2009 Italian GP thread

amacachi

Sutil now 11/1, if he wins I'll never have been so sick. Obviously it's only practice but if Fisi was still with Force India I'd be backing him.

What's the forecast like for the weekend?

Ghost Train

amacachi wrote: »

Sutil now 11/1, if he wins I'll never have been so sick. Obviously it's only practice but if Fisi was still with Force India I'd be backing him.

What's the forecast like for the weekend?

Yep, saw in the second practice Sutil on top of the time sheets, Fisi was last. Must be frustrating for Fisi, but I guess he mightn't have got the call from Ferrari if the Force India wasn't competitive.

Did hear it mentioned that Dominicali (I think) said something about Fisi being able to race for another team next year to keep him competitive in case Ferrari need him to race for them again, so wonder would he return to Force India for next year

amacachi

Weather looks nice over there, Brawns mightn't go too badly.

Ghost Train

amacachi wrote: »

Weather looks nice over there, Brawns mightn't go too badly.

just waiting for the gp2 race to start and it bucketting down

amacachi

Crappy day tomorrow and I'd give Sutil a good chance of winning. All depends on the weights, don't seem to have been put up on Formula1.com yet.

Ghost Train

amacachi wrote: »

Crappy day tomorrow and I'd give Sutil a good chance of winning. All depends on the weights, don't seem to have been put up on Formula1.com yet.

If a safety car gets involved the drivers at the front, probably on a 2 stop strategy would be delayed. I'd say if its dry, Hamilton, in the wet maybe Brawn and Jenson

Definitely a pretty open race though

rua1972

amacachi wrote: »

Crappy day tomorrow and I'd give Sutil a good chance of winning. All depends on the weights, don't seem to have been put up on Formula1.com yet.

Here you go.
1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 653.5kg
2. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 655
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 662
4. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 683
5. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 688.5
6. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 687
7. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 679.5
8. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 677.5
9. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 682
10. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 683
11. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 703
12. Romain Grosjean, Renault, 699.8
13. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 697.5
14. Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari, 690
15. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 697.5
16. Timo Glock, Toyota, 709.8
17. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 706.2
18. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 708.6
19. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 706
20. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 706


Hamilton is the lightest and button the heaviest in the top ten. Looking forward for the race.

Slutmonkey57b

No wonder Button's happy, but Rubens has outperformed him again. Hamilton's going to have to race a stormer to get enough of a gap to make this work.

Not a bad result for Fisi given the amount of work he's had to do to get used to the Ferrari.

Ghost Train

Kovalainen looks like the leading 1 stopper so could have a good race and good job from Liuzzi, the red bulls might have a tough race.

EvilMonkey

Kovi is in a good position, Brawn are strong too. Sutil, Kimi and Hamilton could do it.
When is the last time the top 6 looked like they could win a GP?

Disappointed with Red Bull.

mickdw

Fisi didnt do too bad considering. Hope he has a good result. He will be on the pace for the next race Id say. Hopefully he gets a full run tomorrow.

amacachi

Annoyed Sutil is 2 stopping, that was a waste of a fiver. :P Kovalainen looks value at 6/1 though.

vectra

Rubens might be handed a 5 place penalty as a gearbox change is possible before the race.
GO KIMI GO..!!! :cool:

Ghost Train

vectra wrote: »

Rubens might be handed a 5 place penalty as a gearbox change is possible before the race.
GO KIMI GO..!!! :cool:

if thats true might be a good chance for Jenson to extend his lead, with the others behind him

hope kers gives us some overtaking

Kimi has a lot of mercedes engines around him

vectra

Ghost Train wrote: »

if thats true might be a good chance for Jenson to extend his lead, with the others behind him

hope kers gives us some overtaking

Kimi has a lot of mercedes engines around him

Yup
Just goes to show his talent really.. The only Non Merc engine in the bunch :cool:

Slutmonkey57b

Another great example of why everyone should use whatever means they can to get 5Live:

During practice, Crofty reads out a text from a reader clarifying if "parabolica" is italian for satellite dish - as he explains, Ant had claimed this was the case the day before in response to Crofty's assertion that the Lesmo curve was named after the Lesbo Sisters, a musical act, at which they both took time out for a giggle. Had to listen to legard for about 5 minutes while 5 live was coming on the red button yesterday - he interrupted Brundle twice when he was mid-sentence in a technical analysis. Mind bogglingly stupid, ignorant, boring, appaling git that he is.

amacachi

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Another great example of why everyone should use whatever means they can to get 5Live:

During practice, Crofty reads out a text from a reader clarifying if "parabolica" is italian for satellite dish - as he explains, Ant had claimed this was the case the day before in response to Crofty's assertion that the Lesmo curve was named after the Lesbo Sisters, a musical act, at which they both took time out for a giggle. Had to listen to legard for about 5 minutes while 5 live was coming on the red button yesterday - he interrupted Brundle twice when he was mid-sentence in a technical analysis. Mind bogglingly stupid, ignorant, boring, appaling git that he is.

Heh, lesbo.

Would that I had digital in me room.

Ghost Train

Did hear part of that conversation, have setanta though so find that the best option usually

will be interesting to see if Rubins gearbox gives him any problems

alonso could have a strong race one of the few who haven't won this year

Charlie-Bravo

Bad rain for GP2 yesterday...any due today? Spice it up a little?!

amacachi

Kovalainen 15/2 now, worth a score I'd've thought.

amacachi

Dire stuff there from Kovalainen so far. Looks like it's Hamilton's race to lose. Having said that, he, Kimi and Sutil seem to be driving the wheels off their cars.

Irishshin

Nice Brawn fight going on

Sorry for Luzzi
He was doing so well.

amacachi

There were 5 people could've won today with the slightest bit of luck.

andyman

Let's get ready for bucketloads of abuse to be hurled at Lewis Hamilton :rolleyes:

Irishshin

Nice race for Rubens
And excellent for Kimi on the Podium

RayM

LOL @ Lewis.

Seriously though, fair play to him for pushing like that until the very end. He has to be one of the most exciting drivers in the history of F1. Anyone else would have been happy to settle for third, save their engine/gearbox, etc, etc, and all that boring crap.

amacachi

andyman wrote: »

Let's get ready for bucketloads of abuse to be hurled at Lewis Hamilton :rolleyes:

Well if bt "bucketloads" you mean that most people will criticise him for throwing away a podium then I don't see what the problem is, it was very, very silly of him.

Great to see Kimi on the podium. ^_^ Button doing all he has to do for the rest of the year, stay next to Rubens the whole way round.

Woden

very enjoyable race!

EvilMonkey

andyman wrote: »

Let's get ready for bucketloads of abuse to be hurled at Lewis Hamilton :rolleyes:

Another podium for Kimi

Good race, if Kimi didn't touch the grass at the start he would have been leading into turn 1.

Trulli provided some entertainment today.

I hope you didn't put a fiver on kovi.

kierank01

Ghost Train wrote: »

hope kers gives us some overtaking

It seems as though kers is preventing overtaking. Sutil, and Fisi in Spa, could not overtake Kimi, who had a slower car.

but then would it be slower if he didn't have kers?

amacachi

The da put a score on Heikki on my recommendation, looks like I'll be walking everywhere for a few days. :P

On reflection I think the Brawns had the race in the bag once they kept it on the road. Had Kimi gotten into first at the start I doubt he could've pulled away from Hamilton. Sutil maybe could've challenged if he could have led from the start but that was never going to happen.

It's great not having a clue who's going to win at the start of each race. Kimi for 3rd in the championship? :P

kierank01

andyman wrote: »

Let's get ready for bucketloads of abuse to be hurled at Lewis Hamilton :rolleyes:

yerra ya, everyone has been prasing him for racing til the end.

I still think he is a numti (maybe that is because I don't like Mclaren).

opinion guy

OMG did anyone see the BBC post race interview with Sutil just now ??

Bloody hilarious :D:D

EvilMonkey

opinion guy wrote: »

OMG did anyone see the BBC post race interview with Sutil just now ??

Bloody hilarious :D:D

DC: Do you know her?
Sutil: Not yet.

meanmachine3

missed the sutil bit but i recorded it, will watch it in a few mins. good race and i'm delighted hamilton crashed out, pity they only showed it from the car camera.
it'll make the rest of the season very interesting.
go Rubinho go.

Ghost Train

opinion guy wrote: »

OMG did anyone see the BBC post race interview with Sutil just now ??

Bloody hilarious :D:D

Pity she didn't stay around a bit longer

kierank01 wrote: »

It seems as though kers is preventing overtaking. Sutil, and Fisi in Spa, could not overtake Kimi, who had a slower car.

but then would it be slower if he didn't have kers?

First lap or two seemed to a few passes as the cars settled in to order, but overall kers didn't seem to have much impact

Lewis behind the brawns, couldn't seem to get close enough, but maybe it did help Kimi defend a bit, but its hard to judge exactly how much its worth.

vectra

opinion guy wrote: »

OMG did anyone see the BBC post race interview with Sutil just now ??

I missed that
can someone Youtube it please?

Slutmonkey57b

Another example of great race coverage from JH DC & EJ there! brilliant race at the start, but Brundle was right on the money in the F1 forum again - Button after the DNF in Spa now looks back to his relaxed form from the start of the year, kept efectively the same pace with Rubens the whole race, didn't look flustered when Lewis was pushing at the end. 1st & second decided by 2 hundreths in quali, basically. As Buemi pointed out in the forum interview, the gap between hamitlon's pole and the back of the grid is practically nothing. Amazing stuff. It's tempting to give up trying to predict who's going to win races at this point!

rua1972

I saw the charge of Hamilton behind Button. Hamilton gives me the same feeling as watching Schumacher, i always hoped for a puncture or a detour trough the gravel. No sooner had i thought it and there was Hamilton in the wall. On the other hand Hamilton doesn't give up until the flag drops, something to admire.
Ross brawn was right after Qauli a one stopper is the best way to win, even starting from 5t place. The championship will be between Barrichello and Button.

Charlie-Bravo

Yep, that one-stopper was definitely the way to go...I think if you two stop it, there's more a chance of getting caught in traffic (twice!) where as a one stopper you have a bigger window for your pit stop therefore choosing which lap to come in when the traffic is good for your out lap.

I used to hate Brawn being at ferrari, his feckin' tactics being so good the races got so boring with Scumi running off into the distance. But for some reason, he's got now got this little smirk which suits him...like he knows something definite is going to happen...confident without being cocky!

EvilMonkey

rua1972 wrote: »

I saw the charge of Hamilton behind Button. Hamilton gives me the same feeling as watching Schumacher, i always hoped for a puncture or a detour trough the gravel. No sooner had i thought it and there was Hamilton in the wall. On the other hand Hamilton doesn't give up until the flag drops, something to admire.

Kimi, Sutil, Button, Barrichello didn't give up until the end either.

Ghost Train

just think how different next years race might be with no fuel stops, I presume everybody would just stop once?

I enjoyed seeing the two different strategies play out today

Glico Man

Ghost Train wrote: »

just think how different next years race might be with no fuel stops, I presume everybody would just stop once?

I enjoyed seeing the two different strategies play out today

Yeah they'll stop once...

once their fuel runs out they'll be littering the track.

Somehow I don't think it's going to be that good next year with the no refueling. I could be wrong but I just think it's a terrible idea

alpha2zulu

Great race today, while overtaking was limited just the strategy games alone were entertaining.

Its the 2nd race now that I've been listening to the 5live commentary via the red button, it's simply miles better than Ledgard and Brundle. How Crofty wasent given the TV gig is a mystery. Himself and Davidson inject much more life into the commentary..and the AC/DC on the parade lap is a great touch also!

Charlie-Bravo

aaronh007 wrote: »

]Somehow I don't think it's going to be that good next year with the no refueling. I could be wrong but I just think it's a terrible idea

Have to agree...refuelling always adds that extra bit of intensity - another item of work in the pit to ruin a pit stop! You'll get some problems with rigs...you'll have the lollipop man lift the lollipop, but the rig isn't fully out. next year, all we are left with is whether the wheel nut is tight enough - unless they make it complusory to stop twice at certain races, within a certain lap window...but that's just not F1...that's for the kids in the feeder series.

EvilMonkey

aaronh007 wrote: »

Yeah they'll stop once...

once their fuel runs out they'll be littering the track.

Somehow I don't think it's going to be that good next year with the no refueling. I could be wrong but I just think it's a terrible idea

I don't know the tyreware will be worse with the heavier cars and it puts the pressure on the guys doing the tyres.
I agree i don't think it will work that well, they wont run out during the race the teams will be on top of that. But it wont improve the spectacle or whatever they hope to get out of it.

amacachi

EvilMonkey wrote: »

I don't know the tyreware will be worse with the heavier cars and it puts the pressure on the guys doing the tyres.
I agree i don't think it will work that well, they wont run out during the race the teams will be on top of that. But it wont improve the spectacle or whatever they hope to get out of it.

I'm going to guess they'll have to come up with completely new tyre compounds which I always find strange.
-"Right, we need to cut costs."
-"OK, let's change the ****ing regulations every year so the tyre provider has to spend millions on R&D to come up with new compounds every few ****ing months. That'll definitely be cheaper than carrying a container to each GP."

I'm annoyed pitstops will be almost finished, I would guess most people won't stop at all (all depending on if the tyres will last) and it'll just be the odd crazy guy stopping. Of course with how impossible it is to overtake now I'd say they'll all stop as little as possible.

Ghost Train

Wonder if mclaren had any thoughts of controlling the pace of the 1 stoppers with Kovalainen, really surprised how he fell back, not what he needed for his hopes of a drive next year

maybe the end of the races next year will be worth waiting for, when the cars get light and if one driver can look after his tires better than the others. I suppose the teams will work out the best strategies

amacachi

Ghost Train wrote: »

Wonder if mclaren had any thoughts of controlling the pace of the 1 stoppers with Kovalainen, really surprised how he fell back, not what he needed for his hopes of a drive next year

maybe the end of the races next year will be worth waiting for, when the cars get light and if one driver can look after his tires better than the others. I suppose the teams will work out the best strategies

I'd say they had thoughts of Kovalainen winning. He seemed to be sitting pretty at the start.

The new regs will suit Button perfectly, not so much Lewis.

EvilMonkey

amacachi wrote: »

I'm going to guess they'll have to come up with completely new tyre compounds which I always find strange.
-"Right, we need to cut costs."
-"OK, let's change the ****ing regulations every year so the tyre provider has to spend millions on R&D to come up with new compounds every few ****ing months. That'll definitely be cheaper than carrying a container to each GP."

I'm annoyed pitstops will be almost finished, I would guess most people won't stop at all (all depending on if the tyres will last) and it'll just be the odd crazy guy stopping. Of course with how impossible it is to overtake now I'd say they'll all stop as little as possible.

Didn't think about them making new tyre compounds, i know they are making smaller front wheels.

amacachi

Ficus wrote: »

The thing is that the incured cost of developing a new tyre is by the tyre manafacturer alone and not the teams or FOM so it really doest make a difference to them.

Is there no charge whatsoever to the teams/FOM for tyres? If so then why limit the amount they have, I thought that was due to costs?