F1 World Championship 2010 Thread

[san.W10]

Branson backs call to remove blue flags

Richard Branson has backed the call from Lotus boss Tony Fernandes to get rid of blue flags in grand prix racing.

Fernandes, whose team has made its Formula 1 debut this year, said earlier this season that he believed the sport would benefit from not having blue flags.

"Drivers are paid to overtake, whether they are back markers or at the front," said Fernandes back in May. "I think it would be good for the sport to get rid of blue flags. In the days of Ken Tyrrell, he would never let any car pass.

"If it's really hard for a world champion to get past a backmarker then I think it's a sad day for racing. I think racing is all about getting past people and overtaking and adding a little bit of 'je ne sais quoi'.

"You've got a driver saying it's ridiculous that he's lapping someone four times, so why should he be complaining about overtaking a guy that he's lapping four times?"

Branson, the main backer of newcomer Virgin Racing, agreed with Fernandes, as he reckons the sport would be more entertaining without them.

"It would be a lot more fun if they didn't have blue flags," said Branson. "I am sure some of the more established teams would not like it, but it is a racing track and they should not have to be told to pull over.

"If that is what Tony is saying, I definitely agree with him. It doesn't sound like racing - and it makes a bit of a mockery of the sport."

Virgin Racing's CEO Graeme Lowdon reckons blue flags hurt smaller teams too much, as they lose big amounts of time letting the leading drivers through.

"We get a blue flag three seconds before someone approaches us, and at the moment three seconds is almost a lap and you have to let them by within four corners," he said. "So we have situations where our guys are pulling to one side and the car behind cannot catch up.

"It's a massive compromise over the whole of a race. We do this graph of time against distance, and you look at the graph and you immediately see where the blue flags start because up to a point of the race we are there or thereabouts in terms of pace, but then it drops away.

"The issue is that you get the flags so early - and three seconds is quite a long time. And you have to tell your driver to let the guy past but you cannot speed the car up behind. It has ruined a lot of racing for us."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87186

these two should play f1 2010, & then comment on this "issue" :p

if you dont want blue flags, then make a car that's competitive.

[MightyJordan]

if you dont want blue flags, then make a car that's competitive.

This. It's only the crap teams that will want to remove the blue flags.

I bet if the blue flags were actually removed, the top teams would make deals with the lower teams to deliberately block a rival car from lapping them to allow their own car to catch up.

[Subject Delta]

Stupid. Lapped cars should not be allowed to interfere with frontrunning cars.

[enigma-penguin Veteran]

Stupid. Lapped cars should not be allowed to interfere with frontrunning cars.

I agree fully.

While we're at it why doesn't Branson tell them to remove Black flags, it's all a part of the same thing; sportsman like behaviour and it's been a part of the sport since day dot.

[san.W10]

Sauber signs Perez for 2011 season

The Sauber team has announced that Mexican Sergio Perez will race alongside Kamui Kobayashi in the 2011 season.

The 20-year-old, who is currently in second place in this year's GP2 championship, will become the first Mexican Formula 1 driver since Hector Alonso Rebaque, who competed in grand prix racing from 1977 to 1981.

Perez, who is yet to drive Formula 1 machinery, has raced in GP2 and GP2 Asia since late-2008, having won the British Formula 3 national class championship in 2007.

"Formula 1 is the dream of every young racing driver," said Perez. "And now this dream is about to come true for me.

"Although I'm very much aware that this is also a big challenge and responsibility, I'm happy to accept that and am proud to be representing my country in the highest category of motor racing.

"I would like to thank Peter Sauber for the faith he's shown in me and I'll do everything I can to make the most of this wonderful opportunity."

Peter Sauber added: "Sergio has been on a continuous upward curve over the past few years. He demonstrated his fighting spirit in races over the course of last season and proved that he's ready to take the step up into Formula 1.

"I look forward to working with him and am in no doubt that, in Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi, we will have a strong driver pairing."

The Swiss squad also announced a partnership with Telmex, the Mexican telecommunications giant owned by Carlos Slim.

The company's logos will appear on the Swiss car starting from next year.

"Sauber has been not only a very successful racing team but also a strong talent developer of some of the most recognised names in racing since their early stages as well as one of the most respected people in the sport," said Telmex chairman Carlos Slim Domit, the eldest son of Slim.

"Their decision of having Sergio with them is very significant on his career to become a top driver representing Mexico. For Telmex and our racing project Escuderia Telmex it's a great step forward, and we feel very proud to be able to consolidate these years of work for having a Mexican driver in F1 with Sauber Motorsport."

Sauber continued: "Telmex has been involved in motor sport for a number of years already and supports drivers in various race series. Now they are making the key step up into the top category of motor racing, and we are happy and proud that they are taking this step with us.

"Telmex is an outstanding company and represents a strong partner for our team. We are looking forward to a fruitful partnership."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87193

lol, heidfield should have stayed at Mercedes, atleast he could have been AMG test driver... :D

[Nicholas-c Veteran]

Lotus to use Red Bull gearbox from 2011

Lotus Racing has confirmed that it will use Red Bull Technology gearboxes and hydraulic systems from the 2011 season.

The news follows on from the announcement that the team has ended its relationship with Cosworth. Lotus had used Xtrac gearboxes and hydraulics during its debut season in 2010.

"The announcement that we have reached a multi-year agreement with Red Bull Technology for the supply of our gearboxes and hydraulics from 2011 is obviously a massive step forward for us, both in engineering terms, and as an expression of our ambitions for next year and for future championships," said technical chief Mike Gascoyne.

"The gearbox / hydraulics package obviously plays a critical role in the performance of the car, not just on track but in design and packaging terms, and this deal gives our design and aero teams a very exciting platform to work with.

"The removal of the double diffusers in 2011 will allow the whole grid to tighten up the rear bodywork and mechanical structures around the gearbox, and this supply deal will allow us to capitalise on that with our 2011 car. Exciting times lie ahead."

Lotus is expected to make two further announcements this week, one of them expected to be a new deal to use Renault engines from next season.

The move would mean Lotus would use the same engine/gearbox combination as Red Bull Racing.

"We are very pleased about Lotus Racing's decision to use Red Bull Technology gearboxes and hydraulic systems from 2011," added Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner.

"The fact that Red Bull Technology has been chosen to be a supplier to another team despite its short history demonstrates how much we have achieved since our first season. We very much look forward to working with Lotus Racing from 2011 onwards."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87198

I can really see Lotus up in the mid-field next season, Renault engine, Red bull gear box and 2 experienced drivers... On par with Force India and BMW perhaps?

[san.W10]

:rofl:

http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=135088&st=320

[Buio]

Apparently Räikkönen is not going to drive for Renault 2011. He was also a bit angry that Renault went public with their talks. I thought it was a bit strange too that Renault went open with what should have been private talks. But I guess Renault got some PR from it.

[StealMySoda]

http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=135088&st=320

Love it.

[Subject Delta]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87198

I can really see Lotus up in the mid-field next season, Renault engine, Red bull gear box and 2 experienced drivers... On par with Force India and BMW perhaps?

They are the only one of the new teams that have made progress that has impressed me this season, so it wouldn't surprise me to see them at the back of the midfield. I hope they do anyway, Lotus is a large heritage name to live up to.

[Subject Delta]

Kimi rules out F1 return with Renault

Kimi Raikkonen has categorically ruled out a return to Formula 1 with Renault next season ? and accused the Anglo-French team of exploiting his name for its own commercial purposes.

Comments from Renault?s team principal Eric Boullier have fuelled media speculation in recent weeks that the 2007 world champion was poised to end his dalliance with the World Rally Championship and return to F1.

Boullier has said that Raikkonen had contacted Renault, was ?on the radar? for a 2011 seat but would have to prove he was fully motivated for an F1 return.

The Finn has now broken his silence on the matter and criticised Renault ? insisting that, although his management had contacted Boullier on one occasion, he has not had any serious discussions with the team about a 2011 drive.

?I am very disappointed with the way how they have used my name for their own marketing,? he was quoted as saying by Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat.

?I have never even seriously considered driving for Renault, and I am 100 percent sure that I will not drive for Renault next year.?

With Raikkonen now conclusively out of the picture, Vitaly Petrov looks more likely to keep his Renault drive, although Boullier has made it clear the Russian rookie still has more to prove between now and the end of the season.

?Vitaly has to show us in the four remaining races that he is the man we can hand over our second cockpit to in 2011 to follow our self-defined goal,? Boullier told the official F1 website earlier this week.

?If he fails to convince us he will not drive our car.

?If he satisfies us we will keep him.

?But we don?t put pressure on ourselves when it comes to our full driver line-up for 2011. Only one hint: we definitely will not wait until January.?

Source: ITV-F1

[brentaal]

Practice session 1 still in progress, Lewis crashed a couple of minutes ago.

[Antaris Veteran]

P2 is now over, he only managed to squeeze in 5 or so laps at the end, the media are gonna be cruel after another crash...

[Buio]

Renault looking good, Kubica fast and Petrov not that far behind.

[san.W10]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87255

[.mcman]

P3 started 25 minutes ago. It's quite wet. Race will be dry sadly, at least that's what everyone is saying.

[enigma-penguin Veteran]

Sitting here watching the practice session and it's amazingly wet, only Glock and Alguersuari have completed times in the last 30 minutes. MSC and Kubica look like they might go out now, the mclarens went out and said it was too dangerous and didn't complete a lap. Sector one has rivers running over it according to Alguersuari.

It's basically been 30+ minutes of watching Alguersuari run around Suzuka :p the spray off the car is insane.

A few pictures for the european people

It's pretty bad:

There are rivers running down the track: (see the lines)

Most drivers are sitting in the garages:

Crazy stuff:

There is talk of postponing the quali session a few hours, we might have another brazil/fuji on our hands. There are only two full posted times:

Torro rosso and their pretend 1/2 :D :

[enigma-penguin Veteran]

A little perspective pre qualifying;

I watched that sail down pit lane on the BBC coverage XD

[ahmz]

Cmon, these guys get paid the big bucks and it's not raining that heavily.

[san.W10]

Suzuka qualifying postponed to Sunday

Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix has been rescheduled to take place on Sunday morning following torrential rain at Suzuka on Saturday.

Storms at the track that intensified over the day meant it was never safe to let Formula 1 drivers attempt to set grid times.

Despite several time delays to try and wait for a window in the weather, the FIA said at 3.18pm local time that qualifying would now be shifted back to Sunday morning.

No time has been set for the new qualifying session but it is likely to be at 10am on race morning - five hours before the start of the race.

It is the first time since the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix that a qualifying session has had to be abandoned and shifted back to Sunday.

Qualifying for the 2004 event also took place on 9 October, and it was Michael Schumacher who secured pole position on Sunday.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87305

[ahmz]

As much as I love Suzuka, they should fix it for wet weather or take it off the calendar.

[Richard Hammond]

pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff got up early to watch it just put some hydroplane wings under the car and race.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Cmon, these guys get paid the big bucks and it's not raining that heavily.

Were you watching the same TV images as the rest of us?

The safety car looked like it was aquaplaning during the inspection laps. Postponing the qualifying was the only option given the circumstances.

[.mcman]

Were you watching the same TV images as the rest of us?

The safety car looked like it was aquaplaning during the inspection laps. Postponing the qualifying was the only option given the circumstances.

Agreed. And BBC show was great. It's sometimes nice to see F1 people not doing their usual routine.

[Antaris Veteran]

I didn't mind watching Lee McKenzie ;) I think she should host more often..

Hamilton's got a 5-place grid penalty before he's even qualified :(

McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton has been penalised five places on the grid for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix for changing his gearbox.

The ex-world champion incurred the penalty as his McLaren was fitted with a new gearbox when the previous one had not done the required four races.

Source: BBC Sport