Obviously, the only thing worth talking about at the moment is Honda's withdrawal from the sport, and that has it's own thread being speculated upon as we speak. Yesterday was a pretty awful day all round, so I'll just list a few things that might make today better, but then again, they might not.
- I've discovered a new flawless system for remembering to write these daily posts. It hasn't failed me yet, although we are only one day into the experiment. Put anything next to a picture of Franck and hopefully I should take notice.
- The FOTA met and came up with their cost-cutting proposals for Mr M. They're thinking super low cost engines, massive reduction in testing, and they're still thinking about that crazy qualifying idea.
- Sato is getting another chance behind the wheel at Toro Rosso in Jerez next week. He's already had two tests, so I guess he'll be hoping it's third time lucky. You have to think they're seriously considering him though, otherwise they wouldn't keep calling him back.
We'd really like some good news, I think. If anyone has anything else they'd like to get off their chest and share with the group, please feel free to do so. I'll see you in the comments.
I'm loving the LASER display board reminder ;)
how retro :)
just wanted to say. today is the deadline for 2008 audio reviews, but seeing as we're all feeling a bit down about things and seeing as i haven't even written the reminder yet - we ought extend that deadline for a week.
Um, the dog ate mine. Actually I don't intend to do one as I can't remember half of the season. My work commitments meant I had to watch most of the races after the event. Our terrible reception of ITV1 during F1 races (it usually got worse just before the parade lap and then better again as soon as Mark Blundell came on screen at the end) didn't help either.
Not lazy at all. No.
cupcake?
The checkbox on the 'live commenting, live... thing' page is missing in Opera. I'll upload a screenshot to drop.io.
Although I'm testing an alpha version of Opera 10 (build 1139), I've also noticed this with 9.5 as well.
I'll consider the offer.
what would be quite cool. would be if the two of you did it.
I may come up with something yet....
fanx you.
Just keep bugging me - I have nothing else to do but I'll put it off as long as I can... ;)
same here. i will write that post...
Okay - I mentioned it a while back, and it has been confirmed - Bernie needs to provide 20 cars to each race event.
Now that it is more of a reality, what are the solutions (considering Bernie won't want to split with his/FOM cash)?
First, and most obvious thing, would be to allow three cars/constructor and then force McL, and Ferrari to put in a third.
Second? Ideas?
save honda. or at least encourage a buyer.
How, without collapsing F1 economy? It can not be a handout, like the Detroit/Financial sector in the States.
Any concession to make Honda more attractive de-values the other teams and, I would say, the F1 product. That is not good for marketing purposes, etc.
he's a persuasive chap though, and if you take a long term view, it'll probably be a bargain.
it'll all be behind closed doors though won't it? in the same way the red bull guy just decided one day to buy x2 formula one teams.
True. If years of F1 have taught me anything, it is that Bernie does not air his dirty laundry in public - at least not until any ill wind is blowing in the opposite direction.
hehe. tis true.
you know what is odd though? why honda can't provide an engine long term. it's not like there's a heck of a lot of development that can be done. how expensive can it be?
you think there's any chance once the dusts settled, they might be interested in rethinking that part of the deal?
I imagine that they will be telling their employees that they shouldn't run too far away - it would be nice for them if they could all keep their jobs. And you are right, there isn't a great deal of development required (except the 2->3 race increase).
I would dearly love for Cosworth to get another engine deal, though. Highly unlikely, but possible. I would be interested to see what concessions would need to be made for a 'new' engine to be developed for F1, considering the engine freeze. Would they even be allowed?
according to christine:
"Nowadays, Cosworth say they have learnt a valuable lesson not to keep all their eggs in one motorsport basket... A return to Formula 1 is not impossible, especially as they have a homologated FIA engine sitting idle."
http://www.sidepodcast.com/2007/12/07/days-that-shook-the-f1-world-part-6-last-cosworth-races-2006/
i love the line that follows that though :)
Wait one cotton-picking second here, RSCPR does hold an exclusive works-engine contract with Cosworth right?
That was my understanding - the whole 'C' part of the name, and all...
And thanks to the omnibus - I can listen to the whole miniseries on my walk home from work tonight... http://www.sidepodcast.com/episodes/media/miniseries/dayomnibus1.mp3
First time posting here, I love the shows, I have pretty much all the mini series on my psp and carry at least the two newest debrief as well. I can't folllow everything as my only computer at the moment is actually a PS3. I'm an American with family in Canada and since eeveryone is griping, here I go. Bernie sucks: no Can gp and no US gp nuff said. And Christine, I could listen to your angelic voice praddle on about lorrie races if that's all we are stuck with next year ( don't laugh audi out of lemans, honda out of f1, even the prancing horse threatened to quit once this year Speed found a market in racing p'ups not far off I say. ) But please enough with the Sato bashing, I know he's threatening to take Mcdreamy's seat, but I don't think he would have been offered ride upon ride if he didn't show someone something somewhere, Thanks and keep up the good work, (aside from the Takuma hatred. :-) )
Maybe some Ultra-Rich Saudi will by Honda so that his stepsons from his 15th wife finally get to show use what a genuis Takeo Inoue was behind the wheel....
Ahhh the good old days when money talked and talent walked.... Superlicence be dammned....
Quite.
So. Jenson, Rubens (and/or Bruno), Ross, Nick + Countless talented others left twiddling their thumbs in '09.
Christ, if I had the money...Oh, if I had the money! (and bad business sense)...
Look on the bright side, a bumper crop of rejects for those two Aussies at F1Rejects to go ga-ga about...
Total unpredictably as they might not have the foggiest idea of what the mirrors, and brakes are for....
And the possiblily of a surprise championship winner as they keep on crashing into the race leader while being lapped....
appreciate the comment ron, but as far as i can see (and by all means disagree), the guy's in line for a seat solely because of his nationality and popularity in his home country.
if he gets the drive, it's because 'le bull rouge' wish to sell more cans of sticky stuff in an area where sato happens to be popular.
he's had his chance (twice), achieved little (outclassed by button, then davidson) and really has done nothing to deserve a third bite at the f1 cherry.
oh jeez:
"The FIA has reacted to the news of Honda's withdrawal with a letter to the teams saying that its tender processes are now complete and that Cosworth, together with Xtrac and Ricardo Transmissions will supply a complete Formula 1 power train beginning in 2010."
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21023.html
Are you saying this is good or bad? I though when browsing last nights Honda discussion that you were hoping Cosworth would come back to F1. Of have I misunderstood? Or do I not really understand the implications of this ?
it is good that cosworth are coming back. but it means max has managed to sneak standardised engines into f1 :(
good analysis of the f1 situation from grandprix.com:
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21022.html
It can't really, really be going ahead, can it?
very much looks that way. that gives us just 12 more months to follow the sport :(
berger got out at exactly the right time didn't he?
I'm starting to want to follow him!
if you do it now, we can blame the credit crunch too :)
Would you really stop watching if the engines are the same? I will moan and complain about it but I don't think I'll stop watching.
I blame the cigarette companies to be honest. It's actually because Formula 1 was one of the last places to ban them that this happened. They kept the price of sponsorship artifically high becuase they couldn't advertise anywhere else. This has made the sport so expensive to run because if 1 person is going to spend that much then everyone HAS to keep up.
Standard engines, fugly cars, a lack of teams I actually like, no Alonso. The only reason I can see to watch is slick tyres... and they're good but they're not that good.
seconded.
i'm still wondering whether i have any desire to watch "formula bmw" style toy town cars this year to be honest.
Bernie logic:
"I think Formula One is in no bigger crisis than any other company throughout the world. The world is in crisis at the moment, but it won't stop - the world won't stop, that's for sure."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72327
Fry 'hopeful' team will race in 2009
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72326
What I love is this quote:
"Fry also claims there are already interested potential buyers in the wings."
Yeah, I'm sure the wings will save the team... :P
It really does sound like F1 is completely falling apart :(
Dumbo Flugel!
HAHAHA! This is great! One of the guys at RLB started this!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38724288570
I'm joining, and you all should too!
Honda boss apologises to Button: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72330
I should think so too!!
So if all the honda fans get together and pau a subscription to run the team....
Can a F1 team be run of £35.97?
Give him a crap car for two seasons, promise him things will be better and then the team closes down. That's no way to treat a driver like Jenson.
Hear Hear. If no-one buys the team, Jenson has nowhere to go and all that loyalty has been wasted - he hardly ever said a bad word about them, even when things were really bad!
I am confident that had Honda stayed in for 2009, Ross Brawn and Jenson would have got a win or two. Sadly, we'll never know now.
Next time Honda 'Triumphantly Return' to F1, I will NOT be one who ever supports them. In fact, from now on, whenever I see anything 'Honda' in Motorsport, I will consider it an 'enemy team' to the others!
Um, Nick, I think Red Bull already has 2 teams. They don't need a third one. :P
In better news:
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=36692
Toyota are not saying it outright, but they're implying they will stay in F1. Bernie must've asked them to issue that statement.
3 people who approached Fry and Brawn: Nicolas Todt, Eddie Jordan, David Richards. ;) As back-ups, I'd say Paul Stoddart and Gerhard Berger.
You'd think the world revolved around Honda right now...
It does get despirate when you end up watching Suzuki Swift Cup on Sky Sports Xtra.
Hell no, I don't want to have another rival to the Beemer's
are you interested in speedcar? liuzzi won.
my f1 world usually revolves around honda... so it's not change for me, only it's slightly more depressing news than i'm used to from that team
oh, and i have internet once more at home which is good.
Reading those two words actually cheered me up.
Thehy have left F1 twice already as have Renault and others. This is not a surprise. As soon as business dips car manufacturers walk out of F1. The only difference this time is that they are not just engine suppliers they own the teams. This disaster has been predicted for years.
Have they started racing again?
keef's on sky news at 7pm(ish) - am guessing he's going to be chatting about liuzzi's win :)
can someone remind me to record it pls?
i'll try.
Keith is on sky news soon.
fanx. talking about teddy bears in space.
what no panda?
Keith is on Sky talking about teddy bears in space???
spacefanatic?
Time to live comment Sky News, then.
so far we've seen some old BAR footage.
and the weather sux.
and O.J...
Sure does.
"Fore!"
Oh dear...
oooh, breaking news.
Looks like we might have to wait a bit before Keith. :(
it's ok. sky have ADD :)
O.J and Boy George?
Eh?
they can't even stay on breaking news for more than 5mins.
sky news source twitter now???
Ahaha! They searched OJ Simpson into Twitter!
Ahh, ok. :)
You'd think an F1 fan you be used to abbreviations.
Better questions...
much better questions this time out.
Go Keith!
From that to a cat video...
2nd time i've watched sky news in years and they have another "plane landing video"?
They need to get Steven on for the space teddies story.
I didn't see the story so I have no idea what happened unless the spider that escaped in the ISS has evolved into a teddy.
that's ok, you only get 9 seconds of screen time anyhow :)
They had some pictures of teddies in spacesuits. Maybe they saw them in a shop and got confused...
After 10 seconds of detailed research I found this http://www.spaceteddybear.com/
I think this may be the real story
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/3548363/Teddy-bears-in-space-first-pictures.html
One of those bears doesn't have a helmet on!!
The cruelty.
Considering that you need oxygen to climb Everest at 29,000 ft and they are at 100,000 ft not giving it a helmet is definietely cruel. And just a bit fatal.
What did Keith say on Sky?
about to put it on drop.io.
you can download it from here.
will take a while from dropio to encode i suspect.
or here:
http://drop.io/sidepodcast/asset/f1f-skynews
:)
I think Button could have been a bit more tactful with the workforce. I am sure it will take them more than a couple of hours for them to get over losing their jobs in the run up to Xmas.
Some bad news, no, its not Honda quitting F1, its not BMW going kaput, and its not Bernie Ecclestone resigning (oh wait, thats good)
The wiki failed to make it onto Wetpaint 500
But what about Acura, Honda's American brand? You're forgetting a certain Frenchman drives for them in the ALMS ;)
You mean this week could get worse?
Evening :)
Hi!
Even with the numbers game? Oh dear. We're going to have to come up with something massive.
Maybe we need to give every number its own page
I didn't mean Acura might pull out too, I meant would Gavin hate them too, because Franck drives for them.
Wait one cotton-picking second here, RSCPR does hold an exclusive works-engine contract with Cosworth right? {Jordan Allen - 81 comments ago}
We do - but then our engine has certain extra functions that the FIA does not appear to think are performance-enhancing but actually are...
my f1 world usually revolves around honda… so it’s not change for me, only it’s slightly more depressing news than i’m used to from that team {lou - 50 comments ago}
When I heard about Honda leaving, the first thing I thought was how hard this was going to be for you. Hope Honda find a good organisation to take over its running and that they keep the team basically intact - then you can have the comfort of knowing the team have "Honda DNA".
aww thanks Alianora, yeah i'm hoping a team will save them so at least there is a little 'Honda DNA' on the grid. tbh as long as Jenson doesn't get pushed to the shadows and forgotten about for years and years i'll be a little bit happy.
If Honda get bought out, I strongly suspect that Jenson will remain. There's no particular reason why an investor would remove him and they'll need continuity. If either race driver is in trouble in the case of a buyout, it's Rubens because of how close he may appear to the end of his career.
He has recently signed a contract till the end of 09 i think... not sure if that means they have to keep him seeing as it will be a new team...
Technically, he had a contract until the end of 2009 dating from the end of 2004. However, I think some sort of performance clause broke it because earlier Jenson said that he had no contract. Still, the underperformance was not his fault but the team's.
ah ok. i must have got a little confused when i read this earlier -
I took it as meaning he had signed a new contract, me just being hopeful then.
link - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7766651.stm
ah ok. i must have got a little confused when i read this earlier {lou - previous comment}
It may be that he signed some other contract after he made the announcement I referenced - it was a couple of weeks back and it wasn't as if Honda didn't look interested in him - but I don't think they remembered to make an official announcement.
they originally said they would make the announcement for the team just before christmas. i suppose it was going to be after this second test that's coming up, so maybe they signed Jenson, but have been deciding on the other driver.. i suppose it makes sense to confirm them both at once, but they probably weren't expecting this to stop them from deciding.
Good point. Nick Fry looked as surprised as everyone else yesterday morning...
Are these functions operational and can they last three race distances, given that Steven is not exactly "gentle" with the car....
I agree he failed to compare to Jenson in his early years, but I'm surprised you think Davidson put in a better performance at Aguri than he did, which he obviously didn't?
Personally I would rather see the new car have tons of "Minardi-DNA" for the sole reason that a win at Monza is infinitately more impressive than any possible win at Hungary can be.
Long time listener, first time poster. From Canada.
No races in North America. Now no race in France. And soon it looks like no races in Britain and Germany!
As long as he gets his "Bling", I don't think Bernie cares where the races are held.
The problem is, as F1 moves into marginal and secondary automobile markets and away from the major markets, how are the racing teams going to justify their huge budgets to shareholders as a branding tool? Does Bernie think Honda and Toyota spend that kind of money in the hopes that they will get a leg up in the Bahrain auto market??
You are supposed to be on my side not writing to the head of R&D slagging me off.
Good to have another poster.
The trouble with car manufacturers is every time the market gets tight they dump F1. Normally they are only in as engine suppliers so it has little overall effect even if one or two teams suffer. This time because Max and Bernie have encouraged them to buy teams and the teams that they bought priced the privateers out of the game the effect is much more serious. Hopefully M&B will finally understand that car manufacturers have to be kept on the fringes of F1.
hi james, apologies for the delay in responding. i haven't heard the usgp or the canadian gp mentioned as a reason for honda bailing out, but it's certainly possible it had something to do with the snap decision.
whist i agree with steven that manufactures can be a fickle bunch, bernie certainly isn't blameless in all of this either.