Yesterday seems to have been a pretty important day, all things considered. Not because of the BMW launch, either. Thankfully, there are no more launches this week, as I think we can only take so much ugly at a time. Now we need to concentrate on the testing going on, albeit completely useless as a tool for comparison. Elsewhere in F1:
- Bernie has put his foot down and said "No more revenue" to the teams. In fact, he went so far as to say they should probably have less. Not sure how his logic has worked that out, but I'm thinking this will not make FOTA particularly happy.
- Yesterday we had Renault being all melodramatic and telling us that KERS was dangerous and expensive. With the BMW launch, Mario Theissen says this criticism is unfounded, but they join the growing list that might not run it in Australia. Will we ever see this technology or was it doomed from the start?
- With the wet conditions as they are in Portugal, Trulli was frustrated with his first day in the new car. He took over from Kobayashi but couldn't get much from the car due to a lack of grip. Is this the first signs of the 2009 Trulliometer? Where will it be when the season begins?
That'll do for now. It's fair to say that live commenting the inauguration of a new US President proves you can pretty much talk about anything round these parts. Please do, and I'll see you in the comments.
Interesting, if speculative article on the finances of FIF1
Possibly it's not the modest and solvent little F1 team the management keeps claiming.
I can't believe Vijay Mallya already wants out of F1 though?
I don't think McForce India are particularly good when it comes to numbers and money. It was reported recently that 99% of their bills were being paid up to 75 days late.
I certainly wouldn't want to do any business with them!
me neither.
i swear that team are jinxed. or is it that bernie keeps twisting the arms of rich boys, pretending f1 is the place to be. when quite clearly, he's the only one making any profit?
Is F1 the ultimate Pyramid Scheme?
i made me a pie:
http://tinyurl.com/f1profit
it is :D
First cupcakes and now pies. What's next - lunch? :P
Bernie in non-Autosport reader shocka! :-D
wow, pitpass really shoehorned that last quote in there didn't they?
Mmmm... pie....
And now I'm hungry. :(
wow, lovely testing pictures in drop.io this morning:
http://drop.io/sidepodcast
Just a little bit! Had really no relevance at all.
Have stumbled across this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/middlesbrough_motor_club/3152802823/
I can honestly say, it's just not the same without the red.
stumbled?
Sort of stumbled... on purpose.
hmmm
testing news from the renault blog:
"After 48 hours of near constant rain, I'm pleased to report that we have clear skies and sunshine this morning at the Algarve Motor Park"
"At the moment the track is a still a little damp from the overnight rain, but it's windy and the sun is out so it should dry out soon."
fernando's in the car today.
http://my.ing-renaultf1.com/en/blog/914-Algarve-Testing-Day-3-21-01-2009.html
TS says Ferrari tried KERS Monday afternoon and the whole day on Tuesday and Kimi said "it works"
Nice description from Kimi there...
Thought so too :)
Possibly it’s not the modest and solvent little F1 team the management keeps claiming. {Gavin Brown - 19 comments ago}
I think it is. Whether it was is another matter - but now it's on solid financial ground, it can get away with revealing the trouble it was in before.
I think the German company payment may pre-date Spyker. It wouldn't make sense for Kolles' company to suddenly get payments in at the point when Midland switched to Spyker.
It would explain why Kolles is no longer at the team though. If the boss thinks you're getting money you shouldn't be getting, you won't last long.
i swear that team are jinxed. or is it that bernie keeps twisting the arms of rich boys, pretending f1 is the place to be. when quite clearly, he’s the only one making any profit? {me - 18 comments ago}
I suspect both in equally strong measure.
True - but for ages Colin Kolles has been claiming that the team is strong financially, when that clearly wasn't always the case :-(
Kimi said “it works” {Kathi - 5 comments ago}
Very Kimi. As long as it does work though, that's good :)
but for ages Colin Kolles has been claiming that the team is strong financially, when that clearly wasn’t always the case {Gavin Brown - 2 comments ago}
He would do. After all, if it wasn't, he could have easily been replaced, since he was never the full owner, only the employee who did the negotiating and other complicated stuff while his bosses did mostly non-F1-related stuff. Also, if people don't believe a team is financially strong, they tend to withdraw support and thus make the team financially weaker. The key for Force India was to wait until the team was in a position to withstand financial revelations before giving them out.
And therefore not appear to be underhanded or cooking the books I guess. ;-)
how long as heidfeld had a website for then?
http://www.nickheidfeld.com/
back in may we complained he didn't have his own domain. like the new site though.
since today. It was still under construction yesterday.
wow! go me :)
...and err, go nick :)
It has video and everything.
really good stuff. have to create an account to leave a comment, but aside from that, the man's done a great job.
Does it have a blog section on 'Beard grooming and facial hair adventures' ? ;-)
Hahahaha...blurb from the website:
Amazing!
http://www.nickheidfeld.com/?3001A0A1
No, but a lifestyle section.
hehe. have left a couple of comments. let's see if he responds?
On the calendar section, he's got some testing dates but no GPs. Can I start a rumour, please?
:D
great title for a calendar too.
Nick happens???
Edit: I am just too slow today :)
Apparently he does :)
hehe!
...As the 'Paddock Tramp' :-D
live(ish) f1 test times:
http://www.f1today.nl/live-update/2009/01/21/autdromo-internacional-do-algarve/
so far:
N. Rosberg 1:37.883
L. Hamilton +1.079
F. Alonso +1.428
S. Buemi +2.662
T. Glock +4.040
Wow, new Williams outperforming the McLaren. Interesting.
hmm, bad formatting, try a pic instead:
i think the track is drying out quickly. times they are a falling at the moment and lewis is in the pits.
I still love the fact that Buemi in a 2008 car is owning the 2009 cars :D
Come on, it's testing. Take all times between now and qualifying in Melbourne with a pinch-of-salt :-)
More like a catering-sized sack of salt :-D
i think this post is saying bmw have also lost dell as a sponsor:
http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/splitter/2009/01/BMW_Sauber_F1_Team_verliert_weiteren_Sponsor_09012103.html
Dell are no longer on the sponsors list or mentioned in BMW Sauber's press kit. Dell's three year contract expired recently so they didn't re-new.
was this news already? sorry, not keeping up proper :(
Not seen it mentioned anywhere really. The departure of Credit-Suisse made all the headlines, but Dell's didn't.
me neither - from the same site: http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news/2009/01/Der_Einheitsmotor_ist_vom_Tisch_09012104.html
There won't be any standard engine?
depends. it requires teams to stick to an agreement to supply cheap engines to anyone who wants one.
if they fail, the fia bring the cossy back.
i can't tell, but is this an engine failure from toyota:
And they were targeting perfect reliability. Yeah, nice one Toyota...
not 100% certain it is them, but glock is in the pits.
lol :-)
Interesting pie you made there - is there a source for the ingredients?
Thanks
only inside my head :)
It was the Toyota.
oh dear. and on a dry, fine day too.
forgot to quote
They only have 4 engines for testing, right?
erm. didn't know that? does that have to last them until melbourne?
is lewis running last year's rear wing?
http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/i9pshafj3.jpg
Yes he is, unsure why but just as we get used to 2009 cars, they throw us a visual curveball :-(
I think so, but I don't know if it's 4 engines per driver or per team.
They are using the old wing because the track is wet and the tyres warm up faster with the old wing.
And they know everything they need to know about the new wing from the simulations and wind tunnel, right? ;)
Mclaren stopped as well with an engine problem. The engine was shut down by the computer system and now they are trying to find out why.
wow. didn't know that. wonder if drivers will have a problem behind the safety car this year?
update about Toyota. It wasn't the engine. Some oil leaked and caught fire.
Trulli seems to think so...
another picture of Lewis with the old wing on itv
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=44990
ahh, good news. thanksyou.
oh dear.
good to see f1 moving forward in the safety department.
i thought these two were getting on better again:
The Ecclestone divorce could become the largest divorce settlement in history with Mr Ecclestone believed to be worth an estimated £2.4bn.
more: http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=136396
We hear this everytime there is a rule change. The drivers need to 'harden up'. They get paid millions because they're the best. Either deal with it, or get out of the sport!
true. i agree.
however, there was a huge fuss about the banning of tyre warmers, it's gonna kick off again isn't it?
Yep. Totally. but we need low-grip cars as it makes for better racing. All of last years' great races were in the wet or damp, therefore nullifying the grip advantage.
So it can only be a good thing...
Computer says No...
Sorry - first and last Little Britain reference from me.
*grabs jacket and heads for the door*
Was it running Windows Vista or the new Windows 7? :-D
:D
Because of the new engine regulation some/all/most of the teams have come up with a prewarn-system that shuts down the engine at the first sign of trouble to avoid loosing an engine during testing.
I really can't see anything going wrong with that.
I didn't know Keith the Marshall was on Facebook, but he is! He just sent me a message asking for a link to my new blog :)
...Especially with restricted engines in testing.
http://jalopnik.com/5135675/where-are-automakers-stashing-unsold-cars
This is scary!
Yup. Mentioned that yesterday when the testing times were revealed.
It's due to the weather - they didn't want to risk the car with the 09 rear wing at this time.
You should pay a visit to the Cold War Jets *or the Vulcan, or the Lightnings* at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome - they's thousands of cars there - mainly ex-lease cars.
wet weather testing vid from yesterday:
http://axisofoversteer.blogspot.com/2009/01/winter-testing-video-algarve-january.html
McLaren discovered that the shut-down of the engine was due to a sensor failure. Lewis is back on track and, when the track is dryer, will test the new rear wing.
nice one.
just saw a pic of alonso facing across the track. appeared to be a harmless spin though.
There really should be better testing coverage.
What do people make of the recent reports claiming that Ferrari's exhaust housing and design etc breaches the new 09 regulations..?
http://www.worldcarfans.com/9090119.045/new-ferrari-f60-illegal---report
f1 today are doing a pretty good job.
times: http://www.f1today.nl/live-update/2009/01/21/autdromo-internacional-do-algarve/
pics: http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/testsessies/testsessie-algarve-21-januari-2009/
maybe there's a gap in the market for comprehensive english coverage?
we thrashed it out and came to these conclusions rishi:
http://www.sidepodcast.com/2009/01/20/daily-20th-january-2009/#comment-178947
I really like this one.
I think Bernie's memory is playing tricks in his old age. The transfer system was not vetoed by Enzo Ferrari. A clause giving teams effective ownership of drivers was the cause of the Kyalami driver strike and the person who was responsible for that was Niki Lauda.
That Renault is really nose heavy. It's not so long ago that when a car was being craned a marshal had to sit on the nose to balance it.
He needed to find a buyer as it was the only way he would get paid.
There would be something severely wrong if the 2008 car wasn't faster.
Two days testing, one blown engine. So by the time we reach Monaco they should start stacking up grid penalties.
:D
Bernie is stalling till the stock market recovers
not sure i follow, how would that help?
sidepodtest?
god no.
i'd pay autosport.com extra if they covered them properly though.
His wife owns a lot of his shares and according to my law expert -Alianora- standard practise is for the spouse who owns the shares to pay the other spouse 50% of their value. So if they divorce now Slavica's half will be worth a lot more than Bernie's half in a couple of years. It is so good to see him getting screwed over in a deal.
yay i qualified 4th in Batracer :)
Wll done.
I managed 10th as a result of and I quote "vehicle damaged after off-track caper". Caper? What on earth is an of track caper?
Evnin all.
Survived my French Resit, as well as Science and French today, and can only look forward to Media homework. Yay!
Ah, still looks good.
That's what happens when you do your set up 5 minutes before the qually session, 16th
you been dressing up in a gorilla suit?
What is the H symbol on a yellow background that a few people have on BAT racer?
well done r.g.
it means it's that drivers home race
I thought it meant I had stopped for pizza ingredients
yay :) well done
Thanks Lou. So 8 drivers have chosen this as their home race.
Cheers guys, all done till the summer.
yep :)
Im satisfied in my standard no.2 grid slot :P
That gives some sort of advantage, right?
I was out of loop all day today but just had a thought. Isn't there a danger with hiring Sato because if you need to fire him later you might need to make a whole other formula one team just to stop his fans from dumping your cafinated soft drink into the sea?
...if they don't hire him, then God only knows what they'll do with it
sell it to me. if they re-hire le seb, i swear i'll drink more cans of energy drink than ever before.
Should be competitive! :)
They've already gone this far with Sato though. Even dumping him at this point could be damaging. Not as damaging as it'd be for Red Bull to own another F1 team, mind you. ;)
The real question is - how long will that opinion last?
needs no introduction:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/the_inauguration_of_president.html
:D
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090121/twl-ted-kennedy-out-of-hospital-41f21e0.html
Ted Kennedy has left hospital following his collapse yesterday.
Great pics. I love number 33. Not because it is a great pic but because of what it represents. I love that someone thought to get a pic of those two men on that day.
For anyone who has no idea what I am on about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommie_Smith
I have been moderated again
All those people! *shudders*
I read something last night where they estimated that there were 2 million people. The previous best was 1.2 million for Johnson who was the vice president who took over when JFK was shot.
Spotify.
Have we mentioned Spotify on here before? It's like Lastfm only a bit better: https://www.spotify.com/en/ and Wikipedia's take on it.
It's a freeware program which you install and stream music to your PC. Unfortunately you don't get to keep a copy of whatever it is you're listening to, but it's still pretty damn good and has loads of artists to listen to. The free version only interrupts you with a 30 second advert every 5/7 songs you play as well.
It's on an invite only basis at the moment and I have seven invites remaining if anyone wants one?
Just email me a dan[at]red[hypen]bullog[dot]com and I'll send one your way.
Thanks for those pics me :-)
any time :)
will do.
also, whilst on the subject, another one of those "we're on there but have no idea how" sites:
http://blip.fm/sidepodcast
searching for "f1" brings up a bunch of archived podcasts, plus you can listen to free music too. if you're already hip, let us know.
My wife was there. I was going to go but I had to work :(
I only live about a half an hour drive from DC as well...
I did go in 2000 though when Bush was sworn in (I went to boo and heckle of course, not to cheer) ;)
You live near Monaco? :-D
:D
:D
Geez, thank God for that - I thought you meant the annoying football guy off ESPN for a second there ;-)
bernie says teams should be writing the regulations, not the fia:
"The FIA has been writing the regulations because the teams haven't opposed it."
this can only end well.
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=36888
we need one of these for max / fia:
"PolitiFact has compiled about 500 promises that Barack Obama made during the campaign and is tracking their progress on our Obameter. We rate their status as No Action, In the Works or Stalled. Once we find action is completed, we rate them Promise Kept, Compromise or Promise Broken."
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/
somebody has a little too much time on his hands!! :P
Most read story on BBC News today is Newsbeat's take on the unmasking of the Stig..
Non-F1 related scream now.
GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I think I've just broke my wrist as well.
its now changed...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7843124.stm
i like the way top gear have handled it :) brilliant - http://transmission.blogs.topgear.com/ :D
:( oh dear.
And that, non-football fans, is the benefit of not watching football.
i'm going to risk posting a link... seeing as i've just been moderated for posting a link to the top gear site this may not got well ;)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/entertainment/newsid_7842000/7842682.stm
understood.
Hello everyone, been out of the loop with f1 news all day, 2 of my 3 my assignments have gone really badly as i hended them in today and i feel quite rubbish if im honest.
:(
did I miss anything f1 wise?
Sad to hear sir.
Nothing massive, BMW released the car, not bad looking, aside from that, Buemi dominating testing, no biggie though
the renault is so heavy at the front it might have to go up eau rouge backwards.
microsoft ecu shut down the mclaren. we think it's a vista issue.
Classic, although a bit too Viz like.
:D I'd have thought McLaren would be Mac users..
haha, love it. it's ironic and coincidental really because vista got blamed for problems with something in one of my assignments ;)
YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!
erm
May I ask, how does that fit in?
part of our assignment involved coding various java-based stuff things using a certain program. The program constantly conflicted with various Vista-related errors and constantly made either the operating system crash or the program freeze up, yet it worked perfectly fine on an xp alternative. Very frustrating :P
That's why M$ have just announced their compatibility software, so you can run legacy code on Vista machines. It's a sort of virtual machine I think.
I have absolutly no idea what that required, but i take it was frustrating
It must have been if it involved Vista
As it proved momentarily after when it froze.
Ron Dennis is definitely a 'PC' though :-D
:D
Ouch. :)
There won’t be any standard engine? {Kathi}
There hasn't been going to be a standard engine for a couple of weeks. The FIA is still offering the Cosworths as a deal for teams that request it, though the headline price of €5m will only apply if at least four teams sign up for it.
i can’t tell, but is this an engine failure from toyota: {me}
That's got to hurt. Teams only get four engines for their entire testing time in 2009, by negotiated (but not formally recorded) agreement.
Testing footage from Portimao courtesy of yossidlr anyone?
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vs-rKJuesao
lovely stuff. cheers.
Caper? What on earth is an of track caper? {Steven Roy}
You had a little adventure involving a run-off area, an escape road or possibly and/or a brush with a wall. During this adventure, you sustained car damage and you needed to get it repaired.
Survived my French Resit, as well as Science and French today, and can only look forward to Media homework. Yay! {Technically R.G.}
Congratulations :)
And more!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WyuNYuM9OCc
that is a smoking toyota :)
Another ingredient for me's pie
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=36050