The Official F1 2009 Thread

[Jparkr]

OH noes without Ron Dennis who is Lewis Hamilton going to hold hands with.

[YAN-3]

OH noes without Ron Dennis who is Lewis Hamilton going to hold hands with.

...his daddy like always.

[TDE30]

Reminds me of the Jeremy Clarkson quote on the Stig, "Some say that if he had won the World Championship in Brazil last weekend, there might have been one photograph of him without his father, girling in the back-up shot."

:D

[YAN-3]

heres some new. ferrari is not gonna run KERS in China. & Kubica is going to have it.

KERS for Kubica but not Ferrari in China

This weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix is set to see different cars using KERS. Robert Kubica is expected to test BMW Sauber’s system in Friday practice, while Ferrari will run without theirs following problems at the last round in Malaysia.

To date BMW Sauber have only raced KERS on the car of Kubica’s much lighter team mate Nick Heidfeld, who suffers less from the weight penalty that comes with using the system. However, with the team believing the layout of the Shanghai circuit could bring benefits even to the Pole, they plan to use Friday’s practice sessions to find out.

In contrast, Ferrari have opted to drop their KERS system for the China weekend after the reliability issues that hit Kimi Raikkonen at Sepang, instead choosing to focus on other elements of the F60’s performance, which has thus far proved disappointing, failing to bring the world champions a single point.

The other teams that used KERS in Australia and Malaysia - McLaren and Renault - are both expected to continue with their systems in Shanghai.

[Jon325i]

It's official, Ron Dennis has left Formula One. What a shame to see such a dynamic figure forced out due to all of the politics and associated bullshit. Stand-up guy, hopefully he'll make his way over to DTM and help out Norbert Haug and the numerous Mercedes teams.

I know there are plenty of McMerc haters in here, but for Ron Dennis as an individual, you have to hand it to him and how he built up McLaren to what it is today. Whether its the F1 roadcar or the impressive Technology Center that houses all things McLaren today, Ron turned this company into power figure in the Formula 1 game and roadcars. He will still be around at McLaren, but I think he wants to focus on the commercial side of things.....particularly developing sports cars to be sold to the public.

2005 video on the Technology Center....a testament to Ron's attention to detail.

[TDE30]

I know there are plenty of McMerc haters in here, but for Ron Dennis as an individual, you have to hand it to him and how he built up McLaren to what it is today. Whether its the F1 roadcar or the impressive Technology Center that houses all things McLaren today, Ron turned this company into power figure in the Formula 1 game and roadcars. He will still be around at McLaren, but I think he wants to focus on the commercial side of things.....particularly developing sports cars to be sold to the public.

Thanks Jon, excellent example. I can write a book about how I don't like LH, but everything else about McMerc seems like a solid, well-constructed outfit (all thanks to Ron Dennis.) It sucks to see him leave the motorsport, but can you blame him? After 2007, when SF should have also been penalized (but wasn't) and now to this new "scandal" with the stewards from a month ago, it has to be wearing to compete 110% in a motorsport governed by a group of people that will do anything to prevent you from succeeding. He built McMerc up to where they are today, it's a shame to see the clusterfuck that is the FIA run him out of his position.

I'm sure he will remain with the company though, like you said. Even when he was team principal, he organized the buying and selling of many ex-race cars to clients worldwide (one of which lives near me.) It will be interesting to see how Whitmarsh picks up the reigns for the remainder of the year.

[E30Kaiser]

I am a certified Mclaren hater(or at least a Lewis doubter, I love Mika, Kimi, and Heikki...maybe I am a Finn lover though) but I did respect Ron Dennis at least and his contributions to the sport in general. Also in further McMerc news, Lewis was fastest in Practice 1 and Heikki was 4th. We will see what their aero upgrades really mean in 2 hours during practice 2!

[elsabor67]

After watching this morning parts of practice 1 & 2, BMW and Ferrari ran horribly slow in P1. I was really shocked that they were in the mid 15's on down to the bottom. In P2 Ferrari was in the mid of the pack with BMW at 17& 18. Surprisingly, Alonso is 19th. Alot of surprises going on.

[TDE30]

^ I've yet to watch it, quite busy at the moment, are either Ferrari or either BMW running KERS? Are they running the revised rear diffuser?

It wouldn't surprise me if some teams have to wait until after China to get some R&D time with the rear diffuser and must use their current diffusers in China.

[E30Kaiser]

Both BMW's are supposedly running it and neither Ferrari.

[Hick]

looks like mcmerc has a slightly different diffuser. no one else has changed yet

[elsabor67]

Kubica isn't becuase of problems before but I think that Heidefeld is. They got knocked out at Q1 & Q2 respectively with Massa in Q2. Raikonnen is in the top 10, with the Brawn cars 3-4 and Vettel-Alonso 1-2. I would venture to say that Red Bull had the stronger cars there as they were consistently in the top 5 spots of qualifiying.

[E30Kaiser]

Gah! Vettel does it for a second time, pole position for Redbull! Hooray!

[tg318is]

dang webber was sooo close!!!

[PiercedE30]

Here's copy of what I posted on my local forum:

Ok, so I have been seriously slacking with this thread.
I was VERY surprised to see how little Vettel was on the track, compared to his qualifying place. That was, insane. Out lap and one flying lap on the super softs. Here are the results:
2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX

Pos No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:36.565 1:35.130 1:36.184 11
2 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:36.443 1:35.803 1:36.381 21
3 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:35.751 1:35.173 1:36.466 19
4 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:35.701 1:35.503 1:36.493 21
5 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:35.533 1:35.556 1:36.532 19
6 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:36.308 1:35.645 1:36.835 21
7 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:35.941 1:35.809 1:37.397 23
8 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.137 1:35.856 1:38.089 19
9 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes1:35.776 1:35.740 1:38.595 17
10 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:36.284 1:35.965 1:39.321 21
11 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:36.525 1:35.975 14
12 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes1:36.646 1:36.032 10
13 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:36.178 1:36.033 11
14 10 Timo Glock Toyota 1:36.364 1:36.066 14
15 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:36.673 1:36.193 13
16 11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 1:36.906 10
17 8 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 1:36.908 10
18 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:36.966 8
19 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:37.669 10
20 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 1:37.672 10

I was even more surprised to see Alonso up front, but good on him. He is a good driver, never liked him when he was with McMerc though, and it's about time that Renault stepped up, hopefully his success continues. Kubica, man oh man. First time ever in his career to not make it out of Q1.

Since they are reporting it now, I thought I would post the vehicle weights in grid order:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 644kg
2. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 637kg
3. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 646.5kg
4. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 661kg
5. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 659kg
6. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 664.5kg
7. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 650.5kg
8. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 673.5kg
9. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 679kg
10. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 673kg
11. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 679kg
12. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 697kg
13. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 690kg
14. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 682.7kg
15. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 690kg
16. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 697.9kg
17. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 659kg
18. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 648kg
19. Timo Glock, Toyota, 652kg*
20. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 679.5kg
*Timo Glock is back in 19th due to a 5 spot penalty for a gearbox change.

So, Fernando is the lightest of the cars. If anything, I would say he would need to pit around lap 12-15. Now, Sebastian Buemi and Heikki Kovalainen, on the other hand are going to be able to a good distance before making they're first stop. They might be on a two stop strategy. Two long stints with the medium compound tires and, possibly, one very short stint at the end with the super soft's. Only reason I say that is because the super soft's aren't going to last more than 6 or 7 laps and I don't see any team running a one stop strategy and risking having the super soft's on for that long.

My $0.02.