2011 F1 Thread

[Nee-san]

Fair crack of the whip. You cant be too hard on him. His first time in the car, on those tyres and in the wet at Spa. Others were going off as well...but must have knocked his confidence. He needs to try and build up to a pace and think about getting to a point where he can give it his best in the race at Monza, he needs to work up to that weekend. He isnt going to do anything this weekend other then ruin his chances.

After Monza we will see if he is trending towards the shitness level of PK Jr or somewhere better then that....but even then thats not really enough time. I suspect he will be booted for my man Romain Grosjean anyway so not much he can do unless a Brazilian sugar daddy comes to his aid. Note that Grosjean topped GP2 practice with no spins/biining etc though something has just gone wrong with his quali as he is nowhere

Possibly a bit harsh, but he really hasn't impressed me in the past, thinking logically there is no reason that he has that drive other then the sponsorship money that he brings.

Now we all know that no driver makes it to Grand Prix racing without A alot of money or B alot of sacrifice, generally both, but there comes a point where if no one is willing to pay you to drive, you just aren't good enough.

I honestly don't rate Grosjean, but fairs fair he had very limited experience when he drove in F1 so it will be interesting to see how he goes when hes fully up to speed.

On another note, I think I might splash some cash on Webber, he's due and looks to be in fine form.

[Roy]

What more does Grosjean have to do. The kid isnt from loads of money, has had good results in lower categories even though often not with the best teams in that class of racing...works in a bank to keep money in his pocket and has a great attitude. He was only 0.3-0.5 seconds off Alonso when he was qualifying the Renault in his first ever F1 races...in a poor car he had not tested. He is good enough!!!!

[Nee-san]

What more does Grosjean have to do. The kid isnt from loads of money, has had good results in lower categories even though often not with the best teams in that class of racing...works in a bank to keep money in his pocket and has a great attitude. He was only 0.3-0.5 seconds off Alonso when he was qualifying the Renault in his first ever F1 races...in a poor car he had not tested. He is good enough!!!!

Sorry Dude, should have been more clear, my comment was mainly about Bruno Senna it doesn't read that way though.

Fundamentally your points about Grosjean are totally fair, I just can't remember him really impressing me, to be honest it's probably just his haircut

[tweety bird]

after race driver excuses

pf1

Renault:

Bruno Senna: "Obviously it was disappointing for my first practice session to be cut short when I slipped off the track, but I was much happier to get a good amount of track time this afternoon. Despite the difficult conditions, it was much more productive in the second session. I managed to get some dry running too, which was crucial for understanding which direction to go with the car. We also managed to fit in a number of procedures such as pit stop practices and pull aways. I'm making up for all these sessions that I've missed in the past by getting more miles on the clock. One thing's for sure - I'm excited about getting back in the car tomorrow."

slipped of the track lol.

Daniel Ricciardo: "The first day here at Spa had the typical weather, what it usually produces. We were expecting it to be a bit wet but it would have been nice if it was either wet or dry, not in between. At least we were able to complete runs in the afternoon with soft, intermediate and extreme wet tyres, which was quite positive although they were very short runs. When we wanted to do a change to the set-up the weather always changed too, so that was a bit frustrating. But it wasn't a bad first day and we'll see how it goes tomorrow."

Mark Webber set the pace in Friday's second practice at Spa, edging out Fernando Alonso and the two McLarens...

Mark Webber: "The weather was a little bit up and down today - we got some dry running in, but only around four laps: two laps on the soft tyre and two on e the medium. Otherwise we were just doing general housekeeping, looking at ride heights, brake balance and all that stuff before we get the car to the limit. We need to get out there and get the mileage in, but on the other side of the coin we need to save tyres for Saturday and Sunday. The kerbs are the hardest thing here when it's wet, it makes the white lines like ice and it's very easy to make a mistake."

edit more from mark.

"We need to get out there and get the mileage in, but on the other side of the coin we need to save tyres for Saturday and Sunday. You don't want to be using your allocation today and then starve for the rest of the weekend."

"We had a look at both the soft and the medium, two laps on each, so not much," said Webber.

all the others are the same 'rain this, car setup that'.

Edited August 26, 2011 by tweety bird

[tweety bird]

Nick Heidfeld has come in for some sharp criticism from Renault team boss Eric Boullier who says the German's poor performance and lack of leadership cost him his seat.

The 34-year-old veteran lost his Renault drive to Bruno Senna earlier this week, but he is refusing to go down without a fight. His legal representative and manager have confirmed that he is taking the team to court over his axing.

The Renault team initially stayed tight-lipped after confirming Senna will partner Vitaly Petrov from this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, but Boullier has finally broken his silence.

The Frenchman claims the decision had nothing to do with money and says Heidfeld simply didn't perform well enough.

"We reviewed our performance and level of motivation, a number of things over the summer, and we chose a new direction," Boullier said.

"There was also an opportunity to assess Bruno as a driver, and this is why we have moved on. It is nothing to do with money.

"Every session, every weekend, the media have jumped on me asking why Vitaly is faster than Nick.

"I was not very happy with his speed and overall performance as an experienced driver. Nick is a nice guy, but leadership didn't work.

"When you are slower than Vitaly most of the time, it's difficult for him to push the team and set up himself as team leader.

"I admit the car is not good enough, we have not developed it well enough, so we have made mistakes as well.

"When you have a negative spiral, it's complicated to stop it, so I had to change something within the team, something with the drivers to shake up and wake up everybody."

Boullier also revealed Heidfeld refused to settle out of court, but Renault won on every count in the initial hearing.

He added that there is still a possibility of the decision being overturned

"The decision was for Bruno to replace Nick until the end of the season," he said.

"But because there is now another hearing, after that anything is possible."

this is going to turn in to a shit fight.

[tweety bird]

i'm with mad Heidfeld's dun, you dont bite the hand that feeds you.

[tweety bird]

here we go tom cruise in a f1 car

Edited August 27, 2011 by tweety bird

[ctjet]

thats a pretty good way to spend that particulr afternoon

[N1GTR]

The Chin signed for 2011 at RBR. Good news.

[mad082]

anyone else find it amusing that 2 australians (mark webber and cadel evans) in sports generally dominated by europeans have the nickname "the chin"?

[tweety bird]

bruno senna crash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWO5VcwqGCA

[tweety bird]

mark webber interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txpz-LcnI-8

no daniel ricciardo sorry.

[ctjet]

vettel a bit of a no show so far weekend

beyond the times, he's just not doing anything remotely impressive out there

with a wet quali in less than an hour, be very interesting to see how this shapes up

[chef_stagea]

I agree. Ferrari will go well in wet!

[ctjet]

ITS BACK MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!

... tv has never been so sexy

[dezz]

ITS BACK MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!

... tv has never been so sexy

At least wait for the two OneHD knobs to be off the screen..

[dezz]

Just put my picks in for the F1 Tipping...Bit of a change from previous rounds, hopefully doesn't cost me the lead...

[wolverine]

One HD director needs a kick in the pants. Can anyone hear the pre-race interview over the engine/track noise?

[wolverine]

Schueey!!

[ctjet]

Rivage has a tarmac runoff?!!!? You fucking assholes