****** FORMULA 1 THREAD ******

[Ross_46]

kers shouldnt effect red bull next year if there planning to stay with renault as i hate to name drop but my dads designing the fuses for renaults kers system and theyll be applying it to all there customer engines too. plus bbc did do excellent coverage and watching eddie jordan grab vettel was nothin short of comedy plus maetin brundles comment when they showed the clip of alonso havcin a paddy at petrov!

[andrewparker]

I'm loving how involved the Italian Government are getting into Ferrari losing the Championship, calling for the team's president Luca di Montezemolo to quit. Now that wouldn't happen in any other country!

And I guess that's what we have to remember about Alonso and Ferrari. They come from countries where sportsmanship means nothing, and winning (at any cost) means everything. It's the Latin spirit, and just as we need the ruthless German drivers, the kamikaze Japanese drivers and the polite Englishmen, we need the huffy Spaniard too. It's what makes F1 interesting!

[RedRobin]

And I guess that's what we have to remember about Alonso and Ferrari. They come from countries where sportsmanship means nothing, and winning (at any cost) means everything. It's the Latin spirit, and just as we need the ruthless German drivers, the kamikaze Japanese drivers and the polite Englishmen, we need the huffy Spaniard too. It's what makes F1 interesting!

.... x 2 

Being of very mixed blood myself (Greek, Italian, French, Russian, English) and having lived abroad, I feel I understand it very well. Unfortunately it's very common for folks not to understand other cultures if they have no experience of them. It's why it's so important for people to travel abroad and experience other cultures while they are young. I've made sure my daughter has travelled Europe and parts of America since she was 10yo and able to appreciate it.

Consequently, although I don't like Alonso I do understand his temperament and actually, if the truth be known, I like the Latin temperament a lot and probably more than the typical reserved English. I'm generalising of course.

[hammyhammer]

F1 would be much duller without him.

i'm no alonso fan but certainly enjoy watching him.

Thats good news for Red Bull in being able to buy off the shelf Kers system from renault

[Janner_Sy]

if there is one bloke i want to seein a top end F1 car, then its kobayashi.  hes entertaining in an underpar car. imagine him in a red bull/mclaren or ferrari

[RedRobin]

if there is one bloke i want to seein a top end F1 car, then its kobayashi.  hes entertaining in an underpar car. imagine him in a red bull/mclaren or ferrari

.... x 2

I hope his time will come. How old is he?

[Janner_Sy]

24

[RobH]

Kobiyashi is nuts though it would be a risk to one of the top teams, maybe when he stops crashing into others with his bonzia moves. After all the top teams need constructors points by finishing races and keeping the car in one piece and i think theres others ahead in the que like Kubica. I think he'll get his chance though.

Renaults kurs system isnt in the same league as Mclarens though, well it wasnt two seasons ago and i doubt it will be now, so hopefully next season it will be everyone chasing Mclaren.

I know for sure if Hamilton was in a Redbull car this year it would have been over a long time ago, how many poll positions did Vettel have and manage to convert into race wins, not many i dont think.

[hammyhammer]

Looking at the odds 10/3 for Lewis next year.  Fernando is 2/1.

I'm wondering of Merc will come back strong it would be good to see a four/five team fight

[RedRobin]

I'm wondering of Merc will come back strong it would be good to see a four/five team fight

....Certainly if Merc can put a good car under Nico and Schumi, they'll be in very capable hands indeed and a team to watch.

[Neimad]

Looks like it's official... F1 cars will be running 1.6 litre turbocharged 4-pots from 2013 -- linky

A couple of interesting points from the article -- they're planning on keeping the power output roughly similar, at around 750bhp whilst rev-limiting them to 10k rpm and restricting them to a single turbo... which does raise the question of how they're going to do that without having the mother of all turbo lag?

[vRS Carl]

which does raise the question of how they're going to do that without having the mother of all turbo lag?

By throwing £40million at the problem which will result in us having awesome turbos on cars about 15 years afterwards

[Top Cat]

 which does raise the question of how they're going to do that without having the mother of all turbo lag?

Easy! leave the KO 4 alone and use a KO 3. 

[john_o]

he said 750 bhp not 550 ........

[Hedge]

he said 750 bhp not 550 ........

I guess it depends on who's dyno they are using to test (and software as we've seen)