Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

[alfablue]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

Put this in the "I would love to see it happen because it would be close to my home but I'm not sure how good of a race it could be" file....


F1 to Race in "NYC" in 2012??

He's mentioned that desire before- he likes New York a whole lot better than Indiana.

But doesn't seem to realize that the gate at Indianappolis is a LOT bigger than anything you could pull in near New York. IMHO, you could fit in probably up to 100k for a New York race, whereas Indy is easy for 250k. And since no city will ever spend tax money on an F1 race, the best bang for the buck remains Indianappolis.

 

[MattS]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

He's mentioned that desire before- he likes New York a whole lot better than Indiana.

But doesn't seem to realize that the gate at Indianappolis is a LOT bigger than anything you could pull in near New York. IMHO, you could fit in probably up to 100k for a New York race, whereas Indy is easy for 250k. And since no city will ever spend tax money on an F1 race, the best bang for the buck remains Indianappolis.

I had heard rumors of this before but nothing this concrete from Bernie.

I tend to agree you about costs. Plus there is the added cost of a Paddock that would have to be built in NY. I would think more than 100k could fit in at a NYC race depending upon where it was held. The problem with Indy is it's location. Besides die hard F1 fans and local racing fans, it's tough to get the casual fan to go there for an F1 race. Just my opinion.

For example, I can get my wife to go along with me up to Montreal for the Canadian GP (thus making it much easier to spend the $$ on ticket. She's happy, I'm happy ), but there is no way in hell I can get her to go with me to Indy. "Why would I want to go to Indianapolis?" is her response to my proposal to that trip in the past. But a trip to Montreal is no problem. It's simply a more exciting city.


I think the best solution would be to put it back at Watkins Glen!

(About a 45 minutes from my home.)

 

[MattS]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

Great race in Melbourne yesterday. The early rain made for interesting early track conditions. Some pit strategy came into play, lots of overtaking, and once again mistakes by McLaren and Red Bull cost Hamilton and Vettel good race finishes.

Nice steady, smooth drive for Button. That was one of the most anonymous wins I have seen in a while. Who would have though he could nurse those soft tyres for almost all of the race?

Lots of story lines.....

Kubica with a great drive to get second. Very good 3 & 4 finish for Ferrari. McLaren oddly taking two completely different strategies with Button and Hamilton, with only one working. Red Bull with Vettel's wheel nut coming off and Weber getting too eager cost them a better finish. Schumi getting completely out classed by Rosberg. And of course the back markers still being back markers. Although HRT and Lotus did have one car each more or less finish (laps down but running).

 

[joecct]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

I think the best solution would be to put it back at Watkins Glen!

(About a 45 minutes from my home.)

Matt -- were you there when they burned the bus in the Bog?

 

[MattS]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

Matt -- were you there when they burned the bus in the Bog?

No, I am little bit too young for that. But my older brother and father were.

 

[Badger Abroad]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

Great race in Melbourne yesterday. The early rain made for interesting early track conditions. Some pit strategy came into play, lots of overtaking, and once again mistakes by McLaren and Red Bull cost Hamilton and Vettel good race finishes.

Nice steady, smooth drive for Button. That was one of the most anonymous wins I have seen in a while. Who would have though he could nurse those soft tyres for almost all of the race?

Lots of story lines.....

Kubica with a great drive to get second. Very good 3 & 4 finish for Ferrari. McLaren oddly taking two completely different strategies with Button and Hamilton, with only one working. Red Bull with Vettel's wheel nut coming off and Weber getting too eager cost them a better finish. Schumi getting completely out classed by Rosberg. And of course the back markers still being back markers. Although HRT and Lotus did have one car each more or less finish (laps down but running).

I didn't get to see all of the race, but the rain certainly did make it interesting. At the time I thought Button had gone to slicks too early, shows how much I know. A snippet from the McLaren team radio after Hamilton got caught behind Alonso was interesting. Let us say he was less than impressed with the strategy chosen for him.

Of course the failure of McLaren's strategy for Hamilton yet again shows the problems this year. He was way faster in the clear, but once he got right behind Alonso he was unable to pass. I assume that was due to the tires deteriorating quickly when he was in position to pass. With Button showing how long it is possible to go on soft tires, that may be the last time we see a 2 pit strategy this year.

 

[MattS]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

Of course the failure of McLaren's strategy for Hamilton yet again shows the problems this year. He was way faster in the clear, but once he got right behind Alonso he was unable to pass. I assume that was due to the tires deteriorating quickly when he was in position to pass. With Button showing how long it is possible to go on soft tires, that may be the last time we see a 2 pit strategy this year.

I think for Hamilton part of the problem was Alonso. Alonso's no slouch when it comes to blocking. Not exactly in Weber's class but good none the less. You might be correct that his tires went away too.

As for Button, I have read that he is considered one of the smoothest drivers out there. If anyone can nurse a set of tires it would be him. I agree, depending upon the circuit, 2 pits stops might be a thing of the past for this season. I guess it might depend too upon which tires Bridgestone brings. If they bring the softs and the super-softs it might be too tough to run half a race on the super-softs.

 

[Badger Abroad]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

I think for Hamilton part of the problem was Alonso. Alonso's no slouch when it comes to blocking. Not exactly in Weber's class but good none the less. You might be correct that his tires went away too.

As for Button, I have read that he is considered one of the smoothest drivers out there. If anyone can nurse a set of tires it would be him. I agree, depending upon the circuit, 2 pits stops might be a thing of the past for this season. I guess it might depend too upon which tires Bridgestone brings. If they bring the softs and the super-softs it might be too tough to run half a race on the super-softs.

I think you are correct to a certain extent on both counts, Alonso is extremely difficult to pass and Button is possibly the best at conserving tires. But on the Alonso count, Hamilton was catching him at around 2 seconds a lap, and if there was really that big a difference in pace it shouldn't matter how good the car in front is at blocking.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

F1: Well, I missed the F1 Q and race. I stayed til midnight both nights chatting about UW hockey and just couldn't make it any longer to watch.

IRL: What a great race to not see on Monday... Looks like Briscoe and Danica made plenty of passes to get to the front. That sucked.
Power=Power. That guy is awesome.

Apparently Penske is running some sort of ride height control device that was innovative/previously illegal, and now the rules were changed to allow it. I'm not sure why the IRL wouldn't just make it illegal, but good for my team. That's what great about racing, the constant drive to build a better mousetrap.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

In regards to Penske, apparently the ride height device is what I would call a 3 stage shock. It wasn't illegal; no one had tried it before, so they bolted them on and the IRL guys passed it during inspection and it was game on.

 

[MattS]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

Very cool. I love "simple" innovations like that. Nothing like being smarter than the other guys.

 

[alfablue]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

Outside of the first two finishers, yesterday's race in Malasia was pretty good.

The big news was from Saturday, where both McLaren and Ferrari really messed up in Q1- both thought the rain would partially let up during the session, and the reality was that it got worse. So Masa, Alonso, and Hamilton didn't get a fast enough time to get out of Q1- starting 21, 19, and 20 respectively. Button somehow got a decent lap that should have gotten him into Q2, but a spin beached his car, and he didn't turn another lap.

Schumi looked to be pretty quick, up until the very end- when Weber shocked the crowd on inters and took the pole.

The start might have been pretty ugly with all of those fast cars in the back, but it was remarkably clean. Vettle took Weber into the first corner, and the two of them just drove off into the distance.

Hamilton, Alonso, and Masa also got great starts, and were near 10th by the end of lap one. Then Hamilton put on a pretty impressive driving display, passing his way up the field quite nicely, where as Alonso found a shifting issue that would end his race all of two laps from finishing... and Masa could not figure a way to pass the Toro Rosso pair.

The end looked to be interesting, but once Hamilton caught Sutil, the Force India had the straight speed so that he could not be passed, and Masa was able to close on them after he dispatched with Button.

vettel
Weber
Rosberg
Kubica
Sutil
Hamilton
Masa
Button.

The race was all run dry, and Lewis showed that you could pass, but there were some set ups that would give you fits.

and Red Bull finally finished both cars. IMHO, they will take the constructors and probably the drivers championships. They are that fast.

 

[MattS]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

Another good F1 race IMO.

Watching Vettel and Webber run away with the race wasn't that great but the action behind them was good. I'm not a Hamilton fan but **** watching him come up through traffic was excellent to watch! The man has skill. Also watching Sutil have a good run was cool. And of course I was pleased with my man's Massa's finish considering where he started. Why he couldn't dispose of the STR cars quicker is beyond me though.

I've got to wonder if Ferrari has an engine design problem. Seems like a lot of their engines are failing.

I read this morning that Michelin is looking into coming back to F1 and supposedly one of their requirements is that there be more than one tyre supplier. I guess they want to prove that they make the best tyre!

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

I hate these opposite side of the earth races. I haven't seen either of the last 2.

 

[Badger Abroad]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

I hate these opposite side of the earth races. I haven't seen either of the last 2.

I missed a good portion of this one as well, although I don't have a very good excuse, because here in Europe it wasn't at such a bad time, and they do replay the races about 17 times.

From what I saw there was some definitely exciting racing for the lower points. I think a lot of this was due to fast cars (McLaren, Ferrari) with poor grid positions from the rainy qualifying. The rain also gave teams the chance to be more varied in their choice of starting tire, which lent an extra variable into the mix. For this reason, I wish they would scrap the rule about starting with the same tire as you qualified with.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

I missed a good portion of this one as well, although I don't have a very good excuse, because here in Europe it wasn't at such a bad time, and they do replay the races about 17 times.

From what I saw there was some definitely exciting racing for the lower points. I think a lot of this was due to fast cars (McLaren, Ferrari) with poor grid positions from the rainy qualifying. The rain also gave teams the chance to be more varied in their choice of starting tire, which lent an extra variable into the mix. For this reason, I wish they would scrap the rule about starting with the same tire as you qualified with.

On a totally unrelated note, I'm really interested to know the reason your living in Hungary.

 

[Badger Abroad]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

On a totally unrelated note, I'm really interested to know the reason your living in Hungary.

Originally the Peace Corps brought me over in the mid 90s, met my wife and settled down here afterwards.
I was never a car racing fan before coming here, but the sports selection on Hungarian TV in the 90s were soccer, team handball, water polo and F1, so I became a fan of all those to varying degrees.

 

[MattS]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

Originally the Peace Corps brought me over in the mid 90s, met my wife and settled down here afterwards.
I was never a car racing fan before coming here, but the sports selection on Hungarian TV in the 90s were soccer, team handball, water polo and F1, so I became a fan of all those to varying degrees.

Wow. Who knew there was team handball on TV.

 

[alfablue]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

Watching China qualifying right now- recorded it.

For whatever reason, Ferrari is struggling- I heard that they changed ANOTHER engine this weekend. They may run out this season, and have some serious penalties at the end of the season.

McLaren and Red Bull look good- (I'll post the top in a few min when they finish- just at 2:00 left in Q3).

Did anyone see Buemi's crash from yesterday? Both sides of the front suspension failed rather dramatically just as he laid on the brakes.


1: Vettel
2: Weber
3: Alonso
4: Rosberg
5: Button
6: Hamilton
7: Masa
8: Kubica
9: Schumacher
10: Sutil

Ok, so Ferrari and Mercedes have one car looking good.... But Red Bull- what can you say.

 

[alfablue]

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2010...He's baaack...He's gone...

That was a fun race to watch from China. Sorta, kinda, almost and sometimes wet. Made for some iteresting strategies, and some really good wheel to wheel racing- passing, close racing, out braking, etc. Super, super fun.

Button
Hamilton
Rosberg
Alonso


The weather in Long Beach looks awesome, and that turn one closeness between Hunter-Raey and Wilson was really cool. Go RYAN!!