Rd1: 2010 Bahrain Practice 1/2/3 ***Spoilers***

Slight mistake in his article. GP2 fastest was 2.0753 IIRC. That's less than 1 tenth slower than Senna.

 

That's got to be the funniest line I've read in a long time!

Very clever.

 

I have the same concerns about sportscar racing, even though I date back to when there were 750cc cars with top speeds of about 90mph on the track with sports-prototypes that were capable of 180mph.

I just think that considering this is the first F1 race of the year, a very detailed driver's meeting is in order, with it made perfectly clear do not hold up anyone or you will be black flagged...

 

My favorite image from practice. I'd love to know what Max's blood pressure was when he saw that

Now if only Flav would make an appearance...

 

At least we wont have to worry about any Virgins being on the pole this season!

Classic line from Speedcore!

 

And another great tag line!

You guys got some good writers!

 

They do when they are being shown the blue flag for being lapped.

>8^)
ER

 

I don't get all this posturing over the slower newbies:

F1 drivers are supposed to be the best in the world. That includes overtaking a moving chicane. Deal with it.

For us fans, this opens the door for some artificial (a la Le Mans series) and real drama when a newbie ignores the blue flag or plows into the race leader.

What's not to like?

The 107% rule would kill the moving chicanes and make everything processional again. Hell no to that!

 

The other thing about reintroducing the 107% rule is we have little to no in-season testing available, and very little wind tunnel time compared to the era when that rule was around.

How would the teams that are struggling ever have a hope of catching up and getting on pace with the rest?

>8^)
ER

 

Agreed. Schumacher and Hakkinen didn't have a problem with it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM4dQdpgHf8

 

my buddies lad is doing a blog via the daily mail website on F1 this season

http://duncanblog.dailymail.co.uk/

 

Originally Posted by tifosi12
F1 drivers are supposed to be the best in the world. That includes overtaking a moving chicane.


Tifosi with long memories will remember how a certain mobile chicane named Schlesser prevented a McLaren sweep in 88...and earned Ferrari the only victory not to fall to McLaren that year.

2 laps from a perfect season. I don't think we'll see that chance again...

Frank

 

I do remember that. And it was fun. Not just because I wasn't a Senna fan, but because it brought the element of chance and surprise in an otherwise boring season.

I hated 2004 because Schumacher dominated everything, but I equally hated 88. It is not because I have a certain like/dislike for drivers, but it is all about the predictability of the race result. If I know that Senna/Prost/Schumacher will win a race, then why bother watching it?

Next up on my wish list: randomly activated sprinklers

 

OMG, I just wasted my 500th post commenting on McLaren in one of their glory years.

Please forgive me my fellow tifosi for I have sinned...

Frank

 

A valid point, except that sports-car racing is a different world, and it's like comparing apples with oranges. At Le Mans, the Petit, and other such races, there have been multiple well-defined classes for years, and everyone knows (or quickly learns) the proper etiquette for passing or being passed. Plus, the cars are different enough in appearance that the faster cars recognize the slower cars and vice-versa.

But in F1 it is supposed to be one class, and all the cars are supposed to have roughly the same performance. Allowing a car in that doesn't meet the 107% criterion would be like mixing F1 and GP2 in the same race, and since the cars all look similar (and their smaller size makes them harder to see than GT cars), the possibility of a major disaster is all-too present. The last time that F1 cars raced with another class -- F2 cars -- was at the German GPs at the Nordschleife, where the 14-mile length of the circuit made overtaking a relatively moot point. (And in 1967, Jacky Ickx in an F2 Matra was fast enough to run with the big boys until his car broke!)

Eliminating the slowest cars will hardly make the race a procession; based on today's times there will still be 22 cars in the race, and still a spread of perhaps 7 seconds between fastest and slowest, still a dicey situation.

And the point about HRT needing the track time to make their cars better: I propose that a special Monday testing session be permitted, not only for them but for the two other new teams. If the established teams are worried about the slow pace of the newbies, allowing them some additional track time, and NOT in a race situation, should be easy for them to approve.

 

The spread in lap times doesn't indicate the likelihood (or not) of a procession. Just because there will be lappers in the mix doesn't mean they will be a problem. We'll find out on Sunday.

 

Hi - it comes on at 02:00 for me, that's 4.5 hours from now. I think my 2.5 hours of "power nap" last night needs a bit of padding so the alarm is set for 01:50 - see you in a bit. Then it's only two hours between P3 and Qualifying so no sense going back to sleep...don't want to miss anything. Wonder how many die-hards we'll have for P3?

Carol

 

I'll be here (I think)... but how to catch it? Filmon stopped working for me... any feeds available?

 

Mike, we were watching on a justin feed, autosport live commentary, and I found a couple links from here (when it comes up for P3) http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/03/13/f1-fanatic-round-up-1332010/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+f1fanatic+%28F1+Fanatic+-+The+Formula+1+Blog%29&utm_content=Twitter and also F1 live timing. Speedy lives in OZ so he gets different coverage than us. See you in a few..

Carol

filmon on this computer said I wasn't subscribed any more, but my laptop is working fine..go figure - I did have to uninstall and re-install on here as well as the laptop

I just solved my issue with f1 live timing by reloading Java - it's working now. Two computers set with sites and ready to go!

 

Are you guys sure practice is on the BBC? I don't see it in the program listing - the next thing I see is Qualifying at 10am local (UK) time.

Or is it somewhere else other than the BBC?

 

Nope!..... My "research" (FWIW) suggests both Speed (here in the States) and BBC's next broadcasts are quali and not P3.

However, P1 wasn't on either schedule either, and I got a *fabulous* feed of that last night from filmon - As has been noted, it "broke" in the middle, but at least for me, came back after I logged in again.

I don't know who or where the broadcast came from (!), but am sure hoping it's up again at midnight my time! (03:00 EST, 11:00 Bahrain) I guess it's the BBC - I think Maurice Hamilton was one of the dudes, plus two others - And they were *great* - Hobbs & Matchett have a long way to go

Cheers,
Ian