F1 World Championship 2009 Thread

[Subject Delta]

Ecclestone sure Schumacher will shine

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77553

Is this the same Bernie Ecclestone that predicted that McLaren where sandbagging, and would be fast in Melbourne at the start of the season?

[san.W10]

Brawn not ruling out Schumacher win

Ross Brawn says he is convinced Michael Schumacher could win a race this season if the Ferrari is competitive enough.

The seven-time world champion is set to return to racing action at the European Grand Prix later this month, when he will replace the injured Felipe Massa for at least that race.

Schumacher has not driven this year's F60 car and he hasn't raced at the Valencia street circuit before.

But Brawn, who masterminded Schumacher's titles at Ferrari before the German retired, is sure the former champion will be competitive.

"I'm convinced he will be [strong]," Brawn told Gazzetta dello Sport. "I still remember the great race he did in Brazil in 2006.

"Of course it's obvious that he has to familiarise himself with the car, but I'm sure that if he doesn't win one of the remaining races of the season it will not be his fault, but because Ferrari is not in a winning position."

He added: "For him, after Massa's terrible accident, it was natural to say yes given the state of need of his old team. In my opinion there is also another aspect to consider: the fact that this is for a limited time.

"I mean, Michael returns with his usual determination and seriousness, but above all with the intention of having fun. Personally, I admit I'm excited and can't wait to see him at work."

Brawn reckons the slick tyres should be the biggest unknown for Schumacher, but the team boss believes not even that will pose a big problem for the German driver.

"Formula 1 has not changed much in terms of driving," Brawn said. "The biggest thing Michael will face is the slick tyres. But this is not a disadvantage because these tyres make the behaviour of the car more predictable.

"It's true he doesn't know Valencia, but the simulator will have helped him."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77575

[san.W10]

Exclusive interview with Felipe Massa

[san.W10]

Schumacher to test F2007 again

Michael Schumacher is to borrow an F2007 from Ferrari's historic Clienti department once again so he can conduct a two-day test at Mugello from tomorrow ahead of his F1 comeback.

With Ferrari's request for a testing exemption to allow Schumacher to drive an F60 having been rejected by Williams, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso, Schumacher has taken matters into his own hands and decided to get some more F1 experience himself.

Having already conducted one day in the F2007, loaned by the F1 Clienti historic cars division, last month, Schumacher has requested the loan of the car once again so he can conduct two more days of running, on the GP2-spec tyres that the historic cars normally run on. His test will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

AUTOSPORT understands that Schumacher is paying for the test himself, which will be overseen by members of the Clienti department and not involve Ferrari F1 team members.

Since confirming he will be making an F1 return, Schumacher has been pushing himself hard to get back to race fitness. He spent time testing karts at Lonato and has been working on his strength and endurance.

Schumacher's progress is being overseen by doctors, who are keeping a close eye on his condition and have been conducting a series of medical tests to ensure he is ready for an F1 return in Valencia.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77609

[Antaris Veteran]

Exclusive interview with Felipe Massa

Glad to see he is doing ok, that looks like some serious work on his eye :s

I'm not sure how quickly he's gonna return to racing, he needs to take a long recovery period and recuperate.

[MightyJordan]

Schumacher calls off F1 comeback!

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/11082009/58/...s-comeback.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaon...ng-Ferrari.html

[S.MULLA]

Shame hes not coming back now :(

I wonder who will replace Massa now? The Stig maybe?

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Shame hes not coming back now :(

I wonder who will replace Massa now? The Stig maybe?

No:

Badoer to replace Massa at Valencia

Luca Badoer has been drafted in as the temporary replacement for Felipe Massa for the European Grand Prix, after Michael Schumacher was forced to abandon his F1 comeback.

Schumacher had hoped to fill-in for Massa at the forthcoming races, but a neck injury picked up in a motorcycle accident has forced him to call off his F1 return.

As a result, Ferrari will promote its test driver Badoer to the race position for the next race in Valencia, as a reward for his many years of efforts with the team.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said: "I am very unhappy that a problem means that Michael cannot return to racing.

"In the past few days, I could appreciate his great efforts and extraordinary motivation which had spread through the team and fans around the world. No doubt his return would have been good for Formula 1 and I am sure it would have seen him fighting for wins again.

"In the name of Ferrari and all the fans, I wish to thank him for the strong attachment he displayed for the team in these circumstances.

"In agreement with Stefano Domenicali, we have therefore decided to give Luca Badoer the chance to race for the Scuderia after he has put in so many years of hard work as a test driver."

The 38-year-old Italian has been a Ferrari test driver since 1998 and last raced in 1999, for Minardi.

Source: Autosport

[san.W10]

i was really happy when MS said he's coming back.

now :(

i hope he can atleast do a race or two near the end of season.

[Martyn]

:(

[Subject Delta]

Well I suppose that's that then. Will be interesting to see if he ever regains fitness to drive before the end of the season

[Nicholas-c Veteran]

A backup/test driver stepping in for a missing race driver... What kind of mad world is this!!!

Anyways. Will be sad not to see him but good luck none the less

[Subject Delta]

The amount of behind the scene work done by Badoer and Gene in my opinion makes it only fair that they should be recognised and rewarded with a chance. Whilst Michael is undoubtedly one of the greatest talents in the history of the sport, in my opinion it is a fairer deal for Ferrari to reward one of the test drivers who have done the team so many years of good service with a chance to step into the race car.

Also, I feel Michael's return may have disappointed his fans anyway as my personal opinion is that it may not have lived up to all their expectations.

[RadishTM Veteran]

Awww dammit :(

Radish?

[Crazysah]

Since it is for Micheal Schumacher's personal health, I stand by his decision not to race.

[san.W10]

Grosjean poised to replace Piquet

Romain Grosjean is on standby to replace Nelson Piquet at Renault for the European Grand Prix should the team overturn its exclusion from the next event on the calendar, AUTOSPORT has learned.

Renault is facing an FIA International Court of Appeal hearing in Paris on Monday against its one-race ban for allowing Fernando Alonso to return to the track at the Hungarian Grand Prix with his front right wheel not fully attached.

Until the outcome of that hearing is known, Renault is unable to confirm its plans for the next race - even though it has already informed Nelson Piquet that he will not drive for them any more.

Grosjean currently lies second in the GP2 standings behind Nico Hulkenberg.

Should Renault succeed in having the punishment reduced, perhaps to a major fine, then Grosjean is top of the list to be slotted in alongside Fernando Alonso from the European GP.

AUTOSPORT understands that Grosjean has already had a seat-fitting at Renault's Enstone factory for the R29, and has conducted practice starts during straight line testing.

Piquet's departure from Renault came after a disappointing second season for the team, where he failed to score any points up until the Hungarian GP.

After being informed that he had been dropped, Piquet launched a scathing attack on team boss Flavio Briatore - who he labelled as his "executioner" in a statement.

Plans are already underway for Grosjean to be replaced at the Barwa Addax team in GP2.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77622

[MightyJordan]

Not gonna happen. They breached safety rules, they deserve to be suspended.

[Unimatrix Xero]

personally i think Shue is a cocky ass little racer, who only likes it if he is getting his own way, i happy that hes not coming back to F1, it was boring as hell having him win all the while

[Vault Boy]

Dissapointed he's pulled out, would have been exciting I think. Also, if Brawn doesn't start picking up some more points it's highly likely that Red Bull will win constructors championship, and also possible for Vettel or Webber to win. I would be highly gutted, really want to see Button do it!

[Subject Delta]

Not gonna happen. They breached safety rules, they deserve to be suspended.

I disagree, I think it was a knee jerk reaction by the FIA. The only people being punished are the Spanish fans that payed to see Alonso race. However the FIA being like they are, it is unlikely for Renault to win anything on appeal

[san.W10]

I disagree, I think it was a knee jerk reaction by the FIA. The only people being punished are the Spanish fans that payed to see Alonso race. However the FIA being like they are, it is unlikely for Renault to win anything on appeal

They really did deserve the penalty.

Did you see the wheel cap flying off Alonso's car?

what if someone was driving behind him at that time? It would have been another Massa like accident, only much worse.

And then the wheel coming off, which is not a joke.

maybe Renault refuses to learn from that GP2 accident?

It was the teams' fault & FIA did send a clear warning to everyone with the penalty.

And excusing a Team for fans' sake?

noway.

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

Q & A with Michael Schumacher

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77634

Prost: Schumacher made the right call

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77630

Ecclestone agrees to earlier Sepang start

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has agreed to move the start time of the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix forward an hour to 4pm, in a bid to avoid a repeat of this year's lighting problems...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77639

Piquet: Briatore is ignorant about F1

Nelson Piquet has renewed his attack on his former boss Flavio Briatore - claiming the Renault chief is 'ignorant' about Formula 1.

Having already labelled Briatore as his 'executioner' in an outspoken statement issued in the wake of him being dropped by the team, Piquet has again aimed his anger at the flamboyant Italian in a controversial interview with this week's AUTOSPORT.

"He is ignorant about Formula 1," said Piquet. "Maybe because of all the things that didn't favour me put me so low that he just didn't care. He didn't understand what is going on with the team.

"If you listen to the pit-wall radio, it's like a joke. He hasn't got a clue what is happening in the race. Sometimes he asks if a driver has slick or wet tyres when it is obvious.

"Everyone knows that his ego is bigger than anything else. He likes to show off. You can be a very good businessman and whatever, but the F1 team itself can do very well without him. When I first started he would attend all of the meetings and briefings, but taking away the business side, he makes comments that don't make any sense.

"The only good thing the team takes out of him is his good relationship with Bernie and the FIA. Other than that, he doesn't know what is going on. It's like listening to something my sister would say about the car. Pat Symonds is the guy who really understands what is going on with the team."

Briatore has declined to comment about Piquet's statements.

Piquet says he has no qualms about having gone on the attack in his statement and the AUTOSOPRT interview after his dismissal from Renault.

"We're free to say whatever we feel like and I don't see why more drivers don't do that," he said. "It was important for everyone to know what has been going on and not to hide like a lot of other drivers tend to do because they are scared that it could put their career in danger."

The full interview with Piquet, which includes his thoughts on Fernando Alonso, team equality, his contract and his future, is in this week's AUTOSPORT magazine.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77638

[Subject Delta]

They really did deserve the penalty.

Did you see the wheel cap flying off Alonso's car?

what if someone was driving behind him at that time? It would have been another Massa like accident, only much worse.

And then the wheel coming off, which is not a joke.

maybe Renault refuses to learn from that GP2 accident?

It was the teams' fault & FIA did send a clear warning to everyone with the penalty.

And excusing a Team for fans' sake?

noway.

Yes I did actually watch the race, however I get the impression that you didn't actually see Henry Surtees' accident. The driver in front of him hit a wall and his wheel came off, totally different to what happened to Alonso. I believe the team should have told Alonso to pull off the circuit, but I just feel a complete exclusion is harsh and unnecessary, considering Vettel was also driving round in Melbourne with one wheel half hanging off for more than a lap on the orders of Red Bull and they never got excluded. And that was arguably just as dangerous considering they where in tight formation behind the safety car at the time.

[revvo]

**** YEAH!

Grand Prix returning to Montreal

Montreal Mayor G?rald Tremblay and Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone finally are seeing eye-to-eye, and the result is a return of the Grand Prix to the city.

Tremblay on Thursday said a tentative deal has been reached to bring back the race for 2010. A date and other event details have yet to be finalized.

Montreal was dropped from the 2009 F1 calendar after negotiations with race organizers collapsed.

It was the first time in 22 years that F1 cars had not raced at a Montreal track.

For several months, municipal, provincial and federal government officials travelled to London to persuade Ecclestone to reinstate the race, but he refused.

Since then, the tables turned because of the economy and ongoing troubles in Formula One circles, Tremblay said.

Negotiations slowed in recent months when it was reported F1 wanted $175 million to keep the race in Montreal for five years. The city government said that was too much.

In June, Tremblay suggested Ecclestone wanted to come back to Montreal because drivers and teams were pressuring him to hold a race in North America to raise the profile of the troubled racing industry.

source: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2009/08/13/...x-montreal.html

[san.W10]

Yes I did actually watch the race, however I get the impression that you didn't actually see Henry Surtees' accident. The driver in front of him hit a wall and his wheel came off, totally different to what happened to Alonso. I believe the team should have told Alonso to pull off the circuit, but I just feel a complete exclusion is harsh and unnecessary, considering Vettel was also driving round in Melbourne with one wheel half hanging off for more than a lap on the orders of Red Bull and they never got excluded. And that was arguably just as dangerous considering they where in tight formation behind the safety car at the time.

in redbull incident, FIA didnt punish them enough. maybe FIA has realised their own mistake & gave correct punishment to the careless team this time.

because of Renault's carelessness, the spanish fans are paying the price.

[Subject Delta]

Possibly, lets just hope the FIA overhaul the system so penalties are all fair and consistent. Still, I personally thing a grid penalty would have been better than an outright exclusion.

And its great to hear F1 is coming back to montreal, great circuit and things always seem to happen there