We’re only three days away from our first F1 action of the year. Here’s the Tuesday round-up:
Links
Malaysia expects bumper F1 crowd (Mail & Guardian)
“Ticket sales dropped sharply last year amid the global economic crisis, attracting only 80,000 spectators compared to about 120,000 in 2008.
But the local economy is rebounding and Schumacher’s return after three years of retirement has set the stage for one of the most anticipated title duels in Formula One, Mokhzani Mahathir, chairman of organiser Sepang International Circuit said on Monday. The return of the Lotus brand after 16 years, backed by the Malaysian government and businessmen, adds to the excitement of the new season, Mokhzani said. In addition, national oil company Petronas has also become the title sponsor of Schumacher’s Mercedes GP team.
‘We hope to achieve more than 100 000 [spectators] this year. With Lotus, Mercedes and the return of Schumacher, we are seeing renewed interest in F1,’ Mokhzani said.”
Formula One 2010 supplement (The Guardian)
The Guardian’s popular annual looks ahead to the season in online form.
Stirling Moss official website
I was very sorry to hear yesterday that Sir Stirling Moss was injured falling down a lift shaft. I’mglad to hear he’s recovering.
While looking into what had happened I came across his official website which I can’t believe I’ve never seen before. It’s a smart, functional little design which puts many currentt F1 drivers’ Flash-ridden monstrosities to shame.
Comment of the day
Scribe is our most frequent commenter at the moment with well over 200 comments posted in the last 30 days. Are you one of our top commenters? Find out here.
Here’s Scribe’s take on the infamous Senna-Prost collision at Suzuka in 1990:
What Senna did to Prost was outrageous, unethical, dangerous, frankly stupid, stubborn, unbelievable, magnificent and something that will be remembered for ever.
Scribe
Site updates
As you cannot fail to have seen the 2010 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship launched yesterday with loads more prizes than last year.
Entries for round one close when free practice 3 begins at 8am on Saturday morning (UK time).
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Alpinestar! Hope you have a good one.
On this day in F1
One year ago today Brawn made their first appearance in a test session with other cars and it started to become clear that the team which had only made it onto the grid at the last minute had a very quick car.
Jenson Button drove the car on that first day. In his book “My championship year” he describes his first laps in the car:
After two laps, I had the biggest smile on my face. The car was beautiful to drive. Wow! I thought, ‘What have we done? We’ve built a car that is exceptional.’
Jenson Button
The team ended the test with Rubens Barrichello setting the fastest time, 0.8s quicker than any other car.
sato113
9th March 2010, 0:44
new short f1 video review on f1.com!
a bit too short imo. lame music too :D
Matthew H
9th March 2010, 0:52
Love the fact that Guardian didn’t get the memo that USF1 aren’t in the lineup this season. Pretty big fail :) Well done lads! ;)
@FakeStefanGP
9th March 2010, 1:09
This is the Guardian, who last year confidently predicted a ‘difficult’ season for Brawn. :D
macahan
9th March 2010, 2:02
I had to scan over the article to see what they actually said about USF1 and it sounds that they believe they actually are going racing this year??? They surely missed the memo…..
Calum
9th March 2010, 8:24
Last year Autosport said the rear of the Mclaren was clean and tidy… but it wasn’t
Jarred Walmsley
9th March 2010, 3:29
Can you post a link to that article?
Matthew H
9th March 2010, 5:16
I don’t like the odds of 100-1. At 1,000,000 to 1, I’d have a punt :)
John H
9th March 2010, 8:29
“If they were an iPhone app”
Oh please, who writes these guides for the masses. And I quite liked the guardian.
Jk
9th March 2010, 20:55
To be fair the Guardian did print an acknowledgement in the sport pages saying that the supplement went to press before USF1 withdrew.
Matthew H
10th March 2010, 6:48
mm, it appeared on my RSS reader on the 8th, USF1 faded about 4 days before. Life goes on.
Rob R.
9th March 2010, 1:04
“What Senna did to Prost was outrageous, unethical, dangerous, frankly stupid, stubborn, unbelievable, magnificent and something that will be remembered for ever.”
I have to disagree with most of this comment.
It wasn’t outrageous. The treatment he received from Balestre was outrageous. It wasn’t that stupid or dangerous either because Senna and Prost both knew what they were doing in these cars, they were pros, in fact, better than just pros. Senna was a god in a car and crashing deliberately isn’t that dangerous when you have that kind of skill, and you know there’s a gravel trap to escape to.
It was magnificent and unforgettable but then, that’s a given with Senna.
Patrickl
9th March 2010, 1:08
Besides, Senna just held his line like he said he would.
steph90
9th March 2010, 7:18
Disagree. Senna was one of the best drivers ever but crashing at high speed in an F1 car in the 80s was dangerous no matter who you were. He didn’t know what would happen; if bits of debris or whatever would fly around. He had one thought: to beat Prost after all that had happened. Everything that happened before was appalling and I lived Senna but I’m not going to defend an act which could have gone so wrong. Prost may have instigated proceedings but I doubt he would have saw that happening a year later when things first went really wrong in 89.
Patrickl he may have held the line but he knew full well how it was likely to end.
DanThorn
9th March 2010, 8:12
Just because Senna said he was going to do it, it doesn’t make what he did right. In fact, with it being a premeditated act surely makes it far more serious. Senna had his reasons, yes, and was justified to be angry at Balestre and the officials for what happened prior to that, but in no way does it forgive his actions.
Far too much of the old ‘Rose tinted specs’ goes on when talking about Senna yet many of the same people will be the first to dismiss Schumacher’s antics, despite the fact that their demeanour on track is very similar.
Patrickl
10th March 2010, 13:35
Well I do see a difference. Schumacher literally rammed into opponents on many occasions.
In this case Senna took the inside line and held it. He didn’t make a wild steering movement or anything.
In fact Senna goes out of his way to prevent the accident and is well over the kerbstones before they collide.
More importantly, Prost could have prevented the crash if he hadn’t gone so far to the right.
Schumacher left a gap and then violentely steered into his opponents. There was no way they could have avoided the accidents.
So yeah, you can blame Senna for a rash and overly optimistic overtaking attempt, but it’s lightyears apart from the blatant crashes that Schumacher caused (not just in F1, but all through his career).
DanThorn
10th March 2010, 16:04
What about the fact that Senna admitted he’d done it deliberately the following year, and that spectators around the area say that Senna made no attempt to make the corner? There is no way that Senna would have made the corner using the line he took, and there is no evidence of him attempting to avoid an accident by braking.
Senna taking out Prost was at a far higher speed and at a far higher risk than anything Schumacher tried. That doesn’t excuse what Schumacher did, and although Senna believed he had a valid reason (such was his mentality) it doesn’t make it correct either.
Andrew White
9th March 2010, 8:25
So I assume you believe it was alright for Piquet to crash in 2008 as well? Senna deliberately crashed into someone else; no matter how skilled he was, he put their life, as well as his own, in danger. I think that’s worse than Piquet’s crash because at least he just put it in the wall.
John H
9th March 2010, 8:31
If prost was killed, we’d all have a different opinion on senna’s actions.
As this was out of Senna’s hands, I have to think it was disgraceful.
Whatever Balestre did, that gives him no right to put Prost’s life at risk.
rampante
9th March 2010, 9:37
If you put Schumacher’s name in that quote it would mean the same.
Most people on this site follow the legend of Senna because they were not watching him race at the time. He was a flawed but brilliant talent who has only grown in stature because of his death.
I suggest people read more critical articles on him instead of the more traditional methods of looking back into the history of this sport.
Ned Flanders
9th March 2010, 10:39
“He was a flawed but brilliant talent who has only grown in stature because of his death”
Agreed. For us under 25 year olds who never saw him race it’s very easy to jump on the bandwagon and say he was the greatest driver of all time. He may well have bee the best, but I think we all tend to gloss over his failing because he died at the wheel of an F1 car.
However Rampante, I hope you don’t say this with your Ferrari hat on. I’d personally put Gilles Villeneuve in the same category as Senna. When a driver dies in a racing accident his legacy will inevitably be overstated
rampante
9th March 2010, 11:37
Ned, Villeneuve was my favourite driver and I agree fully with what you say. He was flawed as well and became greater after his death.
steph
9th March 2010, 11:48
“When a driver dies in a racing accident his legacy will inevitably be overstated” Agree. Almost everyone (including myself) romanticises the greats even when they have done wrong.
“I suggest people read more critical articles on him instead of the more traditional methods of looking back into the history of this sport.”
Yes we should.
Oh and just to add onto the gtreat ever argument, although it really does go round in circles and there isn’t one right anwser it’s just opinion, I thought Senna was quicker but Michael was better and apllied his talent more.
LewisC
9th March 2010, 11:49
I agree. Much as I loved watching him race and he was an undoubtedly incredible talent, I don’t think he would have won the world title again. Schumacher would still have won in ’94 and probably in ’95. Maybe Senna might have got it in ’96/’97 if he was still going, but I think not.
PJA
9th March 2010, 14:50
Obviously it is a massive what if, but if Senna hadn’t died in 1994 I think he would defiantly have won more championships, Hill only lost out by 1 point in 1994 and Senna would almost certainly have done better in the same car, unless you think that Schumacher wouldn’t have been penalised as much that year which would mean Schumacher would still have won.
In 1995 I can’t really remember first hand how the cars were rated but some seem to say the Williams was the better car so I think there is a fair chance Senna could have got the 1995 title as well.
If he had won in 1994 or 1995 he could still have continued for a few years the question would be would he stay with the dominant Williams or would Ferrari try to sign him instead of Schumacher.
Leon
10th March 2010, 7:47
Spot on. All the very top drivers have a killer instinct. It goes with the territory. No quarter asked. None given.
‘I need to win this race. I will win this race. No matter what I have to do to make it happen.’
You could as soon turn a Senna or a Schumacher into an ‘after you, mate’ polite no hoper, as eat the moon with a teaspoon.
Icthyes
9th March 2010, 11:08
Have to agree with the other comments on this. Just because it was Senna, every excuse is made to defend his actions. I defended Schumacher’s antics at the time, difference is now I know better and don’t defend his blatant acts, and I consider Michael better than Ayrton too.
Calum
9th March 2010, 18:01
if,but, could have, should have, might have
Its impossible to know for sure.
Scribe
9th March 2010, 19:26
When I say outragous, it’s because I belive that putting your own life and anothers in danger, in an uncontrolled situation, with all the variables and uncertainties of a high speed crash, is outrageous. I know Senna had been wronged but two wrongs remember.
Also I agree with PJA, if Hill could get that close to Schumacher, then surley Senna could have gone further. Still, what if.
Anyway, if Prost and Senna had been driving to last years points system Prost would have had the beating of him. Senna was better under their points system, an at driving for the win. Prost was better at driving for the championship.
Stephen
9th March 2010, 1:13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI9LdzLh4Ig
USF1 Type 1 in action.
macahan
9th March 2010, 2:05
LOL that USF1 movie will become a classic ;)
Ran across another great video today..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV-uvtOc0G0
Scalextric
9th March 2010, 6:09
This one’s not German hence it’s more amusing. My German wife would agree.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbwhUtm-gjw&feature=video_response
Not the same concept as the German trailer.
The German one kind of asks the 2009 drivers if they’re ‘not alone’ then Schumi asks if he was missed. No, actually, not by me.
sato113
9th March 2010, 8:31
i don’t understand why sky would advertise the english f1 ad when it doesn’t broadcast it here.
ajokay
9th March 2010, 8:39
Whoever said it wasn’t about the crashing? That advert says otherwise.
dsob
9th March 2010, 14:18
This is an interesting one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vNxu4Xh0js&feature=related Good illustration that in today’s F1 Driver’s School they need to spend more time on Overtaking 101.
SeattleChris
10th March 2010, 7:53
True
SeattleChris
10th March 2010, 7:52
instant classic! That car is built like American business ethics!
Ads21
9th March 2010, 1:21
“The track was very slippery. There’d been a moto GP test or something the day before, Jenson came in and said there’s no grip, we can’t do that. I said to him you’re several seconds quicker than anyone else.”
Ross Brawn, interviewed on ‘Jenson Button’s glorious year’ The BBC season review.
“After two laps, I had the biggest smile on my face. The car was beautiful to drive. Wow! I thought, ‘What have we done? We’ve built a car that is exceptional.’”
Jenson Button, My Championship Year
BBC editing made it seem like they were both talking about the cars first outing or did Jenson’s ghost writer get his story wrong?
PS The BBC Season review also said that the first outing for Brawn at Barcelona was on Wednesday 10th March, not 9th March. But checking your Archive from last year it seems you’re right.
Dane
9th March 2010, 2:11
I hope Stirling makes a full recovery
wasiF1
9th March 2010, 2:19
Brawn will be in the history book,no body ever expected that team to come from the shadow & do the unthinkable.what a 09 we had but I hope 2010 provides us with same amount of entertainment.
Eastman
9th March 2010, 4:04
Almost as exciting as the prospect of this weekend’s opening round of the championship is the latest news for the official game. Since I’m not sure if word on the Codemaster’s 2010 video game has floated around here yet, I’ll post links to the newest mag scans.
You can read a short magazine preview for the “mid-2010” release below.
http://formula1racing.freehostia.com/images/cm1.jpg
http://formula1racing.freehostia.com/images/cm2.jpg
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
9th March 2010, 8:12
I’m going to be at a Codemasters event next week to find out some more about the game.
ajokay
9th March 2010, 8:41
Ask if they need any extra modellers… I’m up for making a car or track or two.
sato113
9th March 2010, 8:35
those links don’t show anything…
F1silverarrows
9th March 2010, 9:29
since there is no info yet or even a trailer at that, i expect it to come out when the 2010 season is finished. it’s quite obvious they are busy at work making the game thats why the lack of info.
Walking Leaf
9th March 2010, 12:04
Magazine scans:
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t231/Kptk92/DSC01425.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t231/Kptk92/DSC01427.jpg
Credit to Kptk92 from the Codemasters Forum.
Looks good in particular the wet weather effects. Even though the screenshots are 2009-spec cars, the final release will feature this year’s grid.
More information about the new game can be seen here:
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=40080
SeattleChris
10th March 2010, 7:56
Copy the URL if you want to see the images… they hyper link isn’t working right, but if you just insert the url it works fine.
Jonty
9th March 2010, 8:23
I really hope Stirling Moss cvan recover from his horrific injuries.
We saw a programme that showed his house, it was mega years ahead of its time with electronic/automatic/remote everything but was obviously getting quite dated. Presumably something in the lift wore out and the fail safe did not work.
Three floors is a long way to fall even for a young man, Stirling is eighty. He was not only a great and very sporting driver, he is and always has been a kind and intelligent man with rarely a bad word to say about anyone.
I’m old enough to remember his big crash when he was not expected to recover, he must have quite a constitution. Come on Stirling, show you can do it again!
Calum
9th March 2010, 8:35
Stirling Moss, had he raced at any other time he would have been a world champion. He ran very close against Juan Manuel Fangio for Mercedes and in 1958 he showed the world the gentleman he is. Mike Hawthorn’s Ferrari broke down and Moss stopped his Vanwall to help Hawthorn get back into the race. Nobody could believe what was happening between, afterall they were the two title contenders! Hawthorn scored heavily in that race and went on to win the title with 42 points. One more than Moss.
There are not many sportsmen who would do things like that, but it made Stirling an excelant role model, showing that winning is not the most important thing in F1.
Everybody knows Stirling Moss, regardless of whether he took the crown or not. I am sure everyone will join in:
Get well soon Stirling Moss!!
plushpile
9th March 2010, 12:05
“Everybody knows Stirling Moss” – he’s more famous than many world champions and more revered than most.
TMFOX
9th March 2010, 8:48
Perhaps we could do a review of F1 drivers website and give them scores.
TMFOX
9th March 2010, 8:48
*websites
Calum
9th March 2010, 8:53
Woah!!
I am taken aback by the fact I am 4th on the list of “most comments on F1 Fanatic (last 30days)
Does that make me an F1 Fanatic??
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
9th March 2010, 10:26
I think that makes you an F1 Fanatic fanatic.
BasCB
9th March 2010, 10:43
well, your actually third behind Scribe and K, so that might make you one of the F1 fanatic extremists ;-)
Enigma
9th March 2010, 14:10
It’s either a fanatic or a spammer :) You’re one of those two.
Calum
9th March 2010, 16:23
No not a spammer, An F1 Fanatic Extreme Fanatic!!!
Peter
9th March 2010, 9:00
If we are so excited about the start of the season, how about the nerves of the drivers?
I just wonder looking at the grid that only Rubens Barrichello and Kamui Kobayashi will not be nervous.
Rubens because he has nothing to win or lose. Kamui because I don’t think he has that in him.
All the other will fear the start of the season because of the strength of their teammate, their first grandprix ever, their first grand prix start with that first corner… their first grand prix since 3 years, first for Ferrari, first for McLaren.
I was just sitting down to think through first qualifying adn without and favouratism I could not choose who would be king of Q3 in Bahrain. There is so much potential, there are so many things that can go wrong, so many thing that might go surprisingly right.
Three more days… I start dreaming of those Silverstone Grandstand tickets.
By the way, today s my birthday too :-)
steph
9th March 2010, 9:07
Happy birthday :)
BasCB
9th March 2010, 10:24
Happy birthday to you!
I am looking forward to seeing something of the drivers on friday/saturday and before the race.
You are right, a lot of them will be pretty much on edge.
They will probably know by friday evening weather their car is fast and constistent and have a clear view of their rivals.
Never mind the vague comments, just look at them and get an indication of their state of mind.
This is going to be a great season.
Tango
9th March 2010, 10:39
Happy birthday!
What’s funny this year is that everyone semms very happy by the way Brawn supprised everybody and now every body is excited because it should be “back to normal again” with the favs up there.
Icthyes
9th March 2010, 11:13
Happy Birthday!
SeattleChris
10th March 2010, 8:00
Happy belated birthday!
and I think everyone is freaking out cause they know the king will take back his rightful crown! maybe? oh c’mon there’s a chance!
BasCB
9th March 2010, 10:16
Hello Keith, nice work with the season previews.
Did you get the information on the Rome grand prix in 2013? Any news on the track and people behind it?
Chris
9th March 2010, 10:48
Keith
Have you seen the bbc f1 “chats” on their F1 site. About 4/5 videos all around 10 mins long
Talking about the new season i thought they were quite good.
K
9th March 2010, 11:00
“Are you one of our top commenters?”
lol I’m off out to try and get me a life, actually at least a third of my posts are corrections.
Icthyes
9th March 2010, 11:10
80 comments, just think if I didn’t have to rely on the unwieldy iPod…
VXR
9th March 2010, 12:35
Could Sauber really be the new Brawn?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81937
Tom
9th March 2010, 14:22
The Sauber’s relatively easy on its tyres, according to Autosport.
Will this be an advantage all season long? Does a car remain easy on its tyres? No doubt they’ll develop the Sauber to get more speed, but this may come at the cost of more tyre wear.
Meanwhile the other cars will have changed beyond recognition by the time we get to the tyre-chewing circuits later in the year.
VXR
9th March 2010, 16:49
How much development input does a driver put into a car? Answer: Not very much apparently!
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2010/03/video-what-a-driver-brings-to-car-development/
Peter
9th March 2010, 22:06
I was checking the Cosworth site for the countdown but after zero they restarted the count.
Zachary Parm
10th March 2010, 0:57
http://www.JERSEYSHOREMTV.TK – PLEASE TAKE THIS POLL ABOUT MTVS JERSEY SHORE AND YOU CAN RECEIVE A $250.00 GIFT CARD 2 2 6
SeattleChris
10th March 2010, 8:04
If you watch Jersey Shore… s#o0t yourself! It’s bad enough we waste so much time on our fat asses posting about future event speculation or enhancing the reality of the past. Go read a book; a real book, not an “auto”biography by some Jersey Shore either!
SeattleChris
10th March 2010, 8:06
… please don’t take that literally btw… I’m just saying go for a walk/run and read something inspiring like Russell’s History of Western Philosophy =)
Chaz
22nd March 2010, 16:12
Get well soon Stirling…