official F1 World Championship 2011 Thread

[san.W10]

Mosley: Bahrain 'will cost F1 dear'

Former FIA president Max Mosley says the decision to reinstate the Bahrain Grand Prix on the 2011 world championship calendar "will cost Formula 1 dear" unless it is reversed.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council agreed on Friday that the Sakhir race, which was postponed from March due to the political tension in the Gulf state, should be rescheduled to 30 October, with the inaugural Indian GP moved to December to make room.

Writing in a column for the Daily Telegraph, Mosley said he accepted that global sports had to visit countries whose actions attracted the disapproval of other nations.

"There are several reasons for this," he wrote. "First, to apply the highest standards of human rights you would have to exclude a very large number of countries from international sport, including at least one close ally of the United Kingdom.

"Secondly, if you were to apply anything less than the highest standards, you would be faced with endless debate about where to draw the line.

"Third, it is not the function of a sporting body to seek to dictate to governments what they can and cannot do. Politics should be left to the politicians.

"A sports administrator is elected to run a sport. Anyone who wants to be a politician should stand for election in politics, not sport."

But he argued that in the case of Bahrain, F1 was being actively used to send out a message about the state of the country.

"Surely the line has to be drawn when a sporting event is not mere entertainment in a less-than-perfect country, but is being used by an oppressive regime to camouflage its actions," Mosley wrote.

"If a sport accepts this role, it becomes a tool of government. If Formula 1 allows itself to be used in this way in Bahrain, it will share the regime's guilt as surely as if it went out and helped brutalise unarmed protesters."

After recounting some of the Bahrain government's actions during and following the protests which sparked the crisis in February, Mosley added: "Having carried out these horrific acts, the Bahrain government wants to clean up its image. That's where the grand prix comes in. By running the race they hope to show the world the troubles were just a small, temporary difficulty and everything is now back to normal.

"By agreeing to race there, Formula 1 becomes complicit in what has happened. It becomes one of the Bahrain government's instruments of repression. The decision to hold the race is a mistake which will not be forgotten and, if not reversed, will eventually cost Formula 1 dear."

Mosley was president of motorsport's governing body from 1993 to 2009, when he chose not to stand for re-election for a fifth term and was succeeded by former Ferrari team boss Jean Todt.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92002

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Someone from the organization was almost ran over by Buemi during today's RB exhibition in Japan.

http://www.blick.ch/sport/formel1/mann-springt-buemi-vor-den-f1-boliden-173967

from

[what]

12,000 RPM? :unsure: Are they trying to make F1 a bit more down-to-earth? Because 12k is a bit low for an F1 car. Still higher than most production cars though. Actually, I don't know if there actually is a production car that revs that high. The highest ones I've heard of are usually by Honda; they rev up to 9,000 RPM. Anything higher than that, and you're venturing into superbike territory.

You'll struggle to find 12k rpm in any other motorsport (other than bikes obviously, I think GP2 stops at 10k), let alone road cars. I think some earlier LMP cars are capable of it, like the Ferrari 333 SP (which was based on a V12 F1 engine), and there was the likes of the F50 GT which also used a detuned F1 engine but was never actually raced afaik, but in general terms it makes more sense to have more shorter gears than fewer longer ones (i.e. 7 instead of 5 - trying not to get myself confused with gear ratios here). No doubt there are engines that are capable of it if you take the limiters off but not for any great length of time as it increases wear etc, and the engine needs to be kept under finer tolerances that only F1 can afford to maintain - an F1 engine rebuild costs in the region of ?150,000 which is obviously completely impractical in road cars or in any other form of motorsport, but that level of engineering is what it needed to keep the engine turning over at 18k rpm for several race weekends.

The 12k limit will mean that any technology they develop will be more applicable to road cars than it is atm though, which is the only thing I'm looking forward to with the new engines.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Ecclestone wants U-turn on Bahrain

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is calling for a dramatic U-turn over the calendar reshuffle after the backlash that has been caused by the reinstatement of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Amid a wave of criticism about the decision to reinstate Bahrain, plus concerns voiced by teams and drivers about safety in the Gulf state if the event goes ahead, Ecclestone has now called for a rethink.

With the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) expected to make clear its stance towards the Bahrain situation later today, Ecclestone is now suggesting that India be reinstated to its original October 30 date.

That would allow Bahrain to be given a date in December, which could much easier be ditched if the political situation in the country does not leave it safe for the race to go ahead.

Ecclestone was quoted as saying by The Telegraph: "The way things are at the moment, we have no idea what is going to happen. Better that we move Bahrain to the end of the season and, if things are safe and well, then that is fine, we can go. If they are not, then we don't go and there are no problems."

Although FIA president Jean Todt justified the decision to reinstate the grand prix on the back of a report issued after a fact-finding mission by representative Carlos Gracia, the viability of that has been called into question.

Campaign group Avaaz suggested that human rights groups consulted by the FIA had close links to the government, and Ecclestone himself now has doubts that the situation in Bahrain is as good as the report suggested.

"We listened to that report from the FIA and that was saying there were no problems at all in Bahrain. But that is not what I am hearing and I think we can see that we need to be careful."

Although F1 teams have kept quiet in public so far, it is understood that there is widespread dissatisfaction at several aspects of the Bahrain decision - including the questions about safety and the fact that calendar is now scheduled to run until shortly before Christmas.

Source: Autosport

[Dan~]

I personally wouldn't be Bahrain this year, but as an F1 fan I want to see as many races as possible.

On a different note, not long until I'm going to Silverstone to watch the F1 again :D

[MightyJordan]

Well, I'm surprised that Bernie doesn't want the Bahrain GP to happen. I always thought he cared more about money.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Ecclestone says Bahrain GP now unlikely

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone says the Bahrain Grand Prix is unlikely to go ahead this year despite the FIA giving the green light to the event last week.

As criticism continues about the decision by the ruling body to let the event go ahead, Ecclestone told the BBC on Wednesday that the race was "not on" despite the World Motor Sport Council's call last Friday.

Ecclestone admitted the calendar is now unlikely to change because it would need all the teams to agree on the move.

"Hopefully there'll be peace and quiet and we can return in the future, but of course it's not on," Ecclestone told BBC Sport.

"The schedule cannot be rescheduled without the agreement of the participants - they're the facts."

As revealed by AUTOSPORT this week, the Formula One Teams' Association wrote to the sport's chiefs stating that it does not want to race in Bahrain on October 30, the date assigned for the race by the FIA.

Source: Autosport

Well, I'm surprised that Bernie doesn't want the Bahrain GP to happen. I always thought he cared more about money.

Wrong. CBE does also care about the reputation of the sport. Racing in Bahrain this year would seriously damage it.

[san.W10]

:rofl:

http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=135088&st=1320&start=1320

[TheLegendOfMart]

Haha Vettel just crashed his car in P1.

Red Bulls and Torro Rossos have been sliding all over place.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

From the Autosport Live FP1 coverage:

[quote

]58 min: Vettel reported on the team radio immediately that he was okay. The marshals have their first customer of the weekend.

57 min: Replays show that Vettel locked up his right front under braking for the chicane and he lost control of the car, bouncing into the wall on the outside.

56 min: There is damage to the front right corner of the RB7 but Vettel climbs out and appears to be okay.

56 min: The German makes a mess of the final chicane and spears off wide into the wall of champions.

56 min: Sebastian Vettel has crashed exiting the final corner of the lap!

55 min: The session has been stopped.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

[ahmz]

They are really fast this year around Montreal, DRS and KERS big factors in laptime.

[acnpt]

Second practice starting now - BBC

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

De la Rosa replaces unwell Perez

Pedro de la Rosa will race for the Sauber team in this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix after Sergio Perez was forced to withdraw from the event.

Perez had massive a crash during qualifying in Monaco and was unable to compete in the race.

The Sauber driver, who suffered concussion, was given the green light to race in Canada on Thursday.

However, the Mexican rookie felt sick following the first practice session in Montreal, and Sauber has decided to draft in McLaren's reserve Pedro de la Rosa.

The Spanish driver raced for Sauber last year before he was dumped with five races to go and replaced by Nick Heidfeld, now at Renault.

Source: Autosport

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

[simonlang]

wow... vettel is truely amazing i have to say

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

[simonlang]

this is fascinating isnt it? i have saved it locally on my HD just in case the fialonso tries to manipulate this one.

it shows what i ve seen on tv. massa was p2 all the time not slowlonso. the cheating spaniard was 0.3 off vettel (gr8 job to seb as always) after s2. and he did 29.4 in the s3 as massa and vettel. SO NO WAY he gained 0.3 there. its IMPOSSIBLE.

do your maths, fia!

also the argument of a glitch in live-timing is nonsense, as it would need alonso doing purple s2 + s3 - TOGETHER!

he didnt. i seen it live on tv.

anyway, felipe will eat him alive at start tomorrow (if team is allowing him to do!), he is - as i preach since over a year - the faster ferrari driver. ferraris problem is the faster their car, the more the gap from massa to alonso. it was the same with raikkonen.

interesting times ahead. especially now as vettel is not as erratic as in 2010 anymore. ferrari has to chose: either winning wdc with their sometimes unloved and always underestimated number 2 felipe massa (i can ONLY recomand everyone to watch interlagos 2008 race again - nothing to add how he has driven there under the most difficult circumstances ever seen) or having their santander-money-sponsored alonso being the faster one in team internal battle. batteling for p5-p8 that is!

you chose! i know what i chose! :)

[tomjol]

this is fascinating isnt it? i have saved it locally on my HD just in case the fialonso tries to manipulate this one.

it shows what i ve seen on tv. massa was p2 all the time not slowlonso. the cheating spaniard was 0.3 off vettel (gr8 job to seb as always) after s2. and he did 29.4 in the s3 as massa and vettel. SO NO WAY he gained 0.3 there. its IMPOSSIBLE.

do your maths, fia!

also the argument of a glitch in live-timing is nonsense, as it would need alonso doing purple s2 + s3 - TOGETHER!

he didnt. i seen it live on tv.

anyway, felipe will eat him alive at start tomorrow (if team is allowing him to do!), he is - as i preach since over a year - the faster ferrari driver. ferraris problem is the faster their car, the more the gap from massa to alonso. it was the same with raikkonen.

interesting times ahead. especially now as vettel is not as erratic as in 2010 anymore. ferrari has to chose: either winning wdc with their sometimes unloved and always underestimated number 2 felipe massa (i can ONLY recomand everyone to watch interlagos 2008 race again - nothing to add how he has driven there under the most difficult circumstances ever seen) or having their santander-money-sponsored alonso being the faster one in team internal battle. batteling for p5-p8 that is!

you chose! i know what i chose! :)

As he came across the line it put him 0.185 behind Vettel, and the classification on TV did so too. The live timing went down for a good ten minutes beforehand, it's not exactly bug-free.

[simonlang]

As he came across the line it put him 0.185 behind Vettel, and the classification on TV did so too. The live timing went down for a good ten minutes beforehand, it's not exactly bug-free.

as i say: they can (and have to) publish official qualifying times + s1 + s2 + s3 times. if i dont see alonso purpeling 2 and 3 we know something fishy is going on...

[simonlang]

rain in montreal :whistle: :woot:

[MightyJordan]

rain in montreal :whistle: :woot:

Awesome! :D

[tomjol]

as i say: they can (and have to) publish official qualifying times + s1 + s2 + s3 times. if i dont see alonso purpeling 2 and 3 we know something fishy is going on...

They do, here are the sector times. The problem is, they don't tell you on which lap they were set.

[acnpt]

Hamilton :laugh:

[MightyJordan]

Hamilton :laugh:

Like Button said on the radio, "What is he doing?!" :blink:

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

What the f*** is Hamilton thinking? There was no way he could pass Button there