Official 2009 Formula 1 Season Thread
 

Just a little over a week away until the first practice run and 2days after for the first race in Melbourne, Australia

Is anyone excited for the start of F1 this season?

KERS + Slick

Brawn GP FTW!!

Finally a car that Button can show what skills he has....

Disappointed that Senna did not get a contract and also that Torro Rosso did not pick up Sato either.....

Kers looks interesting but from what I've read, it's also very heavy. Apparently FIA will be announcing the car weights post-race now.

Mclaren's got their set-up all wrong, so look for Ferrari dominance at the early stages. Brawn GP shows promise, but I think they'll have reliability problems considering how much testing they've done compared to the other teams.

I am SO stoked for this season. The last 2 seasons were fucking lame, and pretty much represented exactly what's wrong with F1.

If you're not up to date with the rule changes, check out this awesome video detailing the new rules.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTkVKPdyWs0

New rule changes to 2009 season.
ONLY victories will be good enough to win this year's Formula One world championship.

It's about time to have REAL races. Last year I was pissed that Hamilton won the championship based on points, but Massa won the most races.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...-39478,00.html

I'm glad the points system has changed. I was worried it'd continue to go towards Nascar style points.

F1 has always been about bringing the best to the table, win or go home. Thus why first was awarded 10 points and second only 6.

I am disappointed by the continuing technology bans and more and more rules governing the cars. It stifles development, as most of the best F1 technology has come from breaking the "rules", ie turbos, ground effects, 6 wheels, wings, traction control ... things that were so different from the cars of the time, that if something similar was invented now it'd be illegal.

That said, I'd prefer to see the cars go all-electric. That would put some fun back into development, and would push along the electric car in record time.

OT: Can we move this back to VIC where it can get some exposure?

I love the rule that they made all cars to be standard technology.
As least that will give the smaller budget teams to have a chance in the race.
If richer teams can buy whatever they want and put it in their car, they will win every single race. How boring to see Mercedes and Ferrari to finished top for positions every single race.

Damn, can't wait to see what Brawn GP can do in races! Their practice runs has been pretty good!

If Brawn GP has a really good car, I hope Button can back up what he said haha and show Hamilton up :)

Fuckers!! :( Should've let this thread stay in Vancouver Automotive, so theirs more traffic :(

F1 is a sport.

Here are the odds for 2009 F1 Championship:
I am surprised that J. Button is in favor that Raikkonen, Hamilton and Massa.
Wow... I guess the rule change does really have an impact on this coming season result.

Button J. (GBR/Brawn GP)
4.50
Raikkonen K. (FIN/Ferrari)
5.00
Alonso F. (ESP/Renault)
5.50
Barrichello R. (BRA/Brawn GP)
7.00
Hamilton L. (GBR/McLaren)
7.00
Massa F. (BRA/Ferrari)
8.00
Kubica R. (POL/BMW Sauber)
13.00
Vettel S. (GER/Red Bull)
21.00
Heidfeld N. (GER/BMW Sauber)
21.00
Kovalainen H. (FIN/McLaren)
26.00
Glock T. (GER/Toyota)
26.00
Rosberg N. (GER/Williams)
26.00
Trulli J. (ITA/Toyota)
26.00
Piquet N. Jr. (BRA/Renault)
34.00
Webber M. (AUS/Red Bull)
34.00
Nakajima K. (JPN/Williams)
126.00
Buemi S. (SUI/Toro Rosso)
126.00
Bourdais S. (FRA/Toro Rosso)
126.00
Sutil A. (GER/Force India)
151.00
Fisichella G. (ITA/Force India)
151.00

hmm, i may get back into watching f1 this season

ROFL FUCK THAT

I'll pick Raikkonen/Alonso/Kubica/Massa > Button if I was placing bets ^^

I don't mind if Button wins thought but I'd prefer Raikkonen or Kubica or Vettel(long shot lol)

But this "Most Wins for Championship title" thing reeks of the Michael Schumacher days... Those days were BORING. It wasn't exciting to watch becase you KNEW who was going to win.

These new changes better deliver, and make close racing between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places because if it turns into a one driver show every race I'm going to stop watching F1.

New rule changes are pretty good although that rear new wing is fucking ugly.

I am not sure Brawn Mercedes will be the next coming of Christ everyone is expecting them to be. No doubt they will be strong this year but other teams will be working just as hard as well.

Renault released today that they will be running KERS in Australia, the 1st team to confirm the use of the new system.

I personally do not like the new points system I think it really hurts teams that are quick but do not have the same consistent pace as McLaren/Ferrari. Last year Kubica was in the points race until very late in the season due to a string of very good finishes.

Williams and McLaren closed the final day of testing before the start of the 09 season today. McLaren taking the time to test new parts that arrived last night and possibly do some qualifying runs. Both cars ended with faster times than Brawn Mercedes and Renault today dipping into the 1:17's. The William managing to edge the McLaren out by six tenths of a second.

Unofficial Thursday times from Jerez:
1. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams FW31, 1:17.494
2. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren MP4-24, 1:17.946

Looks as if McLaren have found some sort of light at the end of the tunnel with their supposed aero problems while Williams plainly went fast!

Taking a look at some of the pictures from the Jerez test this wee I thought I would highlight 2 from McLaren.

6 days!!!

rich

Button is quick, he just doesn't have luck..

i think kovalainen is going to be up there this year he's progressively gotten better every year

skinnypupp thanks for that video that KERS is going to be very interesting

New rules:

Whoever wins the most race will be crowned WDC regardless of points scored...

Since everyone gets 8 engines for 17 races, it means that one only needs to tune the engine to last around 1 race (instead of 2-3) and get around 9 wins (or 9 wins if you want to be safe) and DNF the rest of the season to be crowned WDC.

BrawnGP looks like it's the real deal, KERS is really setting Ferrari back.

I'm excited to see more passing! The KERS will definitely makes things interesting! We'll see in less than a week!

I'm disappointed that Senna didn't get picked up...

Qualifying is going to be so exciting!! :D

I'm kinda glad MCLaren got their act together, better teams = better races :) even thought I'm not a fan of Hamilton or Kov haha


thanks mods for moving it back :)

neither did kimi but he ended up winning a championship

source: http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...20191538.shtml

YAY!

rich

You must not be a Ferrari fan.

I would prefer F1 not turn into IRL, yet all these rules stifling technology in favour of making races more exciting to viewers more accustomed to NASCAR is really taking away from the sport.

F1 was about being the best racing series. Best technology, best drivers. Not anymore.

I enjoyed Ferrari lapping the field, it was awesome to watch what a great driver with the best of technology can do. The only downside was that Ferrari didn't hire another great driver to further push Schumacher.

Honda/Toyota dumped tons of money and still couldn't finish well.

Its not all about the benjamins.

Yeah dude, Honda and Toyota were dumping A LOT of money into F1 and they've gotten no where basically(maybe some top finishes)

Brawn GP looks promising from their practice runs though..