F1 Fanatic round-up: 28/7/2010

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For those of you waiting for the Predictions Championship results, they will be up in the next 24 hours.

I’m also writing for ITV-F1 again this week and my Hungarian Grand Prix preview should be up on their site later on today.

Here’s the Wednesday round-up:

Links

Bernie Ecclestone braced for loss of ‘one or two’ Formula One teams (Daily Telegraph)

“All we ever want is 10 teams. Lotus is a good name. I wouldn’t want to lose them. But in general this year has been a bit of a nuisance because it has cost money to keep these [struggling] teams in. It has cost a lot of money to pay for them to compete. The bottom line is they haven’t really and truly given us value for being there. If suddenly these teams don’t turn up at races then I don’t think the crowds will get any smaller, or the TV sets will turn off, or the newspapers will stop writing, will they?”

Durango optimistic over F1 plans (Autosport)

Ivone Pinto: “We aren’t assured to be in yet, but we are working as if we will be at the start of the 2011 season. Durango has a FIA constructor’s license, so we don’t need certifications should we decide to work autonomously.”

Acidente Formula Truck (Youtube)

Former Williams test driver Bruno Junqueira and Diumar Bueno were incredibly fortunate to escape this Formula Truck crash at Interlagos in which the cab of one of the trucks was removed:

Rustem Teregulov Big Crash ETCC 2010 Salzburgring (YouTube)

Another worrying crash from the ETCC at the Salzburgring in Austria. It seemed to take the marshals a long time to reach Russian Rustem Teregulov after this massive shunt.

Comment of the day

Rampante puts forward an interesting explanation for why fans in different countries may see the issue of team orders differently:

One key difference between fans is that in Italy the team is key and not always the driver. In the UK the majority seem to follow a driver. We are keener to see a Ferrari victory and when they win the press report it as a victory for Ferrari. The press outside Italy tend to mention the driver first.
Rampante

From the forum

Ads21 is looking for some F1 book recommendations.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Big Galah!

On this day in F1

Arrows made their 291st and final start on this day eight years ago in the German Grand Prix. Neither Heinz-Harald Frentzen nor Enrique Bernoldi finished the race.

Only Minardi managed to start more races than the team without ever winning one.

However the chassis used by Arrows that year made a surprise return to F1 four years later in the hands of Super Aguri.

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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108 comments on “F1 Fanatic round-up: 28/7/2010”

  1. I didn’t even know ITV-F1.com even existed – they lost the coverage so I wonder why they’re carrying on with the website. I will have to go on though to read Keith’s article – unless he re-posts it on here!

    1. It’s a surprisingly good site still. They have some good features and James Allen still writes for them

      1. and Keith writes for them :-D

    2. They carry on because it creates advertising revenue for them. Plus, there are some good articles on there.

  2. Like all true F1 geeks I’m currently watching some of my old season review videos. I’ve just watched highlights of the 2002 German GP, coincidentally the one mentioned above.

    Turns out Sunday’s race wasn’t the first time Felipe Massa has been forced to let his team mate by at Hockenheim. Midway through the race, Sauber radioed him: ‘Felipe, let Nick past immeadiately’. The wording is different but the message is the same. Massa must really hate that circuit!

    1. Now I’ve just watched the 2002 American GP highlights- the race where Schumacher and Barrichello crossed the line side by side. Ridiculous. Surprised more wasn’t made of that at the time

      1. I think by that point everyone had lost interest in the 2002 season!

        1. I remember just having a look at the results or maybe an edit after the middle of the year.

          The only guy in a car able to beat Schu wasn’t allowed to race him, no real point in watching.

          1. Hmm not neccessarily, after Austria Ferrari cut out the team orders. In fact, if anything they were favouring Barrichello. He went on to win 4 races in the second half of the season.

            But, as Keith has suggested above, it was a pretty awful season

          2. Ned, wasn’t that only after Michael Schumacher clinched the title little over half season so Barricello could secure his 2nd place?

          3. Yeah, I suppose it was- although Barrichello was allowed to win the European GP a couple of races before Schumacher clinched the title

  3. Those trucks are really bizarre. Where’d they come up with that idea?

    1. Its pretty crazy, but if you ever get a chance to check it out I’d recommend it; they produce some really good racing!

    2. too much aero for my tastes ;)

      1. Yer, here in Australia we have a pretty good truck series as well, but it does not get much of a following.

  4. Trucks racing is stupid… what’s the point of such enourmous machinery to be raced to the limit? it’s just plain stupid!

    1. It’s some of the funniest racing I’ve ever seen. Literally laugh-out-loud what-the-hell-is-going-on mental.

      I think they’re all limited to 100mph these days because barriers and catch fencing at racetracks isn’t really designed to stop 10 tons :D

    2. If it goes fast, you can race it – whether you think it’s stupid or not is completely up to you; lots of people think that all motorsport is pointless. I think those trucks are pretty cool – having had a few years as a truck driver (smaller ones than that), I can tell you that trucks have some pretty interesting driving characteristics of their own. I’m pretty sure it’s a bunch of fun to race them.

      1. it’s fast, but at some part of each circuit, they use a speed limiter, because it’s too dangerous…

        then, it’s pain stupid…

    3. I’m surprised to see them racing on a Grand Prix circuit, those things can do terrific amount of damage when they crash.

      1. Amazing what forces the fencing survive there.

        1. That truck crash looked so dangerous! The sport looks so much fun though. It reminds me of the people carrier racing Top Gear did a few seasons ago.

      2. the best thing about truck racing: the cars are not really built with aerodynamics in mind.it is fun to watch!

      3. Guilherme Teixeira
        28th July 2010, 21:06

        And the damage the track… São Paulo’s mayor wanted to take Formula Truck away from Interlagos because it damamged the asphalt, and it was at fault for much of the infamous bumps )(I may be wrong… if someone know this better then me, please tell us)

        1. That sounds like a series that needs expanding to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Shanghai…

          1. Nice one Keith, 100% in support.

            But i would add Valencia to the list, the trucks would really fit in with the industrial background and it might be a nice addition to the weekend (especially now the teams are not allowed to show their own trucks anymore).

  5. Magnificent Geoffrey
    28th July 2010, 1:41

    I don’t care what you say, Junqueira, Salustiano and those fans just survived a fatal accident.

    1. Yes, i’m glad to see the fencing worked and the safety cages protected those drivers. Think about a 7 tonne truck going on its back!

    2. That’s insane!

    3. WOOOW that looked very very scary.

      Like mentioned above, those truck racing has been limited in speed because of the force. Thank god!

    4. Wow, those spectators are gonna need new underwear!

    5. Some chilling screams in that video. Shows how strong the barriers are!

      1. Funny how careers turnout – Imagine ten years ago during their shootout for the Williams seat that in 2010 Jenson would be reigning F1 world champion at McLaren, while Bruno would be smashing up trucks at Interlagos!

        1. Imagine telling them, is what i meant..!

      2. heart stopping.

        1. Thank God those fans and drivers are OK!

          On a related note, I have always wanted to see that type of truck racing in person…dose anyone know of anyplace in the USA where I can see such action?

  6. I hate Ecclestone sometimes. He’s an idiot who makes statements which are completely bizarre and out of touch with fact and general opinion. Suggesting F1 only wants 10 teams. Speaking on behalf of the FIA, every aspiring team, every driver looking for a first drive, every engineer wanting a part of F1 and every fan is he?

    And the fact that Lotus aren’t a million miles ahead of virgin but are apparently worthy to stay because (despite being just as useless currently) they have a pretty name, is ridiculous. If minardi had been named auto union, brabham or even mercedes it would have made them no more or less valid to F1. Virgin’s a big brand so I don’t understand why he wants them to go anyway.

    And also regarding the accusation at the teams for not providing value for money- well, considering the budgets they operate on I’d say they produce excellent value for money, in that the small amount of cash is providing the basis for hopefully 3 teams which may well become solid midfielders (ie good competitors) and title challengers in years to come. If just one of these teams establishes itself as a perminant and interesting team then the money supporting all 3 will have been worth it. I would love to see Lotus become the next red bull. Ecclestone may as well be saying ‘how dare these teams not be winning races in their first season after we told them they were allowed to enter only months before the first race and under the pretence they would operate under a budget cap. How very dare they.’

    If we’re honest then for the new teams this year is partly a learnnig period, but mainly a survival period so they can become integral members of the sport soon.

    Of course, Ecclestone has probably spouted nonsense at every team at one point saying how unnecessary they are to the sport. That does not make this particular statement acceptable though. When Mosely tried that en masse he nearly caused a breakaway. Also Ecclestone may be tough talking for various reasons. Perhaps he hopes to give the sport more credibility by flexing his muscles to make it look like the rulers are tough and F1 is nothing but the best. But all he does is damage the image of F1 by attacking its weakest members and making the sport seem unstable, hostile and volatile- particularly to F1 fans who understand why the new teams need a break.

    I pity the team selected for next year. They will have little more time to prepare, and not only will they face the 107% rule, they will be a single team, not several, making it more difficult to justify their poor speed and presence as they have nobody at all to race against. And they will obviously immediately face Ecclestone ruining their image by telling the public how insignificant and useless they are, despite having been given a generous amount of time- all of 5 or 6 months- to design and build a car which should be capable of racing teams like Williams who have only had a few extra decades to hone their team. Rant over.

    1. Excellent rant! Feel any better now?

    2. Totally true what you are saying men, 100% agree, you said it all.
      If Bernie thinks this way, why he let 3 new teams enter the sport with no preparation at all when we all knew that this was going to happen. They are gonna get better for next year, but Bernie has to let them establish

    3. Having observed the sport for long enough, and seen the way Bernie deals with the press and the messages he sends out, I would never take anything he says too seriously.

      He’s prone to change his mind at the drop of a hat (or a pound coin) and he’ll often say things to deliberately **** people off as a tactic to keep people guessing or just to **** around with them (witness practically every interview I’ve seen him do on British TV – his answers are almost always disingenuous).

      The whole new teams thing is a cock up of massive proportions by the FIA anyway (it was only a tactic to break FOTA with a secondary aim of reducing costs, only for the teams that were let in to be only marginally viable in the first place). And of course Bernie saying he only wants 10 teams means he’s forgotten the fact that at some point over the last couple of years there was a very real risk that we would only have 7 or 8 teams on the grid this year.

      Such is the merry-go-round that we like to call Formula 1…

      Enjoy

    4. July 29 2010 Comment Of The Day!

      1. Spot on. Bernie’s forgotten to take his medicine again…

        1. Er, wasn’t it Bernie who wanted the bigger grids in the first place?

    5. 100% agree with you, these new teams are great for F1, I don’t care if they will be a lap or two down, F1 has always had teams a lap or two down anyway.

      If Bernie would get off his high horse and actually try to use his power to make F1 better, instead of constantly playing political games, imagine the improvements we could see?

      Btw the way, AFL, the Australian football league, has just brought in a robin hood style tax, where the richer clubs, are taxed and the money goes towards the smaller clubs. Why can’t F1 do that? That would make it much more attractive for new teams, and it would be a counter balance against the teams who spend 8 or so times the amount of everyone else.

      1. I hardly see the need for a “robin hood tax” in Formula 1. After all, the major teams have provided so much technical support & assistance, and Bernie has tossed all that extra start-up cash to them, as promised , so they obviously have all they need. The new teams’ polished level of competitiveness shows that the 2009 FOTA line-up and Bernie have taken good care of things.

        Ohhhhhh…..(stretch/yawn)…lovely nap just now, some sort of pleasant dream. Right, then–what are we talking discussing?

      2. major american sports have had revenue-sharing, usually with salary caps, for a long time now. i think the results are mixed – it helps level the playing field a bit, but there are some cases of teams absolutely milking it, with no intention of winning.

        all of these north american leagues are owned by the teams, something unheard of in motorsports.

  7. i’m afraid i agree with bernie. these small teams were a nice attempt, but clearly they are in a different (lower) class from the established teams. time will not improve their situations.

    irrespective of grid position, if a team does not have the resources or the competence to field an effort on a force india-type of level, then they shouldn’t be in the big league. i enjoy seeing a diverse grid, but the value of the sport is not helped when that grid is almost 50% filler.

    hrt – you got screwed by dallara, but you also need 3 pay drivers in 2 cars just to keep the lights on. you will make it past 2010, but only on f1rejects.com. adios!

    virgin – simtek, part 2. branson didn’t make his money by spending it, and even brawn gp barely got him to open his wallet. good night, good knight!

    lotus – i like the lotus name, the lotus colors and the lotus history. of the new teams, lotus is the only one with a chance at survival and potential success.

    str – nothing personal, but you were founded as a grid-filling sham, and i think your livery is extremely annoying. ciao!

    unfortunately, i don’t think ferrari’s 3-car plans are the answer either. other than the big 3 (sorry, merc) nobody could afford it. that, and i don’t want to lose williams, force india, sauber etc.

    1. “i don’t want to lose williams, force india, sauber etc.”

      whoops, there’s not much left after sauber, so forget the et cetera.

      also, there wouldn’t be any room for the next red bull or williams or whoever can make a serious world championship entry.

    2. I for one welcome the teams.

      I don’t see why people expect them to be on the pace after a few races.

      I seem to remember most of the pack being off of the pace during the 80’s and 90’s. In my head the cars at the back were doing a far worse job.

      1. The new teams offer opportunities to new drivers as well. Alonso, Webber, Barrichello, Shumacher etc all started at the back of the grid.

        Jordan and Minardi were “slow teams” during the early 90’s, but now they are seen as midfield runners in the forms of Force India and Torro Rosso. I think people would be sad to lose those teams now.

        New teams, like any new business, need time to build a solid structure to progress over a number of years. If they could just turn up and be on the pace, then the established teams have gone wrong somewhere.

      2. i expect them to be on pace because this is supposed to be a world championship. hrt belongs there like i belong in the olypmics.

        you’re asking for life, andrea moda and fondmetal. i’m asking for audi, peugeot and prodrive.

        1. I’d imagine even they would not be on the pace yet, and if they were how pathetic does that make the teams ho have been running for years look? I know I wouldn’t hold them in such high regard any more.

          Can you give one example of a brand new team going from no set up to being competitive in six months to a year?

          Plus audi, peugeot and prodrive clearly don’t want to be a part of F1 at the moment.

          1. force india took a year and a half to reach 2nd place in spa 2009. not exactly starting from scratch, but i’d call it pretty close.

            yes, privateers have tons of character, and i want that to remain. however, the name of the game is competitive effort. super best friends couldn’t compete with mclaren. they couldn’t even compete with their honda alter-ego.

            take a look at frank williams’ operation. hardly some kook hammering sheetmetal in his shed.
            http://www.attwilliams.com/gallery#tab3

          2. I don’t think you can really use Force India as an example though. The base of that team dates back to the early 90’s.

            And Williams have been running for a very very long time now. I know they are established, they are a prime example of what can be done when given time to build a successful operation, which the new teams need.

          3. ‘force india took a year and a half to reach 2nd place in spa 2009’

            Trouble is you haven’t given the new teams a year and a half. If things haven’t changed in a year, then your arguement will make some sense. And even if you had given the teams a year and a half, force india had far longer as various other teams, meaning that there were also a group of people constant and working towards an established team, even if various members of staff and management did appear/disappear.

        2. Also, sorry to keep going on here, but I think F1 as a sport is richer for having personal teams run by the likes of Frank Williams, Peter Sauber, and Eddie Jordan.

          I quite like the mix of faceless motoring corporates and privately run teams.

          1. looks like we’re running out of room, and taking over the daily round-up. i really need to get my forum account straightened out :)

          2. Haha yeah, we have taken up lots of room here. :D

    3. irrespective of grid position, if a team does not have the resources or the competence to field an effort on a force india-type of level, then they shouldn’t be in the big league

      f1yankee, keep in mind that as recently as 2 years ago, Force India couldn’t “field an effort on a force india-type of level”. It takes a bit to really get running smoothly from a scratch start-up, whatever some folks might say. Been there, done that, in other series–it’s tough to even get started, and nearly impossible to be truly competitive first year out. Yes, I know, 2009 Brawn GP. But that was Honda rebadged after Honda had spent several hundred million developing that car AND stolen the march on the other teams with the double diffuser AND with a wicked-fast Merc motor. NOT your normal start-from-scratch team.

  8. Italy gets behind Ferrari so strongly I think because I can’t think of too many Italian drivers who have fought for the championship in recent years, can anyone name the last one? So of course they are more likely to support the team first. I’m sure they would love to see three Ferrari’s on the grid.

    1. Alboreto… Badoer really doesn’t count…

    2. Fisicella, sort of.

      1. Trulli came 6th in the WDC in 2004…

        1. Fisi and Trulli might have made it closer to a title were it not for Alonso.

      2. Hey… what about Luca Badoer! Luca!

    3. Patrese’s 2nd place in 92, just a mere 52 points behinds Mansell.

  9. That is the old Bernie Ecclestone we know always thinks of money first then comes rest of the world for him.

  10. Hey Keith, can I suggest putting a link to the Prediction Championship in the menu at the top of the page.

    1. Click on ‘Community’, it’s in there.

      1. I know that it is.

  11. Keith congrats on another race preview article on itv. I took a beating in the last race with picking Alonso down in the points. Looking for some insight on where the teams stand on the Hungary track.

  12. I have an idea, Bernie. Why not let go of some of those pennies that you squeeze out of every last pocket of every last race organizer and put it towards the struggling teams? I’m sure you can do without one of your 12 jets next year.

  13. Why not go even further Bernie, we don’t really need STR or Sauber either, and based on what you said you never would have let Force India into F1 in the first place, so they can go too. Lets apply your logic further, Williams aren’t what they once were and they are just operating on the back of a “great name” so they can go as well. Likewise for Mercedes. And as for Renault, well they aren’t really a manufacturer team anymore, so they can go. Who’s left, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull. I guess they can stay, but if we had applied Bernie’s logic in the early 200’s Red Bull wouldn’t have go into F1 either.

    Statements like this make my blood boil. F1 needs the teams at the back just as much as the teams at the front. True F1 fans like us have been following the battle at the back just as closely as the battle at the front, and to essentially say F1 doesn’t need Lotus, Virgin and HRT is just stupid. Sure they don’t sell newspapers, but they add an extra angle for the fans. F1 grids are currently too samll, and if we start dismissing teams because they don’t fit into Bernie’s vision or because they mean Bernie only earns 100 million dollars instead of 130 million dollars, we are going to end up with a 14 or 16 car grid, just like MotoGP, and that is sad.

    1. “F1 grids are currently too samll”

      the grid is currently at 92% of its 26 car capacity.

    2. As far as Bernie is concerned, i think this is the thing he cares about most:

      “All we ever want is 10 teams,” he said. “Lotus is a good name. I wouldn’t want to lose them. But in general this year has been a bit of a nuisance because it has cost money to keep these [struggling] teams in. It has cost a lot of money to pay for them to compete.

      I do think these teams added a lot. Bahrain would have been a complete bore if not for them and look at the action in Monaco. Who has not had a thought for them battling technical gremlins, who did not like the intense fight for Lotus to get into Q2 at times. And have brought even comedy relief with Yamamoto pushing the wrong buttons last Sunday and before with the Virgin fuel tank. How’s that “they haven’t really and truly given us value for being there”

      1. Actually I think the most important part is “The bottom line is they haven’t really and truly given us value for being there.”

        It’s true in a way. Noone would switch off if these new teams went. Most of the time when they’re in the press it’s because of something bad like how slow they are or that Yamamoto is a disaster and just there to keep a weak team alive.

        Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we have new blood and some feisty new teams who will try to build something great and contribute to F1 but if they collapse or go we’ll have forgetten about them in a week. Moving on from just talking about the new teams who are in the weakest position and the easiest to go, F1 doesn’t really need certain names like Williams and Ferrari but they do bring some added depth. They’re a bit stronger but the sport could still survive without them.

  14. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/ferrari/7911426/F1-German-Grand-Prix-ludicrous-ban-on-team-orders-should-be-scrapped.html

    Not sure if people have seen this but DC having been on the receiving end of team orders now has a pretty straightforword opinion on them

    1. I’m really getting bored with how pro-Red-Bull DC is all the time. BBC commentators are supposed to be impartial…!

      1. i’m not sure where you’re getting any pro-red bull from dc, let alone enough to be bored. in fact, dc’s statements since sunday’s race have been the exact opposite of what red bull’s team principal has been saying.

    2. If the FIA removed the ban for team orders I’ll stop watching F1. I don’t want to sit and watch a race for 1hr10mins and for the team to then decide who’s going to be the “Winner”.

      If Fernando was “faster” then shouldn’t he have been able to overtake Massa? Ok I know that once you get close to the car in front there is dirty air etc… But he screwed up at the start and Massa took the opertunity to slip past BOTH Fernando and Vettle, that is what makes a racer, not raw speed!

      1. what do you think you’ve been watching all this time? you’re not upset about team orders, you’re upset it wasn’t sugar-coated this time.

      2. This is good evidence to support Rampante’s Comment of the Day.

        Ferrari fans watch F1 to see Ferrrari win and expect their drivers to do what is best for the team (including one of them bringing the ‘TEAM’ the WDC).

        I was screaming for them to move Massa before the end of the third lap!
        You’ll probably think that based on this reaction I’m an Alonso fan, but I’m not.
        I’m a Ferrari fan and the best thing for Ferrari right now is to put their support behind Alonso to win the WDC.

        1. including one of them bringing the ‘TEAM’ the WDC But that’s a contradiction, surely? The team wins the constructors’ championship and the driver wins the drivers’ championship – it is not down to the team to win the drivers’ championship for Alonso by moving his rivals out of the way.

          1. Yes, in a literal translation of the meanings of the two championships it is a contradiction. But, surely you can appreciate that both championships are awarded to the best ‘package’ and that a driver cannot claim the WDC without a good car beneath him. Bringing the WDC to the team is a better consolation than the team coming second in the WCC.

            Besides, If Alonso wins the WDC and the team loses the WCC then we the Ferrari fans can say ‘we had the better car but Massa screwed up the championship for us’
            or something along those lines… :)

  15. When trucks make love.

  16. Interesting to see the Spanish press fighting Alonso’s corner. This is a new article, it’s not from two years ago:

    http://www.as.com/motor/articulo/mclaren-ordeno-2008-kovalainen-dejar/dasmot/20100727dasdasmot_6/Tes

    1. But there is no evidence of team orders over the radio or otherwise for Kov moving over.

      The ignorance baffles me.

      1. I don’t see the relevance. At worst you could say that McLaren should have been punished for that too.

        Don’t forget, this was in the haydays of FIA anti McLaren sentiment.

        If Alan Donnelly had had the slightest whiff that he could punish McLaren for team orders, he really would have.

        The fact is that Hamilton went past Massa and Piquet in a similarly easy fashion. I doubt people would claim that they were ordered to let Hamilton past.

  17. Rampante is spot on.

    I wonder if McLaren is starting to become more and more the ‘British’ team as they begin to move away from Mercedes, and especially because all the other UK based teams have financial backing from elsewhere.

    1. It sure is an interesting thought and helps understand why Ferrari seem so ignorant to the fans crying foul, as they did not really influence anything big there (in their own view).

  18. Just read this report of comments from Mr Ecclestone

    http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/24557.html

    Is he real??

    HRT aside, and they did have a load of **** to deal with, I think the new teams have done a splendid job considering they started from scratch in am extremely competitive environment. I wouldn’t want to see any of the new teams fall off this year, or next, or beyond, HRT included.

    The fact is, in the main, they are all qualifying within the 107% rule… and that says a lot compared to the “tail-enders” of the 80’s and 90’s!

    1. That’s just a regurgitation of the Telegraph story.

      1. Cheers Keith, LOL!! I realise what I’ve just done… what a numpty!!

        :-)

  19. I think the ETCC has to seriously look into track safety and marshalling procedures.

    Compare to the accident with the trucks in Interlagos, the marshalls are present immediately including a tow truck.

  20. That’s an interesting read from Durango. Especially after Jaques denied any involvement of Ghadaffi’s son.

    Maybe he’s not a partner personally, but it seems he’s certainly there through his companies.

    the group of backers is very mixed and geographically it comes from different places, for example a Libyan company interested to get into F1.”

    1. Yeah, it certainly sounds like Ghadaffi’s son may be involved…

  21. Crikey, those are some mighty crashes!

  22. What amazes me about that truck crash footage is that they stuck a cameraman by the door of the upside down truck not really knowing what sort of horrifying images they might be about to broadcast!

  23. Some more info from Ferrari. At spa they will have a new smaller gearbox and significant changes to the rear suspension. The work has been done to improve the outlets on the blown diffuser and increase rear grip. The gearbox was in development for next year but so much has been done it’s being brought forward. After falling behind in the first 7 races the progress they have done and seem to be doing may well get them to the sharp end of the leader board. Controversy aside it’s good to see (for a Ferrari fan).

    1. Great to hear Ferrari have pulled their development up and are now to stay at the front or thereabouts.

      1. Ferrari has certainly out-developed everyone in the middle of the season, after a pretty slow rate of development at the start of the season.

        1. Or you could say that Ferrari were falling well behind and now have cought back up again.

  24. When Bernie speaks, there’s always a deeper message.
    Maybe he’s mad because of his good relations with the Chandoks?
    Or maybe he just wants to bring it to the attention that viring and hrt are up for sale or needs some good backers soon.. the word is out now.

    He has a point that both won’t be missed very much, but give them time indeed.

  25. Here’s my Hungarian GP preview for ITV-F1:

    http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=General&id=48944

    1. Great read Keith!

  26. off topic but check out darren heath’s blog.

    http://www.darrenheath.com/season/2010/germany-2010/blog/flexible-friends

    ‘busy tracking the F1 cars careening around the flat-out Turn 3, registered similar entry speeds for the MGP W01 and the RB6.

    A few seconds later, at the corner’s exit, things had changed. The Red Bull was pulling away with a 12kph advantage.’

  27. Thought i’d post this here as its funny!! (well in my opinion) Keith hope you dont mind.

    The Official Reason why Fernando was faster than Massa!!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsQwQGvoLJk

    #2 is a classic reason

    1. That is classic, thanks for sharing :)

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