2008 F1 Season

[djr81]

I think more to the point is that the teams as a whole agreed to end tobacco sponsorship as of either last year or the year before. All the other teams, ie McLaren, Williams, Honda, Renault with tobacco sponsorship progressively gave it up. The only team to reneg on the deal was everyones favorite folk at Ferrari.

The point is not whether or not the car looks ugly the point is why did they reneg on a deal & accept money from such a murderous product?

Oh and a winning car is a good looking car but I still can't get used to the dumbo ears.

Edited July 28, 2008 by djr81

[Marco-R34GTT]

Looked at the constructors table lately Einstein?

lawl...

[dezz]

The whole ban on tobacco advertising is laughable anyway.

Alcoholic beverages are major sponsors of some racing teams in Australia...Alcohol...cars, certainly a good mix.

If you're too stupid to not be able to resist smoking because of some advertising, then you're not very bright and won't be much of a loss if you do die from a tobacco related illness

[Marco-R34GTT]

Yep, personal responsibiliy is #1, as dezz said, if you smoke Malboros and die from emphasemia as a result of seeing a badge on the side of a racing car, then good riddance to you if you couldn't help yourself and make the correct judgement..

Blame game is too easy..

[m3gtr]

It doesnt matter anyway.

seriously, who wants to see tobacco sponsoring these things anyway?

The only thing good about that sponsorship was that the cars looked cool.

Nothing more.

Good riddance i say.

I always liked the fact that Williams was against it for a long time and still is - you see some pretty cool sponsors on his cars these days.

[Roy]

Cool sponsors but none with any real money for the team.

Its a crock of rubbish that they have banned tobacco sponsorship. It may affect the brand of smokes people smoke, but i cant see it affecting people who dont smoke. It should really be up to the team and its other sponsors whether they want to run tobacco sponsorship.

Especially in light of the where some of the money of other sponsors comes from.

Oh and see Kimi this week 200k Corvette which he bought and does not know where it is

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news...728105932.shtml

[m3gtr]

Yeah, but that thing has had Sharon stone sitting in it...

Ewww. I wouldnt be losing sleep either.

[m3gtr]

Cool sponsors but none with any real money for the team.

Think about that statement for a minute... while reflecting on how much it costs to run an F1 car these days....

Feel stoopid yet>?

[Roy]

Think about that statement for a minute... while reflecting on how much it costs to run an F1 car these days....

Feel stoopid yet>?

I dont feel stupid. Williams might have some sponsors such as RBS, AT&T, Philips, Petrobas etc...but even with Toyota deal they have less funding then McLaren, BMW, Ferrari, Toyota, RBR, Honda probably less then Renault. Im sure if Rothmans were able to kick in a Ferrari like budget figure Frank wouldnt say no.

Its a credit to the team that they are doing as well as they are (Which isnt really that good, but they have some pace from time to time to sit Rosberg well in the Top 10)

By "REAL MONEY" i mean sufficient backing to aggressively try to recruit the right engineers, drivers and get back on top of F1. If Frank had a decent budget, (in that he felt he had enough funding that the cars development would mean its quicker then the drivers he could hire, rather then throwing a capable guy in there and spending what resources he has on infrastructure and engineering) there is no way one of his drivers would be there. Its as simple as that!

[djr81]

I think the fundamental problem is that the manufacturer "co contribution" for want of a better word forms a not insubstantial part of the teams budgets. The amount of money the car companies have to tip in explains why they all moved to team ownership as distinct from just supplying engines like in the olden days. Hence no Team Lotus Ford (They went with Stewart then Jaguar), no Williams BMW, no Benetton Renault, no BAR Honda etc etc.

Lack of manufacturer support makes it much harder to find sponsorship. Look at the number of privateers that have gone away in the last few years. It has always been a bit that way but maybe the proof is that there are no new teams on the horizon.

[Roy]

Making smokes is more profitable then making cars. Bring back Big Tobacco

Along with the B&H Jordan, West McLaren, Lucky Strike and 555 Bar ets. They looked cool. About the only bad example of a tobacco car is the Winfield Williams

[BezerkR32]

oh. did i step on someones toes. just poking fun. judging by your avatar your one of those italians i was talking about.l ol.

Looked at the constructors table lately Einstein?

[m3gtr]

Dont worry about the local rezident Dezz...

He likes to be that way.

[dezz]

oh. did i step on someones toes. just poking fun. judging by your avatar your one of those italians i was talking about.l ol.

He's french...

Dont worry about the local rezident Dezz...

He likes to be that way.

Yeah don't mind Adam, he he likes to make a fool of himself

[m3gtr]

He's french...

Yeah don't mind Adam, he he likes to make a fool of himself

Wrong. I like to fool with myself.

Get it right.

[ctjet]

Engine freeze loopholes frustrate Briatore

Flavio Briatore has expressed frustration with how some of Renault's Formula One rivals have handled the current so-called 'freeze' on engine development.

The Renault boss told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport on Tuesday that the French team conformed with both the spirit and the letter of the rules to halt costly development of the current 2.4 litre V8 engines for several years.

"We were done in," he said.

"Others took another course and are far ahead of us now," Briatore insisted.

It is not clear which teams Briatore is referring to, but earlier this year we reported that a leading outfit may have found a way to creep ahead in the horse power department by requesting changes to its engine on the grounds of improving reliability.

"No-one complained about it," an unnamed engineer told the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, "for fear that they might also genuinely need to do the modification."

It is interesting that Briatore's comments come just days after it emerged that the FIA is now to begin a process of randomly and thoroughly inspecting the manufacturers' 2008-specification engines.

hmmm... "other teams" you say

[djr81]

Gee, great piece of journalism.

Ferrari were named earlier in the year as being one team exploiting the reliability loophole to make more horsepower.

Anyway exploiting loopholes is standard engineering practice in F1.

Renault would do the same except they sacked most of their engine division....

[bnr#@]

Sounds like jelousy because they didnt think of it themselves....

[Duncan]

indeed. lots of public bitching between the teams atm.

[Roy]

Well in shitty news of the week we have Heikki confirmed at McLaren next season. I like Heikki and he seems to have some talent, but he is consistantly nowhere compared to his team mate and is being blown away by the Ferraris and questionable against the BMWs.

Was really hoping that a more ambitious driver woudl get the nod for next year, someone liek Rosberg that wouldnt take getting beaten by Lewis so well and try, try, try. Heikki seems content to be getting his bum handed to him race after race. The old "first guy you have to beat is your team mate" makes for some entertainment as a spectator