New F1 rules.

[SL3VIN]

So F1 is going through some new rules for the 09 season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTkVKPdyWs0
What do you guys think? Like it? or Hate it?
Personally I think the changes would make for more closer races, and I'm loving the use of slicks again. Should be a interesting season...

[Unoriginalusername]

looking forward to the new season

[b.rabbit]

Watched the video, but it was a little hard to follow and understand. However, the graphics was amazing.

Anyway, I'm glad that F1 is looking for ways to make racing more competitive now, and perhaps with these changes to the cars, it'll make teams think smarter in conserving their engines and whatnot. I'm all for it and I hope it works out for F1.

It was so boring a few years back when it was always M Schumacher winning everything.

[Unoriginalusername]

It was so boring a few years back when it was always M Schumacher winning everything.

if you are a ferrari fan those years were magical :)

[b.rabbit]

if you are a ferrari fan those years were magical :)

That's true..

[SL3VIN]

lol even with the new rules I'll doubt any other team other than Ferrari or Mclaren or Renault will win it. They can keep changing the rules but the teams with money always find a way to beat it.
Oh and on a side note Honda might make a run for the 09 season. i doubt they will do any good tho. The team will use Mercedes-Benz engines and its cars will be driven by the ex-Honda partnership of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.

[b.rabbit]

lol even with the new rules I'll doubt any other team other than Ferrari or Mclaren or Renault will win it. They can keep changing the rules but the teams with money always find a way to beat it.
Oh and on a side note Honda might make a run for the 09 season. i doubt they will do any good tho. The team will use Mercedes-Benz engines and its cars will be driven by the ex-Honda partnership of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.

Can't argue with that point either.

Weird that the new Honda team is called Brawn GP-Mercedes - at least that's what they're called on TSN.

Should be an interesting season to watch. Will Hamilton do well again?

[bluntman]

McLaren Mercedes is going to win...because they can do this:

http://www.kontraband.co.uk/videos/16478/Formula-Fun-Racing/#show

:D

[b.rabbit]

McLaren Mercedes is going to win...because they can do this:

http://www.kontraband.co.uk/videos/16478/Formula-Fun-Racing/#show

:D

Wow, that's pretty cool!! I've always wanted one of those F1 remote control cars!

[Thrizzl3]

hmm slimmer cars...this i gotta see




McLaren Mercedes is going to win...because they can do this:

http://www.kontraband.co.uk/videos/16478/Formula-Fun-Racing/#show

:D

wow thats soooooooooo cooooool :)

[bluntman]

Wow, that's pretty cool!! I've always wanted one of those F1 remote control cars!

1/18th size or full scale?

[Cardinal Fang]

I'm not convinced this is going to work any better than previous rule changes that were implemented to encourage overtaking. The tracks themselves have more to do with overtaking then the cars. The newer tracks are great, wide with plenty of passing. The older tracks are unforgiving. Try passing in Hungary (go kart track in my opinion), Monaco, Spa Belgium, Spain and Magny Cours in France to name a few.

1. Aerodynamics: The cars look out of proportion now. They all have snow plow shovels on the front.
2. Kers: Only two teams have tested with some degree of success. BMW and McLaren. Kers is not mandatory this year so I doubt more than three teams will use it. Yes you get more HP but you have additional weight.

[3GFX]

1. Aerodynamics: The cars look out of proportion now. They all have snow plow shovels on the front.
2. Kers: Only two teams have tested with some degree of success. BMW and McLaren. Kers is not mandatory this year so I doubt more than three teams will use it. Yes you get more HP but you have additional weight.


1. I definitly agree. But it reminds me of the proportions of the early 90's cars.

2. Yea um, Kers is just another item they'll take away in the future because its a competitive technological advantage.

[rktsci]

Weird that the new Honda team is called Brawn GP-Mercedes - at least that's what they're called on TSN.

Ross Brawn has purchased the team from Honda and has renamed it. They are running the chassis that Honda was developing for 2009 but are going to be using the Mercedes V8 and KERS.

As for the rules, the drivers have made comments saying that they can run closer to each other with revised aero rules. My only concern is how many of the new wider front wings will get torn off when running closer together. This is going be a big problem as the new front wings include a driver adjustable element that can be changed on demand. This is going to make nose cone changes much more difficult than in the past.

I really can't wait for the Australian GP in a few weeks time...right now everyone is a contender when the rules change this radically. If you all care to remember back to 98 when the narrow car rules came into effect and McLaren came from being a mid-pack team to a dominant one with Mika Hakkinen winning the first of back-to-back titles.

[SL3VIN]

F1 WINTER TESTING BARCELONA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEaCjaBmsgY&feature=haxa_popt02us01

[bhrm]

Watched the video, but it was a little hard to follow and understand. However, the graphics was amazing.

Anyway, I'm glad that F1 is looking for ways to make racing more competitive now, and perhaps with these changes to the cars, it'll make teams think smarter in conserving their engines and whatnot. I'm all for it and I hope it works out for F1.

It was so boring a few years back when it was always M Schumacher winning everything.

schumie is a douchebag.

[b.rabbit]

F1 WINTER TESTING BARCELONA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEaCjaBmsgY&feature=haxa_popt02us01

Lewis Hamilton..in last...

[b.rabbit]

Just read on TSN.ca about the new system to award the championship. Thoughts?

http://tsn.ca/auto_racing/story/?id=271540&lid=sublink05&lpos=headlines_main

MADRID - Formula One's championship will be decided by the number of race wins and not accumulated points.

Governing body FIA decided Tuesday that the current points system will remain in effect only to determine the driver's title in the case of a tie, with points also determining the order of the drivers who finish the season behind the overall champion.

FIA also approved further changes to cut costs in the face of the economic crisis, including a voluntary budget cap on teams.

Under the new scoring system, Ferrari's Felipe Massa would have won the 2008 championship ahead of Lewis Hamilton of McLaren. The Brazilian driver won six grand prix races to Hamilton's five, but the British racer took the title by one point, 98-97, after finishing fifth in the season-ending Brazilian GP.

Overall, the title winner would have been different on 13 occasions if the new proposal had been in place since the first championship in 1950.

The 10 F1 teams had been looking to change the points to a 12-9-7 scoring system for first through third place, from its current 10-9-8 allocation. But FIA rejected that proposal.

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone had initially suggested a medals system, with gold for the winner, silver for second and bronze for third.

The new formula does not affect the constructors' championship, which will continue to be decided by the usual points system.

FIA's World Motor Sports Council, at its meeting in Paris, also approved further cost-cutting measures.

"No one can say the situation will not deteriorate further in the coming months. If we wait and things get worse, it will be too late," FIA president Max Mosley said after FIA offered an option to teams to compete with cars built and operated "within a stringent cost cap."

A proposed cap of 30 million pounds (C$53.5 million) would cover expenditures of "any kind" and give such cars greater technical freedom. That would entail "a more aerodynamically efficient upper body, movable wings and an engine which is not subject to a rev limit or a development freeze."

Everything from drivers' and team principals' salaries to luxury jets would be included in the cap.

"From the grandstand or on television (the cars) won't look or sound any less `Formula One' than the current, ultra-expensive cars," Mosley said. "These rules will encourage clever engineering -- success will come to the teams with the best ideas, not only the teams with the most money."

Mosley said such a team could compete with giants like Ferrari and McLaren -- which are unlikely to take up the initiative -- since top engineers are always available.

Car weights will be published following Saturday's qualifying session and would rename tire grades for better clarity to spectators. Drivers must also be available for further autograph sessions and better media availability.

F1 teams will also be limited to eight one-day aerodynamic tests during the course of the season instead of a total ban on in-season testing, and allowed three one-day "young driver" tests featuring pilots who have not raced more than two GPs in the preceding 24 months.

The council, meeting before the start of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 29, also rubber-stamped Brawn GP's purchase of Honda.

[froggy]

I'm not convinced this is going to work any better than previous rule changes that were implemented to encourage overtaking. The tracks themselves have more to do with overtaking then the cars. The newer tracks are great, wide with plenty of passing. The older tracks are unforgiving. Try passing in Hungary (go kart track in my opinion), Monaco, Spa Belgium, Spain and Magny Cours in France to name a few.


agree, they should make it more interesting and traditional at the same time by going back to some of the original ( long tracks) at the nurburgring and at hockenhiem, and i'd love to see them use the full lemans course for the french gp that course is plenty wide.

[Wild Weasel]

I like any changes that put more onus on the drivers and less on technology to win races.

Sure, the cars are kinda goofy looking now, but who cares what they look like?

I started trying to watch F1 only recently... maybe 3 years ago? I was completely bored by the racing and only watched a few of their parades.

Then they took away traction and launch control and things got a whole lot more interesting. I was far more entertained. Some of the races were still boring, but hey... them's the breaks. At least some of the races were exciting.

Now, with reduced downforce and the KERS system, hopefully it will be even better. Despite the technology involved with KERS, my impression is that it's going to be similar to the "Cosworth Power-to-Pass" they had on Champ cars. Sure, it's a little gimmicky, but it's another tool that the driver has to strategize the racing and should add to the excitement.

I'm looking forward to seeing how things pan out.

[marvin24k]

Slick are back! Finally!

[thefish]

I approve of most of it. It makes sense to reel in the cars from fantasy land and make them more like actual production machines.

I am NOT liking the wimpiness of the new rear wings, though :(

[Wild Weasel]

I approve of most of it. It makes sense to reel in the cars from fantasy land and make them more like actual production machines.

I am NOT liking the wimpiness of the new rear wings, though :(

Wait... what??? More like actual production machines??? From what planet?? :chuckle

[shuller1458]

Wait... what??? More like actual production machines??? From what planet?? :chuckle

I don't know what planet F1 car are from, that they are PRODUCTION cars. But I would love to go and visit that planet. :hawt

[Zoom Zoom Boy]

I don't know what planet F1 car are from, that they are PRODUCTION cars. But I would love to go and visit that planet. :hawt

+1!!!!

I'm sure even if they were production cars, there would still be some :AH thinking his V-tech Civic with the coffee can as a muffler, is still faster than an F1 car. Seriously, my MS3 seems to be a magnet in attracting these MOFO's. What's up with that anyway...

[SL3VIN]

LMFAO!!!!! Button,Barrichello finish 1-2
There team barely gets put together and they finish 1-2....
merc engine honda body.... wow

[Wild Weasel]

It was a reasonably fun race to watch, too! So far so good, I guess. And if anyone didn't catch the news afterward, they penalized Trulli so Hamilton ended up with his podium finish.

The cars still look stupid with the little box kite wings on the back... but I suppose I'll get over it. :) Now if only they could get rid of that ridiculous "need to use two types of tires" rule...

[Cardinal Fang]

So much to see in this race. Overall I thought passing seemed to be easier to do in the race then in previous. Still hate the way the cars look.

On a side note I'm glad Vettal got a fine and demotion for his incident with Kubica. I was 50/50 on whether or not he was responsible but when he proceeded to lap around with a broken car that only had three wheels under the pace car he was being an ass. Turns out he was asked twice by the marshalls and his team to pull over and ignored them.