F1 2009 Season

[Rockposer]

The BBC's coverage of Formula 1 will not be available in high definition at launch, it has been revealed.

 

Director of BBC Sport Roger Mosey wrote on the BBC Sport Editors' blog that the corporation's F1 coverage "won't yet be available in HD" but added that "we'd very much like it to be".

 

Standard definition coverage of the 2009 season will kick off on BBC One with the Melbourne race on March 29. Mosey said that all qualifying and races will air live and uninterrupted on the channel with additional content, such as practices, made available online and via the red button.

 

:crying:

[phaffas]

O well... i dont think i have HD anyway....so doesnt bother me one bit.

 

2008 was an appalling year for F1 on Aussie TV.......worst coverage ever!!! Always hours behind, always full of hundreds of ads, always less important to the tv station then reality tv, and the biggest moron ever adding his comments in between ITV's and the ads...Cameron McConville... WHO? a nobody who is crap racer, and knows nothing about F1.

 

Who is on BBC commentating team anyway? Martin got a job there didnt he? What about James? Did i read that Eddie Jordan is on the BBC team as well? and Ted the pitlane guy? I really hope that idiot girl from ITV doesnt get a job!!!

[phaffas]

Glad you started this thread though. You started one last year which we forgot about. Lets keep this one going.

 

 

Personally im interested how all the launches go, as honestly the cars, such as the Sauber, in test bodywork for 2009 are plain UGLY!! Im hoping that some of the teams create some nicer looking interesting cars.

 

Plus also hoping that Max Mosley and Bernie die in a Nazi related bondage session... SOON!

[Rockposer]

It's not confirmed but it looks like the following presenters -

Jonathan Legard, Martin Brundle, David Coulthard, Jake Humphrey, Eddie Jordan and Lee McKenzie.

 

This is the official 2009 F1 calendar.

 

Rnd Date Event Circuit

1 27-29 March 2009 Australian Grand Prix Albert Park, Mebourne

2 3-5 April 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix Sepang International Circuit

3 17-19 April 2009 Chinese Grand Prix Shanghai International Circuit

4 24-26 April 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir

5 8-10 May 2009 Spanish Grand Prix Montmelo, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona

6 21-24 May 2009 Monaco Grand Prix Monte-Carlo

7 5-7 June 2009 Turkish Grand Prix Istanbul Park

8 19-21 June 2009 British Grand Prix Silverstone

9 10-12 July 2009 German Grand Prix Nürburgring

10 24-26 July 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring

11 21-23 August 2009 European Grand Prix Valencia Street Circuit

12 28-30 August 2009 Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps

13 11-13 September 2009 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale Monza

14 25-27 September 2009 Singapore Grand Prix Singapore Street Circuit (night race)

15 2-4 October 2009 Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka

16 16-18 October 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, Interlagos, Sao Paulo

17 30 October - 1 November 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Yas Island

 

The French and Canadian rounds have been cancelled.

[phaffas]

It's not confirmed but it looks like the following presenters -

Jonathan Legard, Martin Brundle, David Coulthard, Jake Humphrey, Eddie Jordan and Lee McKenzie.

 

This is the official 2009 F1 calendar.

 

Rnd Date Event Circuit

1 27-29 March 2009 Australian Grand Prix Albert Park, Mebourne

2 3-5 April 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix Sepang International Circuit

3 17-19 April 2009 Chinese Grand Prix Shanghai International Circuit

4 24-26 April 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir

5 8-10 May 2009 Spanish Grand Prix Montmelo, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona

6 21-24 May 2009 Monaco Grand Prix Monte-Carlo

7 5-7 June 2009 Turkish Grand Prix Istanbul Park

8 19-21 June 2009 British Grand Prix Silverstone

9 10-12 July 2009 German Grand Prix Nürburgring

10 24-26 July 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring

11 21-23 August 2009 European Grand Prix Valencia Street Circuit

12 28-30 August 2009 Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps

13 11-13 September 2009 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale Monza

14 25-27 September 2009 Singapore Grand Prix Singapore Street Circuit (night race)

15 2-4 October 2009 Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka

16 16-18 October 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, Interlagos, Sao Paulo

17 30 October - 1 November 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Yas Island

 

The French and Canadian rounds have been cancelled.

 

Jonathan Legard, Jake Humphrey, Lee McKenzie.

 

Who are these people??

 

Where are Ted and James Allen now? James was a good commentator. No Murray Walker, but still good.

[Stefan]

Am I the only one who find Hamilton to be full of himself . Don't get me wrong, he's a great driver but I just can't stand his persona. I guess I must hate someone in F1 since the mother-of-all-hate-objects, Schumi, quit.

 

Remember those epic battles (post-Senna):

 

Hill vs Schumi

Häkkinen vs Schumi

 

Needless to say I was cheering for the H's

 

Hamilton's championship last year came a little bit easy and with a string of luck in the last race. I would have given the championship to Massa anyday. Compared to Kimi's championship the year before it really pales in comparison. Kimi drove like a true champion in the latter part of his championship year, sadly he was really struggling last season. If Kimi & Ferrari glues together this season there will be no stopping him for a second championship. Hamilton can stick the McLaren in his ass!

 

Bring back Häkkinen & Schumi There was always true and intense racing involved and as already stated in the press: Häkkinen was the only driver he respected. And rightly so!

[phaffas]

I guess I must hate someone in F1 since the mother-of-all-hate-objects, Schumi, quit.

 

Remember those epic battles (post-Senna):

 

Hill vs Schumi

Häkkinen vs Schumi

 

Needless to say I was cheering for the H's

 

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

[phaffas]

Am I the only one who find Hamilton to be full of himself . Don't get me wrong, he's a great driver but I just can't stand his persona. I guess I must hate someone in F1 since the mother-of-all-hate-objects, Schumi, quit.

 

Remember those epic battles (post-Senna):

 

Hill vs Schumi

Häkkinen vs Schumi

 

Needless to say I was cheering for the H's

 

Hamilton's championship last year came a little bit easy and with a string of luck in the last race. I would have given the championship to Massa anyday. Compared to Kimi's championship the year before it really pales in comparison. Kimi drove like a true champion in the latter part of his championship year, sadly he was really struggling last season. If Kimi & Ferrari glues together this season there will be no stopping him for a second championship. Hamilton can stick the McLaren in his ass!

 

Bring back Häkkinen & Schumi There was always true and intense racing involved and as already stated in the press: Häkkinen was the only driver he respected. And rightly so!

 

Unfortunately cant agree with the rest.

Has Hamilton got a big head? Hell yes! Do i prefer him over other drivers? no. but i do like him. I dont see how hes any different to nhead size of Kimi, or Massa, or Alonso, etc etc...

 

The last 2 seasons i dont think were dominated by anyone. It could easily have gone to Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, Raikkonen, and Kubica ,,,, both champions were worthy, however so much luck was involved!

[Rockposer]

Anyone who watched the last race of the season would know how it went down to the last corner.

 

Me, my son & missus were jumping up and down shouting at the tv

[Stefan]

Am I the only one who find Hamilton to be full of himself . Don't get me wrong, he's a great driver but I just can't stand his persona. I guess I must hate someone in F1 since the mother-of-all-hate-objects, Schumi, quit.

 

Remember those epic battles (post-Senna):

 

Hill vs Schumi

Häkkinen vs Schumi

 

Needless to say I was cheering for the H's

 

Hamilton's championship last year came a little bit easy and with a string of luck in the last race. I would have given the championship to Massa anyday. Compared to Kimi's championship the year before it really pales in comparison. Kimi drove like a true champion in the latter part of his championship year, sadly he was really struggling last season. If Kimi & Ferrari glues together this season there will be no stopping him for a second championship. Hamilton can stick the McLaren in his ass!

 

Bring back Häkkinen & Schumi There was always true and intense racing involved and as already stated in the press: Häkkinen was the only driver he respected. And rightly so!

 

Unfortunately cant agree with the rest.

Has Hamilton got a big head? Hell yes! Do i prefer him over other drivers? no. but i do like him. I dont see how hes any different to nhead size of Kimi, or Massa, or Alonso, etc etc...

 

The last 2 seasons i dont think were dominated by anyone. It could easily have gone to Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, Raikkonen, and Kubica ,,,, both champions were worthy, however so much luck was involved!

 

Yeah. Right.

[Rockposer]

Ferrari will be the first team to launch its car for the 2009 season.

 

The constructors' champion will unveil its latest F1 challenger at its Italian HQ at Maranello on 12 January.

 

Felipe Massa, who lost the 2008 crown to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton by a single point, will get behind the wheel on the Fiorano track later that day.

 

McLaren unveil their car on 16 January, a day after Toyota launch their new model, with Renault, Williams and BMW Sauber unveiling the following week.

 

Red Bull announced on Monday that their car will be launched much later than many other leading teams, on 9 February.

 

All cars must comply to new 2009 regulations which include aerodynamic modifications where the front wing will be lowered and widened and the rear wing become taller and narrower.

 

 

Slick, untreaded, tyres will also be reintroduced and teams have the option of employing a kinetic energy recovery system (Kers) to boost their car's performance.

 

When Ferrari present their 2009 car in Maranello next week it will not meet race specifications for the opening Grand Prix in Australia on 29 March.

 

The Italian marque will test the car over the next couple of months and further improvements will be made in time for the Melbourne race.

[Captain Howdy]

James was a good commentator. No Murray Walker, but still good.

We must be listening to a different guy, as I, and a good percentage of the UK audience could not stand the man, and are delighted to see the back of him.

[Rockposer]

Flavio Briatore and Fernando Alonso have both paid tribute to Ron Dennis after the McLaren team boss announced last week that he would step down from his role at the head of the Formula 1 team.

 

Dennis is to hand the team principal position to current CEO Martin Whitmarsh on 1 March, and will move to a wider role within the McLaren Group.

 

Renault team boss Briatore admitted that he had crossed swords with Dennis on occasion, but admired his achievements.

 

"I have great respect for what Ron Dennis has done in Formula 1, honestly," said Briatore.

 

"Ninety percent of the time we don’t agree, we have a different view about Formula 1 – but I respect completely what Ron Dennis has done in the last 20 years in Formula 1.

 

"He is one of the great team owners and he built up an incredible company.

 

"You don’t need to be friends with him [to have a] lot of respect for what he has done."

[phaffas]

Flavio Briatore and Fernando Alonso have both paid tribute to Ron Dennis after the McLaren team boss announced last week that he would step down from his role at the head of the Formula 1 team.

 

Dennis is to hand the team principal position to current CEO Martin Whitmarsh on 1 March, and will move to a wider role within the McLaren Group.

 

Renault team boss Briatore admitted that he had crossed swords with Dennis on occasion, but admired his achievements.

 

"I have great respect for what Ron Dennis has done in Formula 1, honestly," said Briatore.

 

"Ninety percent of the time we don’t agree, we have a different view about Formula 1 – but I respect completely what Ron Dennis has done in the last 20 years in Formula 1.

 

"He is one of the great team owners and he built up an incredible company.

 

"You don’t need to be friends with him [to have a] lot of respect for what he has done."

 

Ron is a great man. Flav is a failed fat porn star.

[Rockposer]

Flavio Briatore and Fernando Alonso have both paid tribute to Ron Dennis after the McLaren team boss announced last week that he would step down from his role at the head of the Formula 1 team.

 

Dennis is to hand the team principal position to current CEO Martin Whitmarsh on 1 March, and will move to a wider role within the McLaren Group.

 

Renault team boss Briatore admitted that he had crossed swords with Dennis on occasion, but admired his achievements.

 

"I have great respect for what Ron Dennis has done in Formula 1, honestly," said Briatore.

 

"Ninety percent of the time we don’t agree, we have a different view about Formula 1 – but I respect completely what Ron Dennis has done in the last 20 years in Formula 1.

 

"He is one of the great team owners and he built up an incredible company.

 

"You don’t need to be friends with him [to have a] lot of respect for what he has done."

 

Ron is a great man. Flav is a failed fat porn star.

 

hahahahahahaha

[Rockposer]

The 2009 spec cars

 

Ferrari

 

 

 

BMW Sauber

 

 

Renault

 

 

Williams

 

 

Toyota

 

 

McLaren

 

[phaffas]

The 2009 spec cars

 

Ferrari

 

 

 

BMW Sauber

 

 

Renault

 

 

Williams

 

 

Toyota

 

 

McLaren

 

 

overall im not convinced on the designs of the new cars, to me theyre ugly... i was hoping with the new rules they might get a little nicer.

[blindjester]

I am probably the only person in NC who has ever watched a F1 race. This being the home of NASCAR I am in a minority. I used to love F1 racing. Back in the 90's it was awesome. Senna, Mansel, and Hill all dominated my Sunday morning. The best day was the day of the Indy 500 and the World 600, because for years F1 raced at Monaco that day. What an awesome day of racing. But to me racing used to be great personalities (like them or not) behind the wheel of fast cars, most of the time skill or fortune won. Now in all racing it is corporate puppets behind the wheel of pretty much the same car. Owner with the most money wins. My interest stopped about 7 or 8 years ago for F1, 5 or 6 for Indy and last year for Nascar. I really do miss great racing on all fronts but that is probably no more. I still catch part of a race now and again but I haven't watched a whole race in any format in years.

[Rockposer]

I do love the way Americans bang on about Indycart being all American when all of the cars are built in the UK

[Rockposer]

The former Honda team have been saved and will race in Formula One in 2009, according to chief executive Nick Fry.

 

Honda pulled out of F1 in December as a result of the global financial crisis, leaving the British-based outfit to search desperately for a buyer.

 

But Fry said the team had survived thanks to recent cost reductions in F1.

 

"All the teams and their support have helped Honda survive. [Team principal] Ross [brawn] and I and our 700 employees thank them," he said.

 

Fry would reveal no further details, saying only that there would be more news "very soon".

 

He was speaking after a meeting of the F1 teams' association Fota, which announced on Thursday its proposals for the future of F1.

 

"Our team will benefit from Fota," said Fry, who attended the meeting with Brawn.

 

"The cost reductions will help us over the next two to three years. But equally important is the support we've received from the other teams."

Barrichello has been linked with a seat at the saved Honda team

 

The team, whose new name is not yet known, are expected to run their new car for the first time at Silverstone on Friday.

 

It is unclear who the new owners would be or what the team will be called but speculation has focused on a buy-out led by the current management of Fry and Brawn.

 

BBC Sport has learned that Englishman Jenson Button will be one of the drivers.

 

The second seat is between Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello and his fellow countryman and F1 novice Bruno Senna, the nephew of three-time world champion Ayrton Senna.

 

There have been widespread reports this week that Barrichello has won the drive, but a source close to Senna told BBC Sport that his management was still in negotiations with the team.

 

 

The car will be fitted with a Mercedes engine.

 

Even if the team make it to the final pre-season test in Barcelona in mid-March, they still face an uphill struggle to be competitive at the start of the season.

 

At the time of Honda's withdrawal, Brawn expressed his belief that the car could run in the top three in 2009, despite the team's poor form in the last two years.

 

But the recent uncertainty will have affected development effort and they have lost running time to their rivals, most of whom have completed at least two full four-day tests already.

[Rockposer]

The BBC has put together a top-notch team to guide you through the 2009 Formula One season.

 

Jake Humphrey presents our TV coverage, alongside pundits 13-time Grand Prix winner David Coulthard and former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan.

 

Commentary will come from Jonathan Legard and award-winning broadcaster Martin Brundle.

 

BBC's F1 team

[Captain Howdy]

The new rules that the FIA are enforcing with regards to the champion being the driver who wins most races, regardless of points, is bloody ridiculous.

 

FOTA said that it would be a good idea to just have a bigger points gap between first and second (like they used to have).

The fans said that it would be a good idea to just have a bigger points gap between first and second (like they used to have).

Bernie said it should be medals (which nobody but Bernie liked).

So the FIA decides to ignore FOTA and the fans and use a variation on Bernies scheme (which nobody but Bernie liked).

 

From what I have read so far, most fans dislike it, most current drivers dislike it and most old school drivers dislike it.

 

Alonso, Webber, Hamilton and Button have all said that they dont like it, as has former champion, Michael Schumacher.

 

Rules like this are not going to make for better racing, and are not going to bring in new fans because it will be too bloody confusing.

 

I think the FIA and Bernie have forgotten that this is sposed to be a sport for fans to enjoy, and just want to make it the Max & Bernie show.

 

I will be glad when those two piss off!

[Rockposer]

The new rules that the FIA are enforcing with regards to the champion being the driver who wins most races, regardless of points, is bloody ridiculous.

 

FOTA said that it would be a good idea to just have a bigger points gap between first and second (like they used to have).

The fans said that it would be a good idea to just have a bigger points gap between first and second (like they used to have).

Bernie said it should be medals (which nobody but Bernie liked).

So the FIA decides to ignore FOTA and the fans and use a variation on Bernies scheme (which nobody but Bernie liked).

 

From what I have read so far, most fans dislike it, most current drivers dislike it and most old school drivers dislike it.

 

Alonso, Webber, Hamilton and Button have all said that they dont like it, as has former champion, Michael Schumacher.

 

Rules like this are not going to make for better racing, and are not going to bring in new fans because it will be too bloody confusing.

 

I think the FIA and Bernie have forgotten that this is sposed to be a sport for fans to enjoy, and just want to make it the Max & Bernie show.

 

I will be glad when those two piss off!

 

Update - this has now been put back until next season.

 

The 2009 season will maintain the existing most points rule.

[Captain Howdy]

Its quite laughable that Mosely is saying that he thought all the teams had agreed the rule.

The man is sposed to be a trained lawyer, yet he doesnt even bother checking things out before he pushes one of Bernies rules through, then does an about face and pretends he didnt know the teams hadnt agreed it.

 

Quite frankly, by saying he thought they all agreed, shows how incompetent he is as leader of the FIA, especially as everyone knew that FOTA had been pushing for the 4 point gap between 1st and 2nd!

 

I think they tried to sneak this in underneath the budget cap, which they knew would piss off the bigger teams, and hoped the teams would be too busy moaning about that, than moan about the "medals" system!

 

Now obviously, the big argument has been that Massa would have won the title last year, which is true, but he would have also won the title under the old points system, where there was a bigger points gap between 1st and 2nd.

The real losers under this new "winner takes all" scheme, regardless of how many points they score, is that a guy like Kubica would never have been in with a shot of the title last year.

Right up to the end of the season last year, there were 3 people in contention, which was a lot of excitement for people (just like 1999 when Frentzen was in with a shot), but under the new rules, only 2 people would have been in with a shot.

 

The main problem with this new system, is that if someone gets the jump on everyone early in the season, then thats it, game over.

 

Just imagine if the same driver wins the first 6 or 7 races of the season, then its pretty much already sewn up, and nobody is gonna bother pushing after that.

[Rockposer]

With a week to go it might all change again