So the F1 season for 08 begins this week..

[TJ]

Predictions? Thoughts? Who do you want to win?

It looks like another Ferrari/McLaren slugfest....

Williams look super strong, while the midfield looks very busy - BMW, RBR, Renault, Torro Rosso maybe even Toyota and Honda...

For me - go Lewis, go Williams - id love to see them win again - the last private team with the ability to fight the big boys.

I got this feeling McLaren are going to send the FIA a big fuck you after 2007....

Game on :D

[Skitzo]

Mclaren all the way baby. will try and watch more races this year. just so hard witht he time its on. and i always forget till the the monday after.

[TJ]

10 will be showing the races live on HD now - so hopefully that brings it a few hours closer, thus not needing to be up till 2am!

[xr06t]

thats good news! 10hd ftw. loving all the sport they are showing!

all day sat and all day sunday f1, tops!

[[FFOUR]]

Go Ferrari and Kimi!

[adrenalin]

Williams for me !

[Skitzo]

10 will be showing the races live on HD now - so hopefully that brings it a few hours closer, thus not needing to be up till 2am!

wohoo. mum is keen on getting a HD box thingymabopper as well. i get 10 digital HD on my comp but cpu is too slow to run it properly.

[TJ]

http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/48680/2001331008315039232_rs.jpg

Hoping for less of that this year!

[ED40]

rubens for 2008. :P

i fly out on wed night to see the melb race, i havent been before and i cant wait!
I think it will be kimis year 08.

[Lonewolf]

alonso last FTW.
like to see webber with at least a podium at some stages of the year.

No launch/traction control will be very interesting too.

[mjp]

Webber will fail miserably and then blame the car.

Hamilton FTW in drivers championship or at least a tight battle with Räikkönen!!

:)

[Brett_J]

Go Ferrari and Kimi!

+2

Kimi is a good solid driver and now he has Ferrari backing him I think he will go far.

Webber - Fuckwit
He's like Lleyton Hewitt, I instantly turn unaustralian when it comes to these 2 whingers.

[ED40]

does anyone else think lewis is a fuckstick or is it just me?

[JME]

just you.


Im hoping for close racing from all teams and drivers and lots spills and action!!!

[TJ]

]http://www.sutton-images.com/previews%5Cd08aus39.jpg

http://www.sutton-images.com/previews%5Cd08aus37.jpg

http://www.sutton-images.com/previews%5Cd08aus03.jpg

http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/7686/a1nh5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/6424/a2ox3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/3143/a3ij6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4659/a4je4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/8457/a5bt3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/8213/a6ym6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Its getting close :D

2 days before the glorious sounds of F1 fill Albert Park!

[redline07]

does anyone else think lewis is a fuckstick or is it just me?

Yeah, but it could just be because he drives a Macca, or because he seems to cry to he dad everytime big mean fernando picks on him.

[TJ]

Better then dogging your team into the FIA....

Doesnt matter, Alonso will be so far down the grid this year he wont need to worry about Lewis - maybe Button and Sato?

[redline07]

Haha i don't think anyone is that fond of alonso either now

[TJ]

Some more pics....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/Ajacied/njfybdsga.jpg

Right....

http://www.f1-live.com/f1/photos/2008/gpmelbourne/diapo_033.jpg

look Hamilton beached it again!!

http://www.f1-live.com/f1/photos/2008/gpmelbourne/diapo_022.jpg

"talk about us to the FIA again and ill snap your neck"

http://www.f1-live.com/f1/photos/2008/gpmelbourne/diapo_015.jpg

The arrow represents their finishing position in most races for the season...

[FranZ]

Heikki at Mclaren FTW. Will truely show how good a driver he is. I had big hopes for him at Renault buy Renault dropped the ball.

And TEN HD - its only from the Malaysian Grand Prix onwards. Nascar on the other hand...

[TJ]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7281028.stm

Shall be good reading over the season.

[TJ]

http://f1.virtualsports.com.au/

if anyone wants to enter a virtual tipping comp pm me asap - we have a leauge started.

[MMM]

webber looking good just need to see how he goes in qualifying

also interesting watching the cars with no traction control, seen some nice slides

[V70R]

http://www.f1-live.com/f1/photos/2008/gpmelbourne/diapo_015.jpg

The arrow represents their finishing position in most races for the season...

hahahaha gold !
Im a Honda F1 fan but its sadly true.

[adrenalin]

Cmon Kubica hopefully has a better season and goes top 3 same with heidfeld.

Lewis Hamilton to win

[Tocchi]

about to start :D :D :D

[1JZNOSHIT]

NO luck for Webber again.....

Cmon Kimi!

[Brett_J]

Farking Kimi is killing me!

[adrenalin]

GO kubica !

[Lonewolf]

lots of DNF's, wow.
Coulthard's dressing down of massa = gold.
bourdais : showing his class...

[iluv2moan]

the care factor disappeared once coulthard crashed out :(

[S_E]

Actually wasn't a bad race, first time I've actually watched a complete F1 race in a while.

[adrenalin]

Heidfeld did fucking awesome !

Hamilton and heidfeld couldnt asked for better :)

[iluv2moan]

when are they going to stop referring to webber as the "unluckiest man in f1 by far"

[mek]

when he stops being so damn unlucky I would imagine!

Every race nearly he is out for some drama.

[adrenalin]

doesnt matter where he goes the shitstick goes with him....

[Skitzo]

LOL at his comment after qualifying. interviewer says somethign about being unlucky and he responds with " yeah, maybe i should do somethign else".

well done to lewis even though eh had an uneventfull race. would of been good to see the last few laps if kimi didnt root up when overtaking henki.

unlucky for henki and sebastian aswell. will be keeping an eye on sebastian's progress.

Mclaren FTW!!!

[xr06t]

felt bad for bourdais, 3 laps to go for a 5th in his debut!!

mark webber did look to be pretty unlucky with his crash.

was good to watch imo.

[1JZVL]

fkn lewis.

grrrrrrr angry at ferrari, especially kimi!!

*shakes fist*

[ED40]

lewis is a fukn superstar. I think he will become more successful then Schuey. Was hot, fuk all shade and fuk all viewing points aswell.. better off getting a grand stand seat methinks..
Good seeing rubens up in the points aswell.

[waxdass]

rubens didnt get the points, he got disqualified for running a red light on pits.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/3/7495.html

so raikonnen gets the points.

[1JZVL]

lewis is a fukn superstar. I think he will become more successful then Schuey. Was hot, fuk all shade and fuk all viewing points aswell.. better off getting a grand stand seat methinks..
Good seeing rubens up in the points aswell.


er big call.... :blah:

u forgetting (already!) raikkonen won last year :slap:

(in a "not-so-good-ferrari" mind you...)

sheesh :P

hamilton = :wank:

[Tocchi]

woohoo ferrari front row

mclaren were 2nd row, but each driver penalised 5 grid positions due to blocking other cars in Q3. no appeal was made

that bumps Webber up to 6th on the starting grid :)

[DISTRBD]

Fukn Webber finished 7th :)

[Brett_J]

Yay for Kimi
unlucky for Massa
good to see Webber finish ahead of Im a fuckhead alonso.

[ED40]

er big call.... :blah:

u forgetting (already!) raikkonen won last year :slap:

(in a "not-so-good-ferrari" mind you...)

sheesh :P

hamilton = :wank:

i dont like hamilton but look how young he is with so much success how the fuck could he not dominant in the future. My fav driver is Kimi, based purely on his personality. so yeh it is a big call.

[FranZ]

Kimi for his personality - wtf -he's known as the iceman for a reason!

[Dim]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HHUkHbgAtM

you cant fault that...

[Skitzo]

lol at massa sending the car into a spin again.

lol at kimi's comment in above video. got to love him.

[1JZNOSHIT]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HHUkHbgAtM

you cant fault that...

haha what a champ. Kimi > Hamilton.

Good drive from Kubica again in Malaysia, backing up his Melbourne effort.

[Passage GT]

i'm enjoying watching the f1 now
the lack of traction control makes a big difference, bit of oppo lock on just about every corner now lol
it's good viewing
good to see webber having a bit of pace too, was in the 46's a few times i saw, quicker than alonso's laps and a few other big names

[ED40]

Kimi for his personality - wtf -he's known as the iceman for a reason!

the shit comment, boats at monaco and snowmobiles.. guy is a legend.

[1JZVL]

i'm enjoying watching the f1 now
the lack of traction control makes a big difference, bit of oppo lock on just about every corner now lol
it's good viewing
good to see webber having a bit of pace too, was in the 46's a few times i saw, quicker than alonso's laps and a few other big names

cough *thats because renault and especially alonso suck balls!* cough!

:muff:

[Skitzo]

renault's main advantage over the rest of the feild used to be its launch control. they used to make up huge amounts of places off the starts. no launch and traction control = renault failing miserably.

[TJ]

So why did they fail last year with traction control ?

Quite simply, their aero development went the wrong way and they havnt caught up yet.

Early season -

Well done to BMW, who are close to serious contenders.
Toyota for making a much improved car
Honda for making a step forward
Webber for showing how much quicker then DC he is
FIA for banning TC, the spectacle is much improved
Massa proving he is useless with TC, spins first corner of lap 1 in Aus, then flies off in Malaysia
Max Mosley for being into kinky nazi sex.

Bring on Bahrain.

[TJ]

Well done to BMW, who are close to serious contenders.


Bahrain sees BMW's first ever pole... from a Pole. Robert Kubica heads the pack today. Race is on TV tonight.

Should be a ripper with 6 genuine contenders to win.

[Yorik]

Is there anywhere that plays the F1 live, for MotoGP I can go to the Vic Park Hotel or the Greenwood to watch it.. I don't know of any where in Perth.

[FranZ]

Spewing ITV have closed their loophole to watch the UK telecast live online. *sigh*

[Skitzo]

im tossing up wether to watch it or not.

[TJ]

Spewing ITV have closed their loophole to watch the UK telecast live online. *sigh*

Franz the loop hole is still being exploited by guys on one of the forums Im on - ill search out the links.

[Brett_J]

going to tape it and stay away from any news source/forum till after work and watch it then

[Skitzo]

LOL... that never works haha.

TJ. that would be greatly appreciated.

[Tocchi]

good race :)

Edited by tj - how about not saying anything so people can see for themselves?

i wont say anymore for those wanting to watch the race on Ch10 :)

[adrenalin]

Fuck yea awesome race

woo for bmw leading the team race ( dont know how long that will last )

Well done to webber for 7th

[Tocchi]

oh my part of my post got edited... the part that said webber scored point.. i guess thats my bad???

anyways, it was good to see ferrari getting 1-2 again :)

what about hamilton into the back of alonso... that was strange

[JME]

yeah good race, worth watching, thank christ they ditched traction control.

[Brett_J]

Well I forgot to record it so I missed the race, but logging onto the F1 site made my day anyway, Ferrari FTW!
I knew once Kimi had a good backing like Ferrari he would truly shine, Massa is fast becoming a favourite as well.
Surprised Webber has finished 2 races in a row and placed decently,I seriously do not rate him as a contender, he is a good driver, but not an exceptional one,which i think to be anything in F1 you need to be.

[Skitzo]

i got to 14 laps remainging and went to bed. i couldn't handle it anymore. needed sleep. yet to look at results aswell. but it was a pretty average race for me as im a mclaren fan.

yeah the incident between hamilton and alonso was interesting.

[TJ]

Shocker of a race for McLaren, and its clearly apparent they are struggling for ultimate pace.

BMW might have even over taken them.

Hamilton made the exact same mistake Alonso made in Fri practise - into the same corner deep, lost the downforce behind another car, boom. Took the hit well, if it was a Red Bull it would have exploded!

Well done to Massa, he needed that bad after his pathetic driving in rounds 1 and 2.

Toyota, RBR, and Williams definitely head the 2nd tier of teams.

[adrenalin]

Team standings

1 BMW 30
2 Ferrari 29
3 McLaren-Mercedes 28
4 Williams-Toyota 10
5 Toyota 8
6 Renault 6
7 Red Bull-Renault 4
8 STR-Ferrari 2
9 Honda 0
10 Force India-Ferrari 0
11 Super Aguri-Honda 0

[TJ]

http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/9ji6x3817.jpg
http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/yipfnaq06.jpg
http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/uon6ee6i5.jpg
http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/c6vdqdqg4.jpg
http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/m73r7nta3.jpg
http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/csmgqdvk2.jpg
http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/0m7gp0091.jpg
http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/j3uh1bjv19.jpg
http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/1v12tauu21.jpg

Testing before the next Grand prix

Look closely - very closely - some of the cars are running modified aero and SLICKS in preperation for 2009 :D

Giggidy!

[Skitzo]

wow. BMW's front cone is so different to he rests. interesting to see the subtle differences.

[wadragracing]

What will be the new aero rules out of interest?

[TJ]

winglets etc to be outlawed

wider front and rear wings

the result is more drag but less turbulence.

all those little fucking things upset air behind you, hence why cars cant get close enough to race hard.

sit in that hole for a few laps, the grip is so poor it chews your tyres, and then your screwed - its made for shit racing since the late 90's.

[TJ]

wow. BMW's front cone is so different to he rests. interesting to see the subtle differences.

Dont compare it to any car on slicks - because they are running 09 spec aero which is much tamer

Look at the renault - its got a new winglet pointing directly down (the white thing on the side pod)

fuck me its ugly.

[Sully]

TJ i don't think any of those cars are running the 09 spec aero packages. next year the rear wing will be almost flat and pretty much all of the extra winglets are being banned.

as for the slicks, a problem that they're facing at the moment in testing is that they're not allowing tyre blankets to heat the tyres before going out. the problem is that now with less downforce AND properly cold tyres, there's bugger all grip when you first go out. have a look at f1live.com. there's an interview with heidfeld about it.

what you can see in those pics though is ferrari's new "hole nose" there is a hole in the nose cone up near the driver. it apparently has a fair impact on the air flow. i'll be interested to see how much difference it makes.

it also looks like mclaren has new wheel covers. not seen them stick out like that before. and what the hell is that extra aerial thing sticking up from the intake above hamiltons head?? looks like its attatched to the tv broadcast fin thinggy. a few cars seem to have differing versions of it but this one looks oh so old tech

[TJ]

Its not full 09 spec, they have removed the winglets and modelled to wing simulate the specs as best they can.

Tyre warmers - pfft harden up bitches - your the best drivers in the world and tons of racing series dont use them.

And yeah there is several bits and pieces on the cars.

[Sully]

aah righto. i think these cars are running 09 spec areo

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v409/boofead/bmw09.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v409/boofead/97005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v409/boofead/97038.jpg

check out the flat rear wing and tiiiiny front wing. also the rear wing is supported by two vertical parts. i think thats part of the regulations. if you compare the pics from this years cars to next years cars there's heaps of differences everywhere.

also, this is a better pic of ferrari's new nose.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v409/boofead/97040.jpg

as for the tyres warmers, i agree harden up. but it is going to make for some interesting race openings AND out laps from pit stops! i think the main problem that he was talking about is the difference in speed between hot tyres and cold. can make for a dangerous situation. don't really want to see another Zanardi moment.

[TJ]

Whats the difference, 3-4 seconds a lap

average track has 15 turns id say

so its .3 of a second a corner - the speed difference is sfa in reality.

Those cars are as close as we will see for 09 cars till the 09 cars come out - they will be wider and shorter..

Think mid 90's Id say.

[Sully]

yeah i think its around the 4 seconds per lap mark. even so, will be interesting. i'm all for less aero though. anything that puts more of the emphasis back on the driver can only be a good thing. getting rid of TC has already made this year a lot more speccy

the cars are going to look more and more like roided up karts if the regulations keep going this way. shorter and wider. that first mclaren pic i put up looks a bit kartish.

*edit* check out hondas new bits

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v409/boofead/97054.jpg

[adrenalin]

Mclaren still the best looking f1 car.

Agree but the elss driver aid the better for F1. Way more interesting to watch.

[FranZ]

...and what the hell is that extra aerial thing sticking up from the intake above hamiltons head?? looks like its attatched to the tv broadcast fin thinggy. a few cars seem to have differing versions of it but this one looks oh so old tech

Measures air flow/windspeed for testing aerodynamics etc. For someone as knowledgeable about F1, Im surprised you didn't know this! haha

[TJ]

http://www.racefreaks.nl/images/550/fwvojqsuahqngqypvsp.jpg

http://www.racefreaks.nl/images/550/qcbuavhsyruaciflrxa.jpg

http://www.racefreaks.nl/images/550/avujcjcibhnkqwpvfyr.jpg

http://www.racefreaks.nl/images/550/dcnufiolatzsyexrgqj.jpg

http://www.racefreaks.nl/images/550/brtjcioyntjclryexdw.jpg

http://www.racefreaks.nl/images/550/xpoqntidpibhaumcvbh.jpg

So Torro Rosso debut a new car after using the 07 car for the first part of the season.

So what does Sebestian Bourdais do?

Smash it into a wall of course!!

Now the debut of the new car in the next race is in doubt... doh!

[JME]

mid 90's they put limits on the track of the car to slow them down. Reducing the aerodynamics, electronic aids and increasing the track again is fantastic. At last F1 worth watching again.

[Yorik]

I think they need to regulate the aero more as they can hardly follow now so you don't get many slingshot passes, which can be quite interesting..

[Sully]

Measures air flow/windspeed for testing aerodynamics etc. For someone as knowledgeable about F1, Im surprised you didn't know this! haha
i can't know everything haha!

yorik you just wanna be justified in yelling shake and bake out at the telly at every given opportunity don't you

*edit* it would appear that super aguri might not be attending the spanish gp. the team was looking at a new group to purchase them but the potential new owners have backed out of it. it's been a while since a team has dropped out mid season hasn't it

[Tocchi]

race tonight :)
barcelona, Spain

qualifying results:
http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2008/790/6501/

[Skitzo]

oh man. missed another one.

[xr06t]

only watched the first few laps, too knackered, but webber has come in the points again!

seems to have been a close 1, 1st 4 cars within a few secs of each other..

[TJ]

It was never close... but it was if you get what I mean. Great to see BMW McLaren and Ferrari virtually equal after Spain.

Heikki took a big big hit after wheel failure. Good to see the car stood up to the hit.
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/4/7695.html

[adrenalin]

Bar kimmi .....

:|

2nd to 6th all still very close but :)

[TJ]

Your telling me 1-4 in under 6 seconds isnt close?

Listen to the in lap = the Ferrari engineer on the radio says "lucky we had the pole, it would have been hard without the pole, they were quick today"

[Sully]

good race but i have to say whats the deal with channel 10 these days? no post race press conference, no showing the points, nothing! just game over lets go watch the cricket. poor form!

looks like Kovalainen was knocked out in the crash but the only injury he's got is a concussion. another good indication of how bullshit safe F1 cars are these days. i though kubica was dead last year in that massive crash of his and Kovalainen's last night looked pretty ugly. full points to the designers

[adrenalin]

Sorry thought you were talking bout leaderboard and not the race.

Yes agree good race

[TJ]

good race but i have to say whats the deal with channel 10 these days? no post race press conference, no showing the points, nothing! just game over lets go watch the cricket. poor form!

looks like Kovalainen was knocked out in the crash but the only injury he's got is a concussion. another good indication of how bullshit safe F1 cars are these days. i though kubica was dead last year in that massive crash of his and Kovalainen's last night looked pretty ugly. full points to the designers

Well - ITV, who the feed comes from, cut the F1 early because it was running late due to the safety cars - so 10 had no feed.

They cut it so Britan could watch "englands got talent" .....

fucking muppets.

[Skitzo]

but they havent showed the post race conferance on any of the races. not even in aus.

[Sully]

i think we got one of them 2 races ago i think it was.