Monaco to modify barrier Perez hit

F1 Fanatic round-up

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Expect to see more headlines about Bahrain as the state of emergency is due to end there today and the FIA is set to decide on Friday whether the race will happen.

I’m going to be on “The Flying Lap” this evening to discuss the Monaco Grand Prix with Peter Windsor and Sebastien Buemi.

Here’s today’s round-up:

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

FIA To Move Monaco Chicane Barrier For 2012 (Speed)

“It’s hoped that without the crane, the barrier can be moved back to the trees and an extra 20 meters of space can be gained. The TV camera position, currently in front of the crane, would be moved to the trees.”

Drivers call for safety talks after two crashes at Monaco (The Independent)

Jenson Button: “The cars have improved dramatically in terms of safety since Karl Wendlinger’s accident and the circuit has improved. The barrier’s been moved back since my accident [in 2003], so there have been improvements, but we need to find a solution because we all love racing here.”

Boullier says Heidfeld must improve (Autosport)

Eric Boullier: “Let’s say good, but not good enough. Sunday is okay. Sunday’s pace is good, it is very good, but obviously the higher we qualify on the grid, the better the chance we have to score more points.”

Bahrain organisers ready to host Formula 1 Grand Prix (BBC)

Bahrain International Circuit chairman Zayed Rashid Alzayani: “We went through a rough patch and we need nice moments in our history now for the nation.”

FOTA Fans Forum – 2011: Canada, Britain and Italy (FOTA)

“If you are interested to attend, please send an email to info@teamsassociation.org – presenting a question that might be then raised during the meeting and indicating all your contact details.”

David Coulthard: Lewis Hamilton was wrong, but he has apologised and we need him on the Formula One circuit (Daily Telegraph)

“All I can say is, you reap what you sow. Don’t now expect Lewis to say anything interesting over the coming days, weeks or months. Do expect him to give a lot of one-word answers about front wings and KERS devices. I for one won’t blame him.”

Penalised Hamilton threatens to quit F1 if he can’t race in his own way (Daily Mail)

Jackie Stewart: “‘He [Hamilton] did run into some very controversial manoeuvres whereas Jenson Button passed Fernando Alonso in a very clean and decisive way. It took him quite a few laps to achieve that, but patience paid off.” Er… when?

F1 diary: Monaco grand prix (Daily Telegraph)

“I first had a Monaco media pass in 1983 and the intervening 28 years have done nothing to dilute the impact of F1 cars’ close passage. It might not be a venue that permits proper racing, but there is no finer showcase for driving commitment.”

Crashes, Stoppages and Accuracy (La Canta Magnifico Blog)

“Case C is for when the red flag flies between 75% and the end of the race. The race result is called then and there. No restart is attempted even if it would be easy to do so. The race is deemed to have finished when the red flag flies, though there is a count-back rule.”

Charlie Whiting: Re-Start Regulations Were Correctly Enforced In Monaco (The Race Driver)

“For a while now – ‘for at least the past six or seven years’, according to Charlie [Whiting] – a red flag has been interpreted as a race suspension rather than a race stop. That being so, it is effectively the same as a Safety Car period, even to the point of "modifications" (including tyre changes) being carried out on the cars.”

Formula One Fantasy – Force India’s Paul di Resta (F1)

“Q: If you could add one thing to your team’s motorhome, what would it be?
PdR: Probably more people. I come from DTM and there you have a much livelier paddock.”

A strange decision (Joe Saward)

“It is upsetting that [Flavio Briatore] should be feted by the sport he screwed.”

Hugo Chavez on Twitter

“@PastorMaldo Courage my dear fellow! Better days will come, brother! Remember that every beginning costs! A hug!”

Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.

Comment of the day

Hyoko picks a Driver of the Weekend. If you’ve not voted for your yet you still can:

Vettel would have earned it if he had still managed to win without the red flag or the tyre change. As it was, there’s a big lucky factor in his win.

Alonso or Button could have rightly earned it by winning, or missing it by being unable to overtake Vettel. As it was, they lost their fair chance, again by blind luck.

So I won’t give it to any of the first three, though anyone of them who had got the win without the rubbish ending would have earned it for me.

So my $0.02 go to Kobayashi. He was terrific. Hope to see him in a top team as soon as possible. Maybe in a (seriously improved) Ferrari team. With a bit more polish and a decent car, this guy has what it takes to be the next champion.
Hyoko

From the forum

A great idea for a post from Ajokay on IndyCar-style trophies for F1.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Josh and Kevin Hodge!

On this day in F1

This time last year the fall-out from the collision between the two Red Bulls in the Turkish Grand Prix was the hot topic:

Image © Sauber F1 Team

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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111 comments on “Monaco to modify barrier Perez hit”

  1. Hugo Chavez is on Twitter? Hasnt he got a country to run?

    1. I think the guy who runs Ethiopia is on there too. Oh and John Prescott

    2. MVEilenstein
      1st June 2011, 3:54

      You forgot the “i” in “run.”

      1. Nice one, Centurion. ;)

        1. MVEilenstein
          1st June 2011, 20:50

          :)

  2. “It is upsetting that [Flavio Briatore] should be feted by the sport he screwed.”

    It’s still a mystery to me as to why people keep asking Briatore for his opinion. He’s persona non grata in the paddock (and was never very good to begin with), so I don’t understand why he keeps being consulted as some kind of expert.

    1. I think regardless of what he has done strangely people just like him. He is a charismatic guy who is easy to approach. It would seem Martin has a soft spot for him so he just wanted to know his opinion. His achievements in F1 are something people hold in high esteem and naturally his opinion would appear to hold some sort of weight to a matter put in front of him.

      Plus he is funny to listen too.

    2. Briatore never really left F1. He’ll return officially to F1 either by taking Bernie’s job, or Domenicali’s one. ;)

      P.S. Btw, Briatore IS an expert when today’s dominant business form of F1 is the topic.

      1. I think he would have a better chance returning as the McLaren chief.

    3. It is a strange one, but I guess it has a lot to do with being mates with Bernie, who keeps inviting him in.

      Even Todt speaks to him. Not much of cleaning up after crashgate from the FIA, at least REnault have done their best effort.

    4. I thought it was funny when they interviewed Trulli about his Monaco win in 2002 (?) and showed Flav B on the pitwall. He wasn’t always a massive fat t… eamleader…

      1. Trulli won in 2004 at Monaco (his only win:( )

    5. I’d sooner hear what Flavio has to say than Eddie Jordan any day!

      1. Maybe if fat flav and EJ can make all their comments together, it will be easier for me to completely ignore both of them. Ej’s emotional garbage at fat flav’s lies…

  3. I’m not sure why Heidfeld is so under pressure, I think he’s done a solid job so far. Ahead of Petrov on points and putting in solid drives. Renault performance wise are about the same as they were last year so it’s hard to see why they are expecting so much.

    If anyone should be under pressure it’s Petrov, so much for the whole “Without Kubica there he will flourish” talk. Ever since Melbourne his performances have been below average.

    I think they are still clinging onto those 2 podiums which came about because Ferrari were off the pace and a bit of bad luck for other teams. They are firmly a mid-field team and Heidfeld’s points so far reflect that.

    1. What? Heidfeld has so far been out-qualified and out-driven by Petrov. He’s only ahead on points because of Petrov’s bad luck. In Monaco Petrov started 5 places in front of Heidfeld and was 2 places in front of him in the race when he crashed thru no fault of his own

      1. Ned Flanders
        1st June 2011, 1:48

        Yeah, Petrov has had a decent season I think. Before the season, who would’ve thought he could be capable of a podium and six top ten starts in the first seven races? Not me, anyway.

        Then again, I think you’re being a bit harsh on Heidfeld too. He’s consistently racking up points finishes, which was what he was brought in to do, and he is 6th in the championship, which is pretty impressive, albeit somewhat unpresentative of his actual pace

      2. What and Heidfeld hasn’t had bad luck in qualifying? It’s not one way in that department. Heidfeld has had to fight through the field to by the end of the race be ahead of Petrov.

        I don’t see how Petrov has had that much bad luck apart from Monaco. Sepang was his own fault.

        Besides Aus and Sepang can you honestly say that Petrov has performed better than Heidfeld this season?

        1. You guys are focusing too hard on Heidfeld vs. Petrov. The fact is Heidfeld was brought in to lead the team and at best is only just as good as Petrov at this point.

          Even worse though, is they have a great car and like someone said yesterday about the STR cars, its completely invisible. Theyre a complete non-factor since their first couple of podiums while the top teams were getting their act together. The problem is, its the drivers and not the car.

          1. Well, from the speed they have shown in practice and qualy, and the race, I would say it might well be the car – others have improved more than them. They have gotten points from long run strategies in the race mainly.

        2. And Petrov didn’t have any bad luck apart from Monaco?

          Anyway you should just look at Keith’s stats below to see the difference between them and understand that Boullier is correct: Heidfeld has a problem in qualifying, and because of that he’s unable to lead the team as he should, and as the team expected from him. Nobody was expecting Nick to dominate Petrov to the extent Kubica did last season, but almost everyone expected to see him ahead of Petrov. Nobody expected to see 5-1 score in qualy in Petrov’s favour and to see Nick overall slightly behind in all but the points table.

          Petrov on the other hand has improved vastly from his rookie season and in that he met the team’s objectives, unlike Heidfeld.

          1. Considering that qualifying is supposedly less important this year, I would make too much out of that 5-1 stat. Even though Petrov has improved, I think some still expected Heidfeld or Kubica to be lightyears ahead of him.

            I doubt Kubica would have done that much better, he might have out-qualified Petrov more than Heidfeld and have a few more points, but that’s about as far as I would go.

    2. Let’s have a look at his form:

      He’s 5-1 down in qualifying against Petrov, although he’s 3-2 up on race finishes.

      Petrov has spent 267 laps ahead of him, Heidfeld 88 in front of Petrov.

      Nick Heidfeld 2011 form guide

      All of which really supports what Boullier is saying: he’s racing well but his qualifying is holding him back.

      His average starting position is 14.6 to Petrov’s 7.8. That’s the biggest gap between any two team mates, although it is exaggerated by the consequences of Heidfeld’s exhaust fire in Spain.

      2011 F1 statistics: Qualifying

      1. Would be nice for Bruno or Romain to get a race in Heidfeld’s place at some point this season. See how they stack up against Petrov.

        1. Should we be cutting NH a little slack for the fact that he really didn’t race much last year?…lost his BMW ride, was then signed to be a Merc tester, then released to be a Pirelli tester, then goes to Sauber for the final few races of the season last year…now with Renault…a lot of bouncing around and little racing of any consequence last year…

          Perhaps NH just needs a little more time…Petrov is the one more engrained on the team, they with much more data on him than on NH. Perhaps soon there will be a lesser gap in quali between the two and NH’s laps ahead of Petrov will increase. The car is obviously not a race winner ie. has it’s issues.

      2. Both of them have had scruffy races. Both have been on the podium. Only one of them drove in F1 last year though. So it’s not time to send Nick down the plank.

        Nonetheless, Heidfeld is not energizing the team. Boulier is not a racing guy, he is black belt manager or whatever. He is no Thiessen; not even a Domenicali. Without Kubica, they really lack F1 presence, for lack of better term, or a real strong personality their to spark the team. That’s what they need from him. Also, the radical new car is not really fulfilling the potential we saw last year as a near-first tier car.

        Also, we Petrov had to learn from last year. He’s gone from having the team have to lecture him on how to shift gears on the radio and chucking it off the road for nothing, to now driving very solid. He has obviouly got some quicks as seen in GP2, so he would benefit from calming down.

        I thought Heidfeld would be a darkhorse title challenger this year if the car came good. That’s not looking right anymore. They could still end up ahead of Mercedes and at Ferrari’s heels.

  4. Michael Griffin
    1st June 2011, 0:16

    Did Jackie Stewart watch the Monaco Grand Prix in a parallel universe?

    1. Coin-operated Jackie Stewart has an opinion on most anything you care to ask, as long as the money’s right, apparently even if he doesn’t watch the race, or imagines phantom smooth-overtakes, he’ll still be available to pontificate.

      1. COTD! made me lol.

      2. Bingo, as I’ve said before if you’ve read one Jackie interview, you’ve them all:

        – Dyslexia
        – 1966 Belgium Grand Prix, aviation fuel, floor covered in cigarettes
        – 1968 German Grand Prix
        – Francois Cervert
        – 2 out of 3 chance of dying

        Interesting life yes, but scripted articles get a bit boring after a while.

        1. Pretty mcuh sums up everything Jackie Stewart has said for the last 30 years…

          1. And for all that, I still have a deep respect for him.

            It’s the result of being in the F1 spotlight for so long, Even Schumacher will suffer from this one day, as will Flavio.

        2. That made me chuckle. not the content though. :-)

        3. Cut him a bit of slack.
          Don’t you have a grandfather that tells the same war stories over and over again at the dinner table?

          1. No, we put him in a home.

    2. Maybe Sir Jackie’s eye’s glazed over just before the red flag and he imagined the Monaco GP finish we were promised by DC and Brundle in which Alonso passed off-the-cliff Vettel and Button passed the two of them on the last lap. If so, why wasn’t Jackievision a red button option on Sunday?

      1. Blimey – Eyes, not eye’s. I need some Red Bull.

  5. An “after” is missing from the title by the way.

    1. No it isn’t. They are going to change the barrier that Perez hit.

      1. Haha oh yeah, I blame it being late *hides*

        1. Haha. LOL

  6. We simply must get an answer out of Bahrain soon.

    I think Boullier has hit the nail on the head there.

    1. is there any chance Bahrain goes ahead but many of the teams simply don’t go? (for safety reasons)

      1. No, if the race is declared as going ahead I don’t see why the teams would object to going. I don’t see how once Bahrain is completely settled why it would be any worse than going to Sao Paulo.

        1. When Brazil starts murdering its own citizens, then we can talk about comparisons to Sao Paulo.

        2. I don’t see how once Bahrain is completely settled why it would be any worse than going to Sao Paulo.

          Right, but how do we know that Bahrain is really completely settled?

          1. Well we don’t that’s the problem. Which is why I am completely against them racing there.

        3. would Brazillians attempt to disrupt the race whilst it’s in progress? probably not.
          the sounds coming out of bahrain make that more of a possibility there. it only takes one bottle thrown onto the track and we’re talking about +1 dead driver. (lucky nothing happened in Valencia ’10!)

      2. Ferrari would go on their own, have a one-two finish and talk of how brave they were to go and what a wonderful victory they obtained.

        1. Then McLaren would find a way to protest it.

      3. If there’s a state of emergency again at race time, it’s inevitable (they won’t travel without insurance and insurance isn’t valid during states of emergency).

        However, the powers-that-be would be obliged to suspend all the teams in that case pending investigation. Insurance problems of that kind should be sufficient to justify force majuere, but there’s no guarantees with the FIA.

        If it’s possible for the teams to travel and the powers-that-be have previously promised they will be there, they’ll have to go or risk being kicked out of the championship.

  7. Totally agree with the COTD. Koba is without a doubt my choice for the best driver last race! Hard to believe, but without the Melbourne DSQ he would’ve finished in the points in every race this year, despite some bad luck. A future top-team driver if I’ve ever seen one.

    1. … and the only driver to finish in the points every race outside of the top 5 champion contenders as well, which out to make the Renault and Mercedes drivers feel a bit bashful, not to mention Massa.

      1. Exactly!

  8. Ned Flanders
    1st June 2011, 1:43

    I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to love Pastor Maldonado… and then in one moment I remember why I kind of want him to fail! I don’t like Hugo Chavez much at all.

    (Then again, one of my favourite journalists Johann Hari seems to think he’s the greatest human since Jesus. I’m usually inclined to agree with him)

    1. Plus the guy kind of looks like Lurch from the Addams family. …only scarier.

        1. Oh wow, I didn’t know Pastor was an acto…. wait…

    2. MVEilenstein
      1st June 2011, 16:22

      Careful Ned, Klaas will call you a hypocrite.

  9. Did I blink and miss something or is Stewart in a parallel universe? I would have believed him if he had said Button’s tyre conservation skills helps him win the Monaco GP.
    If such an accomplished and highly esteemed former race driver can see and overtaking move that never occured, will you trust his judgement if he was a driver steward?

    1. That’s a great question. I think as a steward he’d have access to replays, so I’d be inclined to trust him more than if he were just going from memory, which is apparently not so good these days.

  10. MVEilenstein
    1st June 2011, 3:56

    “We went through a rough patch

    Yeah, murdering political opponents is very hard on a person.

    1. I know right? You have no idea, blood stains, like totally ruin the peaceful decor…

      1. MVEilenstein
        1st June 2011, 16:12

        And all they really want is to hold a race in their peace-loving country.

  11. MVEilenstein
    1st June 2011, 3:58

    Hugo Chavez on Twitter

    The main reason I will never support Maldonado. No one who accepts blood money from a South American dictator deserves my respect.

    1. If you look at the current grid – you can see that most drivers are from countries that once were an empire and built their prosperity by shedding other peoples’ blood. Following your logic they shouldn’t be respected either, in other case you’re being hypocrite.

      1. MVEilenstein
        1st June 2011, 7:32

        How many of those drivers are sponsored directly by an authoritarian government like Venezuela? How many are sponsored by a government that imprisons its political opponents today?

        If you’re going to label me a hypocrite, at least have the decency to come right out and say it.

        1. Vitaly Petrov – sponsored by the Russian goverment led by Putin who did pretty much the same things as Chavez when he came to power.

          About your last phrase – I already said it.

          1. Don’t think you can compare Putin and that great south american friend of ahmadinejad’s. Shows your ignorance really.

            Also you are the true hypocrite in this discussion because you’re comparing apples and oranges and calling them the same. In every people’s past in the world there are some bad things their ancestors have done. You can’t blame them all for that. Chavez on the other hand is here and now and this despicable dictator is doing what he is doing NOW

          2. montreal95
            Putin and his Russia is the one of few states that supports the Chavez regime and sells them military equipment – so it places him right next to Chavez. Get the facts right before calling anyone an ignorant.
            If Chavez is doing all those despicable things NOW then tommorow they won’t count (they will be like all the bad things in other peoples’ past) – so why make such a fuss of it?

          3. You’re again comparing apples and oranges. How’s the fact Russia sells him weapons makes it the same as Chavez’s Venezuela? Yes, Russia would do anything to get on America’s nerves just to support their delusion of still being a superpower. It isnt an excuse for them, it’s just not the same as Chavez, who’s enjoying his breaks from terrorizing his own country, by sending support messages to Maldonado on twitter.

            There is a difference because the past is by definition non-changeable.It doesn’t help us NOW to remember all the past atrocities because if we did, all it would do is to create a never-ending cycle of revenge and hatred. The future on the other hand is being created at this very moments by our thoughts, deeds and unfortunately by our ignorance as well. So by ignoring the dictatorship in Venezuela and that Maldonado is supported by that government as part of its propaganda machine, you “help” creating the Chavez’s vision of the future for that specific country which puts you right next to Putin and his weapons. Now I’ve put you on the same page as the Russian PM. Congrats Klaas, you should be proud…

          4. I don’t support the Chavez regime but I don’t understand why Maldonado should be bashed. He wants to race and has the right to do that like any other driver from any other country. He’s a socialist that supports Chavez (like half of Venezuela)and considers a normal thing to accept money from his goverment. Nobody is ignoring the dictatorship in Venezuela, Williams – a company from an EU-country that promotes democracy even advertises it and uses that “blood money” to build it’s fortune. And yet we all cheer for Williams and nod our heads about what terrible persons Chavez and Maldonado are.

          5. MVEilenstein
            1st June 2011, 16:21

            I do not support Williams, and I do not support Petrov, although I think he is a very talented driver.

            If you don’t like that I’m uncomfortable with a dictator sponsoring a race team, that’s fine, but that doesn’t make me a hypocrite.

            I really don’t understand why you’re so bothered by my opinions. Your first response to one of my comments is essentially “You’re a hypocrite.” Really?

          6. Peace, Klaas, I’m not against Maldonado either, only against Chavez. I would really like the guy and his agressive attitude to racing, were it not for his sponsorship which does make me uncomfortable, as it apparently does MVEilenstein and many others. And about Williams: they and all the other teams also had raced in apartheid South Africa, and would accept money from the devil himself if in doing that their reputation is not overly damaged. Also remember that Ferrari kept tryiing to put Marlboro advertising on their cars long after it was banned. That’s the ugly side of F1 for you. The fact it happens all the time doesn’t mean we should like it or forget about it. If there’s any hypocrisy here it’s not MVEilenstein’s and mine, it’s F1’s.

  12. Oh, no, Hamilton threatening to leave F1 if he’s not allowed to crash into his rivals. He received some very controversing penalties in the past but this season he deserved all of them so he should just shut up and go on with it. And all this comparison with Senna… one Senna was great, another guy trying to copy him is just annoying. Lewis is a great driver, a great champion, the only thing left is learn to behave like one.

    1. But that’s not what he said. He said he doesn’t enjoy simply settling for position. Hell, Alonso once threatened to quite at the prospect of standard engines. It’s no different, F1 drivers say these sorts of things all the time.

      Deserving or not of the consequences of his style, I think it’s a fair enough thing for the man to say.

      1. Sorry, got fooled by that headline, he didn’t really said that. Guess that infamuos interview he gave after the race is still haunting me.

        1. klaas, read the actual article next time.
          you do realise most headlines are inflated and misleading in the premise of getting you to read the article/buy the paper etc.
          the facts and quotes are within the article, not the title

      2. They got a cheap page view from me too to investigate that suspicious headline. It always amazes me how fast and loose major British media can play with quotes and facts in general given how apparently tight the libel/slander laws are there.

        As far as Hamilton’s actual comments, it gives me a pain in my side because it reminds me of Montoya’s carping before he went to CRASHCAR.

        As far as the comments that started it all, Hamilton needs to get proper management. And ironically, he needs someone like his Dad. Someone who knows what its like to look different, be different, but just get on with it and be the best.

    2. He’ll never quit, he just wanted to sound more serious when he actually sounds more babyish as he wants what he likes.

    3. “If it ever comes to a stage where I had to pull back, drive for fourth or fifth place and just cruise around it would not excite me and I probably wouldn’t stay around for that”

      Brazil 2008, anyone?

  13. AdrianMorse
    1st June 2011, 8:56

    I don’t know British newspapers, but the Daily Mail does not strike me as particularly knowledgable about Formula 1. Underneath a picture of Hamilton following an STR, it says he is stuck behind Webber, while underneath the picture of Hamilton behind Massa it says he is following Alonso (whom he has not been near the entire GP!).

    1. Noticed that too – but the Daily Mail isn’t well known for knowledgeable articles in general, I think. Sir Jackie Steward really needs to get a DVR if he is going to comment on races it seems.

    2. I don’t know British newspapers, but the Daily Mail does not strike me as particularly knowledgable about Formula 1.

      The Daily Mail does not strike me as particularly knowledgeable about anything, not just Formula 1!!

    3. There’s a reason why we call it the Daily Liar, or the Daily FAIL.

    4. The Daily Fail is one of the worst papers in the UK. At least The Mirror, The Star and Rupert Murdoch’s Propoganda Paper know that they’re s**t. The Daily Fail pretends otherwise.

      It is full of comfortable, blinkered upper-middle class twits who don’t have a clue about the real world:

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1335550/Merry-Christmas-Along-millions-middle-class-families-I-afford-one.html

      and are generally borderline racists:
      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1047606/Immigration-births-non-British-mothers-pushes-British-population-record-high.html

      Not to mention it initially believed that Massa’s accident in Hungary was caused by the spring lodging in the acceleration mechanism jamming it open. It was that or The Express (it’s little sister paper of similar [low] quality)

  14. That BBC article on Bahrain mentions that Ecclestone supposedly is even considering cancelling the India GP to make place for Bahrain – that’s really silly. How much money is he getting from Bahrain for this, that he can just recompense the whole India GP, without a real reason?

    1. Rumours are the Indian Grand Prix organisers would be happy with a postponement of their race until later in the season so they can make sure the track is ready in time and avoid a repeat of what happened in South Korea last year.

      1. Right I suppose that makes some sense. My fault for (apparently) believing Karun Chandok saying everything is on schedule on 5live during the Spain weekend :-p

      2. but I want Brazil to be the season finale! not India…

        1. AUSTRALIA!!! Can’t we just finish with the Adelaide street circuit.

          Start in Melbourne, go around the world and finish in Adelaide. Where’s bernie, I need to tell him.

          btw race on December 11 is 2 weeks before Christmas… poor buggered engineers

  15. ‘I am here to race and win. If I have to lose that passion it would blow all the racing. If it ever comes to a stage where I had to pull back, drive for fourth or fifth place and just cruise around it would not excite me and I probably wouldn’t stay around for that.’

    Wow, that sounds way less exciting than the headline. I can’t believe the press spun what he said into something different! /sarcasm

    I’m unconvinced by the plans for the barrier. 20m of extra run-off isn’t going to solve the problem when you’re doing the speeds they are. And when the next person has a trip to the barriers, it’ll be even more of a disruption. It’s just not enough. I would build the TecPro barriers to have one side at an angle, joining up with the right side of the barrier, so a driver would be deflected into the escape road. It might bounce off another barrier but that’s better than coming to a dead halt like Perez did.

    1. As a whole I agree. But imagine if a driver hits this angled barrier in different position(i.e. like Rosberg almost did). Maybe the accident would be much worse? Because by definition the tip of the barrier would be more “pointy”.

      1. I said this in a further comment, I feel it would be safer on the whole to take the barrier from the right side of the track to the left side of the head-on. Then any accident hits at an angle and energy is dissipated as they slide along, plus any drivers in the vicinity should be going slowly enough to avoid problems as they’re negotiating the chicane.

    2. I like your idea but ultimately the issue is with the bumpy braking zone into the corner.
      There is sufficient run off to the right of the barrier IF the car doesn’t slam into the barriers in the braking zone tearing a wheel off and making it uncontrollable.

      Both Rosberg and Perez had issues when they started braking, which caused them to lose control – That’s what needs to be fixed.

      1. I agree with that also

        @Lachie that’s an idea that I’d like to see explore too, although cars would not be able to use the escape road and we’d probably have a safety car

        @montreal95 that is the weak point of my suggestion! I think if the “point” wasn’t very wide it would still cause cars to bounce off of it to the side, just less smoothly.

        1. More pointy, like a knife edge, you mean? I think I saw a Mythbusters episode where they tried ramming a car onto a pointy snow-plough thing attached to a bulldozer… the results shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone.
          I vote with Lachie, and I’ll put up with the safety car.

      2. Spot on guys. If a driver gets into trouble with rear lock-up as he emerges from that tunnel he’s a passenger in a lethal projectile
        at around 180 mph. that ain’t funny. The bump(s) have to go, Period.

  16. Lewis is sounding like a real numpty.
    Massa’s double pass in Canada. Hakkinen’s pass on Schumacher in Spa. They are the great moments that he is trying to emulate.

    But Lewis’s moves in this years race however where sloppy, over aggressive and badly thought out.

    He needs to go take a break, gather his wits, and come back stronger next race. Lest he look the fool.

    1. I am still not certain that Hamilton has fully recovered from his end of 2010. He had a strong chance of the championship and from Monza on made several crucial errors. I believe he is feeling the pressure of knowing that Vettel is becoming the ‘chosen one’ of the new generation. If Schumi had done a couple of Hamilton’s overtakes in Monaco I fear we may be calling for him to retire.

    2. Yea, I think he was trying TOO hard in Monaco.

      1. Agree with you three and said similar things on the Hamilton apologizes topic. RBAlonso, really agree with you on the Schumi/retire comment.

    3. Athletes are only as good as the last game, but seriously, in China, Hamilton reportedly was a passing genius. There was no such issues issue in Turkey. (Spain passing was impossible) So I don’t see any kind of trend. Also, people here have been talking about how timid he has become at starts, now, etc, after 2010. I think normal programming will be resumed. He will have lots more brilliant passes as well as some more regretable attempts. That’s how he rolls.

  17. Bernie is suggesting cancelling the inaugural Indian GP just to squeeze Bahrain in according to that article. That’s got to be a bad idea, not only because of the fact that many are against Bahrain hosting a race in the first place after the unrest there but because the potential for the growth of F1 in India should be far greater than it is in Bahrain (seeing as India has produced 2 drivers who are currently involved in F1, have a team which represents them and a population of over a billion people).

  18. all that really counts is the points they bring home. Heidfeld is outscoring Petrov, points are only given out after sunday. So for all intents and purposes Heidfeld is doing better than Petrov.

    He may indeed not be a one lap wonder, but don’t forget Heidfeld has been pretty unlucky in quali, partly due to Renault’s risky startegy to always go out late in sessions for a single lap. He got badly held up by a HRT in Oz, saw his quali compromised by Petrov’s stoppage in China and had a bonfire in Spain, so that’s already 3 quali sessions where Petrov outqualied him that was not down to a lack of pace from Heidfeld.

    1. I think Boullier’s comments will serve as an explanantion for the future (after Kubica returns) of why he keeps Petrov and not Heidfeld. It really doesn’t matter that Heidfeld is in front of Vitaly in the standings he will never be “good enough” as Petrov mustn’t look like a mere pay-driver.

  19. What’s the argument against running armco along the offending area at Monaco so that any accident is more of a scrapey affair that pushes the car along and back onto the track. I mean obviously it isn’t ideal for a crashed car to be on the track, but they do slow down there normally and it’s a better result than a head-on at speed.

  20. I disagree with the CotD, to some extent.

    You could say Vettel was lucky with the red flag, although I think he would’ve won anyway, but Kobayashi was lucky with the first Safety Car as well, so you can’t have it both ways.

  21. why move the barier if you dont want hurt dont crash

    1. MVEilenstein
      1st June 2011, 16:26

      Sage.

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