Official Racing Thread

[amuse]

They should really take away Ide's super license since he's clearly not in the same class as other F1 drivers.

The FIA have rescinded Yuji Ide's Super Licence, the document required to compete in Formula One, the Super Aguri Honda team has confirmed. The Japanese driver will therefore not be participating in any further events this year.

http://f1.racing-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/060510142532.shtml

HAHAHAHAHAHA I knew it!

[ctz]

Well I don't think Ide was that bad, he was just slow, but I don't remember him to be dangerous or anythin. Takuma Sato's kamikaze driving style has been much more dangerous imo (And I like Sato's style).... Why humiliate Ide by taking his super license, if Super Aguri won't let him drive, it's not very likely that any other team would take him.

[JFC]

I agree that revoking his super licence was harsh.  Ide was just inexperienced. Granted it was an incredibly stupid move that he made that caused that accident, but there's no way for him to learn how to handle a real F1 car if he's not allowed to drive any of them. It's like saying that an apprentice chef isn't allowed to use any knives. Super Aguri could have made Ide a test driver. At least then he'd be able to get the experience and learn how to properly handle the car.

[ctz]

...And Alonso won again in Spain today. I have to whine again about how boring race it was after all. Especially when you first saw exciting MotoGP race in Shanghai earlier in the morning.

Too bad McLaren can't keep up with Renault or Ferrari. Although Raikkonen's start was actually the best part of the Spanish Grand Prix, it doesn't help if the car isn't fast enough to win races.

It's interesting that McLaren always seems to start with more fuel than other teams (according to the fact that they're usually slower in the last qualifying period than in the previous periods), but it never has any effect in a race. Or maybe the car is just too slow for this strategy.

[amuse]

It seems like everyone's reaction on all the forums I visit about the race has been "most boring race of the season". I believe Ferrari took a gamble with their setup (less downforce) so they were a lot faster on the straight and throughout sector 1, but they weren't up to speed in sectors 2 and 3. McLaren has been disappointing even with Kimi pushing hard . Montoya seems like he lost interest in F1 this season and just isn't trying anymore cuz he makes careless mistakes then blames it on the car. And I've noticed he's starting to slip down the field race after race, probably cuz he knows he doesn't have a raceseat at McLaren after this season. Alonso will take a spot and Ron Dennis may have found a better driver than Montoya since Kimi is almost certain to leave.

Monaco should be another boring no-passing race again. But it's Monaco! I don't care how boring it will be... I'm still going to watch every second of it!

[amuse]

Rumoured new Super Aguri driver

''I am interested in Sakon Yamamoto,'' Suzuki, referring to the 23-year-old Formula Nippon driver, told Motorsport Aktuell magazine.

Yamamoto, originally linked with the Leafield-based debutants over the winter, credibly drove a third test car for Jordan at Suzuka last October.

In the definitive practice session, he clocked a quicker time than yellow-clad regulars Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro.

http://f1.racing-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/060516150303.shtml

I don't think he'll do any better than Yuji Ide. His history in open-wheel racing is even worse than Ide's.

[ctz]

I  like the idea bringing more japanese drivers to Formula 1. Ide was just extraordinary bad. I hope the new guy is better

[JFC]

Montoya seems like he lost interest in F1 this season and just isn't trying anymore cuz he makes careless mistakes then blames it on the car. And I've noticed he's starting to slip down the field race after race, probably cuz he knows he doesn't have a raceseat at McLaren after this season.

I've never liked Montoya. His driving style is too unrefined, IMO. The guy is a speed freak, but not in a good way the way other drivers are.  With Montoya it's to the point where he's so obessessed with driving his speedometer as far as he can that causes himself to lose control of the car (which he then, as you said, he blames for his shortcomings). Shumacher, Alonso, and Raikkonen definitely have more finesse and are more "skilled" driver's than Montoya. Hell, I'll even go so far as to say that Coulthard could beat Montoya, if they both drove the same car.  His ego and his pride also prevent him from acknowledging that he still needs to learn a few things, which prevents him from improving his skills, which prevents him from being a top-tier driver.

[ctz]

Montoya and Coulthard have pretty much similar careers. Both started as promising drivers at Williams, and then switched to better McLaren. But soon became owned by McLaren's other driver race after race.

And now they're bitter men who are blaming car and the team for ruining they're races and careers.

I read that Ferrari is going to announce their drivers for season 1007 in September.

[JFC]

Well, Montoya whines and complains. Coulthard is more of a professional. I believe that he also had more success (in terms of race wins) when he was with Williams than Montoya did.  He knows that with RBR, he's not going to enjoy the same level of success that he had at Williams or that Alonso/Schumi/Kimi are enjoying right now.  Still, despite that, he's still one of the hardest working drivers out there. He does his best with what he's got. Montoya has it in his head that outright speed is what wins races, so his skills in terms of passing and being an agile driver are not up to the level that the big three drivers have. Montoya races with this mentality, and that is what causes him to lose control of his car so often. The problem isn't his car, it's the fact that he isn't able to control it as well as he should be.

[amuse]

Qualifying for Monaco is over and well ............... more Schumacher controversy. I believe his accident was intentional but was a last minute move. If you watch the behaviour of the car, it looked like he was going to make it through the turn but decided to lock up very gently and get stuck. It would've been more real if he crashed the car and lost a wing or wheel. You can see from his steering inputs that he made no effort to get the car to turn, so there's no excuse for his cheating tactic. I still think he's one of the greatest drivers ever but he's been caught cheating a few times already...

And Fisichella got bumped back from the grid for blocking...... what an idiot.
As for the race, I think Alonso will win it. Schumacher will get passed either by turn 1 or from pitstops because Ferrari isn't that strong this weekend, and I'm not sure if the Bridgestones can last long enough to keep a fast race pace.

[JFC]

I'm not a fan of Monaco, at least, not of the race itself. It's cool in that the track is one of the few remaining (if not, the only remaining) F1 races run on the actual streets of a city, instead of on a dedicated race track.  That being said, the course is WAY narrow (for a race course), it's a slow course (relatively speaking), and there are so many turns that passing is virtually impossible.  I'll still watch the race, if I can. I love watching the cars drive by all the scenery in Monaco. My favourite part of the race is the long right-hand turn in the tunnel.  Actually, if I remember correctly, at last year's race there Montoya  and Shumacher both had accidents/incidents in or near the tunnel, didn't they?

[ctz]

Because of the incident in qualifying session Schumacher will start to the race behind the grid. So I guess Alonso will take the pole then.

For me it's hard to believe he did it on purpose. Ok, It's Ferrari and Schumacher has done some dirty tricks before, but still... That was so obvious. He should have crashed the car to the wall at least or something

[amuse]

There are some videos of the incident to watch over and over again

On-board cam of the incident:
SPEED slow motion replay with commentary:

Both Ferraris are starting at the back now so they'll be lucky to get a few points in the race.

[JFC]

Both Ferraris are starting at the back now so they'll be lucky to get a few points in the race.

Meh, the both Shumacher and Massa have been around the block long enough that they should be able to get past the slower cars and make a decent showing.  And considering how the course at Monaco is, I wouldn't be surprised if the cars higher up on the grid are involved in a few accidents (especially if they involve Montoya).

[ctz]

Surprisigly Alonso won again.

Raikkonen did a nice job overtaking Webber but lost his chance to win because of safety car... But of course it's kinda hard to win if the car is in flames

Montoya and Coulthard did good job being second and third.

[JFC]

Damn, overslept and missed it. Oh well. There's always replays later tonight (I hope).

For now, going to have to make due with the Indy 500, which is probably the only IRL race I choose to watch.

EDIT: INDY 500 Unofficial Results (Top 3)
1st - Sam Hornish Jr.
2nd - Marco Andretti (Rookie)
3rd - Michael Andretti


Congrats to Hornish, who has never before been able to complete all 500 laps at Indy, much less place. He has now, and he WON the race doing it, seizing the lead (and the win) from rookie phenom Marco Andretti on the very LAST lap of the race!

A VERY VERY impressive showing by young Marco, possibly even more impressive than the show put on by Danica Patrick at last year's race. For someone so young (19 years old) to come so close to winning the biggest race in North America...you know he's going make a LOT of noise on the racing circuit in the upcoming years.

Well, he came out of retirement to give it ONE more try, and yet the win STILL evades Michael Andretti. At least he got a chance to race with son Marco. Their 2nd and 3rd place finishes definitely cements the Andretti name as one of, if not THE greatest racing family in the world.

[amuse]

Alonso seems to have all the luck in the world these days whereas Kimi has no luck at all . Great drives by Trulli, Webber, Kimi, DC, and Schumacher. I'm not really a Webber fan but I wanted him to win the race. He had a really quick race pace and should've been able to challenge for the win in the final stages. It's too bad his car broke down .

There must've been some miscommunication with the flag marshalls because they forgot to blue flag Fisichella for holding up Webber for 3 laps. Webber was going nuts on team radio because of it, then when his engine blew up he looked like he was ready to punch somebody out . Best moment of the race has to be Kimi going to his yacht to relax and have a few drinks instead of reporting back to the McLaren garage. I guess that could be a sign he's given up on the team and will be heading elsewhere next season.

Does anyone know what position Sato was in at the time he retired and whether he was infront of Button? ITV commentary didn't really cover it but I read a comment on another forum that Sato was higher up than Button before he DNFed. Button had a horriblie race anyways, he was in the back trying to fight off a Midland ..... lol

[amuse]

Super Aguri Honda today confirmed Sakon Yamamoto as their third driver for British, Canadian and US Grand Prix.

“I am very happy to be coming back into Formula One with Super Aguri F1 Team and I would like to thank everyone who has supported me," Yamamoto stated. "I will try to do my best in my new role as SAF1 Team third driver and give the team good feedback from my time in the car.”

Sakon Yamamoto has raced in Super GT and All Japan Formula Nippon Championship in Japan. Super Aguri Honda was keen to thank Nissan and Kondo Racing for releasing Yamamoto to be their third driver.

http://f1.racing-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/060608165908.shtml

So it's official now ...

[ctz]

Notihing new happened in Silverstone last weekend.