively for a budget at or very close to what it gets from FOM (Formula One Management)."

But manufacturers like Honda, Toyota and BMW may not back the idea.

"I think most of us are not happy at all with the idea of a standard engine which we would define as an engine, maybe even designed and made by someone else," Honda team principal Nick Fry said recently. "In our case we are the largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines in the world, it's the core of the company."

Mosley will propose that standard engines are used from 2010 built by the teams themselves or by a single supplier or contractor, and that cars from 2013 use a chassis with more "common parts".

The FIA wants engines from 2013 to be more fuel and energy efficient.

"We are completely open to new ideas," the FIA says in the documents to teams. "The only preconditions are (i) that the costs of development, maintenance and unit production for the power train must be an order of magnitude lower than is currently the case and (ii) power trains must be available to independent teams at minimal cost."

Although many teams have publicly stated that they are wealthier than ever thanks to nearly $900m in sponsorship revenue, sponsors and new teams weren't exactly lining up even before the current crisis.

[Noxide]

Dominee, are you deliberately trying to ruin my second passion in life?

I'm just happy about the fact that my hero has opened his mouth and said what he said. And I agree. He could have, and should have, won in Fuji, and the only reason he didn't was because of an egotistical idiot who can't handle a bit of pressure.

[DipShyt]

Dominee, are you deliberately trying to ruin my second passion in life?

Don't shoot the messenger...

I'm just happy about the fact that my hero has opened his mouth and said what he said. And I agree. He could have, and should have, won in Fuji, and the only reason he didn't was because of an egotistical idiot who can't handle a bit of pressure.

It sounds like the drivers have had it with his antics & even the ex-drivers have something to say:

Hakkinen: Keep cool Lewis
2008-10-16 07:42

Shanghai - Two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen has advised Lewis Hamilton to keep his cool if he wants to win the title this year.

The advice from the Finn, back-to-back world champion in 1998 and 1999, comes on the eve of the Chinese Grand Prix with the unpredictable McLaren driver holding a five point lead over Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

"It's very exciting, very exciting now with two races to go," Hakkinen, who retired from Formula One in 2001, told Log in to see links.

"It's a combination of everything, you know. Is it going to be a mechanical failure, or driver mistake, or regulations are a bit flexible, or you now, anything can happen.

"Lewis is definitely ahead, and if he can keep his head cool he should be able to win the championship fine.

"But Felipe, he's there, he's knocking the door. He's all the time there and again, (Robert) Kubica is coming and he's getting closer to the top points all the time. You never know what's going to happen, so let's wait and see."

Last year, hot-headed Hamilton led the title race by 17 points at the same stage only to see Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen steal the championship from under his nose at the last Grand Prix in Brazil.

Anxious to win, 23-year-old Hamilton made a series of mistakes at the last race in Japan and finished outside the points.

[Noxide]

I like Hakkinen. I supported him the way I support Raikkonen, but why is he giving hamilton advice?

[DipShyt]

I like Hakkinen. I supported him the way I support Raikkonen, but why is he giving hamilton advice?

Probably trying to stop him going kamikaze...

[Noxide]

Probably trying to stop him going kamikaze...

He should encourage that.