Here’s today’s round-up:
Links
Thanks to Kristian Eriksen for the tip!
Bernie Ecclestone’s Porsche Panamera for sale (Auto Trader)
Surprised he’s not flogging it himself, given that he once was a used car salesman. I suspect no-one who didn’t know that before was surprised to learn it.
Comment of the day
In the discussion about pit lane safety F1yankee was one of several commenters to make this excellent point about starter motors on F1 engines:
Another thing is self-starting cars. Anti-stall is good, increasing safety and keeping cars in the race, but starter motors would take both a step further. Also it would make for a more legitimate automobile and add to the technical challenge.
F1yankee
From the forum
Slr asks would Nick Heidfeld be doing a better job than Michael Schumacher?
Happy birthday!
No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. 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
Michele Alboreto won the German Grand Prix on this day 25 years ago. It was the Italian driver’s final win in F1.
SoLiDG (@solidg)
4th August 2010, 0:06
A starter engine would be great. But they need to put it in the rules or they will never do this for a simple thing and that is weight!
mark
4th August 2010, 8:20
Even if it were put in the rules the teams would make them so light that they would never work apart from maybe 1 time (in the FiA scruterneering!)
Bernard (@bernard)
4th August 2010, 12:05
Maybe we could add headlights, cigarette lighter and a CD multi-changer in there too? ;)
Patrickl
5th August 2010, 9:22
What’s the point of a starter engine?
US_Peter (@us_peter)
4th August 2010, 0:14
That game continues to look more and more extensive and realistic, but I’m starting to think that if I get it, what little free time I have would be sucked into a black hole.
Sush Meerkat
4th August 2010, 8:16
I hope its not too realistic, I don`t want to have to block the air vents on my PS3 with my knees in order for the F Duct to work.
Maciek
4th August 2010, 8:31
That’s pretty good, Sush, lol.
dragon
4th August 2010, 11:30
Can you imagine if they actually found a way of implementing that?
One can dream…
for the time being, rFactor will have to continue to sate my needs!
Seriously, with the budget and the knowledge of what’s expected (not to mention Ant Davidson on board) if Codemasters don’t get this right, I’m not going to be a happy chappy.
Calum
4th August 2010, 15:17
On the Wii you move the nunchuck and block like the ferrari and redbull fducts ;)
Sush Meerkat
4th August 2010, 17:32
haha Calum, I suppose you slam the controllers into the wall whenever your in a Merc and want to defend.
studi06
5th August 2010, 5:20
LMAO.. I love it, comment of the day for mine ;-)
f1yankee
4th August 2010, 0:21
why, thank you!
after owning some cars that wouldn’t start, and some that would, i definitely prefer the latter :D
Spud (@)
4th August 2010, 0:47
That game is looking sweeter by the day!!!
September 24th can’t come soon enough!!
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
4th August 2010, 2:26
£95,990 for Bernie’s Porsche don’t look a bad bargain for him as Keith said he was a salesman so he will do his business good here.
Sush Meerkat
4th August 2010, 8:11
Yes but he`s put a 7% escalator for whenever you want to drive it.
DGR-F1
4th August 2010, 11:11
So, what has he traded up too? And do we care? :-)
Feynman
4th August 2010, 14:35
Can you imagine turning up on the doorstep and trying to haggle Bernie down.
By the time he was done with you, you’d be lucky to leave with just your underwear and a bus-ticket.
inc0mmunicado
4th August 2010, 4:25
Next year, why not them use KERS for the starter motor? All that needs to be done is remove the ridiculous minimum speed limit restrictions!
inc0mmunicado
4th August 2010, 4:25
*why not let them*
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
4th August 2010, 8:25
Um, because KERS doesn’t work that way. The battery stores energy that would otherwise be lost under braking, so it only works when the car is acutally running. The reason why the cars have to get up to a certain speed in order to charge the battery is because there isn’t enough energy released under braking before that speed is reached.
Feynman
4th August 2010, 15:02
Um, technically it does work that way, it’s a battery that stores energy, used to power a motor that is connected to the crank.
In the real world, such an arrangement would usually be called a starter motor.
I doubt you’d have much luck with the current hobbled toy KERS turning over an F1 engine; you’d also need to carry extra re-start battery capacity, not used during a lap, in case you need to start after using your normal KERS quotient (although most system last year already had 160% capacity), and by the time you had added extra gearing and clutches to prevent backfire damage on the tricky restart, well it all starts to get a bit bulky again.
But either way, I don’t think any of that affects the validity of the original poster’s comment.
Post 2011, and with fewer capacity restrictions, if teams were ever mandated to fit a starter motor, I’d imagine their first stop would down the corridor at the KERS workshop to see what could be repurposed.
Ken
4th August 2010, 5:01
As for the F1 2010 game, I wonder if the developers will reposition the Ferrari and Red Bull mirrors in the final build.
Mike
5th August 2010, 11:31
I’d rather hope it would be like (some!) rFactor mods, where the cars update and change, (at least in visual) thought a season (if you select everything perfectly).
GeeMac
4th August 2010, 5:46
Man I can’t wait for the 24th of September!
Nothing about the continued links between Williams and major motor manufacturers Keith? Saw something on ScarbsF1 about a possible link between Williams and Opel in the DTM.
BasCB
4th August 2010, 7:24
That game looks very good and with a great depth to it. I will refrain from buying it, as it would make me have to stop watching races for lack of time.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
4th August 2010, 7:29
F1 2010 is looking fantastic. And to make things even better, Codies have just announced DIRT 3, due out next year.
schumi_the_greatest
4th August 2010, 8:44
game does look great the bits from the pits look superb!
cant wait for it to come out now! Just hope they get the A1 to perform better than in previous tittles where they never put up a fight and were easy to defend against!
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
4th August 2010, 9:35
AI is very difficult to program.
Dave
4th August 2010, 9:49
Good news for those that struggle to watch the pre-race bits for races such as the Japanese GP: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/7925699/Formula-1-to-be-presented-by-female-for-first-time.html
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
4th August 2010, 10:08
Glad to see for McKenzie, weird article though – some odd formatting errors and a year-old quote lifted from the Daily Mail.
Rob
4th August 2010, 11:57
The author seems to have got Martin Brundle’s and EJ’s roles a bit mixed up, unless the race is going to be commentated on by EJ and Jonathan Leggard…
Might have to switch to the 5 Live audio (or the CBBC commentary) for that race!
Patrickl
5th August 2010, 12:16
Why is it such a big deal that a woman is going to be the presenter of an F1 show anyway? It’s just another presenting job.
In the Netherlands they had a similar show which was hosted by an Actor and a (female) music vdeo host. Although that show was more about presenting the sponsors and making some money. It did include a race review and driver comments.
BasCB
4th August 2010, 12:04
What do you think of Bernie’s proclamation, that the Korean GP is going to happen, even if it will not be a sellout as Korean and international companies are reluctant to book their corporate VIP tickets and the political situation is far from easy currently?
http://adamcooperf1.com/2010/08/03/korean-gp-is-happening-ecclestone-insists/
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
4th August 2010, 12:24
When was the last time a Grand Prix was not held because VIP tickets were not sold?
The only things that are going to stop the Korean Grand Prix are a) the circuit is not complete in time or b) an invasion of North Korea.
BasCB
4th August 2010, 12:28
From what Bernie says the a) is very unlikely as it’s already all but finished and Bernie might still hold the GP even if b) occurs from what he claims in the article.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
5th August 2010, 11:26
It depends. If North Korea invades the South, then all bets are off. However, if the United States intervenes and is able to wrap things up relatively quickly (North Korea, unlike Afghanistan and Iraq, is not overflowing with religious zealots, so it’s unlikely there will be much resistance if Pyongyang falls quickly – and given the drawn-out occupation of Iraq, I doubt anyone in the US Military High Command will want Kim Jong-il paraded around before the cameras; dead is dead, whether he’s put on trial and executed or simply blown away in an air strike), then there’s a chance the race can still happen. But the Korean Grand Prix represents a massive international event; the drivers and teams alone represent sixteen different nations. And that’s not counting individual team personnel, or spectators. Now, Kim Jong-il might be crazy, but he’s also fairly predictable. On the other hand, though, we know next to nothing about his advisors other than that they are his most trusted people. If Kim were killed in an attack and one of his advisors survived, they may be willing to launch a counter-attack, and the Grand Prix would be a nice, soft target. If the North Koreans knew the race was on and how many individual nations were represented, they could well launch a rocket attack on the site as a final “SCREW YOU!” to America and the wider world. Sure, Seoul and Tokyo and Busan and Kyoto would make for more dramatic targets, especially if the North has a nuclear device with which they can go around pointing at people and threatening them with – but any invasion of the North would absolutely require the Americans to target any site they believe capable to launching a nuclear device from before they even thought about hitting Pyongyang because they can’t afford to take the chance that Pyongyang might retaliate with a nuclear blast. In the absence of nuclear devices, Pyongyang’s range will be limited and there is little guarantee that a strike on somewhere like Seoul would be effective. But Jeonam is will within the range of some of North Korea’s shorter-range missiles (they can hit Seoul with conventional artillery if they try hard enough). There is a very distinct possibility that Kim or anyone who would take control of the country in the event of his death could see the Korean Grand Prix as the perfect platform to make a statement to the world.
And that’s totally unacceptable.
Mike
5th August 2010, 12:26
The problem of US-China relations would probably keep the US out…
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
5th August 2010, 13:59
China and Russia only tolerate North Korea because they share a border. If the North Koreans start a war, China won’t want anything to do with them regardless of their feelings towards Washington. If America starts the war, China may support North Korea, but not for long – such a scenario would likely degenerate into a repeat of Vietnam. If America moves against Pyongyang – probably because the North have nuclear weapons – they won’t do so without first talking to China about it.
Whatever the case, the only way the Korean Grand Prix could go ahead in the event of a war is if America manages to take out Kim and his inner circle, put pro-Western or South Korean administrators in charge, manipulate the North Koreans into believing Kim is still alive (he has a massive cult of personality) and is in hiding until such time as it is safe (not out of character because he is deeply paranoid and very anti-social), then stage a withdrawal and let the North Koreans believe that they won the war as that “Kim’s” people – really put in place by the Americans – led them to that victory. But they’d have to get every last one of Kim’s advisors because if they don’t and word gets out that Kim is dead when the Americans are trying to make everyone believe he is alive, it’s all over. The Americans will get one shot at a very risky strategy, but it’s the only way to remove Kim and his dynasty from power with a minimal loss of life.
BasCB
4th August 2010, 12:11
I just picked up an idea of a 2011 calendar at Joe Saward (http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/a-2011-calendar/). According to him it was published in Germany and off unclear origin, but the dates make some sense.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
4th August 2010, 12:19
It’s been posted on a few sites now, it’s a copy of one Dieter Rencken suggested two weeks ago.
BasCB
4th August 2010, 12:27
Ah, i’ve been slow to pick that up. Is there any credibility to it?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
4th August 2010, 12:27
It’s an unofficial calendar. No-one knows who penned it, and no-one is coming forward to confirm it. Typically, Saward has not bothered to check his sources.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
4th August 2010, 12:29
I should clarify: I say that as an opinion. Having followed his blog before I found this one and Adam Cooper, I’m of the belief that Saward is not a very high-quality journalist. He occasionally gets thing right, but for the most part, I feel it reads a bit like a tabloid rather than an actual newspaper at times.
BasCB
4th August 2010, 12:32
To be fair to Saward, from the tone of his post on this it does not sound like he is convinced by the calender.
But your right, it is a bit on/off with his posts.
BasCB
4th August 2010, 12:31
Keith, i just saw your “Good weekend, Bad weekend” on ITV, nice one.
http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=General&id=49010
Calum
4th August 2010, 13:59
March 13, Bahrain
March 27, Australia
April 3, Malaysia
April 17, China
April 24, Korea
May 15, Spain
May 29, Monaco
June 12, Canada
June 26, Turkey
July 10, Britain
July 24, Germany
July 31, Hungary
August 21, Belgium
August 28, Europe (Valencia)
September 11, Italy
September 25, Singapore
October 9, India
October 23 Japan
October 30, Brazil
November 13, Abu Dhabi
chris sz
4th August 2010, 15:51
i know why bernie is selling his car: he realised he’s too old to drive and i’m sure that porsche comes mith a seat booster.
just joking ;-)
f1yankee
4th August 2010, 22:45
http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-austin-track-to-cost-180m/
The Austin F1 track will cost $180m to build, according to documents given to the Statesman newspaper.
The paper requested information on the project and despite them being marked ‘confidential,’ they were released by City Hall.
Aside from quoting the cost of building the track, the documents contend that the project will require 1500 construction workers, and that 1200 people will be employed over the Grand Prix weekend. There will also be 40 full time employees at the venue.
The documents also suggest that the race will have a $300m impact on the Austin area.
Other activities expected to keep the track busy for up to 250 days a year include testing, alternative fuel research (as previously outlined here), driving schools, police training, music concerts and “high-end auctions.” There is also mention of NASCAR and drag racing events.
Patrickl
5th August 2010, 9:26
Lol, they make it sound like this game is a sandbox game where you can go out and enjoy the life of an F1 star. Can you go off the track and enjoy your private plane and yacht? Date supermodel girlfriends etc etc ..
Maybe a good idea for a game from the people who make GTA and Red Dead Redemption :)