Grand Prix Rejects

Irisado

Surely Ferrari fans will welcome the signing of arguably the best all round driver in F1? If I were a Ferrari fan, I would want Alonso in the team, as I know he would deliver the goods if he were to have a good car. I'm not a fan of Raikkonen's at all, and I really do think he is a big morale sapper...

Irisado

I've always felt that Luca Badoer was up there with some of the best Minardi drivers, and of course he was robbed in 1999 on two counts, first by not standing in for Schumacher at Ferrari, and second because of the gearbox failure in the Minardi at the Nurburgring. I'm absolutely delighted that Ferr...

Irisado

and Naoki Hattori? I'd forgotten this dude even existed until reading Autocourse 1991 and even then the memory didn't stir...Didn't even qualify his Coloni. Make that he didn't even pre-qualify his Coloni. Like Toshio Suzuki, who I mentioned earlier on, I tend to agree he is rather forgettable, and...

Irisado

I would point out, however, that Onyx actually had quite a good car in 1989, so I think the trend is broken somewhat in that little sequence at that point.

Irisado

About 1999 standings interesting note is that if Ferrari's disqualification from Malaysian GP had stood, Minardi would have finished ahead of Arrows. Gene was 9th in Malaysian GP and would have then been 7th. They both would have had one sixth place (de la Rosa/AUS, Gene/EUR) and one seventh place ...

Irisado

I actually think that Sutil could well remain at Force India, since the rumours continue to circulate that Fisichella is going to retire, and the team may want some continuity. What's more, if they continue to improve, he may well want to stay. I think Sutil has improved quite a bit this year, but h...

Irisado

I disagree with the idea of having a development team in Formula One. Toro Rosso should be allowed every opportunity to succeed, not simply give drivers some experience so that they can be upgraded to the Red Bull factory race seats when they start showing potential. A team like Toro Rosso would be...

Irisado

I remember Bruni very easily, although I am a Minardi fan though, so I remember all their drivers without too much trouble. That said, anyone who manages to be out qualified and out raced by Zsolt Baumgartner tends to be memorable in my book, albeit for all the wrong reasons

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Irisado

Let's spare a thought for Luca Badoer... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDTMQR4z2QE As a Minardi fan, I was nearly crying too I can tell you. Needless to say this happened during an advert break on ITV in the UK, so I was even less pleased, as Murray' commentary was much less dramatic second time r...

Irisado

The decision doesn't surprise me in the slightest, since the body language between Bourdais and the team after he had retired revealed far more than any words could have. It also comes as no shock that Jaime Algueirsari looks certain to be his replacement, since Toro Rosso exists as a development te...

Irisado

A better race than most of the events this year, but it still could have done with some rain. I won't make my usual complaint about excessive reliability on this occasion, as the Nurburgring has never traditionally been a car breaker, in part due to the low temperatures, so I'm actually amazed that ...

Irisado

BMW haven't had many engine failures in races though, and this is the most crucial thing. I'm actually of the opinion that Formula 1 needs more engine failures, and a higher level of unreliability, so I hope against hope that the rules get tweaked in such a way that such an occurrence becomes possib...

Irisado

The old Hockenheim may not always have produced very exciting racing, but I agree with all those who had a soft spot for it, because, like them, I enjoyed watching races at Hockenheim because they were different. It was a circuit which stood out from many of the others, and I will forever remember t...

Irisado

I've read that Cosworth have done quite a bit of work on the engines, so while they may be based on the 2006 unit, they are different in terms of their power output, and I suspect that reliability will have been very much improved since 2006.

Irisado

It's no surprise to me that there will be no breakaway series. The devil here is in the detail, as I want to see exactly what the manufacturers are going to do to cut costs, because if they have got off scot free, I will be very angry indeed, as they need to spend less money, in order to make F1 via...

Irisado

I just remember him for aquaplaning, and almost hitting the stranded Inoue, at the Japanese Grand Prix (it may have been the other way around, actually ) I think that may be the other way around (unless it happened in practice), because Noda retired the Larrouse with some kind of fuel injection rel...

Irisado

Well, that wasn't particularly great was it? The first few laps were exciting, and Hamilton versus Alonso was quite spectacular as the two of them tried to drive faster than their cars would allow them to, Hamilton even had a spin , which livened things up, but apart from that it was the usual proce...

Irisado

Adrian Campos is much more prominent for his team than for his driving in F1. Oh, I don't know. Forgetting to put your ear plugs in before starting the race, and then getting disqualified in relation to this offence is quite memorable in my view, although I must confess I can't exactly remember how...

Irisado

Fair enough, they were midfield engines, but the teams that they were supplying should have been teams that were challenging for race wins (Williams and Benetton), and not one did those engines ever win a race. Looking at Villeneuve, winning the championship the season before, then getting lapped i...

Irisado

I have a few ideas: 1. ITV's commercial breaks: most of the races during 2002, 2004, and 2007-08 were dire enough without missing the few exciting moments during advert breaks. 2. BAR: the team with the worst results relative to the hype for years (1999-2003 inclusive their performance was well belo...

Irisado

Popi_Larrauri wrote:Problem is, if FOTA/FIA ends the ways it seems, there only will be US F1 and YOU F1 (I don't know... Yemen Oil United F1).

There will be no breakaway series in my view (see Captain Hammer's thread on this subject for my reasoning), so there is no need to worry about this

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Irisado

A lot of good arguments here, but as much as I dislike the personalities of Mosley and Ecclestone, I have to say that FOTA holds even less appeal to me as an F1 fan. Allow me to outline the reasons why: 1. Ferrari. Di Montezemelo is, to all intents and purposes, head of FOTA. I think he is the worst...

Irisado

Shouldn't we all just be celebrating the fact that we have some new teams in Formula 1? I think that the entries of US F1, despite my own reservations about it, and Campos are well deserved (I'm particularly pleased about Campos). Manor snuck in under the radar, and I don't know enough about them to...

Irisado

I rather tend to agree with Captain Hammer's theory, but the fact that Prodrive didn't honour (in the eyes of the FIA) its 2008 commitment to join the grid may well have counted against it too, so I suspect it was a combination of both of these factors which led to their entry being turned down. Pre...

Irisado

You do realise that Kimi had already retired from the race when he was seen with the ice cream? He wasn't waiting for the restart, he was out. According to Ferrari's press officer he hadn't actually retired, the team were hoping to fix his car, so there was evidently a case of conflicting reports c...

Irisado

No one has mentioned those distinctly average Mecachrome/Playlife/Supertec engines that Williams, Benetton, and BAR all used. It seems that as soon as Renault pulled out, it was down to the engine makers to sort themselves out (Renault used to use Mecachrome to make the engines when they where stil...

Irisado

StoneColdSpider wrote:that was dull... the new rules havnt helped with overtaking much at all

The cars can run in closer proximity to each other, so that at least is an improvement, but the changes to the aerodynamic regulations have evidently not gone far enough, I agree.

Irisado

But what about all those new teams submitting entries? Surely there aren't that much better drivers around, so I figure one of them could hire Pantano, maybe for one year or something. They are more likely to take on drivers racing in GP2 and F2 this year in my opinion. Giorgio Pantano didn't impre...

Irisado

Well, that was as dull as I had feared. Insufficient overtaking, excessively good reliability (eighteen finishers in that heat is just ridiculous in my opinion), Vettel's off, and Barrichello's gearbox problem at the start meant that it was all over bar the shouting on lap one, and there were very f...

Irisado

Popi_Larrauri wrote:"Well, in the end is nonsense. What would do Diniz with money after all?...

He could have given some of it to Prost when he was involved in the ownership of the team at the beginning of the 2001 season before the relationship turned sour

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Irisado

I'm not getting my hopes up for an exciting race. Turkish Grand Prix usually promise a lot, but fail to deliver. About the only real drama there has ever been at this circuit was in the 2006 race when Massa scored his first win, because Schumacher couldn't pass Alonso's Renault to take second place,...

Irisado

I'm pretty sure modern circuits have pit lanes only need to accommodate 24 cars. That is why the FIA will likely limit the entries to 24. Sorry, I had forgotten about the size of the pit lane, and this is a factor, however, you have to remember that Mosley has said that there will be thirteen entry...

Irisado

Frank Montagny All I can remember him for is replacing that legend that was IDE, I don;'t remember him doing anything except slogging it around at the back That's a good choice, I can agree with that, as the only thing I remember his getting involved in was the spectacular first corner pile up at t...

Irisado

By the way: Why F1 NEVER allowed more than 26 cars (it's safety issues?), because indy fielded at least 33 on the brickyard. I believe it's a safety issue, yes, as not all of the circuits are designed to accommodate more than 26 Formula one cars on the grid, although I suspect that older circuits w...

Irisado

It has to be Minardi, as they certainly did a good enough job as an independent team, in my view, to deserve a place in Formula 1, and I would love to see them return, arguably in place of Toro Rosso, so that they can have their old factory back. F1 has lost an awful lot of soul and passion ever sin...

Irisado

A lot of these entries really need to be taken with a pinch of salt in my opinion. I think the serious candidates were those who submitted their entries earlier on, such as Campos, and some of the others are just showboating and/or jumping on the bandwagon. March, for example, had three lives in F1,...

Irisado

Superfund hardly splashed out that much cash when they sponsored Minardi, and weren't they also meant to be creating some kind of one make series a few years ago that never got off the ground? I don't see their entry as being that serious, and I feel that it will struggle to make the final cut when ...

Irisado

Minardi did have problems with their pit stops in 1998, but their stops were just as good as anyone else's most of the time, although they were rarely the fastest pit crew competing. I've seen worse pit stops though. Ferrari losing one of Irvine's tyres at the 1999 European Grand Prix during a sched...

Irisado

Marc Surer. Swiss driver. Drove for Arrows a lot in the 1980s, and quite possibly a totally unremarkable career. Scored points, but nothing makes him stand out otherwise. I would argue that scoring points for Ensign makes him memorable, as there were not too many drivers who managed to score points...

Irisado

Piquet's comment was fatuous in view of all the errors he made in his debut season, and continues to make now. It is often said that when you criticise others you are really highlighting your own flaws, and I feel that this was very the case with Piquet during that interview, and his own insecurity ...

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