Grand Prix Rejects

Captain Hammer

I suspect it's more the stress of the current cost crisis and the trial in Germany.

Captain Hammer

I wonder if Alonso is contemplating retirement. He is talking less and less about the Way of the Samurai on his Twitter feed, and is instead focusing on Jules Bianchi. The two are evidently close, and he has clearly taken the accident hard. He knows he has only got a few seasons left in him, and so ...

Captain Hammer

The latest idea that has been floated: "Super GP2". The idea is that privateer teams could run highly-modified single-make chassis as an alternative to building and developing their own car.

Captain Hammer

"Well, no wonder you spun. It's not connected to anything."

Captain Hammer

I would rather have teams pool their funds to develop a car together. That way, customer teams would have a legitimate claim to having developed the car. There would have to be some kind of cap in place, limiting the amount of money an individual team could contribute, to stop the big teams from out...

Captain Hammer

Looking forward to the double points finale at Abu Dhabi. Sick of people whining about double points. Yeah sure I don't really like it kind of but it is not like a demon spawn child. I think if a gimmick like double points has to be used, let it be at a place worthy of it, like Suzuka, Spa or Monac...

Captain Hammer

Cynicism is not a virtue, and certainly not something to be proud of.

Captain Hammer

"It's purple. Why is it purple?"

Captain Hammer

watka wrote:Wanting the championship to be decided on double points so that it can be gotten rid of is equivalent to self-flagellation.

I'd like it decided on double points to stick it to Hamilton's fans.

Captain Hammer

It obviously didn't happen. He was said to be talking to several teams, but has apparently lost interest altogether.

Captain Hammer

Well that explains a lot. Who the hell wants to drive a car after a chronically-flatulent driver has been in it? Spluttering around in the rear indeed.

Captain Hammer

(You're on for any avatar challenge watka, but i don't understand the party mascots though. Why those avatars?) Just a broadbrush reflections of our apparent ideologies, although it appears that we actually agree. Democrats are more liberal and generally want to redistribute wealth and have more of...

Captain Hammer

Strike me up as another nomination for Sergio Perez with his banzai move to take out Sutil. I disagree. Sutil over-cooked it going into the corner. He clearly locked up and ran wide, certainly wide enough to give Perez the opportunity. He cut back into the apex, with Perez clearly in his blind spot...

Captain Hammer

That remains to be seen, but it will be easier to find without the Marussia entity strung up over their heads.

Captain Hammer

EJ seems to think that the ownership of the entry was transferred to Manor, the parent company, and Marussia deliberately jettisoned to pave the way for the team to enter in 2015 as Manor (or someone else, if they can find a backer).

Captain Hammer

Force the teams to run three cars. Only allow two cars to score WCC points. Make them incur all of the costs and receive no benefit, and watch them pounce on the idea of cost-cutting.

The FIA has tried the carrot approach for too long. Now it's time for the stick.

Captain Hammer

The WEC has a long way to go before it can claim that. It has a very short calendar and limited global broadcasting. And I think there is a fundamental problem with the structure of endurance racing - most people don't have six hours to sit down and watch the races. Lots of people also watch Formula...

Captain Hammer

AndreaModa wrote:I just cannot comprehend how the leading teams can sit round a table and think that the current model is sustainable.

Because the troubles don't directly affect them.

Captain Hammer

East Londoner wrote:Caterham are aiming to raise £2.3 million through crowdfunding to get to Abu Dhabi...

You say "crowdfunding", I say "begging".

Captain Hammer

I think the issue here is not Nasr's talent, its that Sauber has gone with 2 unproven drivers when perhaps they would have done better to stay safe with one known quantity, especially as both Sutil and Gutierrez bring in money. I actually think that at this point Sauber have nothing to lose by hiri...

Captain Hammer

Don't forget Ricciardo and Kvyat - "Daniil" is the Russian form of "Daniel".

Captain Hammer

Oh man, Jolyon Palmer and Giedo van der Garde are going to be soooo mad ...

Captain Hammer

It's okay that you forgot about Bruno Senna. I think most of us have tried to.

Captain Hammer

Everyone whinges about gimmicks, but why do you think we're stuck with them? Because the teams won't support actual, meaningful change in the sport. They know that if they cut costs, they risk losing their advantage, so they oppose it. Instead, they support the introduction of things like DRS becaus...

Captain Hammer

Here's how I would fix it: customer cars where customer teams have a legitimate claim of ownership. During the summer break, teams pool their resources. They contribute equally, and develop the car together. They are free to develop further through the year, provided that they make those upgrades av...

Captain Hammer

I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing - teams and drivers are increasingly embracing social media. So reaching out to fans through a platform like YouTube is perfectly viable. The problem comes when you focus too much on that element to the detriment of all else.

Captain Hammer

Joe Saward continues with his "I'm the only real journalist in Formula 1 and everyone else is a muppet" motif, targeting Christian Sylt:

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/10/ ... ited-love/

Sylt fires back by pointing out Saward's track record of never actually being right:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2014/ ... -the-keys/

Pass me the popcorn.

Captain Hammer

Watching MotoGP at Philip Island, I'm struck by how well-organised the Moto2 and Moto3 series are. The feeder series to Formula 1 is a convoluted mess, with a bad move putting paid to a driver's chances of moving up. The "official" route should be Formula 3, then GP2 (renamed Formula 2), t...

Captain Hammer

Two for Sochi:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/m/?r=6465316&rf=1 http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/m/?r=6465314&rf=1

Captain Hammer

Caterham's GP2 arm has been sold to GP3 team Status. The team will compete in Abu Dhabi as Caterham, and switch to Status in 2015:

http://racer.com/latest-stories/item/10 ... m-gp2-team

Captain Hammer

It was too short, and it doesn't use the Strip, which is apparently what will be included in this proposal. But some of the circuit could be used. I imagine it will look something like this:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/m/?r=6464726&rf=1

Captain Hammer

Nissany returns!

http://m.autosport.com/news/report.php/ ... for-sauber

Well, sort of.

Captain Hammer

dr-baker wrote:And I guess I am the only one who already has a Bachelor's degree and is one year away from a second Bachelor's?

I have a double Bachelor's degree, two Graduate Diplomas, and I'm working on a Master's degree.

Captain Hammer

Don't expect to break new grounds.

Captain Hammer

"Do you know what shirt-fronting is, Nico? Nobody seems to be able to tell me."

Captain Hammer

Except that he said it "probably won't be" a Mercedes-powered team that he joins. And Mercedes already have Rosberg under contract for 2015, and following Spa, they made a point to acknowledge that they had addressed Rosberg's issue within the team (which wasn't picked up by the British me...

Captain Hammer

That's what I was trying to post.

Captain Hammer

It's suspected that they did it to preserve the engine, because if it goes, they may not be able to afford another one. And then they may not be able to enter two cars in subsequent races, which opens them up to sanctions from the FIA. Also, if they choose to retire the car for technical reasons, th...

Captain Hammer

You were "Prisoner Monkeys"? I am shocked! I too am surprised that you were Prisoner Monkeys that's pretty cool. I was Fumbles but you probably wouldn't have seen my comments because most never got posted. This is the point where I say I always knew it. A shame you got banned, it was nice...

Captain Hammer

Question: just how narrow is the much-touted narrow section?

Answer: this narrow.

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