Formula 1

[ferret]

Well the first race of the season starts in a little over two hours, so am I the only one mad enough to stay up and watch it or is anyboby else as crazy as me?

I wonder what the rule changes will bring this year

[Marc]

yeah im still awake, just 90 mins till the start so im gonna stay up and watch the pre race build up and the race live. Its just not the same watching the re-run in the afternoon for me, even if i dont know the result.

I think some drivers will be getting nervous now and i expect to see some trouble at the start, and a couple of cars going off at the first corner.

[attilahun]

That was a good race and a quite interesting one, with only 7 cars crossing the finish line. Impressive win for Hamilton, but the season has just begun, so anything can happen.....

[Anastasia]

Win for Hamilton I was for Kimi .

[attilahun]

Win for Hamilton I was for Kimi .

I'm a Ferrari fan myself and i was disappointed about the outcome of the race, but things don't always happen the way you want. Kimi and Felipe made too many errors.....

[Marc]

Its hard to believe that these guys are supposed to be the worlds best drivers,with nearly every driver making mistakes, but it was a great and exiting race to watch

Great job by lewis! Malaysia next week.. Bring it on!

anything can happen.....

"Anything can happen in Grand Prix racing and it usually does"

[Anastasia]

I'm a Ferrari fan myself and i was disappointed about the outcome of the race, but things don't always happen the way you want. Kimi and Felipe made too many errors.....

I was not watch the competition this night but as you say the season has just begun and I hope for another title for Kimi in the end .

[Blondie]

Well the first race of the season starts in a little over two hours, so am I the only one mad enough to stay up and watch it or is anyboby else as crazy as me?

I wonder what the rule changes will bring this year

Hey Ferret/Guys,

...also a 'big' fan of FI .

And congrats to Lewis, his fifth win, and good luck to him in Malaysia as well.

Also a big fan of Kimi too, who had a bit of a bad time of it, spinning off after an overtaking manoeuvre on Timo Glock, and then later with 4 laps to go the car coming to a stop at the top of the pit lane.

Interesting one as well about some of the rule changes, especially the banning of traction control. I think in simple terms this will mean the driver's 'sense of feel' will count for much more. In the past, when a driver accelerated too hard from a corner, the traction control took over in order to stop the wheels from spinning. Now the driver will have to use a more 'natural' form of traction control. And the need for having a delicate right foot will suit the more skilfull drivers, plus a smooth approach will be necessary in order to save the rear tryes when coming to the end of their useful life, a period when a heavy-handed driver will be prone to mistakes.

I think some may argue as well that before the traction control ban, for the drivers, it was 20% down to the driver's ability, and 80% down to the electronics, and since the ban it is now vice versa, interesting one.

Lack of knowledge may also hinder some of the less experienced drivers, and cause a few headaches as well with one of the other new rulings, the introduction of a standard engine control unit, or the ECU.

In previous years the team's engineers would formulate their own ECU to match the needs of their engine and transmission, but now with the introduction and provision of a standard ECU, which is used really as a way of ensuring traction control has not been incorporated in the electronics, I think this may cause the engineers a few problems as they try and adjust to the methodology behind the new unit. And I suppose really from the driver's perspective, they will look to the engineers to find the right settings to make the standard ECU more driver friendly, still allowing them to gain those 10ths of a second over a 2-3 mile lap, giving competitive advantage.

And interesting to see how it all develops over the coming season, exciting times, and good luck to all the drivers...

All the best.

Lol....xx

[Marc]

I hope ferrari wont struggle this season, and i hope they come good next week, i think it would be pretty boring if the Mclaren team were to win most races and go on to win the world championship comfortably. But with the high standards that ferrari set themselves, today was a diabolical start and I think they need to get both drivers qualifying in the top 4 next week.

[Blondie]

.....yeah, it's a bit of an unusual one with Kimi and Felipe both retiring with engine failures on their F2008's.

And it's been a while as well since Ferrari have seen 2 engine failures in a race.

Kimi said he didn't know what happened with the engine either, so hope all sorted out for next week in Malaysia.

Lol....xx

[attilahun]

I hope ferrari wont struggle this season, and i hope they come good next week, i think it would be pretty boring if the Mclaren team were to win most races and go on to win the world championship comfortably. But with the high standards that ferrari set themselves, today was a diabolical start and I think they need to get both drivers qualifying in the top 4 next week.

Last year, after the first 4 or 5 races, people were saying what you say today, and in the end the winners were Kimi and Ferrari.
What i am saying is that you cannot judge a team after one day, and most important Ferrari had a lousy race especially because of the human errors, not because of the car, or the strategy.
Kimi started 15 and, at one point he was third, and he made that mistake, when he tried to overtake Kovalainen that made him go in last place. I say that whitout that big one he could easily finish in top 4.
So, imo, Ferrari are quite strong and if i am wrong we will see, but only after a few more races.......

[attilahun]

About the engine problems the causes are unknown for now and it is possible that the off-track moments for both drivers could have something to do with it.....
Here is what Stefano Domenicali said after the race :

"This has definitely been a very difficult start to the season and we have got off on the wrong foot. However, we should not react in an over emotional way to this. We weren't a phenomenon before and we're not carthorses now. We have to work out exactly what happened to the engines on both F2008s and they are being sent immediately to Maranello for analysis. The whole team has not performed to our usual standard. We have to roll our sleeves up and react, as we know we can".

[Blondie]

...hope everything gets sorted out and goes well with the engines..

And with input from Kimi and Felipe, Ferrari have also made some interesting changes to the layout of the F2008's steering wheel switches, with their preferences, to make the car more driver friendly. Mid-corner differential set-up switch is now at the top of the central column, the control switch for managing the differential on the exits of corners has been moved to the top right, and the 'mix' and 'revs' switches are now positioned on the left-hand side, as they are used less frequently.

I also think McLaren have done some great work with the MP4-23, evolving from the 22, increasing the efficiency of the rear wing, and the overall driveability of the car. There's no real significant visual difference, although upgrades have been made to the wings, body work, and the aerodynamic surfaces.

Both beautiful cars, and when you think of the engineering and manufacturing man hours gone into them, and the craftsmanship, awesome.

Lol....xx

[miscuehamburg]

Nice start in the new saison. Not only the McLarens, but also BMW's and Williams' performance impressed me. Ferrari too will be back next weekend, despite the poor race today. It is a bit early to prophecy general trends for the saison though. As in the past it will probably depend much on the circuit itself. I hope for a lot of different winners
What I didn't like today was Glock's terrible crash due to the maintanance of the course. There definitively should be no hills there Good he didn't get hurt. With bad luck his car could have flown right into a wall, or maybe even over it.
The new rules are great. There is more racing again. Even overtaking seems easier now, due to the driver's mistakes.

[PaulTheSoave]

Formula 1 is one of the most boring sports nowadays. Its all decided who gets the best car. You hardly see cars competing in a duel nowadays as margins are dozens of seconds. Its only interesting if weather conditions play a part, as the true driver comes out in those conditions. Senna was the master in raining circumstances. I also remember Schumacher in his early days, when Ferrari was very mediocre, winning a rain affected race because of his sublime driving skills! The so called favourites at the time all were track sided as none managed to hold the car in slippery conditions.