Todt accepts Hamilton apology over Monaco

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: Jean Todt accept an apology from Lewis Hamilton.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Hamilton cleared over outburst (Daily Telegraph)

“Todt showed Telegraph Sport correspondence between himself and Hamilton in which he accepted the 26-year-old’s apology, adding that he hoped the 2008 world champion would learn from the experience.”

Gracia defends FIA’s Bahrain report (Autosport)

“I had official visits and interviews, but I also walked down the street and I was in shopping centres, always with a feeling of complete normality. There were people shopping or working. Nothing that caught my attention.”

Anxiety rises over reinstated Bahrain F1 race (FT, registration required)

“Asked if he intended to send his own representative to Bahrain, Mr Ecclestone said: ‘That is precisely what we should do.'”

7 Jun 2011: Column 44 (Parliament)

British Foreign secretary William Hague: “Clearly there is widespread opposition of the kind that the hon. Gentleman describes, and the FIA must take that into account as it considers the decision it has made. It must make its own decisions?óÔé¼ÔÇØwe should be clear about that?óÔé¼ÔÇØbut the widespread opposition that he refers to is clear.”

City gets F1 update (YouTube)

Formula 1 Austin’s Photos – Aerial photos, June 7, 2011 (Facebook)

“Photos of construction at Circuit of the Americas taken June 7, 2012”.

VoxVocis on Twitter

A delivery lorry crashed into the Ferrari pit wall stand in Montreal: “Lots of talking and pointing, but damage looks purely cosmetic from here. http://yfrog.com/h7tkflbj

Via the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app

Tackling the championship one race at a time (Ferrari)

Felipe Massa: “To tell the truth, the circuit is not one of my favourites, but the city itself is great and the people are very welcoming and keen on Formula 1, with plenty of support for Ferrari among the fans. My results have not been that good here, the best being a fourth place in 2005”.

Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.

Red Bull – Monaco floor analysis (ScarbsF1)

“From a single picture we have been to gather a lot of info on the design of Red Bull’s floor. We’ve confirmed where the exhaust blows, how the trailing edge forms a flap and exclusively how the starter motor hole is blown by ducts in the upper floor.”

Comment of the day

I’m with Ajokay on this thought about F1 video games:

Why is everyone so hell bent on having the safety car in the game?

If I play a racing game, I play it to race, not to drive at half speed for several laps, weaving from left to right to keep my tyres warm.
Ajokay

From the forum

It’s Le Mans this weekend! Join ther thread here: Le Mans 2011.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Stevo!

On this day in F1

McLaren scored their first win as an F1 constructor on this day in 1968.

Team founder Bruce McLaren won ahead of Pedro Rodriguez (BRM) and Jacky Ickx (Ferrari).

It was his final victory before his death two years later.

Image © McLaren

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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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82 comments on “Todt accepts Hamilton apology over Monaco”

  1. Well Canada’s probably been among both Massa and Alonso’s worst tracks in the past, so hopefully they can get a good result this weekend.

    1. yeah like 4th and 5th! :D

      1. That’s a good thing, ain’t it? 4th and 5th as bad results, imagine the good ones!

  2. The fact that Hamilton had to apologise to me shows he is treated as a special case in F1, and not in a good way. Why, who knows, but I suspect the reason. Why didn’t Alonso have to debase himself in front of the FIA after his remarks about the stewards manipulating the race in Valencia last year? Did that not qualify for an apology? Seems not. The Ferrari team even reiterated their claims on their website. http://www.yallaf1.com/2010/06/28/ferrari-anger-at-hamilton-scandal-grows/ One rule for Hamilton and another for the other drivers it seems. I just wish Hamilton had the car to win the next 13 races and walk away with the championship. Now that would stick it to them!!!! One can dream!

    1. tbh i think he might

    2. So Ferrari are upset that Hamilton is kept on a shorter leash than everyone else?

      Has Hell frozen over already?

    3. Scudderite, prepare for a shock:

      Sometimes, Hamilton is not right; he can be wrong. And people suggesting that he is wrong are not always racists.

      1. I’m not really sure what the issue here is. From the sounds of things, Ferrari are upset that Hamilton apologised to the stewards when Alonso did not. Now, I’ve been a little out of the loop on this one because of Bahrain and everything, but I really can’t see what Ferrari are complaining about. If Alonso was forced to apologise to the stewards after Valencia last year and Hamilton was not after Monaco, then maybe I could see their point – but judging by what has happened, it seems Hamilton apologised to the stewards of his own accord, and Alonso never apologised. So what is the issue?

        1. I could see their point – but judging by what has happened, it seems Hamilton apologised to the stewards of his own accord, and Alonso never apologised.

          Dane only just posted a link referring to the fact that Alonso apologised. Right above your post, too.

          1. Or at the very least, did back down.

          2. There’s a difference between apologising and backing down.

        2. Tbh there’s been a hundred incidents in the past that were quite clearly one driver or another at fault that were put down to racing incidents. In monaco look at joe sawards website hamilton was not at fault but he got penaltys.

          I think he is treated harshly sometimes. Why when any other driver causes contact is it a racing incident and when hamiltons involved he’s judged to have been reckless? Last year jarno parked his car ontop of chandhok in the silliest attempt at an overtake at monaco that I have ever seen at least since rene arnoux hashed it once long ago, nothing happened. Barrichello knocked seven bells out of rosberg at australia this year making him retire nothing. Look back at monaco massa and maldonado turned in earlyer than they normally would have to block hamilton and he got the penalty, he has the respect to get out of it when someone makes a move like that on him. He made this point to the stewards they have access to all the video and more than we have seen, he was given two penaltys for avoidable collisions when maldonado and massa caused them. Where’s the justice?

          1. Why when any other driver causes contact is it a racing incident and when hamiltons involved he’s judged to have been reckless?

            Paul Di Resta got a penalty for a similar incident.

          2. McLarenFanJamm
            9th June 2011, 8:52

            @David A – and yet Kobayashi had a similar incident and got away with a reprimand.

            Consistant, no?

          3. If someone is consistently getting reprimands, chances are they won’t stay as reprimands

          4. @ MclarenFanJamm – It’s inconsistent, but not some huge conspiracy to get after Hamilton.

            And as Gamer_K is implying, the multiple reprimands Hamilton picked up last year are probably contributing to the problem the Mclaren driver is facing.

        3. Hamilton apologized on the very same day, and not a day or so later like Fernando.

          FIA may have considered a 6 race ban on Lewis, but zero, nada, nothing to Fernando.

      2. If it was that bad a comment from Hamilton then why is Ali G allowed to be shown on our televisions?

        I think it’s a fine line which actually has been dealt with in the appropriate fashion by all parties in my opinion.

        I also agree that Alonso should have been warned about his comments about race manipulation, but he never apologies for his actions which probably means he’ll get the respect he deserves.

        1. Fernando knows that he would never receive a 6 race ban, because that special treatment is reserved for Lewis.

    4. exactly right. He is being treated like a boy

      1. Mark Hitchcock
        9th June 2011, 8:39

        Because he acted like one…

    5. Accusing the stewards of racist bias for no good reason seems like enough to warrant an apology.

      1. When did he accuse them of being racist, he quoted a white man’s joke, where is the racism in that. The fact was he was punished for trying to race and the stewards turned the race into a world wide laughing stock.

        1. The race wasn’t a laughing stock. While Hamilton was busy doing his own thing, Vettel, Alonso and the other Mclaren were fighting hard for the most prestigious F1 win.

        2. Mark Hitchcock
          9th June 2011, 19:45

          There’s a difference between “trying to race” and managing to do it cleanly.
          We all like that he tries hard to overtake, that doesn’t mean he should be allowed to go unpunished for misjudging a move that ended up in contact.

          1. Anytime contact is made during a race, misjudgment can be placed on the part of one or both parties, and your answer is punishment. If your answer for this problem is punishment, then I hope that you will enjoy the parades that are coming down the road.

    6. I do not buy your point.

      But I do know that at the time I would have liked the FIA to speak up stronger for their Stewarding and at least calling on Ferrari to make sure it apologize for their absurd claim. It shows how much Ferrari still does have a special status

      The 6 race ban Todt mentions for this is absurd, was that a joke?
      If anything, they should give Hamilton the opportunity to make up for it with a big fine and maybe work it off with positive work for the sport.

      Did any of you give attention to the fact, that Hamilton was off to the stewards with his father, when he went there to apologize?
      Getting his son to behave there maybe?

      1. AdrianMorse
        9th June 2011, 8:57

        A 6-race ban? Jean, are you out of your frickin’ mind?! ;)

        1. I think may have been a joke that didn’t quite come across…

          …time for him to write a letter of apology to Hamilton.

      2. Anthony knew that he had to act right away, because he realized of the draconian measures that could have been taken against his son.

    7. Hewis Lamilton
      9th June 2011, 15:47

      Where do you get that he HAD to apologize? What I get from that story is that he chose to apologize to the FIA, not that he had to.

      1. Well since toad is talking about a 6 race ban I think it’s pretty evident what he would have liked to have seen happen. Had hamilton not decided to send him a letter that he could show to the worlds media involving hamilton kowing tow to the fia’s greatness.

        David A I never said anything about a conspiracy I simply said some things that have happened. Considering you’re obviously not on hamiltons side it’s interesting that you would jump straight to conspiracy though. If your “enemy” is talking about conspiracys you know something funky is going on.

        1. Well, you said that whenever someone else makes contact, it’s considered a racing incident, but if it’s Lewis he’s punished. Conspiracies were definitely not my main point, rather that other drivers (e.g. Paul di Resta) were punished in the same race before Hamilton was, proving your statement to be false.

          1. Well first off paul was punished ok i never said no one in the history of grandprix racing has been punished except hamilton. but then why like mclarenfan said did kamui get away with it?

            Why did button get a penalty in australia for overtaking off the track and vettel got away with doing exactly that to jenson? because like hamilton alluded to the stewards are pretty poor they did a much better job last year when they generaly keept their noses out, the racing and the championship was better for it.

            finally look back at some replays like i already explained hamilton was not in the wrong. I havn’t had as close a look at the paul di resta incident so i wont judge that but hamilton did *not* deserve a penalty. If someone drives into you whose fault do you consider that? certainly not your own and it’s the same in f1 this isn’t destruction derby.

  3. Why is everyone so hell bent on having the safety car in the game?

    If I play a racing game, I play it to race, not to drive at half speed for several laps, weaving from left to right to keep my tyres warm.

    Because, AJ, some of us are fervent sim nerds ;)

    1. Guilherme (@the_philosopher)
      9th June 2011, 2:02

      I think I understand why some people want the safety car in the game, but what I really don’t understand is, why some people face it as the top priority for F1 2011? I’ve seen people saying they would only buy F1 2011 if it had, among other things, the safety car, and I find that quite amusing. I mean, which F1 game ever had a safety car? I may be wrong, but I can’t seem to remember any.

      I think it will be much better if Codemasters spend their resources improving the AI and car handling – which should improve the realism feeling a thousand times more than the safety car could.

      1. Rfactor has safety cars.

        1. Right, so that must mean it’s important.

          Have you ever played Quantum of Solace, the tie-in game to the film of the same name. It was developed by Treyarch, who ported the Call of Duty mechanics over, most notably the objective-based gameplay where you are constantly guided to the next checkpoint. The end result was that the game was compeltely soulless; it was simply Call of Duty in tuxedos.

          If F1 2011 were to simply take a page out of rFactor‘s book (or, more likely, an entire chapter), it would lose its sense of identity. Codemasters go to a lot of effort to incorporate the paddock and garage menu systems, which gives the game character. But that would just be a total waste if they started putting features into the game simply because other games do it and not because it improves the gameplay experience (and I compeltely agree with Aj – safety cars would be boring).

          I’d much rather see the game ship with extra gameplay modes. Dirt 3 includes four “party modes” for online gaming, and while the point of three of them is to simply crash into everyone, the idea behind some fun games could easily be carried over. For example, Dirt 3‘s “Invasion” gameplay, with cardboard cut-outs scattered around the track. Hitting the right ones gives you points; hitting the wrong ones takes them away. The idea would be to race around and hit as many as possible, but most of them would be off the racing line and the final result would be based on lap time and points score. Or how about something similar to the pursuit racing seen in cycling, with teams (or just individuals) starting at opposite ends of the circuit and having to race around to complete a certain number of laps before the other team does? If Codemasters sacrificed the safety car for the sake of something that would extend the game’s longevity, I for one would not be complaining.

          1. Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
            9th June 2011, 4:01

            Here’s why we should have the Safety Car in F1 2011:

            1) Because it’s in the actual sport.

            When I play a F1 game, I want to virtually experience the feeling of being a Formula 1 racing driver. I want all the tracks, all the cars and drivers. I want all the elements that the real life drivers have to contend with, like tyre degradation, damage, changes in climactic conditions, KERS and DRS and, yes, even the Safety Car. Real life drivers have to contend with the Safety Car being deployed, so I want to as well. Its absence is akin to having the offside rule missing from a football game, and everyone would be complaining about it if Konami didn’t choose to enforce the offside rule in Pro Evo, wouldn’t they?

            2) Because the Safety Car can completely change the dynamic of a race.

            If you’re anything like me with racing games, you like nothing more than to sit down and waste a good hour and a half on running a full 100% distance race. Now, as you could probably guess, getting to Lap 40 out of 58 and knowing you have 5th place secured but have a 30 second gap to P4, you often wish things could be a bit more exciting instead of having to cruise around hoping to catch the guy in front before the end of the race. But what if the Safety Car is deployed? That completely changes everything. Everyone bunches up again. You have a brand new opportunity to gain places on the guys ahead, and a new danger of losing places to the guys behind. This year, there’s also the strategy element. Do you pit? Do you risk it and stay out for track position? It really shakes things up and so having a Safety Car element would add a major amount of intrigue to long-distance races and would further add to my own immersion and enjoyment.

            3) Don’t like it? Just switch it off.

            F1 2010 had this truly horrible ‘feature’ that it borrowed from the DiRT series called ‘Flashbacks’. It allowed you a number of opportunities to ‘rewind’ time after you’d made a mistake, completely negating any disadvantage you’d suffered as a result of your own mistake. I have never used the Flashback feature once during my time with F1 2010. I think it’s tantamount to cheating. “Oh but Geoff, what about if you run a whole race in the lead, only to crash on the final corner?” Well, that’s really gutting for you, but tough! I understand that it’s not fun to lose races on the final corner, but because it happens in real life and its entirely your own fault, dealwithit.gif.

            However, having said that. I actually have no problem with it being in the game because I can turn Flashbacks ‘off’ in the options menu. That’s the great thing about having options in games, they allow those who want to have certain features to use them and those who don’t to ignore them. It’s exactly the same as the Safety Car in F1 2011. Codies could put it in for all of us who want it in (and there are a lot, I’m not alone here) and those who don’t want it can simply turn it ‘off’. There! Now everyone’s happy! But just because I think Flashbacks are a horrible idea, I’m not calling for them to be removed from the game because I know other players like to use them. So I can’t quite work out why anyone is calling for the Safety Car to be omitted in the first place.

            Finally, there was a Safety Car feature in the PS1’s ‘F1 ’99‘, which was more than 10 years ago! If Codemasters cannot find a way to make it work on modern consoles in 2011, they should consider both changing the name of their company and giving the licence to a studio who can…

          2. F1 2010 had this truly horrible ‘feature’ that it borrowed from the DiRT series called ‘Flashbacks’.

            Flashbacks are all about accessibility. They’re mostly for newcomers so that the game doesn’t punish them too heavily for mistakes. If someone screws up early on and spends the rest of the race in last position, five seconds behind the nearest car, the game isn’t going to be that much fun. I can see why hardcore fans might hate it, but the game isn’t just being made for the hardcore fans. I admit to using Flashbacks in Dirt 3, but once I’d gotten my head around the physics, I started using them less and less. The only time I use them now is when race in the online crashfests (if you’re not on the front row in Rallycross, you’re screwed) or in gymkhana (because I cannot for the life of me pull off a donut).

            But I’d still rather see Codemasters add things to the game that contribute to the overall longevity of it rather than features that only a handful of people will actually use.

          3. I used flashbacks because my game liked to glitch out all the time, like autodriving to the pits, the pitstops taking 12+ seconds for no reason at all and some stuff in that manner. Thats why the flashbacks were good, but ofcourse it would have been much better if they didn’t release a broken game in the first place… I hope F1 2011 features more challenge, more realistic press conference (and them having more of an effect on your career), cleaned from bugs and a safety car… because like you said, “its in the actual sport.”

      2. Formula One 2000 for PlayStation had safety cars. Don’t know about any others.

        I’ve not played F1 2010, but it sounds like a lot of recent games in that the developers basically released it half-finished and then use customers as paying beta testers to fix a few of the bugs for subsequent patches. I think Codemasters’ priority for F1 2011 should probably be to ensure that the game they release is essentially complete.

        1. I can see where you’re all coming from here. I think they’re trying to do exactly what Magnificent Geoffrey said – make it accessible, yet entertaining for casual fans. I play Grand Prix 4 all the time, and I love it dearly, but I wouldn’t recommend it to my next door neighbour who watches 1 or 2 Grands Prix a year. Why? Because it’s too serious. Sure, you can turn the aids on, but there’s no satisfaction in running around with auto-steering and braking.

          Despite all of the things I didn’t like in F1 2010, I could see it was a fun game that nearly anyone could enjoy. Videos started appearing on YouTube of people playing it that have never even watched an F1 race – but they were enjoying themselves.

          I would like to see a safety car, but there are other things I’d like to see more, such as improved lighting (because F1 2010 was the gloomiest game ever), less glitches (because I’d often graze a wall around Monaco and stop dead, minus a few wheels) and a better damage model. But Codemasters are striving to make everyone happy. Let’s face it; F1 2011 not going to be a ‘hard-core simulator’, but it’s going to be fun, isn’t it?

          1. Agree with that.

          2. And I nearly forgot; congratulations on the COTD, Alex! :D

          3. Agree with that.

            We need an ‘@’ mentioning system or something, because when you hit reply, your comment may not appear under the one you intended for it to (the one you’re replying to) and then we don’t know who’s agreeing with who! :P

    2. Oh Joey, I know some of us are. You know I am. I’ve played iRacing and I enjoyed it so much more than any other racing game aside from Forza 3 (which is ever so slightly more accessable without being arcadey, and has the addictive livery editor). The fact that you had to nail every inch of the track correctly to get even a half-decent lap was just so much fun, even when I was plodding round in 8th place with no hope of winning. And I will pick it up again some day in the future when I finish paying for my real car.

      As for the safety car in F12011, I’m not against it, per-se. Obviously if it was in there it would be an option, and I’m sure I’d turn it on to see how it worked out. It’s just I never did anything more than a 30% race distance in F12010, and usually would only do anything between 3 laps and 20% distance. Having a safety car period in that short-a-race would be a little silly. But I never played F1 as anything more than a quick pick up and play game.

      But for those of you like Magnificent Geoff below, who do full race distances and the like, yes, it’s an F1 game and it should be in there and it should be an option.

      Although one thing they’ll have to do is make the cars far more destroyable and fall apart more realistically, because safety cars come out when there’s debris everywhere, something which really doesn’t happen in any racing games.

    3. I can see the pros and cons of the SC, with casuals beong stupid and overtaking everyone to get a one lap lead, but I’d like to do one lap behind the SC sometimes, because that adds to the realism, and in some cases, when you’re behind, it can help you make up positions.

  4. Interesting article on yalla about the upcoming hot blowing ban, couple of days old now so apologies if I’ve missed the boat.

    http://www.yallaf1.com/2011/06/07/blown-exhaust-ban-should-clip-red-bull-wings/

    Renault are claiming that their engines have been designed to hot blow, and removing that ability will affect their reliability, “…because of the basic architecture of the engine, there would be reliability issues.”

    Anyone tell me how long any Renault cars have been hot blowing the diffuser?
    Anyone else tell me how long the engine freeze has been in place??

    1. I don’t believe what Renault are saying. Especially since their own factory cars don’t use the blown diffuser concept. Off-throttle blown diffusers only came into effect this year when teams realised they could blow exhaust gasses through the diffuser last year. It’s entirely possible that the Red Bull RB7 is specifically designed to have an OTBD to recover lost downforce smiply because Adrian Newey thinks that way, but the ability to blow exhaust gasses over the diffuser doesn’t actually come from the engine itself. It’s in the electronics that regulate the engine.

      1. Exactly my point, the engine was clearly designed before the teams started using off-throttle blowing, so how they can claim there will be reliability issues due to the basic architecture of the engine I have no idea.

        Anyone with a fly by wire throttle and an ECU allows custom maps could program off throttle blowing in ten minutes.

        Just highlights what a bunch of numpties the FIA are if they fall for this reasoning, which by their own rules kinda suggests isnt possible.

        1. Remember Red Bull’s “we are down 15hp” moans last year? Then it turned out they were losing speed from the sheer amount of drag their monster cars produce whereas Renault themselves were actually quite fine.

          Even as recently as China we saw Vettel having to dip back into the slipstream of Heidfeld to overtake him on the straight.

          So yeh, I think they’re trying to pull the wool over our eyes a bit.

      2. But PM, the front exhaust exits of the Renault team do rely on using that off throttle thing as well. It will not be as critical and twitchy maybe, with the whole floor being fed, but they do use it for the same effect.

        But I pretty much agree with you on the fact, that this is only being used as a reason to postpone the ban for a bit.
        Ferrari also claimed, their engines might get damaged without it because of the way they operate.
        These engines can perfectly run without it, how else would they do the whole race distance (full boost being used only in qualifying to save fuel etc)!

  5. keith has been paid by codemasters to write nice about it

    1. That is absolutely, categorically not the case and it is slanderous of you to state otherwise with no proof.

      1. im just trolling
        ignore\

  6. lewis needs his father to be his manager again. they make a good team I thought.

    1. Those entertainment people managers, like the pro wrestling approaching to personal conduct.

    2. Lewis didn’t think so!

  7. i just noticed, in the trailer of cars 2, the Lewis Hamilton car, it has a small gap between it’s front 2 teeth, just like Lewis has. :P

  8. It’s good to see The Circuit of The Americas won’t be using tax payers money.

    1. It’s shaping up pretty nice. Looks like the same stage Korea were at with 3 months to go!

  9. “Photos of construction at Circuit of the Americas taken June 7, 2012″

    huh?

    1. That’s what the page says!

    2. Looks like they might not make it in time for the race in only 10 days then :-D

  10. The photo taken of the austin track – June 7 2012!? – looks like theyre running behind schedule somewhat judging by that photo from the future……. :-P

  11. I understand that Renault use the additional fuel on the over-run to cool the exhaust valves down. It’s a well known tuning technique to use additional fuel when the engine is not under load to cool down exhaust valves etc. I would imagine that ‘all’ of the engines do that to some extent.

  12. Really pleased with the track construction progress in Austin! You can actually see 90 percent of the track outline already including the monster over-turned Turkey turn 8 and my favourite part, the sector 1 uber-fast esses. IMO this track is going to be legendary

  13. This report from Mexico – it’s all in Spanish – allegedly claims that Charlie Whiting has inspected the Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez and claims that with a few minor changes, it could be brought up to Formula 1 standard, and that the Mexican Grand Prix could be revived in time for 2012.

    I say good luck. The FIA already has to cut one race for 2012; I doubt they’re going to drop two. So the earliest that Mexico could join the calendar would be 2013, but I think the Russians would have something to say about that since they’re joining in 2014 and may not appreciate Mexico jumping the queue. But most of it just seems like wishful thinking to me, born out of Sergio Perez joining the grid.

  14. i know this is an F1 site so apologies for hijacking it to mention the Isle of Man TT. Im no bike fan but this event is now dynamite on TV and the nearest thing to Rollerball you’ll ever see.

    ITV have really upped their game, theres plenty of cameras and super slo mo’s and the speeds vs the proximity of walls and houses and earth banks is frightening, even from the perspective of your own front room.

    The guys racing are complete loons of course, especially the Dunlop brothers but it gives you an insight perhaps into how F1 was viewed in the 50’s and 60’s. They are a breed apart. No ones going to care about gurney flaps when bikes are taking blind left handers at 150mph with a wall a yard away..in the wet !

    Id highly recommend it.

    1. +1

      You’ve got to love the TT !

      1. Agreed. F1 drivers are just a bunch of limp-wristed, big girls blouses, by comparison.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVXc29ZgutI

    2. I live on the Isle of Man and just got back from another day watching the racing from the hedges. It’s the greatest motorsport event in the world. If you think its impressive on TV you have to come over and stand at the bottom of Bray Hill for real. Its incredible.

      I’ve refrained from plugging it here this year as anyone following me on twitter has heard nothing but TT from me for the last two weeks. But here’s the “Why you should watch the Isle of Man TT” article I wrote for this site last year:
      https://www.racefans.net/2010/06/04/why-you-should-watch%E2%80%A6-isle-of-man-tt/

      1. And as far as yesterday’s racing was concerned I must admit I was pretty uncomfortable when they started the race, it was spitting with rain where I was at Hllberry as the first bikes left the line, and the most experienced riders didn’t want to go. When the rain got harder at as Amor was having his crash in Union Mills one of the backmarkers had a massive moment in front of us at over 90mph and it scared the crap out of me. On the outside of Hillberry you have some straw bails barely protecting 3 big trees.

        I’ve huge respect for the Dunlop’s they have remarkable skill to go with bravery unmatched in any sport but I really don’t think the race should have gone ahead in those conditions. We all accept that road racing is incredibly dangerous, but when the conditions are changeable over a course as long as the Mountain Course staying on track stops being about skill and becomes a lottery.

  15. Now I do not want to give this rumour too much credibility, but the sheer thought of Ferrari thinking seriously about boosting their image by hiring Flav to replace Stefano is horror to me (link in Dutch – use translator).

    Is there any Ferrari fan feeling this will improve the team? And can any Italian give us a clue weather these rumours should be taken serious from what is heard/read in Italy.

  16. i think it is racist and it is also a white mans joke. the point may be lost on Jean Todt who mightve missed Ali G in the House but the joke was Ali G wasnt black, he was just acting like he was and when a (real) policeman asked him to get back he used the phrase. It became such a legendary joke in the UK that its almost lost its meaning but to an outsider, out of context, it seems accusatory.

    mind you if i was the only white man in a sport where all the other pro athletes were black and most of the teams behind them were also black i might get a complex about it aswell !

  17. Thing is Ajokay, that’s what we want to see in F1 too!

  18. a comment that tells us much about you Paulo. Ignorant and nasty.

  19. With regards the COTD, I suppose its whether you want to play a racing ‘game’ or a racing ‘simulation.’ Personally I would prefer the latter but each to their own I guess.

  20. What is all of this about whose apology was more abject? F1 is not a convent school. Young men in a sport say mean things sometimes. Hamilton’s complaints will never be justified. And I was pretty outraged about Alonso’s and Ferrari’s claims that Valencia was manipulated, but at the end of the day, if you want people to talk nice all the time, punish them afterward, or put duct tape on their mouths. For some contrast, over in NASTYCAR just now, a team owner had a real life punch-up with another team’s driver in the garages. Fined $150K—like getting docked a week’s pay for the rest of us, but substantively dealt with. No one is exchanging plaintive letters on fine stationery like characters in a Jane Ausen novel there. When you think about other sports, team and individual, where people are making enraged tirades against referres, umpires, fans, F1 does seem more like an evening at Pemberley than a modern sport.

  21. I want the safety car for the game. I don’t want to drive around behind it for 10 minutes. Boring. (Maybe the game can just time-lapse it and give you menu for what to due during the SC period.) But it would add a missing strategic aspect to the game. It would also be very cool to see and hear the SLS roaring around the track.

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