Formula 1 in 2008

[Krys TOFF]

Halmilton tendrá una estrategia distinta...?

McLaren strategy for Hamilton was almost as stupid as the one of last year in penultimate GP.
Lewis did long runs with soft tyres, finishing his runs with very used tyres and so no gain compared to hard tyres, and then he did a short run with hard tyres. I can't understand that, this is not logical according to tyre use in this GP. It could be interesting with tracks that let the tyres last longer, like Hungaroring, but not in Malaysia.

What I feel about Malaysian GP :

- boring, not enough bypass while this track was supposed to be good for it. Best examples are Hamilton race behind Webber (no a try to bypass although his McLaren was obviously faster than Red Bull car) and Kubica's race. No pass, just drive to stay on the road, no risk taken = boring.

- only interesting moment was fight between Coulthard, Heidfeld and Alonso. 2 cars close in performance (Coulthard and Alonso) and a driver that really wanted to pass (Alonso) even without driving help = nice fight. Heidfeld used it to pass them both with his faster BMW. Nice moment. When I compare this to the time Hamilton just stayed behind Webber without any attempt, it makes me feel that Hamilton is fast, but doesn't have the guts to deserve to be world champion for the moment.

- good race for Toyota, Jarno did well according to his car, well done.

- best result ever for BMW (11 points in this race), they confirm that they are really dangerous for McLaren and Ferrari. and they have 2 fast drivers.

- bad race for Renault, the car showed its limits : Renault is not back in the top teams yet, that's obvious. Not so bad result for Piquet Jr after his disastrous 1st race in Australia : he finished the GP. But with an anonymous race : no bypass, all places he earned were due to abandons. This is not chauvinism, but when I see what Romain Grosjean (Renault test driver) can do in GP2 and GP2 Asia, well, it seems he deserves a seat in F1.

- very bad race for Williams, unable to confirm the good result of Australia.

- bad week-end for Bourdais : mechanical issue during practice and he made a mistake during the race so he could not confirm what he showed in Australia. Obvisouly, he is more efficient in street races than in standard circuit races, which is logical according to his ChampCar experience.

- I feel back to the Schumi's years of dominance when I see Ferrari's attitude : obviously Kimi has been favorised in race strategy and pitstop management. This maybe made Felipe quite angry and nervous, explaining his driving mistake. I don't know. But I would have prefered to see Kimi bypass Felipe on the track instead of in the pitstops.

- bad pitstop management for McLaren. Even apart from the issue at 1 tyre for Lewis, McLaren was the slowest in tyre changes. This is not acceptable from top team, even Force India pitstops were faster. Shame on McLaren team for that.

- Barrichello is the stupidest F1 driver. Another stupid penalty. Stop racing Rubens, you're too old. Give your seat to a real driver, like Sato who deserves more than a slow Super Aguri car.


General thought after 2 GP this season :

Suppression of driving aids brings us back to the roots of F1, when driving style makes you win. Drivers that are able to make no mistake and that know how to manage their driving style aggressivity regarding their tyres will win. Kimi learnt the 1st GP lesson, and changed back his style to a "riskless" one. Felipe didn't and finished in the gravel. Even Alonso had to change his style, but he is the only one remaining with agressive bypass it seems. Other drivers are too cautious now as a single driving mistake will put you out of the race.

The suppression of driving aids was to bring back spectacular racing and give more lattitude to the driver, and to allow some driving errors to help bypasses. Result is only more abandons and less bypasses. So, the result is just the opposite of the original goal... thanks to Bernie Ecclestone.


Why I'm angry :

Mass-dampers !!!

Renault innovated and developped it, used it and then other teams made all that was possible to make it forbidden (mid-2006). But, as Renault had to give technical confidential informations when they tried to make mass-dampers valid in 2006, other teams were able to learn from Renault about this system.

And now, since 2 races, we have Ferrari, McLaren and BMW (and Toyota too it seems, but not sure) that use a slightly modified mass-damper system, fully inspired by Renault one ! The slight modifications made it not forbidden. And as Ferrari and McLaren have more influence on Bernie than Renault, this system is now legalized while it was declared forbidden 1year and a half ago !!!

F*ck Bernie ! This motherf*cking bastard is nothing but bullsh*t ! If a system is legal, it is for everyone. If it's not, thn it's not for everyone too. No ? Yes ! Now, Renault will create again his mass-damper, but it will last a few weeks before they get it, and also they may have less performance one as they stopped developping it since mid-2006 because it was declared forbidden... Also, their chassis was not designed to be used with mass-dampers, unlike 2005 and 2006 one, so maybe the original gain of 3 to 4/10 sec per lap will probably be lower than that for Renault.

F1 is supposed to be for car innovations, and when there's one it's declared forbidden until Ferrari and McLaren have it, then it's legal. Same kind of thing happened many years ago with turbo engines, also created by Renault.

I don't say that just because I'm French (even if it's a part of my angryness regarding this attitude about Renault's innovation), but because I really think it's unfair. And, now that it's considered legal, what about other teams (Williams, Red Bull, Honda, ...) which won't have mass dampers then ? It's even more unfair for them because, unlike Renault, they don't have any experience of the mass-damper use. Either 1 team develop an innovation and should not share it with others, or else the system is considered legal clearly and all details are given to all the teams, allowing them to develop it if they want. But there, we have a middle-way chosen by Bernie, legalizing an innovation declared illegal less than 2 years before, and only because some teams decided not to respect the interdiction to use it !!!

Fair attitude would be to give money penalty to the teams using the mass-dampers, and say againthat they are still illegal. If Bernie want to declare mass-dampers back to legal, then he should tell it now for 2009 season, allowaing ALL teams to develop their system, not only always the same ones.

Again : my feeling is really that Bernie is Ferrari's and McLaren's d*cksucker. Period.

[AbuRaf70]

Mucho se había comentado que se cambiaba el diseño y medidas del alerón trasero, para permitir un mejor acercamiento y sobrepaso posterior...  pero por lo visto en Australia, Raikkonen no pudo por largo tiempo adelantarse a Barrichello, y en Malasia, Hamilton no pudo con Webber, pese a que ambos tienen mejores autos...  no resultará efectiva esta medida...?

En los autos Indy, también tenían este problema y con el cambio del alerón trasero, lo solucionaron...   porque no ocurre lo mismo en la F1...?

[Krys TOFF]

Coulthard buying Toro Rosso : is it real or is it a 1st of April joke ?
Infos : http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080401093646.shtml

[AbuRaf70]

Yo había anticipado que como Toro Rosso está a la venta, Jean Todt y su hijo pensaban comprarla...

Pero, no es descabellado pensar que Coulthard piense en lo mismo...  no nos olvidemos que Prost también tuvo su Team propio...

[Krys TOFF]

Coulthard buying Toro Rosso : is it real or is it a 1st of April joke ?
Infos : http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080401093646.shtml

It was a 1st of April joke.

[CTG]

Bye-bye, Max Mosley!!!

http://www.index.hr/video/film.aspx?id=1704

[Akoss Poo a.k.a. Zorromeister]

Well, forever Robert Kubica, the first ever Eastern Central European pipsqueak to get pole position!!! Polish, greatest nation after Hungarian, can be happy about this result! BÖFF!

[Duplode]

Nice, I wasn't aware of Polish-Hungarian friendship  Forever Robert Kubica!!

[Krys TOFF]

Aero tests in Barcelona.

Renault copy Red Bull's rear design :



And BMW too but with smaller size :


the come-back of the ugly aero element in test for Honda:



And... Fisico leading the scoreboard with the Super Aguri today so far !
1. G. Fisichella Force India F8-VII 1:19.721 33 pit
2. F. Massa Ferrari F2008 1:20.326 +0.605 44 pit
3. L. Hamilton McLaren MP4-22 1:20.452 +0.731 36 pit
4. F. Alonso Renault R27 1:20.632 +0.911 57 pit
5. N. Rosberg Williams FW28 1:21.033 +1.312 27 pit
6. N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1.07 1:21.391 +1.670 35 pit
7. R. Barrichello Honda RA106 1:21.726 +2.005 35 pit
8. T. Glock Toyota TF107 1:21.731 +2.010 36 pit
9. D. Coulthard Red Bull Racing RB3 1:22.253 +2.532 7 pit

[Krys TOFF]

Ferrari new nose in test, is it a coanda effect nose ?
=> http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2008/0/524.html

[CTG]

Nothing is going to change with this. Ferrari vs McLaren in the full season, with some luck BMW can arrive to podium. Renault's W-type rear wing seems to be a fake one from the news of February.

[CTG]

I am not an aerodynamics expert but as far as I see, the downforce battle will have a main role in season 2009, especially after going back to the damned fast slick tyres. I would suggest some other wing types, but they know it better... I have those plans since 2002...

[Chulk]

Remember downforce will be reduced for 2009 season, so maybe that's why they're trying those wings...

[CTG]

Spain. Alonso in first row. That's a bit weird.

Shall I say there's almost no fuel in his car?

[Duplode]

Indeed. Bah... I tipped for Alonso in the Sunday Top 3, not Saturday - maybe the other way 'round would have been smarter