F1 Fanatic round-up: 6/4/2010

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We should have the results of the latest Predictions Championship round up later today, so stay tuned to find out if you’re a winner. Here’s today’s round-up:

Links

Newey worried about F-duct safety (Autosport)

Call me a cynic, but I think there’s a chance he might have an ulterior motive.

Trains and boats and… torture (The Times)

It’s not the article that’s good, it’s the first comment.

Comment of the day

Has it become impossible to have a rational discussion about anything to do with Lewis Hamilton? Mark Hitchcock think so:

Anyone who looks at this incident without any bias can see how it differs from blocking. If any other driver did this the fuss would be minimal and people would be more sensible instead of trying to find someone to find something wrong with it.
Mark Hitchcock

Happy birthday!

A very happy birthday to our live blog moderator LAK!

On this day in F1

Giancarlo Fisichella scored his first F1 victory on this day in 2003. But he didn’t find out he’d won the race until several days afterwards.

The Brazilian Grand Prix had been red-flagged and ended early after Fernando Alonso crashed late in the race. The stewards originally deemed Kimi Raikkonen the winner and the McLaren driver stood on the top step of the podium.

But after checking the video of the race and the rules they realised Fisichella was the true winner, and Raikkonen handed his trophy over to the driver at the next race in Imola.

It was the final win for Eddie Jordan’s team, though Fisichella came close to winning again for them in their modern incarnation, Force India, at Spa last year.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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52 comments on “F1 Fanatic round-up: 6/4/2010”

  1. Briliant comment by ‘Mark’ on the Times article, should have made comment of the day.

    As for the actual comment of the day, just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t mean they are irrational. I happen to aggree that Hamilton probably wasn’t blocking but he was pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable and people shouldn’t be surprised that the stewards including Johnny Herbert, made a rational decision to give him a warning.

    1. I think Mark’s point was the level of and motive for disagreement was irrational, not
      the fact of disagreement. Unless you disagree ;-)

      For me, it seems like it’s become almost impossible to have a rational discussion about most things in F1, never mind Hamilton!

      1. It’s always going to be hard to have rationale conversations about top drivers as there are so many people that love them and just as many that dislike them. In the end I suppose it’s good as it means there is passion for f1. If people didn’t care whether Hamilton got warned or not, then the sport would be in trouble.

  2. How do teams develop an F-duct (presumably by cutting a hole in the monocoque) when the monocoque was homoginised at the start of the season?

    1. From what I understand they’re going to have to use existing holes originally for wiring, which is why some teams like Red Bull and Ferrari are having trouble with it, as their holes are too small…

      1. I should refresh before I read and respond to comments… =)

    2. I’m sure there is enough holes and things passing through it’s just a matter to figure out how to get even more things through in the holes they have and hopefully they have enough space to make it happen and just the absolute minimal hole to run their electronic wires etc through or else well they are screwed unless they secretly make another hole at a place where it’s not notizable.

    3. i think you need to build it on the sidepods instead. like sauber have done.

      1. Still, the problem with the sidepod method is it is presumably inefficent, an it doesn’t solve the problem of holes. Sauber must have already had a decent size whole in their monocoque.

        Also McLarens system will be totally optimised, an the car is optimised to the system, the shape of the whole will be perfect, the position an flow system ect.

        Think back to tuned mass dampers, the R26, was built around the system, so when the others put it on their cars, they never got the same benefits. When the others come up with their systems this time, obviously they won’t be as good. McLaren will also be able to upgrade their own system at less cost, while directing the spare recources to other parts of the car. This is part of the reason F1 teams hate it when somebody else innovates, an then try to get it banned, your always playing catch up an your own development programme is compromised. Still Redbull can’t complain, they seem to have pulled a fairly fast one themselves.

        1. McLaren already had their J-damper on their car working well.

          It was only Ferrari who didn’t get the tuned mass dampers working. Later it turned out that that had more to do with the Michelin vs Bridgestone tyres than anything else.

        2. It’s good that innovation can still succeed, the FIA have not killed the sport entirely.

          YO Scribester I replied in the post-athon ;)

          https://www.racefans.net/2010/04/04/rate-the-race-malaysia/#comment-356325

  3. Red Bull really have developed a bit of a moaning streak, haven’t they? Last year it was the DDDs, this year it was the F-duct and McLaren’s DDD.

    1. not that the others did any better… they all complain about everything

      1. But Red Bull are meant to be “the fun team”, aren’t they? I guess success corrupts!

        1. Yes, a year ago they hadn’t even won a race.

    2. Redbull are becoming true gamers. Complain loudly an publicly about others systems mostly it seems to cover their own bit of skullduggery.

      1. I don’t see why Red Bull need to complain, the F-duct isn’t that good otherwise McLaren would be the quickest car.

        Every team moans at everyone though Mclaren moaned about Red Bull’s ride high so Red Bull moan back. At the end of the day though Red Bull are much faster so should just leave it and get on and race.

        1. McLaren didn’t moan about the ride height system. They simply say they will have one soon too.

    3. Yeah and they are even complaining about McLaren having a system for changing the ride height before the start of the race. When they don’t even have it on the car yet.

      That’s a whole new level of moaning: “pre-emptive moaning”

  4. the first race i watched completely since late 90s was indeed that Brazilian GP and, know what?, my favourite driver during the 90s WON! :D!

    i was so happy after hearing the news a couple of days later! :D

  5. Keith, I’m pretty sure that’s not correct: “and Raikkonen handed his trophy over to the driver at the next race in Sao Paolo.”

    It was a really crazy race. There were only two drivers on the podium, and they were on the wrong places.

    1. You are correct, Enigma.

      After the April 11 WMSC decision, Kimi & Ron Dennis handed over the driver and constructor trophies to Fisi & Eddie Jordan at the San Marino GP at Imola.

      Scoring and timing data post-race showed Fisi had indeed begun his 56th lap when the red flag was shown, and as the results go back 2 laps in such a circumstance, Fisi won because he was leading on lap 54 as well.

  6. “Call me a cynic, but I think there’s a chance he might have an ulterior motive.”

    I’m sorry but he’s got a very good point. This crossed my mind the first time we started hearing about this thing.

    Aerodynamic stability is very important to safety. Someone should have brought this up before the FIA ruled on it…

    1. But equally good points can be made against many of the things they do, for example the side pod mirrors would be a rare case when the problem was solved.

      That being said I think the F-duct is another thing which isn’t quite in the spirit of the game, at least in part of how McLaren developed it at a time where the rules make it very, very hard for the other teams to copy.

    2. How is the F-duct any less safe than the driver operated adjustable front wings?

  7. Happy birthday LAK!!!

    Regarding the article at the times online F1 blog, Kevin and Mick are both moaning about their jobs, but I would say, Kevin’s one is much more articulated than Mick’s post.

  8. Terry Fabulous
    6th April 2010, 8:23

    I used to work in a great job taking kids around on School Camps. It really was awesome, I got to do Rock Climbing, Archery, Canoeing, Disco Dancing, make bad jokes, bushwalking, you name it. I also learnt to drive a stick shift, a truck, a tractor and a 30 ft boat with twin 150hp engines in open water. Plus a few pashes with the other instructors!

    However, as time went on, I began to see more clearly the downsides to the job, the amount of time spent away from my family, doing rubbish jobs like the dishes for 180 kids, the boredom of having to teach Archery twice a week for 5 years, never getting to know the kids for more the 3 or 5 days at a time. And so on.

    One of my first boses warned me and said that the moment you see the negatives all the time and not the positives is the moment that you should get out of the job. I saw it, and left.

    If Kevin is walking about moaning about how much it sucks to be on an international flight there are literally thousands of young men and women who would crawl bare chested across broken glass to do what he does.

    Every job had some good parts and some bad parts. Princess Kev needs to suck it up like a man and appreciate what he has.

  9. I think the trophy was handed over in Imola

  10. In some comments earlier I read about ‘poor’ Pedro de la Rosa. But I saw the devastation hit in on Peter Sauber after his second car got out.
    Can someone give Pedro and Kamui a kick up the ass to finally get their act together and drive a proper race?
    Otherwise we might loose one of the beautiful teams of F1.

    Last comment on Hamilton:
    Why did Petrov weave with him? Straight line is shorter 8)

    1. Can someone give Pedro and Kamui a kick up the ass to finally get their act together and drive a proper race?

      In six races Sauber have had four mechanical failures. I don’t think their biggest problem at the moment is their drivers.

      1. If you look at the race results for the drivers without points, this is the sequence:

        Heikki Kovalainen
        Sebastien Buemi
        Karun Chandhok
        Pedro de la Rosa
        Bruno Senna
        Jarno Trulli
        Timo Glock
        Vitaly Petrov
        Luca di Grassi
        Kamui Kobayashi

        Maybe Pedro and Kamui should ‘drive on eggs’ as do Karun and Bruno. Don’t loose three wings in one weekend. Take the car to the finish by nurturing it. If Kamui keeps racing like the madman he will never finish a race. The car is not good enough so you should adjust. That is what Nick Heidfeld was particularly good at.

        1. I wouldn’t say Kobayashi drives like a “madman”. If Sauber are able to get their competitive and reliable, Kobayashi and de la Rosa, I think would be able to deliver.

          1. I would say Kobatashi drives like a madman. By his own account he was involved in two colissions before he front wing failed in Australia.

            That’s pretty “mad” after only a few corners isn’t it?

  11. HounslowBusGarage
    6th April 2010, 9:00

    That’s a nice article over at The Times. But just like the author of the first comment, I have little sympathy with that level of ‘problem’.
    I used to work in the Caribbean, staying at five-star hotels and travelling back and forth to Europe. I hated it . . . until I stopped. Then I began to realise what I no longer had.

    1. Kevin Eason has done a superb job turning the already hit-and-miss content of the Times’ F1 department into what amounts to little more than the churlish natterings of a bitter old fishwife.

  12. Nathan Bradley
    6th April 2010, 10:28

    Classic first comment on Kevin Eason’s article!

    Did anyone see his article he wrote after Bahrain?
    “Chandhok proves to be expensive flop.”

    Unbelieveably hard on Chandhok in the shopping trolley that is the HRT car at the moment, don’t you think?

    Nathan

    1. Yeah I read that about Chandhok, I thought it was awful! Hardly his fault was it. Chandhoks quickly becoming a favourite of mine actually, he seems like such a nice guy and I think he’s doing a good job considering the car. All they can hope for at the moment is to finish the races and learn a lot from this year to improve for next year, so given this he’s doing all right :)

      1. I don’t remember seeing Chandhok drive at all. Don’t think I’ve seen an interview with him either.

        1. The BBC’s talked to him several times and I must say I was impressed by him, though maybe he isn’t being leaned on by PR departments as much as other drivers.

  13. ‘Raikkonen handed his trophy over to the driver at the next race in Sao Paolo’
    Shouldn’t that be San Marino?

    1. Yes it should – changed it now.

  14. Good comment by Mark, but the same thing applies to Ferrari, Alonso, Vettel, McLaren, schumacher, Red Bull etc etc etc etc……when something goes slightly out of sink the other side are out with pitchforks demanding blood.

    Tbh both “Hamilton haters” and “Hamilton fanatics” are as bad as each other, same thing goes for Alonso fanatics and haters too.

    To have an easy life with F1 discussions just avoid Alonso vs Hamilton vs vettel vs Button vs Massa vs Schumacher vs Rosberg. Become a Kubica fan if you want to follow “a” driver since nobody has problems with Kubica, “would you argue with a nose like that on a person?”

    1. True, but if Kubica ends up being as good as many people think he is, then he’ll acquire a whole new bunch of fanatics/haters.

      It’s more to do with whether a driver is successful or not. Just look what happened when Keith posted a moderately negative post on Raikkonen. I thought he would have to join the Witness Protection Program!

      1. lol really? I would have to read that for myself.

        yer your right, sorry kubica hope you dont get into a Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull next year the fabric of the forums couldn’t hold the spam. I like you in the Renault anyway because your doing very well so far.

  15. I think Newey’s comments smell more than a little like sour grapes. Much the same odor I detected from many team’s comments on McLaren’s DD last season.

    Engineers hate to be out-thought.

    As to the “spirit” of the rules……..well, I’m so sick of hearing this, about the F-Duct or anything. Rules are dead ink on paper, they have no spirit. One thing is legal, another thing is not. only if it is mentioned. Anything that has no rule is legal. Period.

    Remember, folks, this not a scholastic sports event at the Choirboy Academy. This is a multi-million dollar professional sport, a business where winning is not everything, it’s the only thing !

    Full marks to the McLaren engineers/designers for thinking of something no one else thought of.

  16. Oo!! Thank you Keith so much for the Birthday wishes and mention!! Thank you All!! :D Thank you IDR!! :D

    Lol they seem to do a good job at attracting ppl who moan over at The Times, although it makes an interesting read and shows us the other side of F1, repetitive complaining makes us feel they aren’t grateful for what they get to do.. Specially since the ppl reading the comments are the mostly F1 fans and would die to do their job.. But we really can’t judge someone till we’ve walked in their shoes can’t we…

    @Mike I think it’s very smart of McLaren to have invented something that will be very hard for other teams to copy..

    I feel really sorry for Fisichella when I see him in Ferrari’s garage watching the action on the track, I feel he should be out there driving for a team..

    1. I’d like to see Fisichella racing again also. His years at Renault, and his races for Ferrari, didn’t help his reputation.

      Hopefully he could possibly get something sorted for next year.

      1. Yeah he was such a great driver in the Jordan. I remember he was voted best driver by the other drivers after Schumacher simply drove to an easy WDC.

        They should have put Fisichella in that Sauber instead of De La Rosa. Not sure why Ferrari didn’t insist on that.

    2. I feel same thing for Heidfeld.

  17. Tomorrow is my Birthday My only wish i get it right next weekend and score some points! I got only 1 last race because it didn’t rain i really suck at that predicting game.

    1. Happy (belated) Birthday! :)

  18. I was thinking (strange yes I know), we often have various polls about favourite drivers. How about a few other polls on perhaps a little bit more obscure things like off the top of my head say – favourite team pricipals, designers, commentators, F1 sponsor, reserve driver, underdog and or new team, favourite manufacturer of today and in the past, etc.

    I thought of above suggestion as I think Newey is truely a maverick designer and he deserves all the accolades he achieves…

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