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Archive for Featured F1 News
International Court of Appeal – Double Decker Diffusers Legal
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This is the official statement from the FIA as it appears on their website
International Court of Appeal – Decision
15/04/2009
The FIA International Court of Appeal has decided to deny the appeals submitted against decisions numbered 16 to 24 taken by the Panel of the Stewards on 26 March at the 2009 Grand Prix of Australia and counting towards the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Based on the arguments heard and evidence before it, the Court has concluded that the Stewards were correct to find that the cars in question comply with the applicable regulations.
Full reasons for this decision will be provided in due course.
Now with this decisions it will be up to all other teams to come up with their own diffuser designs as quickly as possible. I will follow up with reactions and what this means for BMW Sauber as information is available.
Is Formula 1 Being Hurt by the 2 Step Diffusers?
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News and stories surrounding the controversial diffusers have been dying off of late waiting for the appeal to be heard, but it remains a huge part of Formula 1 this season. I have talked about the diffusers more than once and now I’m doing it again. There are a number of questions that come to my mind that I’d like to share and they don’t involve legal mumbo jumbo or technical issues, they revolve around fans like me, the drivers themselves, and cost.
We don’t hear too much from the drivers when asked their thoughts on the issue. Questions posed to them are carefully crafted as are the answers they give, so each time a driver is asked their feelings about the diffuser controversy inevitably the answer is always the same. Something like ‘the teams are looking into it and we will do our best on the track to win races, that’s what we do’.
Low Light and Rain a Worry for Kubica + Lap of Sepang With Heidfeld
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s the weather forecast I captured just now. Doesn’t look promising, but I hope all we see is the clouds like in the video.
It’s not only the weather that can turn things upside down, but the weather combined with the 5pm start time of the race. Robert Kubica, one of many other drivers is voicing his opinion on the 5pm start times. Australia was difficult and perhaps dangerous although nothing happened because of the light conditions. Albert Park was for the most part surrounded by trees that cast long shadows over the circuit causing some crazy light conditions, but Sepang doesn’t. That’s about the only reprieve the drivers will have in these light conditions and is overshadowed by the serious threat of rain.
The Book on Albert Park F1 Circuit
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It’s a beautiful setting for a grand prix with the circuit a mix of a park (Albert Park) and city streets. Despite the longest straight being the start/finish straight being short by F1 standards, it is a very quick track.
Reaching the end of the start/finish straight is the hard on the brakes Jones/Brabham chicane where we could see carbon fibre wings strewn about the track on lap one. From their it’s a long and gradual left leading to the Aughtie Drive straight and through a sharp right hander to sports centre.
Off of Aughtie Drive and into a car park , Hellas, a technical left hander awaights but a wide track allows drivers to slide wide and then fly through Whiteford, another challenging medium speed corner, this time a right hander. Race quickly down Albert Road Drive and into the Marine chicane.
FOTA Finds Loophole and FIA Backs Down on Winner Takes All
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Earlier today FOTA, who had voiced their opinion regarding the new F1 Winner takes all rule and the late implementation of it has had this to say:
“Following the decision of the World Motorsport Council of the 17 March 2009 to change the way the drivers’ championship is awarded, the Teams gathered and unanimously agreed to question the validity of this decision,”
Despite the almost lunacy of the ‘winner takes all’ rule, the opposition by drivers and just about everyone else and the fact that FOTA’s initial proposal of a modified points system ( 12-9-7-5-4-3-2-1 ) based on a global audience survey their only real resource was to check validity of change so close to the start of the 2009 season.
Drivers New and Old Quotes on New Point System
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The new point system put up by the FIA has got to be the strangest decision I’ve heard of in a long while. Not only that, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense either. Quite frankly, F1 changes rules almost yearly now and it’s getting to the point where we almost need a new playbook delivered to our doors days before the season starts.
In two short days since this announcement, the f1 blogs and forums are alive with fans voicing their displeasure over the new points scheme and drivers new and old are stepping up and clearly voicing their displeasure over the new ruling.
“It’s a matter of taste, but my taste is not for that,”
“I like the old way better. With points it is comprehensible. There is not only one or a few races (in a season), but 17 or 18.”
He said the new system is not straightforward, given that while the 2009 champion could have fewer points than the runner-up, the rest of the standings will be ranked by regular points order.
“I find that silly. The basis should be the same for all,”
My Thoughts in Short on the Revised F1 Point System
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With the FIA releasing it’s final version of what will take place in F1 regarding the point system, my initial reaction was ‘Bernie got to them. He managed to push a version of this medal scheme through the FIA”. I don’t like the idea of who has the most wins will win the drivers championship, not one bit. The proposal from FOTA of a revised point system was much more to my liking, but probably because I am comfortable with points being awarded as it has been for a long time.
Fan Friendly, Most Wins Wins the FIA Says
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Yesterday, March 17, 2009 the World Motor Sport Council met in Paris and the following decisions were made in effort to open up to fans and media as well as award the drivers championship to the driver with the most wins:
2009 Formula One Regulations
Points
The WMSC accepted the proposal from Formula One Management to award the drivers’ championship to the driver who has won the most races during the season. If two or more drivers finish the season with the same number of wins, the title will be awarded to the driver with the most points, the allocation of points being based on the current 10, 8, 6 etc. system.
The rest of the standings, from second to last place, will be decided by the current points system. There is no provision to award medals for first, second or third place. The Constructors’ Championship is unaffected.
The WMSC rejected the alternative proposal from the Formula One Teams’ Association to change the points awarded to drivers finishing in first, second and third place to 12, 9 and 7 points respectively.
Final 2009 F1 Drivers Lineup
Posted by: | CommentsAfter the announcement that Brawn GP is now the reborn Honda F1 team and that Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello have been retained, the drivers lineup is complete for this season.
| 1 McLaren Mercedes | Lewis Hamilton |
| 2 McLaren Mercedes | Heikki Kovalainen |
| 3. Ferrari | Kimi Raikkonen |
| 4. Ferrari | Felipe Massa |
| 5. BMW Sauber | Robert Kubica |
| 6. BMW Sauber | Nick Heidfeld |
| 7 Renault | Fernando Alonso |
| 8 Renault | Nelson Piquet Jr. |
| 9 Toyota | Jarno Trulli |
| 10 Toyota | Timo Glock |
| 11 Toro Rosso | Sebastien Buemi |
| 12 Toro Rosso | Sebastian Bourdais |
| 13 Red Bull | Mark Webber |
| 14 Red Bull | Sebastien Vettel |
| 15 Williams | Nico Rosberg |
| 16 Williams | Kazuki Nakajima |
| 17 Force India | Giancarlo Fisichella |
| 18 Force India | Adrian Sutil |
| 19 Brawn GP | Jenson Button |
| 20 Brawn GP | Rubens Barrichello |
My Thoughts on FOTA’s New F1
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It was a pretty busy day for me yesterday so I didn’t quite get everything down I wanted to say about the FOTA proposals so here goes.
As you have seen in my previous posts regarding the ‘vision’ of FOTA and what the survey unveiled, there are many changes they would like to implement and are putting forth to the FIA.
For the most part I like what I have seen as a fan, but when I sat down and read all I could, I had some hesitation on just how and why a couple of seemingly negative and silly (from a fan stand point) ideas have been proposed.
Two things I want to mention are engines and the awarding of points. First the points; I like the new points scheme by increasing the gap in points between first and second place yet still maintaining points for for further down. To me this is a ‘no brainer’ and may just increase the fight to win races. What I find almost circus like however is the suggestion to award points to the team with the fastest pit stop. The constructors championship already has a point scheme that has been untouched which rewards the teams for what they put out on the track and that’s where all points should be rewarded. It’s a race after all. I don’t take anything away from a great pit team and awarded they should be, but awarding them from within the team would suffice.