Australian GP 2007

[Tom]

I thought it was martin at first and had to rewind to be sure (sky plus, great for replays) I think it was probably to remind Kimi he was racing and not still testing, he was probably getting pretty bored out there, as much as I hate to say it.

[Tom]

Oh and Ciro, what's insurance?

I think the insurance comes under the £10 we fork up at the start of the year and maybe the £7/race. It doesn't cover the car or driver and there's not much to hit so its not really needed. There is one venue where which we share with a telegraph pole, but the track keeps well clear of it.

There was one bloke in a rather nice Metro 6R4 who hit a wall, but luckily I think his Dad owned the site we were racing on so there were no problems.

I remember the rally test I went to we were told that it was all under our own risk and for the love of god don't go too fast because it's just a test and there's no ambulance around. Alot of people took heed to this and retired the car at the first sign of damage, we had a few offs and worried a few people but took it to the finish, much to our own amusement as we were one of only 4 who completed every stage, in a standard road car. Hehe

[DaveKillens]

Man, this board seems to hate any team that does well.

Formula One is driven by the fans, who drive the sponsors. Heck, at the nearest gas station to me (Shell), there's a huge poster advertising their new and fancy fuel. I includes a huge picture of a Formula One Ferrari. That's the power of advertising, and each second on television for any sponsor is exactly what they strive for. When a Ferrari crosses the finish line first, that's when the racing machine shuts down and the public relations/advertising machinery kicks into high gear. Fact of life. Big money is spent by Marlboro and Shell and others for the association and publicity. In retail it's called point of sale, where the investment suddenly begins to yield a return. When the celebrations are going on and all the cameras are focused on the podium and anywhere else, sponsors compete like packs of rabid wolves for exposure.
I may be a bit cynical in my old age, but I'm actually a closet Ferrari fan, and I definitely do not hate them. I despise a few of the decision-makers, but I admire and respect a hard working team that has achieved so much in such a competitive environment.

[Tom]

I'm begining to enjoy Ferrari myslef now that he has gone.

But yes, you're entirely right, rumour has it that when Bernie ran the Brabham team he told the cameramen and directors to focus on his car longer should it crash or retire, to maximise marketing time.
He reacently admitted he doesn't remember saying such a thing but wouldn't be atall surprised if he had.

[West]

Man, this board seems to hate any team that does well.

No, not really, just the ones that cheat.

Here's my issues with Ferrari:

1) Retarded fans. Just check out the MySpace F1 group (a bastardized version of what constitutes a forum). Over last season 90% of them joined the "I hate Alonso" bandwagon because he beat MS. They accuse him of cheating (without any specific examples of course) and when I mentioned Schumi has ran people off the road all they say is "that was years ago."

Another example:

The fans say Michael Schumacher should have won Japan 2006 but his engine blew, and Alonso was f*cking lucky.

My comment: "you should have then mentioned 'Alonso should have then won China 2006, but you didn't.'"

The only responses to my comment consisted of "you know what I'm sick of your sh*t" and things about Alonso being a whiner... and cheater... without any evidence for the latter.

Finally, a lot of them jump on the Ferrari bandwagon because they thought F1 started in 2000. At least when I say I like Alonso and Kimi, I did so before they even won their first race.

2) The Corvette Z06 and Ferrari F430 thingy I mentioned a long time ago.

3) The fact that people accuse FIA and Ferrari of being in cahoots, whether or not the allegations are true. The FIA did not threaten to take away all of Ferrari's points last year when it clearly was against the spirit of the rules, while the FIA did so with Renault's mass damper - for a part that was installed since 2005. And the reason was quite stupid.

...Other than that, they did a very good job in Australia. Kimi always drove the sh*t out of his equipment and gained much better results than his teammates; with the best car on the grid he should be unstoppable. I could give a rat's ass about him not being a team player or a crazy drinker... at least he's not running into other cars for the championship.

[DaveKillens]

Some people love to adopt the superior attitude and then be dicks about it. Some just love to jump on a bandwagon without realizing it. I've seen it in NASCAR, I've seen it in politics, I've seen it in F1. Pretty much any topic.
First off, I have to say I hate to categorize people, but this time I'm wandering into that territory. But it's about people who make a choice, not where or under what circumstances they were born.
It's about the newer generation of fans in the last decade, and the internet. With the 'net, we suddenly are allowed to spout our opinions out like raw sewage if we so desire, and sadly, many say things they would never dare to face to face. So we get some pretty wild and abusive behavior in chat rooms and forums, disturbing at times. Could be politics or religion, could be an Earnhardt fan, or it could be a Shu fan. Whatever.
Additionally, in the last ten years we have witnessed an era if domination by one individual that will probably never happen again in motorsport. New, young, impressionable fans are drawn into the fantastic world of motorsport and Formula One, and what have they heard over and over and over? Michael Schumacher, ad infinium. So it's natural that many of these relatively new fans are drawn to Schumacher. I have no problem with that at all. Sadly, some (just a small fraction, definitely not all) are dicks, and we are exposed to their shrill abusive behavior.
Personally, I write them off for what they are, jerks, not as Schumacher fans. For many of the newer fans, they will grow with the sport, and as the years go on, become aware of much more than what is placed in front of them.
I'm an old fart relative to most, 52 and ready for my walker. And one thing is constant in racing, and that is change. Drivers come and go, passing through our lives like pages in a favorite novel. Sponsors appear and some stay on for decades, but others slip out of sight after a short while. And teams, the same applies. When I was young Ferrari was known for it's LeMans efforts, that is my memory. A few years later I recall at the sheer might of all-conquering Lotus. And I recall the kit-car era of the '70's when just about anyone could buy a DFV, hire an engineer to build a chassis, and have a decent shot at F1. So things come and go like the tide, no one stays on top forever, we've always got that surprise and change lurking just around the corner.

[Ted68]

Well being a big fan of Sir Frank, he beat his engine supplier and their huge budget. And Toyota were running his gearbox internals.

Toyota could save alot of money and find their name at the top of the podium by withdrawing their team and giving Williams the engines and a quarter of their buget.

[pRo]

Heikki might've been a lot higher, if he was 0.2s faster in Q2. His mistake, no doubt about and he was the first to say it. But if Renault didn't have the mechanical issues they had, he would've gotten more tracktime. Which, on a track he's never been on, would've been very valuable. Worth the 0.2s? Who knows, we can only guess.

Symonds comments on the same issue on his latest article.

Nice to know it wasn't just me who kept wondering about that.