F1 World Championship 2009 Thread

[Subject Delta]

Should be possible for McLaren to control the race from the position of their 2 cars. What an impressive turnaround in performance

[ahmz]

KERS + front row = Mclaren 1-2 barring any technical issues.

[Subject Delta]

KERS + front row = Mclaren 1-2 barring any technical issues.

Yep, the main question for me is Kovalinen or Hamilton. Kovalinen managed to almost match Hamilton despite theoretically being at a car disadvantage, so if the weight predictions of 1 more lap for Kova are correct, it should be an interesting battle.

Would also like to see Brawn outscore red bull here, and it looks like a plausibility.

[Nicholas-c Veteran]

Kov matched Hamilton but Hamilton will wipe the floor with him when it comes head-to-head.

McLaren and Vettel are all running very light, 3 stop maybe? Brawns got a good runtime with tyres and going for a 2 stop? They have 10kg more on board... Depends if McLaren can make full advantage of the KERS

No matter what, i have been waiting a month for this race, Got steak and beer ready :p Should be a good'n

[Subject Delta]

The KERS will basically prevent them from getting passed off the grid, whether it will contribute a lot to their race pace it is hard to tell, but being lighter on fuel they will need quiet a big push to fend off Barrichello.

Also, would be surprised to see anyone at the front doing 3 stops

[MightyJordan]

Not a bad race. I'm glad to see Barrichello pick up a win. :)

[rob.derosa]

glad raikkonen was on the podium again, the start of the season was dreadful!

[san.W10]

mclaren pit crew's mistake cost hamilton p1

awesome drive by barichello.

Brawn are back in business :D

Barrichello wins again five years later

Rubens Barrichello took an emotional tenth grand prix victory and his first in any car other than a Ferrari with a fighting performance for Brawn GP in the European Grand Prix at Valencia.

The 37-year-old Brazilian drove aggressively and with consistent pressure to pass a McLaren in each of his two stops and drive home relatively un-pressured to score the team's sixth win of the season.

kimi had a fantastic start, jumped to 4th, thereafter he went to sleep i guess, a boring race from him. :D

[Powerless]

Yep, McLaren lost that in the pits, shame everyone apart from McLaren knows this.

[simonlang]

, thereafter he went to sleep i guess, a boring race from him.

very well said! :D

ferrari seems to really miss massa badly, till hungary he usually finished a bit higher than raikkonen, could have as well won hungary (where raikkonen came p3) and valencia (where raikkonen got p3 too).

congrats to rubens! he deserved that win!

[ahmz]

I think Rubens still would of won as he set off some really fast in laps, but it would have been touch n go.

[Martyn]

Made up for Rubens today :)

[Mike]

Yep, McLaren lost that in the pits, shame everyone apart from McLaren knows this.

His 2nd pit stop was what 10s? So that's ~4s lost and he came out ~6s behind Rubens so if they didn't mess it up, he would have been ~2s behind him anyway. Rubens was faster all of the race but was behind Heikki so couldn't show it.

[Shibby]

Well Mclaren are probaly peeved with themselves as they could have won it. However, they're probably delighted that they've got 2 cars which can compete for the top spots. Even the ferrari's where starting to improve.

Did Kimi car have KERS today? If so thats another boost!

[PeteWhite]

Forget the race! Did anyone else notice the two bare breasted beauties about 10 minutes before the start? :D

Pete

[san.W10]

Ferrari may replace Badoer after Spa

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali has left the door open to replace Luca Badoer after the Belgian Grand Prix if the Italian does not manage to raise his game.

Badoer, standing in for the injured Felipe Massa, struggled at the back of the field at the European Grand Prix this weekend.

The Ferrari test driver, who had not raced since 1999, qualified and finished last in the Valencia race, although he had made it clear the event was just a test for him and is hoping to do better at Spa.

Although there were suggestions this weekend that Badoer would keep the seat until Massa is back, Domenicali suggested things could change after the next race.

"What I said exactly, to be precise, is that for us the first priority is to understand when Felipe Massa will come back," Domenicali told reporters after the race.

"For sure it is an important race for Luca Badoer next weekend. We are expecting a big jump from him and then we will see."

The Italian team boss admitted Ferrari cannot afford to have a car finishing at the bottom of the field, especially with the Maranello-based squad now in a close fight for third place with McLaren.

He did praise Badoer's fitness, however, after the Italian finished the race without problems.

"As I have said before, Ferrari cannot be satisfied with a car in last position," he said. "That is pretty clear, but we need to consider all the circumstances and everything that has happened. I think if you look behind it, for sure it was a difficult weekend for him.

"In terms of race pace, if you look to compare to the other young drivers, you can make your opinion.

"He did a great start and then he was touched from behind so he lost a place, and then in terms of rhythm - everyone was worried this morning about his health, worried about that it was not possible for him to get to the finish and that he would have to go to the hospital. But he was very good."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77948

[Subject Delta]

Bad mistake by McLaren, but it is looking good for them to be fast enough to take third place in the constructors championship. Also a far better weekend for Brawn, but I want to wait till next week, when it is meant to be colder to see if they actually are back. However, Button is dropping off alarmingly, he needs to pick his game up.

[Pc_Madness]

Ferrari may replace Badoer after Spa

Geez give the guy a break. Cos hes going to do really well for you now that you've declared him ****.

[Subject Delta]

I think bringing him in was a mistake anyway, he is clearly well out of touch. They should get someone in the car who has been in a race seat within the last couple of years

[ahmz]

To me, Badoer is clearly not a racer.. he let Grosjean passed in the pits!

[MightyJordan]

Forget the race! Did anyone else notice the two bare breasted beauties about 10 minutes before the start? :D

I didn't start watching until just before the start of the race, so do you reckon you could post a picture? :p

I think bringing him in was a mistake anyway, he is clearly well out of touch. They should get someone in the car who has been in a race seat within the last couple of years

Do you reckon they'd go for Bourdais or Piquet?

[san.W10]

Ferrari rules out Schumacher return

Ferrari has ruled out any chance of Michael Schumacher racing for the team this year, despite speculation over the European Grand Prix weekend that the seven-times champion could still make a comeback.

Schumacher had been Ferrari's preferred replacement for the injured Felipe Massa from last weekend's race in Valencia, but an old neck injury forced him to cancel his surprise return to F1.

Although doctors at the time left the door open on Schumacher perhaps being recovered enough to race this season, Ferrari has now revealed that such a prospect can be dismissed.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali, when asked about rumours Schumacher was continuing physical training to prepare for a comeback, said: "I'm happy he is training, but what I can absolutely rule out is that Michael can return this year as a racing driver."

Luca Badoer, who was slotted in to Ferrari's second car, had a torrid time in Valencia and will need to improve dramatically in this weekend's race at Spa if he is to have any chance of keeping hold of the seat for the Italian Grand Prix.

Domenicali said he could not make any prediction for how much better Schumacher would have fared last weekend if it had been him in the car and not Badoer.

"It would have been tough for Michael too, because it's a difficult track and it's new," he explained. "Obviously his approach is always aggressive. Would he have done well? I really think so, because he wouldn't have gone for it if he wasn't confident. As for how well, I'd be dishonest: I don't know. However, he would certainly have done well."

Ferrari will make a decision about its driver plans for after the Belgian Grand Prix when it knows more about the timescale for Massa's return to the cockpit.

Several drivers have already been linked with the team as a temporary stand-in - including Giancarlo Fisichella, Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Bourdais, Nelson Piquet and Nico Hulkenberg.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77965

[Subject Delta]

Do you reckon they'd go for Bourdais or Piquet?

Neither. I would like to see someone like Klien or Liuzzi in the seat, someone who was half decent. I think Bourdais and Piquet flopped pretty badly

[Subject Delta]

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets in a frantic second practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The Englishman's lap of one minute 47.201 seconds saw him snatch the lead in the final two minutes of the 90- minute session at Spa-Francorchamps.

Toyota's Timo Glock was second ahead of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari and the Red Bull of title contender Mark Webber.

Championship leader Jenson Button's Brawn was only 17th, a place ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli led the way in a rain-affected morning practice session but it was bright and sunny in the Ardennes mountains on Friday afternoon.

More to follow

Source: BBC News

Looks as if Brawn really haven't fixed their tyre temp issues. I can see more significant ground loss to RBR this weekend.

[ahmz]

Badoer last.. 2 secs off 1st place and his teammate...and 9 tenths down on 2nd last..