Formula One Season 2009!

[Zulu Romeo]

The last moments of Q3 were hilarious, though, when all the screens went blank and Fernando Alonso kept on comparing times with everyone else.

That Jenson Button... mouth like a docker.

But re: Felipe Massa, yes I saw that too. It was a very nasty moment for Massa when that debris smacked him against the helmet. To me it also looked as if he was knocked cold as he didn't even attempt turns 3 and 4. Thank goodness he's OK. And yes, any concussive head injury (let alone one at 200mph involving hot fast-moving debris and tremendous G-forces) that knocks you out requires overnight observation in hospital as a bare minimum, and I guess it looks like he won't be racing tomorrow.

And all this came on the back of the sad death of 18 year old Henry Surtees (son of motorsports legend John Surtees) in a Formula Two incident at Brands Hatch this week, when a loose wheel bounced out of control and struck his head during a crash.

 

[BRG]

I've just heard Massa had to undergo emergency surgery after suffering skull damage in the freak accident, although Ferarri are 'Positive' with the outcome according to the BBC website.

Still, it was a scary accident. And only a week after young Henry Surtees was killed in F2 by flying debris. Just lucky that it was a glancing blow, if that had hit him full on, it would probably been fatal.
Brought back grim memories of my hero Ayrton Senna, who was killed by a blow to the helmet, and Tom Pryce, who had the most horrific accedent.

Get well soon Felipe, hope you are fit and well for Valencia.
BRG

 

[Zulu Romeo]

The official word is "serious but stable".

 

[Lonemagpie]

According to today's coverage, and http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8168807.stm Massa was woken this morning after last night's surgery, is stable, and will be sedated for 48 hours. His life doesn't seem to be under threat any more like it was last night, but it's still obviously serious.

Barrichello seems to think there's some weird mystical connection between Surtees' death and this, and that's it's some kind of "message from God" apparently...

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Barrichello seems to think there's some weird mystical connection between Surtees' death and this, and that's it's some kind of "message from God" apparently...

Personally, I can't help but feel that these things tend to happen in clusters when it comes to F1 and motorsport in general, and that something big is going to happen today.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Barrichello seems to think there's some weird mystical connection between Surtees' death and this, and that's it's some kind of "message from God" apparently...

Personally, I can't help but feel that these things tend to happen in clusters when it comes to F1 and motorsport in general, and that something big is going to happen today.

Well, Lewis Hamilton might actually win, and Jensen could see his commanding lead on the championship disappear...

 

[Zulu Romeo]

It's certainly going that way so far. Alonso out following an early botched pitstop leaving his right front hanging loose.

The thing is, though, the Hungaroring is one of those funny circuits where the playing field is levelled out due to its slower twisty character, where it's difficult to overtake (unless you're Nigel Mansell in a Ferrari ) and where high downforce is king. Thus, many teams can have surprisingly good (and bad) qualifying sessions, and if you have a good qualifying session you can do wonders on race day, as Thierry Boutsen's Williams in 1990 and Damon Hill's Arrows in 1997 proved, and it's not surprising to see new GP winners emerge here (Hill, Button, Kovalainen, etc.).

No wonder it's one of my favourite GPs on the calendar.

Funnily enough, the much-maligned KERS device seems to be quite effective here.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Renault are banned from the next race, which is Alonso's home race, on account of them knowingly letting his car out of the pit with an unsecured wheel (which proceeded to fall off later), without telling him that this was the case, even when he radioed in later to say he thought he had a puncture...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8169649.stm

 

[BRG]

Renault ban nonsense!

A typical kneejerk overreaction by Formula 1 following Alonso's wheel flying off. This type of incedent happens from time to time in motorsport, usually no one is hurt, like today.
To ban Alonso from a Spanish race for this is complete bullshit!
90% of the crowd in Valencia will have bought tickets just to see Fred, I assume that we have thousands of pissed-off Spaniards demanding a refund. As this will hit wee Bernie in the pocket, I fully expect him to have this ban overturned in short order!

As to the race, a great win by Lewis, that is a World Champion who finally has a car to work with. Also great to see Kimi back on form, and with Alonso on pole, it was like the natural order had been restored!
But Jenson must be more than a bit worried. This is a track where he should have been on the pace, but was easily beaten by Red Bull. The one saving grace must be McLaren & Ferarri stepping up, if they can take big points off of Webber & Vettel, then he may just pull off the WDC. However, Red Bull must be a good bet for the WCC.
BRG

PS- I see the conspiracy theorist are at it already. With Massa probably out of action for the rest of the season, and with Renault banned in Valencia, some are claiming this is all a plot to put Fernando Alonso in the Red Car for his home race.
Total nonsense IMHO, but stranger things have happened....

 

[Lonemagpie]

Re: Renault ban nonsense!

A typical kneejerk overreaction by Formula 1 following Alonso's wheel flying off. This type of incedent happens from time to time in motorsport, usually no one is hurt, like today.

I think they're just being overprotective because it's the same that killed Surtees last week (a wheel coming off) and with another rogue part clipping Massa yesterday...

That said, I expect an appeal to get the ban rescinded before Valencia

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I hope the ban is reduced at the very least to a fine, and hope that a full investigation at Renault be undertaken during the summer break.

Meanwhile, it was a great race for Lewis Hamilton indeed... Although McLaren also showed some promise at the Nurburgring following their major update, I'm still wary of claims that this is a comeback at Woking, given the unusual nature of the Hungaroring.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

An update on the Massa situation:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8169915.stm

Felipe Massa's condition is "severe but not critical" after surgery on his fractured skull, but there is concern about damage to his left eye.

The Ferrari driver's surgeon confirmed Massa's eye was injured when a spring from Ruben Barrichello's car hit him in qualifying in Hungary on Saturday.

"We don't know if he'll be able to race again. It's too early to say about his future," added surgeon Robert Veres.

"But the immediate life-threatening condition has been averted."

To me, it seems as if he'll definitely be out for most of the rest of the season, if not until 2010. It will be a real shame if the damage to his skull and his eye means his F1 racing career is now over.

The 606 message boards () are debating over who will take his seat for this season, the most likely candidates being one of Ferrari's current test drivers with many favouring Marc Gene over the older Luca Badoer. Some even pondered bringing in GP2 star Bruno Senna at this time, although I think the reservations many (including Massa) had over introducing the inexperienced Jaime Alguersuari to STR mid-season (following Sebastien Bourdais's sacking), especially given the severe limitations on testing within the season, will again apply to Senna. (Note that Alguersuari finished ahead of team-mate Sebastien Buemi on Sunday, despite being understandably and comprehensively outqualified. )

If, sadly, this does mean Massa's F1 career is over, is this a clear opportunity in 2010 for Ferrari to bring in Fernando Alonso?

 

[Deckerd]

Yeah they wrote off Niki Lauda driving for Ferrari again in 1975 after he became a human torch.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Yeah they wrote off Niki Lauda driving for Ferrari again in 1975 after he became a human torch.

And look what happened to him.... almost-champion in 1976, champion again in 77 and 84...

 

[BRG]

Glad to hear Massa appears to be out of the woods. For a wee while over the weekend I really feared the injury was much worse than we were being told, and it would eventually take his life.

While I'm still hopeful of seeing Felipe Massa behind the wheel of a Ferrari next season- as mentioned above, look at Lauda. If he does have to call it a day, while sad, as long he is still alive and makes a good recovery, which is far more important than driving fast cars round in circles.

As to his replacement for this season, logically you would think they would just draft in one of the test team- Gene or Badoer, or even give them both a run like McLaren did when Wurz & PdlR subbed for JPM af few years ago.
However, there is a growing rumour that the king himself may step back into the ring! Michael Schumacher has apparently said he is open for a short term run as Massa's replacement.
Also remembering back to 1999, when Schumacher broke his leg and was out for months, Ferrari drafted in Mika Salo as his stand in, and although my memory is not 100%, I do not believe Salo was Ferrari's test & replacement driver. So maybe the will again go for a solid racer over their two rather ordinary test pilots.
BRG

 

[Lonemagpie]

BMW have quit F1

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77400

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Glad to hear Massa appears to be out of the woods. For a wee while over the weekend I really feared the injury was much worse than we were being told, and it would eventually take his life.

While I'm still hopeful of seeing Felipe Massa behind the wheel of a Ferrari next season- as mentioned above, look at Lauda. If he does have to call it a day, while sad, as long he is still alive and makes a good recovery, which is far more important than driving fast cars round in circles.

As to his replacement for this season, logically you would think they would just draft in one of the test team- Gene or Badoer, or even give them both a run like McLaren did when Wurz & PdlR subbed for JPM af few years ago.
However, there is a growing rumour that the king himself may step back into the ring! Michael Schumacher has apparently said he is open for a short term run as Massa's replacement.
Also remembering back to 1999, when Schumacher broke his leg and was out for months, Ferrari drafted in Mika Salo as his stand in, and although my memory is not 100%, I do not believe Salo was Ferrari's test & replacement driver. So maybe the will again go for a solid racer over their two rather ordinary test pilots.
BRG

Yeah, I heard about Michael Schumacher - from what I heard, it was his spokesperson who made that suggestion:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8172310.stm

"The whole thing will be considered by Ferrari. If they approach Michael, then he will consider it," the seven-time champion's spokeswoman told BBC Sport.

"But there is no reason for him to step into their discussion."

Schumacher, who retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 2006 season, told the BBC in an interview at the German Grand Prix two weeks ago that he was not interested in returning to F1.

However, his spokeswoman Sabine Kehm said that was a reference to a permanent return.

"Usually, I would say he's not interested because he's fine with his life and he doesn't miss anything but now the situation is so different - it's very hypothetical - and Michael doesn't want to step into that [discussion]," she stated.

She added that Schumacher still trained every day but that she did not know whether he was fit enough to race an F1 car again.

"Michael had a motorcycle accident in February when he had a neck problem - and I really can't tell you if his neck would be fine to drive an F1 race," she said.

"If Ferrari asked him whether he would consider driving, he would have it checked - and remember he is a 40-year-old man, too."

Schumacher's manager Willi Weber insists the German will not drive for Ferrari in the next race - the European Grand Prix in Valencia in Spain on 23 August.

"Michael will not sit in a car in Valencia, this is out of the question," Weber told Germany's SID news agency.

"What would we expect from Schumacher if he stepped into a Formula One car? To win. The expectations from both sides would be too high."

Interestingly, that article suggested a possible return for David Coulthard, who is still available for Red Bull this year should they need him (and, all being well, they most certainly won't, given the success they've had so far).

BMW have quit F1

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77400

Unexpected, but not completely surprising.

They have had a horrible season, and both their drivers promised so much. After last year's work was rather inexplicably shelved in favor of preparing for 2009, this is extremely disappointing news.

 

[Iasius]

from michael-schumacher.de:

29/07/09
Michael happy to help

Michael happy to help Ferrari.

"The most important thing first: thanks God, all news concerning Felipe are positive. I wish him all the best again.

I was meeting this afternoon with Stefano Domenicali and Luca di Montezemolo and together we decided that I will prepare myself to take the place of Felipe. Though it is true that the chapter Formula 1 has been closed for me since long and completely, it is also true that for loyalty reasons to the team I cannot ignore that unfortunate situation. But as the competitor I am I also very much look forward to facing this challenge."

I have to say I'm quite surprised. I didn't think he would want to enter F1 again. The only reason I can think of is that he really misses the feeling of being in an F1 race and wants to experience that again.
I don't think it's quite as bad as when a retired boxer tries a comeback, but I don't really see any upside here, monetarily, or regarding reputation. That's why I think he maybe wasn't really that happy with retiring as he told earlier. I suppose the "loyalty to the team" theme has some part in this, but I don't think that would be sufficient as a cause.

 

[Saul]

If Schumacher comes back then Holy Shit!
Him against Hamilton would be explosive.
Him driving the same car as Kimi, I think Kimi will start having to pull his pants up!

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Two huge whammies in as little as 12 hours. First BMW announce their departure, now The False Stig is set to return to F1!

Schumacher. Alonso. Raikkonen. Hamilton. With the first half of the season dominated by Brawn and Red Bull, and now these four World Champions in the mix and, based on recent form, in potentially race-winning cars, the second half is definitely mouth-watering.