F1 World Championship 2009 Thread

[.mcman]

Renault suspended from European GP

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77354

whoa! :| GP in Spain without Alonso. Ticket sales were bad as it is, but now this is gonna be worse than Turkey.

[san.W10]

Renault appeals stewards' decision

Renault has confirmed that it will appeal the FIA's decision to ban the team from the European Grand Prix for the events that led to a wheel coming off Fernando Alonso's car in Hungary.

The team lodged its paperwork and a deposit for the 6000 Euros fee for the appeal, with a hearing now likely take place in the summer break before the European GP on August 23.

The paperwork, lodged in conjunction with the French motorsport federation, was signed by Renault's team manager Steve Nielsen and was received by the FIA's stewards' advisor Alan Donnelly shortly before 7pm.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77358

[Subject Delta]

Great performance by Lewis, amazed by how good his race pace was, in fact he amazingly seemed to have something over everyone. Truly wonderful to see McLaren back on the top step, and nothing short of a miracle considering they where 2.5s per lap off the pace a week before the season started.

Ferrari... Also an excellent result for them, will put a small bit of a smile on their face after Massa's horrible accident.

Red Bull... Just a bad day at the office, but they are still taking brawn to the cleaners

Brawn... Going backwards at an alarming rate, with McLaren, Renault, and Ferrari starting to hit their form, I feel Brawn are in a very bad place right now.

A very interesting grand prix that.

Also, I feel the punishment for Renault is very harsh based on the evidence I have, but I haven't heard the radio transmissions yet. Knowing the FIA, I doubt they will achieve much with their appeal.

Interesting to see where things go from here, all I can say is Brawn need some developments... fast.

[Mike]

I can't help but think the punishment for Renault is down to the death or Surtees and Massa's accident. I'm also pretty sure Renault, or at least the pit crew, knew the device that attaches to the wheel wasn't on properly and should have done something about it rather than let Alonso carry on.

[Subject Delta]

I suppose, but you have to look at it in comparison to other offences. Vettle tried to drive around in a badly damaged car in Australia on the orders of Red Bull(just as dangerous IMO) and only got a grid penalty for it. I feel Renault have been scapegoated because the FIA want to make it look like they are being serious on safety, blind sided somewhat by the 2 recent accidents. Understandable to an extent, I just feel going to the lengths to ban a competitor are really serious, not to mention pulling cars from a race (particularly one of Alonso's home events) is going to cost Renault, and the race promoters a lot of money, and it is going to also p*** off a lot of fans that payed to see Alonso drive

[arrrgh]

Frankly.. they got off easy considering the recent accidents. Personally I agree with the penalty, extremely poor judgment from Renault. Below the official reasons for the penalty.

1. that Competitor knowingly released car no. 7 from the pit stop position without one of the retaining devices for the wheel-nuts being securely in position, this being an indication that the wheel itself may not have been properly secured,

2. being aware of this failed to take any action to prevent the car from leaving the pit-lane,

3. failed to inform the driver of this problem or to advise him to take appropriate action given the circumstances, even though the driver contacted the team by radio believing he had a puncture,

4. this resulted in a heavy car part detaching at Turn 5 and the wheel itself detaching at Turn 9

Source: http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1_me...document_45.pdf

Edit: Of course the penalty opens fairly interesting option, Ferrari hiring Alonso to drive one GP since it's pretty likely that Massa won't be driving in Valencia.. it would be interesting to see R?ikk?nen and Alonso in the same team...

[Pc_Madness]

1. that Competitor knowingly released car no. 7 from the pit stop position without one of the retaining devices for the wheel-nuts being securely in position

Oh come on, what kind of retards would knowingly do that? Surely them losing a chance at some points is harsh enough. :\

[Antaris Veteran]

Did anyone else let out a little chuckle when Raikkonen stalled in the pits.

It was like "Go go go----, er.... go!"

Great race though, one of the most eventful this season.

[san.W10]

Oh come on, what kind of retards would knowingly do that?

umm... Renault? :p

btw, Renault has done this (loose nut) the second time.

[rob.derosa]

I suppose, but you have to look at it in comparison to other offences. Vettle tried to drive around in a badly damaged car in Australia on the orders of Red Bull(just as dangerous IMO) and only got a grid penalty for it.

Possibly soemthing to do with the fact that a wheel didn't come off :rolleyes:

[GrimReeper]

Did anyone else let out a little chuckle when Raikkonen stalled in the pits.

It was like "Go go go----, er.... go!"

Great race though, one of the most eventful this season.

Yeah I laughed :p Not something you see everyday.

[san.W10]

Valencia tells FIA to think of the fans

European Grand Prix organiser Valmor Sport has called on the FIA to think about the Spanish fans after the Renault team was suspended from the Valencia race.

The French squad will not be able to race in Spain in three weeks time after the Hungarian GP stewards deemed the team had allowed its star driver Fernando Alonso to leave the pitlane with a dangerously loose wheel.

Renault has appealed the decision, but it could mean thousands of Spanish fans who had bought tickets to see Alonso are likely to miss the two-time champion.

The decision will also be a big hit for the race organisers, who had already announced they were reducing the seat capacity for this year's event.

Jorge Martinez Aspar, vice-president of Valmor Sport, said he understood that the FIA is putting safety first, but he says the fans should not be hurt by its decision.

"We believe it (the FIA) must also think of the fans and, as everybody knows, a lot of them have bought tickets to see Fernando Alonso racing in Valencia," Aspar told the EFE news agency.

"We believe they must not be the ones paying for this decision.

"We are going to be looking closely at the verdict of the appeal and we have been in contact with the Spanish Federation, with the Renault team, and with Fernando Alonso's people. We would like to have him on the grid in the Valencia grand prix.

"It would be a shame if he missed the race and we are confident that he will be able to race, although we know it will be hard especially considering the other accidents that took place over the weekend.

"What happened is serious, but we hope it doesn't hurt the European Grand Prix or the fans."

EFE also quoted Campos Meta1 team boss Adrian Campos as saying that Alonso's absence from the race would be "a disaster."

"If things were already not going well for the Valencia grand prix, this is just what was needed," said Campos.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77376

[Subject Delta]

Frankly.. they got off easy considering the recent accidents. Personally I agree with the penalty, extremely poor judgment from Renault. Below the official reasons for the penalty.

Accidents don't necessitate a penalty of this kind, it is nothing more than a knee jerk reaction

Possibly soemthing to do with the fact that a wheel didn't come off :rolleyes:

He was driving around on 3 wheels with one hanging on by a couple of broken suspension pieces, which could of came off at any moment, and with the cars in tight formation behind the safety car. Please don't tell me you can't see why that is dangerous

Edit: Of course the penalty opens fairly interesting option, Ferrari hiring Alonso to drive one GP since it's pretty likely that Massa won't be driving in Valencia.. it would be interesting to see R?ikk?nen and Alonso in the same team...

There is probably something in his contract to prevent him doing that, and I doubt he will anyway

For me, the fans are the real losers here, people who payed to see Alonso drive and won't get to because the FIA have decided that a knee jerk reaction was needed.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Doctor reveal Massa's left eye damaged

Doctors say it is too early to judge whether Felipe Massa will race again after it was revealed on Monday that the Brazilian suffered damage to his left eye in his Hungarian Grand Prix crash.

Massa is still in hospital recovering from a skull fracture and concussion after he was hit in the face by a spring from Rubens Barrichello's car.

Local media quoted the hospital's professor Robert Veres from Budapest as saying that the eye injury could be enough to end Massa's F1 career.

"He has suffered some damage to the eye," said Veres. "We don't know whether he'll be able to race again."

The AEK hospital in Budapest is scheduled to hold a press conference this evening to update the media on Massa's injuries.

The spring struck Massa just above his left eye, smashing his helmet and fracturing his skull.

Doctors also confirmed on Monday that the operation that was conducted on Saturday afternoon saved Massa's life.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo visited Massa in hospital on Monday.

News source: Autosport

[Mike]

He was driving around on 3 wheels with one hanging on by a couple of broken suspension pieces, which could of came off at any moment, and with the cars in tight formation behind the safety car. Please don't tell me you can't see why that is dangerous

Vettel's wheel was held on by the tether and was unlikely to break as it's designed not to. He also parked it a short while after being told to do so by his team after they found out about it. They still got fined and a grid penalty though. The point is, Red Bull did something to stop it whereas Renault left the wheel to fall off and go bouncing down the track.

[san.W10]

Full recovery possible for Massa

Felipe Massa's condition is continuing to improve as doctors at the AEK Hospital in Hungary, where the Brazilian driver is being treated, denied earlier reports of eye damage and instead suggested he could make a full recovery.

Colonel Dr. Lajos Zsiros, the chief surgeon of the Hungarian Defence Forces, told a news conference on Monday that the 28-year-old had been woken from sedation on Monday afternoon, and was unlikely to be sedated again.

"In the last 24 hours some major changes have gone through in the condition of Felipe Massa," said Zsiros. "His condition continues to be stable.

"During the CT-scan we performed we could ascertain that there was an improvement in his condition. We stopped sedation and after that Felipe Massa became capable of making contact."

"So in the afternoon we stopped the artificial ventilation of Felipe. As we speak he is sleepy, but he gives adequate answers to the questions we ask him, and he can move his arms and legs spontaneously."

"Right now he has no fever, and we have removed the drain tube from his wound. Further improvement of his condition can be expected. During the night we do not plan to do any more interventions on him."

Zsiros denied the earlier reports that Massa had injured his left eye, which led to speculation about his future participation in Formula 1.

The doctor explained that it was in fact too early to tell if there was any damage because Massa was still unable to open the eye: "we can give no positive neither negative answer to this, because at this stage the vision cannot be examined."

Zsiros made it clear however that a full recovery was still entirely possible for the Brazilian.

"There is no such thing as 'this condition', because every case is different," he pointed out. "Of course it isn't impossible."

When asked when they will be able to determine if Massa has suffered any kind of lasting injury, Zsiros said: "There is no interval which we can define, but I would say it should be from one week to ten days."

He added that Massa would remain in intensive care as long as his condition made that necessary.

Dino Altmann, the Chief Medical Officer of the Brazilian Grand Prix, who also attended the news conference, confirmed Massa was now able to speak.

"He spoke, he wanted to know what happened to him. And he had some questions," Altmann revealed. "I would like to say that the family is very happy with the treatment Felipe is receiving here, and there's no question about transfer at the moment."

Altmann said they haven't asked Massa yet if he was able to remember the accident. He also explained that the operation on Saturday, which doctors described as "life-saving", was performed because of the skull damage, not because of brain swelling.

A spokesman for the AEK hospital confirmed Massa's family were already in Budapest, and a room was made available for them so they could stay with him at all times.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77383

[Subject Delta]

Vettel's wheel was held on by the tether and was unlikely to break as it's designed not to. He also parked it a short while after being told to do so by his team after they found out about it. They still got fined and a grid penalty though. The point is, Red Bull did something to stop it whereas Renault left the wheel to fall off and go bouncing down the track.

Red Bull only did that because they where ordered to, initially they told him to keep going. Doing anything but telling him to park it immediately was still stupid IMO

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

It's safe to say that Massa won't be racing again this year. Who do you think is going to replace him for the remainder of the season?

German media are speculating/hoping for Michael Schumacher to drive the number 3 Ferrari. Which I don't think he'd do to himself to be honest.

[.mcman]

Who do you think is going to replace him for the remainder of the season?

Realistically thinking it will be Gene. But I hope Schumacher agrees to replace Massa and we will see a few fights between him and Hamilton.

But of course I wish Felipe full and quick recovery so he can return to where he belongs.

[Shibby]

Well I really hope Massa stays on to race in F1, although he won't race this year. As for Micheal racing again, I'm sure quite a lot of F1 fans would love to see that.

[Nicholas-c Veteran]

i imagine they have a backup driver but people at work and my mates all think Michael Schumacher

[CrashG]

I'd love to Schumacher get back into a F1 car, but I doubt that will happen. Aren't Ferrari looking at Nico Hulkenberg (to replace Kimi) for next year? Could be that they bring him in early.

[san.W10]

Michael Schumacher should replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari, says Niki Lauda

• Lauda: Michael Schumacher is Ferrari's best option

•'The test drivers are useless,' says former champion

The former world champion Niki Lauda called for Michael Schumacher to make an unexpected return to Formula One racing as a replacement for the injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

Schumacher, the seven-times world champion, retired in 2006, but Lauda said he is the best candidate to take Massa's seat after the Brazilian suffered a freak accident in qualifying for the Hungarian grand prix.

"Who is available? There is nobody available anywhere near Michael's performance," said Lauda before today's race at the Hungaroring.

Ferrari are almost certain to need a replacement for Massa after the 28-year-old suffered a serious head injury when struck on the head by debris yesterday. Massa was in a stable condition after emergency surgery to multiple skull fractures, but will be kept under sedation for the next 48 hours.

Lauda, who in 1976 returned to racing after a near-fatal crash, believes it will be two to three months before Massa can consider racing again.

"He needs to take a decision, and for the whole business of Formula One, he [schumacher] would improve it by 20 to 30 per cent interest," added the Austrian. "But this is a question nobody can answer because nobody knows what Schumacher is doing."

Lauda, who won two world titles with Ferrari, questioned whether the Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo had any more favourable options. "Who else is he going to ring? The test drivers are useless, and there is nobody else here if you think about it," said the 60-year-old.

"But this is a principal decision of him [schumacher], for him to consider this. If he doesn't want to, the idea is finished in the same second."

Schumacher's manager Willi Weber told Germany's SID news agency that he doubted the champion would consider coming back. "I don't see it," he said. "Ferrari have two good test drivers who are keen to sit in the car if it is available."

The 38-year-old Italian Luca Badoer, who failed to score a point in 49 races for Scuderia Italia, Minardi and Forti between 1993 and 1999, and 35-year-old Spaniard Marc Gen? are Ferrari's official reserve drivers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/jul/2...da-felipe-massa

--------------------

Ferrari could turn to Michael Schumacher to replace Felipe Massa>

Edward Gorman, The Times Motor Racing Correspondent, says the return of the seven-times champion in place of the injured Brazilian cannot be ruled out. He talks to Ben Smith

What is the latest on the situation with Felipe Massa and Ferrari, and who is most likely to replace him for the remainder of the season? [/i]>

Nothing can be ruled out or in for Ferrari at the moment. They don't yet know the extent of the injuries to Felipe, they don't know if he will ever be able to drive again or indeed if he does return, whether that would be this season or next. Everything is up in the air.

Ferrari's biggest concern is who they put in the car in Valencia in three weeks' time. Mark Gene is their third driver but there is a growing feeling that it is unlikely he will be risked. Luca Badoer is another who could come in, but one alternative is Michael Schumacher, who is still contracted to Ferrari, but who hasn't driven competitively since the end of the 2006 season.

It would be a spectacular story if it did happen and at this stage it certainly can't be ruled out. A potential problem could be an injury that Schumacher is carrying after a motorbike accident he had in February. He damaged his back and his shoulder in that fall but it is unclear to what extent that would limit his ability to drive a Formula One car.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/for...icle6728753.ece

[GrimReeper]

I think it would be awesome if Michael Schumacher replaced Massa but I don't think it will happen.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Schumacher would consider return

Michael Schumacher is not ruling out the possibility of standing in for injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

The Brazilian is recovering in hospital after suffering a fractured skull at the Hungarian Grand Prix and is likely to be out for the rest of the year.

"The whole thing will be considered by Ferrari. If they approach Michael, then he will consider it," the seven-time champion's spokeswoman told BBC Sport.

"But there is no reason for him to step into their discussion."

Schumacher, who retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 2006 season, told the BBC in an interview at the German Grand Prix two weeks ago that he was not interested in returning to F1.

However, his spokeswoman Sabine Kehm said that was a reference to a permanent return.

"Usually, I would say he's not interested because he's fine with his life and he doesn't miss anything but now the situation is so different - it's very hypothetical - and Michael doesn't want to step into that [discussion]," she stated.

She added that Schumacher still trained every day but that she did not know whether he was fit enough to race an F1 car again.

"Michael had a motorcycle accident in February when he had a neck problem - and I really can't tell you if his neck would be fine to drive an F1 race," she said.

"If Ferrari asked him whether he would consider driving, he would have it checked - and remember he is a 40-year-old man, too."

Massa has had surgery on a fractured skull sustained when a spring from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn hit him on the helmet at more than 160mph during qualifying in Hungary on Saturday.

He is in a "severe but not critical" condition, according to the hospital that is treating him in Budapest and there is also concern about damage to his left eye.

The surgeon treating him, Robert Veres, revealed it was "too early to say" whether Massa would be able to compete again.

But he will almost certainly not be able to drive at the next race, the European Grand Prix in Valencia in Spain on 23 August - and probably not for the rest of the year either.

That means Ferrari need to find a team-mate for Kimi Raikkonen for the Valencia race.

Schumacher, who won a record 91 grands prix in his career, is under contract to the team after taking on a consultancy role following his retirement.

The German is close to Massa, who was his team-mate in his final season, and has taken a close interest in the Brazilian's career.

But he has not driven an F1 car since 2007 and may consider that he has nothing to gain from a temporary return.

A number of other drivers have been mentioned as possible replacements for Massa.

Among them is Renault's Fernando Alonso, who is expected to move to Ferrari in 2010 anyway - although the team have not confirmed that report and the Spaniard has denied it.

Renault have been banned from the Valencia race after allowing Alonso to return to the track with a loose wheel following a pit stop.

The wheel and its fairing both became detached from the car as he toured slowly back to the pits - an alarming sight only 24 hours after Massa's accident.

Renault have appealed against the decision to suspend them and a hearing of the court of appeal of governing body the FIA is expected in the next couple of weeks.

It has been speculated that Alonso's move to Ferrari may simply be brought forward - but that would leave Renault without a recognised top driver for the rest of the season.

The team were on the verge of sacking Alonso's team-mate Nelson Piquet before the Hungarian race and while Alonso, a two-time world champion, qualified on pole in Hungary, Piquet qualified 15th and finished 12th in a similar car.

Ferrari have two reserve drivers, the Spaniard Marc Gene and the veteran Italian Luca Badoer.

Spaniard Gene - who raced intermittently for Williams as a stand-in during 2003/2004 and has competed in 36 races with a best result of sixth - is the more likely to be given the drive.

Badoer has been a test driver for Ferrari but has not raced since 1999 and has never scored a world championship point.

A number of other drivers have been mentioned as possible stand-ins.

The most qualified, Schumacher aside, is BBC F1 pundit David Coulthard, who won 13 grands prix before retiring at the end of last season. He is under contract to Red Bull, who would need to give him permission to race if Ferrari approached him.

Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais, who was sacked by the Toro Rosso team before the Hungarian Grand Prix, has been mentioned as he has the same manager as Massa - Frenchman Nicolas Todt.

And last winter, Italian Formula Three champion Mirko Bortolotti reportedly impressed Ferrari in a test. The 19-year-old is racing in Formula Two this season.

News source: BBC Sport