Bizzare grid order @ Spa Francorchamps

[Qr25vet]

yup thats right...Fisichella is in POLE position for force india!!! splendid job and I hope that he wins as he deserves it after all the abd luck that hes been thru the years....same goes for BMW

[Redplanet]

Once again, the joker badoer is right at the back. Ferrari......

 

Bro Jonbummer, kinda missed your updates.....

[Rjmsfire]

Very good to see a mixed up starting grid that is not due to rainy qualifying. It's a healthy sign that more teams are competitive and not always the usual 2 teams getting all the podiums. I will be cheering for a Fisichella win but I don't think it'll happen. He qualified with a lighter fuel load, will probably end up 4th or 5th at the chequered flag. But that will still be massive for points-starved Force India.

 

Poor Badoer, I feel sorry for him. I don't think he's innately slow, just that the testing ban meant that he could not get into the groove with the car properly before having to race it. Anybody who can drive a F1 car close to race pace is not slow. They are amongst the best drivers out there. After all, he wouldn't be retained as a Ferrari F1 test driver for more than 10 years if he was inept. Would Michael Schumacher, without having tested the 2009 car as well, have been faster? Very likely. But then he is a 7 time champion with most of the F1 records, so it would have been too much to expect Badoer to perform at the legend's level.

[Ithunk]

Very good to see a mixed up starting grid that is not due to rainy qualifying. It's a healthy sign that more teams are competitive and not always the usual 2 teams getting all the podiums. I will be cheering for a Fisichella win but I don't think it'll happen. He qualified with a lighter fuel load, will probably end up 4th or 5th at the chequered flag. But that will still be massive for points-starved Force India.

 

Poor Badoer, I feel sorry for him. I don't think he's innately slow, just that the testing ban meant that he could not get into the groove with the car properly before having to race it. Anybody who can drive a F1 car close to race pace is not slow. They are amongst the best drivers out there. After all, he wouldn't be retained as a Ferrari F1 test driver for more than 10 years if he was inept. Would Michael Schumacher, without having tested the 2009 car as well, have been faster? Very likely. But then he is a 7 time champion with most of the F1 records, so it would have been too much to expect Badoer to perform at the legend's level.

 

yup in formula 1 its really a true test of the drivers skill.....a good driver can make a normal car fast....and a fast car even faster...

Edited August 30, 2009 by Ithunk

[Ithunk]

but its not all about speed.....its also about handling an control.....

[Blueray]

yes, today's grid is very interesting indeed.

 

let's see how the various team's strategy play out over the course of the race.

[Rjmsfire]

yup in formula 1 its really a true test of the drivers skill.....a good driver can make a normal car fast....and a fast car even faster...

 

You are mostly right, but I'll have to disagree somewhat. Modern F1 cars are indeed a big test of driver's skill, but they have various aids like semi-automatic paddle shift gearboxes to make driving them easier. Rookies can get on the pace pretty quickly, which was not the case in the 80s. That time they had insanely powerful turbo cars, manual gearboxes and little, if any, electronic driver aids. So I think turbo F1 cars of the 80s were the ultimate test of driving skills, especially around Monaco.

[Jonbummer]

this will be an interesting race no doubt with the starting grid looking like this:

with their respective fuel loads:

 

1. FISICHELLA Force India 648

2. TRULLI Toyota 656.5

3. HEIDFELD BMW 655

4. BARRICHELLO Brawn 644.5

5. KUBICA BMW 649

6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 655

7. GLOCK Toyota 648.5

8. VETTEL Red Bull 662.5

9. WEBBER Red Bull 658

10. ROSBERG Williams 670

 

11. SUTIL Force India 678.5

12. HAMILTON McLaren 693.5

13. ALONSO Renault 684.4

14. BUTTON Brawn 694.2

15. KOVALAINEN McLaren 697

16. BUEMI Toro Rosso 685

17. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso 704.5

18. NAKAJIMA Williams 706.1

19. GROSJEAN Renault 704.7

20. BADOER Ferrari 691.5

 

what is great abt Fisi pole position is that even at fuel corrected, he will be

starting at fourth.

i reckon Hamilton will sing/dance/ perform for free to start today at 4th

rather than 12th !!

 

also well done to Trulli, Kimi, and the 2 BMW drivers. they seems to get their

car working better than others

this is interesting to me that these few drivers finding their best here.

did the team actually found something more from previous races or did the drivers

step up a gear or 2 or 3 or....

let me just lay the fact out and u can be the judge yourself

* Trulli is negotiating a new contract

* Kimi is likely to be looking for a new drive

* Nick, Robert are obviously looking for drivers too since BMW said Auf Wiedersehen

to F1 for 2010

 

back to the race today. 44 laps of the 7km track with the weather today been fair

of Min 7C and Max 19C shld spell trouble for the Brawn cars, and will see the Red Bulls

move up the grid positions in the first few laps.

as long as Webber and Vettel do not tangle with each other, they will finished higher up

than where they are starting the race from

 

here, i still dun understand why Brawn had not solve its issue of 'cold feet'

which is unable to get heat into tyres in cool conditions. perhaps the lack of

testing is preventing them from doing so. we just have to assume they are

doing their best, but i will hate to see Button challenge for the championship

just wither this way.

 

my pick for the likely winner will be Kimi, the winner here in 2004, 2005, and 2007.

starting from the third row in 6th equipped with KERS, he will jump a few cars once

the five red lights go off. the Iceman just have the ability the go faster in high speed

track.

 

the toyota shld and must get a podium today, but i afraid the winner spot is not for

their taking today. the drivers they have just dun seems to be tough enough to want to win.

having said that, i hope some decent results will come their way soon enough

cos who knows wat the Japan HQ decides to do if the world economy do not recover

soon enough

 

the BMWs are looking good (lap times not the physical F1 cars which still looks oddy with its

high nose design). will they have the consistent race pace to challenge all the way today?

will the uncertainty of the team disrupt their mentality?

i hope they will get some good results soon... but they will only means BMW will drive

up their asking fee only more to any potential buyers of the team

thus, for the greater good, i hope they will only do ok today.

 

oh, dun forget a certain Sutil. if his car is working like his team mate, with a heavier fuel load

to start the race with, it may come to him after the 1st put stop

that's the same for Nico.

 

the best for Alonso, and Lewis are to get into the points i think.

 

* bro RedPlanet, thanks for your kind comments

 

i missed writing the F1 last week as i was preparing for my kart race too

then i hurt my ribs badly. along with some silly matters happened at the track

which basically rendered me 'moodless' to do any writing.

also, with the new kart track starting soon at the Arena Country Club, i'm getting

some emails and calls for some who like to get into karting. so that got me busy too.

Edited August 30, 2009 by Jonbummer

[Stary]

At least Badoer never crash the car....

 

His initials on his cap is L.Bad

 

I really suggest he change his initials. With that kind of initials on his cap, how not to be bad?

[Jonbummer]

hate to be critical of Luca

but seeing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGljmk-Axh8

again and again

 

just have to say that he's really a bad choice in a Ferrari now

 

having overtaken Vettel, i think, for his quick lap he just overcooked

at the entrance of the right hander

 

understand that there's some huge pressure for him to perform

but that amount of pressure comes with the job for everyone of

them on the grid

Ferrari had better find someone else who will not crack under it, and

driver reasonably fast soon

[Felipe]

frankly, all the sacked drivers this year will still do better than him. strange why ferrari won't even consider them

[TandemAssassin]

also, with the new kart track starting soon at the Arena Country Club, i'm getting

some emails and calls for some who like to get into karting. so that got me busy too.

 

Hey bro, do PM me the details of the Arena track. Will be interested to pop by and kart when it is up.

[Shull]

wah..today F1 damn happening..not even halfway into first lap..4 cars crashed out and yellow flag...

[Ithunk]

kimi won sia as relaxed as ever....even on the podium

[Jonbummer]

wat a race right from the 1st corners!

 

Kimi done it again! some guys simply just have the feel for the track

that they loved.

just a strange observation that comes to my mind when he was standing on the

top step....

 

that Kimi performs better when Massa is away

 

but the highlight must be the 2nd place Fisi !

 

1. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari 44 1h23m50.995

2. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Force India-Mercedes 44 0.939

3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 44 3.875

4. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber 44 9.966

5. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 44 11.276

6. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 44 32.763

7. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes 44 35.461

8. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 44 36.208

 

9. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 44 36.959

10. Timo Glock Germany Toyota 44 41.490

11. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 44 42.636

12. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 44 46.106

13. Kazuki Nakajima Japan Williams-Toyota 44 54.241

14. Luca Badoer Italy Ferrari 44 1m38.177

 

R Fernando Alonso Spain Renault 26 Damage

R Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 21

R Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes 0 Accident

R Romain Grosjean France Renault 0 Accident

R Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 0 Accident

R Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 Accident

 

[Ithunk]

lol....he wanna prove tt its the driver not the car

[Redplanet]

At least Badoer never crash the car....

 

His initials on his cap is L.Bad

 

I really suggest he change his initials. With that kind of initials on his cap, how not to be bad?

 

 

Yeah, he needs to learn some fengshui.

[Redplanet]

wah..today F1 damn happening..not even halfway into first lap..4 cars crashed out and yellow flag...

 

Yup, one of the most entertaining this season....