brendo

Winners so far:

word search: VR
delayed gratification: Pete
best new conspiracy: trucho
least to add to the discussion: me

:-)

dp35

Bahrain has been a bounce back race for Massa the past 2 (or 3?) years. He's been burned by his team and car thus far in '09. In China he was on his way to a good finish when the car quit. He's due to get it all together this week. But I wouldn't go so far as to bet money on him winning just yet.

Flying Finn

Yep but interestingly, only now when he's copying Vettel's set-ups, he has come closet to Vettel, when he was using his own, less aggressive set-ups, he was slower.

Larry Herman

Yes but pre-Vettel, he was still consistently mid-group in Q3 in his old POS car. He suffered mostly from decreasing race pace. Not sure why.

multi21

Bahrain has been a traditional track for Ferrari with good results since the inception of that race. Ferrari and Toyota tested extensively at this track in the off season, so one would think, this is where they show a little life, but even Ferrari thinks it will be a tough road. Kimi will run without KERS at least on Friday.

Domenicali: We will suffer again in Bahrain
23 April 2009


Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali is not very positive ahead of this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix. The Italian sees his team at the bottom of the constructors' championship without any points after three races but admits he doesn't expect any miracles this weekend in Bahrain.

"We have endured a very difficult start to the season," admitted Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali. "We knew we would suffer in China and in all probability, we will be suffering again here this weekend. After that, it is to be hoped that we will make a step forward as from the Spanish Grand Prix, even allowing for the fact that we cannot expect those teams currently ahead of us to wait for us to catch up and they too will be developing their cars further. However, the most important point is that the entire team and everyone at Maranello, is working very hard to extricate itself from this situation as soon as possible.

"We have no points yet and so the gap to the leaders is a big one, but I want to make it very clear that we have absolutely not given up fighting for this year's championship titles. And why should we, when theoretically there are still 252 points available this season per team. Development will be ongoing, as it is every year and this will continue whatever the results over the next few races. Even if the situation was worse than this, we still would not give up because this is absolutely not part of the Ferrari philosophy and, with the same group of people we have now, we have fought back from situations like this, from situations which the outside world saw as impossible. The same group of people have won three of the last four titles available over the past two years."

multi21

MERCEDES NOT HAPPY WITH McLAREN IMAGE PROBLEMS

Haug unhappy with McLaren's image problem
23 April 2009


Mercedes Motorsport boss Norbert Haug has said the team is evaluating its partnership with the McLaren Formula 1 team. The German car manufacturer currently owns 40% of the shares in McLaren but is not amused with the team's image problem.

"We are part of this team (McLaren) and normally we will also be part of it in 2010," Haug told Germany's Focus about Mercedes' partnership with McLaren. The damaged caused to McLaren's image due to the lying-scandal in Melbourne is something Mercedes is very unhappy about. "For Mercedes it is very important to handle things the right way, but the important positions within the team are currently filled by people who are not part of Mercedes."

Mercedes is currently 40% shareholder at McLaren and engine supplier to Force India and Brawn GP. Haug admits Mercedes could change its position in Formula 1 and put their main focus on multiple teams rather than just one team (McLaren). "At least once a year we evaluate the situation in Formula 1 and think about our future in the sport. There's always the option to change our position in F1 and simply become an engine supplier only."

FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY HAUG WANTS VETTEL TO DRIVE A SILVER ARROW

Vettel to McLaren in future?
23 April 2009


Norbert Haug has suggested that Mercedes may be interested in signing Germany's Sebastian Vettel in coming years. Having won his second Grand Prix in China last weekend, Vettel has been mentioned by the Mercedes Motorsport vice president, who acknowledges the talents of the 21-year-old.



Mercedes' Norbert Haug
"A lot of money has been invested in Sebastian and, being fair to Red Bull, they are now reaping the rewards of a long-term investment," Haug told Bild. Sebastian first made his F1 debut in 2007, deputizing for BMW's Robert Kubica in the American Grand Prix. His current Red Bull Racing contract is set to expire at the end of next season, however, for which Haug senses an opportunity.

"We'll look further into it then," Haug admitted, who - despite Mercedes providing engines to three teams - works closely with partners McLaren. "He is great and yes, maybe sometime he could be with us in a silver arrow."

2BWise

The teams to beat in my opinion are Brawn and Red Bull, and because most votes have gone for Button I decided to take Vettel. Although I think either of the Red Bulls would be a good choice. My reasoning comes from what we saw last week in quali. The track was pretty warm, I believe the anouncers said 38C, and the Red Bulls absolutley put in some flyers, particularly Vettel. If Bridgestone doesn't bring the Super Soft I think that Red Bull has a serious opportunity for another win. Otherwise, as has been noted by a few other, the way the Brawns are easy on the tires would give them a serious advantage. Either way I'm looking forward to another good race.

multi21

I'm picking Trulli as a dark horse in Bahrain, No option for that in the poll.


How interesting would it be to see Hamilton and Vettel on the same team? Oh yeaaaa, with McLaren throwing their weight behind Hamilton and Mercedes behind Vettel

RSchoeni

Aston/Prodrive and Lola in for 2010?! Cosworth on the return?

http://www.crash.net/Formula+One/New...rds_hints.html

F1 » Aston Martin set for F1 entry, David Richards hints
Following the announcement less than 24 hours ago that Lola is evaluating a return to Formula 1 after more than a decade away, David Richards has become the latest to throw his name into the hat for a potential 2010 entry – in a move that would see the iconic Aston Martin brand in the top flight for the first time in history.

The new optional budget cap announced last month by the FIA has attracted a wealth of attention, with as many as eight interested parties in occupying the three spaces on the grid that look set to make up a field of 26 cars next year, as recently evoked by the sport's supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

What's more, in support of this initiative, Formula One Management (FOM) chief executive Ecclestone is understood to be willing to offer a £30 million incentive to guarantee there are three extra teams in 2010 – as the threat of more manufacturers following Honda's lead in pulling the plug on their F1 projects in such uncertain times remains all-too real.

It is those very same economic circumstances, though, that have forced F1's rule makers to act and to set about drastically cutting costs within the sport – one that has traditionally been the most glamorous and expensive in the world. The budget cap is one such move – and one that has proved attractive to smaller teams and organisations like that of Richards.

Whilst it has long been assumed, however, that an entry by the British entrepreneur would be in the guise of his independent Prodrive operation – which flirted seriously with a £45 million graduation in 2008, and was indeed granted the twelfth and final spot on the grid before the customer car row stopped the bid in its tracks – the team would instead go under the name of legendary British marque Aston Martin, synonymous in recent years with sportscar glory courtesy of back-to-back GT1 class victories in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Richards has a proven record in F1, though, having led BAR-Honda (now Brawn GP) to its most successful season ever back in 2004, and being credited with rescuing current world championship leader Jenson Button's career from the mire. He also acted as team principal of Benetton-Renault in 1998.

“This is a great time to come in,” the 56-year-old is quoted as having said by The Times. “If budgets are capped to a sensible level, everybody will benefit. Instead of Formula 1 being a contest of the teams with the most money, it will become a championship for engineers with ingenuity and great drivers who can show their skill, as it was years ago.

“Nothing is decided yet, but the key to all of this is the financial reality that the budget cap will bring. Take a £300 million budget and, in reality, all you really need is a tenth of that. Things just got hopelessly out of control. What Max [Mosley, FIA President] has come up with is not just eminently sensible but crucial to the survival of the sport. This way, new teams can become involved at a sensible price and with a chance of being competitive.”

Richards already boasts state-of-the-art facilities in both Banbury and at Fen End in nearby Warwickshire, as well as a reputed 142-strong workforce, and talks are in the pipeline with Middle Eastern backers. Moreover, commercial rights-holder Ecclestone is said to be willing to donate £7 million to each new team making the jump, in addition to £3 million each for a season's travel costs.

Aside from Aston Martin and Lola, the budget cap has also elicited interest from the Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson-headed US GPE creation, as well as Northampton-based private engine company Cosworth, which could return to the grand prix grid for the first time since 2006.

It is expected that Mosley will push through his radical budget cap proposal next week, with the £30 million limit to be officialised and to cover the cost of both chassis' and engines.
_____
/bs

ltc

IIRC, the FIA now requires Bridgestone to bring 2 different compounds, but they must not be adjacent cmpounds.
This has been a bone of contention amongst teams, drivers and even Bridgestone.

So, in order to NOT bring the supersoft, they would have to bring soft and hard compounds. In order to bring the super soft, they would have to bring the medium compound.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about this year's tire rules.

Flying Finn

He's no slouch but not a match to Vettel which makes him the next candidate to "Barichello - Coulthard" club...

Ray S

He's in the poll.....

Larry Herman

Very funny, but not entirely accurate. Webber does not block or crash into others nearly as effectively as Coulthard did. Besides, Red Bull is going to need him when Norbert Haug decides that he has had enough of McLaren and puts the full weight of Mercedes behind Brawn, including the transfer of Vettel.

2BWise

This is my understanding as well. My assumption was that by not bringing the super soft then instead the soft and hard would be available for the race.

We saw how quickly the super soft fell off for the Red Bulls in Australia. If they are forced to use it again they will probably lose the race during the super soft stint. The only way around the super soft would be to run light for quali, get pole, run a few flyers during the opening laps, and then make an early pit stop to switch over to the medium for the rest of the race. They wouldn't be able to build enough of a lead to stay out front, but with some luck they might be able to work back up to the front.

multi21

I can only pick one and Button would be the logical choice, but because of the extensive testing at Bahrain in the off season, the fact that Toyota has the trick diffuser and Trulli is due (bad luck when Kubica tried to mount him)