Formula 1

[tony_grego]

I'm a little happy this week: De la Rosa finished the race !!!

I'm sure the next race we have some point, and at the end of season, ... maybe champion ??

[BigBucket]

Yeah, Buttons tactics were on the **ahem** button! Faultless, with a dash of luck. This proves why he is a champion, that was a champions thinking. Hamilton got tied up in that small three way dogfight. The Ferrari and the Mclaren were on equal terms both in the driver as well as the cars and Massa held him off long enough.

I do feel sorry for Redbull good cars but they need to get their reliability sorted out. I did feel for Vettel but as a Mclaren fan i was like YES!

[NIN]

Yeah, Jenson Button has the feel for those conditions and Lewis Hamilton let himself down by his comments(on the radio during the race & in the post race interview),although i don't disagree with him ,he shouldn't make his annoyance at the teams' tyre tactics public. He was also quite happy to complain on the radio that his tyres were graining, What does he want?
I can't be the only one to think that Alonso played Hamilton & Webber 'perfectly' - came as no surprise that they collided .

& Good luck Tony G,I hope that Pedro De la Rosa continues his good fortune
I'm gonna stick with Seb Vettel (luck aside). But it Was great to see Jenson win (& shake hands with the Ferrari guys too !!) He does seem to be respected by most teams in the pits, and his Dad gets properly proud. .. .

[lolapitt]

I've always been a fan of the teams that didnt do so well throughout their existence, but nevertheless they made an effort.
In that sense, my best recommendations for the former teams of Minardi and Arrows,
and of course . . Ukyo Katayama =)

[Ace1965]

Originally Posted by tony_grego

I'm a little happy this week: De la Rosa finished the race !!!

Yeah he finished the race because the front wing on his car actually STAYED ON THE CAR. 3 wing failures on Kobayashi's car is quite alarming and very dangerous.

Reminds me of when Red Bull had the same problem on Webber's car. The FIA nearly would not allow Red Bull to compete until they got the problem fixed.

[Darth Joules]

Originally Posted by Ace1965

Yeah he finished the race because the front wing on his car actually STAYED ON THE CAR. 3 wing failures on Kobayashi's car is quite alarming and very dangerous.

Actually the first time Kamui clattered the knock-downable orange apex cone on the fast chicane with his front wing, but it was alarming to see how it disintegrated. Second was a failure, third from a suspected tap to it. Certainly a manufacturing or engineering fault needs to addressed by Sauber for the sake of safety, along with their cars lack luster performance.

Albert Park never the less was a great action packed race. Let's hope Sepang, a good flowing track with many overtaking spots, provides similar enjoyment...if it stays dry this time.

[palo5]

No one's going to give him a really competitive car, so what's going on?

[sydney1]

Originally Posted by palo5

No one's going to give him a really competitive car, so what's going on?

I've always despised Schumacher with a passion. One of the most unsporting, boring and arrogant people who've drove a car around the track.

Some of his stunts that he pulled in the past would've received a severe slapping or much worse in any other sport.

Say what you like about Hamilton, Button and Alonso, but at least they were born with a personality.

[Darth Joules]

Originally Posted by palo5

No one's going to give him a really competitive car, so what's going on?

He's with Mercedes because they're the ones who sponsored his early career as a race driver, so he owes them a big one and Schumi was getting "itchy" to race again. A German driver (and the best F1 driver ever) in a all German marque is a lot of advertizing (coverage) for Mercedes. Plus it rumoured he's a 1 year contract shoe-in until Mercedes can get their hands on Vettel when his Red Bull contract runs out end of this year.

In reality, he's rusty and not back on form. Probably never will be back to his former greatness, but perhaps close to it as the session progresses unless something bad rattles his cage. I personally think that if it wasn't for his neck injury last year, time he'd have spent in Massa's Ferrari would have gotten him up to form ready for this season. Compared to other race drivers brought back into F1 from pasture he's doing quite well excluding his poor show in Melbourne being stuck behind a dogged Alguersuari for so long. Plus Mercedes are on a bit of back foot development wise compared to the other big three teams, so more pace may come later circa Spain.

Anyhoo, rain is predicted for Sepang so we may yet see some Schumi brilliance.

[nopar king]

Regarding Lotus, finishing at the back is very un-Colin Chapman, his Lotuses would be at the front but you'd be lucky if they finished.

Originally Posted by Ace1965

The best livery ever in motorsports. Second would be the orange & blue Gulf livery on the LeMans Porsches.

Best livery for historical reasons is Mercedes silver. It goes back to a time when they brought out a new car which was perfectly designed within the regulations and was going to be unbeatable, it was painted white in German racing colours. One of the other teams realised that it had been weighed without brake fluid & was right on the maximum weight limit. Once the fluid was added it was overweight & couldnt race, it seemed nothing could be done, the car was designed so perfectly there was no spare weight to save. So the paint was stripped down to the aluminium which saved enough weight, the cars were now silver, they raced & won & works Mercedes have been silver every since.
This comes from Mercedes website-
The heritage of the Silver Arrows stretches back to the 1934 Eifel Race, when Manfred von Brauchitsch won at the wheel of a Mercedes W25. The Silver Arrows received their name on the evening before this event, when the white paint was sanded off the Mercedes W25 to fulfil weight regulations, and the silver colour of the aluminium was revealed beneath.

Best motorsport livery to look at would either be BMW colours or Lancia Martini.