Well the silly season is in full swing.

The major rumour is of coarse Alonso to Ferrari.
I know blokes who insist it will happen but others who say it will but
not till 2011.

Another is that HK will get his notice.

So who will replace FA and HK and then who will take the seats of the
replacements? i.e. if NR goes to McLaren who will drive at Williams?

It’s all too confusing for a simple bloke from the bush like me so I
thought you blokes might enlighten me with some of the latest rumours.

beers,
build

The FIA has said: "BMW was, however, given the "14th place" in case
any vacancy arises on the 2010 grid." that is a very big about the
expected outcome of current proceeding. A shame for F1 and the shame
is in bold underlined text.

build

What would lazy journalists have done without Watergate, eh?

It would seem that Briatore and Symonds did ask Piquet to crash then,
although now that Renault aren’t going to contest the allegation at
the hearing, I suppose we’ll never hear the other side of the story. I
imagine that any exclusion sanction won’t go beyond this season, with
the departure of Briatore and Symonds who were apparently the only
members of the team, other than Piquet, who were aware of the plot.

Piquet’s shot himself in the foot as well. An honest team wouldn’t
want a driver who would collude in a dishonest plot, and a dodgy team
wouldn’t want someone who’d spill the beans if they didn’t get what
they wanted.

–
Mike Fleming

Still celebrating?

Nice one, mate. He deserves it.

I kept thinking of a woman on another F1 newsgroup I used to frequent
about 10 years ago who always insisted that Webber had what it takes for
F1, at a time when he wasn’t really on anyone’s radar. I forget her
name, but on the tiny offchance that she’s lurking here: you were right.
Your boy’s a winner.

–
Duncan Snowden.

Average Starting Position 2009 – after Nürburgring, Qualifying #9
=================================================================

2009     2009                        2008     2007     2006     2005    2004
Pos.     ASP                       Pos. ASP Pos. ASP Pos. ASP Pos ASP Pos ASP
==============================================================================
 1.      2.67 [+0.04] J Button      16 14.72 14 13.94  3  7.78  4  5.9  3  5.5
 2.      3.56 [+0.06] S Vettel      10 11.00 15 14.38  -  -     –  -    -  -
 3.      3.67 [-0.21] R Barrichello 17 14.83 16 15.00  6  7.61 13 10.5  2  4.6
 4.      6.11 [-0.64] M Webber       9  9.17  7  9.06  7 11.06  8  8.0 13  9.7
 5.      7.89 [+0.89] N Rosberg     12 12.11  9  9.88 12 13.33  -  -    -  -
 6. [8]  8.22 [+0.09] K Räikkönen   =3  4.39  3  3.53  4  5.83  2  5.7  9  8.2
 7.      8.33 [+0.45] F Alonso       6  6.89  2  3.18  1  4.28  1  4.0  7  7.6
 8. [6]  8.44 [+0.69] J Trulli       7  7.61  8  9.24 14 10.28  5  6.1  6  6.7
 9.      8.67 [-0.08] F Massa        1  2.94  4  4.24  2  6.67 17 11.9 18 13.5
10.     11.00 [+0.25] S Nakajima    18 15.11 22 19.00  -  -     –  -    -  -
11.     11.67 [+0.54] R Kubica       5  5.83  6  7.00  9  8.83  -  -    -  -
12.[14] 11.89 [-0.74] H Kovalainen  =3  4.39 10 10.71  -  -     –  -    -  -
13.     12.22 [-0.16] N Heidfeld     8  9.00  5  5.41 10 10.17 12  9.6 21 16.0
14.[12] 12.33 [+0.95] T Glock       11 11.11  -  -     –  -     –  -   22 16.5
15.     12.89 [-1.11] L Hamilton     2  3.89  1  2.59  -  -     –  -    -  -
16.     14.11 [-0.52] N Piquet      14 13.50  -  -     –  -     –  -    -  -
17.     15.44 [+0.06] S Buemi        -  -     –  -     –  -     –  -    -  -
18.[20] 16.44 [-0.94] A Sutil       20 18.94 23 20.29  -  -     –  -    -  -
19.[18] 17.11 [+0.23] S Bourdais    15 13.67  -  -     –  -     –  -    -  -
20.[19] 17.33 [+0.08] G Fisichella  19 18.33 11 10.82  3  5.61  3  5.7 17 12.3

Average positions include all demotions such as engine/gearbox change penalties,
but not necessarily last-minute changes such as pitlane starts.

Average Team Starting Position 2009 – after Nürburgring, Qualifying #9
======================================================================

  2009                       2008      2007      2006     2005      2004
Pos. ASP                   Pos. ASP  Pos. ASP  Pos. ASP  Pos. ASP  Pos ASP
===========================================================================
 1.  3.17 [-0.08] Brawn      9. 14.78  8. 14.47  4.  7.75  4.  8.5  3.  6.8 *
 2.  4.83 [-0.30] Red Bull   6. 11.00  6. 11.21  8. 14.65  7. 11.2  6. 11.7 *
 3.  8.44         Ferrari    1.  3.67  2.  3.88  2.  6.06  6.  9.4  1.  4.2
 4.  9.44 [+0.56] Williams   8. 13.58  7. 12.65  7. 12.19  5.  9.3  2.  6.4
 5. 10.39 [+0.83] Toyota     4.  9.36  4. 10.79  5. 10.11  3.  7.5  7. 11.8
 6. 11.06         Renault    5. 10.19  5. 10.82  1.  4.94  1.  4.8  4.  7.5
 7. 11.94 [+0.19] BMW-Sauber 3.  7.42  3.  6.18  6. 10.81  8. 11.9  8. 12.9 *
 8. 12.39 [-0.92] McLaren    2.  4.11  1.  2.88  3.  6.89  2.  6.6  5.  8.8
 9. 16.28 [+0.15] T Rosso    7. 12.33  9. 16.21  9. 15.83 10. 17.5 10. 18.5 *
10. 16.89 [-0.42] F India   10. 18.61 11. 20.82 10. 18.06  9. 16.9  9. 16.4 *

*  Red Bull = Jaguar (2004), Brawn = Honda (06-08) / BAR (04-05), BMW-Sauber = Sauber
   (04-05), Force India = Spyker (07) / Midland (06) / Jordan (04-05), Toro Rosso =
   Minardi (04-05)

Team-mates Head-to-Head 2009 – after Nürburgring, Qualifying #9
===============================================================

Team        Driver-1          Driver-2    Posn.
===============================================
Renault     Alonso       8-1  Piquet       +52
Toyota      Trulli       8-1  Glock        +35

Williams    Rosberg      7-2  Nakajima     +28
Red Bull    Vettel       7-2  Webber       +23
Toro Rosso  Buemi        7-2  Bourdais     +14

Brawn       Button       6-3  Barrichello   +9
BMW-Sauber  Kubica       6-3  Heidfeld      +5

F India     Fisichella   5-4  Sutil        -10
McLaren     Hamilton     5-4  Kovalainen   -10
Ferrari     Räikkönen    5-4  Massa         +4

Notes: "Posn." shows the advantage in qualifying positions to date. A
positive number shows the driver on the left has the advantage and a
negative number the driver on the right.

2009 Grid Penalties
===================

                         Qual  Penalty (reason)
===========================================================================
01 AUS  Timo Glock        6th  pit lane start (rear wing flexing)
01 AUS  Jarno Trulli      8th  pit lane start (rear wing flexing)
01 AUS  Lewis Hamilton   15th  5-place penalty (changed gearbox)

02 MAL  Sebastian Vettel  3rd  10-place penalty (caused accident in AUS)
02 MAL  R Barrichello     4th  5-place penalty (changed gearbox)

03 CHN  Timo Glock       14th  5-place penalty (changed gearbox)

04 BRN  Adrian Sutil     16th  3-place penalty (blocked Webber)

06 MON  Lewis Hamilton   16th  5-place penalty (changed gearbox)

09 GER  Timo Glock       19th  3-place penalty (blocked Alonso)

Appearances in Each Qualifying Session
======================================

                Q-1  Q-2  Q-3
=============================
J Button          9    9    9
R Barrichello     9    9    9
S Vettel          9    9    9

N Rosberg         9    9    8
K Räikkönen       9    8    8
M Webber          9    8    8

F Alonso          9    9    7
J Trulli          9    8    7

F Massa           9    8    6

T Glock           9    7    5

R Kubica          9    6    4

L Hamilton        9    6*   3   AUS (0 laps)

K Nakajima        9    9    2
H Kovalainen      9    8    2

N Piquet          9    5    1
S Buemi           9    3    1
A Sutil           9    3    1

N Heidfeld        9    8    0
S Bourdais        9    2    0
G Fisichella      9    1    0

* Set no time in one or more sessions.

Best Qualifying Performances (Current Drivers)
==============================================

               Best in 2009     Best in  Best in   Best in   Best before 2006
Driver         Posn.(#) GP(s)   2008 (#) 2007 (#)  2006 (#)  Posn. (#) First  - Last
=======================================================================================
J Button       Pole (4) ….    9th  (1)  6th  (1)  Pole (1)  Pole  (2) RSM 04 – CDN 05
S Vettel       Pole (3) . . .   Pole (1)  7th  (1)  —       —
J Trulli       Pole (1) BRN     2nd  (1)  6th  (1)  3rd  (1)  Pole  (3) MON 04 – USA 05
M Webber       Pole (1) GER     2nd  (1)  5th  (1)  2nd  (1)  2nd   (2) MAL 04 – ESP 05

R Barrichello  2nd  (3) . . .   9th  (1)  9th  (1)  3rd  (2)  Pole (13) BEL 94 – BRA 04
F Alonso       2nd  (1) CHN     2nd  (1)  Pole (2)  Pole (6)  Pole  (9) MAL 03 – CHN 05
T Glock        2nd  (1) BRN     5th  (1)  —       —       16th  (2) CDN 04 – CHN 04
K Räikkönen    2nd  (1) MON     Pole (2)  Pole (3)  Pole (3)  Pole  (8) Eur 03 – TUR 05
R Kubica       4th  (1) AUS     Pole (1)  4th  (1)  6th  (1)  —
N Rosberg      4th  (1) MAL     5th  (2)  4th  (1)  3rd  (1)  —
F Massa        4th  (1) ESP     Pole (6)  Pole (6)  Pole (3)  4th   (3) AUT 02 – BRA 04
L Hamilton     5th  (2) BRN/GER Pole (7)  Pole (6)  —       —
K Nakajima     5th  (1) GBR     10th (1)  19th (1)  —       —
H Kovalainen   6th  (1) GER     Pole (1)  6th  (2)  —       —
A Sutil        7th  (1) GER     16th (1)  19th (3)  —       —
N Heidfeld     9th  (1) AUS     5th  (4)  2nd  (1)  3rd  (1)  Pole  (1) Eur 05
S Buemi        10th (1) CHN     —       —       —       —
N Piquet       10th (1) GER     7th  (1)  —       —       —

G Fisichella   13th (1) MON     12th (1)  4th  (1)  Pole (1)  Pole  (2) AUT 98 – AUS 05
S Bourdais     14th (1) MON     4th  (1)  —       —       —

Personal Bests set at Nürburgring 2009
======================================

      Career          In 2009
===================================
Pole  M Webber        M Webber
2nd                   R Barrichello (3)
5th                   L Hamilton (2)
6th                   H Kovalainen
7th   A Sutil         A Sutil

Most Pole Positions
===================

    1950-2002 (Top 25)                Since 2003 (Top 10)
=========================         ========================
 1 Ayrton Senna        65         1 Michael Schumacher  18 +
 2 Michael Schumacher  50 +       2 Fernando Alonso     17
 3 Jim Clark           33         3 Kimi Räikkönen      16
   Alain Prost         33         4 Felipe Massa        15
 5 Nigel Mansell       32         5 Lewis Hamilton      13
 6 Juan Manuel Fangio  29         6 Rubens Barrichello   7 +
 7 Mika Häkkinen       26           Jenson Button        7
 8 Niki Lauda          24         8 Ralf Schumacher      5 +
   Nelson Piquet       24         9 Jarno Trulli         4
10 Damon Hill          20           Sebastian Vettel     4
11 Mario Andretti      18
   René Arnoux         18
13 Jackie Stewart      17
14 Stirling Moss       16       + also achieved poles in other era
15 Alberto Ascari      14
   Ronnie Peterson     14
   James Hunt          14
18 Graham Hill         13
   Jack Brabham        13
   Jacky Ickx          13
   Jacques Villeneuve  13
21 David Coulthard     12
   Gerhard Berger      12
24 Jochen Rindt        10
   Juan Pablo Montoya  10 +

Since 2003 we have had:

* Single lap qualifying (2003-05, except for AUS-MON 2005)
* Two single-lap sessions aggregated (AUS-MON 2005 only)
* Knockout, 3-period, race fuel (from EUR 2005)

The Recent Record of Pole Position Holders at the Nürburgring
=============================================================

Year  Time      Driver        Chassis         Rslt  Winner                Grd
=============================================================================
1999  1’19.910  H-H Frentzen  Jordan 199       DNF  Herbert      Stewart  14th
2000  1’17.529  D Coulthard   McLaren MP4/15   3rd  M Schumacher Ferrari  2nd
2001  1’14.960  M Schumacher  Ferrari F2001    1st
—-
2002  1’29.906  JP Montoya    Williams FW24B   DNF
…

read more »

G’day All,
My German Review.

I won’t say much about MW’s absolutely brilliant victory as I’m
slightly biased. I’m told that it was the most popular win seen in
many years (in the paddock). Members of many teams partyed well into
the night and there was a few sore heads on Monday. Some wise blokes
also say that MW is now the best chance to beat JB. Also some other
teams are circling in to poach the Aussie.

A few teams took a step forward so the second group is now Toyota,
Williams, Ferrari, Renault and McLaren, bloody lovely to see.

NR drove a good race. Let’s hope Williams keeps the momentum going.

FA was surprisingly quick towards the end of the second stint and put
in some amasingly quick laps in the last stint. Very impressive. Note,
NP’s best (in old spec car) was 1.5 secs slower than FA, i’m told he
is on notice.

HK did well too. Although on fuel adjusted times he qualified his (old
spec) McLaren one second slower than LH. Watching the new spec car in
Hungary will be interesting as LH’s fuel adjusted qually was THIRD!

Apart from MW’s stupid penalty the biggest disappointment was losing
AS as his qually was brilliant. OK he had some luck but fuel adjusted
he was still sixth on the grid. He ran as high as second before Kimi
nicked his front wing. Very impressive.

The fuel adjusted grid.
1       Webber
2       Vettel
3       Hamilton
4       Barrichello
5       Button
6       Sutil
7       Kovalainen
8       Massa
9       Raikkonen
10      Piquet

Also of note was GF’s in Eleventh ahead of some stiff competition.

I’m probably looking through rose coloured glasses but that was the
best Qually and Race I’ve seen, ever. Well, perhaps Keke’s South
African GP and the Mansell/Senna Spanish GP were pretty close.

I’m also still gob smacked at just how good this season has been, nine
races into the season and not one dud race and I’m sure I’ll look back
on ’09 as one of if not the best seasons ever.

beers,
build

Subject says it all.

I’m not sure if it is agood thing …

beers,
build

Speed TV had a report on its website saying that Hamilton was talking
about going to Le Mans and/or NASCAR.  Any varacity to the rumored
thoughts (as opposed to him actually doing it).
—

- dillon  I am not invalid

"Jimmy, I’m sorry your girlfriend turned out
to be a cylon."
-Special Agent Tim McGee, "NCIS"

Hungarian Grand Prix

First Practice – Friday 24 July 2009 – 10:00-11:30

##  Driver        Team              Time     Lps   Gap  %Gap   Km/hr    mph
=============================================================================
 2  H Kovalainen  McLaren-Mercedes  1’22.278  21  0.000 0.000 191.687 119.109
16  N Rosberg     Williams-Toyota   1’22.337  27  0.059 0.072 191.549 119.023
 1  L Hamilton    McLaren-Mercedes  1’22.554  20  0.276 0.335 191.046 118.710
14  M Webber      Red Bull-Renault  1’22.615  21  0.337 0.410 190.905 118.623
17  K Nakajima    Williams-Toyota   1’22.619  25  0.341 0.414 190.896 118.617
 9  J Trulli      Toyota            1’22.705  17  0.427 0.519 190.697 118.494
 4  K Räikkönen   Ferrari           1’22.796  23  0.518 0.630 190.487 118.363
 3  F Massa       Ferrari           1’22.855  25  0.577 0.701 190.352 118.279
 7  F Alonso      Renault           1’23.001  28  0.723 0.879 190.017 118.071
22  J Button      Brawn-Mercedes    1’23.130  25  0.852 1.036 189.722 117.888
 5  R Kubica      BMW Sauber-BMW    1’23.146  24  0.868 1.055 189.686 117.865
 6  N Heidfeld    BMW Sauber-BMW    1’23.154  23  0.876 1.065 189.667 117.854
23  R Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes    1’23.209  24  0.931 1.132 189.542 117.776
10  T Glock       Toyota            1’23.234  30  0.956 1.162 189.485 117.741

15  S Vettel      Red Bull-Renault  1’23.293  25  1.015 1.234 189.351 117.657
21  G Fisichella  F India-Mercedes  1’23.484  20  1.206 1.466 188.918 117.388
 8  N Piquet      Renault           1’23.678  22  1.400 1.702 188.480 117.116
20  A Sutil       F India-Mercedes  1’23.845  18  1.567 1.905 188.104 116.883
12  S Buemi       T Rosso-Ferrari   1’23.998  37  1.720 2.090 187.762 116.670
11  J Alguersuari T Rosso-Ferrari   1’24.228  42  1.950 2.370 187.249 116.351

Weather: Air temp 26, Track temp 39, Humidity 43%, Wind 4.4 mps, Dry

Best in 2008: 1’20.981  Felipe Massa     Ferrari

Notes: During the first 30m only the two Toro Rosso drivers set any times. New boy, Jaimie
Alguersuari, did his first ever laps in an F1 car, and though starting off slowly, managed
to shave 10s off his best lap time by the end of the 90m. At just 19 years of age he could
become the youngest F1 starter on Sunday, but Sebastian Vettel took part in an F1 practice
session at a younger age.

Conditions were much warmer than at the last two GPs, but the strong wind made things a
bit
difficult at times.

–

Brian Lawrence
Brian_W_Lawre…@msn.com
Wantage, Oxfordshire, UK

G’day All,
I reckon we are in for a treat this afternoon. This qually will be the
hardest fought battle so far this season and the winner may well be
the bloke with the most fuel rather than the one on pole unless their
the same bloke. The KERS cars are almost bound to lead the first stint
so the race winner will be the bloke who puts in the fastest "in" lap
after the KERS cars pit.

Another scenario would be that a KERS car is quick enough to qually on
a shit load of fuel then the strategists will need to work overtime to
find clear air to ensure a pass in the pits. Either way it will be an
interesting "team" effort to win this race and the driver with the
best "in" laps is the man most likely …

What are your thoughts? Remember this is a high fuel track.

beers,
build