F1 Fanatic round-up: 3/1/10

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Yesterday ended with the sad news that a spectator had been killed during the first stage of the Paris-Dakar Rally. Hopefully the rest of the often dangerous event will be completed without any similar accidents.

Here’s what’s going on at F1 Fanatic today:

Links

Ron Dennis: I’ve paid the price for dedicating 30 years to Formula One (Daily Mail)

Ron Dennis has given what looks like a rather frank interview for Esquire magazine, bits of which have been published by the Daily Mail including this striking quote about Ayrton Senna: “For Senna, he admits his regard ‘edged on almost masculine love’. I use the word quite deliberately,’ he adds. ‘It didn’t have any homosexuality about it, it wasn’t that sort [of love].'”

F1 is proving too costly for car makers (Daily Telegraph)

More from the Formula Money report we looked at here last week.

“Schumacher kann um den Titel mitfahren” (Auto Motor und Sport, German)

Gerhard Berger tells Auto Motor und Sport that he doesn’t like the new points system, is looking forward to the return of low fuel qualifying, and is glad we’ll have 26 cars this year because modern tracks look empty with just 20. Sounds like something I might have wrote!

Comment of the day

A round of applause for AndrewT who was the first person to crack the “Name that race” quiz yesterday.

From the forum

Should countries be limited to one F1 race per year? Macca’s thread has started an interesting debate here.

Site updates

If you’re going to Silverstone for this year’s F1 race make sure you have a look at the 2010 British Grand Prix discussion where other people who are going are swapping notes.

The 2010 Belgian Grand Prix discussion also has a lot of contributions from people heading to Spa and at least once person is going to Istanbul for the Turkish Grand Prix too.

Happy birthday!

Our second F1 Fanatic birthday shout-out goes to Ajokay – Happy birthday!

On this day in F1

Michael Schumacher turns 41 today – he was born in H?â??rth-Herm?â??lheim in the former West Germany on this day in 1969.

When he makes his F1 return in the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14th he will be 41 years and 70 days old. That’s nowhere near the record for the oldest driver to start a race – he’ll have to hang around until 2024 to match Louis Chiron’s mark. However he will be the seventh-oldest former champion to start a race, and if he reaches the end of the season he will pass Nigel Mansell to take sixth.

More here: Schumacher and F1’s oldest ever drivers

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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32 comments on “F1 Fanatic round-up: 3/1/10”

  1. Happy birthday Ajokay :)
    Really like this round up more and more. Some good links too :)

    1. Haha, only just seen this post today! Cheers for the birthday shoutout Keith. 25 years young!

      Also, a very happy (belated) 41st birthday to a certain M. Schumacher of Germany!

  2. I’m going to the Aussie GP in March, if there’s a discussion thread for that :-)

    Taking my 150-500mm lens with me too, so loads of piccies for you F1 Fanantics :D

    1. I’m going to the Aussie GP in March, if there’s a discussion thread for that

      Yep, right here: https://www.racefans.net/f1-2010-season/2010-f1-calendar/2010-australian-grand-prix-discussion/

      You can find discussion pages for all the other races here: https://www.racefans.net/f1-2010-season/2010-f1-calendar/

      Taking my 150-500mm lens with me too, so loads of piccies for you F1 Fanantics

      Yes please! Let me know what you get and we’ll put some up here.

      1. Thanks for the link, Keith. I did go hunting but couldn’t find it. I’ll hook up with the peeps in there.

        Flying from Heathrow on a Singapore Airlines A380 for just £420 return inc taxes. Sorry, but I never get tired of boasting about that one :D

        As for the piccies, I hope to snag some good ones. Otherwise what’s the point of blowing £800 on a lens, eh? :)

        My current plan is Quali Saturday Only, since that dodges the expense of Race Day tickets, and there’s a better view on TV. :(

        1. £420 for a return flight sounds like a seriously good deal. But I’ve got to say missing the race sounds like a daft idea- why travel half way across the world just to watch a qualifying session?? Make it a 3 dayer, I say!

          1. I agree, I’m going al 4 days, armed with my camera and can’t wait get there.

            Hay Keith, I’m studying graphic design and photography at uni so I should be able to get some good shots for you to put up. I’ll do me best anyway.

          2. Macca – sounds great, thanks!

          3. try to take pictures of the many controversial body parts that always crop up near the beginning of a season!

          4. Hehe. Sorry to mislead you. I’m originally from Melbourne, so spending 2 weeks visiting my family, whom I haven’t seen for 15 months. The GP is just a day out.

            As for the flight, it’s less than half price. Singapore Airlines had a sale back in April, desperately trying to fill the massive A380 in the middle of a recession :D

    2. Terry Fabulous
      3rd January 2010, 21:39

      Your Holiness I will also be at the Melbourne Race. Very excited now that I know the Schu will be there as well!

      How about we all have a F1Fanatics meet and chat in a similar vein to what Keith did with the UK Fanatics at Silverstone last year.

  3. Happy Birthday to Ajokay.

    Hope the birthday boy Schumacher provides us with entertainment.

    1. I’m surprised his neck injury is fully healed… thought it’d take alot longer than a couple of months. I think the pain will reappear mid season and he’ll leave.

      1. Mark Hitchcock
        3rd January 2010, 13:42

        I think the injury was pretty much healed a couple of months ago, just not quite enough to go racing.
        I doubt Mercedes would sign him if they thought they’d have to replace him at short notice later in the year.

        1. I think he don’t have any concern about his neck injury.He has said his neck is completely OK for racing

          1. yeah but maybe he was just saying that to get back into F1 racing. maybe he is hiding from everyone that his neck is actually 80% ok, not 99/100% ok…

    2. HounslowBusGarage
      3rd January 2010, 19:54

      Yep, Happy Birthday to Ajokay! I wonder if Michael Schumacher realises he shares your birthday?

  4. Ajokay Happy Birthday! We need to get back on Forza sometime :D

    1. Happy b’day Ajokay, I’m always up for some Forza3 if someone fancies it.

      1. ajokay is my gamertag, feel free to add me BBB!

  5. Happy Birthday Ajokay :)

    Aw that Ron Dennis interview made me feel a bit sorry for him, sounds like he had an odd upbringing which made him a control freak.

  6. I find everything that Ron Dennis says very interesting.

    He should not only build rear-engine radical sportscars, but also some with a front mounted engine and slightly retro looks and touches. With a longer front hood you have more room to work with for creating a stunning looking car.
    The SLR was maybe the most beautiful car ever, and I thing Ron´s roadcar business would be three times as succesful if he built more cars like this one, with a front engine and such elegant looks.

  7. That Telegraph article is the biggest pile of **** I have ever read. To say Mercedes needs to sell 4,100 cars to cover its F1 costs is just wrong. For a start the calculation is based on revenue not profit. You don’t need an MBA from Harvard to work out that profit should be the denominator.

    The real question is what is the ROI from marketing dollars spent on F1 versus other campaigns. And that’s hard to answer

    1. To think two individuals were responsible for the article. I guess two heads are not necessarily better than one.

    2. I, too, was quite surprised by the statement that the car makers combined needed to sell ‘only’ 23,000 cars to break even on F1. What utter nonsense.

      By the way, the authors forget that allegedly Toyota make more money from their banking activities than from building and selling cars. That’s not taken into account, I reckon.

  8. I’m not sure Ajokay will get to read this since he doesn’t seem to have been on F1 Fanatic for weeks, or least he hasn’t been commenting, but anyway… happy birthday!

    1. Been away from computers for the christmas and new year’s break. But I have managed to post 3 or 4 times in this one thread so far…

      Thankyou for the birthday wishes everyone!

  9. Happy birthday Ajokay! And MSC ;-)

  10. Happy birthday Ajokay!
    This rounds-up are very interesting, good work Keith!

  11. Terry Fabulous
    4th January 2010, 21:47

    Ajokay I hope you stop by and get these best wishes from your friends at FiFanatic and that you had a good Birthday mate.

    Regarding Ron Dennis’s comment about his ‘love’ for Ayrton Senna. I can see where he is coming from. There was something unworldly about the way Senna would fearlessly throw himslef into the fray which was almost god like. Towards the end of Qually, he would go out there in the heat of the battle and come back with the prize time and time again.

    I’ve been watching some old highlights from season 1989. It is quite astonishing how good Senna was, especially in the same car as Alain Prost one of the top five drivers of all time.

    I look forward to hearing more from Ron.

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