Which is why they don't take bets on F1 in Vegas.

 

Yep.......

With all of this fantastic technology they miss the ball when it comes to rules and regs.

Its simple, Trulli went off the track.....if he couldn't maintain his place then Lewis was right to pass him. What do you do if the guy in front blows an engine and is coasting to a stop ? Stop ?

Did they pass Vettel in his 3 wheeler ?

Lewis has been burned three times now on un-clear rules regarding passing even when they try to do the "right" thing....whatever that is......

 

You said it.

Why aren't these team radios encrypted? I mean, if you're going to spend nearly half a billion (that's a b) dollars a year on a team...

 

They should at least put LH back in fourth. From the radio transcipt it looked like they were trying to get an answer form FIA. It's not their fault they didn't get it before the end of the race.

 

They used to be. FIA made a new reg that all radio transmissions must be unencrypted and be made available to the TV audiences. Even last year, the FIA would have access to radio transmissions.

I'm sure the FIA would have given 4th back to Ham if he and McMerc wouldn't have attempted to mislead as to what he did in this incident. He told the FIA he didn't let Trulli by, when in fact the team told him, and he admitted on the radio that he had let Trulli by. All he had to do was let them know exactly what happened. I think he got what he deserved. It's the same crap the Micheal got away with for years.

 

It appears that my suspicions have been correct, what a sad day in F1 for Mclaren. I had thought/hoped that Lewis had not told the stewards false information but that is what he did. This will no doubt tarnish his career and change many fans view of him and the team.

It is really sad when upper level management forces an employee into a position like this one. I have experienced this myself in my career and it is not fun, perhaps that is why I had my suspicions that Lewis was being forced to do this as a "team player".....sad sad sad

The fact is this happens often in any business and is considered "the way business works"

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/030420...ys-misled.html


I will still support Lewis knowing that this was a forced decision by management, I can only hope that he will be stronger next time and tell them to go screw themselves....if he gets that chance and is not thrown out of the championship....what a mess

 

Not exactly.....read the transcript.

Lewis Hamilton: The Toyota went off in a line at the second corner, I overtook him, is that OK?
Team: Understood, Lewis. We'll confirm and get back to you.
LH: He was off the track. He went wide.
Team: Lewis, you need to allow the Toyota through. Allow the Toyota through now.
LH: OK.
LH: He's slowed right down in front of me.
Team: OK, Lewis. Stay ahead for the time being. Stay ahead. We will get back to you. We are talking to Charlie.
LH: I let him past already.
Team: OK, Lewis. That's fine. That's fine. Hold position. Hold position.
LH: Tell Charlie I already overtook him. I just let him past.
Team: I understand Lewis. We are checking. Now can we go to yellow G 5, yellow Golf 5.
LH: I don't have to let him past I should be able to take that position back, if he made a mistake.
Team: Yes, we understand Lewis. Let's just do it by the book. We are asking Charlie now. You are in P4. If you hold this position. Just keep it together...
...Team: OK, Lewis, this is the last lap. At the end of the lap the safety car will come in, you just proceed over the line without overtaking, without overtaking. We are looking into the Trulli thing, but just hold position.

Sounds like more FIA crap work.

Why don't they have race stewards that go from race to race? Why not have a steward for each driver ala NASCAR? They have video and radio feeds for all of the cars. This could be done from a trailor/office anywhere in the world.

 

The thing is that Lewis was instructed to tell a different story, even after being interviewed, I cannot imagine that Lewis did not bring up the fact that he had already said "I slowed to let him by because the team told me" Its really stoopid on their part.

Mclaren management should be penalized - give them a huge fine, but not Lewis, the guy needs to keep his job. I imagine if he didn't "play the team player" a difference of opinion would arise and eventually he would lose his job. Since all teams don't always tell the truth, he would be blacklisted as a "non team player" and perhaps not get a drive again. Silly but its the way things go. You do as you're told......

Perhaps that is why Alonso had a hard time fitting in at Mclaren and in the past, other drivers at Ferrari. Alonso is very head strong and does seem quite principle based, something I can respect. If he does go to the red team, perhaps he won't fit in there either. Flavio seems to usually tells it like it is, be it bad or good.

 

I'm partial to the cars of the sixties, rear engined and full engine and rear suspension out and visible. I liked the cigar shaped bodies too.

I did also like the cars (though not nearly as much as the 60's) with all the aero bits till last year. I like the from follows function, and the wasp shaped tubs I like.

If you're not familiar with this video, nice way of showing the progression of the decades. I found a high res version on a Shell site somwhere that I downloaded, and a 'making of' video too. But here's a link where someone has posted it on YouTube already.

 

I agree. I'd thought this pretty much from the beginning. For whatever reason, most of the hot blooded cultured drivers never really fit in at Mclaren. Senna and Montoya come to mind, as well as Alonso. They just don't fit the mold that RD demands of his drivers. I think the red team is slightly more lax than the silver one, as long as the driver doesn't do anything to damage the brand. Ferrari haven't kept Kimi on near as tight of a leash as Mclaren did. See the rallying and tatoos, lol. On second thought, he seems to have slowed down some, maybe they should tighten it back up .

At the end of the day, I think Alonso will do anything he can that will help him win. He got a lot of bad press from the McMerc fallout, but all the teams do that(spy) to some extent. He felt he was being wronged and he aired out their dirty laundry for all the world to see. Unfortunatly, the FIA decided to make an example of them(Silver Arrows).

p.s. I'm not trying to get into another Alonso vs. Mclaren debate.

I think your right, that if Lewis would have contradicted what the team told him to do, they would have outed him like they did Alonso. The red and silver teams seem to be more like mafia families than motorsport teams. lol

 

Fantastic video--thanks for posting! I wonder how they made it. Reminds me of that Ferrari rendezvous video.

 

My question is: Considering the transcript above, why did the FIA even ask McLaren if Hamilton was told to let Trulli pass? It seems pretty clear from the transcript that Hamilton was told to let him have the position back.:

Team: Lewis, you need to allow the Toyota through. Allow the Toyota through now.
LH: OK.

If I were investigating, I would not go asking folks questions like that if I had a transcript that stated things that clearly. Peoples memories are historically pretty bad, and asking them to recount events when you have other documentary evidence is the definition of a gotchya question. It completely invites abuse by both parties. They have to be the dumbest governing body in the world of sports to investigate events this way, and penalize folks for this sort of thing. McLaren is even more idiotic for saying anything besides, "Please refer to the recording, I am sure it would be the most accurate recollection of what was said". What a bunch of fools.

Oh, and the 60's F1 cars were the most beautiful racing cars ever.

 

So when a car goes off track like Trulli did, what are the rules? Should people slow down and wait for him to get back on, causing a potential parade?

 

Ridiculous concept, to let someone go off that badly and wait. And where would it end? When they lift the car over the wall?

 

It gets weirder and weirder. I can't believe Ferrari made such an error with Massa!

Here are starting weights:

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/4/9142.html

 

Wow, what a race thus far. Hopefully it won't be too dark to race, once the rain lets up.

 

Lewis always seems to get screwed by the FIA. That whole incident is just stupid. Truli spun off. Why did McLaren have to lie? Is it their nature?

This is a crazy race. At least Button still has the lead

 

Two years ago, I talked about how LuHam would be, if he had a crap car. Now we're beginning to see. A rot has set into McLaren, and after the DQ in Australia, LuHam is having his own press conference, blaming his team for "making" him lie to the stewards.

When Alonso was speaking his mind about the way he was treated at McLaren, all the LuHam fans roasted him. Now that LuHam seems to be doing the same thing, can his fans now admit that Alonso was right about McLaren all along?

The year of the underdogs continues, great racing.

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/artic...ce-transcript/

 

Are you saying that the words in the press conference link are insincere? I don't doubt that he screwed up. A one-time occurrence? We'll see--too early to tell.

 

I vividly recall how Alonso was raked over the coals for airing team laundry. I'm not about to give LuHam a pass for doing the very same thing.

 

I agree. When Alonso was getting crucified, Ham could do no wrong. It's quite a bit different when their savior turns out to be just as stubborn and arrogant.

If he's as good as everyone has been touting him since he came in to F1, he should be able to sack up and develope the crappy car. For comparison sake, if he's as good as Alonso, surely he'll win one or two races this year. If not....well, yeah.

 

Your dislike of Lewis has been very obvious over the last few years. But I don't think its time to get on your soapbox and declare that you were right.

1st, From what I have seen, the news of Lewis quitting Mclaren and such is nonsense. Typical British press fabrication. Who knows what is going on ? we surely don't.

I think Lewis was just caught in a bad management decision, every team has a rep follow the drivers with a recording device. Surely, Mclaren knew Lewis had been interviewed and that the radio communications were recorded and printed. Perhaps exactly how the stewards asked the question might have something to do with the response.

Have you seen the stewards inquiry video ? I have not, so I do not know, and as pointed out in the past, do not judge someone by a press article.

I am not defending Mclaren or Lewis, but without all of the information and video proof, its hard to say who is right and who is wrong. Admittedly, I am disappointed in both, it should never have gotten to this point. As pointed out "Refer to the radio transcripts" would have been the right thing to do. At that point they could defend their position on letting Trulli by as confusion of the situation and rules.

2nd, Lewis has driven an obviously bad performing car in brilliant fashion, even out driving Alonso in an equally crappy car in both races. Heikki's performance so far is good proof that the car is just not there. How about the fight with Webber ? That was fantastic driving from both guys.

There is no question that the right car makes all the difference, everyone of these guys is WC material, even Piquet, but without the right car and team, they're just another F1 driver. Just a few pages back Jenson was being written off, all those races and 1 win....Honda sucks, blah blah blah, now everyone is a Jensen/Brawn fan.

Whatever............I've supported Jens from the start of his F1 career but I still think Lewis is the better driver. If Jens wins, that's great, Glock, Trulli, Vettel....whoever wins....whatever, I just want to see good racing and less BS from the rules.

Its a very exciting season and obviously, its going to be a tight one.

But don't write Lewis off just yet, if he's the type of person I think he is, he will dig deep inside and find the strength to get the car and the team back on top.

 

Both Alonso and Lewis are great drivers no doubt, but I still like Lewis a lot more. In both incidences, Lewis was a team player to a fault. Alonso was blackmailing his team to get preferred status. I think they both screwed up, but clearly Alonso was worse. I mean Alonso will never drive again for McLaren even if he changes his mind. McLaren does not want him. Any team would love to have Lewis driving for them. Alonso = blackmail and Lewis = stupid situation

 

LOL, I don't think you could pay Alonso enough to drive a silver car.....ever.

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/...marsh-destiny/
Is it just a coincidence that McMerc seems to always be involved in some sort of controversy?

On a side note, that race was awesome for my GPudatemanager.net team. Anyone else do this? I've got 4 teams and one of them is in 132nd place, which is pretty darn good, considering there are literally thousands of people playing from around the globe.

I really wish the race could have gone the distance. It would have been extremely interesting to see the fight between Jensen and Timo unfold.

 

Can't you hear Alonso in that spanish/english...."No F-N way I'll go back there" I don't know about you guys/gals but I knew the relationship of Alonso and Mc was bad when they made Alonso cut his hair...... Funny how quickly the hair returned as things dissolved.....

All teams have politics, all teams "fail to tell the whole truth" at some point

There's still the rumour that Schu was "enfluenced out of Ferrari" his lack of emotion to Luca following the announcement seemed to confirm that. Yet they said it was all his decision.