Also, Romain Grosjean has been confirmed as the replacement to Piquet Jr. I'm sure we all pretty much saw that coming, but now it's official.

 

Man that was a long break between races! Wish I could have watched practice live. But I've got it recording right now. First 4 spots of the first practice were Mercedes powered. Hopefully for JB, the Brawns are back on form.

 

Fernando Alonso Renault 1:39.404 33
Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:40.178 0.774 33
Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:40.209 0.805 34
Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:40.385 0.981 39
Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:40.503 1.099 35
Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:40.596 1.192 23
Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:40.643 1.239 34
Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 1:40.681 1.277 31
Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:40.723 1.319 33
Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:40.738 1.334 31
Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:40.739 1.335 39
Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:40.770 1.366 32
Romain Grosjean Renault 1:40.787 1.383 35
Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:40.956 1.552 37
Timo Glock Toyota 1:40.985 1.581 30
Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:41.156 1.752 34
Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:41.350 1.946 29
Luca Badoer Ferrari 1:42.017 2.613 37
Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:42.089 2.685 34
Lewis Hamilton

 

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/...t-car-on-grid/

Looks like Trulli has enough fuel to take him to his first pit stop at Spa. Rubens could be in the pound seats if he can pass the McMercs in the pit rotation.....maybe. He'll need a good start to stay in third and need to stick with the silver cars till they pit.

 

That was a heck of a race. Not a lot of passing, but I was very happy for Barrichello. He drove a great race and timed his quick laps perfectly to pass Hammy in the pit rotation. I was pretty impressed when they asked Hamilton about his bad pit stop, and he said, "we win and lose as a team". Good lad, however still not a fan of him, lol. I think Ferrari needs to ditch the sentimental stuff with putting Badoer in the car and get someone with a little more self confidence. He looked like a pig on rollerskates out there.

 

There are many other great ways to thank Luca for his service. That was embarrassing. I did not realize that he has not raced anything for so long. Clearly, Gene should be the guy now. Give Luca a Ferrari road car. It would be cheaper.

Great drive by Rubens. Almost Schumacher like in strategy and execution. Of course, Ross Brawn had a hand again.

Even though Jensen had a poor race, it is looking more and more like his championship.

 

Poor Luca. It wasn't just the racing that was embarrassing. Let me see, he broke the pit lane speed limit four times, drove a Ferrari to the slowest quali time by about a second and a half, let Grosjean past him as they exited the pits during the race....and then he got a drive-thru penalty, though I don't know if it was for the peculiar Grosjean let-by itself or for crossing the exit line shortly after....

Never mind all the speculation about other drivers (other than Schumacher) to take that seat, all they had to do is give it to Gene. Oh well, Badoer gets another chance at Spa....is it time to start speculating wildly about who will take the car in Monza?

 

Ummmmm, yes. Even though the red team have confirmed him for Spa, I wouldn't be surprised to see them go with someone else.

A list of folks I wouldn't mind seeing sit in for Massa in no particular order. I won't include Schumacher because he's old and motorcycle riding caused his neck to shatter into a million pieces.

Wurz - wouldn't be able to shoe-horn him into the car
Sato - Ummmm, do it. He's exciting and really seemed to mature as a driver in the Super Best Friends car
Loeb - I dunno, I get the feeling people don't think he'd do that well in F1
Davidson - nice guy, give him a shot
Hakkinnen - never happen, how cool would it be?!?!
Liuzzi - Italian in a Ferrari go together like lamb and tuna fish
Gene - give him a chance already
Me - Michael who?


As a side note, who lit the fire under Kimi's butt in the last two races?

 

Sato in a Ferrari. I would be checking weather reports for a frozen over hell.

Do it!

 

Man, what would we do without Hockenheim?

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/250820...ithdrawal.html

Every time Bernie spouts off that a track is up to F1 standards, there's a new nail in the coffin of circuits as we know them. So, kill a Hockenheim, gain a Bahrain. Or a Malaysia. But no (confirmed) U.S.

As for Michael:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/240820...-comeback.html

 

go rubens!

 

I figured if they put Badoer in the seat they must have decided if they couldn't get Schumacher they might as well give up on the season....and Badoer's already on the payroll. The looney part though is with the same logic they could have at least gone with Gene....he's on the payroll too right?

They've run the last two races with one car -- sorry Luca -- and Ferrari took 14 points while McLaren took 27. McLaren are only 5 behind and at that rate they'll move ahead into third at Spa.

Something tells me Gene should be next but given the Badoer example I'm not even trying to guess what they're thinking anymore.

 

I hear ya Kurv. That's why I suggested Sato. It sounds soooo loonie and would cause such stir, they'd have to do it. They did the same thing when Schumi broke his leg at Silverstone. They bypassed both test and reserve drivers and put Mika Salo in the car. He hadn't had the greatest F1 career but actually showed real promise in the Ferrari. Even had a chance at winning a race, if he didn't have to adhere to team orders and let Eddie Irvine by.

Deb, Hockenheim isn't the same track it used to be. I believe my wife taped the 01 or 02 Hockenheim race....shoot, maybe both of them. And they are phenominal to watch. But it just isn't the same track. Not the same personality.

Why cant Herman Tilke design a crazy low downforce track like the old Hockenheim or Monza? That would actually be a cost savings for the teams! Then they wouldn't have to make special parts for just one race. I'd watch it.

 

I like the "they've made strange choices in the past" logic. In fact, I think Ferrari are more apt to do that than most just because they're huge publicity hounds, but until the Luca "incident" I always figured they'd only do that if the guy had a good chance of doing well. Still, I'm gonna bet Gromit is right on this one; Sato in a Ferrari probably means hell has at least suffered a cold wave.

While I'm on the Sato topic, I just read he's going to race in IndyCar the last race of the season (Homestead, 10 Oct) and is hoping to be part of Gil de Farran's new team that's supposed to debut next year. Not saying it would stop him jumping at a chance to drive for Ferrari in F1.....just a little trivia.

 

That's cool. Good for him. And it makes sense that Gil de Ferran would have him on his team. I would think they've got a good raport from their time at Honda.

 

Just finished watching practice at Spa and noticed something interesting. Not that I don't like the commentary but sometimes it's nice just to watch and listen to the car. They followed Kimi around the track and I think Vettel for a lap or so too without saying a word. Loved it.

That also reminds me, how come no Sounds of Speed anymore?

 

Just watched Q2... WOW!

Spoiler below:


O...



M.......




G............





















FISI!!!!!

 

Yep, Fisi (and Force India) in P1.....big surprise, but Luca in P20.....predictable.

Lots of other surprises too. Here's the provisional grid with official weights. In addition to the surprises in the top 10, note the odd list immediately following Adrian Sutil in the second Force India (that's 11-15; the full Q2 knock-out group).

1. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 648kg
2. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 656.5
3. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 655
4. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 644.5
5. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 649
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 655
7. Timo Glock, Toyota, 648.5
8. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 662.5
9. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 658
10. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 670
11. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 678.5
12. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 693.5
13. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 684.4
14. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 694.2
15. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 697
16. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 685
17. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 704.5
18. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 706.1
19. Romain Grosjean, Renault, 704.7
20. Luca Badoer, Ferrari, 691.5

 

In terms of laps of fuel, I make that:

1. Giancarlo Fisichella 19
2. Jarno Trulli 23
3. Nick Heidfeld 22
4. Rubens Barrichello 18
5. Robert Kubica 20
6. Kimi Raikkonen 22
7. Timo Glock 19
8. Sebastian Vettel 26
9. Mark Webber 24
10. Nico Rosberg 29
11. Adrian Sutil 33
12. Lewis Hamilton 39
13. Fernando Alonso 35
14. Jenson Button 40
15. Heikki Kovalainen 41
16. Sebastien Buemi 36
17. Jaime Alguersuari 44
18. Kazuki Nakajima 45
19. Romain Grosjean 44
20. Luca Badoer 38

 

Btwyx - according to your figures some drivers -- Alguersuari, Nakajima and Grosjean -- won't need to refuel once the entire race.....it's a 44 lap race.....

I don't mean to rain on your parade. I couldn't make such a list if I wanted to because I don't know the factors and haven't even tried to do the math, but the folks here seem to be plugging different numbers into their calculators, with results like so (for the first 10):

If I understand the article, the real purpose of this list is to show their calculation of grid positions and relative lap times if the fuel weight differences are factored out -- the predicted laps to first stops, however, are based on actual fuel loads.....I think.

Strangely though, while your numbers seem high to me, the numbers above seem too low. Oh well, as long as rain doesn't cloud the picture (no pun intended) we'll all know the rest of the story soon enough.

 

No spoilers here except to say that Spa delivered a great race.

 

welllll even moreunexpected from the qualies :P

 

Great race for Force India and Fisi!!! Where did they come from?

Jenson had another lucky weekend with his championship lead still intact.

Damn, where has this Kimi been the last couple of years?

 

Kimi kind of did the same sort of thing in 07 when he won the championship. He started off kind of slowly and then just got a grip on the car and came alive.

 

Think if Bumbling Bernie had gotten his way with the medals instead of the points. The season would have been over some time back, and a lot of this great racing would have been probably dialed back to "who cares" mode.