Formula One 2011 Thread

[frag]

And they do sometimes rise up the rankings - Force India, for example.

[Paddy]

For 2 races, but they're still a young team, who look to be lacking financially too.

[Paddy]

Derek Gardner, the man who helped design title-winning Tyrrells in the 1970s and created the team's famous six-wheeler, has died at the age of 79.

[ThinWhitePuke]

Jan 11, 2011 15:40:30 GMT 1 Panda said:

Jan 11, 2011 14:20:34 GMT 1 ThinWhitePuke said:

Minardi were different though, in the early 90's they had a pole position with Martini and nearly won a race, they then fell upon hard times but had a very good factory and more passion for racing than the rest of the grid put together probably, HRT come across as cold and passionless so will never have the popularity Minardi had

Minardi's pole was a relative fluke at the opening race of the season on a street circuit. The whole grid looked like it had been picked out of a hat.

They were always a lower end team before and after that. As more and more teams disappeared and the grid shrunk, they found themselves closer to the back.

They deserved the popularity they had but you can't possibly compare them with Hispania when they've only been on the grid for a year.

I think the problem with HRT is Kolles

I have met most of F1's senior people over the years be it drivers, team owners etc and Kolles has to rank right up there in terms of unlikeable individuals, the guy is exceptionally cold as a person and never really displayed any passion for F1, Ron Dennis is hardly a ray of sunlight but the guy ate slept and breathed F1 which Kolles doesn't and sadly I think Kolles has moulded HRT in his own image which in turn means HRT has not really caught on with the fans.

If Eddie Jordan or Paul Stoddart bought HRT I think opinions would change

[Paddy]

Jan 11, 2011 13:28:36 GMT 1 Paddy said:

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9355081.stm

Jon out, Dave in.

No real surprise but still a nice read, although been so obvious all season with DC doing more pit walks and grid walks.

Also, I am sure Brundle was main commentator up til now since Walker left the scene!

To add on:

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9359509.stm

[Paddy]

uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLDE70C0Y820110113

Also love the letter bernie wrote to the mayor that said no country can hold 2 races...then u look at spain.

[Paul]

Jan 12, 2011 14:07:05 GMT 1 ThinWhitePuke said:

Jan 11, 2011 15:40:30 GMT 1 Panda said:

Minardi's pole was a relative fluke at the opening race of the season on a street circuit. The whole grid looked like it had been picked out of a hat.

They were always a lower end team before and after that. As more and more teams disappeared and the grid shrunk, they found themselves closer to the back.

They deserved the popularity they had but you can't possibly compare them with Hispania when they've only been on the grid for a year.

I think the problem with HRT is Kolles

I have met most of F1's senior people over the years be it drivers, team owners etc and Kolles has to rank right up there in terms of unlikeable individuals, the guy is exceptionally cold as a person and never really displayed any passion for F1, Ron Dennis is hardly a ray of sunlight but the guy ate slept and breathed F1 which Kolles doesn't and sadly I think Kolles has moulded HRT in his own image which in turn means HRT has not really caught on with the fans.

If Eddie Jordan or Paul Stoddart bought HRT I think opinions would change

Kolles has been a blessing and a curse. Without Kolles the team would never have got off the ground, but equally it is him that is responsible for HRT making little progress and hiring these rubbish pay drivers.

What exactly did Paul Stoddart do for Minardi? They were at the back for the five years he was in charge.

I never thought Rome would go ahead anyway, but I would rather it alternated with Valencia.

[Panda]

The BBC have announced their line-up for 5Live's F1 coverage.

David Croft and Anthony Davidson remain on commentary duties but Natalie Pinkham replaces Holly Samos in the pit lane.

[Paul]

BBC are reporting that, as expected, Sutil and Paul di Resta will be Force India's drivers in 2011. It is unknown what will happen to Liuzzi or Hulkenberg.

[Paul]

So the first pre-season testing session was this week in Valencia. While we don't know much about who is quick and who isn't, we do know that the Pirelli tyres are dropping off much quicker than the Bridgestones, so expect to see two pitstops being to norm rather than one. Also the rear wing flap rules have been clarified so that it can only be used 600m before the first corner of every circuit. In theory this should make overtaking a bit more difficult after concerns that it would be too easy.

I'm reading this morning also that Robert Kubica had a big accident in a rally in Andorra. There are reports that he has multiple fractures to his wrist, but it is still unclear what this means for his preparations for the new season, which starts in five weeks. He will certainly have to skip a lot of testing if this is true, which would be a real blow to Renault. Their car had been looking quite quick. It could offer a big opportunity for Bruno Senna - the team confirmed last week that he would be the reserve driver for Renault this year.

[ThinWhitePuke]

multiple leg fractures and a broken arm according to early reports :/

[ThinWhitePuke]

According to Dutch tv Kubica has broken leg, broken thigh, multiple fractures to his wrist and hand and that a piece of guardrail went through his hand and they are fighting to save his hand, bad sh*t, what the hell were Renault doing letting him do rallying !

[Paddy]

BBC:

Formula 1 star Robert Kubica has suffered fractures to his left arm and left leg after a high-speed rally crash in Italy, BBC Sport understands.
The 26-year-old Pole crashed into a church wall and was air-lifted to a hospital near Genoa.
A spokeswoman for his British-based Renault team told Reuters the driver was conscious and a statement would be issued shortly.
It looks unlikely he will be ready for the new season, starting on 13 March.
Kubica's injuries are not thought to be life-threatening, but following surgery to his left arm in 2003 after crashing in a Formula 3 race, there may be some doubts about his ability to continue in the sport.
Reports suggest that Kubica was 4.6km from the start of the Ronde di Andora rally when the crash occurred. It is believed his co-driver Jakub Gerber was unhurt.
Kubica regularly competes in rallies and was driving on Sunday a week after testing the new Lotus-backed Renault in Valencia ahead of the opening Formula 1 race in Bahrain.

[Paul]

Some teams have clauses in their contracts that their drivers cannot compete in any dangerous activities in the off-season, but not all. I can imagine Kubica insisted that he could go rallying if he wanted.

More news to follow at 1pm.

[Paul]

Feb 6, 2011 12:50:19 GMT 1 Paddy said:

Kubica's injuries are not thought to be life-threatening, but following surgery to his left arm in 2003 after crashing in a Formula 3 race, there may be some doubts about his ability to continue in the sport.

This part seems a bit extreme to me at this stage. I can see him missing several races at the start of the season, but that he will be back.

No real point in idly speculating until we have more information.

[Paul]

Press conference has been delayed to 3pm as Robert is still in surgery.

I really do hope he comes through this OK and is back to his best. It is hard to believe someone of such talent only has one grand prix win to his name.

[raliverpool]

Early days, but it looks like potentially bad news for Robert Kubica's F1 career; especially as his car promised so much in the first set of F1 testing at Valencia this week:

Valencia F1 test combined times
Crash.net
Fri, 04 Feb 19:20:52 2011

1. Robert Kubica Lotus Renault GP-Renault 1m 13.144s
2. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m 13.201s*
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 13.307s W
4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m 13.553s*
5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m 13.614s W
6. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m 13.844s* W
7. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m 13.936s
8. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m 13.938s* T
9. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 14.017s
10. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m 14.207s*
11. Gary Paffett McLaren-Mercedes 1m 14.292s* T
12. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m 14.299s
13. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m 14.353s* W
14. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m 14.469s
15. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 14.537s
16. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 14.645s W
17. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 14.801s
18. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus-Renault 1m 15.679s F
19. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m 15.831s T
20. Heikki Kovalinen Team Lotus-Renault 1m 15.910s F
21. Jerome D’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m 16.003s* T
22. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m 16.023s W
23. Vitaly Petrov Lotus Renault GP-Renault 1m 16.351s T
24. Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 16.474s W
25. Narain Karthikeyan Hispania-Cosworth 1m 16.535s*

* denotes old car
T denotes Tuesday time
W denotes Wednesday time
F denotes Friday time (only Team Lotus ran on Friday)
All other times set on Thursday
all times unofficial

[Paul]

Feb 6, 2011 14:05:45 GMT 1 raliverpool said:

Early days, but it looks like potentially bad news for Robert Kubica's F1 career; especially as his car promised so much in the first set of F1 testing at Valencia this week.

True - there is already speculation that if Kubica misses some races, which is likely, that the team are reluctant to put Senna or Grosjean alongside Petrov, as none of these guys are exactly superstar names. I've heard a few rumours that they might look to Nick Heidfeld to replace Kubica.

[ThinWhitePuke]

:/

[Paul]

Latest news - Kubica has multiple fractures in his right arm, leg and hand. He will definitely miss the start of the season.