German GP

[bigC]

race weekend is once again upon us: the German GP at Hockenheim.

will anyone be able to stop Schumie and Ferrari? probably not. while McLaren had a good showing with their new car, Ferrari is still the best. this may be Schumie's 11th win in 12 races. BAR needs to step it up, as does Renault. BMW needs some results, but with Ralf out, they have to rely on Montoya and Pizzonia, a racer that doesn't really inspire confidence in me with his ability to provide results. weather may play a role in qualy on Saturday. this should be an interesting weekend, regardless of who wins. :)

Hockenheim preview:
http://www.formula1.com/race/news/1932/725.html
http://www.formula1.com/race/news/1931/725.html

a brief history of Mercedes:
http://www.formula1.com/race/news/1939/725.html

passing in F1? what a novel idea! wouldn't it be neat if races were decided on the course and not as a result of pit strategy?
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?id=1840432

while FIA wants to slow the cars down, the drivers do enjoy the speed. racing is dangerous at any speed:
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?id=1832917

[MUYA]

it's like a broken record...only new track....same old ferrari and MS show...

[Shamrock]

I thought WIlliams had Marc Gene, not Pizzonia?

[NAZCA M12]

OK, there's a chance i might receive my 6800U today so i'm gonna predict a few things and eat my new card if i get it wrong:

1) Traditionally MS has been so-so over here (especially at the old faster track). If there's a venue he's more likely to be out-qualified by his team-mates this is mysteriously the one (ex Barichello, Irvine). Hockenheim in turn, has not been very kind to him either. This year though, it's like 2002. They can even play with strategy and still come good and i don't expect his team-mate to be a problem in the race (maybe in qualifying only since RB is having a pretty mediocre year). He should dominate unless it rains (then everything can happen). He was also reunited with his lucky charm that he lost at Silverstone so he should win. :retard:

2) A McLaren will almost definately be on pole. It's very funny when all of a sudden people take them as a threat just because they did 1 good race. Obviously everyone forgot that back at Silverstone when Trulli had his accident, KR, JPM, JB (i think) etc took that chance to make their final pit-stop. Schumacher didn't need to. Under normal circumstances these guys would have been 25 seconds at the finish line. However, german races are an exception since they always like to shoot for pole with little fuel to make an impression. They put their black jackets on (makes them look tougher), bring their president in the pits, a bunch of MB workers in the Stadium, and most of the time they retire after a few laps and say "but hey! We're on the lead". They did the same stuff at Nurburgring last year. KR on less fuel on pole, RS with aprox 20 kg more fuel on the outside of the front row and everyone saying "it'll be a walk in the park". KR came in for fuel quite soon, afterwards RS was gaining more than 0.5S a lap, then KR retires and they could say "but we were controlling the race". Suuure. They usually do that thing here too. They also know all too well that the Michelins have an edge in the first few laps so they'll want to definately be on pole so as to make a break in the first few laps. If for some reason they're behind MS or start behind him on the grid, they're finished. So Kimi for pole, in for fuel within the first 8 laps or less. DC looked pretty pale at his home race, i hope he lights up.

3) Williams ain't gonna get a point. Right now, even with the huge margin they had last year you would expect them to still be on pole at least here and win comfortably (they were that dominant in 2003). Right now, they've got a driver (Montoya) who's more busy bashing the team since he's living and doesn't care, and a second rate driver that replaced another second rate driver (but a good tester nevertheless). Frankly, FW himself should be faster than both of his testers if he was to jump in his car. They did a great job in letting both of their drivers' contracts to expire at the same season :rolleyes: , they screwed up the design of the car, wasted once more the best engines on the grid, and have terrible luck. Mainly its' all their fault. When they're hunting unproven ex-Mercedes contracted drivers like Webber (who outqualifies proven dudes like Klien and ironically.... Pizzonia) and Heidfield (who has let his unexperienced team-mate Pantano out-qualify him) for next season, instead of signing up guys like Trulli or Fisichella (or should i say both), they deserve all the crap they can get. Heck, they'd be better off with our Nige', or Patrese or sth than "jungleboy". You can see why Ron Dennis must be laughing his ass off.

4) Barichello or Button for a podium position. Renault should have an upgraded engine so who knows? This track ain't the fast track it used to be so they might have a shot. Taku should break a Honda or two.

[bigC]

re Gene: he was given 2 races, and did nothing with the time spent in his BMW, so he was replaced.

Schumi a close first. while Kimi may get the pole, does it even matter? McLaren is so far away from the constructor's/driver's championships that what they do means very little to this season. they had better start working on next year's car now, and intro it at the start of next season, not half way through when everything has already been decided. it's unfortunate, since their car seems pretty good, and could have provided some competition for Ferrari

agreed that BMW is a joke. both drivers are leaving: one is injured and all but off the team, and Montoya cares ony about himself, and not the team. if they were trully planning on bring in Villeneuve, wouldn't they bring him in now?

Sato is this year's version of Villeneuve at BAR: all the luck he has is bad.

http://www.formula1.com/race/news/1949/725.html
results:http://www.formula1.com/race/result/725/10.html

[bigC]

Trulli to Toyota?
http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/formula_one/news_story.asp?ID=92165&hubName=auto_racing-formula_one

BAR and Honda exetnd their relationship:
http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/news_story.asp?id=92090

[MUYA]

I want Honda to finance/bring their own team and call it Honda. That would rock having leading car manufacturers duke it out. then it would a be alevel playing field, u know enough budgets and no excuse to fall short and NO one team dominating as it would be a prestige issue that would vie for real auto sales.

[NAZCA M12]

Mmm yes, do you remember a few years back that they were thinking of the Honda-Honda machine? I remember their then president Nobuhiko kawamoto (i hope i got that right) was the first one to drive the car, probably at Suzuka. Then, Jos Verstappen tested extensively the car for some time but Honda eventually backed down from it. Maybe they were scared of the increasing costs of running both chassis and engine together? The car was designed by the late (and great imo) Harvey Postlethwaite. Btw, do you guys remember any of this stuff or am i talking to myself here? :lol2:

The danger MUYA of having manufacturers with a very close bond in F1 is that they can potentially risk Formula 1 itself. They can't bring/create their own team due to the Concorde agreement. I believe the last place was taken by Toyota and they were the ones who send their own team (TTE of WRC fame). So, usually they replace another engine manufacturer, they rarely make the bold step of handling all costs by themselves. However, the latest trend now is not to only to collaborate with the team but also buy shares in it. Lets see, BMW with Williams, Mercedes with McLaren, Renault with Benetton (which they later bought out), Honda with BAR (ex-Tyrrell) etc. These chassis constructors however are in F1 almost exclusively, they know nothing else but to built F1 racing cars. Eventually a car manufacturer might decide to exit the circus. What will happen then if he has a big share in the racing team? Will the chassis manufacturer go with him? There's a fear of losing manufacturers and subsequently teams as well, the way its going. I'd prefer just a close collaboration, say a Benetton-Renault with an option for Benetton in the case of a contract expiration to find other engines and continue in F1. Don't know, i don't have a good feeling with manufacturers buying into teams.

[MUYA]

yeah I suppose I can understand the corps getting involved wouldn't probably lead to a better future for ths port. it's probably a rash idea because i find teh dominance of Ferrari detrimental and cannot think of any way to spice F1 up.

And no I cannot remeber when Honda had their own setup ready to go.

BTW Arrows folded into which team or obvlion?

[NAZCA M12]

Victims of 2002: Arrows and Prost. Both sadly collapsed (into oblivion). However, your post about Honda sending its own team got me thinking. How would F1 be with major manufacturers sending their own teams instead of the well known constructors we have? Although these companies might not have experience in building F1 chassis, try to imagine it: BMW would send its BMW Motosport division or Schnitzer headed by Charlie Lamm. Mercedes could let the running of the team being handled by AMG. 20" rims would be supplied by Brabus. Nissan (just an example) could theoritically enter with its in-house division (NISMO) and so on. Would it be more interesting? Who knows? But anyway, the only positive thing i can see in car manufacturers buying shares in F1 teams is that since they do build such strong connenctions, they'll go to even greater pains to protect their investement than if they were just a partner who could walk away much easier than now (as a figure of speech, breaking contracts are never easy). It's the only thing that makes me hope that big names might stand up on these crap new regulations and do sth about it. Otherwise...

[bigC]

the Michael Schumacher show continues: he completely crushed everyone in qualy. there were a few drivers that seemed to post faster times for the first 2 sectors, ie Montoya, Kimi, etc, but they lost all their speed through the stadium sector and couldn't dethrone Schumi.

http://www.formula1.com/race/result/725/16.html
http://www.formula1.com/race/news/1960/725.html

[MUYA]

meh....I will watch the start ...and then middle parts and then decide to see if it';s worth watching for whole. For a sport that I love...I am getting so apathetic towards it.

[wEEt]

it starts :) germany rocks :D schumi will defenitely win, again. whereas Niki Lauda said that maclaren and bmw also have big chances not to win but to get places two and three.
we'll see. anyway, i didn't know that americans are interested in formula 1 :confused: i thought u only watch nascar and this stuff...

[bigC]

wow, Kimi's car just blew apart. too bad to, since he was actually providing some competition for Schumi. luckily, the ****pits are so well constructed that he simply walked away from that hard impact.

[bigC]

surprise: Schumi won! didn't see that one coming. ;)

however, if you ignore the fact that Schumacher will win the race regardless of where he starts, and that he will win the championship, and focus on the other drivers, then you'll be entertained. there was some good passing and individual battles (ie, Button, Alonso, etc) that kept me entertained throughout the race. a revitalized McLaren is also good, aside from the incident that Kimi suffered. at least the Mercedes grandstand had one driver to cheer for after Kimi's car crashed (DC now has 1 more point than Kimi). watching Button race one-handed was fun: starting 13th and finishing 2nd: good show. wonder what would have happened if his engine hadn't been replaced and he had started 3rd.

big disappointments: Toyota's new car failed to deliver any results, and even though bth BMWs scored points, Montoya didn't seem that competive (bad tires and a bad start ruined his day).

http://www.formula1.com/race/news/1968/725.html
http://www.formula1.com/race/result/725/8.html

[schuey74]

wow, Kimi's car just blew apart. too bad to, since he was actually providing some competition for Schumi. luckily, the ****pits are so well constructed that he simply walked away from that hard impact.
Any chance that Kimi's problem was a result of that tard (Rubens) bumping into him on the first lap? (or did he bump into Coulthard?)

[MUYA]

I think it was Coulthard no?

[SuLinUX]

It was coulthard rubens hit the back of, yet again rubens proving he's no match for schumacher. :retard:

[intercede007]

It was coulthard rubens hit the back of, yet again rubens proving he's no match for schumacher. :retard:

*COUGH*

Adelaide 1994

Jerez 1997

:retard:

And if you don't know, Google it.

[NAZCA M12]

It was coulthard rubens hit the back of, yet again rubens proving he's no match for schumacher. :retard:

Yet something tells me that despite once again a mediocre season, he may get a victory through brilliance (Silverstone '03) or luck (Suzuka '03) and then he'll again say "i hope my victory now will shut up those people who criticized me for being average the whole year" or sth like that. He's there because MS wants him to. It's not even funny anymore. But if they ever drop him, i'm sure they'll replace him with a fast and highly proven driver like Pizzonia, Burti, Pantano... :rolleyes:

[schuey74]

*COUGH*

Adelaide 1994

Jerez 1997

:retard:

And if you don't know, Google it.
I didn't see Adelaide '94, but I do recall Jerez '97. Are you referring to Michael crashing into people on purpose? Because if that's the case I don't see what that has to do with Rubinho crashing yet again out of pure stupidity. You can't even begin to compare the amount of unforced errors that Barichello's tallied up in comparison to Michael during their almost five years together.

[MUYA]

I think its coultard in a wet race bumming schumaker and causing him to lose vital cham points......this was in the wet where visiility was minimal and at the end of the first straight into a corner?


I think....

[intercede007]

I didn't see Adelaide '94, but I do recall Jerez '97. Are you referring to Michael crashing into people on purpose? Because if that's the case I don't see what that has to do with Rubinho crashing yet again out of pure stupidity. You can't even begin to compare the amount of unforced errors that Barichello's tallied up in comparison to Michael during their almost five years together.

I suppose the point I was trying to make has been lost.

Let me say that I'm Tifosi through and through. I think Michael is the greatest thing to happen to the boys in Red since Enzo himself.

Now, to finish my thought..

I think it's unfair to say that Rueben is somehow a poor driver because of a racing incident when Schumi has a pretty colorful history of accidents and their repurcusions on world champioships (Damon Hill, anyone?).

That was the point I was trying to make.

[MUYA]

how about trying to bump villy? heheh and he got borked instead...

[NAZCA M12]

I think its coultard in a wet race bumming schumaker and causing him to lose vital cham points......this was in the wet where visiility was minimal and at the end of the first straight into a corner?


I think....

Aaah, Spa '98 wasn't it? MS to DC after the crash: "are you trying to ****ing kill me?" I'd say that was more of a racing incident/misunderstanding between them rather than anything else.