Formula 1 season 2010

anportmorforjfc · February 03, 2009, 11:46:47 AM

Should be a good season with any 1 of 4 drivers could win the title. A lot of new rule changes, which have angered a lot of teams, mostly ferrari. But hopefully these don't ruin the sport.

29 March 2009 Australia (Melbourne) 0700 BST
5 April Malaysia (Sepang) 0900 BST
19 April China (Shanghai) 0800 BST
26 April Bahrain (Manama) TBC
10 May Spain (Barcelona) 1300 BST
24 May Monaco (Monte Carlo) 1300 BST
7 June Turkey (Istanbul) 1300 BST
21 June Great Britain (Silverstone) 1300 BST
12 July Germany (Nurburgring) 1300 BST
26 July Hungary (Budapest) 1300 BST
23 August Europe (Valencia, Spain) 1300 BST
30 August Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps) 1300 BST
13 September Italy (Monza) 1300 BST
27 September Singapore 1300 BST
4 October Japan (Suzuka) TBC
18 October Brazil (Interlagos) TBC
1 November Abu Dhabi TBC

Tempoman · February 03, 2009, 03:51:54 PM

Heres a good website for some archieve of F1 action, i signed up to it a while ago and you get good daily emails
http://www.grandprixtv.net/

anportmorforjfc · February 05, 2009, 10:19:45 AM

Mark Webber says he is recovering well from a broken leg and will be able to race at the start of the season.

Double Cross · February 05, 2009, 11:20:46 AM

Should be a lot more overtaking this year, which will be a nice change. New aero-dynamics and the return to slicks will make it much more interesting. If they could just sort out the scoring system, too many also rans getting points.

thebigfella · February 05, 2009, 11:46:15 AM

Quote from: anportmorforjfc on February 03, 2009, 11:46:47 AM
A lot of new rule changes, which have angered a lot of teams, mostly ferrari. But hopefully these don't ruin the sport.

Most of the anger was at the prosed rules for standardised engines and drivetrains. I believe all the car manufactures vetoed this and threatened to pull out of F1, not just Ferrari. Effectively it devalued the constructors championship which is quite a big deal to the constructors. Also most of the road going technologies standard on road cars at the moment have most likely been developed through some from of motorsport participation (KERS is an exception in F1); manufacturers felt they would not get any technical return on the huge investment from participation in the sport.

I'm more interested to see how people have interpreted the new rules. I think you will find big differences between the cars(looks and performance), some teams will take bigger risks in the hope to find better performance, others will play it safe. Generally though the same teams will be at the top as they have the best engineers, facilities, budgets etc.... You always get a few surprises though from smaller teams who come up with better interpretations of the rules. Gary Anderson done this with Jordan in 95, when they introduced raised cockpits sides after Senna's death (Mclaren followed the same approach).

IMHO Ferrari protest at the rule changes so much is because once Schumacher was winning all the time, rather than allowing teams to catch up with them the FIA kept introducing new rules in order to handycap their performance. Unfortunately that didn't work as they have better engineers and drivers that can adapt to change quicker.

anportmorforjfc · February 05, 2009, 03:21:49 PM

Quote from: Double Cross on February 05, 2009, 11:20:46 AM
Should be a lot more overtaking this year, which will be a nice change. New aero-dynamics and the return to slicks will make it much more interesting. If they could just sort out the scoring system, too many also rans getting points.

Agreed, they should go back to the old system where top 6 gets points. I also think the old qualifying system was better.

Double Cross · February 05, 2009, 07:03:24 PM

Ecclestone was talking about awarding points to the top 3, I would prefer that, but awarding points for the top 8 is a joke.

thebigfella · February 06, 2009, 02:00:19 AM

Quote from: anportmorforjfc on February 05, 2009, 03:21:49 PM
Quote from: Double Cross on February 05, 2009, 11:20:46 AM
Should be a lot more overtaking this year, which will be a nice change. New aero-dynamics and the return to slicks will make it much more interesting. If they could just sort out the scoring system, too many also rans getting points.

Agreed, they should go back to the old system where top 6 gets points. I also think the old qualifying system was better.

The reason the qualifying changed was you had a 1 hour session with no cars running until the last 10 minutes. Bad tv but worse for spectators at the track. At least you get quite a bit of action in the present format because effectively very lap counts.

Probably not a good idea move back to the top 6 getting points though as the cars are super reliable compared to 10 years ago. You would end up with the same 3 teams cars picking up points. I do believe the gap between 1st and 2nd is not big enough and there is no real reward for winning a race. Again though another rule brought in to combact schmacher and Ferrari.

anportmorforjfc · February 06, 2009, 09:44:44 AM

Bourdais handed Toro Rosso drive

Bourdais will team up with Sebastian Buemi this season
Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais has earned a second season driving for Red Bull junior team Toro Rosso in Formula One.

The 29-year-old spent an anxious winter while the team assessed other drivers but was confirmed as team-mate to Swiss rookie Sebastian Buemi on Friday.

Team principal Franz Tost said: "We expect him to profit from the experience he gained last season.

"He now knows the F1 environment, tracks and the team and the return of slick tyres should suit his style."

After 11 years using grooved rubber, slick, untreaded tyres, are being re-introduced to F1 this season among a raft of other rule changes aimed at improving the quality of racing.

Bourdais was overshadowed for much of last season by former team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who has been promoted to the main Red Bull team alongside Mark Webber for 2009.

And Bourdais admitted his relief at finally securing the drive.

"It has been a very long and difficult winter, but now the waiting is finally over and I am really excited about tackling my second season with Scuderia Toro Rosso.

"Now I can focus on preparing for the coming season. It promises to be a very interesting one, thanks to all the rule changes." 606:

Red Bull launch their new car in Jerez in Spain on Monday, ahead of a major three-day test involving many of the leading F1 teams.

Toro Rosso will use the same car as Red Bull, but fitted with a Ferrari engine rather than the Renault used by their parent team.

anportmorforjfc · February 17, 2009, 12:22:54 PM

Renault has become the latest Formula One team to be hit by the economic crisis after their main sponsor ING withdrew its support from 2010.

Kimi raikkonen is fastest in pre-season in bahrain.

gerry · February 17, 2009, 02:26:27 PM

Quote from: Double Cross on February 05, 2009, 07:03:24 PM
Ecclestone was talking about awarding points to the top 3, I would prefer that, but awarding points for the top 8 is a joke.

cannot not see what difference this would make only awarding the top 3

Muzz · February 17, 2009, 02:33:21 PM

Was it not that he was suggesting giving the top three medals - e.g. gold, silver and bronze. The guy with the most gold medals would win the championship. Not sure if this is only in the event of a tie on points or if this would replace the points system for the Driver Championship but would remain for the Constructors.

anportmorforjfc · February 24, 2009, 03:36:50 PM

Anyone hear who is commentating on the races this season on the BBC?

The Real Laoislad · February 24, 2009, 03:38:10 PM

Anyone watching the A1 GP?
I see Ireland are top of the table at the moment

anportmorforjfc · February 24, 2009, 03:41:29 PM

switzerland lead Ireland now by 3 points