Formula 1 is going to start again!

[Muusers]

I'm so excited! Next weekend is the first Grand Prix in Bahrain and honestly I haven't a clue who is going to win it. Here's a list with the teams and drivers:

McLaren; Jenson Button + Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes; Michael Schumacher + Nico Rosberg
Red Bull; Sebastian Vettel + Mark Webber
Ferrari; Felipe Massa + Fernando Alonso
Williams; Rubens Barrichello + Nico Hulkenberg
Renault; Robert Kubica + Vitaly Petrov
Force India; Adrian Sutil + Vitantonio Liuzzi
Toro Rosso; Sebastien Buemi + Jaime Alguersuari
Lotus; Jarno Trulli + Heikki Kovalainen
Hispanic Racing Team (HRT); Bruno Senna + Karun Chandhok
BMW Sauber; Pedro de la Rossa + Kamui Kobayashi
Virgin; Timo Glock + Lucas di Grassi

It's going to be a very interesting year. The pressure is on Schumi to show he's stil got it, but against a team of champs (McLaren) it will be a hard task. There have never been so many Formula 1 champions on the grid. But don't count the young guys out too soon either.

[ThatGermanDude]

in.

just so I can remember to stay on top of it.

[Thudd]

It's gonna be a close one, they've been taking pains to ensure that...

The winners will be the usual suspects found at the sharp end; McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull(!), Mercedes(!)...

Personal prediction - watch out for Alonso, he calls this Ferrari the 'best car I've ever raced', and it's already proven damned quick with heavy fuel and over long stints in pre-season testing. If it shows the speed (and it can qualify well), Alonso's certainly brings bags of it with him along with his two world titles - and desperately wants his third (and in a different car from the first two), to join the select few WCs that have won 3 titles or better, and with different teams...I tell ya, Alonso is a racer's racer and ultra-competitive, put him in a car that is the equal of any in the field, and he will find a way to win; give him the best car and then it's lights-out. And I say this not as a fan of Alonso (I'm not particularly so), but as someone watching the sport closely for 25 years...and he will wax Schumey if their cars are even close to equal. Remember that pass Fernando made on MS at Suzuka on the outside of 130R - at over 180 mph? That got Michael's attention alright; it was the signal it was time for him to retire...and while Michael has not gotten any faster, Alonso hasn't lost an inch of speed and is really in his prime, right now. And don't be fooled by his getting beat by Hamilton in 'equal cars' as teammates - despite Ron Dennis claims to the contrary, evidently things weren't quite that equal, there was MAJOR friction going on within the team all that season and it distorted his performance and results. Now, while his present teammate Massa is quick overall and fastest on occasion, he is nowhere near the racer that Alonso is.

So Alonso has a great shot at the title, as does Hamilton, Vettel, and I suppose MS has an outside chance, admittedly you can't count the crafty veteran out quite yet...and remember, no fueling stops this season, only tire changes. So tire management will be super critical and that always favors veterans. In fact, that might be a big factor against both Alonso and MS, they both have hard turn-in carting styles which aren't the kindest to tires. Whereas Lewis is known for his smoothness, as is Button. This may ultimately be a significant advantage for McLaren overall. But then again, the Silver Arrows have the Master of Racecraft Himself, Ross Brawn sitting on the pitwall calling race strategy, and we've all seen just how effective THAT'S been...seven WDCs later.

Whew, that a good start. We'll see how things shake out after the first three races.

Can you tell I love this stuff, or what? Don't get me started...!

Cheers,
-Thudd

[FL Knifemaker]

I just hope that screaming British dude returns to cover the action for SPEED. Or................was that Moto GP?? Is that the same screaming British dude??

Looking forward to seeing some F1.

[Number27]

Originally Posted by Muusers

There have never been so many Formula 1 champions on the grid.

i count 4, it's happened before

Originally Posted by Thudd

It's gonna be a close one, they've been taking pains to ensure that...

The winners will be the usual suspects found at the sharp end; McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull(!), Mercedes(!)...

Personal prediction - watch out for Alonso, he calls this Ferrari the 'best car I've ever raced', and it's already proven damned quick with heavy fuel and over long stints in pre-season testing. If it shows the speed (and it can qualify well), Alonso's certainly brings bags of it with him along with his two world titles - and desperately wants his third (and in a different car from the first two), to join the select few WCs that have won 3 titles or better, and with different teams...I tell ya, Alonso is a racer's racer and ultra-competitive, put him in a car that is the equal of any in the field, and he will find a way to win; give him the best car and then it's lights-out. And I say this not as a fan of Alonso (I'm not particularly so), but as someone watching the sport closely for 25 years...and he will wax Schumey if their cars are even close to equal. Remember that pass Fernando made on MS at Suzuka on the outside of 130R - at over 180 mph? That got Michael's attention alright; it was the signal it was time for him to retire...and while Michael has not gotten any faster, Alonso hasn't lost an inch of speed and is really in his prime, right now. And don't be fooled by his getting beat by Hamilton in 'equal cars' as teammates - despite Ron Dennis claims to the contrary, evidently things weren't quite that equal, there was MAJOR friction going on within the team all that season and it distorted his performance and results. Now, while his present teammate Massa is quick overall and fastest on occasion, he is nowhere near the racer that Alonso is.

So Alonso has a great shot at the title, as does Hamilton, Vettel, and I suppose MS has an outside chance, admittedly you can't count the crafty veteran out quite yet...and remember, no fueling stops this season, only tire changes. So tire management will be super critical and that always favors veterans. In fact, that might be a big factor against both Alonso and MS, they both have hard turn-in carting styles which aren't the kindest to tires. Whereas Lewis is known for his smoothness, as is Button. This may ultimately be a significant advantage for McLaren overall. But then again, the Silver Arrows have the Master of Racecraft Himself, Ross Brawn sitting on the pitwall calling race strategy, and we've all seen just how effective THAT'S been...seven WDCs later.

Whew, that a good start. We'll see how things shake out after the first three races.

Can you tell I love this stuff, or what? Don't get me started...!

Cheers,
-Thudd

what are you alonso's agent or something??


anyone else think that it is extremely bizarre that there is a mercedes team independant from mclaren? that and BMW is now back with the sauber name again (officially).. they're like ross and rachel.

[Thudd]

Nah, I just recognize his talent, and an opportunity for him. It's an unusual year for sure, and a driver that can place a car beyond...it's perceived potential, like he way he has in the past, might make just the difference needed in a close season. Aw hell, it's just fun speculation anyway.

Yeah, in some ways it may seem bizarre having Merc run their own team, but in the big picture not really. It's been common for other teams to compete against the same factory teams they are engine partners with; consider the Ferrari and Toyota customers as recent examples.

Even the case of them being an engine supplier to another team first and then forming their own team has just been done, by BMW...first supplying to Williams, then forming their own works team by acquiring Sauber F1. Which they just sorta-kinda did again, btw. Yeah, like R & R.

And then there is the recent...scandal...(cough, Stepneygate) which can only encourage MB putting some distance between them and McLaren...so, in the light of all that , snapping up Brawn GP and recruiting German National Hero MS to form their own team makes a lot more sense than it first appears.

And man, that Ross Brawn is a crafty one, he is! The Honda thang dies on the vine for him, and 2 years later he's holding both the current WCC and he is back with his <cough> seven-time WDC driver, and he running the Mercedes-Benz factory team!

Talk about landing on your feet - Pure Genius, that.

[XtreO]

Looking forward to see how Vettel and Hulkenberg will perform. This will be by far the most interesting year for as long as I've seen f1 (not long, in other words).

[Schlyder]

I'm an F1 fan for many years.. any rule changes this year? I wish they would go back to no refueling during pitstops like in the old days. I miss seeing a guy run out of fuel leading on the last lap.

[Number27]

Originally Posted by Thudd

Nah, I just recognize his talent, and an opportunity for him. It's an unusual year for sure, and a driver that can place a car beyond...it's perceived potential, like he way he has in the past, might make just the difference needed in a close season. Aw hell, it's just fun speculation anyway.

Yeah, in some ways it may seem bizarre having Merc run their own team, but in the big picture not really. It's been common for other teams to compete against the same factory teams they are engine partners with; consider the Ferrari and Toyota customers as recent examples.

Even the case of them being an engine supplier to another team first and then forming their own team has just been done, by BMW...first supplying to Williams, then forming their own works team by acquiring Sauber F1. Which they just sorta-kinda did again, btw. Yeah, like R & R.

And then there is the recent...scandal...(cough, Stepneygate) which can only encourage MB putting some distance between them and McLaren...so, in the light of all that , snapping up Brawn GP and recruiting German National Hero MS to form their own team makes a lot more sense than it first appears.

And man, that Ross Brawn is a crafty one, he is! The Honda thang dies on the vine for him, and 2 years later he's holding both the current WCC and he is back with his <cough> seven-time WDC driver, and he running the Mercedes-Benz factory team!

Talk about landing on your feet - Pure Genius, that.

there's no denying brawns genius for the sport, thats for sure.

back to the mercedes benz thing... you bring up a good point. it certainly seems to have become a recent trend over the last decade or so, with all those car manufactures snapping up the failing private teams: ligier to peugeot, bennetton to renault, stewart to jaguar, BAR to honda, sauber to BMW, and now brawn to mercedes-benz.
it used to be the other way around... back in the 70s it was all the big manufactures handing the reigns over to the privateers: matra, lotus, honda, renault, alfa romeo.. all folded up shop and left town in favor of just supplying engines (and successful they were too).
although for someone like mercedes to decide to buy a team now still seems a little strange in light of all the recent rules and such the implimented, as it seem that formula 1 was going to go back to a privateer heavy field.

[varunkapahi]

ooh they are all turning left AGAIN!

[Muusers]

Originally Posted by varunkapahi

ooh they are all turning left AGAIN!

That's NASCAR. Get your lingo right.

[Passinwind]

Originally Posted by Schlyder

I'm an F1 fan for many years.. any rule changes this year? I wish they would go back to no refueling during pitstops like in the old days. I miss seeing a guy run out of fuel leading on the last lap.

You're in luck, refueling is outlawed this year. Expect sub- two second pit stops. Tire management skills will be at a premium as well. I always hated fuel strategy races myself.

[varunkapahi]

Originally Posted by Muusers

That's NASCAR. Get your lingo right.

meh its all the same to me!

[Thudd]

Originally Posted by varunkapahi

meh its all the same

Man, have you got that wrong...

Unless you aren't trolling, and you meant

Originally Posted by varunkapahi

meh its all the same to me

in which case only you would know that.

BUT,

In some ways, you are correct, too. Used to be, F1 and NASCAR couldn't be more different, in almost every aspect. But over the last ten years, as the market and $$ have grown for NASCAR, and F1 has had rule changes to control operating costs and suffered turnover in teams, lots of technical folks have migrated to the NASCAR teams and the caliber of race car engineering in NASCAR has risen to the point of very high sophistication indeed. So now they are anything BUT "stock" cars, for sure. Plus, NASCAR has several road courses where they race now; they turn RIGHT these days, too!

Meanwhile over the same period, F1 has been becoming increasingly restrictive in it's rules, discouraging innovation and making the cars more and more the same, while they have added "Safety" cars (pace cars) which was unheard-of in the sport before. F1 is becoming ever-more NASCAR-like, with mechanisms in the race structure (safety cars, full-course yellows, closed pitlanes, etc.) to bunch up the field periodically and encourage wheel-to-wheel racing....just like in NASCAR. Because they think in part that is what will grow - or at least, keep - their billion-member audience worldwide .

Me, I'm not so sure how that's gonna work out. It's pretty complex. But I like the nod to the past, by banning refueling during pitstops. Tire management will be crucial. The other key factor for the top contenders is reliability - with such a close field, any points lost by a DNF could cost a driver the title, by seasons's end...

So,

[varunkapahi]

Originally Posted by Thudd

Man, have you got that wrong...

Unless you aren't trolling, and you meant in which case only you would know that.

yep i meant to put "imo" in that post, sorry

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Originally Posted by varunkapahi

meh its all the same to me!

What, anything that's not Tata racing?

[varunkapahi]

Originally Posted by Bob Lee (QSC)

What, anything that's not Tata racing?

you got me!
honestly you guys should see elephants racing! thats so much more fun and when things go wrong it gets even more funny heh

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Originally Posted by varunkapahi

you got me!
honestly you guys should see elephants racing! thats so much more fun and when things go wrong it gets even more funny heh

The pit stops are what amazes me.

[varunkapahi]

Originally Posted by Bob Lee (QSC)

The pit stops are what amazes me.

there are no pit stops! else than when the elephant poo's! but thats no stop, its just a pit!

[Thudd]

And here I was, thinking they were required to come in mid-race to change over to the prime tusks and make a mahout-swap. It's a team sport, after all...

And yes, I'm sure the 'mechanics' get crapped on, like in most any other series.