2009 Formula 1 season

[anfrey]

"Brawn did not display full pace in Oz UPDATE More from the Guardian site today, quoting a Brawn team ‘insider’ talking about how much faster the car is capable of going than we saw on Sunday.

“I think, basically, that if someone is two-tenths off us they can feasibly win the race but, if we’re half a second in front, which is probably where we are at the moment, although we don’t necessarily look like that, it is just foolish to just annihilate people all the time. I think we have a little bit in the bag. We’ve got good stuff coming and I think we have reason to be confident.”

“The visual bits are not really the performance drivers, it’s all the surfaces you can’t see that give you the real performance. One of the good things about the Brawn car is that competitors will look at all of it and say, ‘That’s the bit that’s making it fast.’ But it is not necessarily one thing; they could be focusing on something that is not really a big performance driver. We were looking at everybody else’s times asking why were they all so slow. Our research was telling us we would be the quickest car.”

03/31/09 (GMM) Brawn GP recorded a one-two victory in Melbourne, but it seems the former Honda team could have destroyed rather than simply beaten its competition.
BMW-Sauber figures expressed huge disappointment about Robert Kubica's late crash with Sebastian Vettel last Sunday, insisting the Pole could have raced up to eventual winner Jenson Button and passed him.

"That's interesting," Briton Button, 29, grinned as he reflected on his win in St. Kilda - a beach suburb near Melbourne - before having to jet off to Malaysia.

"I don't think Kubica has any idea about whether I was driving as fast as I could have," he added coyly.

Red Bull's Vettel, seemingly matching his Mercedes-powered rival as he ran second to Button for most of the 58-lap race, suspects the Brawn driver's hint is indeed true.

"I have the feeling they (Brawn) were playing with us," the German told Auto Motor und Sport."

mclaren vs brawn:

Montreal could be back on F1 calendar UPDATE (GMM) Talks with Bernie Ecclestone about reviving the Canadian grand prix have taken place, Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay said on Sunday.

He was responding to reports that the race could return to the calendar this year, as a substitute for the inaugural Abu Dhabi round, whose organizers have reportedly fallen behind schedule amid the global financial crisis.

"We have been talking with Bernie Ecclestone about it coming back in 2011 and 2010," Tremblay confirmed to the Montreal Gazette.

However, he stated that he would be reluctant simply to offer Montreal as a one-off substitute for Abu Dhabi.

"We don't want to have it just in 2009. We want a long term agreement that respects our ability to pay," said Tremblay.

He insists, however, that Montreal organizers would be able to arrange an event this year, with the Melbourne rumors hinting at an October date.

"We have a lot of good people who have organized the races for many years," he said.

Promoters of the traditional Canadian round at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve fell out with F1 chief executive Ecclestone last year over a dispute about race fees.

An earlier dispute also saw the other North American round, the United States grand prix at Indianapolis, stage its last race in 2007.

03/28/09 The Canadian Grand Prix could be back on the Formula One schedule by 2011, according to a published report. Former race promoter Normand Legault said in Saturday's edition of Montreal La Presse that he's optimistic the race will be back in the city even though the economic downturn may negatively effect F1 auto racing. He adds Montreal successfully hosted the race for some 30 years and the city already has the infrastructure in place. Legault says the city also falls in a time zone convenient for broadcasting the race in Europe. TSN.ca

 

[terceltyler]

Only time will tell on the brawn and diffuser issues

Great to hear about the Canadian grandprix possibly coming back...I was looking to go this year back in October.

 

[terceltyler]

Cought the replay of the Malaysian GP this morning, I think the penalty against vettle was complete BS, Kubica should've got the penalty! Sucked that the race was cut short but that was alot of rain!!

 

[anfrey]

i'm downloading the race right now... i'll post my thoughts after watching.

 

[anfrey]

holy s**t holy s**t... did u guys hear/see about what happened to felipe?! spring fell off a car and hit him in the head.

video: http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/felipe+massa/video/x9yt82_f1-hungary-gp-2009-q2-felipe-massa_auto

http://www.apexspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?p=220895&posted=1#post220895

Massa suffers life-threatening injuries
Associated Press

July 26, 2009

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa underwent surgery Saturday on life-threatening skull injuries suffered in a high-speed crash during Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying at Budapest. He was in stable condition in the intensive care unit of a military hospital.

The accident happened when a loose part from another car hit Massa in the helmet, causing him to veer into a tire-lined barrier at about 120 mph. The front of his car was shredded, with both tires gone and the front nose open.

The 28-year-old Brazilian also suffered a concussion but was conscious when airlifted to AEK hospital, his team said.

"At the time he was admitted to [the] hospital his condition was stable and he was breathing and blood circulation was normal," the Hungarian defense department said in a statement. "During the course of his examination they established that he suffered serious, life-threatening injuries, including loss of consciousness and a fracture of the forehead on the left side and a fracture on the base of the skull."

Massa underwent surgery about an hour after arriving at the hospital. Doctors subsequently said his condition was "serious, life-threatening but stable" at a news conference, but ruled the Formula One driver was in "stable, satisfactory condition."

Renault's Fernando Alonso won the pole position for today's race after qualifying was delayed for nearly 30 minutes because of Massa's accident.

 

[terceltyler]

I heard about this but this is the first footage i've seen!! it didn't so much as fall as shoot