Auto Sports (F1, V8, Nascar)

[Signe]

I wonder how many times Alonso can be linked to cheating scandals before his reputation is total rubbish?  And who would outright sack someone who had that sort of info on them?   Nelson Piquet is a bit of a foot stomper when it comes to his son, so I wonder if Jr. was told not to tell him.  I can't imagine he'd allow Jr. to do anything so risky.

[fuser]

I wonder how many times Alonso can be linked to cheating scandals before his reputation is total rubbish?  And who would outright sack someone who had that sort of info on them?   Nelson Piquet is a bit of a foot stomper when it comes to his son, so I wonder if Jr. was told not to tell him.  I can't imagine he'd allow Jr. to do anything so risky.

I guess you could say the same thing about Hamilton too 

Flavio has been skirting the rules and outright caught a few times, but I think he's a marked man for the no-confidence and the FOTA breakaway involvement. I don't know the points standing but I wonder the financial gain of getting a place or two ahead in the WCC points vs Piquet + car damage. I wonder his future job prospects in F1 now if his dad doesn't buy him a team ;)

Oh well Massa medical news should be today which will provide interesting for Monza as Alonso will probably be announced as 2010 driver, Massa, and Kimi?!

[Signe]

Yes, I agree that if this is proven to be true, Flavio is a goner.  He doesn't have the luxury of "stepping down" like Ron Dennis does.   

[fuser]

Yes, I agree that if this is proven to be true, Flavio is a goner. 

Ughhh even worse Renault might leave. Interesting when they are an engine supplier too, but it's a great "exit" reason from F1.

The Times reports that 'Ecclestone said that Flavio Briatore, the Renault team principal, had told him that he knows nothing about the claims that have been made. Ecclestone also described the Italian as "well and truly upset", and added that Nelson Piquet Jr, the driver whom Ecclestone clearly believes sparked the sport's latest cheating scandal by informing the FIA of the explosive allegations, could be finished as a Formula One driver.'

Ecclestone is quoted as saying, "This is not the sort of thing we need at the moment. I think it will p*** off Renault for a start. Them leaving the sport is a danger, obviously. I mean, I hope that it isn't like that, but it's the sort of thing that might happen."

[fuser]

Poor Force India!

Ferrari have confirmed the much-rumoured signing of Giancarlo Fisichella as Felipe Massa's replacement until the end of the season.

[Signe]

Awesome.  Fisichella always said he'd do anything to drive a Ferrari, and he did!

[fuser]

Awesome.  Fisichella always said he'd do anything to drive a Ferrari, and he did!

He did so well with Renault but was in Alonso's shadow, but last week was such a push for Ferrari to get him signed on. They
will see way more points (ala $$$) and less of an embarsement with poor Brodeur.

If I was him I'd quit at the end of the year. What a way to end your career  

Side note, got road trip with friends lined up for Montreal 2010 GP. If anyone else is going send a PM!

[Righ]

Fisi will win in a Ferrari. Just watch.

[fuser]

Renault will be done in F1

A meeting between Nelson Piquet, Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds hours before last year's Singapore Grand Prix is central to the race fixing allegations surrounding the Renault team, AUTOSPORT has learned.

Sources claim that in evidence submitted to the FIA by Nelson Piquet, the Brazilian driver says he was asked by Briatore and Symonds to crash deliberately early in the race so as to help Alonso win.

Piquet says that he agreed to do so because he felt uncomfortable about his situation at the team, with Renault having not renewed his contract for 2009 at that time - and Briatore was stalling on making a firm commitment. Piquet suggests that he only went ahead and caused the accident because he felt he would be rewarded for his actions.

In his evidence, Piquet claims that he was taken aside by Symonds after the first meeting and instructured that he should crash on lap 13 or 14, shortly after Alonso's scheduled first stop, at Turn 17.

The reason this part of the track was singled out was because there were no cranes present there to lift the car away, so any accident would virtually guarantee a safety car.

Sources claim that the Singapore race-fix matter came to light on July 26 - the day of Piquet's last race for Renault in Hungary - when his father Nelson contacted FIA president Max Mosley to make him aware of what had happened.

Piquet Jr. then visited the FIA's headquarters in Paris on July 30 to present a statement to FIA representatives, believed to be stewards' advisor Alan Donnelly, and external investigators from the Quest agency.

They are so cooked, and I wonder if Piquet will ever get a drive in F1 if his dad doesn't buy a team.

[Signe]

Bye Bye, Flavio.  God, I hope he goes broke and has to sell QPR to some other asshole.  Oh wait.  It's owned by three assholes, isn't it?     One down, two to go.

[fuser]

Holy crap this is getting comical

Piquet claims that in the pre-race meeting in Singapore he was asked to crash deliberately in the race to help Alonso win, while Symonds and Briatore are both adamant that the idea came from the Brazilian driver himself.

[Signe]

Hopefully, that's the end of the Briatore Symonds crime ring!  I haven't heard anything about Piquet Jr and Alonso, yet.  We'll probably see Alonso in a Ferrari at some point where he can cheat with near impunity.  I hope Briatore is NEVER allowed in racing again!  He's mean to cute young racing drivers.

Blurb

Edit:  Favourite Briatore pic!

[fuser]

I haven't heard anything about Piquet Jr and Alonso, yet.  We'll probably see Alonso in a Ferrari at some point where he can cheat with near impunity.  I hope Briatore is NEVER allowed in racing again!

Yep here's the fallout

• 2 year suspended racing ban for Renault
• Briatore lifetime ban from F1
• Symonds 5 year ban from F1
• Piquet Jr had immunity, and his F1 career is in shambles until his dad buys a team  
• Alonso was absolved of anything (lulz)

This whole weekend is going to be a mess, expect Alonso announcement then the driver shuffle begins. I highly recommend anyone really interested to listen to the BBC free practices with Ant and Croft. The coverage has great inside tidbits about the circuits, news, etc.

[Righ]

Looking quite probable that Brawn will win the F1 constructors title tomorrow. Webber's chances of points are pretty slim, Vettel could win but as long as Barrichello and Button can grab four points between them, it'll be over. Depending on how the Brawns fare, Vettel could be out of the running by the end of the weekend, even with a win. That's less likely.

That's if the stewards don't throw out the Brawns' Q2 qualifying times overnight of course...

[Signe]

Championship leader Jenson Button, team-mate Rubens Barrichello, Renault driver Fernando Alonso, Force India's Adrian Sutil and Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi were given five-place grid penalties after the session.

Here. 

[Righ]

That'll do it. Funny how steward decisions always seem to give Bernie the 'exciting' title race that he wants. What's hilarious about this is that Alonso, realising that he didn't have the car for a Q3 run, slowed and then protested the other drivers, starting this whole inquiry in the first place. The stewards found that Alonso only slowed after passing the accident, so they penalised him too.

Grid now looks like this:

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
2 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota
3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes
4 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
6 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota
7 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber
8 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Toro Rosso-Ferrari
9 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Mercedes
10 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn-Mercedes
11 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes
12 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn-Mercedes
13 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Ferrari
14 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota
15 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Toro Rosso-Ferrari
16 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault
17 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault
18 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
19 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India-Mercedes
20 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota

[fuser]

What's hilarious about this is that Alonso, realising that he didn't have the car for a Q3 run, slowed and then protested the other drivers, starting this whole inquiry in the first place. The stewards found that Alonso only slowed after passing the accident, so they penalised him too.

I doubt Alonso was the catalyst as no one slowed down at all during the yellows. But whats interesting is by the rules your not allowed to set a quick time in the zone that's under yellow. Button/Barrichello technically didn't set a previous sector time for q2, Alonso pitted at end of sector 3. Brawn has flat out admitted they didn't even slow down for the yellow

From my point of view I did the right thing. I took avoiding action and when I saw the yellow flag, it was just before where the incident was with the front wing. I moved to one side. I thought, for me, it was unsafe to lift off because there could have been a car behind and you also don’t want to be moving across the circuit at high speed and lifting. Then, as soon as I passed the front wing I saw the green flag down the circuit, so I knew it was clear – and kept my foot in. That was it

Blahahaha regards to Alonso http://fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1_media/Pages/on_event.aspx your right the telemetry screwed him(document 28) 

[tgr]

First off, I'll happily admit I haven't watched F1 much these past years (or 8, really), because the races seemed to just boil down more and more to railroad racing, where there might be a few passes if we were lucky. I happily went over to watching indycar/C.A.R.T/champcars or what the hell ever it is they're called these days (of which I'm calling champcars from now on), and while they're turboed compared to the f1 cars, they had what I thought of as a much more vibrant on-track presense.

For one, they actually had the safety car out once in a while to bunch the cars back up, which creates closer and more exciting racing. They also seemed to have less aero downforce, and rely more on mechanical grip than F1 did. Hell, the first thought I had when they started with the whole grooved "slicks" in F1 was "what the hell are they thinking making the cars even /more/ reliant on aero downforce?". Apparently they're trying to undo this and finally get back into the F1 of olde, however my parents have been watching F1, and they say that while the latest changes have made things better, there's still a long way to go.

Actually, it isn't just the reliance on aero downforce that I object to, there are a ton of changes I've heard about (and I've watched a few races while at my parents', just as research), and it seems like they're kind of trying to emulate champcars with the pitstops etc, but it just seems half-hearted. I think the main reason is the fact that F1's safetycar isn't out so much as in champcars, which means that while pitstops do add to the tactics used, it doesn't have the same level of unpredictability that champcar does. Seeing 30+ seconds between 1st and 2nd didn't seem to be that uncommon in F1, whereas in champcars I rarely saw more than 10 seconds before something came up which brought the safetycar out and bunched the entire field back up.

And let's not forget the deal where they have the "push to pass" button, which gives them 60-120 seconds of extra power (0.1 bar I think, or 50bhp I think), which they can engage at any time during the race, and which lasts as long as they keep the foot planted. The guy in front can't see they're using the P2P, but guys behind can due to the blinking light at the rear, so it just adds an extra layer of strategy/tactics. When to use it, when not to use it.

What I think they should do is go even further in reducing aero downforce and increasing mechanical grip, removing or reducing traction control and stability systems etc, make it so the *races* themselves are more unpredictable. Make driver skill more prevalent, make it so the fields are bunched up once in a while, make the tactics available deeper, and for fucks sake make the tracks more varied. All the new tracks I've seen in F1 lately have been overgrown gokart tracks with hardly any undulation. More variation, get some hills into the mix, and for gods sake make it easier to pass.

F1 of 3 years ago felt way too clinical, and while the last race I watched (a few months ago) felt a little bit better, the new track didn't really lead itself to passing, and the new qualifying didn't really feel like a step forward either. It still felt like the one with the 1st spot had a higher than 75% chance of winning (dependent on how the start went, in addition to what the teams set as long-term strategies for the race before it even started), so it really ended up with watching the start, maybe a few laps as they lose nosecones, zoning out while the race went on and zone back in when it was 1-2 laps to go or whenever someone had a puncture or whatever minor issue they had during the race.

Not once did I ever feel the excitement I got from watching the last few laps stewie linked to (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3tXJm9tYGM if you don't want to go back to page 1 and search for it), and that snippet was from 30 years ago. Not even close. You hardly ever see the cars even squirm under braking or during acceleration, and if they've got even more than a tiny bit of a powerslide, the commentators are throwing fits.

I am not impressed with what the F1 scene is right now. Yes, it's very technically impressive and awesome and all that, but the few races I've watched over the last years since damon hill quit racing (and even then you could see they were really struggling with passing eachother due to too much reliance on aero downforce) has NOT persuaded me to go back to watching them regularly on TV. In person might be something else entirely, since that'd turn the experience up to 11, but as a TV sport, F1 is (and has been) failing for me for years, and they have only recently been making babysteps in what I think is the right direction.

In short, I really don't care for whatever drama they might be drumming up within the teams with cheating or whatnot, if I was looking for that I'd be watching some soap opera or reality show. I'm there to see close, exciting and cut-throat racing. I want there to be crashes, I want there to be nudging between drivers, I want there to be more visible mistakes than just "oh he missed the apex by 2 metres, now he'll be 0.075 seconds slower on that lap", and I want the strategies to be more seat of the pants, not pre-decided before the start as they seem to be today. I want excitement and unpredictability, god damn it.

Maybe in 5 more years.

[fuser]

~20 laps in and this is the best race of the year so far! 

[Righ]

So:

Mercedes: Nico Rosberg, Michael Schumacher
McLaren: Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button
Red Bull: Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber
Ferrari: Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa
Williams: Rubens Barrichello, Nico Hulkenberg
Renault: Robert Kubica
Force India: Adrian Sutil, Vitantonio Liuzzi
Toro Rosso: Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari
Campos Meta: Bruno Senna
Virgin: Timo Glock, Lucas di Grassi
US F1:
Lotus: Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen
Sauber: Kamui Kobayashi, Pedro de la Rosa

One seat remaining in Renault and three in the new teams.

Unsigned 2009 drivers: Nick Heidfeld, Giancarlo Fisichella, Kazuki Nakajima, Nelson Piquet, Romain Grosjean, Kimi Räikkönen, Sébastien Bourdais

Other F1 test / reserve drivers: Luca Badoer (Ferrari), Marc Gene (Ferrari), Christian Klien (BMW), David Coulthard (Red Bull), Anthony Davidson (Brawn)

Interested in returning: Jacques Villeneuve, Christian Klien, Alex Wurz, Takuma Sato, Franck Montagny

Young drivers: Stefan Wilson (Indy Lights), Jules Bianchi (EU F3), José María López (TC2000), Paul di Resta (DTM), JR Hildebrand (Indy Lights), Alexander Rossi (GP2), Esteban Gutierrez (EU F3), Mike Conway (Indy), Marcus Ericsson (JP F3), Bertrand Baguette (Renault), Ho-Pin Tung (GP2), Andy Soucek (F2), Gary Paffett (DTM), Daniel Ricciardo (UK F3), Brendon Hartley (EU F3), Mirko Bortolotti (F2), Daniel Zampieri (IT F3), Marco Zipoli (IT F3), Pablo Sanchez (IT F3), Oliver Turvey (Renault), Mohamed Fairuz Fauzy (GP2)

The Toro Rosso seat is allegedly already taken by Jaime Alguersuari, but since he's not on the official entry yet, there is presumably some outstanding condition. Probably his personal sponsorship. After Daniel Ricciardo's sensational run in testing yesterday, Toro Rosso have another great option if the contract can't be worked out. Ricciardo is likely to be offered a Toro Rosso job for next year in any case, but other teams may be interested in giving him a race seat now.

Kimi Räikkönen has been announced for Citroen's rally team next year, so he's presumably not had enough interest from what he considers the best teams. Giancarlo Fisichella has taken the Ferrari reserve/test driver role, so unless anybody wants to buy him a race drive by paying Ferrari, he's out of the running. Schumacher is unlikely to be returning at this point, although if he does you would expect him to be in a Brawn Mercedes, who haven't denied that they're seeking his services.

Campos are interested in getting Pedro de la Rosa and are working the money on that.

José María López has 80% of the sponsorship needed to satisfy the conditions on an offer of a drive in US F1.

Mohamed Fairuz Fauzy is linked with Lotus, probably in a reserve/test role. Lotus have apparently signed one driver, but we don't yet know who. Villeneuve and Trulli have been mentioned as possibles.

Renault are looking to sell their team so that they can get out of F1 racing and not break the Concorde Agreement extension that they signed in order to lessen the damage caused by the Piquet crash order scandal. They have two groups courting them - a European technology investment firm and Dave Richards' Prodrive outfit. Richards appeals to the race team because he knows racing, the investment group is favoured by the bean counters. This week, Renault tested Ho-Pin Tung, who formerly drove for Gravity Sport who are financed by Mangrove Capital Partners who are allegedly connected to Richards' Prodrive team. More interestingly, Jacques Villeneuve also drove for Gravity Sport at Le Mans. As somebody who has raced in more than two F1 grands prix, Villeneuve couldn't take part in this week's session.

It's hard to imagine that Villeneuve isn't coming back next year. It's looking like he could drive in a Prodrive car under the Renault flag.

There's just a staggering amount of talent out there right now, all wanting to be a part of F1. The question is who can raise the sponsorship money quickly enough to take advantage of the many seats available. Silly season indeed.

Edit: Lucas di Grassi announced with Virgin, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen announced with Lotus, Robert Kubica drive possibly in doubt with new Renault owner.
Edit: Kamui Kobayashi announced with Sauber. Schumacher now likely at Mercedes.
Edit: Michael Schumacher announced with Mercedes.
Edit: Kubica's manager confirms his drive with Renault.
Edit: Jaime Alguersuari confirmed with Toro Rosso. Pedro de la Rosa announced with Sauber.

[fuser]

Nice recap Righ!

Kamui Kobayashi is now confirmed for Sauber (so glad he got the team back from BMW). He was awesome and drove amazingly, really cannot wait to see what happens this year. Now if only Sauber would hire Sato.

Very serious discussions saying Schumacher is coming back for Mercedes!

Michael Schumacher has told Ferrari that there is a "very, very, very strong possibility" that he will race for Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1 next year, team president Luca di Montezemolo has revealed.

Still waiting on Montreal 2010 tickets to go on sale, it will be my first GP  So far it looks like an amazing upcoming year with a lot of competitive teams(McLaren, Ferrari, RBR, Mercedes) and new blood.

[slog]

I'm so hoping that someone gets a Youtube clip of Kobyashi passing Schumi on track.

[Righ]

Schumacher will be in a Mercedes run by Ross Brawn, the man who won his 7 world championships with him, and managed by Norbert Haug, the man who managed his entry into world class motor sports. There are people out there that can beat him and who will have the equipment and initially the competitive advantage to do so. Kobayashi in a Sauber under new power is unlikely to be one of them. Maybe in 2011. 

[fuser]

Shit just got real!

French court overturns FIA ban of Briatore/Symonds and ordered FIA to take out ads in the french papers to notify the public/F1 teams 

[Righ]

Not really. All the French courts did was recognise that the FIA is in no position to ban somebody who is not a direct signatory or participant in an FIA sanctioned event. In essence, they are telling the FIA that they are in the position to ban a team but not one of its employees. They are essentially saying that the matter should have come before a French judge, not an FIA-run court, or that the FIA should have put the pressure on the team such that the team sacked the offenders. It is a legal power-play by the French judicial system, not a ruling on whether Briatore cheated or not or whether such cheating should ultimately remove somebody from the sport. The damages awarded probably don't even pay for the private jet trip to court let alone the lawyering, so it is fairly clear that the judges considered this a rap on the FIA's knuckles not vindication of Briatore's position.

The FIA will appeal this, they'll modify their legal system based on the outcome and in the meantime if Briatore or Symonds find work with any F1 team, that team will be 'suspended from competition indefinitely due to irregularities'.

[Righ]

Seven weeks until the first race of 2010. Quite amazing that there are still four seats undecided - Renault (who lost out in their attempts to sign both Timo Glock and Heikki Kovalainen), Campos Meta and both seats in US F1. It's hard to imagine Nick Heidfeld failing to get a drive and Villeneuve's name won't go away since he's not counted out a return yet. I can't imagine US F1 picking up Villeneuve unless he's going to take a stake in the team himself. The money just wouldn't be attractive otherwise. I have to suspect that he's secretly talking to Renault. The money may not be a lot better at Renault, but the chances of fighting for points are probably better. Russian Vitaly Petrov (GP2) is the name most associated with the Campos Meta drive.

My guess? Petrov to Campos Meta, Heidfeld to Renault, Alex Wurz to US F1, and depending on who earns the most personal sponsorship either Jose Maria Lopez or J. R. Hildebrand in the other US F1 seat. If US F1 even makes it to the grid...

[fuser]

My guess? Petrov to Campos Meta, Heidfeld to Renault, Alex Wurz to US F1, and depending on who earns the most personal sponsorship either Jose Maria Lopez or J. R. Hildebrand in the other US F1 seat. If US F1 even makes it to the grid...

Teams agreed to the double diffuser ban in 2011!

US F1 seems really sketchy in the press, I wonder if they will even make it to the grid as they are looking for a delay of three GP's before showing up. Alas James Allen says they have tons of funding vs Campos.

Big week as the announcements start and testing is next week  

Today's press shot of the Mercedes GP colors (note: its last years BGP 001 car)


Still shocking Nick Heidfeld still hasn't gotten a ride. I'm guessing now with most of the seats gone a backup/test driver for Mercedes?

[fuser]

Some great pics from Valencia testing today at: http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns22055.html

Really like the way the Mercedes GP car looks.

[slog]

Sadly it's looking like USF1 isn't going to make the grid.

[Righ]

It looks like neither US F1 nor Campos Meta are going to make the grid and that the FIA knows it. They just instituted a ruling that says teams are allowed to miss up to three F1 races and still remain in the series. I now fully expect both teams to miss the first three races, and since all three are fly-aways, it will be a massive cost saving. Heck, I could even imaging a couple of teams that are ready to take advantage of it.

[WindupAtheist]

There needs to be a sort of racing with only two rules regarding the nature of the cars themselves.

1) The car must contain a human driver.
2) The car may not fly.

I suspect the result would need to be viewed by remote-operated camera only, as no one would dare put spectators anywhere near it.

[tgr]

That was called "Group B" in the 80s. That went well.

[01101010]

There needs to be a sort of racing with only two rules regarding the nature of the cars themselves.

1) The car must contain a human driver.
2) The car may not fly.

I suspect the result would need to be viewed by remote-operated camera only, as no one would dare put spectators anywhere near it.

Someone petition Red Bull... or maybe Vince McMahon 

And I am appalled by the lack of NASCAR in this thread.

[IainC]

And I am appalled by the lack of NASCAR in this thread.

Turning left every 200 yards is not racing.

[Righ]

It's racing, it's just that the spectacle is less about applying disciplined race driving to a car developed under rules designed to give a lot of latitude than it is about applying aggressive driving to a car developed under very strict controls. Nascar fans like spirited competition where drivers in relatively equal machinery will engage in the sort of behaviour likely to cause crashes. A driver who gives no quarter will garner more respect than one who is simply the fastest. I'm okay with that, but I prefer to see it on a technical circuit rather than an oval, so I'd rather watch DTM or BTCC than Nascar. It's always fun when Nascar visits Watkins Glen or Infineon Raceways though.