The F1 Thread 2010 Season


they have signed a new driver that they think will be better suited to the team...

CrashTestDummy-2-8544b.jpg
 
BBC Sport - F1 - Jenson Button supports new Formula 1 points system

_46902098_buttonbody466.jpg


Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button has backed plans to introduce a new points scoring system next season.

The proposal would see the winner take 25 points, 20 for second and 15 for third and should be approved by the World Motor Sport Council on Friday.

"It's a great idea," Button told BBC Radio 5 live. "It's nice that you get five points over second for winning.

"That's important because we all love winning races. I won six races this year and I got just two more points."

The idea to alter how points are awarded came from the F1 Commission, which is made up of key stakeholders from the teams, promoters, suppliers and sponsors, and chaired by president Bernie Ecclestone.

At the moment, the top eight finishers earn 10, eight, six, five, four, three, two and one point respectively.

Under the new system 10 drivers would score points in each race.

In addition to 25 points for the winner, 20 for second and 15 for third, the new proposal will then hand 10, eight, six, five, three, two and one points for the drivers finishing fourth to 10th.

The plan appears to give greater reward for victory but the percentage remains the same with the runner-up scoring 80% of the winner's share and third place on the podium taking 60%.

However, the rewards are proportionately less for fourth-to-sixth spots.

Button will be defending his world title at McLaren, where he will drive alongside 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton.

The 29-year-old chose to leave Brawn, which has since been bought out by Mercedes, last month but is still enjoying a winter break before pre-season testing begins in February.

"I haven't (started yet) but I'm looking forward to that," Button added.

"It was a very difficult decision for me to leave the team I've been with for seven years.

"But I felt that we'd achieved so much together that it was time for me to look for a new challenge - and that is to race for McLaren and alongside Lewis."

Button claimed the 2009 title in his 10th year in the sport to become Britain's 10th world champion.

The Somerset-born driver says he is still savouring his victory almost two months after sealing the win at the penultimate race of the 2009 season in Brazil.

"After the last race you enjoy the celebrations and it starts to sink in," Button said.

"But then you spend weeks away from racing cars and it's just normal. I am a pretty normal person.

"When you go to award ceremonies, you feel the emotion again and you realise what you've achieved.

"You never get bored of people saying congratulations. In previous years they would come up and say 'you'll do it in the end' but now it's more of a shake of the head and a smile."
 
And how did this take so long? Good move for me...

BBC Sport - F1 - F1 drivers to help race stewards adjudicate grands prix

Former Formula 1 drivers are to become part of the group of stewards who will adjudicate at each grand prix as part of plans published on Friday.

The move is among the first major changes made by Jean Todt since he succeeded Max Mosley as president of motorsport's governing body the FIA.

Ex-drivers will form part of a four-man group of FIA stewards to deal with F1 issues at each grand prix.

An commissioner will also be appointed to deal with F1 on Todt's behalf.

The decision to appoint drivers to the stewards is likely to be warmly welcomed by active drivers and teams, who have long complained about the inconsistency of decisions by race stewards.

The FIA said in a statement following its World Council meeting in Monaco on Friday that "a smaller permanent group of F1 Stewards will sit with experienced former F1 drivers to provide a permanent panel of three FIA stewards, together with one steward representing the National Sporting Authority, to deal with F1 at each Grand Prix.

"There will no longer be a non-voting Chairman and each group of stewards will elect their own Chairman amongst themselves for each race. Utilising video and radio exchanges they should aim to reach decisions very efficiently."
 
Let's go for the hat trick of F1 stories today...

BBC - BBC Sport: Andrew Benson: Schumacher return looking increasingly likely

schuap595.jpg


Michael Schumacher's possible return to action with Mercedes in 2010 has been the hot topic in Formula 1 circles since BBC Sport pundit Eddie Jordan first put meat on the bones of the vague rumours last month - and it is now looking increasingly likely to happen.

Bosses at the Mercedes team have all scrupulously avoided dampening down the speculation in the last couple of weeks, with the latest remarks coming from chief executive Nick Fry, who said a comeback by the seven-time champion would be "very interesting".

And this morning, the German tabloid Bild reported that Mercedes had offered Schumacher a salary of seven million euros (£6.3m).

On top of that, my information is increasingly that Schumacher's return as Nico Rosberg's team-mate is looking like a done deal.

Jordan says he thinks it will now definitely happen - and he believes it is only subject to a medical examination by leading F1 physician Dr Johannes Piel on the neck injury that stopped him returning as a replacement for Felipe Massa last summer.

Other sources are pointing in the same direction.

One figure who until recently had a senior role at Ferrari, who would have to release Schumacher from his consultancy contract, is saying it is definitely going to happen.

And I received cast-iron information from a reliable source this morning about the plans of those potentially affected by Schumacher's decision that, shall we say, points very strongly to him driving for Mercedes in 2010. (If that sounds vague, I'm sorry, but I was told in confidence and cannot reveal any more).

Armed with this mounting evidence, I phoned Schumacher's media spokeswoman Sabine Kehm to ask her what was going on with her client.

She is normally very forthcoming - it was Kehm who gave me the information with which BBC Sport broke the story back in July that Schumacher would consider a return as a stand-in for Massa.

At the time of Jordan's remarks she said a return was "highly unlikely", but that she "would never say never". But this time, although as friendly as ever, she was unusually reticent.

"I haven't got any more to say," she said. "I don't want to tell you anything, for whatever reason. I don't want to go into it any more."

Is that because you have nothing to say, I asked, or because you can't say anything?

"Because I can't."

I realise that none of this is definitive evidence that Schumacher will be back in F1 in 2010. But I have to admit that, after being initially sceptical about it, I'm now increasingly convinced that it could well come true.

If Schumacher does come back, it raises a whole load of interesting questions. The first of those is probably why, when he will be 41 in January and has absolutely nothing to prove, would he want to?

Until Schumacher himself speaks, there is no definitive answer to that. But it is pretty obvious that the competition bug still bites him hard - he drives karts as often as he can, and won Massa's karting challenge in Brazil last month.

It would also be a neat book-end to his F1 career - Mercedes, for whom he was driving in sportscars at the time, paid for him to make his F1 debut with Jordan in 1991, but he has never driven in a grand prix for them. He would also be continuing his relationship with Mercedes GP boss Ross Brawn, who has masterminded all his seven titles, two at Benetton and five at Ferrari.

There is, though, also the issue of whether his neck has fully healed - but Kehm has already said that there is no reason to believe it won't have done by the end of the year.

Schumacher, Kehm and Brawn have all said that he is not interested in a new career. But that is not what this would be about, should it happen. At 41, any comeback by Schumacher is necessarily going to be short, but then this one only has to be.

Mercedes have already signed Rosberg for 2010 but, promising though the German is, he is not considered to be of the same calibre as Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who will be leading the challenges of McLaren and Ferrari, nor of Jenson Button, Hamilton's new team-mate, or Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull.

And although Nick Heidfeld, widely believed to be Mercedes's second choice as Rosberg's team-mate, is a consistent, reliable performer, he isn't either.

Vettel is Mercedes's main target - but they cannot have him for 2010 as he has a contract with Red Bull. That deal also lasts through 2011, but it is believed Mercedes will make strenuous efforts to prise the 22-year-old out of that deal during next year with a view to having him lead their team in 2011.

With that in mind, Mercedes need a stop-gap for 2010. And while Heidfeld would certainly be a decent one of those, he is not going to have the same impact, on and off the track, as Schumacher. After all, given the choice, who would you go for?
 
I do like the new point system so much better then the medal system. It does put mroe emphasis on finishing in the top three and more for winning.
 
Schumacher - Mercedes
Button/Hamilton - Mclaren all British World Champions team
Alonso - Ferrari
Vettel/Webber - Red Bull
Senna name back on the grid
Silverstone will be back
A proper points system
26 car grid
HD Broadcast?

If all those happen then I can honestly say it will be the most anticipated season for years.
 
Schumacher - Mercedes
Button/Hamilton - Mclaren all British World Champions team
Alonso - Ferrari
Vettel/Webber - Red Bull
Senna name back on the grid
Silverstone will be back
A proper points system
26 car grid
HD Broadcast?

If all those happen then I can honestly say it will be the most anticipated season for years.

refuling is out as well isnt it so cars will actually have to overtake each other on the track...

rather than rely on somebody needing an extra couple of seconds to refuel

all points to a good season... makes you wonder how bernie and co will manage to feck it all up this time, though i am still confident they will find a way
 
Cars will still pit for tyres Ezee, so there's still the potential for overtaking in the pits

Did I read they'd banned tyre warmers? So the drivers will have to build the heat into the tyres themselves? Because that's gunna lead to some very dicey out laps!!!

I think finally F1 is heading in the direction. It'll never last!
 
Did I read they'd banned tyre warmers? So the drivers will have to build the heat into the tyres themselves? Because that's gunna lead to some very dicey out laps!!!!

Think they made a U-Turn on that one Brad, not entirely sure though.

Next season is going to be very interesting though...to be honest I havn't been as enthusiastic about a season coming in a long time.
 
Cars will still pit for tyres Ezee, so there's still the potential for overtaking in the pits
!

yeah but as tyre stops take pretty much the same time for teams baring feck ups its difficult to use it as an overtaking strategy...

but if you knew somebody was going to have to refule for say 3 seconds more than you in a few laps there was not that much insentive to risk overtaking so i would expect to figure less as a tactic
 
The only thing I fear about refuelling is that drivers and cars will qualify purely on pace, because they'll all have the same fuel levels. Meaning, because they're already ordered by pace once the race starts, they'll just spread out, with each car being progressively slower than the one in front.
 
I don't understand why Ferrari is keeping Massa if Schumi is thinking about coming back. Massa is a good driver but Ferrari could easily replace him with someone that will do a equal or better job...
 
The only thing I fear about refuelling is that drivers and cars will qualify purely on pace, because they'll all have the same fuel levels. Meaning, because they're already ordered by pace once the race starts, they'll just spread out, with each car being progressively slower than the one in front.

Tyre degradation is where the difference will kick in, what one car performs like in qualifying isn't a straight interpretation as to how it'll will perform in the race.
 
Tyre degradation is where the difference will kick in, what one car performs like in qualifying isn't a straight interpretation as to how it'll will perform in the race.

Indeed, and if you get a couple of teams that get their cars working well with tyres for a short sharp burst, while others get the best out of them over the longer term... you might theoretically end up with the opposite kind of grid to Counts fears

That said you might just get one team that nails it's package and dominates. But then it's up to the rest to catch up, as always
 
Every season is like that, no matter what rules the FIA try to bring in to make the playing field as level as possible, teams will look to employ the best engineers to utilise their knowledge of how to get the most from the cars within the rules.

Hence why im pretty sure the 2011 season will have some tinkering to the rules!
 
I don't understand why Ferrari is keeping Massa if Schumi is thinking about coming back. Massa is a good driver but Ferrari could easily replace him with someone that will do a equal or better job...

massa is a very good driver, schumi has a bad neck and hasn't raced for several years, so at the moment massa is probably better for F1 (should all be well when he returns)
 
thats why i mentioned should all be well when he returns, schumi has a definite long lasting problem, massa may but there is no way to be certain at the moment

His neck is completely healed. In fact it was completely fine when he was thinking about coming back. The only thing that stopped him was just how shite the F60 was. Alonso does not want Schumacher in the team hence the reason his role was demoted to road cars only.

Michael had spent alot of time in the simulators working on next years car, and was apparently furious. Now looking at a Brawn seat and taking some very valuable data with him. Ferrari fecked up pure and simply. They outcasted Schumacher 'whos had a major hand in development' for Alonso and now there is significant threat of him joining Brawn taking precious information with him.
 
Rumours have it that it will be Trulli and Villeneuve.

I'd love to see Villeneuve back - But I honestly think I;d be disappointed. He was excellent with Williams and did little after only chase the Buck. Pollock should have directed his career better.

Anthony Davidson is also in line - Would like to see him in a good car. I'd rate him better then Button
 
Anthony Davidson couldnt take care of Takuma Sato who was Jenson's whipping boy for 2 seasons. I like Davidson but there is a reason he's a better rated test driver than a race driver.
 
I'd say Davidson is quickly running out of options for a drive next season, best bet may be Manor/Virgin, alongside Glock.

Well that seat's gone, Virgin have signed Di Grassi

if Schumacher goes to Mercedes, you've got to think Heidfeld will stay at the new Sauber team, and Alguersari is seemingly all but confirmed at Toro Rosso, doesn't leave many seats for him

Renault
Sauber
USF1 (x2)
Campos Meta
 
Brilliant news, Kobayashi is the type of driver who is very unconventional compared to most of the F1 drivers, he'll certainly entertain & create talking points next year!
 
Another street circuit? Joy...

Bernie Ecclestone has agreed a deal which would see Formula One come to the streets of Rome, according to course planner Maurizio Flammini.

A Rome grand prix, raced through the streets of the Italian capital much like that of Monaco, has been in planning for over a year and a half.

And Flammini, the creator of the idea, has revealed they have now been given the green light by the Formula One supremo.

"The agreement with Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone to give life to the Rome Grand Prix has already been done and signed," he told Sky Italia.

"The appropriate course still has to be defined."

Italy already has a grand prix on the world championship circuit, in Monza.

There were fears when plans for a Rome grand prix were first mooted that it would replace the historic track which has been a more or less permanent fixture in the Formula One calendar since 1922.

However, the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, insists it will serve as a second Italian grand prix.

"We think the Rome Grand Prix would be very important and we are in favour of it," he said. "And it's not true that it is an alternative to Monza.

"Monza is a grand prix on the circuit, and the grand prix of Rome is integrative to that of Monza, it's not a replacement.

"We have calculated that there will be an income of one billion euros a year with this grand prix and Rome needs to renew its tourist appeal.

"Not only the past, archaeology and monuments, but also the future, something which is aimed at families and youngsters."
 
I fear the question was more rhetorical than that Nick!

It's a shame, there's some classic circuits not being used, in countries without a race. And Italy gets two. I hated it when we had the German GP and the 'European' German GP. Load of nonsense
 
Yep, like the Spanish GP and the 'European' Valencia borefest, it's shite.

USA needs a race again, the manufacturers biggest market and no race, its crazy. Not to mention they have some good tracks over there. Meanwhile we've got Korea with a GP, no doubt another tilke designed 3 mile wide piece of crap with no overtaking.
 
Street circuits make for horrible races, and that includes Singapore I am afraid!

Wasn't such a long time ago in F1 that Monaco was the only street circuit on the calendar