F1 Countdown!

[Jaz]

For anyone whose interested (not counting on that being many of you), the F1 season starts on Friday!

WOOOOOWOWOOOOOWOWOOWOWOWOWOOWWOWW!!!

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! :D

[Remote]

Dito... It is defenitely worth waiting for...:D

[rob in london]

i have lost track (poor pun) of f1 a bit recently, what team is jensen button at this year? i know a lot was said about him not finnishing higher than his team mate last year but hes a talented driver and lets face it the only real hope for future british success at the moment. i think in a reliable car he'd show a lot of improvement. anyone see damon hill on johnny vaughns program a couple of weeks ago? dead cool guy

[Jaz]

I hate Jenson Button.. :alien:

He's a Renault driver, btw. They suck too. ;)

Villeneuve forever!

F1 SOON!!

YEEEEEHAAAAAA!!

Can you see how excited I am?! ;)

[2fast4u]

Originally posted by Jaz
Can you see how excited I am?! ;)

i can :) man, i cant friggin wait!!!! f1 starts again!!! :colgate:

[Jaz]

Yeeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh!

2am start for Qualifying in Oz.. ;)

[blizz]

F1.... *yawn*

[Slougi]

Hehe, let's just see what Kimi Räikkönen can pull of in his Mercedes :)

[2fast4u]

Originally posted by Slougi
Hehe, let's just see what Kimi Räikkönen can pull of in his Mercedes :)

aw, he's overrated. i dont expect too much of him.

[Remote]

*cough* not much *cough*

McLaren/Mercedes will not the make the same mistakes they made last year, like letting Häkkinen drive... but neither David nor Kimi will be able to win the world championship, they will most likely compete in the top though. I would have to say Schumacher as the winner this year again closely followed by Montoya, the other teams are no good.

I guess that is the only setback with F1. FIA only lets the other teams race because it would not be as much fun without them, but in reality there is 3 teams for a total of 6 good drivers capable of winning, unless something spectacular happens. If you do not race for a good team, i.e Ferrari, BMW and McLaren your chanses of winning are very slim. And Kimi is definitely not overrated, Button was, but he still lacks the experience needed to be a champ...

I must say that I am looking forward to seing Mika Salo cruise around the circuits with his Toyota...

[2fast4u]

Originally posted by Jaz
Yeeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh!

2am start for Qualifying in Oz.. ;)

thank goodness for temporarily living in a different time zone - like me ;)

[Macca]

hehehehe........sweet living in Australia, starts in the middle of the day :p

[Jaz]

*lol*

Yeah, for one race! ;)

[Jaz]

Kimi is good, but he'll need a few years before he's a really challenger. He'll win a race or two this season that's for sure.

Look out for Montoya, he's got a great chance for the championship..

I'd also tip JV for at least a few more podiums..

A terrible season for Jordan.

And Minardi making the points on a number of occassions. :D

[rob in london]

one things for sure, it wont be quite the same without murray walker :*(

[Remote]

A quick rundown of teams / drivers... listed by skill... :D not nessecerly racing releated ones...

Team / Engine

Arrows / Cosworth
Enrique Bernoldi
Hienz Harald Frentzen

BAR(Brittish-American Racing) / Honda
Jack Villeneuve
Oliver Panis

Ferrari / Ferrari
Michael Schumacher
Rubens Barrichello

Jaguar / Cosworth
Eddy Irvine
Pedro de la Rosa

Jordan / Honda
Giancarlo Fisichella
Takuma Sato

McLaren / Mercedes
Kimi Räikkönen
David Coulthard

Minardi / Asiatech
Alex Yoong
Mark Webber

Renault / Renault
Jarmo Trulli
Jenson Button

Sauber / Ferrari
Nick Heidfeld
F Massa

Toyota / Toyota
Mika Salo
Allan McNish

Williams / BMW
Ralf Schumacher
Juan-Pablo Montoya

[2fast4u]

Originally posted by Jaz
I'd also tip JV for at least a few more podiums..


jacques is an exellent driver but he needs a top car again. bar does seem to become better slowly, just hope they continue their way up this season.

well for schumacher (m) im not so confident anymore since ferrari will use the last year's car at the beginning of the season. ??? they will probably have a hella points to catch up...

[Jaz]

Originally posted by Remote
Jack Villeneuve*lol* Don't let Jacques hear you saying that.. ;)

[Remote]

Originally posted by Jaz
*lol* Don't let Jacques hear you saying that.. ;)

He won't... And for all those Ferrari fans out there it looks like M.S has done it again, with an older car... The official times from friday's traning...

1 M Schumacher
Ferrari Marlboro
1:27.276

2 Barrichello
Ferrari Marlboro
1:27.799

3 R Schumacher
BMW WilliamsF1
1:28.821

4 Montoya
BMW WilliamsF1
1:28.870

5 Heidfeld
Sauber Petronas
1:29.572

6 Salo
Panasonic Toyota Racing
1:29.601

7 Räikkönen
West McLaren Mercedes
1:29.875

8 Massa
Sauber Petronas
1:29.937

9 Fisichella
DHL Jordan Honda
1:30.187

10 Trulli
Mild Seven Renault Sport
1:30.298

11 Coulthard
West McLaren Mercedes
1:30.312

12 Villeneuve
Lucky Strike BAR Honda
1:30.352

13 Sato
DHL Jordan Honda
1:30.540

14 De La Rosa
Jaguar Racing
1:30.566

15 Button
Mild Seven Renault Sport
1:30.588

16 McNish
Panasonic Toyota Racing
1:30.602

17 Irvine
Jaguar Racing
1:30.973

18 Panis
Lucky Strike BAR Honda
1:31.127

19 Frentzen
Orange Arrows
1:32.465

20 Webber
KL Minardi Asiatech
1:32.695

21 Bernoldi
Orange Arrows
1:32.912

22 Yoong
KL Minardi Asiatech
1:44.011

[Jaz]

Now I'm very excited!

[Jaz]

Friday times don't mean shit, btw. :)

[Remote]

The only thing they show is that Ferrari has a lot less work to do comparad to the other teams...

[Jaz]

They show jack.

Friday is used to test set-up's and different fuel loads..

Wait until tomorrow for a real idea of who's where.. :D

[Remote]

Although true, I'm still cheering for Schumi as the winner... No one has taken more poles and / or wins at australia then him...

Michael Schumacher (1st, 1:27.419):
"We are quite pleased with today's performance and we feel more confident than before arriving here. But I am not over confident because a lot can change between today and Saturday. Actually, I am a little bit surprised about the gap to the other teams, but as usual on Friday you can never be sure about what fuel loads teams are running. Anyway, the Bridgestone tires were working very well which contributed to our performance. But I will now study the data more fully to get a more complete picture."


Ralf Schumacher (3rd, 1:28.821): "We were a bit unlucky with the weather today. At the start of the first session the track was wet and we had some rain later as well. A positive thing was that I could test both the wet and the intermediate tires. Additionally I also tried the two types of dry tire options and we have decided which we're going to use for tomorrow. Ferrari appears far away but I hope that we will be able to catch up during the weekend."


Juan Pablo Montoya (4th, 1:28.870): "The track was very slippery at the start, so it was quite difficult to adjust the car to it. I suffered with oversteer in the first session and understeer in the second and the intermittent rain did not help as the conditions of the track were quickly changing and weren't even consistent over the lap. We managed anyway to work on the tires and I think we have collected valuable data. We'll see tomorrow."

[Jaz]

Villeneuve qualified in Pole and finished second in his first ever F1 race (which was in Aus).. :D

[2fast4u]

Originally posted by Jaz
Villeneuve qualified in Pole and finished second in his first ever F1 race (which was in Aus).. :D

well he would actually have won but the car started losing oil in the last few laps of the race. ???

uh yeah, piss on friday times, they dont show shit. i dont even watch the friday training.

[Remote]

To be honest, Jack(ques) is not going to win another race in his career. He is not part of a competetive team and I just can't see why he should win anything, not even through a miracle... Any no, he is not a better driver then the others, he is not even underestimated, he is skottish... Fisichella is a perfect example of an underestimated driver, if they would let him compete for a better team he would be able to finish in a position that would reward him with points.

[2fast4u]

Originally posted by Remote
Any no, he is not a better driver then the others, he is not even underestimated, he is skottish... Fisichella is a perfect example of an underestimated driver, if they would let him compete for a better team he would be able to finish in a position that would reward him with points.

look at jv's usa-records: indy car champion, winner of indianapolis 500 in 1995. that takes a lot of skill, especially driving in the ovals. im not sure if many of the current f1 drivers would be capable of doing that.

as for fisico i fail to see unusual high skills. he had years in jordan to prove his talent, but he didnt, besides a few single good results.
me personally, i think jenson button is a great talent by wot he showed with the williams. its a shame that was punished with that benetton last year.

[Jaz]

Originally posted by Remote
To be honest, Jack(ques) is not going to win another race in his career. He is not part of a competetive team and I just can't see why he should win anything, not even through a miracle... Any no, he is not a better driver then the others, he is not even underestimated, he is skottish... Fisichella is a perfect example of an underestimated driver, if they would let him compete for a better team he would be able to finish in a position that would reward him with points. What the hell are you on about?

He's Canadian.

He, as 2fast2u pointed out, won both the Indy 500 and the CART championship in 1995.

He qualified on pole for his first ever F1 GP (only one other driver has ever done that, Mario Andretti), and he almost won his first GP.

He finished 2nd in the championship, and took the championship down to the last race in his first season of F1 (only to suffer a car failure).

He won the F1 World Championship in 1997, beating `the best`, Schumacher.

He scored two podium finishes last season in a car that handled worse than a tractor..

[Jaz]

If you put MS and JV in the same car, I'd have no doubts as to who would win.

[Remote]

I stand corrected, he is canadian... and you can't really compare the Cart or IndyCar series to F1... It is a whole different ball game... In those series every driver is capable of winning, they relay to much on pit stops and yellow flag situations... which often means that the driver with the best strategy and a good portion of luck wins... And of course they are all skilled, except from astronauts who have actually been in space F1 drivers would probaly be one of the most secluded group of people you could find... F1 does also heavily realy on pit stops, but the key differance is that not all teams are equal... Several good Cart drivers has turned down the opportunity to drive F1 because they would not be driving for a competitive team... It takes skill to win the Indy500, I must give him credit for that, but he does no longer comptete for a team who have the resourceses needed for him to be the champion.

I do realize that the differences between the F1 drivers are very minimal but my definition of a good driver is someone who can make a bad car good, and I believe that your share the definition... Perhaps Jacques would be the best driver if he had a good team begind him but your argument of him being a better driver then Michael if they competed in two identical cars does not last, what do you base that statement on... I am not saying that Micheal Schumacher is the best driver but he is on of a few capable of winning a F1 race, and maybe that would not be the case if he competed for a team with less resouces... Montoya is probaly the driver who is capable of driving his car, any car, closest to the edge... His driving skills are unmatched but he has
not had the marginals on his side...

What team did Jacques compete for during his first season? And comparing F1 now with F1 ten years ago does not hold...

And since both of you seem to think that the free pratice who occurs before any race, and before qualifaction does not mean anything... compare the free practice results and the qualifiction ones...


Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari
1.25,843

Michael Schumacher, Ferrari
+ 0.005

Ralf Schumacher, Williams-BMW
+ 0.436

David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes
+ 0.603

Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren-Mercedes
+ 1.318

Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams-BMW
+ 1.406

Jarno Trulli, Renault,
+ 1.867

Giancarlo Fisichella, Jordan-Honda
+ 2.026

Felipe Massa, Sauber-Petronas
+ 2.129

Nick Heidfeld, Sauber-Petronas
+ 2.389

Jenson Button, Renault
+ 2.518

Olivier Panis, BAR-Honda
+ 2.538

Jacques Villeneuve, BAR-Honda
+ 2.814

Mika Salo, Toyota
+ 3.362

Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Arrows
+ 3.631

Allan McNish, Toyota
+ 3.793

Enrique Bernoldi, Arrows
+ 3.895

Mark Webber, Minardi-Asiatech
+ 4.243

Eddie Irvine, Jaguar
+ 4.270

Pedro de la Rosa, Jaguar
+ 4.349

Alex Yoong, Minardi-Asiatech
+ 5.661

Takuma Sato, Jordan-Honda
+ 27.508

[2fast4u]

Jaz: If you put MS and JV in the same car, I'd have no doubts as to who would win.

i think they are equal good drivers - as shown in '97. i think the major difference between them is not skill, but character and maybe focus. ms is capable of building a pretty bad team (ferrari in 1996!) up to one that can win the championship 2 times in a row. jv on the other hand had an excellent car in 1997 when he started his f1-carreer. but when williams went downhill in 1998 so did his results. bar is an ambitious team but they have a very long way to go and jv is not the one that can focus the team and help to better results as much as ms can.

on the other side jv has a great character (which can also be negative - he quit a race in 97) while ms seems like a robot from time to time.

[2fast4u]

remote: its true that cart drivers can be supported by yellow flags but pit stops are surely not important in cart. further u say that in formula1 the driver very much relies on his car - in cart they dont so isn't it easier in f1 for a guy like (ack!) david coulthard to win f1 races bcoz he has a good car? in cart - since u almost can win with every car from every position - it depends on the driver, so doesnt that take more skill to win bcoz of ur driving capablities instead of ur car?

if u have ever seen oval races u can surely say, if one driver makes a slight mistake he can crash with 5 (and up) of his competitors and maybe kill one of them. remember that the cart's are much faster than the f1s (not suprising coz they dont have those fia-jerks).

[Jaz]

Remote, did you watch the qualifying?

It rained after like 20 mins, preventing anyone setting faster times. I'm sure that Williams and McLaren would've been far more closer otherwise.

[Jaz]

Originally posted by Remote
and you can't really compare the Cart or IndyCar series to F1... It is a whole different ball game... In those series every driver is capable of winningOk, if it's so `easy`, how come only 2 drivers have ever won the Indycar champ, Indy 500 and the F1 world championship?

JV is one of the two.

I'll give anyone a prize if they can guess the other.. ;)

[2fast4u]

Originally posted by Jaz

I'll give anyone a prize if they can guess the other.. ;)

nigel mansell :cool:

[Remote]

Yes, I did watch the qualification... and the other part of that more secluded group would have to be Mario Andretti... And if I am wrong about that I would have to say Sir Jackie Stewart... One of the two are right, I am not sure which though... And 2fast4u, if all cars are equal would it not be harder for a driver racing for a less good F1 team with a less good car like Jordan to win, I must have seen a dussin or so races where the best cart finished second due to someone causing a yellow flag situations. And pit stops are definetely important in Cart and Indy, perhaps not as important as in F1...

[Jaz]

Originally posted by 2fast4u
nigel mansell :cool: Nope.

[Jaz]

Originally posted by Remote
and the other part of that more secluded group would have to be Mario Andretti... And if I am wrong about that I would have to say Sir Jackie Stewart... One of the two are right, I am not sure which though...Nope. And nope.

[2fast4u]

Originally posted by Remote
And 2fast4u, if all cars are equal would it not be harder for a driver racing for a less good F1 team with a less good car like Jordan to win

i cant see a logical base for that, unless i can understand wot u r saying. if all cars are about equal it depends completely on the driver, doesnt it?

[2fast4u]

Originally posted by Jaz
Nope. And nope.

jaz u r just messing with us. i know that mansell won the f1 championship and the indy series. not sure about indy 500.

if it isnt andretti or mansell there is no one else.

[Remote]

Originally posted by 2fast4u

if it isnt andretti or mansell there is no one else.

Emerson Fittipaldi

[Jaz]

Originally posted by Remote
Emerson Fittipaldi Nope.

And I'm not messing with nobody..

There is another driver..

[Remote]

Originally posted by Jaz
Nope.

And I'm not messing with nobody..

There is another driver..

He won the F1 championship in -72 and -74, the Indy500 in -89 and -93 and the Cart series in -89.

It is not Senna, Lauda, Prost or Mansell. And if you are refering to the triple crown, it is the Indy500, the F1 championship and Le Mans, and in that case it would be Graham Hill, father of Damon Hill.

[2fast4u]

Originally posted by Remote


He won the F1 championship in -72 and -74, the Indy500 in -89 and -93 and the Cart series in -89.

It is not Senna, Lauda, Prost or Mansell. And if you are refering to the triple crown, it is the Indy500, the F1 championship and Le Mans, and in that case it would be Graham Hill, father of Damon Hill.

yeah, senna, lauda and prost never even were in cart. but hes thinking of the indy500, cart championship and f1 championship, no le mans.

[Remote]

Originally posted by 2fast4u


yeah, senna, lauda and prost never even were in cart. but hes thinking of the indy500, cart championship and f1 championship, no le mans.

And the answer is Emerson Fittipaldi, perhaps that #2 is turning in to a menage o trois...

Emerson Fittipaldi won the F1 championship in -72, -74, the Indy500 in -89, -93 and the Cart series in -89.

[2fast4u]

i suggest that jaz gives us the answer. these were pretty much all the possiblities.

[Jaz]

OK. The only two guys to win F1 Championship, CART Championship, along with the Indy 500 are Jacques Villeneuve and Graham Hill.

[Jaz]

JV wants to do Le Mans when he finishes F1. That'll make him the only driver to win all 4. :D

[Jaz]

Originally posted by Remote
And the answer is Emerson Fittipaldi, perhaps that #2 is turning in to a menage o trois...OK, my bad. ;) He did it too.. ;)

[2fast4u]

race @ 8:30 pm (us central)!!! aw, im gonna burn some time in gp3 while i wait for that. :cool:

[Macca]

ahhahahahahahaha......what a funny race!!

so many people got rooted in the first few minutes because of ralph Schumacher !!

Webber, the Aussie, got 5th on his debut! sweet :D



oh, and jaz, Villeneuve got screwed too

[Jaz]

Yeah, but what ya gonna do?

Still, worth getting up at 2am for - great race! :D

Minardi rock!!! I loved it when Salo tried to pass and spun! *lol* :D

[Macca]

yeh that was sweet, i really thought that webber was gone but then he spun out, that was cool :D

[2fast4u]

so many people got rooted in the first few minutes because of ralph Schumacher !!

yeah, i was standing in front of the tv shouting at him -- "do u fucking have eyes??!!" :D it wasnt pretty.

interesting race however, i cant believe that ferrari screwed the rest that clearly with their old car. and hell, minardi was awesome! poor salo however :D ... i couldnt find out wot happened to truli, looked like he stepped on the gas to early and lost control thou.

[Remote]

Yes, it was a great race... It would have been a better one if Rubens / Ralf had not crashed into each other after the start...I really wouldn't like it they decided to draw thier expenses from my pay check... It may have been Ruben's fault, as well as Ralf's. I would have to say that it was Ruben's...since the FIA has strict guidelines on starting procedures, i.e you can only defend your current track one time... I was impressed by Kimi, although his talent did not really show through since he was driving mostly on his one... And for Montoya and Michael, is there a better way to start the season then humiliating your competitors... Hopefully Williams will take advantage of BMW knowledge... But for McLaren they are still not reliable, they have a fast and stable car but it does not mather if you can't make it over the finishline... And cheers for Mark Webber, who knows he might turn out to be something... I can't even imagine how happy he would be if he would place first... Eventhough it is not going to happen while he is driving for his current team...

[Jaz]

It was a great race..

And it's great to see Webber in the points.. :D

[RatTrap]

DAMNIT DAMNIT DANNIT!!!!.. why didn't anyone tell me :~( i missed everything!!!!.. i suck at driving but i love to watch F1 :/.. and i was in the hospital for a few days.. coz eh.. well long story.. and i totally forgot about friday and today and damnit.. i could've seen it today at 3 pm.. but damnit damnit again damnit for damnits sake damn damn dammitydamndamn!!! :(..

sigh :(.. did Montoya do good?.. just wondering.. i wanted to see Mr Schumacher burn rubber tooo.. *cries*.. you just don't know how pouty i look right now :(..

[2fast4u]

official results:

Schumacher M
Ferrari

Montoya
Williams

Raikkonen
McLaren

Irvine
Jaguar

Webber
Minardi

Salo
Toyota

Yoong
Minardi

de la Rosa
Jaguar

only 8 drivers finished. man dude, u missed a great race ???

montoya was busted by schumacher, that was sweet :)

[RatTrap]

AAAH!.. shitz.. i had a feeling Montoya would do good this time.. but i thought he'd end up 4th or sumthing.. and i thought barrichello would be eather 1st or 2nd.. and the same for M schumacher..

my thoughts where:

1/2 barrichello..

1/2 M Shumacher..

3 R schumacher..

4 Montoya..

or something like that.. i never ever thought that M Schumacher would do so good with the ferrari.. ain't that an old car?..

[2fast4u]

yeah it is, some new parts thou but the chassis is 2001. i cant believe this thing is so friggin fast...

[Remote]

Yes, the car Ferrari used in the Australian GP was the same one the used last year... But when giving it a little thought I fail to see why they should have worried in the first place about not keeping up with the other teams... Michael had an incredible season last year, beating his opponents and several records, earlier considered unbreakable... The F2001 should have a lot in common with their new car, F2002, since there is no need to change a winning concept... It will be interesting to see how this evolves...The new car is even faster, is that possible..., so unless they other teams comes up with something great they will have to play without, or atleast behind, Michael...

[Jaz]

Apparantley it's some 1-2 seconds faster than the old car..