F1 World Championship 2009 Thread

[Nicholas-c Veteran]

12 days until the start of the season, get them engines reving... because we are go go go! here for 2009 neowin.net thread!

Alot of news, hype and alot less money around this season, Will hamilton live up to his #1 spot or will he have competition like non other this season ?

This season we will see 17 races starting in the well known Melbourne circuit and finishing with a new circuit.

In this 2009 season BBC takes control of viewing inside the UK once again which means no advert breaks but a whole new team of commentators and presenters, along side new F1 rules and regulations

New 2009 Regulations

http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/rules_an...gulations/8692/

Offical BBC site:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/default.stm

Offical F1 site:

http://www.formula1.com

Race 1:

Australia Grand prix - Melbourne

Race Date: 29 Mar 2009

Number of Laps: 58

Circuit Length: 5.303 km

Race Distance: 307.574 km

Lap Record: 1:24.125 - M Schumacher (2004)

2008 Winner: Lewis Hamilton

2009 Winner: --

Race 2:

Malaysian Grand prix - Petronas

Race Date: 05 Apr 2009

Number of Laps: 56

Circuit Length: 5.543 km

Race Distance: 310.408 km

Lap Record: 1:34.223 - JP Montoya (2004)

2008 Winner: Kimi R?ikk?ne2009 Winner:b> --Race 3: bChinese Grand prixb>

Race Date:b> 19 Apr 200Number of Laps:b> 5Circuit Length:b> 5.451 kRace Distance:b> 305.066 kLap Record:b> 1:32.238 - M Schumacher (20042008 Winner:b> -2009 Winner:b> -- Race 4: bBahrain Grand prixb>

Race Date:b> 26 Apr 200Number of Laps:b> 5Circuit Length:b> 5.412 kRace Distance:b> 308.238 kLap Record:b> 1:30.252 - M Schumacher (20042008 Winner:b> Felipe Mass2009 Winner:b> -- Race 5: bSpanish Grand prixb>

Race Date:b> 10 May 200Number of Laps:b> 6Circuit Length:b> 4.655 kRace Distance:b> 307.104 kLap Record:b> 1:21.670 - K Raikkonen (20082008 Winner:b> Kimi R?ikk?2009 Winner: --

Edited March 14, 2009 by Nicholas-c

[Popcorned1]

Hamilton to win, of course :)

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Nitpick: It's Brawn GP, not Honda anymore.

Button will be WDC and Brawn GP WCC.

[CrashG]

I think you know who I'm cheering for :shiftyninja: but I hope it's a good season for all teams/drivers.

Go Massa and Ferrari!

I really hope all the aerodynamic changes and the KERS provide more passing opportunities and make the races even more exciting.

[Popcorned1]

+Mephistopheles : Button, really? Do you know something we don't?

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

+Mephistopheles : Button, really? Do you know something we don't?

This. The times Brawn GP achieved during the Barcelona test can't be a coincidence. No, they look like a genuine title contender.

What helps them is that a) the former Honda team concentrated on the 2009 car very early in the 2008 season and b) apparently it was relatively easy to fit the Mercedes engine into the existing design once the engine deal was finished. Hence the stellar performance of the team. I fully expect them to be able to consistently race at the head of the field.

[CrashG]

+Mephistopheles : Button, really? Do you know something we don't?

The BrawnGP cars have been quite fast in testing.

Rubens Barrichello Q&A: We will be the surprise of 2009

[Popcorned1]

Btw, Nicholas-c. There's more than 5 races this season. Get bored or something ;) :p

[simonlang]

my vote goes to felipe massa and ferrari.

brawn gp will be the surprise of the year, but ferrari has way more experience.

[digitalsoft]

Still going to gun for Hamilton and McLaren this year. Very much looking forward to see Brawn GP with Button though, new engine supply and a company under the control of Brawn can only be a good thing!

[84Mark]

Yeah Brawn have looked impressive pre season.

Has anyone seen this, it's pretty cool:

[sundayx Veteran]

I'll vote after I watch the first race, too many changes and variables to sway my choices.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Err... who voted for Nakajima as WDC? Surely that has to have been a mistake.

[Rappy Veteran]

Err... who voted for Nakajima as WDC? Surely that has to have been a mistake.

There's always one :laugh:

I voted Hamilton (Y)

[brentaal]

I voted for R?ikk?nen, hopefully he's ended his hibernation period.

[+John. Subscriber¹]

I'm gonna wait until Melbourne. These new rules and regulations have thrown things wide open. It depends on which drivers have taken to them naturally.

[Shibby]

Its quite hard to say at the moment.

I don't think things will change that much with the exception of Brawn GP. I just think things will be much tighter than last year.

Suti and Force India to win!

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Brawn GP were significantly faster than the others again today:

Pos  Driver		Team					  Time	  Laps
 1.  Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes	   (B)  1:19.236  107
 2.  Alonso		Renault			  (B)  1:19.819  40
 3.  Hulkenberg	Williams-Toyota	  (B)  1:20.015  69

Source: Autosport

The 1:19:236 wasn't done on extremely low fuel either; it was the second-to-last lap of a 7 lap stint.

[Popcorned1]

Wow, that's impressive. I hope we see some good overtaking manoeuvres including Hamilton + Button.

Maybe we could even go for Hamilton 1st, Button 2nd for the WC :)

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Wow, that's impressive. I hope we see some good overtaking manoeuvres including Hamilton + Button.

Maybe we could even go for Hamilton 1st, Button 2nd for the WC :)

Surely you've read this article:

McLaren says new car not fast enough

McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh has openly admitted the MP4-24 is not as competitive as the team was hoping it would be at this point of the pre-season.

The team has failed to be close to the top of the timesheets in testing, with both Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen failing to make an impression, leading to suggestions that the team had problems with the car.

On Friday, Whitmarsh confirmed that was the case, admitting the team has found a performance shortfall that it is working hard to rectify.

"Initial testing of MP4-24, which first ran with an interim aero package, went in accordance with our early developmental expectations," said Whitmarsh.

"This week the car has run in Barcelona with an updated aero package, as we had always planned it would, and a performance shortfall has been identified that we are now working hard to resolve."

When asked if the car was fast enough at the moment, he added: "Not at the moment - and certainly not by our team's extremely high standards.

"But Lewis is the reigning world champion, and he became world champion in one of our cars.

"So anything less than success at that level is naturally regarded as unsatisfactory by us, by our partners, by the media and by the fans. Having said that, McLaren has started 648 grands prix. We have won 162 of them and have recorded 431 podium finishes.

"We are proud of our record and have faith in our engineers' ability to work hard to get MP4-24 into a position to add to that record. They are already engaged in doing exactly that."

Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug said the problems will need time before they are solved.

"We are definitely not where we want to be. We will continue our test programme next week at Jerez for another four days. But it will take time to improve," Haug said.

Whitmarsh, however, said the team will be working flat out to rectify the situation and he is convinced the problems are fixable.

"It is a combination of factors," said Whitmarsh of the car's problems. "Our Mercedes-Benz engine is strong - we saw that last year - so MP4-24's performance shortfall is clearly chassis-centric.

"Inevitably, in 21st-century Formula 1, it is a car's aero aspect that confers the greatest pluses and minuses to its overall performance package, and that would appear to be the case with MP4-24. But Formula 1 engineers can do great things when the pressure is on.

"Speaking to them today, I was struck by their resolute determination to address MP4-24's issues in record time. In fact, it is that kind of resolute determination, coupled with expertise and experience of ultra-high technology and the ability to work accurately and quickly under pressure, that makes Formula 1 the great sport and the tremendous engineering challenge it is."

He added: "Many times in Formula 1 history have successful teams started off with a car that was not working as well as they had hoped it would, and many times have those successful teams engineered their way back to the front of the grid in impressively short order. That is what we aim to do. In fact, that is what we are already doing."

Unless they've been massively sandbagging during the latest tests or manage to massively improve the obvious aerodynamical problems of the MP/4-24 McLaren will be lucky not to be lapped by Brawn GP et al. come Melbourne. And with in-season-testing being outlawed for this year improvements will be even more difficult to achieve.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Today's testing results:

Pos  Driver		Team					  Time	 Laps
 1.  Alonso		Renault			  (B)  1:18.343   99
 2.  Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes	   (B)  1:18.398   62
 3.  Button		Brawn-Mercedes	   (B)  1:18.892   12
 4.  Hamilton	  McLaren-Mercedes	 (B)  1:19.513   85
 5.  Rosberg	   Williams-Toyota	  (B)  1:19.783  123

[Martyn]

I hope one of Massa/Koevalinen/Alonso wins the title this season :)

Exciting times for Formula 1 though at the moment.

[Dark_ph0enix]

Ya know, I've got nothing but respect and admiration for Ross Brawn, but surely even he can't have pulled off what the testing times seem to be suggesting? Ferrari have gotta be holding something back (incidentialy, I love how they're already dropping hints Re: The legality of Brawns' "interpretation of the new design rules") - I just can't believe that even with a guy like Ross at the helm, and the fact they focused on the 2009/10 car before everyone else, they're genuinely that far ahead of everyone.

That being said, despite being a Brit, I'd absolutely love it if Rubens won this year - the lil guy is loved by everyone, so if Hamilton or Kubica can't win it, I'm all for the lil Brazilian taking home the big title :)

[Shibby]

I'm sure someone has said before, they've spent most of the 2008 season, while still racing, desiging the new car.

Teams will always question one another car and if they are legal or not. While the main leaders like ferrari and mclaren have spent most of last season still on the same car always tweaking and changing in an attempt to win the title. While the other lesser teams probably cut off early and started to design.

[.mcman]

I still don't think that they are as fast as their testing times suggesting. I would be really surprised even if they will have third fastest car in Australia.