less than 24 hours until F1 Friday practice session:
 

00D 23H 43M 45S

Austrailian grand prix friday practice is on Thursday here.

I'm pumped. Can't wait to see who the real drivers are without traction control etc.

Looking forward to it too!

No TC, lets see Massa whined, Hamilton said cool and Kimi...well nobody really understands what Kimi is saying :D

werd :)

I'm particularly excited about this season, I have tickets to the Montreal GP.

No traction control should be great, I just wish they'd get rid of the flappy paddle gearboxes and drive like men...I heard they were going to go back to real manual boxes, but I haven't heard anymore since....

Sam and I are in total agreement again. Do I hear hoofbeats? :p

forza ferrari!

Go Ferrari!!

I found Kimi’s response to no TC:
“ireallyhavenopreferencetotractioncontrolmyfarrari isafukenrocketshipandiamtheworldchampionandcanbeet allposersonthegridthisyearnowsomeonepleasehandmeth evodka”

Alonso is now betting Renault may take a year to return ?

Aw come on, we've agreed at least 10 times in the last 4000 posts ;)

That's a dream. (I'd like that too, but it ain't gonna happen)

Went to the last Canadian race and it was excellent.

Agree with the low tech cars. Make them shift a gearbox again and end all the expensive crap on the car.

Just programmed it on the Tivo, and cannot wait!

as a great man said! BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY....!!!!!:eek:
not.
I am really psyched about F1 this year.

So that’s it? People just want them to go back to sticks? This is not NASCAR were talking about.

No Traction Control is a huge step towards this along with the engine development cap imposed.
How can anyone argue with the sound of a 19k/rpm V10 or now V8 shifting in sub milliseconds?

Hell, lets talk about drivers and team strategies! :D

Sorry but any idiot can pull a paddle to shift. Show me someone who can shift a manual gearbox going around Monaco for 2 hours and win, and that man deserves to stand on the podium.

This is about skill AND tech, not just a frigging computer doing everything for the driver.

Go Lewis!!

Already invited a couple of buddies over for the race......

F1 racing is not a shifting contest, nor is drifting a racing contest. While I would also like to see a return to manual shifters, I understand the thought behind increasing the longevity of engines and gearboxes for a better show.

What if Bernie made drum brakes mandatory? That would help separate the men from the boys too. :eek:

Sherwood

Let's go back to bias-ply tires too! In reality, I doubt there were any F1 races ever won or lost because somebody was better at 'shifting' :cool: Let's face it, there hasn't been a real Grand Prix car since Porsche was designing them in the 30's :D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1205403824.jpg

Finally! Its been a long winter. I am really looking forward to this season too.

Was this supposed to be in green? Plenty of folks lost races because of missed shifts.

As to bias-ply tires, the wish for the return to manual gearboxes has less to do with restricting tech because they can, than restricting tech that makes the drivers championship something just a videogame. That is, we want the best driver - you know someone who can brake, steer, shift, find the line, place the car on the line..... to win. Sometimes this means that the best equipment doesn't win. Because that's what F1 has become. The best equipment (and biggest budget) wins for the most part.

The hand-operated shifters were connected to the same sequential gearboxes as paddle-operated shifters. What's the difference between pushing a lever forward and back a few fractions of an inch or using paddles on the steering wheel for the same purpose? Or are guys suggesting they go back 2 decades to H-pattern manual transmissions with foot-operated clutches :confused: