Draco-REX Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 The season has started. Practice was this morning. Tomorrow at 2am on Speed will be Qualifying, and Sunday 1am will be a 2009 Season Preview and the race starts at 1:30am. Set your DVRs! There are a LOT of technical changes this year. A lot of the changes were introduced specifically to introduce overtaking. The cars look very little like last year's cars, and there's already some questionable "interpretations" to the rules. I'm watching the practice now and drivers are going off the track all the time as they try to get used to the new setups. This season looks very interesting, as back-marker teams are turning some really competitive times so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRed05 Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 I hope this doesn't ruin F1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sol740 Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 Theres a stirring in my pants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco-REX Posted March 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 I hope this doesn't ruin F1 I doubt it. More overtaking is good. Also a couple interesting points so far in practice: The brand new 2009 cars, in practice, are 0.5 sec faster around Melbourne than the heavily developed 2008 cars. The new regulations were expected to reduce downforce by nearly half, however one team has said that the engineers got that back and then some and are actually 17% UP on the 2008 car. So far it's looking good. But the real test will be Qualifying. Keep your eyes on the BMWs; one has KERS, the other doesn't. That should be a good look at how much the KERS helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudiOn19s Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 My work for Sunday just called to reschedule...so I'm gonna stay up and watch it at 1:30 instead of watching the replay later in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco-REX Posted March 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 Fastest driver in Friday Practice @ 1:26.053? Nico Rosberg in a Williams Toyota. Massa was 10th, Raikonnen 11th. Kovalainen was 17th with Hamilton at 18th. Granted, practice times aren't a true measure of the teams, but you can get a good idea. Usually Ferrari and McLaren end up towards the top. The big issue seems to be the rear diffuser. Williams is one of the teams running the questionable diffuser whereas Ferrari and McLaren are running diffusers that follow the letter of the regulations more closely. It's being speculated that because Ferrari and McLaren were so focused on the 2008 championship, they are behind on developing their 2009 car. We'll see how they shake out tomorrow and Sunday though. Can't Wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRed05 Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 Dammit McLaren...17th and 18th? AAAARRRGGH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokey Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 thanks for the reminder, need to set the DVR for sure. I haven't seen the pictures of the final cars, but do they look as goofy as the initial test versions did? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primera Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 I'm glad someone on here is into F1. I watched the practice last night, mildly drunk. I can't wait to see what kind of times they pull out for Q3 tonight. It sucked seeing Vettel go off the track. Hopefully, he'll see Q3 and get a good starting position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Removed Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 here i thought you was talking about one of anthonys car's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue98ls1 Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 here i thought you was talking about one of anthonys car's. lol, thats only because one was a pain in your butt yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Removed Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 lol, thats only because one was a pain in your butt yesterday. wasnt a pain in my ass...more like less of a pain in your ass now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Apex Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 DVR is set! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nyall86 Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTkVKPdyWs0 I think F1 will be good again with these rule changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco-REX Posted March 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 Dammit McLaren...17th and 18th? AAAARRRGGH! Remember, this was just a practice. Granted, it's far fetched to say they were holding back, but not unheard of. A couple teams were slamming the brakes on in the last corner so they wouldn't show a good time. So, though the big boys should have been faster, I don't think we've seen the real shakedown yet. On the plus side, Hamilton was on pace to do a 1:26.3XX, but he nearly spun it at about the 3/4 mark. So McLaren CAN turn the times, but the lack of rear grip is going to mean the drivers will have to be on their toes. Remember, they still don't have traction control. thanks for the reminder, need to set the DVR for sure. I haven't seen the pictures of the final cars, but do they look as goofy as the initial test versions did? They aren't too goofy.. The HUGE front wing and narrow rear are kind of odd, but I think we'll get used to it. It's also kinda weird seeing slicks again. A couple times the front tires looked a little out of shape, but that's probably just a trick of the lighting (they're racing in the afternoon there) because the driver didn't seem to notice. A really interesting thing is that Bridgestone is widening the gap between the two compounds this year. So, for instance, rather than having Soft and Super Soft for this track, they're going to offer Medium and Super Soft. This should make tire choice more important as the difference in performance will be more significant. I'm glad someone on here is into F1. I watched the practice last night, mildly drunk. I can't wait to see what kind of times they pull out for Q3 tonight. Remember, Q2 will be the fastest times. Q3 they have to run on race fuel. This year, the stewards will be posting the race weight of all the cars. So we should have a better idea of the fuel loads each car has at start. I'm not 100% sure this is a good thing, but we'll see. It sucked seeing Vettel go off the track. Hopefully, he'll see Q3 and get a good starting position. I hope so too. He's a driver to watch. He came in first, in the rain, in a Torro Rosso car. For those not familiar with the teams, Torro Rosso is the development team for Red Bull. So essentially, he won with a project car. Did you notice that the win was a huge confidence booster for him and the team? He started placing really high after that win. Red Bull transferred him up to the main team and I think, with this shake-up, he's going to be a force to be reckoned with. Definately keep your eyes on him. I hope he doesn't disappoint, or the car doesn't let him down like last year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTkVKPdyWs0 I think F1 will be good again with these rule changes. Awesome video. It doesn't cover the diffuser issues, but it does hit on a lot of the bigger changes. Bottom line: the drivers are earning their money this year, as these cars are unlike any previous F1 season and are very different to drive. I'm looking forward to this season. Now if only we can get Speed to show WRC or RallyAmerica. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWW$HEEET Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 F1 needs some races in the US (JPM coming to Nascar and getting destroyed every week doesnt count either) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRed05 Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 F1 needs some races in the US I saw them at Indy a few years back...amazing stuff. There is talk about them returning. I also hope they return to South Africa, I remember when I was a kid, we used to live within audible distance from Kayalami where they used to race up until 1993. Never saw them there though. edit: Wheres the Jody Scheckter fans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally Pat Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 F1 cars have Fast and the Furious style NOS now. Hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco-REX Posted March 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 They had a race in Canada last year.. But not this year. I was all ready to take a trip up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primera Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 I saw them at Indy a few years back...amazing stuff. There is talk about them returning. I went two years back and it really opened my ears to the beauty of the F1 engines. They just can't capture that sound on TV. There is talk about it but I highly doubt they'll return anytime soon. I'm planning a trip to goto Nürburg next year for the race. IIRC, the reason they didn't come back to Canada this year is because there were issues with the track that weren't dealt with within the deadline the track owners were given Maybe next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primera Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 F1 cars have Fast and the Furious style NOS now. Hilarious. POWER BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOST!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally Pat Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 A better example is this old long running anime series called Cyber Formula, which was basically a giant parody of F1 anyway (they even have a character named Knight Shumacher, take a guess who hes named after), making this even more hilarious. Edit: BTW, my avatar is from Cyber Formula. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.COS Posted March 28, 2009 Report Share Posted March 28, 2009 This year will be very interesting. I like how all the teams are complaining about the diffusers. Um, it will take them 1-2 races to get the exact same bits for their cars. Until then, it will be very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco-REX Posted March 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 I DVR'd Qualifying and I'm watching it now.. Just finished Q1. I bet Honda is regretting their decision to pull out of F1. Braun (used to be Honda) just made Ferrari and McLaren look like chumps. They placed 1 and 2 in Q1. They haven't made it out of Q1 in the last 12 races!! Next up for me is Q2 where the fastest times of the weekend are usually seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty2Hotty Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 Theres a stirring in my pants. That's just the crabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.