CHiLL Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 This is a season which is looking promising. The Red Bull's appear to be just as strong. The Ferrari's appear to have closed the gap. McLaren have had little testing time, raising doubts over their actual pace, though knowing McLaren, will still be a front runner. Mercedes appear to have bigged up their car, but it's failed to perform in testing so far. Lotus seem to have made a big step forward to close the gap to the mid-running teams. Hispania and Virgin have improved reliability. Renault have teamed up with Group Lotus, owned by Proton, and have confused everyone with two teams called Lotus on the grid. Team Lotus own the name Lotus. Now Proton have merged with Renault, to create Lotus Renault. There are court cases here there and everywhere to try and settle the naming row. Robert Kubica, a very talented driver and well liked around the paddock will miss most, if not all the 2011 season due to a crash he suffered in a rally he participated in during the winter break. He lost control of his car and crashed into a church wall, partially severing his hand and suffering several fractures in his right arm and leg. He has finished surgery on his arm, which has gone well, and is now recovering. he will have a tough battle to be back before the end of the 2011 season. Nick Heidfeld has been named as the replacement driver for Lotus Renault ahead of Bruno Senna. Heidfeld had been dropped by Sauber at the end of the 2011 season. There have been some notable changes in the rules this year, including the tyre supplier changing from Bridgestone to Pirelli, the introduction of adjustable rear wings, and the implementation of KERS. -Pirelli will take over as sole tyre supplier in 2011 from Bridgestone since the Japanese company pulled out for financial reasons. -Adjustable rear wings have been introduced to try and help the lack of overtaking in F1. It hasn't been warmly welcomed by some of the drivers, who say the best chance of overtaking will be due to tyre degradation and how drivers deal with it. -KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) is making a come back into F1. The system gathers kinetic energy produced under braking and stores it in a battery. The driver can press a button on his steering wheel to use that energy to provide him with an extra 80HP. This is another attempt to try and boost overtaking. Current team/driver layout: Red Bull: Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. McLaren: Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Ferrari: Fernando Alonso and Fellipe Massa. Mercedes: Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg. Lotus-Renault: Nick Heidfeld (Replacement for Robert Kubica) and Vitaly Petrov. Williams: Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado. Force Indea: Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta. Sauber: Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez. Torro Rosso: Sebastien Buemi and Jamie Alguersuari. Team Lotus: Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen Hispania: Narain Karthikeyan and TBA Virgin Racing: Timo Glock and Jerome d'Ambrosio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Walker-Kaiser Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Just hope they allow the Bahrain race to go ahead! :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrill Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Looks to be a good season. I've gotta get back into F1, used to watch it all the time on Sundays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Walker-Kaiser Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Looks to be a good season. I've gotta get back into F1, used to watch it all the time on Sundays. I can see why, it's a fantastic sport and my dad used to work in it so i got to go 'behind the scenes' when i was a nipper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrill Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 It's awesome, very competitive too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Walker-Kaiser Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 How much you betting Brawn win the season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHiLL Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 The Bahrain GP has been cancelled, and it looks as though it wont even be rescheduled. It apparently hasn't got that in the contract, so the FIA aren't obliged to, plus the season is very compact as it is. It's a shame it was cancelled, because I was looking forward to the start of the new season, but I can see why they cancelled it. The last the F1 needs is a bunch of radicals using the F1 as their springboard for their point. The team employees could be placed in unnecessary danger. How much you betting Brawn win the season? I really can't see Brawn (Mercedes) doing that well this season. I don't think they have the car to complete properly with Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari. They did so well in 2009 because Honda had spent a full 2 years developing that car before pulling out of the sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Walker-Kaiser Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 How much you betting Brawn win the season? I really can't see Brawn (Mercedes) doing that well this season. I don't think they have the car to complete properly with Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari. They did so well in 2009 because Honda had spent a full 2 years developing that car before pulling out of the sport. I don't think it's got that much to do with the car (well it has, obviously!) but more Ross Brawn - every team he goes to goes from being sh1t to doing quite well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHiLL Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 I don't think it's got that much to do with the car (well it has, obviously!) but more Ross Brawn - every team he goes to goes from being sh1t to doing quite well! Yeah, I have no doubt of his ability, but I don't think he's had enough time with Mercedes. Brawn GP were a one off imo due to Honda. Maybe in a few years, but not yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHiLL Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 Bernie Ecclestone has suggested the idea of artificial rain, in the form of sprinklers that randomly come on during races in an aid to make the sport more exciting. Here is the Telegraph's response, and idea improvements; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/8360212/Matthew-Norman-Bernie-Ecclestones-artificial-rain-plan-is-brilliant.-It-just-doesnt-go-far-enough.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Walker-Kaiser Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 They've decided to start the season in Sydney on 27th March :cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHiLL Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Which is only next weekend, and I'm very much looking forward to the Melbourne GP at Albert Park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHiLL Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 This weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix Qualifying results: 1. Vettel 2. Hamilton 3. Webber 4. Button 5. Alonso 6. Heidfeld 7. Massa 8. Petrov 9. Rosberg 10. Kobayashi 11. Schumacher 12. Buemi 13. Alguersuari 14. Di Resta 15. Barrichello 16. Perez 17. Sutil 18. Maldonado 19. Kovalainen 20. Trulli 21. Glock 22. d'Ambrosio 23. Liuzzi 24. Karthikeyan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Walker-Kaiser Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Pretty good season so far - Vettel's on fire so far!!! :cool: :thumb-up: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHiLL Posted April 13, 2011 Author Share Posted April 13, 2011 It is a really good season. Ferrari are off for a shocking season, their research simply hasn't worked, and they don't know why at the moment. Lotus are seemingly doing very well, they're nearly 2 seconds faster per lap than Virgin, and have closed the gap to the likes of Torro Rosso. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Walker-Kaiser Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 It is a really good season. Ferrari are off for a shocking season, their research simply hasn't worked, and they don't know why at the moment. Lotus are seemingly doing very well, they're nearly 2 seconds faster per lap than Virgin, and have closed the gap to the likes of Torro Rosso. Go to agree with Ferrari - they really don't seem to know what they're doing at the moement.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHiLL Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 What a Chinese GP at the weekend! It was so unpredictable! Thank you Pirelli for making degrading tyres, allowing for different strategies. There were multiple race leaders during the race, with eventually Hamilton winning. Vettel made a bad start off the front of the grid and got mugged down into the first corner. But after race strategies, he ended up back in the lead. However, his tyres were seriously degraded at the end of the race, which allowed Hamilton, who had much fresher tyres, to catch and eventually pass him and take the win, leaving Vettel in second. Webber had an awesome race, after being caught out in qualifying, and starting in 18th, he managed to get onto the podium with 3rd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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