F1 Fanatic round-up: 18/3/2010

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No Grand Prix this weekend – what will you be doing instead? Watching some other kind of racing? Adjusting your body clock to a time zone closer to Australia and Malaysia for the next two rounds? Let us know in the comments.

Here’s today’s round-up:

Links

Lopez critical of US F1 team (Autosport)

“As soon as I arrived in Charlotte in February, I realised that everything they were saying was not true. What happened to us was unthinkable: in 60 years of Formula 1 it never happened that a team signed up and didn’t make it. They hid things from us.”

Lotus boosted by $9 million Petrobras deal (James Allen)

The colour schemes are an obvious match – is the new teams are already pulling in new sponsors that can only be good for the sport.

Comment of the day

In the Bahrain Grand Prix track poll earlier this week just 2% of readers said they wanted to see the longer version of the circuit used again next year. GeeMac summed up why:

The "New Grand Prix Track" is a joke, and making use of it for the opening race of the most widely anticipated Formula One season in recent memory was a huge mistake. The slow fiddly section offered nothing new and helped contribute to a massive field spread in Sakhir.

I had my doubts about Bahrain hosting the opening race of the season long before the decision to use the "New" section of track was taken, because Bahrain has tended to host quite dull processional races anyway. A massive fail by F1 Management and the FIA.

Site updates

I’ve given the F1 information page a spring-clean and updated several of the pages.

The F1 statistics section in particular was long overdue a lick of paint. Head in there now via the menu tab at the top of the page and you can find detailed statistics on the 2009 season within a couple of clicks (with one exception – the British Grand Prix analysis has broken and I need to re-build it).

This is also where you can find all the 2010 F1 season statistics including the new F1 driver form guides which I’m doing for the first time this year. Hopefully these will prove very useful for settling arguments about which team mate did best…

Happy birthday!

We’re going through a bit of a birthday-less streak at the moment, though there’s quite a few coming up at the end of the month.

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Happy birthday to Timo Glock who turns 28 today.

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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60 comments on “F1 Fanatic round-up: 18/3/2010”

  1. “what will you be doing instead? Watching some other kind of racing? Adjusting your body clock to a time zone closer to Australia and Malaysia for the next two rounds?”

    I imagine this weekend I’ll be trying to write another essay I have in for Monday, I’m also trying to write one atm but am finding myself prcrastinating on F1 sites with alarming regularity …

    1. Barney Gumble
      18th March 2010, 11:40

      I know what you mean. I got my last essay of term finished yesterday, but even though I spent practically the entire day sat beside my laptop I spent far more time surfing t’interweb than working, even though (F1 2010 aside) it was a bit of a slow news day for F1

  2. Going to try and get some bits together to go with my go kart seat and build a racing sim for my 360…ready for F1 2010 :-) !!

  3. I’ll be trying to follow the 12 hours of Sebring this weekend, but with absolutelty no television coverage here in Australia it will be difficult.

    1. I’m gonna try and find a torrent of the Brazilian Indy grand prix and watch that. The beauty of free weekends!

      1. Good luck on finding that torrent. Have worn myself out looking, these past 2 days. If you run across one, let me know please.

        1. Mark Hitchcock
          18th March 2010, 15:20

          Just saw the crash at the start of that race. That’s why we need Sato back in F1, he would have spiced up the Bahrain GP!

      2. I’m the same as dsob, I can’t find one. I’d love to know if anyone has tracked one down.

        1. Can’t find one anywhere. You’d have thought someone in America would have recorded, ripped, and uploaded it. Oh well.

  4. I’ll be watching Sebring on Speed and hoping it’s more entertaining than Boorain was.

  5. ‘Adjusting your body clock to a time zone closer to Australia and Malaysia for the next two rounds?’
    LOL!

    also, i take it the forum won’t be up in a while? sounds like a major problem!

    1. I think we need to go to one of those ‘build you own forum for free’ websites to set up a temporary unofficial F1Fanatic fan forum! Just until the regular one is back online.

  6. This week, I shall mostly be eating taramosalata.

    /Fast Show

  7. Keith, I’d be glad to help out with the forums in any capacity. I don’t know what the problem originally was, but I assume you still have the database backup, so it’s no big deal migrating it to another forum software or making it usable with the same wordpress software. There’s seriously a lot of value in keeping the forums since your website is gaining so much traffic lately.

    Let me know anytime. Thanks.

  8. well , I’ll head to the yasmarina circuit in abudhabi for inaugral drag races at the brand new drag racing centre.

  9. Probably go to the beach, that is if the cyclone doesn’t hit.

  10. Ill be watching highlights of the Bathurst 12 Hour on Saturday and replays of the support races from last weekends Clipsal 500 on Sunday.

    And between all that I’ve got to write an essay on Lord of the Flies and write up a science prac :(

    1. Oh god no, not Lord of the Flies… I remember doing that for GCSEs.

      Just watch Lost instead, similar vein, but far more interesting.

      1. “Oh god no, not Lord of the Flies” You have my sympathies too MPJ1994!

    2. Haha, did that earlier this school year for my Scottish Highers!
      Actually planned my critical essay while sort of watching the delayed Brazil quali!!

  11. A combination of working, lazing around and buying a new cabinet for the bedroom.

  12. I’ll be getting my little yacht ready for the first race of the season.

    It may come as a surprise to some F1 followers but in yacht racing we regularly overtake each other and most people have a good season now and then.

    The cost of yachts varies quite a bit, my son’s is worth about £9,000 (and is a fairly frequent winner) and one in this series cost at least £150,000 (and also quite often wins).

    All participants are amateurs, there are no sponsors and there is an internationally agreed procedure to sort out any protests.

    It is called SPORT.

    1. Tell us more about this “sport”.

  13. Heading down to Belfast to see David Coulthard in action with his Red Bull.

    1. i heard about that i live in monaghan and was thinkin of headin up to see that event, is there any details out about it yet?

  14. Glad there’s no GP this weekend, sooo much homework!
    Get oi

    it all done then have a free weekend next week to watch all the sessions in Australia :)

    1. Get oi

      it all done:

      should be: get it all done

  15. McLaren formally launches its road car division today according to the BBC

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8572513.stm

  16. This weekend is my Stag do in Holland!

    1. Congrats Chris. Enjoy the stag do and wedding and all the very best :)

    2. The Comedian 39
      18th March 2010, 10:30

      have a good time :D best wishes for the wedding :)

    3. Barney Gumble
      18th March 2010, 11:42

      Have fun! But- assuming you’re in Amsterdam- stay well clear of the red light district!!

  17. I’ll be celebrating my friend’s return from uni this weekend. My other friend is having a birthday trip next week and I had to politely decline thanks to the Aus GP. She wasn’t pleased.

  18. in 60 years of Formula 1 it never happened that a team signed up and didn’t make it.

    Seriously, Jose, ever heard of Prodrive? Clearly he doesn’t read any F1 forums as it’s all most people have been bleating about for the last three years.

    1. Thank you! Some one said it. Would he have rather had the USF1 team show up for one or two races, may or may not race, and pull out? Examples of F1 teams who had either awful luck or awful organization included: Lola, Super Aguri, DAMS*, Dome*, Arrows, Prost, Lotus (prior), etc. During their final years, every last one of these teams left their drivers in a lurch as bad or worse than the one Lopez finds himself in now. If he truly sent out this press release (cause some of the USF1 stuff was complete BS, up to and including the claim that they had a car), he needs to hire a fact checker before he makes an absolute @55 out of himself.

      Most of these are pulled from a local link:
      https://www.racefans.net/2007/07/11/the-f1-cars-that-never-raced/
      and:
      http://www.rediff.com/sports/2008/may/07slide2.htm

      *Never even made it to a race

    2. The USF1 website has been updated, sort of. I guess they are trying to rewrite history. The post about Lopez being signed has simply disappeared.

      Compare:
      http://www.usgpe.com

      http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache:Sb-MifITUAkJ:www.usgpe.com/+usgpe&cd=1&hl=fi&ct=clnk&gl=fi

  19. Going to Bristol for the NASCAR race! Looks like rain though.. :(

  20. Don’t know if you’ve seen this, but a moving piece on John Surtees as he talks about the loss of his son, Henry, and organ donation in this Daily Mail article.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1257697/Racing-legend-John-Surtees-tells-agonising-decision-faced-sons-freak-fatal-accident.html

  21. Going back to India this weeken. I have preponed (and had to tolerate some real scary staring from my boss!!)the trip as cant even think to miss Aus GP :)

  22. Keith, I need a little bit of help from you. In university our enlish lecturer told us to find a blog and read it for a month and then to present it in front of class. It wasn’t a problem, becuase I’ve been reading your blog for 2 years now, but I don’t know how to present your blog in sophisticated way and the D-day is tomorrow, so can you help me. You are a proffesional and I think that you can present your blog best. so if you have a spare minute, help me a bit

    1. Left it a bit late haven’t you :)

      1. A little bit, but I’ll handle:D

      2. I was up till 6 doing a report a couple of months ago. Up till 4 30 doing a project last week. Leaving it late is just what we do.

        1. is there any other way to do it? :P

    2. Start out by saying how the blog has grown. Show that he posts timely summaries and results from each Practice session, qualifying session, and the race itself. Then say something about how he integrates the readers into the discussion (like “rate the race”).

    3. The most important news. All about the race. A lot of history. And the best place for free discussions. If you don’t know nothing about Formula 1, but you want to know, just start with F1 Fanatic :).

  23. You all have so much nice things to do. Writing essays and stuff and traveling and building cabinets for the bedroom or get drunk on a party.
    I have to go visit my mother in law. 8)

    1. Hey, remember your mother in law is just an older version of your wife…

  24. Mark Hitchcock
    18th March 2010, 14:34

    I would be watching the last 3 games of the 6 Nations on Saturday but I’m going to a gig in the evening instead, it had better be good!
    Although it might be a good thing to miss the France v England match, we’re gonna be convincingly beaten judging by what they did to Ireland and Wales and how rubbish we were against Scotland.

  25. Nice spring weather and no race means it’s time to get out and paint with a friend this weekend. :)

  26. Not F1 news, but still interesting: Motorland Aragon has replaced the Baltonring in Hungary on the 2010 Moto GP calender. That means there are now 4 Spanish rounds in the championship!

    1. Might as well rename it the ‘Spanish MotoGP Championship’….

  27. I’ll be in a beach house with some friends and a lot of beers

  28. “McLaren buys back Mercedes shares”
    Whitmarsh also revealed that McLaren has consulted its Maranello-located competitors with regards to cooperating with one another, having talked with Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo last week. “Our message there was, ‘We want to race with you,'” Martin explained. “‘Where are you going to go? Why don’t we go together?'”

    Very, very interesting. I wish they went off racing together on a new Can-Am or some other new venture in the U.S. or in historic racetracks.
    Ferrari has Chrysler as their brothers in USA, and McLaren also wants a presence in the US

    This is definitely a thread to follow. Even if it is not strickly F1, Keith you should follow these new events on your website and we will keep coming back to read and comment all about it
    Cheers

  29. HounslowBusGarage
    18th March 2010, 18:55

    This weekend, hmmm?
    I have three VAT returns and a set of company accounts to finalise.
    Deep joy.

  30. this weekend I will go and have a look at a furnace for our new house, care for our little boy of three months, go to a play where my nephew is in, drive my Alfa Spider 1973 (which is for sale, but you have to drive such a car to keep her in good condition), get some packing done and hopefully be able to play the piano a bit

  31. Can’t wait for the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. Hardly any races at Albert Park are dull, so it should put to bed the fears that every race will be like Bahrain, with its poor layout.

  32. Thanks for my first quote of the day Keith! Really feel like party of the F1F family now!

  33. Any Australians might be interested to know that the TV show 60 Minutes is doing a story on Mark Webber this week. It’s on Sunday night at 7:30pm.

  34. I feel sorry for Lopez…

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