Casual F1 fan here, and haven't read all two zillion pages of this thread so apologies if it's old ground... I think I can get my head around why Hamilton is going to M-B next year--the McLaren isn't working out this year, M-B is offering a buttload of money, and Lewis suffers from a chronic maturity deficiency--but why is Vettel rumored to be going to Ferrari, especially when he's on the verge of his third straight title with Red Bull? Webber will probably be gone after next season and Vettel will be the undisputed top dog at RBR. Why the hell would he leave the best team and the best car (most of the time) to drive the problematic Ferrari alongside Alonso, who doesn't play well with others? Edit: above post explains it. Never mind.
interesting perspective on the race <iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xuc3lp"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xuc3lp_krea-12-r_auto" target="_blank">Krea '12 R</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/Yellow_G7" target="_blank">Yellow_G7</a></i>
hmmm this doesn't bode well LINK their text: Sebastian Vettel at the South Korean F1 Grand Prix is just one of Formula One's worldwide events. facepalm...
A pretty discouraging race and if I'm right, it will be a pretty discouraging, and indeed boring, ending to what had been a fascinating and unpredictable season. If Greg's little article was right -- and there's no reason to doubt it -- Red Bull have found an undetectable and unbeatable cheat. Their front wing changes shape at speed. (Red Bull's advantage is plainly not the DDRS. Neither car used it even once in Sunday's race.) It's undetectable because Charlie Whiting will have to devise a whole new test, which he can't possibly do before the end of the season. .And it's unbeatable because no team -- save, perhaps for McLaren -- have figured out how to weave carbon fiber to do their bidding. We all saw Ferrari's floppy attempts at a flexi wing last season. On Friday' in Korea we saw Force India's hapless imitation, their front wing doing the Ferrari tango all over the palce And so with an unbeatable cheat, Red Bull will only lose another race this season if (a) weather intervenes, or if (b) they have a mechanical failure. Absent those two factors, I expect a parade just like Korea and just like Japan. God, how boring. And God, I sure hope I'm completely wrong. But with Ferrari complaining about wind tunnel problems for a second straight season (and really, just how lousy are their engineers?) it seems unlikely that the red cars will challenge. McLaren might, if they can stop breaking and they don't run out of engines (both are on their 8th and final fresh one.) Speaking of which, what the heck was that absurd charade about at the end of the race? Vettel's crew gave the appearance of near apoplexy over a right front tire that seemed perfectly healthy and which was delivering fast lap speeds. Since Red Bull are masters of the dark arts, I think they were trying to lure Ferrari into engine trouble. By dangling a late race carrot, I think they hoped to entice the Ferraris into stressing their engines. Why? Because according to this site, both Alonso and Massa have used 7 of their allocated 8 engines so far this season. It would do Red Bull no harm at all to see Ferrari forced into using their final engine, or taking a grid penalty for an unscheduled engine replacement, or perhaps having to recycle previously retired engines. I'll miss Bob Varsha, and David Hobbs I can easily tolerate. I won't miss Steve Matchett's filibusters, but he does provide great technical insight. Having watched NBC's Indycar coverage, I'm not optimistic that we'll get as good a commentary crew as we've had from Speed.
very boring.. that's a shame... I figured you'd know Maybe NBC will just pick up the BBC coverage & rebroadcast it like TSN does in Canada...
good point... I think if it was Webber winning some of those races, personally i'd be more "OK" with it.. Vettel is just so..... Vettel no more Tilke tracks in the middle of a swamp for the love of pete.... oh wait we have India, almost the same as Korea.\ hopefully it stays close until the end.
So.. Human Growth Hormone... Steroids.. in sports. If the licensing body can't find a good test for them, are they legal? If a baseball player has recently developed a load of facial zits and is hitting home runs out of the park where before he was a mid-level player, is nothing wrong if they can't detect what drug he's taking?
There's a subtle yet crucial difference between finding an unplugged loophole and breaking the rules. The rule is that a wing must not deflect beyond certain parameters. The only way that it can be tested is in a static test. So any team that finds a way to construct a wing that passes the static test and yet flexes in conditions that cannot be tested is breaking the rules. It isn't the test conditions that create the rule, they are merely a means of enforcement. There is a precedent. When Gordon Murray was working at McLaren he introduced a "cheat" whereby the car rose to meet minimum ride height at slow speeds and when stationary. The system allowed it to gain an advantage out on track. Murray was bearded about this and argued that the FIA was welcome to take measurements when the car was travelling at 180 mph. The FIA had to drop the rule because it was unenforceable. McLaren's advantage was reduced within a short time as the others adopted similar systems. It was cheating by breaking the rules. That fact that the rule wasn't enforceable is not the issue, the same goes for the flexible wings. If teams are gaining an advantage by breaking the rules, that's cheating. If the FIA cannot enforce the rule, they need to drop it and allow all to develop flexible wings.
a little bit more Red Bull magic (trickery?) LINK love 'em or hate 'em you have to credit them for not resting on their laurels....
sounds like the Speed trio won't even be in Texas for the race.... that seems pretty lame... I guess the studio in NC is a better place to call a race from?
Has the "Speed trio" been on-site for any races (including Indy from a few years back)? I don't recall it. They call the race from Charlotte studios and have Buxton on site, just like always, no matter where the race is. I don't think there is anything more (or less) "lame" about them doing the same for Austin. - Mark
well since it's "welcome F1 back to America" and their swan song calling races.. you'd think FOX might spring for a trio of plane tickets. The fact they call the race, looking at a TV, just like the rest of us, to me, seems pretty lame. YMMV
They have one reporter on site to handle interviews, pit reporting, etc. Given how the TV feed provides a much better view of the race than any single position on the track, I don't think being on site adds anything to the actual race coverage, although it might encourage some pre-race interviews, round tables, color pieces about the track, etc. If they were on site, they'd be sitting in a studio commentating on the TV feed just like they do from Charlotte, not sitting by the edge of the track. I couldn't care less whether they're on site. As you say, YMMV. - Mark
Pretty sure they would rather be at the track versus calling the race from Charlotte. For the first F1 race at Indy. I went with the KLR priced Grand Prix Tour that had us staying in Cincy and busing in for the qualy and race. The speaker for the Friday night meet and greet was Bob Varsha. So he was at least in the neighborhood for the first F1 race at Indy.
yup... I guess we can agree to disagree. I bet they'd rather be in Austin too. I guess football & baseball, and moto GP guys should take a page from this and just stay at home & watch...