Ok, Lewis has been crowned King, all the champagne has been drunk and the glass has been swept up from the Ferrari garage. It's back to business for the teams as they begin testing in Barca with new '09 tyres and aero. So we may as well start the random F1 discussion early! It's going to be an odd year - No Canada, No Manky Curves, New circuit in Abu Dhabi, China moving up the schedule, No DC, The Beeb doing the coverage with Marty defecting. Add in KERS and the new regs, and it's all a bit of an undiscovered country. There's also rumours floating around of the Ecclestroll wanting to do away with the points system for medals, so that the man with the most race wins in a season gets the championship crown. We'll see how that pans out over the winter. Especially as he's allegedly embroiled in divorce proceedings. Obviously Mrs Ecclestroll has regained her sight after all these years. Anyhoo: Here's the current calender for next year: 01 2009 FORMULA 1 ING AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (Melbourne) 27 - 29 Mar 02 2009 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur) 03 - 05 Apr 03 2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Shanghai) 17 - 19 Apr 04 2009 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX (Sakhir) 24 - 26 Apr 05 FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPANA TELEFONICA 2009 (Catalunya) 08 - 10 May 06 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2009 (Monte Carlo) 21 - 24 May 07 2009 FORMULA 1 TURKISH GRAND PRIX (Istanbul) 05 - 07 Jun 08 2009 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX (Silverstone) 19 - 21 Jun 09 FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2009 (Nürburgring) 10 - 12 Jul 10 FORMULA 1 ING MAGYAR NAGYDIJ 2009 (Budapest) 24 - 26 Jul 11 2009 FORMULA 1 TELEFONICA GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia) 21 - 23 Aug 12 2009 FORMULA 1 ING BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps) 28 - 30 Aug 13 FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2009 (Monza) 11 - 13 Sep 14 2009 FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX (Singapore) 25 - 27 Sep 15 2009 FORMULA 1 FUJI TELEVISION JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Suzuka) 02 - 04 Oct 16 FORMULA 1 GRANDE PREMIO DO BRASIL 2009 (Sao Paulo) 16 - 18 Oct 17 2009 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX (Abu Dhabi) 30 Oct - 01 Nov It's probably too soon to post up who's driving for who, as some seats are still up in the air... But most of the big hitters are retaining their positions. Sources of info: http://www.formula1.com http://www.planetf1.com/ http://www.itv-f1.com/home.aspx (apparently they're going to keep going) http://sundayafternoonclub.blogs.topgear.com/category/sunday-afternoon-club/ (until the beeb sorts out a proper F1 site) http://grandprix.com/
Also, I don't think that Bruno Senna will be getting a race seat this season. Jenson and Rubens are both experienced drivers, I doubt they'd drop either of them for someone brand new - in my opinion a race seat opening would depend on Rubens retiring. Also Senna's GP2 season was very inconsistent, while he had a lot of good finishes he also had plenty of poor races. Maybe he needs another season or two to get enough experience for F1. If he were to get in for 2009 it would be mostly on his name, and I think he would be disappointing. In 2010 or 2011 he really has the potential to impress. If any GP2 driver advances to F1 in 2009 I think it's most likely to be DeGrassi
I agree that Honda should keep their current lineup for one more season, with all of the changes it will pay to have experienced people behind the wheel.
Looking forward to next season should be interesting given that the areo and tyres are going to have a big effect could have some smaller teams out doing the big hitters and think it will be alot closer in the field than it has been.
I completely disagree, I think the changes will spread out the field considerably. The recent stability of the rules has allowed the teams to close up on each other to a ridiculous extent, for example positions 1-17 of Q1 of Brazil were separated by less than a second
I agree with the second part, but I find it difficult to describe them as anything but mediocre, especially compared with the level of young talent in Formula 1 at the moment. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gfoLMa8bET4 *hairs stand up on the back of my neck*
Keep in mind Honda practically gave up on the RA108 half-way through the season they did an amazing job driving totally beyond what the car was capable of. I'd say in the 'young talent' area only Lewis has really made it, his unique relationship with McLaren and his achievements have kind of altered the perspective of what a rookie should be doing, but Heikki and Nelson should be doing a lot better. They're both in decent cars, championship winning and double race winning, they just haven't really performed as well as they should.
BMW-Sauber 2009 Test Car: As you can see... lots of changes: - Full slick tires. - New, smaller front wing. - Very narrow rear wing. "BMW's Formula 1 racer built to 2009 specs. Slicks are back for mechanical grip, but to reduce downforce and speeds -- and supposedly increase passing -- the rear wing has been trimmed down so much that it looks like a shelf from IKEA. The front wing on the car is also larger and wider, and extras like flip-ups and winglets on the front wing, nosecone and bodywork are prohibited next year. BMW has also been testing its KERS hybrid system, where other teams are using ballast while they sort out when they'll introduce their own systems. " -- F1Live Should be interesting to see the new Ferrari's and McLaren's.
Isn't the KERS system supposed to provide an "overtake" button too? That sounds like a recipe for stupidity to me - part of the skill of F1 is blocking someone overtaking you. What good is that if they get an extra 50hp on a straight to just blitz past you at the front?
In before the end of the first page... I think next season is going to be interesting - who's going to be the 'big surprise' team? Honda? Red Bull?
That and in future seasons the KERS system (IIRC from what I've read) will have it's power storing capacity increased, with a reciprocal reduction in engine power - in a move to make it even more 'green'
