Picking up from the 2009 Formula 1 Discussion thread

Since the 2009 season is gone, and the 2010 silly season is upon us, let the new season discussion commence...

 

Watching '10 come together could be as exciting as some of the races!

 

Sauber on the Grid

FIA gave them the 13th slot.

 

There's a great article (though long) over at pitpass.com today thrashing the Abu Dhabi GP and pretty much everything related to it. I particularly appreciate the reference to "gold medallion man's idea of paradise."

The Folly of Building for Chavs

 

Here's to "The Greatest Ever" coming back to run with Mercedes......

It will make the sport more interesting whether you like MS or not.

Watch out for Ferrari next year!

 

Honestly, I have no interest in seeing Schumi return to F1. We have some great drivers in the lineup now with makings for a very competitive season.

 

Yeah...my only interest is seeing how he can or can't hang with the current hot shoes. Of course some are still there from his days but now he won't be in the best car, which is why he racked up all those WDC's...

 

I think there's going to be all sorts of interesting stuff happening next year....

There are going to be backmarkers to navigate thru, the hot shoes will be lapping them by the second or third lap I'll bet.....

Ferrari may be right on top of their game from the opening day, since they took a page from Honda's book and pretty much took the second half of the year off from the 2009 races to concentrate on building their 2010 car instead.

Mercedes will have their own home team, now we'll see if they can run the whole show, not just build engines....

There will only be three really competetive teams, and they'll spend the whole race trying to not get wrecked out by the others....

Cosworth will be back.....that in itself will be interesting to watch....

And how bad will the Hamster make Jens look? I'm betting pretty bad.......

Vettel/Schui would make an awesome team at MBZ, maybe next year? I don't believe he's over the hill, but I doubt MS is as hot as he was. Still, he's a terrific team builder, an excellent set up guy, and a good teacher and mentor. He would be an asset to any team....

 

I'm still not sure whether I think Schumacher will drive again in F1. I think I remember reading somewhere that the folks at Merc told him to name his job and it's his. I suppose he could end up joining the team to do something other than drive.....it would get him back into F1 without the risk of embarrassing himself if he or the car aren't up to it.

 

Jim Clark going to drive for Mercedes? There's a miracle. Literally.

 

I hate how slow the news comes in on the different site that cover this stuff, so it just leaves us speculating. I don't think MS will come back. I do think that with Renault's uncertain future, Kubica could be able to take advantage of some loophole in his contract and get picked up by MercBrawn. Which would be great for him. If I were him, I'd want to spend as little time in that Renault as possible.

 

I wasn't asked to vote, and I promise I don't even know who I would vote for so I'm not refuting your post...just adding some related news (lifted from an article found at telegraph.co.uk).

 

Oh....I'd vote for Senna as well. I merely say that he's the GOAT because of his WDC tally. I mean...after Mika retired who did he have to really challenge him consistantly?

 

I dunno, anyone who drops to the foolishness that either Senna or Schumacher participated in on the track gets taken off my personal list of the greats. Both good drivers, but goats, rather than GOAT.

 

Good point.....

Maybe we'd be better off picking Prost or Stewart then...

 

or maybe Jim Clark...

 

Jean Todt already making his mark on the FIA presidency............

by hiring professional stewards! Well done, Toddy!

In addition, a former F1driver will be part of the stewarding corps at each race, along with a representative of the host country. I think this is an excellent move and long overdue...

 

Like him or not, I think having Michael return will be good for the sport. When it looked like he was going to drive in Massa's place, there was tremendous interest. I miss his leap, too. None of the other drivers have any particular snap when they win, other than the usual fist pumping on their victory laps. I remember him impulsively picking up Massa to waist high level after winning what was considered a particularly grueling race.

F1 is going through a difficult time right now, and it needs any good publicity it can generate. I guess his allegiance with Ross Brawn was stronger than we thought, although I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise, considering that they've worked together from Benneton on. Now that Jean Todt has (presumably!) broken ties with Ferrari, Michael really doesn't have much to hold him at that team. He was never thrilled with the Ferrari president, and he probably relishes the thought of competing with Massa, whom he mentored with great success.

This will be a great test of "old man" racing against "young man," too. The average age of F1 drivers is just 29 years! Can he compete against the best of the new breed? I'll bet he can.

Looks like Renault is still in the game:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/161220...eal-genii.html

 

Has anyone got an updated list of who's driving for who next year? I was just looking at f1.com and noticed that Trulli and Kovalinen are driving for Lotus next year.

Also they're changing the points (again), it now 25, 20, 15, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. That release also says they're going to have a permanant panel of stewards, ex racers, who will judge racing incidents.

 

Here ya go (from f1.gpupdate.net):

FWIW, Kubica's manager says he's not necessarily sticking with Renault, that they need to make sure the 75% buyout of the team won't negatively affect things. Also, Sauber are apparently talking to Kobayashi...and we all know the rumors of Schumacher signing with Mercedes are gaining strength every day.

 

Sauber announced signing Kobayashi today so I added him to the list. ^ ^

 

Sooo... Has anyone got any kind of news concerning the USF1 team?

Is there any grist for the rumor mill on who will be driving these mystery cars, that is of course, assuming that USF1 makes the grid at all...

Perhaps Peter Windsor is playing a game of smoke & mirrors with us after all...

 

Wurz Still Interested In USF1 Race Seat (formulaone.speedtv.com)

 

It's beginning to look like USF1 will be the last to announce their drivers. I hope it's not due to bickering among he principles.

 

I think it's about money. They said early on that they weren't going to choose drivers based on whether they could pay for their seats but the rumor mill says that's what they're trying to do, and they're having trouble coming up with drivers who have that hard to find combination of 1) sufficient sponsor cash available, 2) F1-worthy talent, and 3) North American if at all possible.

They're still saying they want at least one driver with a lot of experience -- preferably F1 experience -- and that means at least one driver who is not from NA...unless they decide to hire Villeneuve. I hope they decide against the latter but, unfortunately, he probably meets all three of those requirements.