The Formula One topic

[K_K]

Yeah, Kobayashi!

i think this is his year. i think he might finally win a race. he's been at it for years, i think he's got the experience, and now that sauber has ferrari engines who knows? he might win a podium somewhere.

i'd also like to see what button can do coming off of last season. that canadian GP last year was the race i'd show to someone wanting to get into F1. it was exciting, fresh, and awesome. it was what sunday afternoon F1 races are made of. brilliant stuff.

i'm hoping to go back to texas in november for the race. need to save some more cash, and find a deal on a ticket, but other than that my family lives in austin, and i'd have a place to stay, just need a ticket home and a ticket to the track, and i'm good.

 

[DangerousK]

I think the cars this year look better than the 2008 cars. God those front wings back then, sitting so high and looking so oval made me puke. Have to get used to that kink on the nose though. Apparantly the rules have a height requirement this year, so they have to raise them somehow. I can see and angle like that giving free downforce, and right above the front suspension too. If a wingshaped camera gives 10-15kg of downforce and 45 angle like that would give a lot.

I think I will root for Jenson Button this year. He seems the most passionate/professional of the bunch and he made the Canadian GP 2011 the best race I've ever witnessed. Also rooting for Bruno Senna. He seemed like he had potential in that slow ass car.

The 2008 cars were hideous...wings everywhere! I was waiting for the cars to fly off the track into the sky. lol

This has to do with the rules regarding the nose height regulations...great read.

http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/2012-nose-height-regulations/

I think Jenson is fabulous...personally I like watching him more than Lewis who kind of bugs me to a degree. I wonder what future Lewis will have if he has a repeat of 2011....starting to wonder if he is a basketcase.

 

[DangerousK]

Should probably mention, the picture of the livery for the Williams-Renault FW34 is not final. Someone got in touch with Williams, and they said they would be unveiling the livery at Australia. I wonder if they will go retro at all and borrow from the Rothman's livery of 1994-1997. If they did...it might seem a little awkward since Bruno is going to be rocking the Brazilian colors on his helmet. It'd start looking a little too much like Ayrton is in the car...just very thankful Imola is not on the calendar.

 

[DangerousK]

They say that several tracks aren't safe enough but still we drive in Monaco, glad they do but if there has ever been a dangerous track it's that one.

Yeah, but Monaco will never leave the calendar because it's too much money involved and too much of a spectacle. I know plenty of people hate the track, but I've always enjoyed it since it is a spectacle...makes for plenty of gorgeous camera shots of the Mediterranean.

What I don't like with the Tilke-designed tracks are the large runoff areas. They've taken out so much of the penalty areas at many tracks nowadays. You go off, and drivers can still maintain speed decently. Spa went too far in that direction. Of course you're talking to someone who would love to see them race the 14KM version of Spa. That was a monster track.

 

[DangerousK]

Day 2 of testing @ Jerez

1 Michael Schumacher Mercedes W02 1’18.561 132
2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault RB8 1’19.184 97 0.623
3 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR7 1’19.587 100 1.026
4 Jules Bianchi Force India-Mercedes VJM05 1’20.221 46 1.660
5 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault E20 1’20.239 117 1.678
6 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes VJM05 1’20.272 69 1.711
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari F2012 1’20.454 95 1.893
8 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes MP4-27 1’20.688 85 2.127
9 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari C31 1’20.711 68 2.150
10 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault FW34 1’21.197 97 2.636
11 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault CT01 1’21.518 139 2.957
12 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth F111 1’22.128 64 3.567

Vettel, Alonso, and Hamilton all are out tomorrow.

 

[ratson]

I think Jenson is fabulous...personally I like watching him more than Lewis who kind of bugs me to a degree. I wonder what future Lewis will have if he has a repeat of 2011....starting to wonder if he is a basketcase.

Yeah, but Monaco will never leave the calendar because it's too much money involved and too much of a spectacle. I know plenty of people hate the track, but I've always enjoyed it since it is a spectacle...makes for plenty of gorgeous camera shots of the Mediterranean.

What I don't like with the Tilke-designed tracks are the large runoff areas. They've taken out so much of the penalty areas at many tracks nowadays. You go off, and drivers can still maintain speed decently. Spa went too far in that direction. Of course you're talking to someone who would love to see them race the 14KM version of Spa. That was a monster track.

We really have a similar taste when it comes to F1, I like you
I don't know as much as you do but do love the sport.
If you want to make someone hooked on F1: Take them to a race.
I did with one of my ladyfriends who hated F1 and other racing series, untill we took her to Silverstone. She has been hooked ever since and even records the race if she has to work.
She went to the British GP at silverstone with my girlfriend also, the last time that it was a 24hr race. They both watched the whole goddamn race. All 24hrs of it without sleeping

 

[DangerousK]

Jerez Testing Day 3 results...Force India's car was crashed on the 3rd lap hence the lack of any time. Bruno Senna completed more laps in 1 day than Maldonado did in 2 days. Insane...Grosjean seemed to drive quite well...but again it is just testing. One thing to note is that Mercedes is running their 2011 car with the exhaust blown diffuser. Why they are doing so makes zero sense since it isn't a legal car for the 2012 season.

1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes W02 1’17.613 118
2 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault E20 1’18.419 117 0.806
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault RB8 1’19.297 96 1.684
4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes MP4-27 1’19.464 80 1.851
5 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR7 1’19.734 79 2.121
6 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari C31 1’19.770 48 2.157
7 Fernando Alonso Ferrari F2012 1’20.412 67 2.799
8 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault FW34 1’21.293 125 3.680
9 Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault CT01 1’23.324 74 5.711
10 Jules Bianchi Force India-Mercedes VJM05 No time 3

 

[DangerousK]

We really have a similar taste when it comes to F1, I like you
I don't know as much as you do but do love the sport.
If you want to make someone hooked on F1: Take them to a race.
I did with one of my ladyfriends who hated F1 and other racing series, untill we took her to Silverstone. She has been hooked ever since and even records the race if she has to work.
She went to the British GP at silverstone with my girlfriend also, the last time that it was a 24hr race. They both watched the whole goddamn race. All 24hrs of it without sleeping

Haha thanks!

I wouldn't say I know that much myself...sort of missed the past few years. I'd say I probably know more regarding the history of Formula 1...the history is fascinating, and I love the technological progression over the decades. Well up till right now when they turned everything into more of a spec race which is so against what F1 historically was. It was so much better when they allowed V8's, V10's, and V12's like they did in the early 90s. Some of those engines were disgustingly good in how they sounded. The Williams-Renault V10 of that period is amazing to listen to.

I always say that is the best way to get some hooked on F1, kudos for doing that!!! Part of racing in general is the experience of seeing, and hearing the cars in person IMO...video can't do it justice even in HD. Although I think HD has done a great job of giving a better sense of speed than in the SD days. Have you ever gone to Le Mans at all? That's one race I would love to see in person sometime. Not a huge fan of the Rolex Daytona 24 hours they do over here in the States. I watched a bit of it, but the track configuration is just blah. Sarthe is way better for endurance racing because of the length of the track IMO anyway.

 

[ratson]

Haha thanks!

I wouldn't say I know that much myself...sort of missed the past few years. I'd say I probably know more regarding the history of Formula 1...the history is fascinating, and I love the technological progression over the decades. Well up till right now when they turned everything into more of a spec race which is so against what F1 historically was. It was so much better when they allowed V8's, V10's, and V12's like they did in the early 90s. Some of those engines were disgustingly good in how they sounded. The Williams-Renault V10 of that period is amazing to listen to.

I always say that is the best way to get some hooked on F1, kudos for doing that!!! Part of racing in general is the experience of seeing, and hearing the cars in person IMO...video can't do it justice even in HD. Although I think HD has done a great job of giving a better sense of speed than in the SD days. Have you ever gone to Le Mans at all? That's one race I would love to see in person sometime. Not a huge fan of the Rolex Daytona 24 hours they do over here in the States. I watched a bit of it, but the track configuration is just blah. Sarthe is way better for endurance racing because of the length of the track IMO anyway.

Man, if you were a chick I'd ask you to marry me. Oke enough of that.
Never been to LeMans, yet, that is definitely going to happen in the future. Hopefully next year(2013).
To me Sarthe is the race of all races. Great history and still an amazing race to watch. Too bad they don't have the straight part anymore as they used to in the past.

 

[DangerousK]

Man, if you were a chick I'd ask you to marry me. Oke enough of that.
Never been to LeMans, yet, that is definitely going to happen in the future. Hopefully next year(2013).
To me Sarthe is the race of all races. Great history and still an amazing race to watch. Too bad they don't have the straight part anymore as they used to in the past.

LOL

I have to laugh about the concern regarding the safety at Sarthe because the cars were going too fast.

They didn't seem to have a problem with the top speeds cars were hitting circa 1970/1971. One of the drivers of the Porsche 917's that were entered in 1970 said that he hit 248MPH on the Mulsanne Straight before he had to start braking for the Mulsanne Corner, and he said the car was still accelerating. LOL

I blame the sissies over at the FIA who did their incessant whining about not sanctioning any tracks with a straight in excess of 2km.

The FIA were the ones who killed Group C racing when they realized the cars were just as fast as F1 cars at the time and just as popular. Typical moronic decisions.

 

[DangerousK]

ratson...here is a fun video for you. This was done during the practice session at Monza 1978. They mounted a camera on Jacques Lafitte's Ligier-Matra V12 car. Max the volume...that V12 just sings...gives me chills watching it.

The actual race was unfortunate. It proved to be Ronnie Peterson's final grand prix as he suffered what turned out to be fatal injuries in a major multi-car accident at the start.

Weird race...Gilles Villeneuve and Mario Andretti jumped the restart and got hit with a 60 second penalty. Only they didn't know it so what was thought to be a hell of a battle for 1st turned out to be nothing. Mario clinched the WDC at Monza that year.

 

[DangerousK]

Nevermind got it.

 

[DangerousK]

Final day of testing at Jerez....

10th February 2012, 16:05 by Keith Collantine

Fernando Alonso was quickest on the final day of testing at Jerez.

His lap of 1’18.877 served as a timely response to questions over the performance of the Ferrari F2012.

Alonso set the lap early in the running before spending much of the day conducting aerodynamic tests in the new Ferrari.

Behind him the times were close – Jean-Eric Vergne, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Kamui Kobayashi all lapped within two-tenths of a second of each other.

The world champion had a quiet start to the day as the team had to fix an electrical fault on the RB8.

Another driver to hit trouble was Bruno Senna, who caused two red flags when his Williams stopped on track. Nonetheless Senna completed another busy programme, logging 124 laps in his FW34, one fewer than he did yesterday.

Kamui Kobayashi lost a significant amount of time after an hydraulic leak in his Sauber C31 caused him to stop on the track. But was able to return to the circuit before the end of the session.

Having missed out on yesterday’s running, Nico Hulkenberg had his first taste of the Force India VJM05.

Jarno Trulli got behind the wheel of the Caterham CT01 for the first time. Having struggled with the power steering in last year’s car, he quickly reported back that the new model seemed to be an improvement in that area. However he was two seconds off the best time of the next-slowest car.

The next test will begin on 21st February at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Jerez test times
Driver Car Best time Laps Difference
1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari F2012 1’18.877 39
2 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR7 1’19.597 80 0.720
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault RB8 1’19.606 49 0.729
4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes MP4-27 1’19.640 86 0.763
5 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault E20 1’19.729 95 0.852
6 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari C31 1’19.834 76 0.957
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes VJM05 1’19.977 90 1.100
8 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault FW34 1’20.132 124 1.255
9 Jarno Trulli Caterham-Renault CT01 1’22.198 117 3.321

 

[DangerousK]

This should give the Ferrari fans some hope.

I like Alonso a lot...still think he is the best driver on the grid period. I have no doubt if he and Vettel were given identical Red Bull-Renaults, Alonso would set better overall times than Vettel.

Of course the flip-side is, I don't know what Red Bulls aims were during testing, so it's hard to say if the times any of the top teams posted excluding Mercedes, are indicative of how the cars will run at Melbourne next month.

Vettel is still going to be the odds on favorite...I just hope he gets beaten this year. If the McLarens have stepped up, I think it's going to be unlikely we see another Red Bull romp.

 

[DangerousK]

Just wanted to share some pictures from today's testing session...

 

[ratson]

I like Alonso a lot...still think he is the best driver on the grid period. I have no doubt if he and Vettel were given identical Red Bull-Renaults, Alonso would set better overall times than Vettel.

Vettel is still going to be the odds on favorite...I just hope he gets beaten this year. If the McLarens have stepped up, I think it's going to be unlikely we see another Red Bull romp.

Ok, that's it, you're going to get a sexcange
I am a pretty big Alonso fan, just not a fan of ferrari.And yes I do believe he is better than Vettel.
In general I always liked McLaren and the old Renault team.
I am also quite thrilled to see Lotus back in F1, let's hope they perform above expectation.

 

[wataru330]

I'm gonna watch Grand Prix (1966) this weekend.

8^)

 

[DangerousK]

Ok, that's it, you're going to get a sexcange
I am a pretty big Alonso fan, just not a fan of ferrari.And yes I do believe he is better than Vettel.
In general I always liked McLaren and the old Renault team.
I am also quite thrilled to see Lotus back in F1, let's hope they perform above expectation.

HAHA, pay for the sex change.

It's funny...I fucking hate Vettel. I don't know what it is, or if it might change over the years, but I can't stand him. Listening to Christian Horner get on the radio and tell him he won a GP, followed by him shrieking like a schoolgirl was so goddamn annoying. I think what did it for me was the season finale at Interlagos when he had a DNF due to gearbox failure. He had the nerve to make the comment after the race that it was like what happened to 'Senna in '91'. It might have been a valid point had it been raining, had he been driving a car where your hands turn red from the kick back in the steering wheel, and had he been using a H style 6 speed manual gearbox. Just a fucking idiot. For me the top 3 in F1 history are Senna, Fangio, and Jim Clark. Vettel has not had to drive yet the way those guys did when you have someone on your ass for dozens of laps. </end rant>

But yes I love Alonso...hope he beats Vettel in points.

It's not the Lotus you or I think of when it comes to F1 racing. It's just the name, they have no links to the Lotus that Colin Chapman built. The Chapman family actually tried to prevent the name from being used unsuccessfully. I do love their livery, they were smart to use the iconic paint scheme of the John Player Special Lotus cars of the 1970s and 1980s. Shit I miss when tobacco advertising was still allowed. I remember so many of those tobacco liveries more than I do the non-tobacco liveries. It's going to be really interesting to see how Raikkonen does against Grosjean...I bag on Kimi, but at this point I support anyone on the grid that can smash Vettel's face in. LOL

 

[DangerousK]

I'm gonna watch Grand Prix (1966) this weekend.

8^)

LOVE THIS MOVIE!

So amazing to watch...I mean I know the story is nothing special, but good god, the camera work, and the shots of the cars is so mesmerizing.

Even though it is a film, I almost feel like it serves as a documentary to understand what Formula 1 was like in the 1960s. I tell so many people that if you want to understand what F1 was, watch Grand Prix. It's thrilling, yet terrifying to see how non-existent safety was on the tracks. Monaco had bales of hay on the side of the track by the water. Even the tunnel has zero armco barriers. It's just insane to see what these guys did without any second thought.

For me the hardest thing about watching that film is seeing Graham Hill, Bruce McLaren, Jochen Rindt, Jim Clark, and others knowing what happened to all of them.

 

[wataru330]

LOVE THIS MOVIE!

So amazing to watch...I mean I know the story is nothing special, but good god, the camera work, and the shots of the cars is so mesmerizing.

Even though it is a film, I almost feel like it serves as a documentary to understand what Formula 1 was like in the 1960s. I tell so many people that if you want to understand what F1 was, watch Grand Prix. It's thrilling, yet terrifying to see how non-existent safety was on the tracks. Monaco had bales of hay on the side of the track by the water. Even the tunnel has zero armco barriers. It's just insane to see what these guys did without any second thought.

For me the hardest thing about watching that film is seeing Graham Hill, Bruce McLaren, Jochen Rindt, Jim Clark, and others knowing what happened to all of them.

Everything you said above +

Stylistically, the most distinguishing feature of “Grand Prix” is the pioneering use of split-screen techniques to cover many of the racing scenes, most likely the contribution of the great graphic designer whose baroque credit here reads “visual consultant; montages and titles by Saul Bass.” The flash and flair of these sequences seem almost the calculated opposite of Frankenheimer’s long-take, deep-focus style, developed in the days of live television drama (and impressively on display in his most revered film, “The Manchurian Candidate,” recently released in Blu-ray by MGM). Where Frankenheimer is concerned with placing the actors within an articulated, expressive space, Bass is more focused on bold compositions, quick cutting and other forms of immediate visual gratification.

Earlier in the thread DK, you mentioned exhaust notes...how about that opening sequence in Grand Prix?

Really enjoying this thread!

My attempts @ a "College Football official thread"-esqe F1 run last season fizzled out. I'm gonna stick w/ this one this year ;^)

 

[DangerousK]

Everything you said above +

Earlier in the thread DK, you mentioned exhaust notes...how about that opening sequence in Grand Prix?

Really enjoying this thread!

My attempts @ a "College Football official thread"-esqe F1 run last season fizzled out. I'm gonna stick w/ this one this year ;^)

The split screens in Grand Prix are magnificent...everything just flows so well.

The opening sequence is awesome!!! Love staring down the exhaust pipe at the beginning.

I'll do my best to keep posting any news/rumors/technical info that I see elsewhere on the web lol. I could have sworn there were more F1 fans here...unless the people I vaguely remember don't post on this forum any longer.

 

[DangerousK]

Fun Fact: Today is 1964 World Champion, John Surtees' birthday. He's the only man to win the World Championship in both F1 and motorcycles.

 

[ratson]

HAHA, pay for the sex change.

It's funny...I fucking hate Vettel. I don't know what it is, or if it might change over the years, but I can't stand him. Listening to Christian Horner get on the radio and tell him he won a GP, followed by him shrieking like a schoolgirl was so goddamn annoying. I think what did it for me was the season finale at Interlagos when he had a DNF due to gearbox failure. He had the nerve to make the comment after the race that it was like what happened to 'Senna in '91'. It might have been a valid point had it been raining, had he been driving a car where your hands turn red from the kick back in the steering wheel, and had he been using a H style 6 speed manual gearbox. Just a fucking idiot. For me the top 3 in F1 history are Senna, Fangio, and Jim Clark. Vettel has not had to drive yet the way those guys did when you have someone on your ass for dozens of laps. </end rant>

But yes I love Alonso...hope he beats Vettel in points.

It's not the Lotus you or I think of when it comes to F1 racing. It's just the name, they have no links to the Lotus that Colin Chapman built. The Chapman family actually tried to prevent the name from being used unsuccessfully. I do love their livery, they were smart to use the iconic paint scheme of the John Player Special Lotus cars of the 1970s and 1980s. Shit I miss when tobacco advertising was still allowed. I remember so many of those tobacco liveries more than I do the non-tobacco liveries. It's going to be really interesting to see how Raikkonen does against Grosjean...I bag on Kimi, but at this point I support anyone on the grid that can smash Vettel's face in. LOL

Speaking of Jim Clark:

( sunglasses by: Tag-Heuer® )

 

[DangerousK]

Holy shit, that is fucking awesome ratson...how old is that?

Is it the Lotus 49?

 

[DangerousK]

Just for you ratson, Jim Clark at Zandvoort in 1967.