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It's that time of the year when I try and give Formula 1 another chance. Check out some info and then the first few races and see if I can relight that interest I had before.

 

Have you seen what they are doing with qualifying this season? It seems to get madder every year!

 

2pm:

Qualifying opens with 22 cars on the track

 

2:15pm:

Slowest 6 cars are eliminated and all the time sheets wiped clean

 

2:15pm-2:35pm:

The remaining 16 cars start all over again and then the next 6 slowest are eliminated.

 

2:40pm:

The remaining 10 cars take to the track for the final 20 minute showdown, a blast with low fuel loads to win pole position.

 

:rolleyes: confused.gif

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I'll suspend judgement on qualifying till I see how it pans out. I used to like the two qualifying sessions over two days.

 

My regret this season is going back to tyre changes. I thought making the tyres last brought an extra dimension to the races, and left the chargers vulnerable to the stylists late in the races. I'd like to see refuelling banned too.

 

Should be a tight season. Renault and Honda looking good. Ferarri and McLaren :rolleyes: have some reliability issues, and the Mercedes engine is grenading again. I expect to see Williams and Toyota hanging on the the leading bunch. The Williams Cosworth might fade from lack of development. Toyota are an enigma. Cubic money spent, but I don't see Trulli or Schumacher R as out of the top drawer.

 

I'll look forward to BMW finding out the difference between building a good engine and a winning car. I hope to see some hubris there.

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Not much hope if they can't start!!! lol.gif

 

Isn't preseason a lot of cloak and daggers - different fuel loads, settings etc etc. If I remember (from when I was more interested) theres a lot of mind games going on as well as simply testing.

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The qualifying format was changed to cut costs and tidy things up to give one hours' gripping TV. It did neither, and had the disadvantage of handicapping anyone who had had a problem at the previous race.

 

Super Aguri will be running rev-limited V10's in a four year old Arrows chassis. They should be reliable, but won't be allowed to be competitive until the new V8 powered chassis comes out later this season.

 

Pre-season is mainly about solving reliability issues, and carrying out a programme of adjustments so the engineers know what effect changes in set up are likely to have. Mapping the performance variables, if you like. Of course, the teams also like to see just how fast they can run, but you can't compare times from different days or different tracks. It is always possible to set impressive times, especially when potential sponsors are being wooed, with an illegal set up.

 

The money game looks really interesting. Max and Bernie are trying to eject the car manufacturers to bring down costs, and make it possible for private teams to be competitive and profitable. That's what Super Aguri are about. Dave Richards is also preparing to enter a Prodrive team next year. Fast Eddie is lining up yet another Russian oil billionaire. Hmm, $100 million budgets, international travel, sponsorship and entertainment deals. How do you spell "money laundering"?

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 Quote:
to give one hours' gripping TV.
That sure didn't work did it!!! lol.gif

Seriously they should be making any changes if at all to make the sport better, not to make gripping tv. mad.gif
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  • 2 weeks later...

I saw a vid of it again after the only half watching it before. Quite exciting actually - some overtaking (gasp!), a lot of incidents. Seems there are some major tyre issues going on. Alonso looking very strong.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'll be hoping for Button to get his first win in the Honda. Hopefully in last weeks testing they worked out how to generate and maintain enough heat to keep the tyres working.

 

Alonso seems to have developed Schumacher's ability to avoid problems while his competitors tie themselves in knots. I wouldn't be surprised if he wins.

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Anyone see Monaco qualifying with The Chin apparently cheating? Again.

 

"Michael Schumacher has been stripped of pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix and will have to start Sunday's race from the back of the grid.

 

The Ferrari driver controversially beat Renault's Fernando Alonso to pole position in qualifying on Saturday.

 

But after an eight-hour inquiry, race stewards said he deliberately stopped on the track after spinning, preventing his rivals from setting a faster time."

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Yes I did. Just reading about it now as well. He should get a 43 race ban. ;\)

 

 Quote:
The evidence against Schumacher was damning, just as it had been when he drove Jacques Villeneuve off the track in a vain attempt to stop the Canadian from winning the 1997 world championship.

 

Sir Jackie Stewart, a three-time winner at Monaco, said he had carefully studied the replay. 'My immediate reaction was that it had been too obvious. I said straight away: "That's not an accident." Then, when you saw the replay, you could see he turned in [to the corner], he turned out - there was plenty of time to sort things out. I have to believe it was a piece of very agile mental management in the sense that I've never seen anyone having the presence of mind to do that. He was fully aware, I'm sure, that Alonso was on a quick lap and there were only seconds remaining.'

This quote is funny

 

 Quote:
Keke Rosberg, the 1982 world champion, referred to yesterday's incident as 'the cheapest, dirtiest thing I have ever seen in Formula One. He should leave F1 and go home.'
lol.gif
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