F1 World Championship 2009 Thread

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Not the most exciting race, but you couldn't expect much overtaking on the track in Singapore.

Pity that Button had to take it easy in the end, he and Vettel could have provided some great racing in the closing laps.

Reject of the race: Adrian Sutil. What the **** was he thinking?

[what]

Reject of the race: Adrian Sutil. What the **** was he thinking?

"**** it, I'm not waiting for the whole pack to pass me before I carry on"? :p

[Lovell]

Shame about Rosberg, seems a bit harsh to give him a drive through penalty for going over the white line.

[Subject Delta]

Not the most exciting race, but you couldn't expect much overtaking on the track in Singapore.

Pity that Button had to take it easy in the end, he and Vettel could have provided some great racing in the closing laps.

Reject of the race: Adrian Sutil. What the **** was he thinking?

Amen to that, probably one of the stupid things I have seen a driver do all season. Think he has been very fortunate to escape with a fine for that one, I feel a grid penalty was deserved.

Shame about Rosberg, seems a bit harsh to give him a drive through penalty for going over the white line.

Yep, I have never really understood that rule, but it is rather rare to see it happen at any rate. Really costly error by Rosberg, he will be really upset with himself.

Also, great piece of damage limitation by Brawn, it will be hard to see anyone else taking the title now, with the massive advantage they have in both titles, also thought it was a bit harsh to force Webber to let 2 cars past him, especially considering what the stewards let Raikkonen get away with in Monza.

Oh and A brilliant performance by Hamilton. Also, only 3 points between McLaren and Ferrari in the battle for third place now. Gotta say that with McLaren having an apparently significant pace advantage over Ferrari at the moment, with them falling back through stopping development I will be surprised if McLaren don't capture 3rd, which will be a massive save considering how bad their car was at the start of the season.

Edited September 28, 2009 by Frank Fontaine

[CrashG]

Yep, I have never really understood that rule

It's not just about crossing some line painted on the track. It's there to keep them from pulling straight onto the track (and most likely into traffic) after leaving the pits.

[Subject Delta]

Yes, I am well aware of that, it just doesn't make sense to me. Its entirely possible for them to pull out into dangerous traffic wherever a pit exit is

[CrashG]

Well yeah that is always going to be a possibility when rejoining the race, but they try to make it as safe as possible and not just dump them right out into the racing line. For this track they changed the pit exit from last year to hopefully make it somewhat safer.

I guess they can just do away with pit stops altogether, that'll solve that problem.

[san.W10]

Ferrari set to confirm Alonso for 2010

Ferrari could announce its 2010 deal with Fernando Alonso as early as next weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, with the Spaniard's move to the Maranello team now all but confirmed.

With lawyers working hard on the last few details of Kimi Raikkonen's release from his contract with Ferrari, a move that will pave the way for the Finn to return to McLaren, the Maranello-based outfit has openly admitted that it wants to announce its line-up as quickly as possible.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said at Singapore on Sunday night: "I think that as soon as we are ready we will let you know. We don't want to wait too long."

When asked by AUTOSPORT if that announcement could come as early as Suzuka, Domenicali said: "It is a possibility, but it is not guaranteed."

Neither Ferrari nor Renault are now denying that Alonso is on his way to the Italian outfit, in a deal that has been widely predicted for several months.

Renault's stand-in managing director Jean-Francois Caubet told AUTOSPORT after the Singapore Grand Prix that his outfit would be sad to see Alonso leave after this season.

"I think Fernando will miss Renault and Renault will miss Fernando," he explained.

Once the Ferrari-Alonso announcement is made, Renault is expected to confirm that Polish driver Robert Kubica will lead its team in 2010.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78995

Alonso & Massa. lol

they had good relationship. :p

Didnt Renault get two year ban? then what will Kubica lead?

edit:

forgot htye got suspended ban :D

A suspended sentence essentially means that if Renault break any comparable rule in the next 24 months, the FIA will come down on them like a ton of bricks – they would be disqualified from taking part in Formula One. For now though, while the team remain within the rules, they are permitted to continue fighting in the Formula One World Championship in 2009, 2010 and 2011. After this point and assuming Renault do not do anything of similar nature, the suspension will presumably be lifted.

Edited September 28, 2009 by san.W10

[_bobcat_ Veteran]

Thread Cleaned.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Ferrari confirms three-year Alonso deal

Ferrari has officially confirmed that Fernando Alonso will replace Kimi Raikkonen in its line-up from 2010, having completed a three-year deal.

The double world champion's move from Renault has been anticipated for many months, and will see him paired with Felipe Massa in the Italian squad's race team.

"We are very proud to welcome to our team another winning driver, who has demonstrated his amazing talent by winning two world championships in his career to date," said Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.

Alonso's arrival is likely to see Raikkonen returning to his former team McLaren alongside Lewis Hamilton.

The Finn delivered the world championship for Ferrari in his first season with the team in 2007, but his results have declined since and he will leave the squad a year before his contract had been set to expire.

"Of course, we wish to thank Kimi for everything he has done during his time with Ferrari," said Domenicali. "In his first year with us, he managed to win the drivers' title, thus making his contribution to Ferrari's history and he played a vital role in our taking of the constructors' title in 2007 and 2008.

"Even during a difficult season like this one, he has demonstrated his great talent, with several good results, including a great win in Spa and we are sure that we can share more good times together in the final three races of this season."

Raikkonen underlined that his departure from Ferrari had been by mutual consent.

"With common consent, we have agreed to terminate the contract binding me to Ferrari to the end of 2010, one year ahead of schedule," he said.

"I am very sad to be leaving a team with which I have spent three fantastic years, during which time I won plenty of races.

"Together, we have won 50 per cent of the world titles in that period and I managed to take the drivers' title in 2007, thus achieving the target I had set myself at the start of my career. I have always felt at home with everyone here and I will have many happy memories of my time with the team."

Alonso's confirmation at Ferrari is likely to trigger a series of 2010 driver announcements over the coming days, with the Spaniard's move long tipped as the decision that would allow the rest of the 'silly season' jigsaw to fall into place.

News source: Autosport

[san.W10]

wow.

Kimi, after winning his Drivers' title, said, if he wants to win titles in future he'll do it with only Ferrari. :D :p

i think Niko will go to McLaren & Kimi to Brawn.

but again Brawn may not be able to afford him or he'll have to lower his salary demand.

surely he can out perform button.

lets see what happens :D

[Subject Delta]

Well, F1's worst held secret is finally out there

[san.W10]

anyone remember this?

:laugh:

Transcript Of The Massa/alonso Tiff

[san.W10]

Raikkonen says he might leave F1

Kimi Raikkonen says he is yet to decide if he will continue racing in Formula 1 next year after it was announced he will not be at Ferrari.

The former world champion, who joined Ferrari in 2007 and went on to win the title, will be replaced by Fernando Alonso from next year, despite having a contract that run out at the end of 2010.

Although Raikkonen has been linked with a return to McLaren, the Finn admitted he is still thinking about whether he wants to race on in F1 or not.

"So far I have not talked too much about what I will do next, as I still have time to make my decision and I will let you know when I have," Raikkonen said ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

"For the moment, I haven't decided what I want to do next, whether I want to continue racing or not. I had a contract for next year, but now I don't, so that changes things. So maybe I race, maybe I do not."

He said switching to the World Rally Championship was a possibility.

"Yes, there's a chance to do that, but there's as much of a chance that I continue in Formula 1. I will decide before the start of next year for sure! If I do decide to stay in Formula 1, I wouldn't go to any of the small teams, where I would not have the chance to fight for the championship.

"If I race next year, that would be my goal, otherwise there is no reason to be in Formula 1. I achieved what I wanted, but if I race, then of course, I want to win more races and championship titles."

Raikkonen said there were many factors for his decision to agree to terminate his contract early, and insisted he was pleased with his call.

"There are many reasons why this has happened," said the Finn ahead of the Japanese GP. "In F1, even if you have a contract, there can always be different options in life. There is not just one reason why this happened and we all reached the same decision.

"I'm still happy with what I have done in making this decision and I think I will still have a good future. Usually when you make a contract, you stick with it to the end, but there were reasons why it did not work out, but I'm okay with how things have turned out."

He added: "I have nothing bad to say about them as we always had a good relationship. I don't think anyone expected Ferrari to have this sort of season, which turned out to be so difficult. But this can happen in F1 sometimes, when you don't deliver a car capable of always being at the front, but this is just one year and we will wait and see what happens next.

"I would not have done anything different: of course I would like to win more races, but in terms of decisions about my life, I would not do anything differently to the way I have done it. I am happy with what I have achieved, even if whenever you look back, you think you might have done things differently, but that's easy to say when you look back.

"But in terms of contracts and so on, I would not do anything different. With Ferrari, I have achieved what I set out to do in winning the title.

"We had good times and sometimes more difficult times, but that's part of this business and you just have to get through those moments. We won many championships, one for me, two for the team and I have happy memories."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79082

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

Ferrari: Drivers will have equal status

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali says there is no question of Fernando Alonso being given priority over Felipe Massa in the squad unless only one of them is in title contention.

Alonso enjoyed number one status while at Renault, and had a fractious relationship with Lewis Hamilton at McLaren when it allowed its drivers to go head to head for the 2007 title.

Ferrari has adopted the same policy with Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in recent years, and Domenicali said Alonso's arrival would not change this situation.

When asked how the team would deal with having two strong drivers, he replied: "The same way we controlled Felipe and Kimi for the last two years. This is the way we manage the team. This is the way that drivers coming to our team have to respect the rules.

"So, that has happened to Felipe helping Kimi when Kimi won the title, and it has happened to Kimi when Felipe was unfortunately not able to win the title. And this will happen in case it is needed in the next couple of years, because this is the team spirit and the way our team is working."

Domenicali is confident that there will be no repeat of the tensions that McLaren and Alonso experienced during their season together.

"I don't have the elements to speak about his previous experience in McLaren," he said. "It would be wrong if I would say something on that, because I was not involved and I don't know the details.

"But the way that it is, the charisma he is, and he is world champion, and the personality he has will fit perfectly with the way the team will operate. I don't see it to be a problem at all, to be honest."

He said Massa was quite happy to have Alonso in the team provided the contractual situation did not change.

"Of course, I spoke to him," said Domenicali. "But now he is mainly focused on the recovery, and for him it is important because it hasn't changed the philosophy and approach on our side because things will be the same, but it is natural I would say in our team now. He is happy and he is looking forward to coming back. That is the first priority."

Domenicali also declined to comment on suggestions that Alonso was replacing Raikkonen because Ferrari thought the Spaniard would make a bigger contribution to the team.

"I don't want to speak about [Raikkonen] in this way, because it is not correct," he said. "And you will never hear me speak in the negative about Kimi - never. I feel he is a great talent and a great champion and he is in the history of Ferrari. Don't forget it.

"He won the world title, and that was one of his objectives with us. Kimi is part of our team, but you have to make decisions for the future and you have to consider a lot of things, but Kimi is fantastic."

But he acknowledged that Alonso would bring a different dynamic to the Ferrari garage.

"I think all the drivers have different characteristics," said Domenicali. "For sure Fernando is more Latin because he is Latin, there is no doubt about it. Kimi is Finnish and he has a different and pragmatic approach to the team.

"But, I would say that with regard to Kimi, he is part of the team and he has worked very well with the team. That is what I know. We know one of the characteristics of Fernando, looking ahead to the future, is someone who is very charismatic with the people working around him, but this is not a way of relating with the people.

"For me it is important, as a team principal, to keep the values and the principles with which the people are respected the same."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79090

================================

Q & A with Fernando Alonso

[san.W10]

Montezemolo: Alonso better fit for team

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo believes Fernando Alonso's personality will prove more suited to the team than his predecessor Kimi Raikkonen.

Alonso's long-anticipated move to the Maranello squad was finally officially confirmed yesterday, as was the early termination of Raikkonen's contract after three years at Ferrari.

"It's a matter of personality, because Kimi is the type of person that shows little emotion, he keeps everything inside," di Montezemolo was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.

"These things don't help with the exchange of information inside the team. In any case I'm thankful to Raikkonen - he brought us a championship that we will not forget.

"We needed a team player, and I think Alonso is that, considering also all the good things our team boss, [stefano] Domenicali, has told me about him. But it's also up to us not to make mistakes.

"Fernando is a great driver and a charismatic man, I expect a lot from him."

Di Montezemolo also praised Alonso's recent performances for Renault, and said his move to Ferrari had galvanised the Tifosi.

"Have you seen what kind of race he did at Singapore last Sunday? It was exhilarating!" said di Montezemolo.

"For months people on the street have approached me to ask me: 'when will you hire Alonso?' I can recall such levels of enthusiasm only before the deal with [Michael] Schumacher, many years ago.

"Alonso and [Felipe] Massa will be a great pairing, an all-latin pairing. I believe very much in Felipe's recovery."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79096

[Subject Delta]

anyone remember this?

:laugh:

Yeah, that was quiet amusing. I think Alonso apologised to Massa a bit later on in the season, so its all forgotten now. As for the actual clash, just a racing incident. Massa is quiet agressive, but he was clearly struggling with his car in the wet, and Alonso was passing him in a place not known for passing, a simple racing incident. Will probably be all forgotten by now.

Raikkonen says he might leave F1

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79082

Would be sad to see a great driver leave, but I feel his form and motivation has dipped since going to Ferrari, and I feel a fresh career challenge is what Kimi may well need.

Ferrari: Drivers will have equal status

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79090

If that is the case, I hope Alonso has learnt from 2007. Whilst I would expect him to beat Massa over a season, Massa is quick enough to trouble him so I hope things are a bit more controlled this time around.

[Chasethebase Veteran]

Button can win the Championship by finishing 5th or better in Japan. :D

[san.W10]

Massa: Piquet crash robbed me of title

Felipe Massa thinks he was robbed of last year's Formula 1 world championship by Nelson Piquet's deliberate crash in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Speaking for the first time since it was confirmed that Piquet crashed on purpose in Singapore last year to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win, Massa has not held back in his belief that the result of last year's title should change.

Massa was leading the race before Piquet's crash brought out a safety car where a botched pitstop by Ferrari cost him any chance of a points finish. In the end he lost the world title by a single point.

"All of what happened was robbery - but regarding the race nothing has happened, the result remains the same. This is not right," Massa said in an interview with Globo television in Brazil. "The robbery changed the outcome of a championship and I lost (the title)."

Massa believes that F1 should have followed the example of football, where matches that have been fixed have been declared null and void.

"I have seen in football how a referee took money to throw a game and all the suspect results were annulled," said Massa. "In Italy, Juventus were relegated. But here they just sent Briatore home. I don't get it and I don't think it was right."

Massa believes Piquet would struggle to find his way back to F1, as he reckons it wrong for the Brazilian to have come forward about what he did only after he was dropped by the team.

"In general it was a very ugly attitude for a team to come up to you and say that you have to crash in order to renew your contract," he said. "A driver who knew he was going to be fired.

"Nelsinho knew he was going to be fired. I believe that admitting a mistake is a good thing, because the guy told the truth. He shouldn't have waited so long to tell the truth. He told [the truth] because he was fired, this is not cool.

"He is in a very difficult position in Formula 1. You can be certain that if someone from a team says, 'Let's hire Nelsinho', it won't go down well. I don't think I would do this. I think that I would have to think very hard about it [and] I think that I wouldn't be able to do it."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79108

[simonlang]

hehe alonso better watches out - massa is not an easy teammate, i go even further and claim that he ll be much more difficult to beat than hamilton back in 2007.

he s politically very strong has gr8 support in brazil (big country) and inside ferrari team.

i expect alonso to struggle, especially at the beginning.

that all of course if massa is 100% the same as before his accident.

[Subject Delta]

Button can win the Championship by finishing 5th or better in Japan. :D

Not if Barrichello finishes ahead of him. Currently he has a 15 point lead over Barrichello and 25 over Vettel. If he outscores Barrichello by at least 5 and loses less than 6 to Vettel then he will win the title

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Qualifying result:

Pos  Driver	   Team					   Q1		Q2		Q3	  
 1.   Vettel	   Red Bull-Renault	  (B)  1:30.883  1:30.341  1:32.160
 2.   Trulli	   Toyota				(B)  1:31.063  1:30.737  1:32.220
 3.   Hamilton	 McLaren-Mercedes	  (B)  1:30.917  1:30.627  1:32.395
 4.   Sutil		Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:31.386  1:31.222  1:32.466
 5.   Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes		(B)  1:31.272  1:31.055  1:32.660
 6.   Heidfeld	 BMW-Sauber			(B)  1:31.501  1:31.260  1:32.945
 7.   Button	   Brawn-Mercedes		(B)  1:31.041  1:30.880  1:32.962
 8.   Raikkonen	Ferrari			   (B)  1:31.228  1:31.052  1:32.980
 9.   Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes	  (B)  1:31.499  1:31.223
10.  Buemi		Toro Rosso-Ferrari	(B)  1:31.196  1:31.103 
11.  Rosberg	  Williams-Toyota	   (B)  1:31.286  1:31.482
12.  Alonso	   Renault			   (B)  1:31.401  1:31.638
13.  Kubica	   BMW-Sauber			(B)  1:31.417  1:32.341
14.  Glock		Toyota				(B)  1:31.550
15.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari	(B)  1:31.571
16.  Fisichella   Ferrari			   (B)  1:31.704
17.  Nakajima	 Williams-Toyota	   (B)  1:31.718
18.  Grosjean	 Renault			   (B)  1:32.073
19.  Liuzzi	   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:32.087
20.  Webber	   Red Bull-Renault	  (B)

With the grid being shaken up like this we should see an interesting race tomorrow, provided that the drivers can keep their cars on the track in the race.

[brentaal]

Five Formula 1 drivers were given penalties for not lifting off during a yellow-flag period in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Championship leader Jenson Button, team-mate Rubens Barrichello, Renault driver Fernando Alonso, Force India's Adrian Sutil and Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi were given five-place grid penalties after the session.

The race stewards deemed the first four drivers had not lifted off sufficiently at the end of Q2, when Buemi had crashed, leaving debris on track.

Brawn team boss Ross Brawn said his drivers, who had not set a time until then, had not lifted at all.

"No, they swerved to avoid the problem. But they didn't lift off, no," said Brawn.

Swiss driver Buemi was also reprimanded by the stewards for driving back to the pits with a damaged car and impeding other drivers.

Button had qualified in seventh, Barrichello in fifth, Alonso in 12th, Sutil in fourth and Buemi in 10th.

Pos  Driver	   Team
 1.  Vettel	   Red Bull-Renault
 2.  Trulli	   Toyota
 3.  Hamilton	 McLaren-Mercedes 
 4.  Heidfeld	 BMW-Sauber
 5.  Raikkonen	Ferrari  
 6.  Rosberg	  Williams-Toyota
 7.  Kubica	   BMW-Sauber
 8.  Sutil		Force India-Mercedes  *
 9.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes		*
10.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari
11.  Button	   Brawn-Mercedes		*
12.  Fisichella   Ferrari
13.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes	  **
14.  Buemi		Toro Rosso-Ferrari	*
15.  Nakajima	 Williams-Toyota
16.  Grosjean	 Renault
17.  Alonso	   Renault			   *
18.  Liuzzi	   Force India-Mercedes  **
19.  Glock		Toyota				***
20.  Webber	   Red Bull-Renault	  ***
*   Five-place grid penalty
**  Five-place grid penalty for changing gearbox
*** Will use new chassis so will start from the pitlane

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79191

[.KICK]

More penalties!

This race is going to interesting. If we had 3 crashes in qualifiying at the same corner then the race could have anything!

[Lechio]

Another red flag. What's wrong with this track? :huh:

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Another red flag. What's wrong with this track? :huh:

It is a track which separates the good drivers from the rookies.