Formula 1
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ok maybe he has put on weight......slightly.
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He's probably had too much Christmas pudding and trifle for the past 4 Crimbos.
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yup. looks rounder. thats what happens to u when u stop swervingand start rolling.Originally posted by Kuali Baba:'Swerve' (Eddie Irvine) has gained weight!
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lol yeahOriginally posted by Kuali Baba:He's probably had too much Christmas pudding and trifle for the past 4 Crimbos. -
Patrick Friesacher has been confirmed as Minardi's second driver.
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THE DRIVER LINE-UP HAS BEEN COMPLETED
Christian Klien gets the second Red Bull seat, while Vitantonio Liuzzi will be the team's third driver on Fridays.
Pedro De La Rosa will drive McLaren's third car on Fridays. -
Sauber ditch Ferrari
Sauber has been an important part of the Ferrari Family since 1997 but now the teams seem to have gone their seperate ways. After yesterday's announcement that Sauber had joined the GPWC there was little suprise when the Swiss team announced a deal for BMW engines in 2006.
The Sauber team first started using Ferrari engines for the 1997 season and since then the two teams have enjoyed a mutually beneficial arrangement. Sauber received Ferrari engines that were paid for by Malaysian oil giant Petronas and later on gearboxes as well. Meanwhile Ferrari received valuable technical input from the Hinwil based team.
Ferrari benefited greatly from having another Bridgestone clad team running the same (almost) engines in that they could receive a wide range of technical information to better set up their car. Sauber benefited from having the most reliable engines on the grid, but of course Sauber was always considered the Ferrari-B team, something Peter Sauber probably didnÂ’t like too much. Sauber has always been one of the most unique teams on the grid and relying so heavily on Ferrari definitely took away from that.
The first signs of a split were seen when Sauber opted to switch from Bridgestone to Michelin tyres for the start of the 2005 season, something Ferrari didnÂ’t want as they relied heavily on the input from SauberÂ’s tyre development. Sauber then continued to make great technical strides such as, building a new wind tunnel and developing a new super computer, both of which strengthening SauberÂ’s independence.
Then came the news that Sauber was joining the GPWC, the rival “series” to Formula 1. Ferrari had previously signed an extension to the Concorde Agreement and thus discontinued all negotiations with the GPWC, something that did not sit well with any of the other teams. This brought on the announcements that Honda and Toyota were to work with the GPWC, further alienating The FIA and Ferrari. Sauber’s new deal with the GPWC may not mean as much as Honda and Toyota’s but it definitely affects Ferrari.
TodayÂ’s announcement that BMW has opted to supply engines to the Sauber team for the 2006 season is the final step in the Swiss teamÂ’s guest for independence from Ferrari. Much of the specifications regarding the new arrangement need to be ironed out, but BMW engine man Mario Theissen is very optimistic about the new deal. -
The season opener begins this Friday with free practice at 11am +11h GMT...and I'm getting all tingly with excitement! Hopefully the race won't be an anti-climax like last year's.
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wonder if any pubs are open that early that we can go watch?
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THIS FRIDAY?! WHOO HOOOO!Originally posted by Kuali Baba:The season opener begins this Friday with free practice at 11am +8h GMT...and I'm getting all tingly with excitement! Hopefully the race won't be an anti-climax like last year's. -
oh yea i really wanna see how long Ferrari n FIA can continue being Fuckwits. now Ferrari REALLY IS doing harm to the sport. lets see them run F1 with a single team then.
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I made a mistake with the timing and have edited it, it should read 11am Melbourne time.
That aside I can't wait...Qualifying Session 1 takes place at 10am in S'pore on Saturday and Qualifying Session 2 at 7am on Sunday morning, LIVE on Star Sports.
Heng: Both sessions won't be live on ITV. -
WOT?! bloody hell. what about the race?Originally posted by Kuali Baba:I made a mistake with the timing and have edited it, it should read 11am Melbourne time.
That aside I can't wait...Qualifying Session 1 takes place at 10am in S'pore on Saturday and Qualifying Session 2 at 7am on Sunday morning, LIVE on Star Sports.
Heng: Both sessions won't be live on ITV. -
Renault are the favourites for this race. Hopefully Ferrari haven't made any significant improvements with the F2004M - it's appetite for tyres is still a concern.
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Fuck Ferrari. they want a 1 team championship.
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2am on Sunday morning in Blighty. ITV start broadcasting at 1.35am.Originally posted by HENG@:WOT?! bloody hell. what about the race? -
i'll be up to watch it.Originally posted by Kuali Baba:2am on Sunday morning in Blighty. -
BBC Radio Five Live with be covering Q1 live though
- FORMULA ONE PREVIEW SHOW -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/programmes/formulaone.shtml
COMING UP:
4 March: Listen during Friday's Sport on Five (7.30-10pm) as Maurice Hamilton and guests bring you the latest news and views ahead of the first Grand Prix of the year.
5 March: Listen to Saturday's qualifying during Five Live's Up All Night (1-5am).
6 March: Live coverage of the Australian Grand Prix on Five Live from 2.30am (Not available online).
"Final qualifying can be live and exclusively on our sister station Five Live Sports Extra." -
damn no radio.Originally posted by Kuali Baba:BBC Radio Five Live with be covering Q1 live though
http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/programmes/formulaone.shtml -
The odds for this weekend's race winner from William Hill. It should stick unless someone's sandbagging...
M Schumacher 2.25
K Raikkonen 5.50
J P Montoya 6.50
F Alonso 8.00
R Barrichello 9.00
J Button 11.00
G Fisichella 15.00
M Webber 21.00
T Sato 34.00
N Heidfeld 34.00
R Schumacher 67.00
J Trulli 81.00
J Villeneuve 101.00
D Coulthard 101.00
F Massa 151.00
C Klien 151.00
T Monteiro 301.00
N Karthikeyan 301.00
P Friesacher 1001.00
C Albers 1001.00 -
i should go bet on kimi.
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This season's cars.
Ferrari (F2004M)
British American Racing-Honda
Renault
Williams-BMW
McLaren-Mercedes
Sauber-Petronas
Toyota
Red Bull
Jordan (Midland)-Toyota
Minardi (PS04B which is technically an illegal car)
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McLaren delivered on its winter testing promise during FridayÂ’s second practice session in Melbourne, with all three of its cars finishing among the top five.
The Woking squadÂ’s third driver Pedro de la Rosa upstaged his superstar team-mates Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya in the waning moments to set the dayÂ’s fastest time.
Raikkonen and Montoya spent much of the session trading the top spot, with JPM setting an early benchmark of 1m27.752 after 15 minutes.
RenaultÂ’s Giancarlo Fisichella enjoyed a brief taste of glory before being demoted by a 1m26.692s lap from Raikkonen. Montoya then upped the ante to 1m26.227s, which remained beyond reach until Michael Schumacher threatened to spoil the McLaren party with a 1m26.081s lap.
After a leisurely start to the day, Ferrari had been gradually picking up the pace and Schumacher slipped in his quick lap almost unnoticed.
Whatever the potential of McLaren and Renault’s 2005 challengers, Maranello’s modified 2004 car – complete with its bizarre-looking “baby wing” – clearly remains a highly potent machine. The message from the world champions was clear: Underestimate us at your peril.
McLaren did have an answer, however, as de la Rosa eclipsed SchumacherÂ’s mark by a full 0.7s courtesy of a clean and tidy lap with around four minutes remaining.
Raikkonen staked a final claim to the Friday honours but came up exactly 0.3s short and had to settle for the second-best time.
Schumacher was relegated to fourth place by an outstanding late effort from Nick Heidfeld, who coaxed his Williams around in 1m25.940s. Montoya, meanwhile, watched the last few minutes of the session from the pits and was shuffled back to fifth.
Felipe Massa was an encouraging sixth fastest for Sauber, some 1.1s and 10 places ahead of team-mate Jacques Villeneuve.
The Renaults of Fernando Alonso and Fisichella ended up seventh and 10th respectively and so far have not managed to reproduce their stunning testing form, although they certainly appear to be competitive.
Fisichella was one of a host of drivers to spin at the tricky Clark chicane midway round the lap, which also caught out Rubens Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher and JordanÂ’s third driver Robert Doornbos.
The morning session had been virtually incident-free, but there were spins aplenty in the afternoon as the tempo rose and drivers began to explore the limit around the high-speed, low-grip parkland circuit.
Barrichello had a number of off-course excursions en route to the ninth quickest time, just behind BARÂ’s Jenson Button, who kept it on the island but was not especially quick.
Ricardo Zonta was the fastest of the Toyotas in 11th place, just ahead of race drivers Schumacher (13th) and Jarno Trulli (14th).
After a glorious first practice sortie Red Bull Racing came down to earth this afternoon. David Coulthard posted the 12th-best time, but his young team-mates Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi blotted their copybooks with spins that embedded them in the kitty litter.
Once again, Minardi played no part in the proceedings and it looks increasingly unlikely that F1Â’s minnows will be granted the permission they need to campaign their 2004-spec chassis.
Friday second practice times from Melbourne
1. DE LA ROSA McLaren 1m25.376s
2. RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m25.676s
3. HEIDFELD Williams 1m25.940s
4. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m26.081s
5. MONTOYA McLaren 1m26.227s
6. MASSA Sauber 1m26.357s
7. ALONSO Renault 1m26.562s
8. BUTTON BAR 1m26.611s
9. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m26.639s
10. FISICHELLA Renault 1m26.667s
11. ZONTA Toyota 1m26.808s
12. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m27.017s
13. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m27.162s
14. TRULLI Toyota 1m27.195s
15. WEBBER Williams 1m27.329s
16. VILLENEUVE Sauber 1m27.513s
17. KLIEN Red Bull 1m27.544s
18. SATO BAR 1m27.891s
19. KARTHIKEYAN Jordan 1m28.168s
20. DOORNBOS Jordan 1m28.620s
21. LIUZZI Red Bull 1m28.926s
22. MONTEIRO Jordan 1m29.671s
23. FRIESACHER Minardi no time
24. ALBERS Minardi no time -
Let's summarise what happened in the Minardi camp in the last 24 hours. Paul Stoddart still didn't manage to get Jean Todt's signature but it didn't matter because the stewards would not let him use the PS04Bs. He obtained an injunction from the Victorian Supreme Court to use the said cars for Saturday's sessions only...
...and now he's withdrawn the injunction and is trying modify the cars using parts legal for 2005 overnight! -
wonder what Minardi's up to?
they already had the required specs long ago..
anyhooooo.. PEDRO!!! a test-driver blitzing everyone else!