2008 F1 Season

[Marco-R34GTT]

M3gtr's top 10 conclusions from the The land of goat sphincter rings GP

1. LH knows how to chase, pass and make risky strategies work.

2. KR is the best at making the most awesome understatements.

3. The ITV crew apart from MB and TK need to go.

4. The Istanbul security people need to be shot. How 2 wild dogs got inside the perimeter let alone on the track itself is inexcusable.

5. Turn 8 is the ballsiest corner on the calender spare Eau Rouge. It just needs a ballsier name now.

6. Massa is now a championship contender and KR should be considering him a serious threat.

7. Piquet jr isnt really all hes cracked up to be. Alonso absolutely wiped the floor with him yet again.

8. MW takes naps during every middle stint of a race.

9. Super Aguri have already been forgotten...

10. SV is trying to take over MW's mantle as the unluckiest F1 driver in history.

1: Yes.

2:True

3: Yup, even MB needs to reign in the 'OMFG LOUISE IS SOOO AWESOME' attitude... Steady steady dude..

4: Yup, but being The land of goat sphincter rings... Good luck..

5: True, Eau Rouge is pretty much the last of the great corners... Turn 8 too needs a tougher name.

6: Nah, don't think so, Massa can't pass for beans and is useless in the wet... Too many shortcomings will prevent him winning a championship..

7: Yeh, can't say I'm terribly impressed either... However, Timo Glock looked racy...

8: Bad tyres maybe??

9: Sadly... yes...

10: Probably caught the plague when he punted Webbo off at Fuji...

[m3gtr]

10: Probably caught the plague when he punted Webbo off at Fuji...

lol, thats what you get for ploughing into our boy!!

Hes got teh curse now.

[Beer Baron]

adam, I will concede that louise has been doing a bang up job in his big mac considering his F1 career is only 20 odd races old. doesn't mean I have to like the little bum bandit though. I don't know what it is, but I just can't stand the bloke. maybe it's tall poppy syndrome? maybe i'm jealous? or maybe he really is a wanker.

Schuey on the other hand I love. warts and all. he was great to watch always. whether he was up the front, up the back or even doing something a little bit risqué. I do miss him and my enjoyment of F1 went down a small notch with him absent from the paddock.

and I don't know why but I keep craving to see webber in a drive at Mclaren. Maybe I just think he'd look hot in those shiny silver race suits, but I think louise and webber would be a top driver combo. shame about the whole bad blood with Mercedes problem....

[Whiplash]

3. The ITV crew apart from MB and TK need to go.

I think its an ITV prerequisite to only talk about British teams / drivers. During the FIA GT broadcast they were sitting having a 2 minute argument which British team they wanted to win

[Beer Baron]

well as f**king annoying as it is (and it is very f**king annoying) we can't be too hard on them as we know that if it were aussies commentating and being shown to a predominantly aussie audience then every second word would webber and every other word Mark.

[sh@un]

I honestly thought LH's drive was the best of the race. He very nearly made it work. Cmon peeps, give credit where credit is due - it was a good drive and it proves, once again, LH knows what hes doing..

He and his race engineer seemed to figure that running lighter on fuel was a way to eliminate the disadvantage of the hards. Can't help but wonder if they had only put a bit more fuel in at the second stop if He still would have been able to take ~ 1 second per lap out of Massa like he was doing- Given that He was only around 5.5 seconds adrift at the end of the race, an extra 7 laps would have most likely been enough to see him come out just in front of Massa after the third stop. Either that, or if He had have managed to pass Massa a few laps earlier. Would, shoulda, coulda, i guess. Just hope they make the chassis work better with the softs for Monte...

5. Turn 8 is the ballsiest corner on the calender spare Eau Rouge. It just needs a ballsier name now.

How about 'OMG-my-farking-neck-muscles-are-killing-me!' corner?

I was watching the g-readout during one of the in-car views; from the turn in at the start to after the 3rd apex, the lateral g's never dropped below 3.5, and peaked at around 4.9. And the whole corner goes for about 6 seconds

[m3gtr]

How about 'OMG-my-farking-neck-muscles-are-killing-me!' corner?

Billy Blanks corner will fit nicely.

[Roy]

I want to like Lewis. I really do. Part of my hate for the guy is the release of a bio part way through his first F1 season

Part is the fact that whilst talented he has probably had too easier a road to F1 and in F1. Its healthy for any driver to be fighting for dear life in the middle of the pack, chasing a single point like its a race vistory.

That teaches you how to grit out a result. Not throw away a car. He raced well to get second, but compared to Ferrari and Renault McLaren the past few years have made odd calls. China last year made no sense. And the 3 stop strategy didnt make any sense to me either. His second stint was so short he shoudl have just thrown on the options and jumped Massa and held position on him. With both having a single stop to go the job would have been done for McLaren as Massa wouldnt be getting past.

But the other reason i am not warming to Lewis is whilst he is talented, he is carrying on like he has already won a WDC and is always painting himself as a victim. Most interviews he talks of how things arent fair for him or are so tough

[m3gtr]

I want to like Lewis. I really do. Part of my hate for the guy is the release of a bio part way through his first F1 season

Part is the fact that whilst talented he has probably had too easier a road to F1 and in F1. Its healthy for any driver to be fighting for dear life in the middle of the pack, chasing a single point like its a race vistory.

That teaches you how to grit out a result. Not throw away a car. He raced well to get second, but compared to Ferrari and Renault McLaren the past few years have made odd calls. China last year made no sense. And the 3 stop strategy didnt make any sense to me either. His second stint was so short he shoudl have just thrown on the options and jumped Massa and held position on him. With both having a single stop to go the job would have been done for McLaren as Massa wouldnt be getting past.

But the other reason i am not warming to Lewis is whilst he is talented, he is carrying on like he has already won a WDC and is always painting himself as a victim. Most interviews he talks of how things arent fair for him or are so tough

Roy,

The thing you are alluding to is the fact that he was in a position to write a bio someone else wanted to publish. In England hes huge as you know and not just there - hes been in this sport for ages and its been carved in stone since he was a youngster. Button was the last great British hope and look where he got...1 win in what is it, 8 seasons?

RD doesnt take chances and potshots on just any kid. At least give one of the oldest hands in the paddock a break. Youre trying to tell me RD doesnt know what he sees...just because we would have preferred for LH to have it the hard way? Thats so us. Aussies love the battler as MW can attest to and yes, he is. The shitty Minardi, the awful Jag/// he strangled the cat for all it was worth and we respect him for it.

So based on this ethos, Lh doesnt cut it. Bollocks.

I like LH a lot and im not going to take a damn thing away from him just because he had it better than most on his start in F1.

Hes a good looking bloke, well spoken and polite albeit arrogant and conceited ( what racer isnt? ) but hes ticking all the right boxes. He drives smoothly, knows how to fight the car when its not doing what its supposed to, hes massively quick, makes mistakes and admits to them... has a cool head - but ultimately hes inexperienced. AND YET he only managed to miss out on the 2007 championship by a SINGLE point at his first attempt!!

All he needs now is a championship...and he will get them. This i am sure of.

You know, i grew up in Adelaide. watched the 85 GP on my old mans shoulders...watched MS steal the crown from Hill...watched MH get a tracheotomy from a few rows away...watched Webbo line up in the Yellow pages formula ford from a pit box near the support pits... i grew up in the AS, MS era.

Having said that, Ive never seen anyone apart from KR and FA attract so much attention and make it believable.

Look at HK for example. Hes not made the biggest waves and yet hes had some pretty decent machinery. NP as well. Straight into a Renault and he cant even close to match FA. I know LH would be right up there with FA pushing him all the way and yet even with his old mans genes, hes nowhere.

LH is making massive waves right now. I know the hype is enough to induce bile due to the hype surrounding LH in Britain but lets not slay the guy when in reality hes one of the best thing to happen to the sport since MS's retirement and we all know it.

Edited May 12, 2008 by m3gtr

[m3gtr]

adam, I will concede that louise has been doing a bang up job in his big mac considering his F1 career is only 20 odd races old. doesn't mean I have to like the little bum bandit though. I don't know what it is, but I just can't stand the bloke. maybe it's tall poppy syndrome? maybe i'm jealous? or maybe he really is a wanker.

Schuey on the other hand I love. warts and all. he was great to watch always. whether he was up the front, up the back or even doing something a little bit risqué. I do miss him and my enjoyment of F1 went down a small notch with him absent from the paddock.

and I don't know why but I keep craving to see webber in a drive at Mclaren. Maybe I just think he'd look hot in those shiny silver race suits, but I think louise and webber would be a top driver combo. shame about the whole bad blood with Mercedes problem....

Richo,

Your respect for MS stems from the fact he has 7 shiny WDC cups on his mantle piece.

Fair enough and if you'd made that point from the start, It'd be understandable but you didn't.

MS was a dirty racer. History and the media don't lie. You know we've met and all that jazz was the furthest thing from my mind. All i could think of was that this was the last chance i would have to meet the most influential driver of my era, plain and simple... all his diabolical racecraft went out the window in that exact moment and i have no hard feelings about it but fact is fact.

Ive been incensed and touched by MS and the things he has done not only for/to himself but also for/to the sport and like you i have massive respect for him...

Those warts you speak of were some of the most headline grabbing news F1 has ever seen./

Sorry mate, I cant see LH being anywhere near as dirty but i will admit i cant see him being anywhere near as endearing.

[Roy]

RD doesnt take chances and potshots on just any kid. At least give one of the oldest hands in the paddock a break. Youre trying to tell me RD doesnt know what he sees...just because we would have preferred for LH to have it the hard way? Thats so us. Aussies love the battler as MW can attest to and yes, he is. The shitty Minardi, the awful Jag/// he strangled the cat for all it was worth and we respect him for it.

So based on this ethos, Lh doesnt cut it. Bollocks.

I am not saying he doesnt cut it, and nowhere have i genuinely stated he isnt very talented. Of course RD saw something in him as a young driver. Whilst he has had his hand held most of his career in good machinery, he has still won which is a big thing.

So i am not saying he doesnt cut it. I am saying that other drivers who have had to cut their teeth in uncompetitive cars would not have thrown away last years championship like he did. McLaren did a good job of potetecting him, saying the team let him down, but the fact is he farked up at critical times. He no doubt needs more of these sort of experiences to galvanise him as a driver.

I sit back and at present he has not had much bad luck, most of his poor races have been his own doing. The guy is blessed and goes from strength to strength. Its amazing. I wonder what this years book is going to be titled? I read that last years tripe is filling he $1 discount bins.

Perhaps its the fact that he loves 50cent and drives a RV with 22" chromies

[lingeringsoul]

funny how the topic always come back to this after every few races.

[Roy]

Well, for me we are coming up to the best time of the year. We have Monaco, Tour De France, Le Mans and Bledisloe Cup Cant wait to see if Robert "the worlds most beautiful man" Kubica can get up in Monaco. And whether Webber can get the thing in the top 5.

I am reading that the track shoudl suit BMW and the more i read of Kubica i love the guy, He is a driver, not a show poney who lives for the F1 circus like an Irvine or JV

[ctjet]

im tipping a BMW win in monaco

no traction control through the swimming pool section is going to be awesome to watch

i remember Alonso was astonishing through there last year, no TC should be even better

[Marco-R34GTT]

i remember Alonso was astonishing through there last year, no TC should be even better

Yeah, he was on it last year that is for sure...

[djr81]

Maybe the point should be made that LH doesn't just have an autobiography. He has half a dozen unauthorised biographies as well.

So it isn't like there aren't a heap of people trying to cash in on his success anyway.

For me LH ticks the boxes as an F1 driver - he can drive the thing hard when when it isn't set up well, he qualifies well, he races well, he can pull bullsh!t overtaking manouvres, he is sensible enough to cruise & collect when things aren't all perfect.

As for the arrogance thing - I reckon that with a few notable exceptions it is a cheap shot to call an F1 driver arrogant. Only some of them genuinely deserve that title - the amount of scrutiny & exposure these blokes get would be enough to make anyone tell the world to get lost, surely? They don't get to be at the top (True for any sportsman) without an enormous amount of self belief. Sometimes people see that as arrogance.

[m3gtr]

I am saying that other drivers who have had to cut their teeth in uncompetitive cars would not have thrown away last years championship like he did.

Well put Roy and a good point. China and Interlagos were utter disasters.

No TC at Monaco will be awesome i agree. I think we will see a fair amount of carnage. MW always does well here but i dont agree BMW will get anywhere near the top step. There are 4 other cars ahead of them that will be taking those spots i imagine.

Having said that, DC and MW will do well so dont book BMW in just yet for a sniff at the podium.

[m3gtr]

As for the arrogance thing - I reckon that with a few notable exceptions it is a cheap shot to call an F1 driver arrogant. Only some of them genuinely deserve that title - the amount of scrutiny & exposure these blokes get would be enough to make anyone tell the world to get lost, surely? They don't get to be at the top (True for any sportsman) without an enormous amount of self belief. Sometimes people see that as arrogance.

Its a perceived arrogance.

Elite sportsmen arent loved as much as they used to be. The Media is to thank for that.

These days they are just ants grilled under a magnifying glass...they all get their day in the sun and some make more of it than others - take RB and DC for example but many dont even get past a season. If youve ever visited F1rejects, you will see what i mean - that site is a peach , written by aussies too.

We are too hard on them. When you take a step back and look at it plainly, these guys - from 1st to 20th are the best drivers in the world. Who in their right minds, wouldnt be proud that others consider them that?

Id kill to be called one of the best 20 drivers in the world and we all know the buck stops with F1.

[djr81]

Its a perceived arrogance.

Elite sportsmen arent loved as much as they used to be. The Media is to thank for that.

These days they are just ants grilled under a magnifying glass...they all get their day in the sun and some make more of it than others - take RB and DC for example but many dont even get past a season. If youve ever visited F1rejects, you will see what i mean - that site is a peach , written by aussies too.

We are too hard on them. When you take a step back and look at it plainly, these guys - from 1st to 20th are the best drivers in the world. Who in their right minds, wouldnt be proud that others consider them that?

Id kill to be called one of the best 20 drivers in the world and we all know the buck stops with F1.

Whilst I agree with most of that there is no fkn way Sebastian "Girls Blouse Wearer" Bourdais is one of the best 20 drivers in the world.

[djr81]

So i am not saying he doesnt cut it. I am saying that other drivers who have had to cut their teeth in uncompetitive cars would not have thrown away last years championship like he did.

Unlike, I dunno, a twice world champion that started his F1 career in a Minardi?