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[Edmond Dantès]

What was the reason the BBC dropped it before?

They were outbid by ITV.

 

[Dead Man]

'suffered massively'? How exactly?

Were it not for Sky the ECB would likely be up shit creek without a paddle.

I think if international cricket stays on Sky in the UK, you will see problems in 5-10 years as sponsorships dry up, development funds dry up, and the player pool gets smaller.

 

[Adamm]

They were outbid by ITV.

Well couldnt they be outbid in 2013 aswell? They may not decide to drop the coverage but they could still lose out.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

Well couldnt they be outbid in 2013 aswell? They may not decide to drop the coverage but they could still lose out.

Only Sky could outbid them, seeing as how ITV and Channel 4 are skint and as for Channel 5... I cannot imagine that, in fact I don‘t really want to.

 

[mclaren777]

A cool look at some of the current exhaust strategies...

Link

 

[Leunam]

Renault exhaust seems lower.

 

[avaya]

No chance F1 goes Pay-TV only in UK. FOM/FOTA will never allow it. You may see a non-exclusivity deal though.

 

[Ark]

Well couldnt they be outbid in 2013 aswell? They may not decide to drop the coverage but they could still lose out.

There no chance in heck of ITV ever outbidding anyone in their current state. Channel 4 & 5 are both just there to take up space on the channel listings.

Sky could outbid them, but I don't see FOM, FOTA or the sponsors letting that one go through.

 

[itsgreen]

Spread the word: http://www.formula1onbbc.com/

Started this petition...

 

[ANDY_098]

That FIF1 exhaust looks so gash, franken-exhaust...

 

[Leunam]

Looks like gauged pipe, flattened, then cut up so they could bend it to shape and then sealed with welds. They welded some clamps to it as well.

 

[ANDY_098]

The tailpipe would have been formed from one piece from inconel pipe I'd imagine, with mounting points welded on. It looks to be covered with patches though. I wouldn't have thought that would be necessary as the primaries and collectors would take the brunt of the force of the combustion of the fuel in the off throttle modes.

 

[Yoritomo]

I wish there was a way I could license the BBC feeds from outside the UK. I know I can use a proxy and grab them for free but I'd gladly pay 25 bucks or more a race weekend to watch the BBC feed live and have access to the video files like those in the UK.

 

[Ark]

Jenson Button is set to be handed a fresh McLaren deal in the next few weeks, AUTOSPORT has learned, with the team ready to offer improved terms to keep the Briton on board.

On the back of mounting speculation that Ferrari is interested in tempting Button to Maranello to help bolster its own title challenge in the longer term, it is understood that McLaren is prepared to move quickly to tie Button's future down.

Button is currently only under option at McLaren for next year, with the activation clause on the team's side. That situation means that even if Button had tempting offers from elsewhere, he would be unable to move if McLaren wanted him to stay.

A simple take-up of that option is unlikely, though, with Button currently in brilliant form and both team and driver thinking of nothing other than a future together.

AUTOSPORT understands that McLaren is prepared to improve the terms of the original deal to keep the 2009 world champion happy.

Any likely improvement in the contract that Button gets as part of a fresh deal would likely be done in exchange for a lengthier deal - so there is a chance that he could commit his future at McLaren well beyond the end of 2012.

While Button appears to be edging closer to securing his place at McLaren, the future of Lewis Hamilton remains uncertain – with talks about his own contract not likely to start for several months yet.

Hamilton has made it clear several times this year that he will be happy to stay at McLaren as long as it provides him with a competitive car.

However, AUTOSPORT revealed last week that Hamilton's frustration with the performance of his McLaren in qualifying in Canada – at a race where he had been expected to be on pole position – resulting in him making a surprise visit to Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner on Saturday night for private talks.

Although there is no suggestion that was the start of contract discussions, the visit showed that Hamilton may be willing to consider options outside of McLaren if the team cannot provide him with a car that is capable of fighting for the title.

But despite his feelings on Saturday in Montreal, Hamilton may be more open to a future at McLaren after seeing team-mate Button win in Canada – and witnessing further evidence that while Red Bull Racing has a qualifying advantage, it may be McLaren that has the fastest car in the races.

Of the current top teams, only Fernando Alonso at Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull Racing have committed themselves to their present squads for the long term.

Autosport

Great to hear tbh, Button & McLaren are a great mix, you could almost say the perfect mix. Although I have to say, the prospect of having Rosberg or Di Resta in Hamilton's seat, with Hamilton going to Red Bull, makes my man parts feel all warm and fuzzy.

 

[mclaren777]

I would personally like to see Jenson and Lewis both finish out their respective careers at Mclaren.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

Autosport

Great to hear tbh, Button & McLaren are a great mix, you could almost say the perfect mix. Although I have to say, the prospect of having Rosberg or Di Resta in Hamilton's seat, with Hamilton going to Red Bull, makes my man parts feel all warm and fuzzy.

Really happy for Button, he's really proved a lot of his detractors wrong in recent months.

Many thought Lewis would destroy him, but he hasn't really.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

I think if international cricket stays on Sky in the UK, you will see problems in 5-10 years as sponsorships dry up, development funds dry up, and the player pool gets smaller.

Banned.

 

[Shaneus]

Really happy for Button, he's really proved a lot of his detractors wrong in recent months.

Many thought Lewis would destroy him, but he hasn't really.

I wish people would fight over Webber

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

Webber still has another championship in him, I think. He certainly has the ability. People are just underestimating him now because Vettel is dominating so much.

 

[avaya]

So Ross is finally sorting out the biggest problem at Mercedes. The shitcunts from the BAR days polluting the technical team.

He's doing it in a way that reminds me of Ferrari in 1994-1998. Filling it out with Benetton alums. Such a great talent pool from that team. Brawn, Byrne, Tombazis, Allison, Bell, Symonds, Illey, Toet...the list goes on.

Anyway Bob Bell has been hired. Steve Nielsen is next, I'm sure James Allison won't be too far behind. He should go after John Illey too.

 

[Juicy Bob]

Banned.

Let's hope he's back soon.

Good news for Jenson. I was convinced Lewis was going to obliterate him when he joined the team last year but, while I maintain Lewis is the faster of the two, Jenson's more than held his own.

 

[avaya]

Biggest mistake Lewis made was dumping his father as his manager. He has been unable to control himself ever since.

 

[dubc35]

Any GAF recommend F1 podcasts? (audio only)

 

[NihonTiger90]

I'm still thinking Koba is going to another team at the end of this year. But which one is a good question, truthfully. Besides, all that Carlos Slim money is going to force Gutierrez into the seat eventually.

It won't be McLaren or RBR, of course, and I can't see Ferrari taking him on. So that leaves, what? Renault?

 

[Edmond Dantès]

Any GAF recommend F1 podcasts? (audio only)

BBC Radio 5's Chequered Flag Formula 1 is very good.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/cff1

 

[jey_16]

The top drivers staying at the same teams is boring, it looks like all of them are getting long term contracts which sucks. Only seat in play is probably massa's since I think webber will stay at red bull.

 

[S. L.]

Biggest mistake Lewis made was dumping his father as his manager. He has been unable to control himself ever since.

or having his father as manager to begin with.

I'm still thinking Koba is going to another team at the end of this year. But which one is a good question, truthfully. Besides, all that Carlos Slim money is going to force Gutierrez into the seat eventually.

It won't be McLaren or RBR, of course, and I can't see Ferrari taking him on. So that leaves, what? Renault?

eh, they have their mexican in the team and a good one to boot. Koba brings in the results so he should be fine at Sauber.
As for higher tier teams, i could only see him at RBR - the rest seems fairly settled for the nearer future. Ferrari/Koba would be weird.

 

[Adamm]

nearer future. Ferrari/Koba would be awesome!

Fixed.

 

[S. L.]

eingine mapping clampdown

Formula 1 teams are to face a further clampdown on engine mapping use from this weekend's European Grand Prix, AUTOSPORT has learned, with the FIA moving to eradicate special qualifying-only settings

Ahead of the effective ban on the off-throttle use of blown diffusers from next month's British Grand Prix, motor racing's governing body has shown it is determined to prevent teams from using any form of clever engine use to help aerodynamic performance.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92494

 

[Jinjo]

eingine mapping clampdown

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92494

Fuck yes. That should level RBR's qualifying pace with the rest.

 

[Mohonky]

I would personally like to see Jenson and Lewis both finish out their respective careers at Mclaren.

Agreed. I think I would lose a bit of faith in Lewis if he left to be honest, they have constantly stood behind him. I understand that if some one offered a drive in a car like Red Bull he may see it as a means to secure what could possibly be a better car but I would find it incredibly disappointing.

I think Button and Hamilton make a great pair and they seem to get along very well and create a good dynamic in the team. To see either of them leave would disappoint me greatly.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Fixed.

No, it wouldn't. I want to support Koba, but I will never support Ferrari. Too conflicted. D:

Last time I had that problem was when Kimi moved to Ferrari, which sucked. In an opposite move, when Alonso moved to McLaren, I wanted to support McLaren but I have a great dislike of Alonso, so more conflicts!

 

[Shaneus]

eingine mapping clampdown

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92494

With the clamping down that's occurring, is it safe to say that teams using these techniques (from what I can gather, mainly RBR) have an advantage as great as Brawn had in '09?

 

[S. L.]

i'd think most teams use a specific Quali mapping

 

[Edmond Dantès]

eingine mapping clampdown

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92494

It'll be funny if it makes no difference (I hope it does) whatsoever and Red Bull continue to dominate qualifying.

 

[avaya]

I expect Webber to close the gap to Vettel, possibly beating him again. Ferrari should become a lot stronger.

 

[DrM]

I expect Webber to close the gap to Vettel, possibly beating him again. Ferrari should become a lot stronger.

I do not think that Ferrari will be a lot stronger, they also used specific engine mappings in quolies from Turkey onwards.
You can still have standard race engine map with several different modes, only these so called extreme engine maps will be banned. They were probably uploaded during break from Q2 to Q3 , used for ultra fast lap and then overwritten before the race.

 

[avaya]

I dunno, apparently the Ferrari and Mercedes solutions are not as aggressive.

As for people wanting drivers to finish their careers with teams they support. It'd be more prudent to hope that the technical team/management finish their careers with them. Ferrari have literally gone to shit since the departure of Byrne, Brawn, Todt, Allison and Stepney. It's mostly Luca's fault for trying out some nonsense.

OK OK I'm being a little harsh on Ferrari since the wind tunnel failure has been hurting them. They still have Tombazis, who is still the best aero man in the game.

Red Bull would be utterly fucked without Newey and the only thing keeping McLaren in the game is money.

At Mercedes Ross has finally given up on the technical team, having realised that the only reason the 2009 car was a success was because Honda gave them so much money to have 2 cracks at it. The technical team is fundamentally shit, as evidenced by the BAR days.

 

[John_B]

Awesome. Vettel has been unstoppable from the front so far. If the forthcoming races consistently will put him traffic, I'm sure we'll see some cracks in that shiny armor of his.

I expect Webber to close the gap to Vettel, possibly beating him again.

If Vettel drops down to the pace of Webber then Hamilton should snap pole easily. Are these engine mappings really worth 4-7 tenths during qualifying?

 

[Shaneus]

I've just had a thought... is it possible that the one or two times Webber has qualified *really* badly, it was due to a race-spec mapping during quali?

 

[avaya]

I've just had a thought... is it possible that the one or two times Webber has qualified *really* badly, it was due to a race-spec mapping during quali?

Well the general train of thought that's emerging is that Mark was not as comfortable with the car as Vettel when the introduced the hot air blowing in the later half of 2010, that's when Vettel started to really put distance between the pair in qualifying. So at the very least I expect Mark to be a lot closer in qualifying.

 

[navanman]

James Allison, Renault technical director:

The FIA has issued a note recently and it seems that teams won’t be able to use their engine mapping as they used to. Can you tell us more about the new situation?
JA: The FIA’s note will cause all teams (whether or not they use a blown floor) to change their operation. The headline changes for the Silverstone GP are as follows: when the driver lifts his foot fully off the throttle pedal, then the ECU maps must be set up so that the engine [to all intents and purposes] closes the throttle – previously it was possible to configure the engine maps to leave the throttle open and reduce the engine power by other means. Furthermore, when the driver lifts fully off the throttle, the ECU maps must be configured to cut off the fuel supply to the engine – this is intended to prevent so called “hot blowing” where the energy of the exhaust gas is increased by combustion. Finally, with immediate effect, it will no longer be possible to reprogram the ECU configuration between Qualifying and the Race in the expectation that this will discourage extreme ECU setups for Qualifying - previously electronic access to the ECU under parc fermé conditions had been explicitly permitted.

 

[avaya]

Any Racing Underground invites available?

 

[Angst]

If you want F1 in HD thebox works very well for me, and needs no invite.
That said, if anyone has Racing Underground invites I'd like one as well.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

Yup, Hannibal does a great job over at TheBox. <3

 

[Juicy Bob]

Yup, Hannibal does a great job over at TheBox. <3

(S)He sure does.

 

[avaya]

I used to be a member on there, didn't re-register when they changed the site again. My HDD just died with all the classic races on there.

 

[S. L.]

James Allison, Renault technical director:

seems fairly vague thou.
How i understand it they just need a fancier ECU that can store more settings and then they can flip the switch on the wheel after the start

 

[Angst]

I used to be a member on there, didn't re-register when they changed the site again. My HDD just died with all the classic races on there.

Speaking of that, any ideas on what classic races to watch? I was a huge F1 fan during the Schumi Häkkinnen rivalry, but haven't watched anything until Monaco this year. That race was awesome and awoke the itch again.

 

[avaya]

Speaking of that, any ideas on what classic races to watch? I was a huge F1 fan during the Schumi Häkkinnen rivalry, but haven't watched anything until Monaco this year. That race was awesome and awoke the itch again.

Monaco 1996, 1997, 2005
Silverstone 1998, 2003, 2008
Spa 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2008
Brazil 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008
Monza 1999, 2004, 2008
Suzuka 2000, 2003, 2005
Fuji 2007, 2008
Nurburgring 1999, 2000
Hockenheim 1999, 2000
Hungary 1998
Magny-Cours 1997, 1999
Melbourne 1997, 2001, 2003, 2008
Spain 1996
China 2006, 2007, 2009
Imola 2005
Malaysia 2001