It's been a quiet day today, with no testing or launches, but it seems as though the credit crunch is hitting more than ever.
- ING have forecast a loss for this year, and are therefore looking to reduce their expenditure in the future. This involves cutting the workforce but also pulling back from their massive sponsorship of F1. We don't know exactly how this will effect the team yet, but it's yet another blow that might tip Renault over the edge of participation.
- It has emerged that Alonso has lost some weight to try and help himself be more athletic for next year, and presumably to be a bit lighter in the car. Drivers are already tiny, will they soon be non-existent? Who's next to go on a crash diet?
- Meanwhile, an argument rages in the comments over whether the subscription version of Autosport.com is worth the money. We say yes, others disagree. Have your say, if you haven't already.
- Finally, I've started an FAQ page on the Wiki, the idea being it might be a good place to point new people who want to know a bit more about what goes on at Sidepodcast. It's looking a little bit empty at the moment, so I thought, who better to come up with the questions, than people who were once new to the site themselves. Feel free to add any questions you think might be useful, and we'll get round to answering them asap.
That should be enough for now, let's hope there is a little bit more news today, if only because I'm starting to want to see the cars back on track, and lord knows I've seen enough of those wings to last a lifetime. Get chatting in the comments, and I'll see you there.
eeeeeyyyyyyyy!
First, sweet.
3 cars, pfft, daft. Only the manufacturers would even think of that anyway.
Autosport subscription........why? What can subscribers get that's apparently worth it?
Shame ING didn't totally pull out of sponsoring Renault, blue and yellow Renault was lovely.
Batracer, Valencia, hhmm. I'm confident that BMW will get a podium by the end of the season.
Also, 2 things:
How would you feel about a ban on tyre changes, like in 2005? I'd like to see it brought back myself. Maybe couple it with the fuel ban, or is that going too far?
I've been informed that Steven Roy is quite the F1 historian. Well I take that as a challenge. I might do the next Chat thing you guys have, just to see.
I just wonder what is involved in all this. When did F1 drivers start doing the same thing as Hollywood starletts.What meals do they eat then throw up aftwewards? Do they put "fat" mirrors in the training room and few extra pounds on the scale to motivate them? Is there some sort of "F1 drivers dieting book" which I can buy? Come on Bernie, your missing out on the real gold mine here.
I have an idea for Sir Frank Williams. Call up Renault managemnt and strike a deal. Take Alonso and dump Kazi and Nelson the useless. Combine sponsorships between the two teams to make a profit. Make again the team of my youth of the Williams-Renault.
i enjoyed the one tyre rule, but mostly because it didn't leave schumi a hope in hell.
they're already trying to axe refuelling, if we lose tyre changes too we're screwed :(
i can't hold a candle to the guy, but if you're always welcome on the show, add yourself to the wiki and we'll do another one soon :)
:D
bernie would be another team down, he'd never let it happen. williams / renault though, what a partnership :)
Oh yes please
I look forward to it.
go on then... sell it to me, cause i'm thinking watching a field of f1 cars brimming with fuel and having to make the tyres last a whole race is a sure-fire way to ensure a procession.
This gives me an idea. I was just finishing up The Last Road Race (great book) about the 1957 Pescara grand prix. One thing that struck me was the fact that teams would normally run 3-4 cars a team. Could someone explain to me why it would be a bad idea to allow teams to expand to three or four cars a team now? Especially in light of possibly being down to perhaps 7-8 teams by the time this economy bottoms out. After all, it is not like Red Bull is a already a four car team anyways.
It stops drivers sitting behind the guy in front until the pit stops then banging in a couple of fast laps and overtaking him in the pits. If someone is 12th and wants to be 2nd he has to pass the ten cars in front on the track. Schumacher one year at Imola went from 12th to 2nd by ovetaking one car. The rest of the time Ross Brawn had him lapping quickly on an empty track.
It also means the driver has to balance speed against looking after their car so you then get drivers using different on track strategies and far more interesting races..
you gave the same arguments for banning refuelling though. if banning refuelling solves all of the above, why also mandate a single tyre rule too?
so... slow cars then? taking away pitstops must equal less interesting strategies because everybody will be running the same race. currently renault can run a different set of stints to ferrari. lots of variation up and down the paddock and lots more chances for things to go wrong.
as argued plenty of times, f1 is a team sport and if it's just the driver going around in circles, there's no chance for anyone else to shine or screw up.
less variety for fans. if you support red bull, you invariably support str (see dank's blog for example), no bad thing, but it's nice to have more choice. if renault merged with williams, that would be a nice team to support, but you'll get less fan rivalry and thus less interesting discussions.
Have you taken Alex's job as devil's advocate?
I want drivers driving on the track and deciding where they finish the race by how well they drive. I am against all planned pit stops. I have no problem with someone pitting if they have a problem but I would only allow 2 mechanics at a time to work on the car to avoid imaginary problems disappearing as soon as the tyre change is completed.
What you get is some drivers taking it easy of their cars for part of the race and then really going for it. Other drivers will push early and try an hold a position. You then need more intelligent drivers who can balance wear and tear on the car against performance and I am in favour of anything that forces teams to put better drivers in their cars.
The team's job is to give the driver a car and let him get on with it. What is the point of a drivers championship when pit strategy in some cases has more impact on their finishing position than driver contribution?
See I think it could have some advantages: (Feel free to blow these out of the water.)
1: Even though there are fewer teams, the few teams that remain would be in a stronger position possible with the FOM revenues divided less and fewer rivals for meager sponsorship money.
2: Focus the sport on the drivers instead of the teams. After all, who wouldn't want to see a Kimi, Massa, and Alonso Ferrari team. That would be an amazing circus to watch. On top of that, it would get rid of weaker teammates like Piquet and Heikki since a team like McLaren couldn't afford two weak drivers with so much on the line with the constructors' championship.
One of the big drawbacks is it would make entering the sport impossible. The start up cost for a four car team would be crippling.
It's bad because people are resistant to change and the status quo since the early 90s has been two cart eams. At one time in the 70s BRM ran 5 cars. Also bear in mind Gilles Villeneuve made his debut at Silverstone in 77 in a third McLaren. I can remember Jonathan Palmer making his debut in a third Williams.
nope. i really like refuelling. i think it adds something to f1 and i'd rather not see it removed.
that just isn't the be-all-and-end-all for me. i like to see how drivers react when their team let them down at a crucial moment. i like to see things happen to them that's out of their control.
i do like watching them drive too, but i'd like to see which drivers are the complete package and not someone who can always win from pole.
strategy requires just as much intelligence. as does saving your tyres to make the most of an in-lap.
says who? i'll swing that question around and say what's the point of a constructors championship if the driver is doing 99.9% of the job?
mclaren already favour one driver. you'll just end up with a number two and a number three to follow lewis around for 17 races.
Effectively it would meant that you sould lose some slow cars from the back of the grid and replace them with faster cars. It would make the grid much closer and would help good drivers shine instead of being 3 or 4 seconds off the pace in a bad car.
There would be no reason to stop teams entering with two cars. There used to be one car teams.
wouldn't they have comparatively less data to work with, do less testing and have less of a chance of achieving anything though?
The teams are still building the cars which the drivers drive.
not exactly under a heap of pressure though, and out of the public's eye.
pitstops bring teamwork to the fore, put people onto our screens. we see them at work under extreme pressure, we see them playing mind game and then we see them fail occasionally.
that means something to me and is a big part of the reason why i watch.
So long as you have planned pit stops drivers will not race on track and Ross Brawn and co will try to place drivers on empty bits of track.
of course, but it can all go to hell in a second with a safety car call. see canada for instance.
look at what we learnt about drivers under pressure, not paying attention there. take away refuelling, take away tyre changes and you remove a huge part of what make drivers who they are.
Yes but they could establish the team and build relations with sponsors etc. Then they can gradually grow. One of the difficulties teams have had coming into F1 over the years is that they had to run two cars so they need more personnel, more money, equiment etc and they have to split their efforts between two cars.
But if you were watching wheel to wheel racing all day would you miss watching pit crews.
The same can happen with a botched overtake.
yes! have said many a time, nascar has plenty of passing and it's all pointless. the only pass that matters is the one for first place on the last corner of the last lap. the rest is a waste of time.
i don't want wheel-to-wheel racing, i like that there's a build up to a pass and that they mean something special happened when they're executed properly.
think of it like this: english football - you get what, a couple of goals a game? american football - about a 40 touchdown-things a game.
i prefer the low-scoring english approach where a goal *really* means someone did something spectacular.
You can't compare oval overtaking to proper circuit overtakes. You are not going to get passes on every lap but you will get more than you do now.
it could could easily go to far though couldn't it? finding the balance is i guess the key thing, but i really liked what we had for the past two years. give or take a couple of dodgy circuits i honestly wouldn't have changed much. maybe bolted on some slicks for '09 and check back in 12 months to see if it made any difference.
i could be completely wrong, i often am, but i prefer f1 of the last two seasons than f1 of old. i've watched grand prix's for a long time, but i'm just not that nostalgic for the races of yore. mostly i remember them as laborious marathon events and not the triple sprints we've enjoyed recently.
He is. But now that you mention it, it makes for a very good challenge...
Sidepodquiz, anyone? :D
YES!
I don't like 3-car teams. Why? Because I think it's unfair if only some teams do it, so every team on the grid has to. If every team does it, some won't be able to afford it. In F1, the bottom 20 percent of the grid is always in trouble. Get rid of them (like Aguri and Honda), the bottom 20 percent only moves on to other teams (like FI and Williams). It's an endless cycle.
See, I am not sure the cost increase would be that much as one would think. Since most of the cost goes into development of the car and not necessarily the manufacturing of the car, I think manufacturing additional entries would not be a problem. Also, most of the things that they would need to run additional car or two are already there. Since testing is banned, you can take the test crew, drivers, and chassis and make them another entry.
But now you get concerned about such things as point systems. Would 3rd cars get to score points? If yes, where does that leave the smaller teams, since Ferrari, McLaren, and BMW can lock up the points regularly? Less points means less money. That means they get little return on investments for their 3rd cars. They just end up losing money rather than making it.
Good point.
On of the things that bother me is the payout being based on points collected instead of a more equitable system. I understand that teams should be rewarded for winning, but something must be done for the teams on the back of the grid to remain viable.
Deja vu moment there. Always feels odd when that happens.
From what I understand, there's a flat-rate base payment to all, then winnings money is added after that. However, a bigger percentage of the payment is based on winnings. This is because they wanted to avoid cases where teams try to run F1 without being prepared or ready for it. But given the current situation, that might just change.
But it depends on the guy with the purse strings, really - Bernie.
Let's not forget MS at Magny Cours a few years ago with 4 pitstops and he still won the race. I don't care how good your car is or how good of a driver you think you are if you make 4 stops you should have no business winning that race.
I'm working on it!!
Honda related rumour...
1. Staff have apparently been advised that most of their jobs as the team has now been bought.
2. Mclaren Mercedes engine builders tasked to build FOUR extra engines up, which Mclaren don't need.
3. Fry, Ross Brawn and Schumacher seen at a hotel somewhere in Northampton shire last week .
4. Honda to be bought out by a Fry, Brawn, Schumacher conglomerate - paperwork and funding 95% complete.
5. Announcement to be made this Friday.
The above is an amalgamation of a couple of rumours that have come to light in Internetland in the past 24 hours. We'll have to wait until Friday now!
Winning a race and winning a drivers championship should be won on the track not in the pits. I started watching F1 in '85/'86 I think refueling was banned after the '84 season and we didn't see drivers driving down the pitlane with the fuel hose hanging off the car we didn't see any of that nonsense until they brought back refueling and there was a fire in the pits (can't remember the team). Good riddance to refueling and pit strategies. I see I've gone on long enough and now I need another beverage.
Fry-Brawn-Schumacher? WHOA!
Friday will be VERY interesting, indeed. What's your source, Dank?
And I wonder what name the team will have - Schumacher Racing F1?
Why is it nonsense though? Adding another variable into a two hour race seems like a good thing to me.
I don't want to see fat, ugly cars parading round the track, I want to see good driving, good logic and sometimes good, sometimes bad decisions.
You can see that with tyre stops, which we'll still have.
Yup, but the argument from earlier was over banning stops altogether.
Oh, I see. I wouldn't mind that so much, either. Don't give the drivers an out - make it more difficult for them.
And more boring for us?
Why change anything? The last four seasons have had overtaking, drama, action, strategy etc...
Pitstops have their place in F1 as long as they are not the only way to overtake!
No, I don't think so. Drivers will fight if that's the only thing they can do. They won't settle for an anonymous 4th is 3rd is within reach - and that will give us some spectacular racing.
Variables can be a good thing but a driver going down pitlane with a fuel hose attached (due to faulty lighting system) or even drivers crashing into one another in the pitlane doesn't really excite me I would rather see these guys fight it out on track. I don't mind tire changes.
Someone mentioned it on the OcUK forum and also there was rumours emerging on the Autosport forum yesterday as well. Of course, they are just those, rumours.
True, but this actually makes sense unlike the others. Fry and Brawn have been rumored to be preparing to buy the team for weeks now - and they never denied it. The one thing they lacked was a strong PR/technical pull - enter Schumacher. And Schumi's denial last time he was asked was rather... cryptic.
I can't believe a driver would ever settle for 4th if 3rd was in reach - even now.
Having a clear idea of what position you need to finish in for your championship fight wouldn't change whether a driver pits or not.
Exactly - and this applies not just for that place, but for ALL places, from P1 to P19. So not giving the driver an out means he'll push harder to try to pass and not wait for the stops.
I don't follow.
I don't agree with the general idea that a driver can see third place and if it's in his grasp he wouldn't go for it. A driver wants to win, always.
The only reason it happens is if the risk of pushing for position is weighed up against the effect on the championship and it's deemed better to stay behind. I can't see that changing because pitstops are banned.
Ahhh, OK, I see where you're coming from. I think it will change, because teams wouldn't stand it if their driver just decided to stay behind the whole race. I think said driver would still try for at least 2/3rds of the race. How else did we get such great racing in the 60s and 70s?
bugger :(
i (heart) gavin!
for a minute there i thought no-one thought the same :)
Brawn and Schumacher were alright; not Fry, though. Why bugger?
Hehe. How long have you been on this site? Can't imagine you think he's a Schumacher fan :)
can't stand that german bloke, not a huge fan of fry either.
forgive me for being blunt, but i'd rather "no honda" than "team schumacher".
I think at this point, any buyer that can actually afford to give Honda a shot at anything above the bottom of the field is a good thing.
:)
was kinda hoping he'd go off and crash motorbikes for the rest of his days.
wrong!
I guess we are just not that lucky
Ouch :-)
Let me guess, born in the year of the Rat?
:)
it isn't a coincidence that we started sidepodcast following michael's decision to quit the sport...
or at least, once we knew he really was gone and not planning a sneaky last minute comeback.
My overall thinking is that if you remove a lot of the aero, then you reduce costs massively, improve racing/overtaking and see more innovation in areas that flow on to the real world. Isn't that what we all want?
I still hear the word 'boring' too often
First ever post on Daily F1 Blog was: w00t, he's gone. Now we can enjoy it!
Or something like that.
Well, rumor has it Michael might try to race a round or two. Not that I believe one bit of it at all, though.
Yup, sounds about right. :D
people who think f1 is boring, will always think f1 is boring.
i think football is boring but i've never watched a match and likely never will. no amount of regulation changes from the FA will make me watch men kicking a ball.
really? oh, wow. i'd forgotten that.
http://www.sidepodcast.com/2006/10/22/hello-and-goodbye/
brilliant, what a fabulous way to start a blog :)
most sites start with "hello world!" you started with "goodbye michael".
i (heart) christine. that's quite made my day :)
original start, actually. :)
awww. how sweet! :)
I like the line 'No one can deny that the man is a master at what he does' but here's my question is he a master of his own domain :) and on that note time to log some zzzz's before the afternoon shift begins :( see ya tomorrow
Pitpass saying the complete opposite of the Schumi rumors:
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=36945
'grim' mood at Brackley, according to sources.
Mr. C, be careful what you wish for.
it's difficult, because whilst there are jobs and livelihoods at stake for all the employees, i just don't want to see that man have a controlling interesting in anything to do with f1, ever.
maybe there's a ‘grim’ mood about the place because they've heard the schumi rumours too?
if i worked for honda, i would quit if he became my boss. and i mean that... economic downturn or no.
If those rumors are true, he'd probably be nothing more than a consultant, investor, and public face. This is a much more passive role than anything Stewart or Prost did in the last decade.
Mr. C, I'm not so sure what you don't like about him. As someone who began watching F1 regularly because of Schumi, maybe you can explain why?
i have plenty of times in the past. maybe we need a wiki page to aggregate all of my objections :)
Yup, sounds like a good idea. I may have missed your explanations. Do you have a link to an old post? I'm really curious. :)
Morning People
Could our favourite triple champion be persuaded to buy Honda? Why did Stewart stop in the first place? They were doing really well winning races and getting regular points
Stewart thought it was the right time to go: with the manufacturers like BMW, Honda, Renault, and Toyota coming in (this was 1999-2000), he knew he didn't have enough money and resources to challenge them successfully.
Makes sense then I suppose with all the big boys piling into the sport. So what's this about Schumi wanting a piece of Honda? Might as well get the best of Ferrari down there with Ross Brawn. Will we see Jean Todt popping his badly knitted jumpered midget self up of Schumi and Brawn started running Honda?
Hmmm... Possible, but unlikely, I think. He doesn't have anything left to prove. And he's more or less retired.
Also, Ross is team principal here - which he's worked for for the last 2 decades. I don't see him giving that role back to Todt.
I get the feeling we're all getting worked up over nothing regarding Honda, nothing definite has been remotely confirmed other then Nick Fry is possibly subject to a DTI investigation. My money is on them not turning up to Melbourne, we'll get loads of Nick Fry saying all the right things like they'll be there on the grid by Europe etc but I doubt we'll see them this year. I wonder if Fry is part of the team offer? Hope he isn't cos that'll put any half brained investor off!
RCC, I guess it's because we WANT Honda to be on the grid, otherwise F1 could be in some serious trouble.
I never realised you hated the man so much. I do agree with the post Christine linked to earlier. As much as I admire his professionalism and skill, his domination made the sport boring and I never forgave him for cheating all those times he did. That's why he may be referred to as 'the most succesful' but never 'the greatest'.
I know we want them there, suppose i'm getting fed up with the pretty much total lack of info coming from Honda. I understand takeovers have a need to some secrecy but i'm getting increasing frustrated with honda especially Nick Fry and his usual spin. I want them with if only to give Rubens a proper send off (not like he'd he have a race seat anyway if they did survive). If the team is this much of a bargain and all these people are after it according pricky Nick then why is looking more and more likely they won't be there in Melbourne
i prefer 'dislike intensely' :)
i've never written a post called "50 reasons i'm glad schumi's gone", but i'll sort through the comments and throw them into the wiki later today.
Totally agree with you there, Schumacher thought he was still in the Senna/Prost era when you could get away with punting an opponent off the track. It's a shame really but he knew the rules. I do think Senna could've kept him pegged in place if he'd lived.
...apparently Honda have had an engine from McLaren-Mercedes for a while now. And will most certainly be supplying Honda (in whatever guise) for the new season.
Dank: your very own GMM new source
:)
I admired Schumacher to a large extent but my dislike of him is probably a bit irrational - I couldn't stand the way Ferrari portrayed themselves to the rest of the F1 fans, the secrets, the dodgy deals, the dirty tactics, then there's how Schumacher conducted himself when things weren't going his way (Aus 94, Jerez 97, USA 05, Monaco 06 etc) . I think he's a remarkable driver, just can't stand him! Alonso was a breath of fresh air and put them in their places good in 2005.....
I stand by that statement 100%. Senna would have shown him how to run somebody off the track!
Quiz: can you name that race?
Interesting... Very interesting...
It's a bit like looking at the code to the Matrix...
i (heart) rcc.
sorry, lotta love in the house today :)
this is old news, right?
"Rome is weighing up a proposal for a Formula One grand prix through streets on the outskirts of the Italian capital, local authorities said on Tuesday."
or has it just gotten more serious?
more here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/feedarticle/8328706
Better not tell Christine or my g/friend!
did we know aston martin were planning a full scale le mans assault?
"Although Peugeot and Audi are clear favourites for Le Mans victory next year, a raft of changes to technical regulations to even up the performance of diesel and petrol powered cars should boost Aston Martin's chances of taking on the established front runners."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73008
what happens in sidepodcomments, stays in sidepodcomments :D
I did - CAR Magazine in particular predicted it 6 months ago!
Indeed they do.
No buts!
nice livery though.
We've had this since Gran Turismo 2, right?
possibly. i've no idea. is it fun to drive?
there was talk about the street race a while ago, but mostly seemed like nothing was going to come of it. that's a reuters sourced story though and if the authorities are interested, who knows where it'll go.
But then, if Senna did it too, I can't be tougher on Schumi than I am on Senna. Both are guilty of it, but both still deserve to be among the greatest drivers there ever were.
Pfft. Old news. Unless they get an Italian driver or Ferrari start dominating again, a Roman Grand Prix won't happen alongside an Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
I think they've been building up to this for some time now.
Do you know something we don't, Stuart? ;)
anyone able to translate this for us:
http://tinyurl.com/somethingaboutxmascards
is the article stating ron still receives christmas cards from alonso and montoya, or that he still sends them?
sounds like internet rumours have the potential to cause the deal problems.
should we stop discussing it?
It's from this month's F1 Racing. They have a Q&A session with Ron who was asked about if he still sends Christmas cards to Alonso or Montoya.
"I'd be very surprised if they don't but I'll check and if they're not I'll make sure they are. There's no reason why they shouldn't be."
ahh, okay. cheers.
i'd be more interested to hear if he receives any.
I'm answering the F1F lapchart quiz now. Anyone else doing it? :)
heidfeld watch: day 7.
13:00 - nick still not replied to any blog comments. taking it personally. sits quietly in corner and weeps.
Probably not – just pointing out that confidential business negotiations are confidential for a reason, especially if one party is talking with several others in order to secure the best deal. I realise that the ready availability of information on the internet encourages people to believe that they're somehow entitled to know about everything as soon as it happens, but complaining about secrecy in a matter such as this is rather silly.
It's like standing up in the middle of a poker game, thumping the table and saying, "I'm getting very frustrated by all this secrecy! I want to know what cards everyone has NOW!"
Although, a poker game doesn't usually go on for months and leave fans wondering whether they should start supporting another team or not.
Hahaha! You're funny.
I get what you mean. It's just that ex-Honda is acting and looking a lot like Arrows and Prost were in their death throes. And it's worrying.
or standing up in the middle of the poker game and shouting, "stop looking at my poker face! stop trying to guess what cards I have"!
works every time tho :)
I like Ron;s response about Ronspeak in that same interview :D
This has been going on for months and for a sport that 'supposively' relies on the support of the fans you'd be forgiven for thinking we're worth jack some times. For instance the launches, why were Toyota the only ones willing for us to be involved be having an online launch? I thought sport relied on viewers not just journalists!! F1 needs to open up more for the fans not just the 'beautiful people'. It's no interest to me that Namoi Campbell was at the Monaco GP fashion show but what is interesting is seeing how scrutineering works for instance. I'll always love F1 but getting really sick of the 'glamour' at the moment. Sod that, get on the track and race
Jos Verstappen's Benetton
RCC, I also understand where Stuart is coming from. Honda Racing F1 is still a company, and whether we like it or not, F1 is a business as much as it is a sport. Thus, they have to follow certain rules in how to deal with these situations.
But a little more transparency from Honda's end wouldn't hurt.
The example I gave before of Schumacher going from 12th to 2nd making one pass shows you what is wrong now. Imagine how much more enjoyable that would have been if he had had to pass all those cars on the track. Then instead of me moaning about it I would be praising him.
Even some wouldn't hurt, just need something to shut us fans up!! Poor Rubens........
But now they wait for the pit stops rather than make a move on the track. If you take away that option they have to manufacture an overtaking opportunity.
or finish where they started. which is just as likely.
all the effort will go into saturday's instead. sunday could easily become a reliability run. very easily in fact.
I find it hard to believe Schumacher is involved. Is it remotely possible that FIAT would refuse to give engines to their highest profile advertiser and hand him over to Mercedes. Surely that could not happen.
YEP!
I don't see him leaving Ferrari to have a low level role in a bad team
We want it, but it won't happen. I mean, isn't that what they're trying to do now, but not quite successfully?
His son who was team principal had cancer and they had won a race so Ford thought that they could take control and carry on winning. They offered him $40 million for the team and being a good Scotsman he took it.
Add in the very dodgy Benettons with hidden launch control (for testing) etc
It was announced that they were looking at doing it a while ago and I think it was David Brabham at ASI said they were doing LMP1
I can't translate that but Ron said in F1 Racing that he still sends them cards. I am sure Christine will let you read it eventually.
What Dank said.
Only if the technical regs are wrong. As I said on Sunday the majority of problems in F1 come back to the tech regs.
My bassist who works at Aston got told his whole department will be going a few weeks ago due to massive company losses, he wasn't to best pleased to be hearing this news! This will be the 4th time Aston have gone bankrupt.
a free trip to le mans? why on earth not?
btw, you have a bassist?
I think he meant 'going' as in 'laid off'.
oh damn :(
Yeah they've been given their P45's and told see you later. He wasn't that impressed to receive an internal e-mail detailing the push for a Le-Mans win this year.
Yeah he is the bassist in my band (hence the whole RCC name), which reminds me 'Me' are you and Christine looking for music samples as part of your podcasts etc. A bit of free plugging etc :-)
not good at all.
of course, absolutely and always :)
hmm. just downloaded IE8 RC1. it's fair to say it makes a right hash of doohickey quoting. will look into fixing, but the previous beta seemed to work just fine.
grr. microsoft. grr.
We practice literally next door to the Honda factory, I think our loud noise probably used to put some of the engineers off hence they're rubbish pace last year lol!!
What sort of music you looking for? Something that fits into a 'soundbite' we got quite a few tracks recorded properly and we own all the copyrights (like anybody would care about a band from Bicester anyway). We're primarily a rock/indie band - think Red hot Chilli Peppers etc
No surprise there, then.
Do you have some kind of internet promotional page?
On, as my mother called it the other day, MyFace. ;)
I guess you're asking if they have a MySpace? That was very Ronspeak-like. :P
i remember you saying now.
we've run out of intro jingles for shows. the kind of thing used at the start of this week's chat podcast.
also, fun jingles along the lines "ted news" would be good. something with a bit of singing. i'm not sure there's a rhyming couplet that would work with "trulliometer", but anything we talk about on a frequent basis is suitable for a jingle :)
What i'll do is use our existing pre recorded stuff and edit it down into a few soundbites etc, say about 20 secs long? There's a few bits I have in mind, i'm the guitarist so sorry if there's bias towards 'riffs' rather then a soaring singer lol. It'd be an honour to possibly 'open' up for sidepodcast. Here's a few links to our websites (and yes we know we know we're not web whizzo's! lol)
www.myspace.com/contracttheband
www.contractband.co.uk/
The sites contain a few of our tracks, I was thinking the intro to Castle Walls would sit nicely as a 'debrief' jingle for instance.
Any preference for Wav or Mp3 format? The websites only broadcast at 192kbps where as being technically advanced will know that's a dire sample rate. All the originals are recorded and mastered to CD quality which I will use to create some samples for you to check out.
sounds great. please email to christine, or drop.io 'em :)
best not to play it in the office, but will listen when i gets home :)
our podcasts go out in128kbps stereo format. wav or aiff format are preferable though, cheers.
ps what's the tune on the Anncilary F1 podcasts?
sounds like a good opportunity to plug christine's recently reworked music page...
http://www.sidepodcast.com/about/music/
:D
Okay I shall sort them into a Wav format for you, i'd imagine it'd be late tonight i'd get em done.
What's the address for christine?
And yes I do make the boys play 'The Chain' all the time as a warm up
[email protected]
cheers bud.
No worries
Hope you enjoy
Now then I have the indignity of an hours work left so i shall excuse you gents and ladies until later
No music at work? That's no good :(
has speakers. no headphones with me.
Ah I seeeeees. Yes must be headphones. I have some that live at my desk.
I've just read on F1Live about ross Brawn saying that the deadlines shouldnt be taken into consideration, but isnt the Jan 31st deadline the date when Honda pull out engine-wise?
Unless they seriously do have an engine deal already sorted, this comes across as omething that really should be considered to me unless I'm missing something here...
Valencia BAT qualifying is done - all i can say is well done Alex :D
probs wanna read up the thread a little. apparently mclaren have it all in hand... time will tell.
Will do, have only read the article so I'll see whats been said in here.
I haven't looked yet (at work) so perhaps it turns out that tuning the car (as I remembered to do this morning) helps!
Very interesting about the mclaren engine...
*strokes beard*
As much as I love McLaren (he quickly ducks to avoid incoming fire) I want them to focus 100% on themselves, I was a bit sceptical at first to hear the Force India deal. We need more variety and choice for teams. Ah well I could look at it on the side that Mclaren could possibly have 6 chances to win per race
God help us If you tuned the car every race ;)
Batracer again has used the same tires I used for practice, but i definatly used a different set :(
Alex on pole with Lou second.
Well done both of you
Haven't yet went to the person who has sued Croft yet, otherwise I may do something unspoken of.
Aw, don't hurt Nicky.
Now I'm bored, messed up a podium in my midseason batracer game, qually alreet for SPC one. Well done Joe mate.
Yes Lou you definitely are second this time. I double checked.
You mean I might be supporting Team Schumi this year? Ahhh, bugger...
Really not enjoying being a fan of this team right now... :(
This this happens, (I for one think not) I give it six months before Brawn and Schumacher put cement shoes on Fry and toss him off a bridge. He is definately the "Fredo" of that group.
Could someone explain to me where all this money is coming from? No way Schumacher is throwing away his life's savings for a F1 team. Does Ross Brawn have any capital himself? Or even Fry?
Even if Honda gave them the team for a pence, they still have to put a huge amount of capital into the team to make it profitible. For something like this to work, they need to have a bunch of sponsors and partners linned up right away like Stewart did with HSBC and Ford. With this economy, I really doubt that.
I just don't see it. I think the fact that no one has taken over the team already shows taht they are done for.
At least your team is still existing, right?
A-men!
I'd guess Schumi's personal sponsors will toss money in - after all, he still is a HUGE commercial pull.
Don't be so pessimistic: I personally think Honda already DOES have a buyer and they're just doing due diligence.
If it happens I will buy you a drink.
Aldi, Lidl, Wilkinsons and Greggs the Baker are all lined up to sponsor the new outfit.
I am sure Mercedes would chuck in a few quid to get Schumacher from FIAT
surely it's a prime opportunity for poundland?
So in an odd twist. I am live commenting from home now! w00t!
Last I heard, Poundland are actually suffering through the recession more than you would think. The reason? Folk are going to the 99p stores instead. You couldn't make it up.
you know what they say, in for a penny...
By all means. Mind you, I don't know how you'll buy me a drink half a world away. :P
Well, they've been trying to get him for a decade and a half now. About time they pulled it off! :P
I heard it was because it's difficult for poundland to hold much stock these days as they have the whole of the Honda F1 Team in there ;)
renault have spruced up their website for 2009:
http://www.ing-renaultf1.com/
gone is the annoying intro music. in comes faster loading and generally it works this time around. a major step up from last years efforts.
closing other thread for five mins. to give me chance to catch up. feel free to post on daily.
So the FIA are going to ensure there isn't a huge gap between the 2 tyre compounds used at races?
So whats the point of having 2 compounds then?
If the optimal compound is soft *for example*, why not take super soft and medium compounds, so there is a definate difference....
The problem is that they don't move on the realtime thing I guess. Which is annoying. Unless the reply button checked before it posted.
marketing.
without them, bridg...whatever wouldn't never get a mention.
Well, it says they want to control the gap, but the original press release also says that the FIA are pushing Bridgestone for a bigger difference between the two compounds.
http://www.f1minute.com/2009/01/27/technical-briefing-with-charlie-whiting/
the lead paragraph on autosport states:
"Charlie Whiting says the governing body is to make sure there is not a huge difference between the two compound in Bridgestone tyres to be used this year."
and then goes on to quote the man saying exactly the opposite!
As the old journalism saying goes - never let the facts get in the way of a good story :)
So you're allowed to say rude words in the comments?
He actually says in response to a question about testing times is that they probably don't reflect the actual differences accurately.
He wants a difference of around half a second.
i think lclt screwed up for flibster somehow and we all just replied to that thread. no worries, all fixed now.
All good :)
"we could get a rap going in here... a rap going in here..." ;-)
Guess who just came up on late-night poker TV:Achilleas Kallakis. Remember him? I know he's so last week, but still, do you remember who he is? :P
He's the bus magnate
Trying to earn a few extra bob to buy BrackleyF1?
fridge magnet more like.
I thought he dealt with ships, not buses?
If that's what he's doing here, he's failing miserably. He was the first one to bust out.
http://www.sidepodcast.com/2009/01/08/how-to-write-letters-and-influence-people/#comment-172789
ahh, in that case he's practising for qually in melbourne.
Ahhh. Thanks, Mr. C. Come to think of it, that's exactly what the bus companies here do too.
haha! :D
Evenin all. Couple of stories for you (Warning: GMM Alert)
Dennis says no to an FIA role
http://formula-1.updatesport.com/news/article/1233048420/formula_one/F1headlines/Dennis-will-not-run-FIA/view.html
While Webber and Alonso have differing opinions on Friday running
http://formula-1.updatesport.com/news/article/1233048491/formula_one/F1gossip/Friday-mileage-discussion/view.html
My first comment of the day and it's moderated :(
3 cars, pfft, daft. Only the manufacturers would even think of that anyway {Joe - 207 comments ago}
Under Concorde, there would have to be three cars for some teams if the total number of cars entered for a race was below 20. In a world where the FIA doesn't follow Concorde, things may be trickier.
Batracer, Valencia, hhmm. I’m confident that BMW will get a podium by the end of the season. {Joe - 208 comments ago}
I'm confident Force India do better in the race than in quali, seeing as Kamalsky and I forgot to do any pre-quali practise. Seems strange though that we forgot to do any practise, there were two more cars than that stage of last year and we still did better than Force India did in the real thing. Makes me wonder about how realistic the comparison between cars is in this series (Christine and me may be wondering the same for the opposite reason).
How would you feel about a ban on tyre changes, like in 2005? {Joe - 208 comments ago}
I didn't like it in 2005 and I wouldn't like it now. For me, the main problem with strategies is the refuelling element. Since the tyre-changing is the same for everyone (apart from the multiple compounds bit), it doesn't really break up the rhythm of the race and overtaking on the track would still be encouraged. Banning tyre changes simply spread out the few overtakes on the track across a longer span of the race.
I broke it! :D
Good job that there is no Concorde Agreement at the moment then.
humph i was just finishing a long comment saying what i thought of the honda rumours when my laptop crashed. grrr. Will just outline what i was saying then...
I can't believe Schumi would be buying the team tbh, i mean, he still has connections at ferrari right? I can't see Mclaren being too happy about supplying a Schumacher team with engines. Wouldn't Ferrari be happier to supply them instead?
i'll read through the rest of the comments later on tonight, when my laptop decides to be nice to me. it's hard to post medium length comments on an ipod. typing is annoying. So sorry in advance if what i say has already been mentioned ;)
people who think f1 is boring, will always think f1 is boring. {me}
Some would, but not all of them by any means. Otherwise, what's the point of marketing? Or is that why we're in a global recession right now?
Seriously, in 1998 F1 was considered very cool at my school - as long as you didn't confuse matters by mentioning any non-British drivers other than Michael Schumacher. By mid-2001, it was considered eccentric and by Austria 2002 I got seriously teased for still supporting F1. Explaining that I wasn't cheering for Ferrari or Michael Schumacher didn't help since by then the other kids had forgotten the names of all the other drivers and teams and therefore assumed I was lying to avoid their ire...
Good job that there is no Concorde Agreement at the moment then. {Flibster - 3 comments ago}
There is - the trouble is that only Bernie, the FIA, Ferrari, Williams and Force India actually signed it. And the FIA are ignoring its contents (though Bernie and the three teams in question are not, and the other teams are behaving as if it was still in force).
“Rome is weighing up a proposal for a Formula One grand prix through streets on the outskirts of the Italian capital, local authorities said on Tuesday.” {me}
Not another place that wants a street race when there's a perfectly servicable track circuit just up the road! (Valencia has a circuit of the same name 12 miles from the Valencia track, while Rome is 20 miles south of Vallelunga circuit).
The French have several circuits that could be easily made up to F1 standards but they want to build a new one near Paris.
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21140.html
Yeah but to be fair the only genre of motorsport I last associated with Vallelunga was BTCC, and they only went there for testing.
I realise that the ready availability of information on the internet encourages people to believe that they’re somehow entitled to know about everything as soon as it happens, but complaining about secrecy in a matter such as this is rather silly. {Stuart C}
That's a very good point. If I can expect a measure of confidentiality in my Formula Trinity negotiations in the RLB (yes I've made my mind up; no I can't tell anyone what I've made my mind up to do), then Honda are certainly entitled to some confidentiality in the considerably more important matter of who to pick as their next leader, owner and decider of its destiny.
Yeah but to be fair the only genre of motorsport I last associated with Vallelunga was BTCC, and they only went there for testing. {Scott Woodwiss - 2 comments ago}
Superleague went there in November to race and they have powerful cars (if not a huge amount else going for them). It might be a bit on the short side for F1, but it could probably be extended for the same amount of fuss and expense or less than a street circuit could be commissioned and developed.
Trouble is its already gone through one renovation. Another would just cost them more money. Money which i'm sure they don't have.
This will be the 4th time Aston have gone bankrupt. {RCC}
4th?!? Are they going for the Guiness Book of Records or do they just have a really hard time making a consistent profit? Really tough luck for the workers, though, including your bassist :(
Not to also mention Imola.
Oh Bernie, is there a track rumor you wouldn't spread?
Trouble is its already gone through one renovation. Another would just cost them more money. Money which i’m sure they don’t have. {Scott Woodwiss - 2 comments ago}
If the local metropolitan area government (Rome and Vallelunga are covered by the same one) can find the money to have a street race, they can find the same money to lengthen Vallelunga. If they don't, there's no point in them worrying about doing a F1 race in either location.
And yes I do make the boys play ‘The Chain’ all the time as a warm up {RCC}
How can we tell there's a F1 supporter raised on the best of the Murray and Hunt/Palmer show in charge of the band :D
1998 - simpler times :P
Alianora I feel your pain -
In my year of ~120 there was me and one other person who watched F1 race in race out - and he only watched it for Lewis/McLaren. You should have seen his eyes glaze over when I tried to explain why Williams were my favourite team.
When Kubica crashed in 2007, another explained why F1 isnt a sport - "just cars going round and round".
Processional races alienate people from F1 - thats why I welcome most "efforts to improve the show", as it were.
Before I found this place, I only had my dad and 1, maybe 2 of my friends that followed F1 properly. Despite my best efforts to try to help people understand it more, I never got anyone else to catch on to it.
Last I heard, Poundland are actually suffering through the recession more than you would think. The reason? Folk are going to the 99p stores instead. {Dank}
That's what happens when you compete on one thing alone, put it in massive letters on the front of the shop and position your stores on the same street as each other (which I've seen in the case of Poundland and the 99p store in at least two cities recently). One of them is bound to be pasted badly and it won't be the store offering the better ostensible deal...
(If it's any help to them, I will say the Poundland store I visited last has better customer service than its nearby 99p Shop equivalent, but how are people meant to know that when they make the judgement from one snap observation before entering their chosen shop?)
the lead paragraph on autosport states:
“Charlie Whiting says the governing body is to make sure there is not a huge difference between the two compound in Bridgestone tyres to be used this year.”
and then goes on to quote the man saying exactly the opposite! {me}
To be fair, the grandprix.com version has Charlie saying both:
and
Either these are logically incompatible or the compounds tested in Portugal and Mugello are more different from each other than what the FIA had in mind.
it’s hard to post medium length comments on an ipod. {lou - 17 comments ago}
I can imagine, but I bet it's a lot better at it than my MP3 player (which, in common with my copy of Skype, has trouble understanding the concept of the internet).
But then again, I've always said my argument when anyone else says F1's not a sport and it's easy will be:
"OK, if you think it's easy and not a sport, you go and step into one of those things, drive it at ten tenths for 1 and a half - 2 hours with forces of up to 5G and cockpit temperatures of 50C+ at speeds of 220mph without any kind of physical training or preparation whatsoever and come out of it all fine and dandy. You do that and then I'll admit it's easy."
The French have several circuits that could be easily made up to F1 standards but they want to build a new one near Paris. {Steven Roy - 14 comments ago}
Silly politicians (again - French politics is the reason Magny-Couers exists in the first place).
Malaysian GP will also start at 5pm, same as Australia.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73021
Surely they'll need to put some kind of lighting up. What if it rains? It'll be too dark to run at that time in the day without some kind of illuminations.
What Charlie Whiting siad was that the testing showed a big difference between compounds but in races the difference was very small. He wants a bigger difference than that seen in races.
When Kubica crashed in 2007, another explained why F1 isnt a sport - “just cars going round and round”. {lou}
Funnily enough, I have rarely been given that reason. However, I have been told several times that it can't be a sport because it seems to consist of nothing but politics and the same bloke winning all the time (yes, even now I occasionally meet people who think Michael Schumacher is the defending world champion in F1). The "it requires lots of fitness" argument simply changed their argument to, "In that case it's a politics, fitness and the same bloke winning all the time".
Towards the end of 2002, I did A-Levels and a few of my fellow IT students were Ferrari F1 supporters. The post-Brazil 2003 debate took so long that we received a lecture from the teacher about us delaying his lesson... Unfortunately the Ferrari supporters decided not to do the A2, and apart from the occasional acquaintance with a casual F1 supporter, a few chats with a motorsport-fanatical Singaporean bloke who ended up being my best friend's boyfriend and a Finnish woman who I educated in the basics of F1 (and Finland's role therein), my parents have been the only F1 supporters I know off-line. At least nowadays I don't get bullied for being an F1 supporter, so things have improved...
Yeah but at least half a second? That's gonna mean a heck of a difference in durability and grip levels between both compounds.
The competition and physical fitness sides of F1 are the sport, while the politics and sponsorship and money sides of F1 are all business. That's how I see it.
And before that the other French party was responsible for Paul Ricard having the GP
What happens if there is a major incident and they have to red flag the race and re-start after a delay unless they plan to just run 40 laps behind the safety car?
I did hear one amusing take on the "it's too easy to be a proper sport", though. It was the day after Britain 1999 and one of the class bullies was boasting again. Usually I considered him beneath my notice but this time, I heard the magic words "Grand Prix" and listened.
He said, "Yesterday I won the British Grand Prix. It was really cool beating Damon Hill."
Unluckily for him I'd noticed a slight flaw in his argument, other than the fact that he wasn't called David Coulthard and lacked such distinctive features as the square jaw.
"Er... ...do you really think a lad not long into his teens could enter a F1 race with no experience, beat a world champion and win the race without getting a single interview before or afterwards?"
That shut the bully up pretty quick. I don't think he liked the sound of being interviewed...
And before that the other French party was responsible for Paul Ricard having the GP {Steven Roy - 4 comments ago}
True. Is it too much for France to have a government which makes its mind up for more than one election term at a time?
The competition and physical fitness sides of F1 are the sport, while the politics and sponsorship and money sides of F1 are all business. That’s how I see it. {Scott Woodwiss - 5 comments ago}
I see it the same way too. The trouble is explaining the distinction to someone who is just trying to get into the sport, or is a casual viewer, and just sees the politics smothering everything.
What happens if there is a major incident and they have to red flag the race and re-start after a delay unless they plan to just run 40 laps behind the safety car? {Steven Roy - 3 comments ago}
Presumably they will have to take the hit and makes themselves look like idiots for the kijillionth time.
I've not read half of this, but a question for Me, why the dislike of Michael? Dislike of Ralf is understandable : P
I don't like him either.
i don't dislike ralf. he's a useless as a chocolate teapot. but he seems like a nice bloke.
never should have entered f1, but for that i blame... michael.
Game-related news: For those who have an XBOX 360, a demo of Race Pro will be on the Marketplace "very soon", with the full game reportedly coming out on February 20th. Race Pro is a kinda mix of WTCC and FIA GT with added series like Formula BMW, Formula 3000, Caterhams, Radicals and Minis. I'm looking forward to it as it's said to be extremely realistic in terms of physics.
Someone made a chocolate teapot recently and it almost worked:
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/kitchenscience/exp/how-useless-is-a-chocolate-teapot/
kinda sums up ralf..
Hehe :)
Love it
I've just been browsing youtube and I found some clips of the International Race Of Champions, or IROC as it's better known. Basically - Pontiac Firebirds, all identical, world's best drivers, all on track together. As far as I know this series went defunct a couple of years ago, but I reckon with proper planning they could bring it back again. Imagine - Schumacher, Hamilton, Loeb, Dixon, Muller, Priaulx, Pantano. All the world's motorsport champions in identical cars on the same track together in one race. It's kinda the same as the Wembley Race of Champions but it's proper circuit racing rather than 2 by 2.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1N7yvVoZjIA&feature=related
Race Pro sounds very good. I remember seeing a pic of the open wheel car cockpit and looked awesome. I'll be getting the demo for sure. Scott, do you have Xbox Live?
I do indeed :P
oohh, your GT please? And please tell you have some racing game : P
Gamertag is woodwiss, and yes I do, I have GRID, Forza 2 and PGR4 :P
Sweeeeeeet! I have Grid too, it rules.
I'll add you if you don't mind. GT here is Joe the 147, just so you know who's adding you. Is it alright if Lukeh from here adds you? He asked if he could : P
now i'm feeling left out :(
will you keep us up-to-date on who's ahead once in a while?
Just to let you know me, Grid's got Spa, Detroit, Donington etc and you can race F1000 and F3 cars. There's a lot of other cars you can race too, like GT, Muscle, Drift and so on, but those are the 2 types of Open Wheeled ones. F1000 has a lot of grip and is a lot of fun, F3 is tough to drive.
I don't know if you're much of a gamer, though I doubt it : P I'm sure you'd enjoy an F1 or any racing game though.
Sure thing! :)
@ Me - I would say get an xbox but I know that's not your thing since knowing you, you'd probably think you're rubbish :P
I guess "me" is a bit short for a gamer tag ;)
:D
All I know is they had a PS2 but currently have a Wii. And that they don't play it, like, ever. :P
if i tell you how bad we did on gran turismo, will you promise not to laugh?
blimey. spot on! damnit.
Erm, I'll try. ;) :D
The trouble with IROC is that it became an oval series and the NASCAR drivers almost always won so most of the other eligible drivers stopped going.
Brundle entered one year and as he was sitting on the grid Dale Earnhardt on the way to his car stuck his head in the window and told him that on the track he should think how his kids would miss him.
i won't laugh cause i wont have been able to do any better ;)
Well I remember you said on one podcast how you and Christine played F1 on the Playstation and she needed all the driver aids on, and the time when you said you had a Wii and when I asked if you'd play the F1 game you said "Nooooo." :D
Your reindeer racer record still stands though, so you can't be that bad :)
Plus there was that occasion where you got into the Honda F1 simulator and came last because you quoted yourself as "utterly hopeless" :D
good point, although the only other racing game i'm ok at is mario kart wii which hardly counts as a proper driving game ;)
ok. i think it was gt4 and the two of us played it together, taking it in turns to read the strategy guide (purchased at the same time) or drive.
we did reasonably well on the driving games, but never ever managed to move up from the first series you start in. i think it was something like - japan supercup 100 or something.
spent many weeks driving on a limited number of courses and then gave up. i think christine gave the strategy guide to someone because it just gathered dust.
rubbish, doesn't come close to describing how bad we are.
all true :)
sorry.
You can get a restraining order for obsessive stalkers you know :)
i justed doubled checked we unplugged the webcam. i swear it broadcasts 24/7.
I'm sure with some decent tips and some help, you'd get better. :)
:D
Like James May did when Jackie Stewart gave him some racing tips ;)
A Wii? Haha, god I hate that thing.
Gran Turismo huh, good stuff.
And Scott, we must do Grid sometime, maybe Friday or at the weekend?I'll add you tomorrow anyway.
just remembered i'm ok on driving games on the ipod touch too.... rubbish at my psone f1 game though :)
Sure, I'm around all day at the moment so anytime LOL :P
do you have the scalextric one?
depends what kinda gaming your into though ;) i love the wii cause it's nto so serious and people like my parents can play too. :)
I had an F1 scalextric :D 1998 Williams and Jordan
there is a scalextic one?
Is that slotracer? I've seen it and it's great. Remember that the trick to Scalextric, as James May explained in his favourite toys programme, is to drive round at a constant speed, just slow enough not to crash out.
http://appminute.com/news/iphone-slot-z-racer-game-review/
that's the one :)
Oooo will download it tomorrow :) anyway must sleep, I need to master the art of going to bed early again... Night x
night lou, night all.
Brazil 2008 seemed just fine.
And sunset is at 7, so they have 2 hours exactly.
chocolate teapot... hehe. :P
ralf was his own man, it was his choice to enter f1. michael just helped him out with funding.
Good night everyone. :)
toyota employed him because of his name though.
we can't blame michael for that now, can we? ;)
And sunset is at 7, so they have 2 hours exactly. {Journeyer - 3 comments ago}
So they'll be fine as long as there are neither any delays to the start nor any red flags for any reason.
Suddenly I'm not quite so sanguine. This is asking for trouble...
we can’t blame michael for that now, can we? {Journeyer - 2 comments ago}
Yes and no. We can blame Michael because if he hadn't been so successful, Toyota wouldn't have chosen anyone on the basis of the Schumacher name. But the blame most properly belongs to the Toyota executives for putting marketing above sporting skill.
Ralf's went to Japan and won the Formula Nippon (F3000) championship. Despite all the drivers who went there and came back with big reputations and Irvine going there and coming back with a big bank balance Ralf is one of very few who wentthere and won anything.
It is gross stupidity. If I was being cynical I would suggest Bernie would want something to go wrong so that he could force them to install lighting and once they have done that he would force them into a night race.
i admire that cynicism.