We're now recovering from the shock of seeing those pug-ugly 2009 shaped wings, and starting to think a little more realistically. No doubt they will evolve before the season starts, it's just the first iteration, everything will look much better after we've slept on it.
The first day of testing in Barcelona yesterday was one of the big topics, so I can only assume today will see more of the same. Topics for discussion include:
- How did Sato manage to top the timesheets? How would he fare with a return to Formula 1?
- How much of a health and safety concern is KERS really going to be? Mechanics wearing rubber gloves isn't exactly the image F1 wants to portray, surely?
- Who will win the race seat shoot-outs?
- Brundle has confirmed he will be commentating for the BBC next year, which is excellent. Who will join him though?<
It's all up for debate, plus anything else you've got on your minds. Make the best use of drop.io to attach any pictures you might find, and I'll see you in the comments.
In a non-modified car, per chance? But seriously, the boy done good. Third (or fourth) time lucky...? Or is it a case of 'he's already had enough chances at the big time'...?
1000bhp Honda V10? ;)
I'd like to see a blogger mention what iteration the test cars are in - was Sato's 1000bhp V10 slick-shod and skirt-endowed?
Even the teams are running different cars (09front+09rear wing vs. 09front+08rear), so comparisons between drivers mightn't be the whole story.
As far as I know, Jonathan Legard is still looking good to take James's job.
Pitpass has done a report on the testing. Apparently the only concession Sato's and Buemi's cars had to the 2009 regulations was reduced downforce. However, no explanation is given for Sato beating Buemi by such a margin. If STR are sensible, then Sato should now be the favourite for the seat Vettel vacated.
"Brundle has confirmed he will be commentating for the BBC next year, which is excellent. Who will join him though?"
Really? Awesome! :D First I've heard of it :)
Also, just to point something out. I looked in the most recent issue of Autosport and I've found out I share my birthday with ex-Simtek driver Mimmo Schiatarella :D
The "Suzuka Special" perhaps ;)
Sato's just plain fast. He's a liability, but plain fast. Might have had something to do with the go-faster purple rings painted on his tyres...
Great news about Brundle. I watch the races here on Speed in the U.S. but I always 'obtain' the races online in the UK as well and I would have missed Martin...
Scott - I've just noticed that you've got a link to the live comments for this thread in your user name. Is that /ria/ajax always pointing to the latest 'daily' or is ther an easy way to locate todays live daily?
me/Christine - could you perhaps put the link to the live daily in the original blog post each day? I think that would help a lot when things get thick and fast.
Oh come on guys. I predict a total snoozefest for the 2009 season. As both Barrichello and Sato will win every event for Honda for F1's first ever 100% hit rate for one constructor in one season.
Of course, with Button gone, Lou will not have much fun either. My money's on Sato trying and missing a Kamikaze move on Barrichello at the last race of the season And Barrichello winning the title on the basis of one more 2nd place finish than Sato.
Right. With just 1:10 to go locally, I was getting desparate for something to say for Must Comment Monday... :P .
Hmmm, As much as I would love Murray Walker to partner Martin Brundle. Maybe some fresh blood that can imitate Walker would be better. "me" has been known to do a few Murrayisms in his day, why not him?
Well I guess there's not much call for impressions of formula 1 cars when you're commentating. It might just be worth it :)
I've been watching some of the races in the official videos. I love these things. the music is great, and you can remember how great the races are. If there are lots of scenery shots in the first 30 seconds - it was a bad race :)
Australia, hamilton winning and DC crashing. i guess that sums up the whole season...
Indeed. If it's a good race, there's usually so much stuff going on that there's no time left for the glamour shots. One good exception is Singapore - that was a good race, but they put in a good amount of glamour shots too.
I've mentioned this before, that given all the practice they've had, they better make a very good FIA Gala video.
My shameless plug for Keith's promo has fallen into the moderation queue. :P
Hamilton to take on Chris Hoy at Race of Champions: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport1/hi/motorsport/7734829.stm
(still not going to go mind!)
Simple. He did a Banzai Lap!
Hmm, let's see - Electric shocks, exploding batteries and high-speed flywheels right next to a driver's head. Someone could get seriously hurt if we all just carry on and not voice our concerns like we did in 1994.
This business of Brundle and will he/won't he sign for the BBC reminds me of 1996 - if I remember correctly we were all uncertain whether Murray Walker was going to make the switch from BBC to ITV... It turned out he was going to all along but Bernie had asked him to keep quiet about it.
What race was it this year when Brundle did his grid walk and Bernie asked him "Are you still working for ITV?" I still don't fully understand why he asked him that...
Why not? I like the RoC idea - drivers being tested in different classes of car in equal machinery (and somebody always beats Schumacher!)
how odd. scott you must be really keen on the live commenting page :)
using the following link:
http://www.sidepodcast.com/category/daily/
will give you all daily threads, with the very latest first. does that help?
I contemplated going last year and was glad I didn't in the end. Tickets were expensive, with the cheaper ones meaning your seats were closer to Watford than what's going on in front. The people who went said it was absolutely freezing, drawn out and £25 to park. Watching it on the TV, the place was devoid of any atmosphere with half of Wembley Stadium empty.
On face value it doesn't look that particularly entertaining either? I might be wrong, but why do they hold it at Wembley and not at say Brands Hatch on the Indy Circuit? There you would get a decent view regardless of where you stand and have a half decent (proper) race going on, not two cars on two separate tracks similar to a Scalextric set.
The principle of the idea is a good one, I just think it could be better implemented.
thus far the bbc haven't met my demands.
so... let me get the straight.
lewis will be at the RoC, but he's not allowed to take on any other driver in equal machinery?
just a man on a bike?
too true. the will he / won't story has generated a lot of (mostly wrong) headlines. the beeb (and bernie) have done well out of it.
Yup. Ridiculous that they couldn't have Hamilton going up against Schumacher!
I want Sato back !!!
and what about those medals Bernie says will go ahead next year ?
a) i really, reeeeally don't.
b) it was decided on the last panel that they were a silly idea, and no doubt bernie tuned in and saw sense :)
it's pathetic isn't it?
if he loses to a man using pedal power he'll be lampooned. presumably macca have done extensive virtual reality runs to ensure that can't happen.
is this all about the sports personality of the year or something?
I'm guessing Lewis (or more likely his dad) said no; I don't see Schumacher saying no, he doesn't have anything to lose by going up against a young gun. Lewis, on the other hand, wouldn't want to get beaten by a guy who's retired and hasn't had a competitive 4-wheel race since's Massa's invitational last year. :)
yup, both of them go straight to the bbc gala after the race, methinks.
Think it's on the very same day as RoC? I see a publicity machine churning away here!
schumi comes out of this looking like a hero doesn't he?
he's not afraid to go up against the best (and lose to the best) in equal machinery.
what a load of tosh. do they think we're all idiots or something?
an insult to the paying public.
Indeed. In fact, Schumi has praised Lewis on a regular basis, most recently in an interview with the BBC at Dubai. And when asked by F1 Racing if he'd have wanted to race against Lewis, he said it would be "very interesting". So Schumi would almost definitely have wanted to race Lewis at Wembley.
so lewis is chicken?
maybe his dad is? I don't think Lewis himself would've mind: he did say yes (albeit hesitantly) to Jenson and DC's offer of a triathlon post-Silverstone, but his dad killed that off.
Also, remember that story on the TG blog this time last year that Lewis wanted to come back and have a 2nd go at the Stig's record (since he fell short first time out thanks to a damp track)? Whatever came out of that? Did TG say no, or did Lewis change his mind?
ahh, good point.
i can't imagine TG saying no. i assumed it was ron intervening, but you could be right.
Ron doesn't tend to interfere in driver's off-season activities, so long as it doesn't affect the development and rollout of next season's car. It's usually the race drivers' "time off", so they can do as they please, really.
Whoever manages Lewis' publicity does an awful job! First the pantomime thingy in Turkey, then the Triathlon thing and now he isn't allowed to take part in the RoC?
If it's his dad, he is clearly no good at publicity - a lot of people really dislike Lewis because he appears arrogant and inaccessible. If he took part in events like this and stopped appearing as though his dad is living vicariously through him, a lot more people would like him IMO.
I remember the reason they give for bailing out on the triathlon was that Lewis was in a championship battle and he couldn't afford getting hurt or injured in something he doesn't need to do a la Montoya.
But let's also consider: Schumi has been an RoC regular ever since it started (I remember him getting beat by then-rising start Kovalainen), and he was still winning races and titles after that. Massa and Barrichello also participate in Brazilian kart events in the off-season: it doesn't seem to hurt their performance any. Even Kimi likes to do other stuff in the off-season (usually skiing or some other winter activity). So why not Lewis?
Re: Brundle on the Beeb
YAY!
i sleep now
i heard (maybe for last year's roc?) that the organisers blamed ron for not letting their drivers be part of RoC.
all i can say, is i bet heikki is proper fed up now.
he answers to the name of anthony.
complete agreement from me.
hmmm... i see. i wonder why, though...
Not sure if you've read this article, but let me reference it:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article5076423.ece
Specifically, let me quote this bit:
It goes on to say:
It more or less fits our discussion. Note the word handlers, plural. Who else is handling him other than his dad? That's what I want to know.
I now have TWO comments in the moderation queue. Help! :O
i've dug out one of them, but unless you really are trying to flog us little blue pills, that's the only one we have?
ronnie?
It's the comment before that one... supposedly. Hmmm. Oh well, let me post it again here:
Keith posted on his site about a promo for all the Tilke-wannabes out there. A prize of GBP100 (which is quite a handsome sum) will be given to the winners in 2 categories. Best of all, anyone can join, both inside AND outside the UK!
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/11/18/design-an-f1-track-and-win-100/
Back to business:
Petersen? He hasn't been around for a while. :P
But yeah, I get your drift. Given his history with Kimi, I don't think he's that good. Those who DID become loved, like Ayrton and Mika, did it without Ron's help. :)
Are you sure? Try again. If it wasn't there awhile ago, it should be there now. :P
Is that what we will call Takuma Sato if he gets a drive at Toro Rosso? :-D
:D
ahh, it'll be worth him getting the drive just for that.
some lovely quotes from pdlr:
"Considering this is Formula One - if people think the introduction of KERS and the reduction in downforce and slicks is going to transform Formula One, then forget it.
"It will still be a wide car, there will still be aerodynamic effect and offline will stay dirty. It will be easier, but it won't be MotoGP. And people need to understand that."
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12433_4515384,00.html
he's a ray of blooming sunshine isn't he?
Ooooh, harsh!
Lunchtime at Barca, and Sato is leading Buemi (again) by half a second (bigger gap than yesterday). Bourdais is also there, but his times haven't been posted yet.
Vettel suffered a brake failure in the morning, so I'm not sure when he'll get to go back out.
I'm sure Alonso felt the same way when they were together at McLaren. :P Speaking of which, PDLR is driving the Force India today.
No dice finding it?
really? ooh, that give the rumour sites something to work with :)
nice pics from today's test on the renault blog:
http://my.ing-renaultf1.com/en/blog/872-Barcelona-Testing-Day-2-18-11-2008.html
have stolen the most recent test times from the renault blog:
1 SAT 1:20.017 79
2 VET 1:20.411 13
3 BUE 1:20.553 65
4 PAF 1:21.340 30
5 KUB 1:21.521 51
6 BUT 1:21.770 59
7 ROS 1:21.871 69
8 SUT 1:22.073 44
9 BAD 1:22.425 69
10 DIG 1:22.492 59
11 PIQ 1:22.520 39
12 GEN 1:22.898 13
13 HEI 1:23.080 47
14 GAR 1:23.250 37
15 DEL 1:23.499
I guess not then. Hahaha!
I wouldn't read too much into it. I think PDLR was just sent there by McLaren to baseline the Force India car and see where McLaren can help.
What, Bourdais hasn't set a time yet? How odd. Nice to see Vettel back on track... I think.
I like this comment from there: "Is there a requirement by Renault that only handsome guys can be the drivers?"
:D
what? your comment is up.
are you "miss vicky" per chance?
It's nice to see different names lining up on the list. Who's DEL?
pedro.
both paffett and pdlr are driving today, for the same team but running different liveries :D
Yes! I got the message that the comment is in moderation. :O
Renault got the shorthand wrong. That should be DLR, as in de la Rosa.
Oooh, mean! :P
yes... and then we took it out?
Ah, pedalo. I was thinking Delboy or something for a minute. That'd be worth watching!
Nope, I'm talking about the original message that you couldn't find in the queue. I resent it again, just around 5 minutes ago, then I got the moderation message.
Delboy? Ehh?
that would be brilliant :)
Either way, the comment is up now, so all is well.
you don't know delboy?
Nope, it still isn't up. I sent it at around 12:03.
Erm, nope. Who he?
i WILL kill myself. the comment is there, it's been there since the first time you pointed it out.
there is no simple solution to the problem of comment moderation. if we didn't have it, the site would be littered with spam, by having it enabled, that means sometimes comments go into moderation and we dig them out when we can.
that is the best we can do, sorry. i am now going for a lie down.
Don't get THAT extreme. :P But this info may help. Often, whenever a message of mine gets moderated, I get the message saying it's been marked as spam. This time, I got a different message saying the comment was placed into moderation. Any difference between the two?
The one about the Tilke competition? I've read it. It's definitely there. If you're waiting for the first one, it never appeared in the mod queue, so we've got no chance of rescuing it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/onlyfools/uncovered/derek.shtml
So, is Pedalo in line to switch to Force India, or are they just using his testing experience to their best advantage?
Ugh. No wonder it wasn't coming out. The live commenting thing wouldn't show it until I refreshed it. Does that count as a bug?
Oh well. Sorry for the hassle.
Hmmm. I think there IS a bug. Whenever I try posting a comment through live commenting, it initially says that it's in moderation. But when I refresh it, it comes out fine.
Odd.
Nope, methinks not. they're just using his testing knowhow. Besides, why waste a seat on PDLR when they can race PDR instead? (Yup, those 2 acronyms are different.) :D
maybe mclaren need more info on that ferrari engine?
There's no point in that - it's the early Ferrari engine not the recent iteration of it.
It's still more recent than last year's info. ;)
I would have thought McLaren had enough Ferrari data :-D
But seriously, do you think Ferrari will complain about this? It seems a bit unfair for McLaren to buy into a Ferrari team and then get data from it's engine?
Maybe they will try and sue Force India or something for breach of contract?
if i were them i would. it's tantamount to spying and y'know the team (and the driver) have history.
Done deal according to F1-Live: http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/081118132654.shtml
Announcement to be made in a couple of weeks. Take it with a pinch of salt?
Oh no. Not again. :O
Wait, hang on: are we SURE that it's a Ferrari engine in there? It could be a Merc for all we know.
GMM. Take it with a ROCK of salt.
hmm, GMM story. that's a toughie cause they're quoting Diario AS as a source.
It can't be a Merc as you'd have to redesign the engine mountings and most of the rear of the car for it to fit inside the chassis... and there is no way that could have been done in under two weeks...
Remember Red Bull and Toro Rosso are almost identical except for the engine mounts which had to be redesigned to fit a Ferrari engine in...
here's the (translated) original story:
http://tinyurl.com/perdrotof1fi
This story says this is their last run with Ferrari's: http://www.f1technical.net/news/11085
Not sure if this was mentioned before, but the Beamer boys weren't exactly shy about their new-look car.
Klien: "For me it's the worst looking F1 car I've ever seen. It just doesn't look like it fits, with big wings and everything."
Kub: "We all agree that it is not the best looking car, but fortunately from the inside it looks better than the outside."
Hehe.
There HAS to be a loophole there somewhere in that Force India-Ferrari contract. :)
You know, where you can't see those ugly wings. Hehehe.
couple of testing pics from today then. a closer look at the ferrari humps:
danger, danger:
vettel may be ruing his decision to switch teams already:
Are they going to have to run those High Voltage signs ALL the time? Cos that really doesn't help the aesthetics.
it's a legal thing isn't it? so, yup.
i guess the only way they can be removed is if kers becomes mandatory. in which case it becomes implicit that the cars contain high voltage bits.
Caption: Ferrari man says: "Hey Seb, wanna switch to a WINNING team? I'm just right here..." :P
AHAHAHA! Klien is on our side when it comes to looks!
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72176
ah, just seen its already been mentioned. sorry :p
F1Break beat GMM to this by a whole nine minutes, with additional quotes from El Mundo Deportivo. ;)
http://www.f1break.com/2008/11/18/report-de-la-rosa-to-replace-fisichella
comment first, read later. i like it ;)
fantastic. i noticed you've been writing a bit more lately. keep up the good work scott.
i shall delicious you this minute.
I know you mean the website, but at first read, it looked so wrong. :P
Good job! Is it wrong to be happy about this news just because I like saying Pedalo?
ahh, ahem. yeah, i should have clarified that!
Cheers. It's good to know that people are reading. We're not getting many hits, although that's to be expected, as this is really the first time the site has been regularly updated.
Haha... is he set to become the new Dumbo-Flugel?
well, you seem to be going the right way about getting more.
if you're in need of more promotion though, have you tried, say, participating in a formula 1 panel show? ollie's the king of the free plug at the moment :)
Perhaps Ferrari are being sponsored by the HSE?
I can understand the signs as not all cars have the same type of KERS installed.
ahh, of course. hadn't considered that.
I seem to remember Heikki blowing Schumacher away at the ROC a few years ago. If he can't handle Heikki what chance would he have against Lewis.
Please say it is over 160 million Canadian Dollars for 5 years as your trans-Atlantic fnas know of a good F1 race that could use a little investment.... :P .
Yes but the off season is when the track is most likely to be wet. The next time he does it he has to have a probability f good weather which means he needs to find a gap during the season.
:D
it was at least double that... because i'm worth it (to quote schumi).
at wembley, he'd be guaranteed a dry track, but he's still only willing to go head-to-head with a pushbike.
Nice to see F1 people calling a spade a spade and not a finely honed horticultural implement.
But he soundly beat Button. And Jenson seems to be a better driver than Heikki. So Lewis-Schumi is a clean slate for me. :)
They will be a legal requirement i some countries. I assume the whole of the EC for starters
Now I'm thinking: maybe the Barca test car this week isn't anything near what we'll get next year. I'm surprised the PR people let the drivers speak their mind on this one; maybe it's because they'll get something much more nicer to look at next season?
maybe bmw hate it too?
it wasn't one of their people people working on the '09 regs after all.
i notice the renault blog quite positive about the whole situation, presumably because they only have symonds to blame?
Perhaps, but still, vocal criticism. For a team like BMW, who tried their hardest to keep the Kubica rift behind closed doors, that's a first.
F1 has never been the same for me since Montoya left. I loved saying his name like he was some sort of evil nemesis in a tv-series or something. Everytime he did something, I would wave my hand in the air and scream his name. Such a shame I don't watch him anymore....
Montoya in a Chevy in NASCAR next year should be interesting. He'll probably be more competitive. :)
One thing is for sure, there will be no need to give him any success ballast :-D
Oh god, please tell me Bernie isn't seriously progressing on with this:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72175
the man is a plonker:
"The whole point will be, when they get to Melbourne for the first race, the guys will want to leave there with a gold medal."
"They don't want to leave with ten, eight or six points."
isn't that why they give out trophies?
I wonder if people in F1 would still be interested in Montoya if he could still be shoehorned into an F1 cockpit.
Then again, maybe he might have problems gettting out of the cockpit within the time limit.
Agree with Frank here. Montoya slowed the Williams-BMW down to much by having so many burgers... :D
I'll have my success ballast in Big Mac form, thank you very much. :P
You would need more lubricant on the cockpit sides than in the engine.
All this talk on Montoya is a bit of a shame, though; that's what we remember him for, not his audacious racing maneuvers and overtakes on Schumacher and co.? :)
hey! he got out in time didn't he? just couldn't quite make it over the wall in time.
christine, can we deduct points for anyone being mean to monty?
ahh, you might earn one back for that :)
yes i do though. and given my previously stated position on schumi, you can imagine i remember them well.
Under Bernie's stupid system, what happens when you fall between 4th to 8th place? Do you get any points? And since you do not get any points, how is your end of season bonus worked out?
What happens to the guys in 7th to 10th places at the end of the season, as under the proposed system maybe 6 drivers will get any medals? (Remember top ten drivers get bonus money at teh end of the season).
All of this is way beyond stupid.
True, but we also remember him for his whinging, his blame on the team or the tyres if he didn't win, his outbursts, his rash moves and his lack of pace at McLaren (both of which certainly didn't help Kimi Raikkonen in 2005...)
Montoya had the potential and had flashes of brilliance, but he wasn't consistent enough to be considered a 'great' driver.
that BMW is a monstrosity (cleaner looking cars my butt). working within the formula is fine by me, but making it this limited!!!!when GP2 has a more advanced aero package than F1 how can i call it the "pinnacle" of motorsport? and weren't lap times of last year extremely close?
and standard parts? one of the things that i like about F1 is its complexity...."the car that can be driven upside down" that was something to say to your friends if they start to babble on and on about soccor "5Gs on the driver's neck"...things like that, you know. i just don't feel good about where it is going....hehe, after a couple of years the GP2 car will be faster than an F1 car!!!!
True. Considering that he was the only 1 of the big 3 rookies of 2001 (Alonso, Raikkonen, Montoya) not to win a title. And to think we thought back then that he'd probably be the first one of the 3 to become champion.
Earn one point back? Cool! :D
My point exactly! He was not exactly super lean and fit back in his F1 days.... In NASCAR, you could fit Montoya in the car and have room for an Adult Panada as a passenger. (And the weight would be balanced side to side too!)
Now, can you imagine Montoya getting back into teh level of leanness needed to get back into F1? He would make more millions as a spokeperson for Weight Watchers if he pulled it off!
He should have been the first considering he was in the BMW Williams, which by 2003 was a very strong car. But then again, Raikkonen could have won it in 2003 but couldn't handle the pressure by the end...
Well, the 2003 Williams-BMW needed to be a very strong car due to the extra loads the chassis had to carry. If I recall correctly, Montoya had his best results at High Downforce circuits and yet if you look closely at the wings, they where clearity set to a minimium downforce/drag setting....
One could only conclude that Monotya bought along his own high downforce in his stomach....
and an A1GP car, and the thing they use in the premiere league whats-it-called.
An F3 car generates enough downforce to drive it upside down. So we are a long way from losing that line. Personally I think cars that do 5g laterally are just stupid. To use a line I have used fo years driving should be about finesse not fitness. Surely what matters is how good the racing is. For many years now the FIA have been working to slow down F1 and I keep hearing the same stuff. At no point has F1 been slower than GP2/F3000/F2 yet when turbos were banned or ground effect was banned or slicks were banned we always get the dame line. F1 will always be faster than GP2 but you have to have cars that can race and you have to have cars that humans can drive.
We have all the stories about how the heavier drivers are penalised with the introduction of KERS. Similarly smaller drivers have been discriminated against because people were worried about thei bodies handling the physical loads. Allan McNish is and always was an awesome driver but McLaren and others refused to give him a break in F1 because they didn't think his small frame could handle the g force. In his subsequent sportscar career he has proved that was rubbish but because we had cars capable of ridiculous performance we were robbed of seeing one ofthe greatest talents of his generation in F1 until he was in his 30s. Can someone tell me why that is a better thing than cars downforce being limited?
Superleague Formula. Does anyone watch it? It sounded cool with old ChampCar chassis and V12 Zytek engines, but it doesn't sound like the racing has been very exciting...
I don't think anyone is against less downforce and slick tyres. What we are all against is ugly cars with wings clearly designed to keep a decent 'billboard' size for sponsors, rather than the stated goal of reducing downforce and drag.
How is a tall and stubby rear wing going to reduce drag anyway? It looks like a sail in the wind!
never.
I have been moderated. Victimisation I say. But at least this time I can figure out why.
Do you watch GP2 or A1GP? I am quite a fan of both, just because the racing is good...
That's because we don't need any 'little blue pills' here :-D
James Allen: And look at Montoya! They call him "The Monster". Well, some people do. OK, only I do. But still - he's the only man who can take on Schumacher!
Why is management biased against my driver?
Jordan Allen
Car #27 Race Engineer
Sidepodcast Panda Racing
and you'll very much stay moderated with that link!
Oooh Naughty boy!
Along with:
Jean Alesi (slick tyres on wet track)
Eddie Irvine
Mika Hakkinen
Jacques Villeneuve
Fernanado Alonso
Kimi Rakkionen
christine almost started watching a1gp, and if she did i would probably have some idea about what was going on. but i watched the first season and thought the concept needed more work - and haven't been back since.
i saw some gp2 this year, but the drivers are hopeless and i don't have a whole heap of spare time.
because he's a very naughty boy.
Except for Lucas Di Grassi of course :-D
damn... yes!!
that makes me VERY curious. :P
That's a shame - I went to the NZ round and I try and watch the races where possible. True, it needs a bit of work but considering the format is quite new it has a lot of potential.
Ferrari wouldn't have signed up to build the cars if they didn't see a future in it :-)
I think we already came to the conclusion that it doesn't matter how he drives.
it does, but i've no interest in following countries. and the drivers never seem to stick around for a whole season.
Tell Scott to hold station and Steven would not have to chop his nose then....
Going back to GP2 though, did anyone else get a shiver up their spine when they saw a picture of Bruno Senna in the Honda F1 car? Man, he really looks like his uncle!
The thing that annoys me is that they change drivers during the season too - which makes things really inconsistent!
Final times for today's test:
1. Vettel 1:19.7512. Sato 1:20.0173. Bourdais 1:20.0344. Buemi 1:20.2235. Paffett 1:21.3406. Kubica 1:21.5217. Rosberg 1:21.6258. Button 1:21.7709. Sutil 1:22.07310. Piquet 1:22.37711. Di Grassi 1:22.38812. Badoer 1:22.42513. Gene 1:22.77214. Heidfeld 1:23.08015. Van der Garde 1:23.25016. De la Rosa 1:23.499
Red Bull 1-2-3-4. Curiously, in the STR shootout, Sato barely beat Bourdais, and both were significantly ahead of Buemi. But will that change STR mgmt's decision, or did they already decide to get Buemi regardless of today's results?
It is a perfectly decent site.
What's so good about Buemi anyway? Is he a Red Bull driver because that's the only way he'll get the drive over Sato (who would also get the drive only to promote the Red Bull brand in the Japanese market)
Oops, turns out they're not final yet. Will post the final times once they come up - in 10 minutes or so.
Yes, Buemi is a Red Bull-sponsored driver. He has been ever since he stepped into single-seaters, I think. Not sure on that count, though.
Pedalo doesn't look particularly happy about this whole testing malarky:
he looks old.
I guess the FIF1 was not as good as he expected
the REAL final times for today's test:
1. Vettel 1:19.751 (68 laps) 2. Sato 1:20.017 (79 laps) 3. Bourdais 1:20.034 (48 laps) 4. Buemi 1:20.223 (99 laps) 5. Paffett 1:21.340 (31 laps) 6. Kubica 1:21.521 (76 laps) 7. Rosberg 1:21.525 (111 laps) 8. Button 1:21.770 (109 laps) 9. Sutil 1:22.073 (57 laps) 10. Di Grassi 1:22.283 (108 laps) 10. Piquet 1:22.348 (83 laps) 12. Badoer 1:22.425 (125 laps) 13. Gene 1:22.772 (31 laps) 14. Heidfeld 1:22.945 (79 laps) 15. Van der Garde 1:23.250 (37 laps) 16. De la Rosa 1:23.499 (86 laps)
The STR conundrum still applies, but now it's more pronounced: Bourdais is 2 tenths up on Buemi despite Bourdais only spending half as much time on the track. Does that harm Buemi's chances any, or was his seat already a lock even before the test?
Being dead last by almost a quarter of a second after running 86 laps was probably not what he expected.
Lucas Di Grassi only half a second behind Button. Do we know if they were running similar cars.
:D
Whoops. That's a whole lotta spammy text there. Just delete it, me. Sorry for that. :)
Video link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtqTj1IblzI
haha :)
now you're asking a lot for wordpress to let you embed videos as well.
Drop him. Drop him!
Gonna be tough choice for Toro Rosso by the looks of it. By the way Sato's been driving, it's looking good for him. Might be between Bourdais and Buemi.
My concern is... why does Bourdais only get 2 days, while Buemi gets 3? Isn't that a bit unfair to Bourdais?
To be fair, Bourdias has had an entire year in F1.
Absolutely!
That guy, yossidlr, is a really great cameraman. Last year, he took his TV camera to most of the pre-season tests and filmed some great stuff. It's all on his YouTube account, top quality footage. I hope he does the same in this off-season. :)
True, but how do you compare that to Buemi? It has to be an apples-to-apples comparison.
Do I get an extra point then? :P
Wait... Did he really film those? Seriously? :O I thought he just had good contacts and got the film from them. If he DID film those... WOW, that's AMAZINGly good.
So your saying Buemi should have had a year in an F1 car then?
In that case, if Buemi has only had 2 days in an F1 car, he should replace Bourdias if he's getting fourth.
woooooah there. are you sure??
i'm think no. there's a whole film crew behind those, he's just taping them off the news isn't he?
Going by the same argument, if Bourdais with just 1 year's experience is as good as dead-even with Sato, then Bourdais should get a seat along with Buemi, not Sato.
And I don't think that makes sense. You have to make a fair comparison of how they handle the cars within a similar structure. I'm not saying Buemi needs a year in an F1 car, but Bourdais needs to have 3 days just like Buemi.
If you look at his other vids, those are RAW footage, not just ripped from the news. but methinks he's not the sole guy filming them, more like part of a film crew as you mentioned.
But Bourdais has the experience, why would he need 3 days in a Formula 1 car? Buemi really hasn't driven one before.
To be fair, Buemi in his second day is 0.2 down to Bourdais who has been driving since last year.
What gets me is why McLaren don't give people like di Resta and Paffett more and better opportunities. In fact most of our homegrown talent is going to waste thesedays. Davidson lucked out badly in the Super Aguri situation, while Paffett, di Resta and also Mike Conway aren't getting their chances to prove their real skills. Why? Because they're stuck in testing roles. Right now we only have two British drivers on the grid, and currently only 1 that can win races regularly and is now a World Champion. Button is skilled, no doubt, but he just needs a better car.
You know Red Bull did that young driver thing to find a new American superstar driver? Why don't they do that here in this country? Seeing Paffett and di Resta in F1 would please me no end, and both have proven they can run at the front in motorsport. Paffett is a DTM champion and di Resta started out in a 2 year old car last year and was still able to kick the new car's butts on occasions. Stick them in an F1 car, and they could be up there. Paffett at least, he's been a Macca test driver all season.
It kind of saddens me to think that we have so many great and talented British drivers in the lower levels of motorsport and also in other areas of it, and they're just not getting the chance to show it off. I'm thinking it's all down to money. It always is in motorsport.
which ones? i tried this random one:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4cTrmABrpJM
and it has the sky news guy interviewing fissi?
Try this on for size:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRw-smeJpbc
@Scotty (not gonna quote ya) - Davidson, I think, is overrated. He's scored 0 points in 23 races. Highest finish of 11th, didn't finish when he filled in at BAR.
Di Resta I like, but the last person who shared my birthday in Formula 1 also thought it was a good idea to take the fuel hose with him, yes, I'm talking Albers here. Maybe its bad luck to share my birthday in F1, I do not know. But would like to see him tried out maybe at the Forces to replace Fisi or Sooty.
Paffett, heard him for a while, never see him.
But I agree with you on a whole that we need some new British talents, no doubt there is some, but like Bernie, there going away from where they should be looking.
This is looking bad for Le Seb. Buemi is looking good for a seat next year, regardless of his testing results and Sato has been on top for two days. I have a feeling STR will be making a very bad decision in the next few weeks...
right. so he doesn't go to all the tests, just the spanish ones?
my guess is he's the visual editor for sky sports in spain or something. there's no way that's one man and his camera. you can see the sound guy's shadow following him around in some shots.
I don't see Paffett ever racing in F1 but Paul di Resta will get a chance.
There are a lot of good drivers of many nationalities who never get a break. There are only 20 slots available and we have less turnover of drivers than ever coupled with long careers so there are going to be more and more drivers who nver get a chance.
Red Bull did American drivers to get access to a huge market. There is not the same justification for a British program.
"Everybody is happy with the idea, they are all very supportive. I'm absolutely 100 percent sure it's the right way to go, it'll get them (the drivers) overtaking."
That man is insane!
looks like. his username DOES end with DLR, after all. :)
As I said, part of a team. :)
PDR, not PDLR! That should be a slogan. :P
Isn't this one of the aims of Go Motorsport, to find young British driving talent? There are other goals, yes, but that's one of them.
You've only just realised, this is the guy who:
Kicked Canada off
Kicked Silverstone off for Donnington on the races 60th anniversary
Wouldn't allow other options for the 2005 USGP
And thats the start of it.
PDLR sounds like a racing team.
:D
Yeah, I guess we knew that already, although I blame Max for Indygate.
Surely these people are just trying to be nice when they say it's a good idea?
Not enough letters. :P
There have been all sorts of schemes to help young British drivers over the years from the Grovewood awards which became the McLaren thing to Racing for Britain which helped Martin Brundle amongst others. Nowadays though the problem is lack of F1 seats. In the 80s there were 34 or 36 F1 drives available each season and some of them would have 3 different drivers in a season. Given the higher level of risk drivers tended not to hang around for 15 years. Add in the relative fragility of the cars and the injuries that resulted and every season there would be 10 or 12 new drivers in F1. This season we have finished with the same drivers that started the season and next season looks like starting with more or less the same line up. That equates to 20 young drivers not getting a chance.
I remember seeing Bernie whilst waiting for the race. And never liked the look of him.
I'm really looking forward to this years. When are they not very, very good? :)
OOOH! I just got an e-mail through from the F1 Racing Readers' Panel, and this time they want questions for Ron Dennis! :D
I remember him arguing in that glass office where everyone could see him. I think he was just putting it on for added-drama. :)
Very good point Steven. Whilst it would be nice for their to be a lot more drivers, I think its nice to know that F1 has found the finest drivers in the world (and at a push, Piquet) and they don't need to change them until they retire or get bored with F1.
Would be nice if there were to be another team still.
Wow. Where do we start?
Same here, though I was hoping it was an e-mail for something else.
Yeah, that was the thing I was thinking of. Of course I was 11 at the time, watched F1 sparodically so didn't know what was happening.
I got an e-mail asking if I wanted to join that. I forgot all about it because it is on my dead computer.
I was bored, and as you do when you are bored is go on wikipedia.
Thus, found the most optimistic name of a team ever
Sadly, they should have been called LAST.
I would post a link, but our good friends at Antivisgnrjti have marked this as spam.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRST_(constructor)
While we're on the subject, one of Martin's best moments at ITV was his interview with Bernie before the race. Shows just how much ITV needed him. He's the only guy who says what we're all thinking.
That would be the FIRST team yes? ;)
Yes, the big clue would have been the name in the link, but the Aksiminto doesn't like me.
Have pulled the comment out. I can only assume that trying to same link over and over again doesn't help, as that's exactly what a spammer can do.
But who are we to try and understand the workings of Akismet?
sidepodspace
The first of four space walks planned for the current shuttle mission is about to start. It is schedule to last for about 6 hours.
Cheers for the heads up
At least this thing has a design that does not get complaints :) how bout those racecars....
I think the wiki hates me. I made a whole load of mods and when I saved it told me I the password was out of date and told me to return to my profile. So it knew who I was. I made a minor change to my profile without it asking for a password then returned and made a few changes to the page that I had the original problem with and it worked fine.
I think maybe the whole internet is having an off day.
So... your posts are blocked from appearing and you can't update the wiki - are you getting the hint yet? :-)
:D
:D
The video that Dom found is the Indy 2005 race and you just see Martin really getting frustrated - and to his credit - he just doesn't let Bernie get away like he sometimes does. He holds him down (metaphorically) and just keeps on asking him questions.
I personally think they should have had two races - one for each tyre manufacturer. hey why not? it would have been less of a farce than what happened. As for Ferrari (if i remember the saga correctly) Why would they permit a change to the track to make it better for the competitors? I like picking on Ferrari too, but it was like asking them "would you mind not racing so fast so others can keep up with you?"
I was reading through comments on I think the 5th part of that. And a guy points out very well that James Allen says that why should Ferrari agree to Michelin's demands when they didn't agree to changes for the Spanish GP where Schumacher had to withdraw with Bridgestone problems.
whatta guy!
Warning, this comment is long ;)
I think the point is it's really different having it in a Stadium, and it allows the fans to a) see all of the race live without having to look at screen etc. for all but 1 or 2 of the corners, and b) it allows the fans to get closer to the action than they normally would be able to. I'm going this year, so I'll be able to tell you what i thought of the atmosphere etc.. I watched it at home last year and thought it was great. With Lewis being there it should attract more people now, and I'm guessing it's gonna be pretty full. The tickets are much cheaper than they were last year (or so i have been told). Am just hoping our seats aren't too high up ;)
haha ah well... i suppose he will draw some fans to the show, which is probably all the organisers are asking for. Lewis and Schumi have plenty of time to go up against each other ;) it is pretty pathetic though.
I could be wrong but wasn't the blog post about what he had said on the show (i'm sure he mentioned something about coming back to beat the stig), it could be a case of - what you say in the spare of the moment might not necessarily happen, or be what you want to do. He may have said 'i'll come back and beat the stig's record' but he may not have really meant it.
I'm sure i read somewhere that Ron doesn't like his drivers doing certain things in the off season, racing wise... i thought that was why he couldn't take part in the race of champions... although this could be something i have somehow imagined.
ah ok, i didn't imagine it then. that's good to know.
GP2 is better than F1! No really, give it a go again next season (none of this GP2 Asia series business). The races are often better than their F1 counterparts. More entertaining at least.
I do enjoy watching the GP2 races. Annoyingly, I always seem to forget when they're on and end up missing part of the race.
In terms of excitement, yes. In terms of quality, no.
It's like watching non-league football, its better than proffesional football, but everyone is rubbish.
I don't really notice them that much, It's it's yellow just like the shell logo, and Ferrari badge.
I seriously hope he actually stops and thinks, and realises just what a stupid decision this is. surely this is just gonna make the drivers championship made up of a 2 driver battle, we wont see the 3 or 4 driver battle (Lewis, Kimi, Massa, Kubica) really.. cause it would mean that drivers like Kubica that were consistent through most of the season would not be rewarded for it. Do you think Bernie is just board, and trying to come up with other ways to annoy the fans.
:D
Either that or he has seen that the telegraph didn't know who he was in a photograph they used for one of their articles. The caption underneath was something like 'Lewis Hamilton talks to one of his engineers' I don't think i would be very happy about that if i was the test driver.
By the looks of it Di Grassi was in the RA108 (as it was at the beginning of the year -no twisted rear wing or dumbo-flugels) but Button was in the RA108 with '09 wings.
wow you guys have had a busy day commenting today.
Might work on the Ferrari, but I can't imagine it'd look good on the Honda, or Williams.
ah i thought you meant on the Ferrari. yeah it's not gonna look pretty on the other cars.
It be funny if they had the warning system over Japan or something.
that's a point, i wonder what their livery will be like for '09 :) i'm hoping similar to the '08 one, i like that one :)
Little slow on the draw here R.G. I remember when me was getting a little annoyed with people typing in "First" if they where the first person to blog on a topic here, and 'me" started deleted those comments, but he did not stop people from typing comments like "Go whatever person or team here"
So I typed: "Go FIRST F1!" to get around the the censor....
I've been flicking around some vids of f1 races (incl crashes) on youtube and i am so happy that safety has improved so much. After seeing a crash or two, I am now in favour of run off areas on the outside of corners. While this avoids smashing the cars into tiny pieces, I still wish that a car could be disabled in some way so that the driver is really punished for running wide without risking of death. I'd forgotten why these run-off areas were created in the first place- Survival.
I'm sure they can make an improvement.
I really don't get how people like that one, its ugly.
And how long ago was this?
Think about it this way: If it weren't for those run-off areas, we may still be stuck with traction control.
I still think Fuji is silly though. ;)
Just paint the whole car with warning signs all over it. They should have done that with DCs livery.
Well, I honestly can not tell you specificially when, but I think the Live Comment Live thing has just started, so there was a bit of a rush to be the first person to make a quote.
dude, i've never deleted any comment saying "first"?
i once threatened to run the writer over in my car, but i haven't removed anyone for doing so.
i have no recollection of that?
At least it's different.
-looks at Toyota and shakes head-
anyone wanna take a bet on toyota's livery next year?
I was on holiday then, so proberly didn't realise.
different, but ugly
Blue with black and pink and oragne and purple?
Or red and white.
me, I am quite sure you deleted the first post if it said "First". Whyelse would I had to resort to such trickey of cheering for a team that's been dead for almost 30 years?
See, me by deleting the offending quote, you have elimiated the motive of running over teh writer with your car.
I am sure that such a brillant geek as yourself will soon have my name cross-referenced with Go First F1 in a search pattern to figure out exactly when I made this quote.
Yep. Everything is my fault. 'me' is to blame for absolutely nothing.
unless i'd literally just threatened to run you over and then you did exactly the same thing, i doubt i'd have done that?
i have plenty of motive, don't worry.
oh, right. hold on.
They were in F1 in 1989.
So any compaison is meaningless.
according to wordpress there is no comment containing those words above, and there are hundreds of comments containing the word:
first
(and here's another one). can you maybe be a bit more specific?
pretty much. from what i understand about the honda test schedule, Jenson and Alex are working on the '09 car testing while Di Grassi and Senna are just fighting it out for a race seat.
Do not know about Toyota but here is what I think Honda's colour scheme will be..... (not)
Overall Lime Green with Pastel Pink and Sky Blue tartan pattern , with white overstripes and yellow polka dots? :O .
Notice that individually, all these colours/schemes are on girls' bikinis......
i wish you had time to blog more lou, you have so much honda insight.
me:
Try an exact search on "Go FIRST" or "FIRST F1", then. But I am sure I typed "Go FIRST!" in the comments about when the Live Comment Live thing started, or maybe before that.
i wish i had time too...but 5 alevels is pretty much constant work :/ however I'm trying to find the time. might do a few quick posts here and there when i get the time. Lol it's not really any special insight, i'm just a rather obsessive Honda/ Jenson fan ;) Honda could do with a forum or some kinda blog really, but i suppose they are ahead of the game with their honda tv features so hopefully a blog or something will follow soon.
lou, for the script thing, Emily is your friend right?
if you did, wordpress search can't find it. i'll try google, but all i keep coming up with is this page.
yep :) she came to goodwood with me because i wanted a friend to come round with me so i had some freedom from my parents ;) plus i've been trying to get her into f1 :) i've been pretty sucessful, she is at least a little interested now :)
And she likes Heikki.
Reminds me of something i did a little while back.
:D
aside from the wheel bins, i'd swear they were the same.
how about yellow panda dots instead?
If the greyhounds took away some of the money to buy Ted, is there enough to advertise on the Force Indias? :)
That was C+me's Christmas party right? In November? That's great because it gets it out of the way and not in that mad chaos of mid December. I miss my work xmas party this year because I'm flying back to Oz for a few weeks - I want to remember what the sun and the beach are....
we're planning a live sidepodparty though. well, i say planning, i mean mentioning once in hope steven will tell us what to do next.
Haha.
I accept the blame. That is normally all I do.
Think of it as taking the credit.
spaceupdate - if i heard correctly - one of the astronauts let go of a bag of tools and it drifted away. oops. i think somehow the ferrari crew must have given her the okay to let go too early.
Couldn't she catch it? That would be fun to watch. Like someone chasing paper that's being blown away.
Didn't I suggest that the other day?
oh yeah, and she likes Heikki, and sidepodcast ;)
probably.
any idea as to what we do next?
If Steven Roy had not made an appearance in a podcast or two, I'd suspect he was just a mythical character created by me for exclusive use as a scapegoat.
Balloons!
i have fireworks... sorta.
I decided to avoid all the obvious jokes. She was checking the contents and a grease gun had leaked so she ended up with grease on her gloves. She was so busy cleaning up the mess she didn't tether the bag so it has headed of aft and starboard with a whole load of good stuff including one of those very cool Nasa battery drills. Nasa are paranoid about gloves getting damaged so you will hear them call for glove inspections every half hour and they are under orders to clean off anything that gets on them immediately.
I was multitasking (i.e. doing many bad things at once) and just a summary speech about it - i think a grease gun or something went off unexpectantly in a bag and while she was cleaning things, well, she lost her deposit. I'm sure the crew have to pay a deposit on things - how else can they pay for all that stuff.
Nah, more like I have him doing test runs got get basic settings for the Abu Dbuhi track......
you could make another cake?
Cupcakes!!
By the time it was noticed floating away it was too late for anyone to do anything about it. I guess they need to cover the whole ISS with a giant net to catch anything or anyone floating away.
after icing-gate? no chance.
what about cookies? ;)
I should have written doing many things at once, and all badly. It sounded like I was plotting evil against the world. I was not. although I am planning my own space mission to go get that drill. If I get three more I can start my own F1 team. I might have more financial backing than Super Auguri.
how hard is it to make a cookie?
or mince pies
me! Stop fighting with Christine for no apparent reason other than you want fireworks....
Other ideas:
cake.
Lovely vacation in Montreal, before the real snowfall hits....Tour the track.
what does the drill do?
and where will it go now?
traditional, i like it. they have icing though?
not that hard at all. depends on the recipe, but there are some where the dough can be stored in the fridge, and then when you want a cookie/biscuit all you need to do is roll it out cut as many as you want and cook them for about 10 mins ;)
No they don't. Only the fancy ones I buy you cos they are nicer.
Set up a fund to expand the hours in the day so I can appear on more sidepodpanel episodes.
mince pies don't have icing ;) sometimes there is a little bit of icing sugar sprinkled on top but never icing as in icing sugar and water icing.
That is soooo going in the script.
Maybe the other way round though.
It is basically an battery powered screwdriver. Eventually its orbit will decay until it burns up in the atmosphere. They will plot its course to make sure it doesn't hit anything particularly the shuttle on the way back down.
that's a tricky ask.
oh.
christine... why do our mince pies have icing on them?
Not necessarily. You can get them with pastry holly leaves on them.
they can plot the course of a screwdriver??
So it won't end up in my front garden tomorrow.
Is it sonic?
haha... lol i could be wrong, but we always make ours from scratch so... that could just be the way we make them
it drills :)
wherever it wants. [i know i'm not helping but hey...]
On a different note: If I wish to send you guys a christmas postcard, where can I send it? you know a real paper card, like in them olden days.
The mince pies we make often look a bit like this -
http://food-beverage.punchstock.com/images/galleries/festive-food/1315016.jpg
It is a whole bag of tools. They know exactly what is in there. They know eactly what it weighs. They know its speed plus or minus a mile per hour and they have its heading. With all that info how hard can it be to track when you have Nasa, and 4 other space agencies at your disposal.
Lou's in charge of mince pies for the Sidepodparty.
:D
We have jobs now?
Some of us have a list of jobs
:D
lol erm haha ok. :)
Yes, me, it is very easy to plot the course of a screwdriver as you pick up the glass, pivot on your elbow, raising the glass in the quarter-circular path to your mouth, tilt your head back, open your mouth and swallow....
Now tracking the course of a drill, now that is a little more differcult........
haha to help R.G (and others) out should we have a page on the wiki for the sidepodparty?
hehe.
Sounds like a fine idea
1. Scapegoat
2. Comic and factual (like TG) entertainment
3. repeat.
Please.
I''m an insider and I'm lost half the time :) Hallelujiah to the wiki
That sounds like a terrifying combination, by the way.
Could be worse.
.
.
.
.
Actually can it?
Do you think that the tool (screwdriver or drill) was lost by the astronaut because the tool was the wrong hand for the astronaut?
but you're writing the script?
Aye.
It was in a bag with a whole load of other stuff. The drill/screwdriver or the hand it was suitable for had nothing to do with it.
About the new front wings for '09 (definitely NOT Five Pints of Awesome!)
Aren't the mechanics going to be megablasticly busy next year changing a kijillion noses from kerb bashing and wheel locking type incidents?
The 2nd corner needs to be the new pit lane entry!
Haven't quite got the hang of this multi thread front page yet :D
haha. just bounced the comment across threads for ya.
need to refresh live commenting to see changes.
can we suggest this to codemasters?
so, am just listening to the panel. and vee's comment about ferrari's lack of transparency about kers.
if, as alleged that ferrari didn't know what they're doing re: kers next year. how comes they've been running it for the past 2 days?
:D
Is that the F1 game people?
Ooh, good plan. :)
Italian cars and electrics?
I'd want a big anti-static suit for the pit mechanics if I were them
haha.
I had an Alfa Romeo once and the strangest things used to go wrong with it
The rearview mirror broke - internally
(could not dip it when big bad headlights flared up behind)
:(
bed time for me. buona notte. :)
see ya scott.
It's Supersonic Christine ;)
To answer the first question, yes. There's an amazing amount of space junk floating around up there and anything larger than a golf ball is able to be tracked according to Wikipedia.
:D
by the way, just read the following:
Fantasy Racers Changes Planned for 2009
1) Driver values will change based on their popularity
2) Bigger starting budget
yippee!
more: http://www.fantasyracers.com/
Oooh, groovy.
"Thousands of nuts, bolts, gloves and other debris from space missions form an orbiting garbage dump around Earth, presenting a hazard to spacecraft. Some of the bits and pieces scream along at 17,500 mph"
LOL @ supersonic gloves
space.com/spacewatch/space_junk.html
The shuttle travels at over 17,000 mph. Anything at that altitude 212ish miles has to travel at that speed to maintain its orbit.
Is it still supersonic if there's no sound?
In space, no one can hear your 17,500 mph gloves scream by
Somewhat sensationalist, but the relative speed is the issue, even a tiny piece of debris could cause major damage if it hits the shuttle or the ISS at a suitably high speed.
I suppose anything that moves in space is supersonic because sound can't move at all. Just think even Nelsinho Piquet would be supersonic in space.
I guess the problem is when something orbiting in the opposite direction hits the ISS at a closing speed of 35,000 mph.
What is Mach 1 in space? (As it's relative speed is dependant on temperature)
he'd crash before he got there.
How about "as cute as Bernie, as dangerous as Montagny, as insane as Sato"? That's more terrifying...
Or pull over to let Alonso past
We (myself and Alinora) had this discussion before about dividing by zero so I do not want to start that again.
Temperature is not a factor in space as there is no reflected heat from any plantary surface so high up. The "temperture" in outer space is the same terpature until you are in the atomsphere of some planet, at which point the atomsphere will start to have a temperature.
Air pressure will be 0 and thus Mach can be reached at 1/infinity, or when some movment occurs.
Mach 1 can be reached at 770 mph at sea level and at 15 000 feet be reached only at 660 mph. In another words, Mach will be reached at at lower speeds becasue the air is less dense.
Also. If you can grab a mermaid girlfriend, two spare swimming masks and fill the mask underwater with air, by placeing the spare mask to your mouth underwater you can talk to one another. The reason why the vocie sounds like it is coming form everywhere is the speed of sound is 4 times faster underwater and your ears can not work out where the sound is coming from.
But at the ISS the temperature varies massively depending whether they are in sunlight or the Earht's shadow. Not that it affects the speed of sound which will still be zero.
eh? i had no idea.
oo sounds great, can't wait for Aus :)
Scared the hell out me when she first did that stunt on myself....But you really do need to work on listening to fiure out what the person is saying on the other end..... And this is 13 feet deep in a the bottom of a pool....
It was a joke. Sigh.
you're clearly under appreciated in your time.
Have just created my first page on the Wiki, it is surprisingly easy. I have created a page for the Sidepodparty, it contains everything about it that I know about it (which isn't a lot). I have also finally uploaded a pic etc to my page.
Ah, it's brilliant Lou :)
Good morning!
You make a good point there. But I'm hoping there will be a big improvement from last year's, which was indeed very, very good.
I think the rules on race limits plus commercial interests killed that off.
Indeed, that was their argument. They just thought it was fair.
But Lewis went out of his way to tell TG he wanted a 2nd chance! I think he really meant to have another go.
That's just funny!
Red on white or white on red? :P
Oops indeed. Silly astronaut. Hahaha!
Is it FOUR Pints of Awesome? Heehee. :P
Why popularity? Shouldn't it be performance? :)
good question. don't know.
Does that mean Lewis will be cheap?
Cool, will there be drinking games and if not can I make that suggestion before Me gets the blame for it?
o.u.c.h.
Non-branded energy drinks for the underage, of course - as long as there's no risk of hyperglycaemia.
Hyperactivity is obviously, totally acceptable :D
Also. If you can grab a mermaid girlfriend, two spare swimming masks and fill the mask underwater with air, by placeing the spare mask to your mouth underwater you can talk to one another. The reason why the vocie sounds like it is coming form everywhere is the speed of sound is 4 times faster underwater and your ears can not work out where the sound is coming from. {Jordan Allen - 7 comments ago}
No wonder my swimming club has so much trouble getting me to stop swimming when they're shutting the pool for the night. All I hear when they shout at me when I'm in the middle of a set is a bit of noise that is easily mistaken for the sound of water moving. Thank you for explaining why, Jordan.
And you'll be pleased to know this time that I'm not arguing with you :)
Non-branded energy drinks for the underage, of course - as long as there’s no risk of hyperglycaemia. {Bassano - 2 comments ago}
Bassano, there's always water (but then there's the danger of hypoglycaemia for some...) Good thing online parties have a bring-your-own policy...
agreed. i, as ever, will remain teetotal throughout.
So will I. Having not found an alcoholic drink I like the taste of.
In fact, I probably won't drink anything at all at the party in case I spill it and damage the keyboard (especially since I might not even be at my own keyboard for the party...)