Apart from the 'buzz' of it being a night race the main reason is so that more races are shown at a Europe-friendly time.
I love F1 but never quite follow what's happening. I do watch when I get to though Force India ? the hell ? Alonso back with Renault ? how come I didn't even know that ?! what happened ?
Force India = Team by India billionaire Vijay Mallya and was formed by buying the Spyker F1 team. He is also one of the lead investors in the Delhi racing circuit for 2010. Alonso was a complete and utter cock to his team through most of 2007 so was got rid.
What? you didn't hear about Jacques Villeneuve? He won the championship mate - and then sang a little song about it at the after season party...
thanks for the info. I now remember I had heard about the purchase of Spyker but didn't know it was renamed to Force India. Cool name but Spyker was better Really, I knew he was extremely self centered but I never expected McLaren to get rid of him ! Villeneuve doesn't sing. He takes Q-tips and make your ears bleed
It's definitely got some influence from Monaco, but more so from the Bucharestring (another Tilke designed circuit) Jarno Trulli topped the timesheets in his Toyota TF108 today. Probably running light. Red Bull and Williams are running VERY well, having been in the top 10 on the timesheets since new car testing began
McLaren just wouldn't be McLaren without Ron, what the hell are Mercedes thinking? Ah wait the source is a spanish newspaper, so the McLaren hatred lives on over there then.
Now there's an article saying the Italian police are going after him Isn't sport a bit out of their jurisdiction?
That's because whilst the FIA have finished their investigation, Ferrari reported the spying case to the police, so a civil case is being undertaken. Hence the searches at Grove & at Ron and the other McLaren bigwigs houses. It all started with Stepney and the white powder in the Ferrari fuel tank (and on his trousers) & allegations of sabotage. Then the spying evidence came to light.
It's still industrial espionage and theft of copyrighted materials so I don't see why the Italian police can't go after anybody involved.
I just find it ridiculous that the whole thing has to be dragged on still. It'd be nice to get it out of the way and focus on racing again...
Heads Up - Season preview show this Sunday on ITV1: http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=General&PO_ID=41855 Ok? Ok.
I have to say I like flav's idea that the fastest people go at the back, ala touring cars. plenty of over taking, some good crashes, and more skill, that would be great to watch.
This year's new regs, courtesy of Planet F1: The ECU simply means there are no longer driver aids, notably traction control and the engine braking system. For drivers, their absence means demonstrating an even finer touch with the accelerator and brake pedal, especially in the wet. Traction control enabled drivers to go straight to full throttle in pulling away from corners, whereas now they have to progressively increase speed. As for engine braking, the car can be more unstable, especially on used tyres. The EBS allowed drivers to brake much harder, but if they attempted to do so now, they would lock the rear wheels. All in all, it means that through winter testing, the drivers have had to adjust their driving style, while for the paying public, they now know their heroes are in total control of the car again. For this season, each car's gearbox now has to last for four consecutive grands prix (through Saturday and Sunday). There are specific parts, precisely defined, a team can replace as different gear ratios are required for different circuits. However, if a replacement of any other component is required then it will result in the loss of five places on the grid. There has been another tweak to qualifying which this season sees the reduction in length of the last of the three periods from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. It is allied to the fact teams are no longer allowed to refuel after the first period, which in turn means no tedious fuel-burn runs at the start of the final period. In addition to the maximum 30,000km testing allocation, four 'rookie test days' - on each of which no more than 350km may be covered - will be set aside for the evaluation of young drivers. To qualify for a rookie test day, a driver needs to have completed fewer than four days of testing in a Formula One car and not driven in a single F1 race in the 24 months preceding the test. For the first time, testing is an integral part of the FIA's sporting regulations, rather than merely subject to an agreement between the teams. http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3265_3229778,00.html Gearboxes to last for 4 races? Well that's scuppered Red Bull then... It also raises an interesting point - if you replace a box within the 4 race window, you get a 5 place penalty on the grid. If your engine goes (within the 2 race window), its 10 places. If you have a big off in Friday practice, (having had a new box and engine that event) and end up having to replace both, does that mean 15 places? If so, wouldn't Webber and Square Jaw be starting at the back most of the time?
It's going to make for an interesting season. I, for one, will be glad to see some skill actually come back into the sport - it's been so boring these last few years, and it shows: when people start concentrating more on the intra-team rivalries rather than the racing, you know something's amiss. The change in driving style will probably mean that we won't see any track records being broken for a while. The place loss for parts replacement will make practice & qualifying interesting. How many places do you lose if you have to race in the spare car? Looking forward to this season for the first time in a long time.