F1

[T_M_C]

I'm a big fan of touring cars too.

I only get access to the British Touring Cars on my TV but it's very entertaining.

Very close racing, lots of contact, spins and action.

And the incar TV footage is awsome.  The commentators even get to chat to the drivers during the race via pit radio.

TMC

[fog]

Hahah. Is WTC good?

It's decent although not as good as it was. The racing was better IMO when they were closer in design to normal road cars.  Much like other forms of racing I guess that's just technological advances in car design making overtaking harder.  I actually find the British Touring Cars and DTM more interesting than the World TC's.

Now they have a strange contradictory set of rules.  The cars must be based on road cars (they need to sell a minimum amount) and yet a lot of things on normal road cars are banned (rev limited, traction control, AWD etc).

I have the same problem with F1, although I'm willing to overlook that if the racing remains as entertaining as it has been.


Anyway Monaco practice today.  Kovaleinen had a spectacular engine blow-out in the middle of the tunnel and was pretty lucky not to get hit by another car as visibility was zero.  And now it's raining

[fog]

Predictably boring race at Monaco then.  Shame it wasn't any other circuit in the world as having the 7 leading cars within about 5 seconds for the last 10 laps could have been epic if there was just a single place to overtake.

Two things.  Schumi showing he still has it in quali....and what has happened to Button?


I've just finished watching the Indy 500.  Nice win for Dario, but the racing is horribly stop start.   6 laps of racing...yellow flag....4 laps under safety car....and repeat.  The racing is decent, it's just rarely more than 5 minutes before you get another SC.

[TheKhakinator]

It was boring wasn't it I don't know why I got so excited. Qualifying was a good watch though, and I was pretty tense just hoping Webber would bring it home. No real need to worry about that though, it is Monaco after all. Maybe we weren't robbed last year.

[T_M_C]

Yep, i agree.

Congrats to Webber.

A deserved win.

Nice for him to get one over Vettel for a change.

Button is looking in serious trouble now.

I don't  know whats gone on there, but he's dropping back consistently now.

Not much more i can say about the race, was desperately hoping for rain in the final stages of the race, which didn't materialise, which lead to the predictable boring race.

TMC

[fog]

Button is looking in serious trouble now.

I don't  know whats gone on there, but he's dropping back consistently now.

And now Button is complaining that the racing isn't predictable enough.  As long as it isn't a total lottery which it isn't right now, I doubt he will have many people agreeing with him.

"Clearly everyone is excited about so many different winners, which initially was great for the fans and great for the sport.

"But there will come a time when the fans will say, 'So anyone can win a grand prix, everyone can lose a grand prix like that?' (snaps his fingers).

"I think they're finding it a little bit strange now.

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/7785475/Button-fears-unpredictability-overkill

[TheKhakinator]

A bit silly. The previous midfielders (Lotus, Williams) are consistently nipping at the heels of the big teams now. It's no lottery.

[fog]

Well it is Canada next week where Button has done well recently so lets see if he has a change in fortunes.  Lets also hope the race isn't quite as long as last years. 

Two DRS zones in Canada too which should really suit the Mercs double DRS system.  We know they can qualify well so lets see them turn that into race results.

[TheKhakinator]

I kind of hate Mercedes with their fancy DRS system, though fair play to them finally making the most of a car going for straightline speed as opposed to raw cornering ability like Red Bull.

For me it's that whole thing where if it's a team I like with the innovation, it's awesome, but if it's not, it's definitely cheating.

Sadly I'm going to have to delay watching it, a party is happening at my house that night

[fog]

I kind of hate Mercedes with their fancy DRS system, though fair play to them finally making the most of a car going for straightline speed as opposed to raw cornering ability like Red Bull.

For me it's that whole thing where if it's a team I like with the innovation, it's awesome, but if it's not, it's definitely cheating.

Well you'll appreciate this then...

Hours after Christian Horner claimed the FIA's upcoming ruling on his RB8's hole would declare it legal, it has reportedly done just the opposite.
...
The ruling came down on Saturday and will result in Red Bull having to remove the hole from their RB8's floor ahead of next weekend's Canadian GP as motorsport's governing body considers it "implicit that fully enclosed holes may not be located" in front of the rear wheels.

http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/7791932/-FIA-Declare-Red-Bull-RB8-Illegal-

No docking of points for running an illegal car in previous races though.  Just as well they had enough fuel in the cars

Sadly I'm going to have to delay watching it, a party is happening at my house that night

You're young mate, you should be partying every night  

[fog]

Have we seen the Nissan Deltawing concept that's racing at Le Mans?  It certainly looks different 

It has half the power of the other cars, but half the drag, uses half the fuel and halves tyre wear and times in testing have been competitive .  With F1 pushing for greener, cheaper cars I wonder if this concept will play some part in the future?

Nissan DeltaWing launch - 13th March 2012 - Innovation that Excites	powered by Aeva

Plenty of photos...

http://www.carsession.com/photos/nissan/nissan-deltawing-ready-for-le-mans-24-hours.html

[fog]

Just watching final practice before quali in a couple of hours and the Ferraris continue to look impressive, their handling problems obviously not as much of an issue on the faster tracks.

And one recurring theme this season has been Button complaining about no grip and it continues with separate radio messages of "no grip" and "it keeps locking up".  I'm convinced this is becoming more of a mental problem for Button.

Anyway bring on quali 

[TheKhakinator]

That Nissan concept... (and that Indy one that I saw a while back with a similar tiny front wheelbase)... HOW DO THEY TURN!? They're just so narrow :/

Really cool to see it actually have some relevance back to developing relevant mainstream technology, too. I don't always think it's necessary but it's cool.

[fog]

That Nissan concept... (and that Indy one that I saw a while back with a similar tiny front wheelbase)... HOW DO THEY TURN!? They're just so narrow :/

yeah you would think the narrow wheel base and the ridiculously thin tyres (you get a glimpse in the video) would combine to make turning tricky.  I guess the low C of G combined with only being half the weight of a normal car means it's not an issue?

[fog]

Like a couple of races this year todays was pretty uneventful for the first two thirds and then tyres came into play and things got interesting.

I think it's fair to say Alonso's attempt at one stopping was a dismal failure.  

Some great driving from Hamilton over those last 20 laps and brilliant from Grosjean & Perez to one stop and still be competitive at the end.

And that's now 7 different winners in the first 7 races.  I can see it being this close all season.

1    Lewis Hamilton        88
2    Fernando Alonso     86
3    Sebastian Vettel      85