Force India driver announcement soon

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: Force India to reveal their 2012 driver line-up amid doubt over Adrian Sutil’s future.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Motor racing-Force India driver decision before Abu Dhabi GP (Reuters)

“German driver Adrian Sutil, who could be replaced by compatriot Nico Hulkenberg alongside Britain’s Paul di Resta, has asked Mallya for a quick decision.”

Webber happy with ‘good foundation’ (ESPN)

“I don’t want any positions from Sebastian, nothing has changed.”

Hamilton vows to be more focused in 2012 (Autosport)

“I speak for myself [when I say] my driving, for me, has been the biggest hazard. I can improve, and that’s what I’m working towards for next year, and also staying out of the stewards’ office is also a very big goal – top of my priorities for next year.”

Q&A with Jaypee Sports’ Samir Gaur (F1)

“When three months ago it looked like we couldn’t finish the build my father pushed the emergency button and called everybody in from the family – those who look after electricity, those who look after IT, those who look after cement etc. – so they all gathered under one roof to support me and the entire organization. We all feel that what we did with this race track has made us all part of history. That has made us very proud.”

Indian Grand Prix: workers on F1 circuit ‘living in destitution’ (The Guardian)

“The workers said that contractors who supplied the Jaypee Group, the circuit’s owner, with labour to build the circuit – where 120,000 spectators are to watch the event on Sunday – have only paid them enough to cover basic living expenses for six months. They claim they were promised 120 rupees (1.53) a day when they were hired.”

Let’s hope Indian GP matches the atmosphere (Daily Telegraph)

David Coulthard: “With luck this race can be a source of jobs and opportunities for many of them, as well as a source of pride. I also feel very strongly that Formula One can be used as an opportunity to promote safer driving.”

Darren Heath via Twitter

“A long day. Never experienced such awful pollution. India must address the problem and stop denying it exists or the place is doomed.”

Is F1 a rich man’s sport and out of place in India? (YouTube)

New Jersey Formula 1 – lap analysis, Grand Prix of America (rFactor) rough sketch

Tom Webb via Twitter

“One minute silence on the grid tomorrow at 14:45 for Marco Simoncelli and Dan Wheldon. Fitting F1 tribute.”

Romain Grosjean – “I am delighted with the opportunity” (Renault)

“The funny thing is that at my last race in a Grand Prix was Abu Dhabi in 2009 and I’m getting back in a Formula 1 car in a Grand Prix car in Abu Dhabi. If I’m honest, it’s not my favourite circuit but it’s good to make my return at a modern track where there is good run-offs!”

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Comment of the day

Not much sympathy for Felipe Massa’s criticism of the kerbs at Buddh International Circuit:

It’s an anti-cut device. Isn’t it just fulfilling the duty that kerbs used to serve in the 70s/80s/90s before they were flattened in the 2000s, i.e. as a place the driver shouldn’t put his car?

I like Felipe, but it’s his own fault for driving where he shouldn’t.
SouthPawRacer

From the forum

Happy birthday!

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On this day in F1

The first ever world champion, Giuseppe Farina, was born 105 years ago today.

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36 comments on “Force India driver announcement soon”

  1. The first ever world champion, Giuseppe Farina, was born 105 years ago today.

    Wow. Of course he was in his mid-40s when he won!

    1. That really puts Schumacher still racing into perspective, eh. Not to mention Fangio was middle aged as well when he kept winning.
      I guess the WWII did take away about a decade of top class raciing. And it might have meant that it took a while for new kids to even get to know driving cars and racing them, giving opportunity for the experienced men at hand.

      On the other hand, with the fickle technology an experienced driver would have been a big advantage over just talent.

    2. A nice coincidence, just started reading “Elämä pelissä – Grand Prix -ratojen sankarit” (roughly translates into “Life on the line – The heroes of Grand Prix circuits”, a Finnish book about all the WDC’s and a couple of other drivers), and it had some nice stories about Farina.

      Did you know that in the 1954 Mille Miglia his average speed on the first leg from Brescia to Peschiera was a whopping 203 km/h? And the race ended after he lost in on a bridge – he spent weeks in the hospital, while his co-driver was in a body cast for months. After getting out of the hospital, he drove a Ferrari sports car at Monza, only for it to catch a fire at 240 km/h – he had to jump out at 70 km/h to save himself… Those were the days…

  2. I also feel very strongly that Formula One can be used as an opportunity to promote safer driving.

    LOL!!! I take it David hasn’t taken to the streets of Delhi on a Vespa yet!

  3. Wow. The New Jersey Track looks quite tricky.

    1. It’s gonna take some big nuts to be fast there.

    2. It certainly looks incredibly fast. Reminds me of Montreal if not a bit faster.

    3. Very Monacoish. I like it.

  4. I’d be surprised if they kept Sutil. I’ve just never seen the attraction, to be honest. Most overrated driver in F1, IMO.

    1. His overtake through 130R a few weeks ago was amazing surely? I agree though, he does seem to pick and choose his moments.

      1. @iamdanthomas That’s the thing though, you need to take a look at his entire career, particularly his most recent season.

    2. The problem, at least from the perspective of fans eager to see some new blood, is that Sutil is just doing too good a job (at least if you are of the opinion that Paul di Resta is a good, F1-worthy driver) for Mallya to have any reason to get rid of him.

      The Toro Rosso drivers are in a similar situation, in my opinion: they both seem to be doing a good job, with neither gaining the upper hand on the other, even if I would like to see what Ricciardo or Vergne (or others, but those are most likely to get an STR seat) would do in a mid-field car.

    3. If the decision will happen soon and Sutil has asked FI to decide it means they haven’t decided to keep him.

  5. The New Jersey track looks mega. With the bumps on the streets there, sparks flying, the cars will look spectacular!

  6. There’s an article written by Narain Karthikeyan in the Grauniad today.
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oct/29/narain-karthikeyan-indian-grand-prix

    Sunday is one of the proudest days of my life. I never thought I would be racing a Formula One car in India, but it has all changed very quickly in the past two years, in the past six months

  7. Just watched the whole of that Indian debate program. I was quite surprised to see the opinions almost entirely positive, and an obviously fresh perspective on the sport. They never really answered the question at hand, but in a roundabout way I think they hit the crux of it; it might not be a sport for the masses, but it will be good for the country at large.

    As far as the ticket prices go, it’s not as if F1 can solve world poverty all on it’s own, the ticket prices are already close to the cheapest for an F1 event. The problem lies not with F1 itself but with the labour costs in the country (something that is currently putting European businesses out of business I hasten to add). Obviously the rampant overpopulation doesn’t help, as well as various other issues that I’m sure the government will address in time, but it certainly shouldn’t detract from the grand prix in any way, they charge what they need to to make a profit (or at least get near to it).

  8. COTD after only my 9th comment… nice! :D

    1. Congratulations, SouthPawRacer. I’ve lost track of my number of comments, but I’m still looking for that elusive win; perhaps I should change my name to QuickNick.

      Anyway, for next season, I vow to get rid of all off-site distractions. You just have to live and breathe F1Fanatic. There is no room for anything else.

  9. Well that is part of the politics in India,some people like it some don’t.

    1. It’s the same worldwide, after over a decade of hosting the race there are still people in Melbourne that protest and argue against the running of the Australian Grand Prix.

      1. Yes, but the people in Melbourne protest about a tree being removed, or the event being too noisy, or that Albert Park is closed to the public for week. The situation in India is a lot different to Melbourne, and people have legitimate concerns about F1 being in India, about whether the farmers that previously used the land were compensated, about whether money should be essentially wasted on F1, when there is so many social issues, such as poverty, health, education etc, and whether the labourers used to build the circuit have been paid.

  10. Hate to say this i really do but that New Jersey track (from the rfactor video) looks dangerous in parts! Maybe it’s just me but it looks as narrow as Monaco but going a hell of a lot faster, which looks awesome, but seriously..200+mph weaving through the narrow road at the top of the hilll there (from turns 8 to 11) looks scary! get your line wrong through there and it could get nasty.

    On a different note though, with the Manhattan skyline in the background this race will look absolutely spectacular and it’s definitely one for my wishlist!

    1. The video is one persons rough approximation of what the circuit might look like. For the circuit to ever actually be used it needs to be approved by the FIA, plus no doubt local authorities, which means that generally the circuit will need to comply with the FIA circuit design regulations, which sets out design requirements to ensure the circuit is safe.

  11. I tip my hat to Vijay Mallya. Moving up his timetable to accomodate Adrian Sutil is a very sporting thing to do.

  12. This night, the time gets set one hour forward here in Belgium. The gp “local time” for the race gives me 11:30.. is that daylight adjusted (as in, it’s actually 12:30 but one hour moved back to 11:30) or do I still need to count that hour ??

  13. Hey

    This night, the time gets set one hour forward here in Belgium. The gp “local time” for the race gives me 11:30.. is that daylight adjusted (as in, it’s actually 12:30 but one hour moved back to 11:30) or do I still need to count that hour ?

    Is this comment invisible?

    1. Its at 9.30 GMT….

    2. Here in NL it’s tha same. Voorbeschouwing starts at 9:30 – new time, so race start is 10:30 new time.

  14. OfficeLinebackerF1
    30th October 2011, 3:16

    This is a Cup and Trucks weekend. Trucks are Saturday afternoon, Cup is Sunday.

    http://www.nascar.com/races/tune_in/

    Martinsville should be interesting with the Chase in full effect…how much argy-bargy will there be between non-Chasers and Chasers, and among Chasers?

    I think we’ll see some amongst non-Chasers. If Carl is going to mess up, this is the place it’ll happen. 14 starts, 1 top 5, and 10 finishes outside the top 10.

    Piquet is probably going to blow as well in the Trucks. Most practice washed out but Hornaday managed to spin and get both his and Piquet’s trucks pranged as a result.

    Interesting note: If weather causes Cup qualifying to be canceled in favor of a single practice session, the starting lineup would be based on practice speeds.

  15. Racingjamaican
    30th October 2011, 3:20

    After the first few laps it is status quo with the top 3.

    Then the Red Bull team orders will come into play, Seb will slow down to let Mark pass, but Mark wont pass because he doesn’t want Seb to let him pass. Behind them, Alonso will be watching them go – after you, no after you, no after you etc….

    Then Alonso will get bored and drive right past them waving saying thank you very much.

    Result is that warfare breaks out a Red Bull for Seb trying to let Mark through.

    This forum goes into meltdown as is who is to blame.

    Either Lewis or Felipe or both will not complete the first lap as they are going to hit each other.

    Michael will have an awesome start and finish 7th, whilst Nico will have a bad strategy call and finish behind Michael.

    At least one Renault will lose a front wing.

    Sutil will be faster all of the race than Di Resta, however they will botch his pitstop so he ends up behind Di Resta.

    Button will end up in 4th as he has “no grip”

    Both Sauber drivers will only make one stop so will end up near or in the top 10.

    Out of the new teams, 2 of them will not finish due to mechanical issues.

    Williams will struggle again.

    I am also expecting an engine to go in at least on of the cars this weekend.

    I think I’ve covered most bases there. At least one of them is likely to be right. wink.gif

    In all honesty I picked Seb, but something in my head is saying Fernando.

    1. Internet forums will have a field day if all you said were to happen :)

  16. Breaking news!

    Dog allowed to start Indian Grand Prix

    Fido, the stray dog who found his way onto the circuit in India, has been given permission to start the race after an appeal by Ferrari was thrown out by the stewards.

    In a shock result, Fido set the fastest lap time at the Buddh International Circuit during Friday’s free practice session. However, Ferrari protested against his entry, claiming his tail was a moveable aerodynamic part that gave Fido “up to seven points of downforce”. Stewards initially agreed, prohibiting Fido from entering the race, but reversed the decision this morning after finding that his tail moved within acceptable limits during the sit, shake and roll over load test.

    “We’re disappointed,” Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicalli said. “Fido’s tail clearly wags when he is racing, and when he was asked to demonstrate the importance of this part, all he could say is ‘woof’. When we experimented with a moving wing earlier this week, we were told it was an illegal aerodynamic part. We intend to protest the decision to let Fido race at the next meeting for the World Motorsports Council.”

    Others in the paddock, however, welcomed the decision to let Fido race.

    “There’s nothing wrong with my driving style, no,” Lewis Hamilton said, compeltely ignoring the question. “I see no reason to change it.”

    “I’m excited for him,” Jenson Button said, completely ignoring Hamilton. “We’d never heard of Fido until today, but he’s clearly a promising new talent. I think a lot of people will be following his progress with interest.”

    Fido was unavailable for comment, though a spokesperson said that he did chase is tail. he will start the race from sixth.

  17. Re: Comment of the day.

    Saying it is a driver’s fault for driving over it is like saying it is the driver’s fault for driving into a wall that kills him. Granted, a driver should have more control over how and where he places his car, but we should not take liberty with such an assumption.
    There are many factors that can result in a driver losing control at turn in, wind, dust, oil, water, tyre pressures and wear.
    A driver will not deliberately run over such a potrusion. Also, the anti cutting device, in an era of safety, should only serve to penalise a driver, and not put both him and any other driver at a greater risk.

    1. a driver should have more control over how and where he places his car

      How can a driver have more contol over how and where he places his car? He’s the only person who can control the position of his car; therefore, he has an unlimited ability to place his car wherever he wants to.

      There are many factors that can result in a driver losing control at turn in, wind, dust, oil, water, tyre pressures and wear.

      And each of those factors can be controlled by the driver (ie he can change his speed to change tyre pressure). If any driver was controlled be those factors (rather than controlling them), he wouldn’t be in Formula 1.

      A driver will not deliberately run over such a potrusion.

      No, he won’t – but Massa had already been through that corner a hundred times. He knew the kerb was there. He just got too close to it.

    2. So if it rains and a driver crashes is it not his fault then?

      Sorry, I disagree. Felipe is mad at himself as the kerb caught him out. It’s been a long time since a kerb has done some serious damage and he just annoyed he’s been caught.
      He should be grateful that it didn’t happen on Sunday, so he at least has a chance to avoid doing it again.

      I like it as it is. Keep the kerb. It makes it more interesting and it keeps the drivers on the track.

  18. If the New jersey circuit is anything that approximation on rFactor then I will be very excited. It looks very fast, flowing and rewarding.

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