The F1 Thread 2010 Season

Wr8 is correct. Mclaren have the most powerful car on the grid by quite some distance but haven't been able to get all their developments working well together in some races. The must have's for the cars this season have been the Mclaren F-duct and the Red Bull blown diffuser. Ferrari started off on the backfoot with neither and at times during the season like in Turkey or Belgium were slower than even the Renaults & Mercedes which was never the case for Webber or Lewis. If Lewis did not have 3 DNFs in 4 recent races, he could very well be leading the championship.

Alonso has had to get every tenth of a second possible out of the slower Ferrari to be in the position he is now. Either the Red Bulls and/or Mclarens have been quicker than the Ferrari on every race bar Monza.

Well thats simply not accurate on a number of things. The McLaren uses the same engine as Mercedes and Force India so its not on its own, but yes they have that advantage. I will disagree that Ferrari started off on the backfoot due to the fact they finished 1-2 at Round 1, they were bang on the pace until around Monaco but the weather tipped the results abit.

The F-Duct is a must have but Ferrari have had it since China, Round 4. The Ferrari also got their blown diffuser working effectively at Germany (Quickest ahead of Red Bull and McLaren), McLaren did not get theirs working until Spa. The McLaren early on took advantage of being a good car in the wet with wins at Melbourne & China that they otherwise were not fast enough for.

I'm not trying to belitte Alonso's achievements but to state he has had the worst car out of the Top 3 for most of the season is just utter bollocks, they had a good car early on, they had a few races down and then since Germany they have been fast everywhere.
 
The Ferrari also got their blown diffuser working effectively at Germany (Quickest ahead of Red Bull and McLaren), McLaren did not get theirs working until Spa.

I'd argue that they've not got it properly working at all. Worst McLaren upgrade in years.
 
I'd argue that they've not got it properly working at all. Worst McLaren upgrade in years.

They have but only since getting the exhaust overrun working, does make you think what they might have achieved had they designated more resources into improving other aspects of the car instead of it, I mean they only had an f-duct upgrade at Suzuka! and then didnt even use it.
 
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I've lead this from the bloody start but I can see Team sodding Larsson doing me on the line!
 
I totally forgot about that, no wonder im doing shit I have been putting up with Sutil's shit.
 
Re Hamilton's gearbox, this is from Brundle's BBC blog:

The regulations dictate that if a grid penalty is taken then a new 'four-race' gearbox can be fitted from the next event, meaning that Hamilton will not take further pain in Korea for a new gearbox. Sorry, I called that wrong in the race.

No penalty in Korean then...
 
McLaren need a miracle now really, they have to get the car on pole and win the final races realistically AND need the others to have DNF's or bad results, just can't see all 3 of them doing that and McLaren improving the car by that much at this stage of the season.
 
McLaren need a miracle now really, they have to get the car on pole and win the final races realistically AND need the others to have DNF's or bad results, just can't see all 3 of them doing that and McLaren improving the car by that much at this stage of the season.

I don't see them doing much, however they're are bringing the double f-duct to Korea so it'll be interested to see the performance level it brings.
 
Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, I guess everyone's been too caught up following the scouser saga...

BBC said:
The Black Sea resort of Sochi will host the Russian Grand Prix between 2014 and 2020 after agreeing a deal with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

The deal, which will reportedly cost Russia £25m a year, also includes an option to extend it by five years.

"It can be a super circuit," said Ecclestone. "It's all the things we need and wanted and we are very happy."

However, the opening Russian GP could take place in 2015 as Sochi is also hosting the Winter Olympics in 2014.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak raised the possibility of putting the race back by a year if it affects preparations for the Winter Olympics.

Ecclestone, who has been trying since at least 1982 to take F1 to Russia only to see plans for races in St Petersburg and Moscow collapse, praised the country's sports officials, adding: "They are trying to build absolutely first-class facilities both for the Olympics and Formula 1.

"I sincerely hope that Formula 1 is going to play a big part in what I can see happening in Sochi."

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, who attended the signing in Sochi, met with business leaders separately to encourage them to support the grand prix.

And Putin hailed the move as a good way to satisfy calls from the International Olympic Committee for a Winter Olympics legacy.

"For us it's an important event because it would be possible to use effectively everything we have created for the Olympic Games in 2014," said Putin.

Ecclestone is keen to expand the sport to new parts of the world with Singapore, China, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi added to the F1 calendar in recent years.

And South Korea will host its first ever grand prix on 24 October, despite concerns as to whether the venue would be ready in time.

A new race will take place in India from 2011 - taking the schedule to an unprecedented 20 races - while it was announced earlier this year that F1 will return to the United States from 2012 at a new track in Austin, Texas.

Ecclestone has said that 20 races was probably the limit for the sport, which could lead to other races being dropped.

Two European races that secured their futures this year were the Italian Grand Prix, which will remain at Monza until 2016, and the Monaco Grand Prix, which signed a new 10-year contract in July.

Silverstone last year signed a contract to host the British Grand Prix until 2017.

Ecclestone told BBC Radio 5 live earlier this year that it was more important to be in Russia than anywhere else in the world at this moment.

"The only question mark is Russia, where we should be and we are not," he said in July, when also revealing his interest in taking F1 back to South Africa.

This year, F1 has its first Russian driver in Vitaly Petrov, although he has struggled to perform consistently and his future at Renault has been the subject of much speculation.

BBC Sport - F1 - Sochi agrees deal to host Russian Grand Prix

I hope Tilke doesn't frigging design the track.
 
Looks like they are quite limited by the site layout really, even so if its a Tilke track its more about how good the event looks and not the racing.
 
Ah booo, I've not looked at F1 news since posting that. feck off Tilke you boring bastard!!

And yea, F-Red, I agree, give me more like Spa please :drool:
 
Ah booo, I've not looked at F1 news since posting that. feck off Tilke you boring bastard!!

And yea, F-Red, I agree, give me more like Spa please :drool:

We're both on the same level then for track designs, tracks like Istanbul Parkway & Yas Marina are a good example of interesting flat tracks, the latter mainly for the scenery as much as the track. However none have the gradients to make the tracks even more challenging.

I guess in this modern age, where countries bid for races, they dont have a circuit in mind they just have a spare bit of land where they feel they could host a race. Which is a shame as i feel the more these 'new' paddocks and facilities phase out older tracks, the character and variation gets lost from the F1 calendar. I'd say in about 4-5 years this discussion will become a major point in F1 and its future development.
 
Definitely, I was glad to see in that article that Monaco and Monza have extended their contracts. I am concerned for the future of the classic venues though, and the recent additions to the calender have for the most part been thoroughly underwhelming. Even Singapore once you take away the pretty lights it's a dull as shit just like Valencia. Yas Marina is a bit more interesting with some of it's corners, but that pit lane is just a stupid gimmick and I'd prefer them to put some more imagination into what the cars are racing around than something stupid like that.
 
Bernie Ecclestone heads for 80 but has no plans to put the brakes on | Donald McRae | Sport | The Guardian

Rather than broadening its appeal, Ecclestone has instructed Hermann Tilke, his pet designer, to churn out a series of new circuits which are tedious replicas of each other. "Our problem is that we're trying to build race circuits that are super safe. You don't get so much up-and-down because you can't just put a new circuit anywhere. But one of the best circuits in the world is Turkey. It's a great circuit – that's up‑and‑down."
 
1 M Webber 1:37.942
2 F Alonso 1:38.132
3 L Hamilton 1:38.279
4 R Kubica 1:38.718
5 J Button 1:38.726
6 F Massa 1:38.820
7 S Vettel 1:39.204
8 V Petrov 1:39.267
9 N Rosberg 1:39.268
10 K Kobayashi 1:39.564

Top 10 from second practice.
 
jakehumphreyf1

It's already 7.45 here so the office is emptying. 5am alarm call tomorrow...6am onSunday...potential for rain...!!!

Who's getting up for 6am quali then?
 
I'd imagine it'll be on there fairly soon after the event. You could just record it.

I'm setting my alarm to get up at 5:50, but I've had a few beers tonight so I may end up turning it off and just watching highlights, time will tell!
 
eh? they are stopping the cars into the pit lanes using cones???
 
should be an interesting test for the drivers , first real time racing on the track in anger.
I have a feeling there could be quite a few spin outs and shunts.
BBC says there is heavy rain for Sunday ,and that will make the race even more interesting
 
drivers are having trouble stopping on the concrete and the dust , using cones to stop hitting the guy stood there.

wouldnt like to be the guy standing there then!! i would however like a job in mclaren mission control...
 
I didn't see any FP sessions, there's a lot of slow, almost off throttle corners ain't there