F1 quali

[yellowperil]

Today's quali is worth watching, quite an upset. Should be a good race tomorrow. Lots of racing this weekend. Nascar and sports cars in Montreal, GP in Indy.,

[Noah930]

Fisi!!!!

[GH85Carrera]

I wonder what the odds of Fhsi on the pole were in Vagas yesterday?

[porsche4life]

Darn. I am at my folks house with no speed channel this weekend. Practice was looking pretty good Thursday though.

[MOMO3.2]

"Fishy" was running on pure adrenaline as the result of him possibly driving the Ferrari next race. Good for him!

It reminds me of the Long Beach GP when Andrea de Cesaris "stole" the pole in the Alfa Romeo--very exciting with lots of tears.

I hate to put any driver down, but Luca B has NO business driving the Ferrari F1 car during a race weekend. Thank goodness Fishy is taking over the drive. Now, for the vacant Force India seat, I really would love to see Sebastian Bordais in there. I think he is a great race driver and deserves another shot or two.

Mike

[yellowperil]

Right, Luca has had a shot at it which was kindness on the part of Ferrari., but now they need someone else. Fisi may suddenly be not available?? Bourdais in his seat at Force India would be great., altho he's had a shot at it already. Maybe Enzo would like to see another Villenneuve in Badoer seat., I'm sure Jaques could be talked into it!

[yellowperil]

Seemed odd that one stat from this morning's qualifying was that Badoer was fastest thru the speed trap. Was hoping he could pull off something to lift his F1 career. (Like poor Mika Salo who would have won for Ferrari had he no been req'd to pull over to let Irvine thru).

[s_morrison57]

Ditch Luca, keep Fishy where he is and put Bruno Senna in the red car

[bell]

Luca is an excelent test driver, if not he wouldn't have been with ferrari for 10 years......
Kinda like how a race horse converted to a buggy puller then asked to race again......the mentality just can't be switched back on....

Kudos to force india, there is a good interview on the F1 site with their principle....

There's still fire in rubino, look for him to suprise, especially if it rains which is always a possibilty at spa....

Webber and vettel have hit a reliabilty problem, I predict their year is over by the next 2 races....

I think it's going to be an exciting unpredictable race....and then it'll rain......

And how about truli? Toyota made the informal threat to pull out next year if they don't win.......

And if fisi shoots over to ferrari for the rest of the year he will be second to massa.....unless big head makes his return, ferrari will not replace massa once he's well enough to drive....

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by bell

Luca is an excelent test driver, if not he wouldn't have been with ferrari for 10 years......
Kinda like how a race horse converted to a buggy puller then asked to race again......the mentality just can't be switched back on....

He never amounted to much when he did race, what he has done here is show Ferrari needed a better test driver when one was relevant.

Kudos to force india, there is a good interview on the F1 site with their principle....

Agreed great showing for a junior team, what a weekend they are having, good for them, one of the things I am loving about this season so varied in result.

There's still fire in rubino, look for him to suprise, especially if it rains which is always a possibilty at spa....

Yes there is, he needs to prove he is not #2 and I think Mr. Braun made that clear to him when he said that you cannot win races without going fast. Seemed to have lit a fire under Rubino.

Webber and vettel have hit a reliabilty problem, I predict their year is over by the next 2 races....

Ferrari engines next year?

I think it's going to be an exciting unpredictable race....and then it'll rain......

Amen my Bill brethren.

And how about truli? Toyota made the informal threat to pull out next year if they don't win.......

Did not know that, what happened to the Trulli train anyway?

And if fisi shoots over to ferrari for the rest of the year he will be second to massa.....unless big head makes his return, ferrari will not replace massa once he's well enough to drive....

Kimi seems to be on his way out.... MS or GF? who knows anymore, its the silly season!!

[bell]

the speed guys explained this different, meaning more to do with toyotas performance than the budget cap.....but who knows.....



BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Toyota is threatening to pull out of Formula One from 2010 because of a dispute over a proposed budget cap.

Team president John Howett said Sunday that unless the teams and governing body FIA could reach an agreement over next season's cost-cuts, the Japanese team could not guarantee its future in the sport.

"From Toyota's perspective, there are a number of concerns that really need clarifications before we commit to the future," Howett said ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. "We want to be here. (But) I would say it is very likely we won't enter unless something changes significantly."

Teams who sign up to the voluntary $60-million cap will be given more technical freedom, which a majority of teams and drivers believe will create an uneven playing field.

"In the case of Toyota, we don't like the idea of a two-tier F1," Howett said.

F1 teams met Sunday to discuss the issue, and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is expected to have a separate meeting with FIA president Max Mosley before the Monaco GP.

Ferrari has been one of the biggest critics of the scheme, and has been backed by the teams who cannot envision the sport's future without the iconic Italian car.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/racing/more/05/10/f1.toyota.ap/index.html?eref=si_motorsports#ixzz0PcY4oqCr

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

its the silly season!!

And that's not a bad thing imho. Certainly it makes you watch because seemingly anything can happen & every race has a different mix. The years of the Schumi train are long gone. Not that it wouldn't be fun to see him race again but his dominance made for some really boring racing.

Ian

[strupgolf]

I thought all the parties had a agreement for next year, NO ?

[Noah930]

Did Fisichella have some unspoken understanding with the Scuderia today?

[Neilk]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Did Fisichella have some unspoken understanding with the Scuderia today?

hmmm, almost. It was just a matter of KERS in all the right places unfortunately.

[legion]

Funny. Raikonnen cuts a corner and gains a position on the first lap and he doesn't get a penalty.

Remind me again what happened last year when someone did that to Raikonnen, and gave the position back?

[imcarthur]

Yes, the double standard is alive again.

from PlanetF1

"If They're Consistent, The Stewards Will Strip Raikkonen Of Victory
Raikkonen's victory presumably remains provisional. Last September, Lewis Hamilton was stripped of victory for 'gaining an advantage' when he cut the chicane before overtaking Raikkonen into the first corner. At the first corner this weekend, Raikkonen, under no apparent pressure to do so, simply carried on onto the run-off area and returned in third place having been fifth at the moment he left the designated racetrack. It looked as deliberate as it was effective."

And did you hear about the OTHER controversy . . .

"Events at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix are under the microscope after the FIA confirmed that it has launched an investigation into the race.
"The FIA can confirm that an investigation is underway regarding alleged events at a previous World Championship race," a spokesperson told Autosport.
Renault's Fernando Alonso won the race despite starting 15th on the grid. He owed much of his success to team-mate Nelson Piquet jr after the Brazilian crashed in the early stages of the race. The crash led to the deployment of the Safety Car and Alonso was perfectly set up for the victory as he refuelled moments before the incident. Brazilian media speculated that Piquet was ordered to crash by the Renault team to help Alonso to take advantage of an early pit stop, but Piquet was quick to deny the reports. However, the issue has come to light again just a few weeks after the French-based squad dropped Piquet jr in July."

Also from PlanetF1 but everybody has the story . . .

Ian

[emcon5]

Originally Posted by legion

Funny. Raikonnen cuts a corner and gains a position on the first lap and he doesn't get a penalty.

Remind me again what happened last year when someone did that to Raikonnen, and gave the position back?

Cutting the corner means you shortened the path. You can't cut the corner at La Source, there is a very unforgiving concrete wall in the way. He went way wide, and traveled quite a bit farther than his competitors.

He also didn't gain a position. He went off in 4th, and rejoined in 4th.

The question is, did he need to go off track to avoid a collision? Lets take a look.

He turned in to La Source in 4th:



Looking at where the the BMW (Heidfeld, I think) was pointing, it was pretty clear there wouldn't be room on the track for Kimi. At this point, Kimi is headed for the runoff area.



Here Heidfeld and Kubica are at track out, and as expected, no room for Kimi.



Here is Kimi coming back on track, still behind Kubica and Heidfeld.



So it does look like he needed to do something to avoid a contact with the BMWs, his options were to go off straight, or jam on the brakes. He couldn't just run wide, as the strip of astroturf looking stuff doesn't have much grip, and it is likely he would have lost it, and possibly collected another car. Had he hit the brakes, he probably would have caused an accordion traffic jam wreck behind him, and probably got hit by Vettel coming up fast behind him.

I don't think what he did there was unreasonable, under the circumstances. Did he get an advantage from going wide? Yeah, he probably did, considering the alternatives were spinning or getting torpedoed after braking hard.

Hamilton did cut the Chicane last year (took a shorter path), and absolutely got a competitive advantage from it. Even after giving the position back, there is no way he would have been close enough to make the pass again had he not cut the chicane.

The Singapore thing is just strange. There is speculation that Piquet threw Renault under the bus, which I guess is possible, but it would be pretty stupid. Several new teams will be looking for drivers next year, and I can't see how that would help him get a ride.

[legion]

Thank you, I knew someone would step up and explain how it was different when Ferrari did it.

BTW, your last picture doesn't clearly show that Raikonen is now in third, not fourth.

[emcon5]

Originally Posted by legion

Thank you, I knew someone would step up and explain how it was different when Ferrari did it.

It being different has nothing to do with it being Ferrari, it has everything to do with it being completely different.

For the record, I am not a Ferrari fan, I am a Kimi fan, but much more so when he was at McLaren. He really hasn't been trying all that hard since he won the World Championship.

I would think the same think if Alonso did it, and I can't stand that one-eyebrow-primadonna-assclown.

BTW, your last picture doesn't clearly show that Raikonen is now in third, not fourth.

Looks like 4th to me, at least from this angle:



This one looks more like he was in 3rd though:



Unfortunately there isn't a direct overhead shot.

But it really doesn't matter, he hit the KERS and was ahead of Kubica and into 3rd before Eau Rouge.

What do you think he should have done?