Comments on: F1 2009: Memorable moments (Part 1)

By: PJA

PJA — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:57:09 +0000

For me the low points from this season that will stick in the memory were.

The revelation of the Renault and Piquet race fixing from Singapore last year.

Hamilton and McLaren lying to the stewards in Australia, apart from being very disappointed that they would do such a thing I can’t believe how stupid there were considering they knew the stewards only had to listen to the radio transmissions to find out the truth and that they weren’t in the FIA’s good books anyway.

The whole FIA and FOTA arguments and potential split. I look forward to the day when I can honestly say I think that the FIA are doing a good job running F1.

Teams leaving, even though if all the new teams make the grid next year we will have more cars next year than this year, it would have been better if so many teams hadn’t left in the space of twelve months.

At the time I would defiantly have said Massa’s crash, but thankfully it looks like he will make a full recovery and be back racing next year.

By: LAK

LAK — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:07:00 +0000

Wow I’m humbled that you mentioned a lot of my quotes Nice review looking fwd to Part 2

By: wasiF1

wasiF1 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:13:17 +0000

The F1 split made my life very miserable, I had many sleepless night.Massa’s accident I guess had made people have their heart in their mouth,even Kubica’s accident in 2007 in Canada was worst then his but the injuries that he had was severe.I am planning to go to 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix now I think I need to think twice.But the most interesting thing is that Schumacher can still return may be for Mercedes hope this time he is fit.

By: Ace

Ace — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:37:14 +0000

Allow me to add my voice to the confused masses regarding the Diffuser issue. Why oh why weren’t they banned for 2010?
Even if they don’t hinder overtaking as much as some think, surely it’s one more area of the car that requires development and therefore expenditure. We’re trying to cut costs AND improve the racing – seems that banning the DDD’s will satisfy both these requirements.

By: Leahonard_e

Leahonard_e — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:31:14 +0000

What about the crash-gate? Ok, it was a 2008 issue, but I found it the most embarrasing moment in F1 ever: cheating and letting the guilty get away with it

By: Zahir

Zahir — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:04:53 +0000

The biggest let down for me wasnt schumi, although i was very disappointed, it was the lack of over taking compared to what we were promised.

The first couple of races were great but then the whole paddock got DDD’s and i cant believe something hasnt been done about the loophole in 2010!

From a year that promised so much excitment on track it turned out all the excitement was off it.

Just want March 2010 to come asap

By: slr

slr — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:36:20 +0000

Sorry, I meant to say Button and Webber’s battle was good.

By: slr

slr — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:35:17 +0000

I wouldn’t say Abu Dhabi was largely forgettable. Button and Webber’s was good.

By: Wesley

Wesley — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:47:17 +0000

I know very little about aerodynamics and can still say it is the DDD’s causing the problem.Seems to be VERY obvious.

By: Wesley

Wesley — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:38:21 +0000

This is only part one of the article Sush.Surely race fixing is not overlooked.

By: Wesley

Wesley — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:35:30 +0000

At least it happened that way.

By: steph

steph — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:17:58 +0000

Katy I honestly think you have said it all there. Agree with every bit apart from that I really did think Ari could win…
Clearly the Piquet thing still brings out emotions and I doubt that’ll die down anytime soon. If he gets a seat I don’t know how I could watch.

I reckon he might even with the championship next year!

Hope you are right!
@Ned glad you missed that GP. Every bit of waiting to see what had happened and how Felipe would be was horrible. I don’t want to sensationalise it and I adore Felipe so that’s all I’ll say.
@ Tommy Australia overtaking was also helped by the tyres but certainly the DDDs were a massive mistake and hurt any chance of overtaking in my view. The biggest crime though on that front is that they haven’t closed up the rules!

By: TommyB

TommyB — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:29:13 +0000

I still don’t get how people don’t think the double diffusers are causing the lack of overtaking. The first race was amazing!!

I can’t believe they haven’t been banned for next year.

By: Nitpicker

Nitpicker — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:24:13 +0000

So if Hamilton lying is a big enough deal, why isn’t Renault’s race-fixing crash?

By: Nitpicker

Nitpicker — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:21:49 +0000

There was a missed opportunity to close the loophole in 2008 when Honda/Brawn were already developing their 2009 car and were getting good downforce levels. The other teams dismissed the advice, thinking Honda had got their aero sums wrong again. Turns out not…

So the double diffusers were legal for 2009. But why hasn’t the loophole been closed for 2010? I can understand some teams wanting a bit of rules stability but surely it’s for the greater good and may have a shot at improving overtaking, as per the original aims? Beats me.

By: dcowlives

dcowlives — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:00:33 +0000

Agree with this also.

…and Keith, the FIA did not drag their feets with this one, it was the teams that kept the saga running.

This one is 100% down to the teams, the had an opportunity when Ross raised it in the OWG and they had another when the FIA quickly made their decision at the first race of the season. Instead they got greedy, and then dragged the whole affair out muddying Formula 1’s reputation.

By: dcowlives

dcowlives — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:55:36 +0000

Agreed

By: Katy

Katy — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:15:03 +0000

Another low point for me was Jean Todt getting elected. I know we’re yet to see what he’s made of, but I was genuinely gutted when I heard the news. I knew it was unlikely Vatanen would get voted in, but there was always hope. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if things do change for the better still.

I agree with Steph about the Piquet thing. I don’t see how he was allowed to get away with it when he was the one that flipping crashed. I all centres on him regardless of whether he was asked to do or not, he was the one that made the decision and could have hurt himself or others in the process. It’s madness.

The lowest point for me was definitely Massa. I’m actually getting upset just thinking about it, but that’s cos I’m stupidly soft. I was following the news about him almost constantly just hoping they’d be some good news. So glad he was ok. Can’t wait to see him racing again, I reckon he might even with the championship next year!

By: Sush Meerkat

Sush Meerkat — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:09:29 +0000

It made our sport look pretty sus. Like handballing in a winning goal to get the world cup sus.

I’m French and I live in the UK, i’ve been asking all my Irish mates if they need a hand.

Also come to think of it, can we put the race fix scandal as a highlight, since we wont have to endure Flavio anymore.

By: Icthyes

Icthyes — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:01:37 +0000

What I hated about Massa’s crash most was the media reporting. The week before Henry Surtees had been killed by a rogue tyre, and though some newspapers reported it well other media (like BBC News) barely mentioned it. Then the incident became a footnote in relation to Massa’s accident, which got more publicity for a less serious (though at one point it was a crucial 24 hours on which we didn’t know what would happen) incident on a more famous person. To me a death is a death, and though news agencies are going to pick the most sensational stories they can find, the whole issue of “importance” disgusted me, especially given the huge saturation of Michael Jackson’s death, just because he was more famous.