West of Austin wouldn't be too smart, since the largest city in Texas is East of Austin.

 

Crash.net reports "within ten miles of Austin International Airport"....

That would be South East of downtown.

Couldn't get much better for me.

 

Dibs on your guestroom!

 

Shoot! Beaten by 5 minutes!!! Arrrgh.....

 

Maybe he's got a backyard? I'll lend you a tent.

 

Yeah?! Well I'm the most competitive.....so there!

When I was referring to infrastructure, there's a reason that so many teams are based in that area of the UK. Because the tools of the trade are there: wind tunnels, auto-claves (sp?), 7-post rigs, etc. If the team doesn't have one, or enough of them, they can go rent time at some place that does.

I'm not sure how much of that is available in Austin....mainly because I don't know much about the town.

 

I don't know how much is available in Austin, either, but I'm not sure it's relevent. A home team could/would build them, and the rest presumably will have their own at their own digs.

Don't know what you're calling "Central Illinois" (Bloomington? Springfield?), but Austin's hardly the dusty hick town you're suggesting. The metro area has over 1.7 million residents. By comparison, Springfield, your state capitol, has about 200,000. Read on:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin,_Texas

It is home to the University of Texas, and is a major high tech center.

 

It appears as if Bernie's favorite designer will be turned loose to design the Austin, TX venue!

I don't know if this is a bad thing or a good thing.

I truly hope that Tilke does a good job and designs a circuit with character instead of a bland aggregate of corners linked by straights with few if any passing areas.

This is a great opportunity for Tilke step up (like he did in Turkey with Turn-8) and create a truly sterling circuit in the same league as Monza, Spa, Nurburgring, Road America, Watkins Glen, etc.

Lets hope he does it right.

Time will tell and I will reserve my judgement till then...



Read on dear friends...

F1: Tilke Designing $200m Austin Track

Veteran circuit designer Hermann Tilke will design the Austin, Texas venue that will host the US Grand Prix beginning in 2012...

GMM | GMM Newswire | Posted May 27, 2010 Balen (BEL)

Veteran circuit designer Hermann Tilke will be responsible for the Austin F1 track, promoter Tavo Hellmund has confirmed to SPEEDtv.com. Hellmund also says the project is also much further along than has been assumed, and the track has already been drawn.

“This has been long in the works,” he said. “Everything is in place.”

Although the former racer told local media yesterday that three possible venues were still under consideration, that suggestion was apparently a smokescreen.

While several alternatives were under consideration, one site was settled on some time ago, and the land – over 800 acres – has already been purchased. Not only that but initial permissions for amenities such as water and waste, which are usually time-consuming affairs, have already been granted.

Although Hellmund has yet to divulge details of what he calls a "killer location," he confirmed that the site is to the east of the city, a few miles from the airport. It is said to be in hilly countryside that has provided Tilke with a good starting point for a design.

The German has been asked to create a fast circuit with challenging corners that resemble those of classic established circuits such as Silverstone, Hockenheim and Spa. It will be over three miles in length.

Tilke first sent a representative of his company to Austin around two years ago, and has made personal many visits since. He is currently looking for office space in the city in which to base the project.

Hellmund is adamant that Austin is an ideal location.

“Other than New York or LA, which already have 10m people, where are you going to find a place that within 150-mile radius you have three of the top 10 largest markets in the United States?" he said. "That is the wonderful thing. Our position between Canada and the United States, North, South and Central America, is unbelievable.

“You take that into account, you take into account the draw that Austin is, it’s the state capital, it’s in the hill country, it’s got a huge, huge vibe and tag of being the coolest place.”

As reported previously, the race is set to benefit from the "Texas Major Events Trust Fund," which is intended to reimburse cities for costs they face when hosting big sporting events.

However, that relates only to specific events and does not have an impact on the cost of building the facility, which is apparently budgeted at $200m. The track build is being financed by private investors, and when completed, the venue is likely to be named after either Texas or Austin.

One of the key elements that has helped to generate funding is that aside from F1, the circuit will be used to help develop alternative fuels.

Hellmund has known Bernie Ecclestone since he was a teenager. His father was involved in promoting IndyCar and TransAm races in Mexico City, and also helped to bring F1 back to the country in 1988. Hellmund Sr. was also involved in the 1986 soccer World Cup and in organizing music events.

While the Austin project was greeted with some scepticism, Hellmund's enthusiasm for it is infectious and he certainly makes a credible case for it. It will be fascinating to see what happens next...

 

Ummmm, I was referring more to the "hilly" landscape, facilitating an undulating track layout.

I was pretty sure all the saloons and hitchin posts were taken out when the motorized carriage was sold there and the cattle drives stopped using Austin as a hub.

 

You'll have no problems there.

 

The Mclarens seem pretty strong this weekend, as do the Renaults. I'd say all they need is a little unreliability from the Red Bulls and they could have a very good weekend.

 

You're spot on benjam! McLaren does look like it is able to take the fight to Red Bull and yes Renault has been improving (thanks the the talent of Robert Kubica).

I believe that Renault has a chassis capable of the podium here in Turkey but I look for the battle to be between Webber and Hamilton with Vettel licking his chops, hoping there is a mis-step and that they take each other out! To the victor the spoils as it were...

I am curious to see how the Schu does this weekend. I didn't get to see very much of the practice but the shots from his in-car going through T-8 were wonderful. It was such fun to see a master such as Michael work his way through such a demanding corner!

Poor Ferrari they are languishing in 8th & 12th (Massa & Alonso respectively)!

Perhaps Fernando will treat us to a masterful drive (as he did at Monaco) and storm up to a podium finish.

 

What was Vettel thinking?

 

I knew I should have been more diligent whilst polishing my crystal ball!

Oh well, right church, wrong pew... I believe that poor ole Vettel needed to prove to the team and himself that he is Red Bull's chosen one. The resurgence of Webber has ruffled Sebastian's feathers, it would seem, and precipated the rather risky pass in Turkey.

It was evident that Webber was very miffed, yet reserved, in the post-race interview and Vettel was shown walking away from his wrecked RB6 displaying the universal hand gesture for "he's crazy". Christian Horner will surely have his work cut out for him keeping the peace within the team after this incident.

In Webber's defense he was leading and keeping all others (including teammate Vettel) at bay but it would have been prudent for him (Webber) to give his teammate just a skosch more room rather than squeeze him so. The consequences of defending so vigourously were disastrous.

benjam, I'm thinking that the Red Mist got a hold of Vettel and blinded him to the dangers of such an opportunistic move (especially on your teammate). The Red Bull drivers need to borrow a page out of the McLaren playbook on overtaking.

Just look at how Hamilton and Button fared in their scrap. Both Lewis and Jenson gave each other fair quarter and raced each other rather than playing bumper cars and taking the team out of contention in one fell swoop.

Sometimes the hard won lessons learned in racing are easily forgotten. One of the cardinal rules is: Always race your teammate safely and never take him out.

Grats to the McLaren drivers on their race and nice to see Schumacher get closer to the podium (I still predict Michael will garner a finish on the podium this season). Finally, alas poor Ferrari as they seemed to struggle in Istanbul. The cars just lacked speed and at times look nervous on some fast corners yet journeyman performances from Massa and Alonso to finish 7th and 8th!

 

I put the blame all on Vettel for this one......(and I like him as a driver!) Webber was leading and moved over to defend while giving him just enough to make the pass, all-be-it a difficult task to do. Vettel turned in waaay to early but at that speed the turbulance could have caused the car to wander some. The hands do not lie tho...it can be seen that the wheel turned.

But what a battle the four had up front for the length of time it lasted! You don't get to see very often the top runners hanging onto each other for that long..

 

Hmm... I think that the greatest responsibility in this issue lies with Vettel.

It is the responsibility of the overtaking driver to make a clean, safe pass (especially where your teammate is involved).

At the same time, I have to lay a portion of the blame on Webber for defending his position (too aggressively) against his teammate and not giving him some wiggle room.

Had that been any other driver (instead of his teammate) I would say be aggressive and hold your line but against your teammate... Well the consequences of both cars coming together far outweighs being passed. Race him hard but don't take him out and wait for an opportunity to re-pass him.

Well S-Driver it seems that Red Bull's Helmut Marko doesn't agree with us...



F1: Red Bull Boss Marko Blames Webber
Helmut Marko is not mincing words about the Istanbul crash...

Adam Cooper | GMM Newswire | Posted May 30, 2010 Istanbul (TUR)


Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko has made it clear that he blames Mark Webber for the Istanbul clash.

He says that Sebastian Vettel was under threat from behind from Lewis Hamilton, and thus needed to get past Webber.

“Vettel was under enormous pressure from Hamilton, he had to do something, otherwise Hamilton would overtake him,” said Marko. “He was already ahead, he was at least two meters ahead, Sebastian, and there was a corner to the left side coming.

“So he had to go for the line, he can’t brake on the dirt, because if he would do that, for sure he knows what happens. Unnecessary, the whole situation. We’ll talk with everybody and clearly make it not happen again.”

Marko denied that there was a German speaking/English speaking split in the camp.

“That’s not true. We are handling both drivers in the team the same way. But again, Vettel was under such a pressure, and if such a situation comes up, you have to look after the team. We still could have been one-two.

“We were not in a situation where we were racing each other, we were under enormous pressure from the McLarens. The McLarens here were much faster on the straights, so we had to gain our advantage in the corners.

“Sebastian had to attack, otherwise he would have been overtaken by Hamilton. It would have been completely different if the McLarens would have been 10 seconds behind, but that wasn’t the case, you know. Obviously there was not the right communication going on.”


How do the rest of you feel about this issue?

 

I dunno, I maintain this was all on Vettel.

If I were managing the team, the driver in the lead would maintain the lead unless he had a problem. Vettel should have defended, like he had been doing. It was the same type of thing in 2006 between Schumacher and Alonso. Alonso was able to pull a lead through T8 and MS would take the rest of the lap catching up to him.

Vettel was under pressure, but as long as he managed his position and raced more responsibly, he would have ended up with a heck of a lot more points than he did.

I have a feeling ''Istanbul-gate'' will fan the flames for speculation to Webber moving to Ferrari to take Massa's seat.

 

-1 Vettel, +1 Webber

I think we just saw the inexperience & impatience of a younger driver in Vettel coming up against the patience & experience of the more seasoned Webber. I am liking Webber more and more for the WDC. He also strikes me as being a class act, although we still need to see how he handles this (hopefully with maturity, which I think will be the case).

 

Ummmm..., I was a bit surprised Marko said that. It's clear now who he favors but I still put the blame on Vettel.

 

Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal
“It’s disappointing for the team to have got into that position today. The one thing I always ask the drivers is that, yes, they can race each other, but give each other room, and that’s exactly what didn’t happen. They were too far over on the left, Sebastian got a run on the inside of Mark, but then came across too early. They didn’t give each other room; it’s as simple as that. It was a massively close race between us and the McLarens up until that point. We managed to get ourselves ahead with a better pit-stop and a better strategy for Sebastian and were first and second. Sebastian was a bit happier on the prime tyre than Mark and was looking quicker at that point in the race. He got a run on Mark up the inside and we saw what happened. It’s massively disappointing and the situation shouldn’t have occurred. To give McLaren 28 points on a plate is very frustrating for everyone in the team - especially after so much hard work. We’ve lost a lot of points today with what’s happened. We need to learn from it, so we don’t find ourselves in this position again.”

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlin...0/5/10853.html

Well, I happen to agree with Christian here. Vettel did a dumb move. Wrong time, wrong place, wrong driver to try it against. If you look at the in cockpit footage from Webber's cam, he didn't swerve or block Vettel. His wheel didn't move. Vettel tried to come over too soon, before he was anywhere near clear of Webber. Hoping to intimidate Webber? That reminds me of then Senna was trying intimidation tactics on Mansell. Nope, not gonna work.

 

It is always the driver that is overtaking responsibility for making a clean pass. Once alongside then it is your track to do what you want with it. Vettel had pulled ahead but then tried to slam the door shut into the braking zone. Mark should have relinquished space but did not quickly enough. Contact ensued. Webber is most to blame as he was behind at point of contact.

 

It seems that Massa is ready to ink a deal with the Scuderia...

Domenicali - Massa To Stay At Ferrari
After much speculation, Felipe Massa is likely headed back to Ferrari next season...

BBC/GMM | Posted May 27, 2010 GMM Newswire

Ferrari on Thursday came close to confirming that Felipe Massa will be retained as Fernando Alonso's teammate for the 2011 season.

Brazilian Massa's contract expires in December, and it has been rumored that Robert Kubica or Mark Webber are being lined up as potential replacements.

The 29-year-old has struggled with the F10 car alongside Alonso so far this season, but when asked if Ferrari will field an identical lineup in 2011, team boss Stefano Domenicali answered: "Yes, I think so."

The Italian indicated that Maranello based Ferrari prefers to work with Massa to overcome his difficulties rather than oust him.

"Massa was struggling with the hard tires in certain conditions in the first part of the year, so I think that is the area we need to work with him, so he has more confidence in the car," Domenicali is quoted by the BBC.

"It's easy to criticize a driver when he is not performing well, so we need to make sure the package for him is the best. I expect to see Felipe with us in 2011."

 

Wow, I didn't know that. Reference please.

 

It has been that way since I was 10 years old racing. Hasn't changed in the last 27 years of racing. If I am ahead it is my track. I get one blocking move.

Now in practice you can try to force the issue as Vettel did and end up in the gravel as he did. Weber should have given way once Vettel was ahead and lived to finish second than not at all. The championship is a long deal with a lot of races. This incident could bite one or both of the drivers but more importantly the constructor at the end of the season.

 

Been watching racing, and F1 since 1965. Been racing and autocrossing since 1977.

The position isn't yours until you are clear of the guy you're passing. Having the front wheels ahead of the other guy, who still has the line, doesn't mean squat.