The Official F1 2009 Thread

[318isbmw]

hopefully well get an american race back somewhere other than indy

That would be amazing to see.

[JMil86]

Brawn 1+2 finish on their first race ever!!!!?!?????!!! CRAZY!

[z31maniac]

That would be amazing to see.

I read a rumor last year about a Las Vegas street race.

F1 cars doing 330+ kmh down Las Vegas Blvd? Sign me up.

[Fel]

What an awesome race that was... a sign of things to come, I think!!

The whole Kubica/Vettel thing had me pissed, 3 laps to go before Kubica almost finished the circuit for the first time and bam! Vettel understeers right into him with his shitty tires. What a load of crap. He should have yielded the corner in that condition!!

I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed with Brawn's performace! 1/2 pole and 1/2 race for their first GP ever, pretty cool to have seen. First time since Mercedes-Benz joined F1, and I guess interesting seeing as they are powered by an MB engine.

Hamilton got a lucky break with 3rd place, but still an amazing finish considering he started 18th. It couldn't have happened without everyone wiping out in front of him, but then again it was only possible with him running a clean consistent race. Good to see it wasn't a total disaster of a weekend considering their cars are slow right now.

Can't wait for next weekend!! This season is off to a great start!

[BillBrasky]

I read a rumor last year about a Las Vegas street race.

F1 cars doing 330+ kmh down Las Vegas Blvd? Sign me up.

I heard that too. I think Hobbs and Varsha were talking about it on air during one of the races last year. It would be amazing if it ever does come to fruition.

[Jparkr]

Good to see it wasn't a total disaster of a weekend considering their cars are slow right now.

what, the cars are no where near slow. They were coming up track records throughout practice and qualifying...

[z31maniac]

what, the cars are no where near slow. They were coming up track records throughout practice and qualifying...

I thought he was commenting on McMerc.

[blck325is]

Ahh, this seasons gonna be hell for LH and company. Braun is definitely gonna set the bar for this year. With Kubica I seriously think he had more than enough time to pass Vettel. 3 laps chasing and passing someone who is losing grip by the second should have been a breeze, but he pushed and Vettel because of the loss of grip, took him out. Unfortunate but it could have been avoided.

[blck325is]

Just read this:

http://www.bmw-sauber-f1.com/en/index.html?jumpin=/news/~101/&lity=rssfeed_f1#/news/~101/|0/

That answers my questions as to why Kubica was trying to get past Vettel so quickly instead of just taking his time with 3 laps and a faster car. If he would have been past Vettel cleanly there then he would have been able to catch (who knows, maybe pass) Button in those last 3 laps.

Well I was a bit tunnel minded in my previous post. I guess there was a chance that Kubica could have caught Button had the clusterfuck with Vettel not happened. Anyone know how much of a lead Button had when the crash happened?

[tg318is]

4 or 5 seconds i believe

[blck325is]

Hmm, good chance Kubica could have maybe cut it down enough to attempt a pass. Button was also still on the softer compound right? So who knows, either way I'm relieved that LH drove clean and was lucky enough to be in the points. This seasons gonna test that team in a big way.

[Hick]

i dont think it was much more than 3 seconds. Hell, if you go back and look at youtube videos, Kubica picked up near 4 tenths a second in turn one right before that accident.

he was well on his way to catching Button. And at that rate, with the super soft tire being so far off pace, im pretty sure that was Kubicas race.

[tg318is]

i dont think it was much more than 3 seconds. Hell, if you go back and look at youtube videos, Kubica picked up near 4 tenths a second in turn one right before that accident.

he was well on his way to catching Button. And at that rate, with the super soft tire being so far off pace, im pretty sure that was Kubicas race.

vettel screwd up his breaking/ missed the apex something savage into turn 1 thats why kubica caught up so much and was able to make the move at turn 3.

[Hick]

vettel screwd up his breaking/ missed the apex something savage into turn 1 thats why kubica caught up so much and was able to make the move at turn 3.

because of the worn out super soft tires... EVERYONE that ran them more than 10 laps said they are so worn out they could not race anyone...

Sebastian Vettel (14th):
“We were in second and a strong position, but then, a couple of laps from the end, I had a stupid racing accident with Robert. At the time I turned in I was ahead, but I couldn't keep up speed in the corner and Robert was on a harder tyre, so was much quicker. At the time we collided he was in front, but I had no where to go, I couldn't stop the car, or turn to the right and my tyres were gone. It's a shame as it meant the end of the race for both of us. Should I have let him go? You always want to fight. Maybe I should have said let him go and bring third back home, but that's life. I tried to defend and, up to the mid-corner, I had reason, but then I had no grip to avoid a collision. I'm sorry to the team and also to Robert, as it didn't just mean the end of my race, but also his. The team did a good job, we were working very hard over the winter and the car seems to be very good. We had good pace today, so overall we have a reason to smile.”

[E30Kaiser]

Button pitted a few laps after Vettel, so he had a couple laps more then him left on his tires as well. Can't wait Malaysia! This season is so awesome so far.