JJ Lehto handed prison sentence

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: Former F1 driver JJ Lehto is sentenced to two years in prison.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Former F1 driver JJ Lehto sentenced for fatal boat crash (Reuters)

“Former Finnish Formula 1 driver and Le Mans winner Jyrki Jarvilehto, who raced as JJ Lehto, was sentenced on Wednesday to two years and four months in jail for a drunken boat accident which killed his friend.”

Video – FIA Awards 2011 ceremony highlights (F1)

Video of Sebastian Vettel receiving his world drivers’ championship trophy.

Boullier: Driver strategy shows ambition (Autosport)

“The decision we took [to sign Romain Grosjean] was purely a sporting one and absolutely not based on the financial support that we could get directly or indirectly.”

2012 FIA Regulations highlights (Part 2) – with James Allison (Renault)

“The 2011 generation of blown floors are discarded. For 2012, the exhaust must exit in a prescribed box that is in a similar location to the top exit exhausts of circa 2008. It is also subjected to particular exit angles and diameter as a means of providing further restriction. This does not mean that exhaust generated downforce is a thing of the past – it is very hard to stuff that back into Pandora’s box. However these changes, coupled with the recent technical directive banning off throttle blowing create an environment where exhaust generated downforce for 2012 will be a much smaller proportion of the total than it was in 2011.”

McLaren Group chairman Ron Dennis speaks alongside Rt Hon Vince Cable MP at Financial Times ‘Future of Manufacturing’ conference in London (McLaren)

“On every lap of every Grand Prix, more than 500 sensors on each of our Formula 1 cars monitor and transmit vital performance metrics, in real time. Over the course of a race weekend we capture more than a billion data points. Processing, understanding and acting immediately on the implications of this data, are critical to our race-winning strategies.”

Schumacher becomes candidate for football chairman (GP Update)

Michael Schumacher is an improbable contender for becoming Chairman of German football club 1. FC Koln, it has been revealed in the German media.”

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Comment of the day

Maciek is concerned F1 is becoming less competitive:

The performance of the Mercedes – safely behind the big three, safely ahead of the others – probably masked what is in fact a worrying peformance gap between the top and the mid-tier teams, which is now set to only grow with the likely abandoning of the RRA.
Maciek

From the forum

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Steph90!

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On this day in F1

Fernando Alonso did his first test for McLaren five years ago today.

Alonso, who had just won back-to-back championship titles for Renault, appeared in an unbranded McLaren wearing blank overalls in a test at Jerez in Spain.

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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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59 comments on “JJ Lehto handed prison sentence”

  1. That’s pretty shocking to hear about Lehto. Whoever you are and whatever you do – please don’t ever get behind the wheel of a high-powered vehicle or any vehicle for that matter while under the influence of a substance.

    1. +1

      I hadn’t heard anything about this until now, but it’s shocking all the same.

    2. Too true. No excuse for it, ever.

  2. Also, it’s @Steph ‘s 21st birthday today! I can’t believe a whole year has passed since I did the first ever birthday poem for Steph – but since I’ve already done one for her, I won’t bother doing another one this year…

    …yeah, right!

    Ask all Fanatics, from the young to the old,
    Who’s their favourite member – you’ll no doubt be told,
    That Magnificent Geoffrey’s about tenth at best,
    And as for the winner? It’s got to be Steph.

    For a number of years, she’s honoured this site,
    Posting her comments all day and all night.
    But while her opinions are pretty much tripe,
    Steph honestly is quite the likeable type.

    A die-hard Tifosi, we all know she feels,
    A special sensation at the mention of ‘Gilles’.
    But although I begrudge her of her choice of team,
    Of Ferrari Fanatics, she’s clearly the Queen.

    It’s been a tough season for this Mackem lass,
    But as I said last time, she’s faced it with class.
    Poor old Felipe didn’t have the best year,
    But at least there’s Fernando to give her some cheer.

    She’s feeling quite poorly, I’m sorry to say,
    But is coping in her typically humorous way.
    Tomorrow I’m visiting her from the South,
    So I have been practising my ‘mouth-to-mouth’.

    It’s hard to believe that a year has gone past,
    Since I first pulled a poem for you out of my arsenal of language.
    So on your 21st, they’ll all agree when I say,
    That we love you Steph, have a Happy Birthday!

    1. You’re gonna have to publish a book Mag… that’s a top notch poem, that.

      Happy 21st birthday Steph!

      1. Thank you so much guys. I love your poems Mag and I remember feeling so honoured with my first one from you last year but this is even better :) I just wish I could disagree with the 7th line ;) Thank you very much and especially thank you for not being harsh on poor Felipe- that is much appreciated!

        Oh, and @ajokay is right that you need to publish a book!

        1. @steph @magnificent-geoffrey Best one yet I reckon!

          Have a good one Steph, anything planned?

        2. Happy Birthday @steph , Enjoy the day!

        3. Hope you enjoyed your birthday Steph!

          Mag… is very good at that.

    2. With such a great poem from @magnificent-geoffrey, I hope you have a great day @Steph! Happy birthday :D

    3. Happy birthday @Steph! Magnificent Geoffrey is the man with the poems, and as much as I’d love to write one, it would be simply copying him and it would also be awful as I’m not good at it! So I’ll do what I did for @Dan-Thorn…

      Steph is, without doubt, the kindest and most selfless person I’ve come across in my entire life. I only started commenting on here regularly last year having been merely a lurker for a few years, but the friendly ‘locals’ made me feel comfortable and I ended up joining Twitter to converse with them further. Whether this was the best thing I’d ever done or the worst mistake of my life is debatable, as I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve found some of my best friends through this site. And then there’s Steph…

      Without going into details, I made some mistakes and kind of messed up my life a bit in the last two years, but through chatting with Steph, I’ve learnt so much and probably done a little bit (a huge amount) of overdue maturing. She’s my confidante, my conscience, my loyal friend that listens to any nonsense that’s troubling me, and my unpaid psychologist. I’m sure that I’ll one day look back and thank her for being the person that changed things, and I’m not just saying that either.

      Stephanie is an extremely deep thinker with an incredible amount of wit and knowledge – so much so that you end up questioning things you’d never even considered before! Steph will happily debate anything; F1, human rights issues, or even politics with anyone, and it never gets hostile as she’s incapable of being unfriendly. But her intellectual side is nicely balanced by her charming sense of humour. I’m certain Twitter would descend into chaos and rivalries if she ever left, as she’s the brains, the comedienne, and the peacekeeper of the F1F crew.

      I never expected to find so much comfort and support from people I’ve never met, but it feels like I know Steph personally now. I’ve put more trust in her than anyone in the world because of this! She’ll never do anything to hurt anyone, which is, ironically, her biggest flaw. Steph cares so much for others that she forgets her own self and what’s best for her. I don’t know what we’ve done to deserve having her in our lives, but I think we’re all proud to call her a trusted and dear friend.

    4. But while her opinions are pretty much tripe,
      Steph honestly is quite the likeable type.

      fufu, perfect!

      1. Happy birthday @steph !

        Hope you’ve had a wonderful day, you’re clearly everyone’s favourite :)

        And great poem, as always Mag.

    5. Happy Birthday @steph , hope you had a gr8 day ;)

      Gr8 poem Mag!!

      1. Happy Birthday @Steph90 have a nice day.

  3. “The decision we took [to sign Romain Grosjean] was purely a sporting one and absolutely not based on the financial support that we could get directly or indirectly.”

    Probably means the total opposite, then. ;)

    But seriously, I think it’s a bit of both. I’d be very surprised if that didn’t cross their mind.

    1. Funny thing is Jean Alesi said earlier in the week “Total” the French oil company were pushing hard for a French driver and something to the effect of them paying more.

      I guess Jean is a bit too honest for his own good in the crooked world of F1.

    2. Seriously, who would say no to a guy we know is very fast, young AND has sponsors to put money on the team?

      It’s so obvious he should admit it. “Yeah, it was the money and his talent”

  4. @Maciek but Red Bull and Mclaren got loads of that performance advantage in 2011 from their complex exhaust layouts. now that that is outlawed in 2012, perhaps the field will tighten up, if anything…

    1. Remember in Silverstone off throttle was reduced, and Fernando won!
      As for next year, teams will no doubt be blowing the rear wing. But there is no talk if mapping “off throttle” is banned? (can someone clarify this?)
      I hope it is! When in Melbourne this year I could not work out why some of the cars sounded so TERRIBLE when off throttle, then the whole engine mapping thing came out.

      1. If the advantage of blowing the rear wing is not greater than the penalty of carrying the extra fuel then the teams won’t be using off throttle mapping regardless if it is legal or not. I remember Renault boasting about being able to burn a certain percentage more of extra fuel during one of the races (not sure which race or what the % was), and they were supposedly cold-blowing which I would have assumed uses less fuel.

  5. Good COTD. One of the problems Mercedes have is that they have to make up a lot of performance just to catch up with the third-placed team, let alone overtake them. They’ve been racing nobody but themselves this year.

    1. who is your avatar? you?

      1. @sato113 It’s George Harrison.

        1. Don’t you mean Paul Harrison? #EJ

          1. Haha, my mistake!

  6. I just noticed – it’s December 15th! Will we get an announcement from Force India about their driver line-up today?

    1. maybe shocking like Toro Roso did..

      1. Well Karthikeyan and Chandhok would be pretty shocking ;)

  7. Did Red Bull choose the music for the awards ceremony?

  8. Paul Hembery said on twitter this morning that The Times is reporting that Force India has confirmed that The Hulk and PDR have been signed for next season. Can anyone confirm.

    1. @geemac – As of twelve hourse ago, Paul di Resta has no idea about it.

        1. @geemacFurther reports suggest that Force India have bigger problems: Vijay Mallya might be forced out because of his financial troubles, in which case that would need to be resovled before drivers can be contracted.

          1. Very interesting. Mallya’s financial troubles are well documented so there is probably a fair amount of truth in that story. It is sad that three talented drivers are being left hanging because of a tycoon’s financial problems.

          2. If it’s true, I don’t think it’s something that will simply happen. If Mallya is in trouble, the warning signs will have been present for a while, and Subrata Roy can easily take control of the team by forming a minority shareholding with Michel Mol (between them, they control 52% of the team). Roy invested $100 million in the team, and you don’t make that much in spare change by being anything less than canny. He would be waiting the minute it became apparent that Mallya’s financial troubles were compromising his position within the team.

            An annoucement on the team’s drivers is expected today. If it does come today, then the name of the person making the annoucement will tell us a lot about who is in control of Force India. Although I should add that the talk of Mallya being squeezed out first appeared in Blick, who shot to notoriety earlier in the week with their claims that Jules Bianchi would buy out Kamui Kobayashi’s seat at Sauber …

          3. Although it seems India’s government is not ready to let an airline that is in the top 5 biggest carriers fail quite yet.

            Some loans were handede out, and the airline might survive. But no doubt did this play a role in why the team did not give news earlier and it might have been part of reconsidering the original plan.

          4. @bascb

            Although it seems India’s government is not ready to let an airline that is in the top 5 biggest carriers fail quite yet.

            Mallya’s continued involvement in Force India does not hinge on whether or not Kingfisher remains solvent; it’s not so simple as saying “if it stays afloat, he will remain at the team; if not, he goes”. If Mallya is so distracted by saving Kingfisher that he cannot manage Force India, he will be ousted from the team.

  9. I saw Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol today, and while I was very disappointed by it, I did crack a smile at the way one of the characters played by Anil Kapoor is an Indian tycoon with a goatee, a wide collection of art and questionable business practices. Sound like any team principals we know?

    1. PM, sometimes you sound like Joe Saward for your unwavering hatred for Mallaya :)

      1. While that it’s true that I don’t particularly like him, it is equally true that I don’t particularly dislike him. My feelings towards Vijay Mallya fluctuate around neutrality. I was simply pointing out the similarities between a character in the film and Mallya. For instance, both are Indian businessmen. Both have the same style of facial hair. Both collect art; for example, Mallya purchased the sword of Tipu Sultan in 2004. And both engage in questionable business practices; Vijay Mallya has borrowed hundreds of millions of rupiah for Kingfisher, using creative accounting to hide the existing loans from other lenders. He pays in excess of 20% interest on loans in an industry were the average is around 6%. While this is questionable, it is not illegal.

  10. Wow. Did not see that one coming, seems unlikely but it could be a big boon for the club as Schumi could bring a fair amount of financial backing to the club. He’s a big fan of the club, in fact I believe he contributed to the fan financing of bringing Podolski back home to FC. While I doubt it’s going to happen, it would be interesting.

  11. Good COTD @maciek! Long time since I read a comment from you. Lets hope it does not get fulfilled, even if the odds are against that.

    1. Hey Bas, yeah I’ve been content to be a silent spectator here for a good while – thanks for the mention, Keith.

      I certainly hope it doesn’t prove true, and I don’t think that things are inevitably headed there, but it is one of the foreseeable results if the RRA goes out the window.

      1. It was a great COTD Maciek but it was even better just to see a comment from you :)

        1. Thanks Steph, that’s lovely of you to say : ) Happy B-day!

  12. Lots of reports saying Hulk & di Resta at Force India in 2012

    1. @nackavich I hope so. I’m bored of Sutil. No disrespect to him but I just want change.

      1. I’d have to agree with you. I mean he’s had some good drives, but di Resta impressed from the get-go, and Hulk I think has a lot to prove, especially if Force India deliver a decent car next year

  13. On another note, I went to type another comment and it said I was logged in as @Prisoner Monkeys?!?!

    I promptly logged out and logged in as myself again. Anybody else had this issue???

    1. @nackavich I was once apparently @damonsmedley ! It happens occasionally. I think if you actually post a comment it still does so under your username.

      1. So far I have been @prisinor-moneys @bsacb @andrewtanner and @keithcollantine

        1. Hmm, all the possibilities flashed before my eyes. Lucky I bit my tongue.. or fingers.

      2. I’ve not had this problem for about a year now! Then again, I don’t think I’ve logged out for about a year now! :P

    2. Yeah, I’ve had that problem too and reported it to Keith. Doesn’t actually matter if you log out, just click on any link that takes you somewhere else on F1 Fanatic and it should show that you’re logged in as you.

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