F1 2007

[Pete.]

If I were a betting man, (which I am) I would say the result will stand.
The FIA would not risk being attacked by most of Italy.
If there is any irregularity found I think a hefty fine to help Bernie's retirement fund will be the result.

[Pat Buckley]

Oh man that would be special!

I don't think there is anything I would like to see more than Ferrari getting stuffed - and I couldn't think of a better way for this to happen.....

[Pete.]

You can open the Barolo now Paolo, it was just announced the results for Brazil will stand,

[Pete.]

Oh Oh, Put the cork back in the Barolo, the BS continues.
McLaren to appeal Stewards' decision


McLaren says it will appeal the decision of the Stewards in Brazil not to punish the BMW Sauber and Williams teams despite the fact that fuel temperature in all four cars was more than 10-degrees C beneath the ambient temperature, which is not allowed according to the regulations. McLaren says that it accepts that it was beaten fair and square by Ferrari in Brazil and says that that it simply wants to understand how cars can be found by FIA officials to have broken the rules and yet not have any punishment.
It is important to point out that the events of Sunday night were not caused by any protest from McLaren but rather resulted from a report from FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer to the stewards, drawing their attention to the problem.
This is a fair point and it comes eight years after a ruling by which Ferrari won the Malaysian Grand Prix when the measuring techniques of the scrutineers were called into question in the International Court of Appeal.
This is effectively what has happened in Brazil as the stewards ruled that they did not have "a precise reading of the temperature of 'fuel on board the car' which shows fuel at more than 10 degrees C below ambient temperature" nor did they have a regulation stating "in clear terms" that the definitive ambient temperature shall be that indicated on the FOM timing monitors".
The stewards added that there was a "considerable discrepancy between the ambient temperatures recorded by FOM and by Meteo France.
This provided them with sufficient doubt as to the true ambient temperature and that it was therefore inappropriate to impose a penalty.
Given that the outcome of the World Championship might have been at stake, depending on the penalty imposed, this decision was not an easy one to take but it must raise questions about the quality of the scrutineering methods, particularly in the light of the Ferrari bargeboard case in 1999.
There is a very sound philosophical argument that asks the question of what technical rules are worth if they cannot properly be measured - and further questions about why things have not been improved during the eight year period since Malaysia 1999.
It is a sad reflection that a great sporting day should have to end with such questions, but at the same time it is right that these questions be asked - and indeed answered in a proper fashion..

[I LOVE GT40- Paolo]

incredible...really

[Malcolm]

We loose football to Russia, rugby to SA, F1 to Finland/Italy and snooker GP to Hong Kong! Not a good week sporting wise for England really! Just as well there isn't a budget announcement this week or the country would never recover!

[Tony Hunt]

Has anyone worked out yet why McLaren short-fuelled Hamilton on his second stop?
With fuel to the end he could have caught up. With the third stop he was toast.

Tony Hunt

[Pete.]

Originally Posted by huntsen

Has anyone worked out yet why McLaren short-fuelled Hamilton on his second stop?
With fuel to the end he could have caught up. With the third stop he was toast.

Tony Hunt

Good question Tony, also why keep him out on stuffed tires in China? And could the press of a button on a laptop have caused the forty second engine stutter?
I love a good conspiracy.

Congratulations to Ferrari and Kimi.

[Paul Brameld]

Originally Posted by Pete

Good question Tony, also why keep him out on stuffed tires in China? And could the press of a button on a laptop have caused the forty second engine stutter?
I love a good conspiracy.

Congratulations to Ferrari and Kimi.

If the FIA guy was there to ensure parity, why did Alonso not have a forty second engine stutter. Typical FIA!

[Keith Hardy]

It ain't over yet!

RE: McLaren appeal today. (Stewards decision not to punish "fuel irregularities" by Williams & BMW teams).

The British media are now saying if those guys end up being subsequently disqualified for "cheating" - Hamilton will be champion despite RD's assertation that they only want to discover why there was no penalty.

What a crazy season.

[Ian Anderson]

$100million fine for an e mail

How much for having cold fuel on board? I recon the GDP of a small country.

Ian

[Howard Jones]

I'm done with F1. The rules suck, the management sucks, the drivers suck (well at least most of them) the cars suck (way too much tech bullshit), the tracks suck ( too many chicanes), the lawers suck (a lot). Fuck um! I'm done.

[Paul W]

FIA - not sure what it stands for, is the F for Ferrari ?

[MartinGough]

I'm with Howard the whole job stinks. Gone are the days when men went racing in a real machine.

[Pete.]

Some interesting numbers.



VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES 2007 SEASON IN NUMBERS


The 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix on the 21st October marked the end of the first season for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes partnership. The partnership was introduced in spectacular style at the team’s launch in Valencia on the 15th January 2007 and since then has been very successful. With all the racing finished for another year it is time to reflect on the numbers that have made up this extraordinary season. The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team has won a total of eight races this season, with Fernando winning in Malaysia, Monaco, Italy and the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring and Lewis winning his first ever Grand Prix in Canada, following that up a week later with a consecutive win at the US Grand Prix and also scoring victories in Hungary and Japan.
Of those eight wins a total of four have been one-two victories for the team.
The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers have racked up a total of eight pole positions between them and have monopolised the front row of the grid on four separate occasions.
The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers have completed a total of 5,340 racing kilometres in the 2007 season, 2,410kms of which have been whilst leading a race.
A total of 24 champagne bottles have been presented to Fernando and Lewis during their podium celebrations.
A total of 218 points have been scored between Fernando and Lewis this season. More than any other combination of drivers in the 2007 Formula 1 World Championship.
Five fastest laps have been recorded by the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers in 2007.
Away from the Grands Prix the MP4-22 has completed a total of 27,150 testing kilometres, with Fernando on 8277kms, Lewis on 7714kms, Pedro on 8277kms, Gary Paffett on 2842kms and Jamie Green completing 28kms.
The team have used a total of six chassis throughout the year in all the races and tests.

[David Tickle]

I have just seen this on Yahoo F1 Sports page.

Mon 22 Oct, 09:36 PM

Lewis Hamilton has admitted that his bid for this year's Formula One Championship seemingly came to an end during the last race of the season following a moment of human error.

"My finger slipped on the steering wheel and I accidentally pressed the button used for the starting sequence," Hamilton confided several hours after the event, according to Montreal's French-language daily newspaper La Presse.

That error cut power to his McLaren for an interminable minute, dropping him down to 18th place as the Brazilian Grand Prix entered its eighth lap on the Interlagos circuit.

"The car went into neutral and I had to reinitialize the system, that is, reload the gearbox management program," he explained. The onboard camera recorded images of Hamilton pressing several buttons on his steering wheel while other drivers sped by."

As simple as that apparently. Slightly surprising that such an important button can be accidentally operated on the move. In my line of work, it would have at least a protective cover. Not to mention HAZOP studies, reams of paperwork including Risk Assessments, Method Statements etc. Then weeks of meetings before approval could be given to operate it.

Regards

Dave Tickle

[Keith Hardy]

Nigell Mansell was also allegedly guilty of accidentally switching his Williams off in Canada and thus costing him the WC as I recall....

His many critics panned him then for "waving at the crowd and not paying attention"

But he never owned up to it.......

[domtoni]

Guys,

I just saw an editorial in Just Auto about how good Lewis Hamilton is for British business.

That's what it is all about, not winning, losing or anything else.

I still think this deal was done with Raikonnen winning the race, the F1 Drivers championship at the last FIA meeting. All Raikkonen had to do was go faster than McLaren, the rest is history.

this achieved:
- lots of hype
- plenty of punters around the world watched with great intensity
- I'll bet lots of money was spent on the program
- people will watch with even greater interest in 2008 and if Alonso goes to Renault, the battle will be at least three ways next year

Expect F1 prices to go up !!!

No cynicism, but this is how I see it.

Best
Dom