2007 F1 Season

[Roy]

my friends within the paddock have told me something interesting...

have you thought about the fact that the dirty sanchez ( as he will poetically forever be known to me as long as he races ) will stay at Mac?

both drivers have mentioned they dont want to drive along side each other again, but contractual clauses may otherwise prove that they must.

can you imagine that?

its not as far fetched as you may think.

even if i hated my team mate, i still have to do the bst job possible in spite of it and that may well be what happens after this season has reached its climax...

I said that a few pages ago. No doubt any successful F1 driver is a tqad arrogant and i dont think FA will run from the prospect of racing against Louise. If LH gets up then FA will want to prove next year he can beat him. If FA he will hang around and rub LH's nose in it for another season. Its win win for FA.

No doubt FA and his team of mechanics want to beat LH and his team of mechanics. FA knows its the ppl workign on his car that will get him accross the line....despite the media wanting you to think otherwise.

Also, the Nissan story does the round every 6-12 months. Perhaps because the Prodrive thing is shaky the Nissan/Prost thing is doing the rounds again., Be good to see it come off but i think Pat Symonds and Flavio have both said they are not in a position to support a customer car

[Roy]

Anyone want to hinge a bet on Ralf scoring a seat at Williams????

Also with a wet race predicted for this weekend here is to hoping RBR/ Webber can get a good result ot finish off the year. The car has looked good in the wet recently, and i recall Webber doing good things at the Brazilian GP years ago on he Jaguar before he binned it coming onto the striaght.

Also a bit of carnage with the start may see Loiuse facing the wrong way courtesy of Massa, or a pretender SUtil/Vettel) tryign to get a result on the first corner

[Marco-R34GTT]

Your forgetting team orders have been 'banned' since the shenanigans that occured in Austria (was it 2002?), basically Ferrari had no need to make Barichello pull over for Schumacher yet they asked him and he did... As far as I'm concerned, Ferrari f***ed the puppy right there, so yes, the FIA has in fact made it an issue, because of Ferrari's obviously unfair team orders, they (FIA) pounced...

[NISMO]

Your forgetting team orders have been 'banned' since the shenanigans that occured in Austria (was it 2002?), basically Ferrari had no need to make Barichello pull over for Schumacher yet they asked him and he did... As far as I'm concerned, Ferrari f***ed the puppy right there, so yes, the FIA has in fact made it an issue, because of Ferrari's obviously unfair team orders, they (FIA) pounced...

my bad - the steam building in my head pushed out some memory.

I still think though, whether valid or not, the only reason they are doing this is to put pressure on Mac, and force mistakes leading to Mac not winning anything this year.

The reason is pretty simple

Ferrari = billions in revenue for the FIA. Imagine a season where Ferrari's golden boy is no longer there(schuey), and on top of that they fail to win anything. There will be hordes of bandwagon fans who jumped on the Schuey thing turn away from the sport. This equals lost revenue. How do the FIA fix this? Simple, hand Ferrari a constructors championship, and then do everything to destabilise it's nearest rival in order to get them a drivers championship as well. This way, Ferrari has it's new hero driver (Kimi) and all is well for at least another season.

[djr81]

Well personally I hope that Jackie Stewart sues Oswald, sorry Max Mosley for approximately 11ty billion dollars. the gives atleast $100 million of it back to McLaren.

As for parity & the FIA enforcing it on McLaren - people have apparently forgotten something. The whole issue of team orders only came into the spotlight because of a bullshit stunt that Ferrari pulled a number of years ago. Schumacher was streeting everyone at about the half way stage of the championship. But they still made his number two pull over on the last lap of the Austrian GP (I think, memory is a but dodgy) to ensure he got the extra 2 points.

Before that it had never been a problem for anyone.

[NISMO]

Also a bit of carnage with the start may see Loiuse facing the wrong way courtesy of Massa, or a pretender SUtil/Vettel) tryign to get a result on the first corner

Fingers Crossed

[Beer Baron]

Go Kimi. louise is a fag. alonso is a fag. kimi is the only one who knows how to get smashed at the strippers. hamilton will probably celebrate his first WDC by getting spooned by his daddy. alonso will do some stupid chicken dance or something, but at least kimi will get out there, score a nice bag of coke, few cases of champagne and paint the town red whilst banging a few groupies at every club he calls into.

[NISMO]

Go Kimi. louise is a fag. alonso is a fag. kimi is the only one who knows how to get smashed at the strippers. hamilton will probably celebrate his first WDC by getting spooned by his daddy. alonso will do some stupid chicken dance or something, but at least kimi will get out there, score a nice bag of coke, few cases of champagne and paint the town red whilst banging a few groupies at every club he calls into.

Love your style Baron.

If you could choose anyone in the world to be your mate, he would easily be in your top 5.

[Kozeyekan]

Back up a bit. Nissan/Prost into F1= Great. Hyundai into F1= what?

I mean, I know Hyundai have done a great job in the last few models of the coupe but seriously? The reviews are favourable, and so is the price, but F1 is a whole different ball game. Still, they's probably just copy Ferrari and come out in a car that looked exactly the same, but only did 80 mph.

Now, I know this really is a very weak assumption, but let me relate a tidbit form the tube press a couple of days ago. They often print little lines without giving away the persons name, and this one said a current Brit sportsman who's doing well could be shaken up at the moment, because he's in danger of being "outed" by a former lover.

Now, these stories are often bullsh!t. I have never heard them to be true, but I assume they're pointed the gayday at Lewis, simply because he's pretty much the only English sportsman doing anything right..... unless it's wilkinson, but the rugby guys there are a little that way inclined anyhow.

[Marco-R34GTT]

Hyundai = FTL!

[kralster]

Back up a bit. Nissan/Prost into F1= Great. Hyundai into F1= what?

I mean, I know Hyundai have done a great job in the last few models of the coupe but seriously? The reviews are favourable, and so is the price, but F1 is a whole different ball game. Still, they's probably just copy Ferrari and come out in a car that looked exactly the same, but only did 80 mph.

Now, I know this really is a very weak assumption, but let me relate a tidbit form the tube press a couple of days ago. They often print little lines without giving away the persons name, and this one said a current Brit sportsman who's doing well could be shaken up at the moment, because he's in danger of being "outed" by a former lover.

Now, these stories are often bullsh!t. I have never heard them to be true, but I assume they're pointed the gayday at Lewis, simply because he's pretty much the only English sportsman doing anything right..... unless it's wilkinson, but the rugby guys there are a little that way inclined anyhow.

Umm i don't see what production cars have in common with F1. I've never seen a open wheeler V8 powered car that does over 300 km at a dealership. So i fail to see how hyundai are any different from any other manufacture in F1. All it takes is money, they can recruit engineers and they would have plenty of their own people that could contribute to a F1 project.

[djr81]

Umm i don't see what production cars have in common with F1. I've never seen a open wheeler V8 powered car that does over 300 km at a dealership. So i fail to see how hyundai are any different from any other manufacture in F1. All it takes is money, they can recruit engineers and they would have plenty of their own people that could contribute to a F1 project.

Dunno occasionally an F5000 used to be put on the forecourt to drum up interest....

They could always re-badge someone elses work anyway. Wonder what John Judd is up to these days?

Edited October 17, 2007 by djr81

[Paradizzle]

I doubt Nissan would be investing into F1 i know from 99-03 they had a net operating loss, i think even prior to 99 they were in alot of debt. Only from 03 till now they have been operating at a net profit, but it has hardly been enough to re-coup their debts and have enough to invest in such a sport as F1!

[Kozeyekan]

Umm i don't see what production cars have in common with F1. I've never seen a open wheeler V8 powered car that does over 300 km at a dealership. So i fail to see how hyundai are any different from any other manufacture in F1. All it takes is money, they can recruit engineers and they would have plenty of their own people that could contribute to a F1 project.

The way they are different is that they don't really have a platform that uses the technology that they would develop.

Ferrari uses spin off technology in their designs, McLaren have the McLaren Mercedes, BMW have high tech machines throughout their range, Ditto Renault. Even relative new comer Toyota has flagship machines that use the safety and performance features developed in the cars.

They can justify the outlay into the racing because they can research and develop new technologies that have practical applications, especially brakes, suspension and alternate construction materials.

Also, there is brand identity. Having a winning car that totes your brand is always good for business. The old adage "Win on sunday, sell on Monday" is true for everyone, provided there is a car that caters to the demographic of people that actually watch the race. (i.e. A fast car)

Unless Hyundai is going to make a flagship semi-supercar, raising their racing profile is just an exercise in idiocy.

The cost of implementing new technologies is passed onto the buyer. Hyundai have never really had a crack at the elite market, and they just don't have the reputation that would justify spending BMW like dollars on a Hyundai.

The only way it makes sense is if it's a very long term investment intended to raise their profile, and accordingly they add a whole new range of high performance vehicles. Much like Honda did I suppose, with the NSX when they supplied the engines for McLaren.

Oh, and it takes more than just money. See Toyota.

Edited October 18, 2007 by Kozeyekan

[djr81]

The way they are different is that they don't really have a platform that uses the technology that they would develop.

Ferrari uses spin off technology in their designs, McLaren have the McLaren Mercedes, BMW have high tech machines throughout their range, Ditto Renault. Even relative new comer Toyota has flagship machines that use the safety and performance features developed in the cars.

They can justify the outlay into the racing because they can research and develop new technologies that have practical applications, especially brakes, suspension and alternate construction materials.

Also, there is brand identity. Having a winning car that totes your brand is always good for business. The old adage "Win on sunday, sell on Monday" is true for everyone, provided there is a car that caters to the demographic of people that actually watch the race. (i.e. A fast car)

Unless Hyundai is going to make a flagship semi-supercar, raising their racing profile is just an exercise in idiocy.

The cost of implementing new technologies is passed onto the buyer. Hyundai have never really had a crack at the elite market, and they just don't have the reputation that would justify spending BMW like dollars on a Hyundai.

The only way it makes sense is if it's a very long term investment intended to raise their profile, and accordingly they add a whole new range of high performance vehicles. Much like Honda did I suppose, with the NSX when they supplied the engines for McLaren.

Oh, and it takes more than just money. See Toyota.

Very, very little of what is developed in F1 ever sees use in road cars. It is far too specialised & expensive. It is all about marketing & perception. Overwhelmingly any of the crumbs that do fall to the productions cars are from component suppliers, not the manufacturers direct.

Can anyone name one bit of equipment in the last 20 years that has made the transfer.

Semi auto gear changes? Wank factor that never works properly.

20,000rpm V8's? Not likely.

Carbon fibre anything? Older than 20 years & most manufacturers just use it for trim anyway.

Carbon brakes? Older than 20 years.

Push rods/monoshock front ends/torsion bars/third dampers/aero profile wishbones? Nup.

Do you think Frank Williams/Patrick Head give a flying fk about what the motor in next years Camry will be & whether it has variable fuel/ign maps to allow it to make it through to next weekend?

Take Honda for example. Their most useful end product of being in F1 is the training that it provides their engineers. Nothing more.

Hyandai is no more or less pedestrian than Renault or Toyota. Just another mainstream car maker. So why shouldn't they try & leverage F1's halo effect like the others do. The fact that they would be far better off going back to the WRC is perhaps something to note, however.

Sorry if that sounds offensive. I just have never believed that F1 needs to justify itself. No other sport appears to need to.

And yes it does take more than money. But I think Minardi proved that it does atleast take that.

[Ant97GTR]

Can anyone name one bit of equipment in the last 20 years that has made the transfer.

Semi auto gear changes? Wank factor that never works properly.

20,000rpm V8's? Not likely.

Carbon fibre anything? Older than 20 years & most manufacturers just use it for trim anyway.

Carbon brakes? Older than 20 years.

Push rods/monoshock front ends/torsion bars/third dampers/aero profile wishbones? Nup.

Ok I'll take a stab...how about variable valve timing and traction control/electronic stability control? I'm pretty sure both of those were developed in F1 and filtered down to road cars but I'm open to being proven wrong

[Marco-R34GTT]

CVT (see Williams 1997 I think)..

Turbocharging (Renault 1977 - prior to this, only American strategic bombers/high altitude interceptors used turbocharging).

Mid mounted engines (Cooper did it in the late fifties/early sixties, now most modern supercars are MR/M4wd).

Ground Effect (Again, majority of supercars, and even many sportscars utilise under-car aero).

I'm sure there are other things I've missed as well...

[djr81]

CVT (see Williams 1997 I think)..

Turbocharging (Renault 1977 - prior to this, only American strategic bombers/high altitude interceptors used turbocharging).

Mid mounted engines (Cooper did it in the late fifties/early sixties, now most modern supercars are MR/M4wd).

Ground Effect (Again, majority of supercars, and even many sportscars utilise under-car aero).

I'm sure there are other things I've missed as well...

I did say the last 20 years, but anyway:

CVT: are only used in small cars.

Turbo's: Renault used them on their F1 cars in 1977. GM used them on their road cars in 1962 - the shitbox that was the Corvair.

Mid engines: Well to be honest I dont think the Fiat X1-9 owes anything much to what Charlie Cooper once did. In any case the Fiat used a transverse engine, the Cooper didn't.

Ground effects: Well designers have worried about aero approximately for ever. Ground effects implies a sealed side skirt which is something no road car has ever had.

Note there is a difference between invented & made fashionable.

[Marco-R34GTT]

I'll agree with you on that one

[gtr660hp]

Ferrari do put some watered down old F1 technology into their high end cars. Manetino tricky diff etc. Also the F50 was their first real road car where the engine was a structural stressed member in the chasis and the block was the same casting as the 3.5L F1 ....but thats about it.....it just proves how irrelivent F1 has become and always has been really.