Today In F1

[Insider 0]

At the moment, there is so much happening in F1, on a day-to-day basis, and so many diverse active threads on the forum now, I thought that we might have a thread where we can post any comments, relating to any aspect of the rapidly changing situation. For example: FIA, FOTA, Max, Bernie, Driver Market, Teams, Sponsors, Upgrades - all as it comes in.

One thing that struck me as ominous today was the comments made by Carlos Gracia, the head of the Spanish motorsport federation, a FIA Senate and WMSC member as he chided Luca di Montezemolo, slamming the FOTA chairman for his "lack of respect" in the wake of last Wednesday's peace agreement with FOTA. He went on to say:

"I don't support Max Mosley to the death, but I do support respecting institutions, and what Luca di Montezemolo has done was show a lack of respect to the FIA and the World Council," Gracia told Spanish radio station Onda Cero.

"It wouldn't surprise me if Max Mosley runs for re-election. The worst thing you can do with an animal is leave him wounded, and what Luca di Montezemolo has achieved is to re-activate Max. You can't dance on someone's grave before he's dead."

In reference to rumours that Mosley was grooming Jean Todt to succeed him, Gracia commented:

"Unless Max has gone even more mad I don't think he'll back Jean Todt because we all know where he comes from and who he's linked to."

I think the last comment gives great insight into the FIA's level of tolerance of Mosley's machinations and what little regard there is for the Scuderia within the higher echelons of the FIA. Gracia did not rule out the option that he may run himself - if Max doesn't, that is. It's clear that this mess will never get cleaned up unless LDM and/or Ferrari apologise publicly to the Max and more importantly, the FIA. Pigs might fly.

EDIT: Extra user info

[wapi 4]

The most disturbing part of Garcia's comment is in Dictator? thread that I started yesterday. For your convenience I'll copy it here also

"I'm not ruling out running for president of the FIA," he said. "I believe Max Mosley has a lot of support and I would think twice before running against him, because I don't want to take any risks that may damage Spanish motorsport. Above all, I'm the president of the Spanish Federation and I have to defend Spanish sport."

[Insider 0]

The most disturbing part of Garcia's comment is in Dictator? thread that I started yesterday. For your convenience I'll copy it here also

"I'm not ruling out running for president of the FIA," he said. "I believe Max Mosley has a lot of support and I would think twice before running against him, because I don't want to take any risks that may damage Spanish motorsport. Above all, I'm the president of the Spanish Federation and I have to defend Spanish sport."

Frightening, isn't it. What does Max have on these people?

I see BGP have new parts for Germany. They were intended for Silverstone:

http://www.totalf1.com/full_story/view/311863/Brawn_Progress_needed_to_fight_RBR/

[Argento Reloaded 1]

As I said the war is open and the FOTA isn

[Insider 0]

As I said the war is open and the FOTA isn

[Insider 0]

Nothing from either side today, Argento. Bottom line? Every thing gets sorted in the end.

Rumours abound again that Toyota will pull Fuji in 2010. It's time Bernie re-calculated his fees in line with circuit's running costs or we'll be racing in empty stadia before long.

[JHS 1]

Red Bull have changed their reserve driver with Jaime Alguersuari taking over from Brendon Hartley. Good!

[mikathegreat2 2]

Red Bull have changed their reserve driver with Jaime Alguersuari taking over from Brendon Hartley. Good!

Does he have a super license??

[JHS 1]

Must have. Because of course there were rumours going around that he'd replace Bourdais for the German GP.

[Cinco 30]

No, not Bourdais! According to SPEED TV, he is, after all, a 4-time F1 WDC!

Whoops.

[Rainmaster 7]

Maybe they got him confused with Prost.

[mikathegreat2 2]

No, not Bourdais! According to SPEED TV, he is, after all, a 4-time F1 WDC!

Whoops.

I guess they forgot ChampCar existed!

[F1 FANatic 1]

No, not Bourdais! According to SPEED TV, he is, after all, a 4-time F1 WDC!

Whoops.

HAHA, that is funny, where was this? Its not when he was on the F1 grid, he has on white overalls

[Insider 0]

I think FOTA should look at this situation closely. It could either be construed as a severe warning against setting up their own series or a golden opportunity not to be missed.

For the Middle East and Asia-based stock car series Speedcar, the end of the road has come. The official website is off the air amid reports the organisation has been closed down after just two seasons.

Speedcar featured stock cars driven by mainly ex-F1 drivers, including Jacques Villeneuve, Jean Alesi, Johnny Herbert, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Meanwhile, it is reported that the future of the A1 GP series is in serious doubt, following the collapse of the British arm of the organisation.

A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd ran the day-to-day administration of the championship but went into liquidation last Wednesday, the Telegraph newspaper said.

[Insider 0]

Driver market just got interesting too with Germany's Bild rumouring that Vettel is in Ferrari's sights as the Scuderia goes for a complete driver clearout. Problem there is, Nando won't share. Personally, if I were SF I'd dump the Alonso move and buy Rosberg to invest in consistency and harmony. Heidfield's free and so is Kovi but it's hard to see them getting a top ride. Rosberg is probably the best foil for Hamilton on paper but Hiedfeld could do the same job, as could Rubens. Kimi will obviously go rallying and drinking and Massa would slide in well at Renault, Red Bull or BMW. I can also see someone making a move for JB and the Hinwil mob are probably the favourites. Peter Sauber made a point this week of singling Jens out for special praise and confessing that Button was a one-time target for him. That's how these things start, y'know?

[Insider 0]

No, not Bourdais! According to SPEED TV, he is, after all, a 4-time F1 WDC!

Whoops.

Excellent!

[JHS 1]

HAHA, that is funny, where was this? Its not when he was on the F1 grid, he has on white overalls

I believe this is when he did the 12 hours of Sebring with Peugeot just before F1 started.

[Medilloni 6]

Driver market just got interesting .....................I can also see someone making a move for JB and the Hinwil mob are probably the favourites. Peter Sauber made a point this week of singling Jens out for special praise and confessing that Button was a one-time target for him. That's how these things start, y'know?

BMW - currently underperforming, but the potential to go head to head with Ferrari and MacMerc, should be a great choice to go to....

Brawn - Great car and team, but until sponsors/finances are known, they could slip down faster than a nurses' frock.

He'll still throw his lot in with Brawn though. And if there's no refuelling, the rules are favouring the smoothies.

EDIT: I forgot Bourdais. Call a vet and put him out of his misery.

[mikathegreat2 2]

HAHA, that is funny, where was this? Its not when he was on the F1 grid, he has on white overalls

It looks like he was @ Sebring 12 Hours racing for Peugeot as I recognise the banner with the winners names!

[JHS 1]

News in today's Autosport on Campos Meta's drivers!....

.....sort of. An announcement will be made about one of the drivers at the European Grand Prix.

I wouldn't be at all suprised if it was Pantano though.

[Rainmaster 7]

Pantano, great, another driver not worthy of an F1 seat.

[Cinco 30]

Pantano, great, another driver not worthy of an F1 seat.

If I had the passwords of my old accounts, I would log in to all of them just to rate your post up five times. It was that good.

[mikathegreat2 2]

Pantano is GP2 champion so he's worth another look!

[Cinco 30]

Yeah, but Nelson A. Piquet was second only to Lewis when he raced GP2, and he's probably the worst on the grid.

I've said it all along, GP2 isn't very good at developing drivers for F1. Few series are. Even when CART had close to 900 hp, guys like Zanardi couldn't cut it in F1. It seems to me that you have to already have the natural ability. Pantano doesn't. F1 really is for the elitest of the elite, even the worst in F1 are better than the best in other series (for the most part, at least), so winning a GP2 title doesn't qualify you for much. You can't learn F1 anywhere else because it's just so much more challenging for drivers than any other series.

Besides, Pantano wasn't very impressive in the IRL, and there's very, very little talent in the IRL (especially at that time in the pre-merge days)...had he been a full-time IRL driver, he wouldn't have been good enough to qualify for a Super License (must be third or better in the championship), and that was with Ganassi of all teams!

Then again, God could drive for Campos or any of the new teams and still finish last car running so it doesn't matter much.

[JHS 1]

Then again, God could drive for Campos or any of the new teams and still finish last car running so it doesn't matter much.

May i remind you of a prediction you made before the season started on a now defunct forum?

"Everybody will score points about from Brawn/who cares?"

Hmm......stanger things have happened......