omgwtfbbq!

Well the 2009 Formula 1 season starts this weekend after a long off-season of controversy, mainly thanks to the FIA president making some rather unpopular decisions. I decided to make this thread for all the general F1 discussion this year, instead of repetitive threads for every race. I'll keep this thread updated with qualifying times and results as often as I can do so. To find the beginning of the discussion for each race, just click its name. It will take you to the first post in this thread regarding that race.

I personally am looking forward to this season quite a bit, following the news of Honda's team during testing over the past few weeks. After pulling factory support, the team was bought by the Team Principal, Ross Brawn. They are now using the Chassis developed under Brawn's guidance during the last season, coupled with McLaren engines. The new chassis bears the name BGP 001. After 3 days of testing the new chassis in Catalunya, Jenson Button was lapping a circuit over 1 second faster than the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, and 2.5 seconds faster than Louis Hamilton. On the 4th day, with Reubens Barichello at the wheel, the results were duplicated, lapping just under a second faster than Nico Rossberg in second place.

Another interesting facet is of course the KERS being implemented, though the final list of teams utilizing it isn't available yet, at least to my knowledge.

The dates/locations of this years races are:

03/29 - Grand Prix of Australia @ Albert Park Qualifying Results
04/05 - Grand Prix of Malaysia @ Sepang International Circuit Qualifying Results
04/19 - Grand Prix of China @ Shanghai International Circuit Qualifying Results
04/26 - Grand Prix of Bahrain @ Bahrain International Circuit Qualifying Results
05/10 - Grand Prix of Spain @ Circuit de Catalunya Qualifying Results
05/24 - Grand Prix of Monaco @ Circuit de Monaco Qualifying Results
06/07 - Grand Prix of Turkey @ Istanbul Circuit
06/21 - Grand Prix of Great Britain @ Silverstone Circuit
07/12 - Grand Prix of Germany @ Nurburgring
07/26 - Grand Prix of Hungary @ Hungaroring
08/23 - Grand Prix of Europe @ Valencia
08/30 - Grand Prix of Belgium @ Spa
09/13 - Grand Prix of Italy @ Monza Autodromo
09/27 - Grand Prix of Singapore @ Singapore Circuit
10/04 - Grand Prix of Japan @ Suzuka Circuit
10/18 - Grand Prix of Brazil @ Interlagos Circuit
11/01 - Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi @ Yas Marina Circuit

Current Drivers Standings:


Current Constructors Standings:

burgy240

YES!!!


KERS will be very interesting. I am really glad to here that the ex-Honda team is doing well (told you Honda's aren't fast) now that they are powered by McLaren. I only wonder how long they will get quality engines if they actually keep pace with The McLarens?? I would be SOOO happy to see Rubens back fighting for the lead again!!!

Did anyone else see where they rated Massa as the best driver in F1, NOT Hamilton??

Chuck 98 RT/10

I'd put Alonso in front of Hamilton too. Hamilton is inexperienced. The man to watch is Sebastien Bourdais, if he gets with a good team he will do real well. Sebastien Buemi might be another one to watch.

omgwtfbbq!

I really don't think that its the McLaren engines pushing the Hondas from the back of the grid to the front. Granted Honda had a couple reliability issues last season. The main issue was that the RA107 chassis was so incredibly terrible they could have had 4 Michael Schumacher clones driving them and still have ended the season as poorly as they did. Now that they're operating on the new RB001 chassis they can be competitive again; and I'm sure the only reason they're not running Honda engines is the lack of Honda factory support.

power2weight

Times in preseason testing don't mean much if anything at all. Toyota for years had scorching preseason tests, every year was supposed to be 'their' year. Turns out they'd be running light on fuel or soft compound tires.

With as surprisingly good as last year's season was, and with some of the new rules, which even though they take F1 off the bleeding edge (yes I think KERS is more of a dog and pony show for Europe's greenies), I'm really looking forward to this season. Maybe not enough to get up early, but definitely tape them.

One thing is for sure, there is at least 4 or 5 drivers totally capable of winning the WDC, it remains to be seen how well the new rules have leveled the cars themselves.

omgwtfbbq!

Changing the aerodynamics rules is one thing I really disagreed with for this season. It did create an advantage for teams with the resources to run endless CFD on their chassis, but Formula 1 should be about technology as well as driving skill. I really dislike the idea of turning F1 into an all out one car race. I am very opposed to the engine development ban as well. Especially after other team's drivers tested in Ferrari's cars after the whole reliability modification debacle and all commented on how the cars seemed significantly more powerful. But at least ALMS still allows significant innovation, though I hate to see that they're one of the few top tier series still doing this.

Chuck 98 RT/10

CFD?

The problem with technology is that it eliminates the need for driver skills and in the case of F1 turned the race into follow the leader. Most folks consider that boring. The Schumacher years were as boring as racing could get.

There is a video of Hamilton using remote control to drive his F1 car. F1 was really only one step away from that, only it wouldn't have been a driver driving, it would have been a computer.

burgy240

^ true, the technology is great and really cool, but once it got as far as it did, it really made so much of the sport boring. It really came down to Qualifying and Pit Strategy/stops...

CFD=computational fluid dynamics

I agree that Hamilton is maybe fourth or even fifth best. His own team even says that he has no ability to preserve the car etc. He could grow into the best driver, but right now I don't think he is there yet. Besides, if it wasn't for some of the stupid new tech failing, Massa would have been the Champ last year.

As for the Honda, yes the chassis was shit and if Honda was still paying for it, they would be using their engine, but using McLaren engines is definitely an improvement for them up until they start to compete with the factory team, then who knows. I was really just poking fun at you and Honda so relax

burgy240

Oh yeah, we will se if Toyota, Williams and Brawn are actually as fast as they claim once they have to change the supposed illegal aero diffuser's they are running currently? While they aren't supposed to be running light and with different tires like years past, it looks like they still aren't in race approved form after all....

Is there anywhere to get together to watch the races (ones that aren't at 4 in the morning)?

http://www.f1-fansite.com/index.asp

The Kyle

Just like every year I'll be pulling for my compatriots Massa, Barrichello and Piquet.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how BrawnGP does this year. They surprised everyone with how strong they were in testing and I hope to see them to carry that momentum through to Melbourne. Jenson Button is a douche, but Rubens deserves a solid year in a solid car after the past few disappointing seasons.

I've always been a Kovalainen fan but honestly don't expect much out of the McLaren camp in the early part of the seasons. HamiLOLton is young and inexperienced, so I imagine him adjusting to a completely new chassis (and racing strategy for that matter) may take him a little longer than the Vets.

I think Vettel and Glock should also put down some solid performances this season.


As far as the technology goes, I'm a fan of it (except bringing back traction control and active suspension). Things like KERS and other cool gadgetry is just part of what F1 is...a place to display the latest and greatest in motorsports engineering and development.

I feel the argument that it takes away the need for the driver's skill is completely wrong. F1 cars are FAR from driving themselves. The driver is still in command of the pedals, steering wheel, line, when to brake, when to pass, when to do something stupid and when to crash. No electronic aid is going to take that away. If anything giving the driver things like KERS and cockpit-adjustable downforce only reinforces how skilled these pilots are. Not only are they doing their best to be competitive during the race, they now have to control the various new systems at the same time to stay in the game.

That's my .02

Although for me F1 will always be missing something...