Formula One: Catalunya

by: ek hornbeck

Sun May 13, 2012 at 06:12:51 AM EST

Or you could call it the courage of his convictions.

Does it sound early to you?  I actually kind of hate the European starts more because I have to get up instead of going to bed late and it interrupts my nightmares about people behaving in un-professional manners.

Like you've never had one.

Any who today's grid is full of surprises and it's likely to end the same way because Circuit de Catalunya is not renowned for passing opportunity which is good for Lewis except for Team McLaren's history of abject failure when in positions of advantage.

Remind you of anybody?

Oh man, more coffee- let's bury the lede not praise it.  Hamilton starts from the back because of a fueling violation.

Formula One: Hamilton stripped of pole for Spanish Grand Prix
Daily Times, A New Voice For A New Pakistan
Sunday, May 13, 2012

"A team member had put an insufficient quantity of fuel into the car thereby resulting in the car having to be stopped on the circuit in order to be able to provide the required amount for sampling purposes," a statement said. "As the amount of fuel put into the car is under the complete control of the competitor the stewards cannot accept this as a case of force majeure. "The stewards determined this is a breach of article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One technical regulations and the competitor is accordingly excluded from the results of the qualifying session," the FIA statement read. "The competitor is however allowed to start the race from the back of the grid." No driver has won in 21 years of the Spanish Grand Prix being held in Barcelona from lower than third place on the grid. A McLaren spokesman said the team accepted "the stewards did not agree with our interpretation of force majeure. Our aim is now to maximise the points we can score tomorrow."

Force Majeure.

• Formula One: Catalunya Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Scrambled tables below-

Formula One: Catalunya Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat May 12, 2012 at 06:13:31 AM EST

Personally I think that attitude means your team is under-organized or capitalized or both.  If you don't have the chance to react to innovation you might as well write off your season and if you choose not to...

Well, you're the Washington Generals now aren't you?

Teams and drivers are closely matched after 20% of the season with the biggest 'surprises' being Scuderia Marlboro (they suck and have a slow car too, the surprise is that they are doing as well as they are) and Lotus (which shouldn't really surprise anyone since they're the Renault team renamed).  Mercedes (Brawn) is incredibly unhappy with the new Concorde which leaves them out of the $50 Million bribe club (Red Bull, McLaren, Marlboro) and has scheduled a vote on their participation next year even though they're showing improvement.

Schumacher is also upset with Pirelli, complaining that so much attention is going into tire wear that that it's like "driving on raw eggs" and there's no opportunity to test the other aspects of the cars or the aggressiveness of the drivers.  This week we are using Hards and Softs with a 1.3 second per lap differential between them and no indication yet how long they will last on track.

After the Bahrain avalanche I suppose any amount of news would seem slight and I'll try to delve a little deeper for the race tomorrow, but they're still fussing with setups in Practice and we won't actually know anything until after Qualifying.

Repeat tonight at 1 am.  The actual race is a 7:30 am start tomorrow on Speed with a repeat at noon Monday.  GP2 starts at 6 am.

• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast
• Interactive Track
• History

Surprises below.

Formula One 2012: Bahrain

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Apr 22, 2012 at 05:15:07 AM EST

• Formula One 2012: Shanghai
• Formula One 2012: Bahrain Qualifying

Here are the latest developments-

Bahrain analysis: how Formula One plan may have backfired for Gulf kingdom's ruling family
By Rosamund De Sybel in Manama and Adrian Blomfield, The Telegraph
8:55PM BST 21 Apr 2012

(B)y persuading the sport's governing authority to stage the race, cancelled last year, the ruling family sought to show that the recent upheaval was over. Officials came up with the slogan "UniF1ed" had hoped that Bahrain's showcase event would deflate the Shia street protests that had campaigned so vocally for its cancellation.

Yet the opposite seems to have happened, with the questionable nature of the regime's triumph exposed by the thousands of demonstrators who gathered on Friday and Saturday, the first two of three "days of rage", to denounce the ruling family.

Protest leaders had feared that the roar of the racing cars' engines would drown out their grievances. If anything, however, the race has rejuvenated their flagging campaign.
...
Friday's protests were among the largest in recent months. Had the race been cancelled, the turnout may well have been far smaller.

Despite the regime's efforts to ban non-sports journalists -- reporters from Sky News, The Financial Times and Reuters, among others, were denied entry into Bahrain -- the race has also refocused international attention on the Gulf Kingdom.

Bahrain's Formula One Gala Not Going as Planned
By SOUAD MEKHENNET and RICK GLADSTONE, The New York Times
Published: April 20, 2012

Instead, the opposite seems to be happening. While Bahraini officials vow that the Grand Prix will be held as planned on Sunday, Shiite opposition groups and rights organizations have denounced the race as a public relations stunt that has sought to mask what they call the monarchy's failures to address causes of political discontent here.
...
"It's definitely backfired on them," Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa Division at Human Rights Watch in New York, said in a telephone interview. "It seems like their main focus is managing this as a P.R. exercise, but it's impossible to repress the reality, which is that there is a great simmering discontent."
...
In a more aggressive punctuation of the point, the activist group Anonymous hacked the official Formula One Web site for a few hours on Friday. Visitors to the site encountered a message castigating Bahrain's government and the racing organization and urging people to oppose the race. "The Formula One racing authority was well aware of the Human Rights situation in Bahrain and still chose to contribute to the regime's oppression of civilians and will be punished," the message read.

Formula 1 Racers, and Protestors, Get Ready for Bahrain's Big Day
By Aryn Baker, Time Magazine
April 21, 2012

As the protests escalate, and the crackdown becomes more violent, there have been several calls for a last minute cancelation of the event. That would set a terrible, and possibly terrifying, precedent for the upcoming Olympics in London. The reality is, the F1 should never have been allowed to return to Bahrain in the first place. Never mind the fact that race organizers, and the Bahrain government, seem to have underplayed the level of violence in the country-after all, protests have been going on almost every night for the past year-but does Bahrain actually deserve to host the F1?

Last November the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, a government funded but independent investigative body, released its findings on the February 2011 uprising and the subsequent crackdown. The report cited a litany of graphic human-rights violations, including systematic torture, unlawful detention, excessive and indiscriminate use of force, night raids designed to "create fear," workplace purges of protest participants, sexual abuse, the threat of rape along with beatings and the administration of electric shocks to elicit confessions, and the destruction of religious sites that "give the impression of collective punishment."

A Formula One race too far as sport and politics collide in Bahrain
Paul Weaver, The Guardian
Saturday 21 April 2012 18.00 EDT

I feel a pebble under my foot, but when I look it is a small, black rubber bullet. Ominously, there are also larger bullets, the size of broad beans, at the demo site. According to my guide, the police come in, even after peaceful protests, and shoot tear gas and rubber bullets to remind everyone in this troubled Gulf state who is really in charge.
...
There are a few hundred protesters in this demo and, as things get nasty, we are hurried to a rooftop before the police break it up. More tear gas. More rubber bullets. I feel more like a war correspondent than a sportswriter, but since only the latter have visas I am in the thick of it.

Bahrain protester found dead on eve of grand prix
Jo Adetunji, Peter Beaumont and agencies, The Guardian
Saturday 21 April 2012 10.30 EDT

Bahraini authorities confirmed on Saturday that the dead man was Salah Abbas Habib. It said in a statement that the 36-year-old had suffered a wound to his left side and the case was being treated as a homicide.
...
The opposition group al-Wefaq said Habib's body was found on the roof of a building after he and other protesters were beaten by riot police who suppressed a demonstration in the village of Shakhura late on Friday night. They released a photograph of Habib's blood-covered body on a corrugated iron roof. He was apparently found wearing a teargas mask. Reports suggested he had been shot.

Deadly protests mar Bahrain Grand Prix
By Al Jazeera Staff
Sat, 2012-04-21 13:20.

It's still unclear whether he died in the clashes that broke up that demonstration, or whether he was killed in the night of village skirmishes that followed.

There is an even more sinister rumour circulating: that he was snatched by police, died in their custody, and his body was dumped on the roof in the hours of darkness.

But regardless of how Salah died, the claim of many Shia protesters that Formula One is racing on their blood becomes harder to argue against.
...
Further protests from Bahrain's restive Shia population are planned this weekend, including one near the Sakhir race track on Sunday.

Violence will almost certainly accompany them. Bernie Ecclestone, F1's ruling king, has insisted from the get-go that Bahrain is a safe country to race in.

If Salah could still speak, he would probably tell you it's not such a safe country to live in.

Protests, clashes, death cast pall over Bahrain Grand Prix
By Alan Baldwin, Reuters
Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:49pm EDT

A funeral march for Habib will probably take place on Sunday, once his body has been released to his family, setting the stage for riots during the big race itself.

Activists say his death takes the total dead since the uprising began on Feb. 14, 2011 to 81, including police killed last year, a figure the government disputes.

F1 teams to race while rage boils on Bahrain streets
By Alan Baldwin, Reuters
Sun Apr 22, 2012 2:10am EDT

Black smoke from burning tyres wafted over Budaiya on Sunday morning, before the final race. Budaiya, outside the capital of Manama, was the scene of mass protests on Friday.

The death of 36-year-old protester Salah Abbas Habib - found sprawled on a rooftop on Saturday after overnight clashes - provides more fuel for outrage among a Shi'ite Muslim majority that complains of being marginalized by ruling Sunnis.
...
(N)ightly TV images of streets ablaze with clouds of smoke and teargas are an embarrassment for Formula One and the global brands that lavish it with sponsorship. Thomson Reuters, parent company of Reuters, is a sponsor of the Williams Formula One team.

Jean Todt, president of Formula One's governing body, the International Automobile Federation, broke a media silence on Saturday to say he was sorry "about what has been reported".

"I am not sure that all that has been reported corresponds to the reality of what is happening in this country," he added.

Bahrain Grand Prix to go ahead despite protester's death
Paul Weaver and Peter Beaumont, The Guardian

With dozens of armoured personnel carriers guarding the main route to the circuit, the decision by F1 and the Sunni minority royal family to push ahead with the event - partly to help convince the world of Bahrain's return to normality - appeared to be degenerating into a human rights and PR catastrophe.

Despite claims by F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone and regime officials that the race was safe and the threat of violence "hyped", the buildup to the contest has been marked by increasingly large anti-government demonstrations that have been put down with teargas, birdshot and stun grenades.
...
Wefaq official Sayed Hadi al-Mousawi said it was not clear what caused Habib's death. "We haven't got the body because the official investigators have surrounded the area, but we understand he was beaten severely. His colleagues with him last night were beaten with batons and the butts of rifles used to shoot teargas and birdshot." Bahrain's interior ministry described Habib as having suffered "a wound to his left side".
...
The decision to go ahead with the race was defended by Jean Todt, president of the FIA, the sport's governing body, who echoed Ecclestone's comments late last week criticising the reporting of the situation in Bahrain. "I came here after the Indian Grand Prix to assess the situation and to understand better the situation. I had discussions with the British ambassador, the French ambassador, the Italian ambassador, the German ambassador - and the authorities," he said. "Everybody was very comfortable with the situation and about the implementation of new solutions for the country."

Bahrain Race Is Not First Controversy for Formula One
By JOHN F. BURNS, The New York Times
April 21, 2012, 8:16 pm

Formula One, in the guise of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the sport's governing body, made its own on-the-spot assessment in Bahrain during the winter, led by Jean Todt, a Frenchman who is the organization's president and former head of the Ferrari grand prix team during Schumacher's glory years. Satisfied with what it found, the organization ruled in favor of resuming the race. In the background, strong pressure in favor of racing came from Bernie Ecclestone, the Englishman who is Formula One's ringmaster, and the man who negotiated a $40-million fee from the Bahrain government.

The teams and drivers, discreetly, were much less keen, with some of the sport's marquee names acknowledging the human rights arguments, but agreeing, in the end, to follow the lead of Mr. Todt and Mr. Ecclestone. In this, financial considerations played their part. The larger racing teams like Ferrari operate with budgets that can exceed $300 million a year. While few drivers can match the $50 million to $100 million a year that Schumacher is said to have made in his heyday, contracts that pay $15-million and more are the standard at the front end of the starting grid. A racing driver's career can be short - tragically short, if they are unlucky - and there are few cases, if any, of a driver defying his team and refusing to race for reasons of conscience.
...
The move was of a piece with a broader pattern shaped by Mr. Ecclestone, the sport's principal entrepreneur, who has moved progressively over the past decade to move races to countries like China, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi with little or no motor racing history, and scant support for Formula One that manifests itself in anemic crowds. To make way for these fixtures, Formula One has abandoned the races in some countries - notably, France - where the sport has a long history but less willingness on the part of their motorsport bodies and track owners to raise the fees that governments in the new venues are prepared to pay for the veneer of respectability that comes with staging a grand prix that will be watched by perhaps 100 million television viewers.

Perhaps, in the end, grand prix racing's image problem - and the reason it has seemed to many so out-of-touch in its decision to race in Bahrain - is that it is, by its nature, an elite sport, and carefully nurtured to remain so. In an earlier age, many of the drivers were aristocrats - Siamese princes, German barons, Belgian counts, American department store heirs, English aristocrats - who raced with ascots and bow ties, and who disported themselves with the devil-may-care attitudes of a privileged class. These were men who drove cars up the staircases of luxury hotels, quaffed magnum bottles of champagne, smoked the best Cuban cigars, and cast each other off hotel balconies into swimming pools - until, inevitably, many of them died on the track.

Today's drivers are of a different class, many of them like Schumacher and the current world champion, the German Sebastian Vettel, the sons of modestly placed fathers who got them early into go-kart racing, and guided them as they rose the ladder to Formula One. But they, too, are cocooned by privilege, above all by the kind of wealth that runs to private jets and yachts, and by the care that the race officials, including the F.I.A., take to ensure that the media coverage is concentrated among people who do it full-time, who themselves become part of the closed Formula One circus - eager to discourse on the merits of this aerodynamic innovation or that computerized engine management system, but disinclined, in most cases, to look beyond the confines of the tracks where they spend their working lives and take the measure of the societies beyond.

Formula One lives in a Bahrain bubble
By Alan Baldwin, Reuters
Sat Apr 21, 2012 3:55pm EDT

On Saturday, the body of a demonstrator was discovered on a rooftop after a battle at which witnesses said police fired birdshot at crowds. His funeral could be held on Sunday, setting the stage for riots on the day of the race itself.
...
(F)or those within the sport's entourage who have not ventured out to see a different reality, talk of petrol bombs, death and torture might as well be from another planet.

Red Bull's world champion Sebastian Vettel said shortly after arrival on Thursday that he thought much of what was being reported was hype.

He looked forward to getting in the car and dealing with the "stuff that really matters - tyre temperatures, cars."

Bahrain Grand Prix: Defiant Force India feel wrath of Formula One
Paul Weaver, The Observer
Saturday 21 April 2012

Force India have been punished by Formula One by being blanked from the television screens after missing a practice session because of concerns over their safety. BBC and Sky viewers bombarded the channels with calls, emails and tweets after Saturday's's qualifying session for the Bahrain Grand Prix, asking why the cameras did not feature the Force India cars of Paul Di Resta and Nico Hülkenberg, even though Di Resta was a top-10 finisher.
...
Both TV channels have their own teams at races, but their pictures come from the feed controlled by Formula One Management. Bernie Ecclestone, the sport's commercial rights holder, denied the charge on Saturday when he said: "I was busy and didn't notice Force India were not on. I will look into it. It could be technical, but I suspect it was more to do with the Bahrain laws on no alcohol advertising. They have a whisky company prominently on the car. They should have taken it off. TV could not show that."
...
However, Force India, who number Whyte & Mackay among their sponsors, appear to have been singled out for punishment because all teams submit their livery for approval when they race in countries with restrictions, such as Bahrain. Pictures were broadcast of the team in practise without sanction. Force India refused to comment last night, but a team insider who declined to be named said: "Everyone knows what happened. Bernie is giving Force India a slap on the wrist for missing Friday's second practice session."
...
Meanwhile, the FIA president, Jean Todt, said his conscience was clear despite a disastrous week for Formula One. "I am sorry about what has been reported," he said "I am not sure all that has been reported corresponds to the reality of what is happening in this country. But I feel F1 is very strong. It is a very strong brand, and all the people among the teams to whom I have been speaking are very happy."

Bernie Ecclestone has followed the money and turned Formula One into a pariah sport
Richard Williams, The Guardian
Saturday 21 April 2012 12.01 EDT

News of the death of a protester in Bahrain, reported just before 24 Formula One cars set off for their qualifying session for grand prix, drowned the noise of engines everywhere except inside the paddock at the Sakhir circuit, where the drivers and engineers maintained their concentration on settling the order of the starting grid. In the view of Sebastian Vettel, the reigning world champion, they were getting back to what really mattered. Much of the outside world, however, had long since lost interest in listening to commentators discussing tyre temperatures and drag-reduction.
...
What has happened on the oil-rich island in the Persian Gulf is a direct result of the way Ecclestone has run the sport since taking control 30 years ago. His willingness to tear up its traditional roots and follow the money into new territories opened the way for an eventual collision between a spectacle whose audience is still largely European and countries with non-democratic systems of government. Bahrain is the wrong time and the wrong place in which to maintain the pretence that sport is sport and politics is politics, and that the two have no interdependence. The country's royal family destroyed that fiction when they had posters put up around their Sakhir circuit featuring the slogan "UniF1ed - One Nation in Celebration", an explicit use of Formula One to bolster their claim to have taken steps to improve conditions for their people since the first demonstrations in March 2011, part of the "Arab spring", caused the cancellation of last year's grand prix.

Amnesty International's most recent report on the situation in Bahrain calmly but remorselessly dismantled those claims. Most of the action taken by the rulers, it suggested, has been in the area of public relations. Little of any substantive nature has been done to address the discontent felt by the Shia majority at the discrimination exercised by the Sunni royal family and their governing elite. Official investigations have gone slowly, and no senior figure has been charged with liability for the violence - including allegations of torture - meted out to some of last year's protesters and to medical personnel who went to their aid.

But protesters, Ecclestone told me last year, tend to be "people who've got nothing to do on a Sunday". They are certainly not, by and large, people likely to contribute to his enrichment, who are the only type of people in whom he is really interested.
...
The Bahrain affair also exposes the conflicts of interest that flow through Formula One. The crown prince of Bahrain sanctioned the building of the Sakhir circuit and the payment of the annual $40m to Ecclestone; both are members of the FIA's powerful World Motor Sports Council. The investment arm of Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat Holdings, owns 40% of the McLaren team, which is perhaps one reason why Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton have been economical with their opinions this weekend. The crown prince also shares the ownership of a team in the GP2 championship, F1's supporting attraction, with the son of Jean Todt, the president of the FIA, who was in a position to order the cancellation of this weekend's race but declined to do so.

Ecclestone's habit of taking the money and asking no questions ensured that one day he would place the Formula One teams and their personnel in the position they now find themselves: nervous of their personal safety and uncertain how to respond to the question of whether they should be there at all. Thanks to him, a sport whose conscience was once troubled only by its environmental impact now looks like a pariah.

You may well ask if I am re-evaluating my support for McLaren after learning that Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund is a 40% owner.

The answer is yes.

On the competition front-  Pole position keeps jumping around, I can't recall if we've had a repeat or not.  This time it's Vettel's turn again, even so it remains to be seen if he can use the early advantage to get clear of the pack enough to put the race out of reach.

Because the big deal is going to be tires.  On full fuel the Softs are only lasting about 5 or 6 laps at all, with just one good one in the middle there somewhere.  They've been having to warm them up slowly to keep them from twisting right off.  The Mediums are not much better with only about 11 laps of life in them.

Teams were parking early trying to save their Mediums because considering you only get 3 sets of each and the race is 57 laps a little simple math will show you that they're going to use up every bit of them and then some.  Personally I think this is madness and compromises safety, but if you're going to race in a war zone anyway I guess safety is not the first thing on your mind.  The back markers were even chatting up how it was better to start 11th and have fresh tires than to start on Pole.  I guess you have to have some hope for the fans.

Pastor Maldonado had a Kinetic Energy Recovery System problem that required a gearbox change and caused a 5 Grid penalty.

• Formula One 2012: Bahrain Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

• Interactive Track
• History

GP2 starts at 6 am on Speed with a repeat Sunday the 28th at 2:30 am.  The main event kicks off with your half hour of hype at 7:30 am with a repeat today at 1:30 pm.

Pretty tables below.

Formula One 2012: Bahrain Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Apr 21, 2012 at 05:22:44 AM EST

It's a playground for Petro-Billionaires, a Vice City ruled by the Sunni Bedouin Al Khalifa tribe originally from Kuwait.  The colonialist British established them as the ruling family in the early 1800s and Bahrain is considered a major center of British influence in Arabia, but in fact they frequently rebelled against this role and habitually sought the protection of the Shia Shahs of Iran against them and their other numerous enemies including the Turks, Saudis, and Omanis.

Iran first intervened against Portuguese colonial influence in 1602 and over the next 2 centuries built a solid Shia majority that persists until this day.  In the 1860s Iran was unable to defend Bahrain against British aggression and by 1892 it was a vassal state and broke off all relations with Iran.  In 1911 a sustained rebellion against the British eventually resulted in deposition of Sheikh Issa bin Ali Al Khalifa who changed his mind and had come to support Iranian territorial claims in the face of continued British domination.  The state became a virtual Vice Royalty of Charles Belgrave for 30 years until 1957.

Part of Belgrave's policy was to encourage sectarian and class divisions between Shia and Sunni, after he was booted Britain "set out to change the demographics of Bahrain.  The policy of 'deiranisation' consisted of importing a large number of different Arabs and others from British colonies as labourers."

Fun place huh?  Can't wait to party with these guys.

In February 2011 the 'Pearl Revolution' was part of the wave of 'Arab Spring' revolts.  It was peaceful for exactly 3 days before the police started shooting protesters and when the locals proved insufficient to the task King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, deputy supreme commander of the Bahrain defence force and, as chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports the chief architect the of initiative to bring Formula One racing to Bahrain and build the Bahrain International Circuit, invited Saudi mercenaries in to assist.

Human rights organizations reported that, in the 8 months following the outbreak of protests on 14 February, more than 1,600 peaceful political protesters, medical professionals, journalists, human rights defenders and innocent bystanders had been arrested, and more than 100 people convicted by a special military court established by the government.
...
On 23 November 2011, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry released its report on human rights violations during the February and March 2011 protests, finding that the government "systematically" tortured prisoners, summarily fired Shi'ite employees and university students, and committed other gross human rights violations.

In 2011 the Formula One race was cancelled due to civil unrest as the medical staff was deployed to treat casualties.  Charitable minds attribute the willingness of the Monarchy to negotiate to the desire to hold the race, but I have no doubt that it also precipitated the initial police violence and the quick resort to foriegn mercenaries.

Things are now no better.  Among the tortured and convicted is Abdulhadi al-Khawaja on a hunger strike since February 8, over 70 days, who is now refusing both IV fluids and water and is likely to die before his next court date this Monday.

Did I mention he's a Danish citizen?

Thousands of people are in the streets and there are daily and nightly battles between Molotov Cocktail throwing protesters and shotgun and teargas wielding riot police.

On Thursday a van carrying members of the Force India racing team was nearly struck and and another with Sauber crew members witnessed it from a few cars behind.  Force India skipped the 2nd Friday Practice in order to transport its team during daylight.

The theme this year is- "Unif1ed - One Nation in Celebration".  "I genuinely believe this race is a force for good, it unites many people from many different religious backgrounds, sects and ethnicities," says Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.  "For those of us trying to navigate a way out of this political problem, having the race allows us ... to celebrate our nation as an idea that is positive, not one that is divisive."

Bahrain braces for wave of F1 protests
Paul Weaver in Manama and Ian Black, Middle East editor, The Guardian
Thursday 19 April 2012 14.05 EDT

A government PR agency distributed comments by a former Wefaq MP, Jasim Husain, who said: "I can tell you that most people in Bahrain are happy and pleased that F1 is back in Bahrain, given its effects on the economy and the social aspects of it. Many are happy and pleased. I see this as a sporting and economic event, rather than a political event. Security has never been a big issue in Bahrain. The protests are very much peaceful; largely people are having political issues which have to be addressed one way or another."

Unease Surrounds Bahrain Grand Prix
By BRAD SPURGEON, The New York Times
Published: April 19, 2012

The government is attempting to use the Grand Prix to show that life is back to normal in Bahrain, after the race was canceled last year because of unrest. An estimated 40 to 70 people have been killed in Bahrain since the Arab Spring uprisings began in February 2011.
...
"I am not angry with the government; it's their future at stake," said Khadija al-Mousawi, the hunger striker's wife, one of whose daughters was at a protest in Manama on Wednesday. "What makes me angry is people like Ecclestone who decides to come to Bahrain because he thinks everyone is happy."

"To what extent did commercial and political interests cloud their judgment?"

Bahrain Grand Prix 2012: city burns but Bernie Ecclestone insists the show must go on
By Tom Cary, F1 Correspondent, The Telegraph
Manama 10:00PM BST 20 Apr 2012

Bernie Ecclestone, the sport's chief executive, and Jean Todt, the president of the governing body, have a lot on the line. Ecclestone, in particular, after 81 years of scrapping his way to a fortune, is used to tough questions but should things go wrong very tough questions will be asked. To what extent did commercial and political interests cloud their judgment?

It is why everyone tried so hard to pass the buck last week, with Ecclestone saying it was up to the teams, the teams saying it was up to the FIA and the FIA saying nothing at all.

Ultimately, however, those two carry the responsibility for Formula One being here. Sure, the teams and drivers and sponsors could have boycotted the race but they, too, rely to a certain extent on the information they receive from above.

Ecclestone was his usual flippant self when asked for his thoughts on events this week. "It's a lot of nonsense," he said. "I think you guys want a story, and it's a good story, and if there isn't a story you make it up as usual, so what difference?"
...
The sad thing is this crisis was entirely predictable. Formula One journalists have copped a certain amount of criticism this week for venturing into areas of conflict to ask for people's thoughts about the race, to try to report on what is happening. For deigning to be reporters, in other words.

What did the Bahraini and Formula One authorities think? That they would sit in their hotels all week, only venturing to the track to talk about rear wings and F-ducts?

In Bahrain, Business Is Not as Usual
By BRAD SPURGEON, The New York Times
Published: April 20, 2012

For the monarchy - and for Formula One - there are also overriding economic concerns. The Grand Prix is the kingdom's biggest sports event, drawing a worldwide television audience of roughly 100 million in nearly 200 countries, bringing in half a billion dollars in revenue and attracting thousands of visitors. When the race was canceled last year, Bahrain still had to pay Formula One a $40 million "hosting fee."

So with the world watching and big money at stake, the government has hoped to use the race to demonstrate that life has returned to normal in Bahrain. But the media spotlight on the race in recent weeks has to some extent resulted in the opposite: a closer look at the political situation and the protesters and their claims of human rights abuses.
...
The humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières stopped sending doctors to Bahrain and said that the kingdom's hospitals were considered so dangerous for the Shiite majority that many injured in protests would not use them.

Amnesty International said in a report that Bahrain was falling deeper into human rights abuses and that if the race was run, it would feed what it called the monarchy's propaganda aims.

"With the world's eyes on Bahrain as it prepares to host the Grand Prix, no one should be under any illusions that the country's human rights crisis is over," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa deputy director. "The authorities are trying to portray the country as being on the road to reform, but we continue to receive reports of torture and use of unnecessary and excessive force against protests."
...
"The regime was isolated because of the crimes it committed and the Bahrain Grand Prix is giving a way out for the government, especially the royal family," said Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. "We need this regime to be punished for the crimes it has committed in the past year and half."

Shell, a Ferrari sponsor, will not entertain clients and partners.

Bahrain Grand Prix to Go Ahead as Protests Flare
By REUTERS
Published: April 20, 2012 at 9:46 PM ET

Manama is under tight security, with dozens of armored vehicles stationed around the capital and the road to the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. Activists say barbed wire has been installed near some parts of the main highway.

Two of the 12 teams were left rattled after witnessing protesters throwing petrol bombs. Two members of the Force India team went home to Britain although the other team, Sauber, continued with race preparations.

Ahead of Bahrain Grand Prix, Incidents Put Formula One Teams on Edge
By JONATHAN SCHULTZ, The New York Times
April 20, 2012, 1:47 pm

On Wednesday night, a vehicle carrying personnel from the Force India team passed through an area where Molotov cocktails and debris were thrown. According to the BBC, a tear-gas canister fired by the police entered the vehicle. Two Force India employees elected to leave Bahrain ahead of Sunday's race. Speaking afterward about the incident, the team driver Nico Hulkenberg questioned the decision of Formula One authorities to race in such a volatile climate, saying that teams "shouldn't have been put in this position."

Speaking of the earlier incident involving Force India, the crown prince deflected the notion that Formula One teams were being targeted. "I absolutely can guarantee that any problems that may or may not happen are not directed at F1," he said. "It goes to show that there are people who are out to cause chaos."

"It is why everyone tried so hard to pass the buck last week, with Ecclestone saying it was up to the teams, the teams saying it was up to the FIA and the FIA saying nothing at all."

Bernie Ecclestone: 'not in my power to call off Bahrain Grand Prix'
The Guardian
Friday 20 April 2012 09.29 EDT

With Sauber now also confirming that some of their personnel witnessed an incident involving masked protesters on Thursday night as they returned to Manama, Ecclestone said it was not in his power to cancel the race.

"I can't call this race off. It is nothing to do with us, the race," he said according to a report on the Autosport website. "We are here, we have an agreement to be here and we are here. The national sporting authority in this country can ask the FIA if they want to call the race off."

Ecclestone said he did not understand why Force India was so worried about safety - and that he had personally offered to drive with the team from the circuit if they wanted reassurance.

"They have asked and been told they can have security if they want it," he said. "I don't know if people are targeting them for some reason, I don't know - I hope not because none of the other teams seem to have a problem.

"So maybe they have had a message and are being targeted for something - it may be nothing to do with being in this country, maybe it is something else."

Archie Bland: Why won't Bernie Ecclestone lead by example in Bahrain?
Archie Bland, Deputy Editor, The Independent
Wednesday 18 April 2012

What Ecclestone and Co apparently fail to appreciate is that doing nothing can be just as meaningful an act as making a fuss. In Bahrain, as in South Africa during the apartheid years, the options aren't a powerful political statement vs a position of strict neutrality; instead, the two options are equally forceful.

By pulling Formula One out of Bahrain for a second year, Mr Ecclestone and his colleagues would be sending a signal that the country is still in crisis. That's a position strongly reinforced by an Amnesty International report earlier this week. Doing nothing, by extension, makes the opposite statement.

Since last year Formula One deemed a race in Bahrain would be a bad idea, the decision to go ahead this time implies that things are getting better. Max Mosley, a former Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile president, gets it: the Bahraini authorities, he wrote in The Daily Telegraph, "hope to show the world that the troubles were just a small, temporary difficulty... By agreeing to race there, Formula One becomes complicit in what happened."

"What did the Bahraini and Formula One authorities think? That they would sit in their hotels all week, only venturing to the track to talk about rear wings and F-ducts?"

Bahrain Grand Prix revs up polarisation of Gulf state
Ian Black, Middle East editor, The Guardian
Friday 20 April 2012 09.15 EDT

For the government in Manama, the message was one of business as usual as the engines revved up: "The long wait is over," announced an excited statement from its information affairs authority. "The region's biggest sporting and social spectacle is finally here!" Not, however, for the foreign journalists - not motor racing correspondents - who were turned away at the airport or denied visas to enter the country.
...
Manama has been able to count on the acquiescence of governments and the active support of others. US and British PR companies are working overtime to get across the official point of view. "Imagine if a British police chief was in Damascus dumping on the protest movement in Syria," said the Labour MP Denis MacShane of the security role of former Metropolitan police assistant commissioner John Yates. "There is a complete double standard when it comes to Bahrain."

Protesters are seeking democracy, but there is an unavoidable sectarian aspect to the conflict in a small country where the ruling dynasty is Sunni and the majority of its subjects are Shia Muslims who are under-represented and face discrimination in all walks of life. In recent days regime thugs have been caught on camera trashing Shia-owned shops while policemen stood by.

F1 grand prix: Bahrain denies entry to journalists
Mark Sweney, The Guardian
Friday 20 April 2012 12.29 EDT

Journalists who have been refused entry include Stuart Ramsay, chief correspondent at Sky News, who is being forced to file coverage from Dubai.
...
He has been prevented from entering Bahrain despite Sky Sports, like Sky News owned by BSkyB, providing exclusive live TV coverage of Sunday's controversial Grand Prix to UK viewers. Sky Sports signed a seven-year deal to broadcast live TV coverage of every Formula One race from this season.

Bahrain Grand Prix 2012: authorities refusal to allow news media into the kingdom causes uproar
By Tom Cary, The Telegraph
Manama 12:26AM BST 20 Apr 2012

Ramsey's struggles are ironic given the fact that Sky Sports has just started a seven-year deal channel-sharing deal with the BBC to cover Formula One in the UK.

It is understood that neither BBC Sport nor Sky Sports will address the off-track issues in Bahrain in their coverage this weekend, with BBC News and Sky News to cover that angle. Assuming they can get in, of course.

Some other links I found

• F1: Clashes Hit Bahrain Formula One Exhibit, Associated Press
• Bahrain activists vow "days of rage" for GP, EuroSport
• Why is Bahrain F1 race under fire?, CNN
• The Bahrain Grand Prix tests Britain's policy of engagement, The Guardian

The actual race is a 7:30 am start tomorrow on Speed with a repeat at 1:30 pm.  GP2 starts at 6 am.

• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

The cars will run on Mediums and Softs with Mediums favored because the track is coarse and it is hot and dusty.  Visibility can be a problem.  Red Bull will make an exhaust decision and not run 2 setups.  Some teams are scrambling to reverse engineer the Mercedes front wing DRS, but others are uninterested.  Silverstone may get approved as a testing track, McLaren will use its Test Drivers, not Hamilton or Button.  Massa is under pressure from Scuderia Marlboro.

Other competition links-

• Interactive Track
• History

Formula One 2012: Shanghai

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Apr 14, 2012 at 22:49:56 PM EST

It was interesting to hear all of the paid shills on Speed begrudgingly opine that they thought next week's race was a bad idea.  The operative insight was- 'Everybody's afraid of the penalties if they don't honor their contract.'

Ecclestone said there were commercial reasons why teams should take part but admitted he could not force individuals to participate. "We've no way we can force people to go there," he said. "We can't say 'you've got to go' - although they would be in breach of their agreement with us if they didn't go - but it doesn't help. Commercially they have to go, but whether they decide to or not is up to them.

So the question is if you're more afraid of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in court than you are of a waiter pissing in your cocktail or blowing himself up in your face.

The place is a powder keg waiting to explode and the fuse is Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja who has a 50% chance of martyrdom before the race, a signal even Bernie can't ignore.

As riot police wage almost daily pitched battles with masked petrol-bomb throwing protesters, analysts say the mainstream opposition may be losing touch with the youth who seek more revolutionary change.

That I think Ecclestone a callous greedy fool and liar is no secret to my readers and I hope that at the very least the negative publicity damages him financially and personally.

Bahrain Grand Prix Splits the Kingdom
By SOUAD MEKHENNET, The New York Times
Published: April 13, 2012

In the street battles that have continued for more than a year, nearly 50 people have died.

Some insist that there is little to worry about regarding Bahrain and the race. John Yates, a former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police in London who have been hired to oversee an overhaul of the Bahrain police force, said that he felt safe in the kingdom. "Indeed, safer than I have often felt in London," he said Wednesday, according to Reuters.

During an interview, Yates said that tear gas was the only weapon the riot police carried. "They don't carry any guns, while protesters in the villages are throwing Molotov cocktails and stones," he said.

"Some people have recently told stories to media that never took place and give the impression that Bahrain is a war zone, and it's not," Yates said.

The boss of Formula One, Bernie Ecclestone, said Friday in Shanghai, where he was overseeing preparations for the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, that the Bahrain race was definitely going ahead as planned and that all of the teams were "happy" to be going there, The Associated Press reported.

"There's nothing happening," Ecclestone said of the situation in Bahrain. "I know people that live there and it's all very quiet and peaceful."

Human Rights Watch says this-

"We are looking at a lockdown.  F1 is not my world, but this seems to be a terrible climate in which to hold what is supposed to be a competitive, festive sporting event.  In the circumstances, I don't know who is going to be having any fun."
...
"I think that they [F1] will have some explaining to do," said Stork (Deputy Middle East Director of Human Rights Watch). "I can easily imagine that the security will be such that you won't have the race disrupted on the track and I imagine that they can keep that under control.  But if you have a situation where there are demonstrations on a nightly, if not daily basis, clashes with security forces who aren't known for the most sophisticated crowd control techniques is not going to be good.  It's not going to be good for Bahrain, it's not going to be good for F1 either if it happens either during the race or when it's clear that the demonstrations are primarily aimed at stopping the race.  That's what the story will be."
...
"From the Bahraini government's point of view, of course," he said when asked if there were potential benefits to the race going ahead. "They are desperate to make the case that the situation is normal from a security point of view, normal in terms of civil strife, and that it's one big happy family.

"But the fact is, it's not normal. I'm not sure that it's the mission or the mandate of F1 to be participating in these kinds of exercises."
...
"The [ruling] Al Khalifa family are desperate for [the grand prix] to happen. But that doesn't mean that it should happen."

On the competition front-  There hasn't been an all-Mercedes front row since 1955 and Sauber and Lotus are unexpectedly high up on the grid.  Scuderia Marlboro UPC continues its slide into the back markers.  My Dad, who inspired this coverage, asked me today, "So what happened to Red Bull?"  The answer is simple, without the diffuser they have a very ordinary car.  They are attempting to do something with aerodynamic brake cooling to regain their technological edge.

I like it, and not just because McLaren is doing well.  In the '60s Lotus was my favorite Matchbox and it certainly makes the races more interesting that Red Bull dominance is broken the same way breaking the Scuderia Marlboro/Schumacher dominance made it more interesting.

And not in the flaming chunks of twisted metal Turn Left kind of way.

• Formula One 2012: Shanghai Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Pretty tables below.

Formula One 2012: Shanghai Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Fri Apr 13, 2012 at 23:23:28 PM EST

Let's talk a bit about Mercedes.  One of the reasons they've performed relatively well so far (though not top 3) is an aero innovation they've introduced.  Shades of the blown diffuser, holes exposed during deployment of the Drag Reduction System funnel air forward through carbon fiber chassis tubes and spoil downforce on the front wing too.  It survived a challenge from Team Lotus this week and is expected to be widely copied by the other teams to the extent they can.  The Mercedes chassis is purpose built around this and since they're one of the most (and largest) pissed off teams at the moment, I expect this will stick while a similar innovation from Lotus got ruled illegal 3 weeks after approval.

Go figure.

Red Bull is very disappointed at their start this year and is intending to run dual setups.  Webber will be running a refinement of the rear aero used at Sepang and Vettel will be running the setup used in winter testing.  McLaren was using pitot tubes on the rear end to gather additional data during practice.

Hamilton has a problem.  His original gearbox is cracked and he's highly likely to have to replace it and accept a 5 grid penalty though we won't know for sure until today.  It may not matter so much as Qualifying has proven a less than reliable indicator of performance so far-

Pole Position Is Falling Behind
By BRAD SPURGEON, The New York Times
Published: April 13, 2012

It used to be that the man who scored pole position was almost certain to win the race. But as the series prepares for the Chinese Grand Prix outside Shanghai this weekend, the value of the pole and qualifying in general seem to have diminished as the fastest drivers on Saturday have rarely been those who finish the race in the top spots.

"I won't deny that I'm disappointed to have had two pole positions and not to have been able to convert either of them into victories," Hamilton said. "But I prefer to think of it that luck just hasn't been on my side and that it will swing my way sooner or later."

As usual it's tires, tires, tires and the offering this week is Mediums and Softs though it's distinctly possible that a large part of the race will be on Inters and Wets.  Shanghai has had rain 4 of the last 8 years and it rained during morning Practice on Friday.  Timo Glock parked hard in the second session, but says he's ok and is expected to race.

• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

The actual race is a 2:30 am start tomorrow on Speed with a repeat at 3:30 pm.  If you happen to be up right now you can join me in watching Formula One Debrief or wait until 2 pm.  If you start watching at midnight tomorrow you get the full trifecta run up of Debrief, Qualifying, and Race.

Formula One 2012: Sepang

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Mar 25, 2012 at 01:58:10 AM EST

It would be irresponsible not to speculate.  All is not well in Ecclestone land.  His agreement with the Formula One Teams Association expires next season and despite sweetheart deals to keep Red Bull (easily the most financially committed Team sponsor) and Ferrari (some would argue the most historic marque) in line and claims to have a majority of teams in favor of a new arrangement, dissatisfaction is rampant among those getting the shaft and his attempts to raise $10 Billion in new capital through an IPO are stalling in a bad economy with even his pets refusing to invest and tracks looking for ways out of their unprofitable contracts.

Ferrari faces it's third or fourth uncompetitive season in a row, Mercedes is about ready to bolt, and the field fillers are finding the Washington Generals too expensive losers.  Renault has never been happy and is distancing itself as fast as its contracts allow even though they produce what is probably the best and most reliable power plant.

And the cars are U-G-L-Y ugly.

Lotus Renault had an overnight fire that destroyed its hospitality suite and damaged its garage.  Raikkonen (whom I think is not having a bad return from retirement compared to Schumacher) and Kovalainen have 5 grid penalties for various violations.  It is cloudy and hot at Sepang.

• Formula One 2012: Sepang Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Repeats @ 3 pm today and Noon Tuesday.

Pretty tables below.

Formula One 2012: Sepang Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Mar 24, 2012 at 02:50:09 AM EST

The major competition story is that Scuderia Marlboro UPC has a slow car, severely lacking in downforce.  Maranello is distinctly disappointed and while Alonso is making the usual nothing to see here noises; Massa, who's career at Big Red hangs by a thread, has asked for and gotten an entirely new chassis, tuned just for him, which is no better.

Mercedes seems poised to take over the third team spot and has some kind of fiddly aero bit reminiscent of the F-Duct that doubly reduces drag when activated in conjunction with the Drag Reduction System everyone uses and it has been ruled legal.  So far.

Red Bull really is handicapped by the changes to the blown diffuser rules and are not nearly as dominant though they are easily the second best team and are much better at race management than McLaren who still suck.

Sepang is hot and wet.  Even odds that they have to break out the Inters or Wets at some point, though with track temperatures in excess of 91 Farenheit the prescribed Pirellis are the Hards and Mediums with about 1.7 seconds a lap between them.  The Mediums have shown a tendency to lock up under heavy fuel in race start trim.  Sepang is rated a Medium to High speed track, flat with 15 turns, as opposed to Albert Park which is a bumpy road course rated Medium to Slow.

Bernie Ecclestone (aka CVC) is looking to cash out of Formula One via IPO, orchestrated by none other than those paragons of Wall Street virtue, Goldman Sachs.  The Formula One Team Association (everyone except Red Bull and Ferrari) is not altogether happy about this concept.

• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Tomorrow's race starts at 2 am for GP2, 3:30 am for the start.

Formula One: Alberta Park

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Mar 17, 2012 at 21:44:56 PM EST

"Ooo, our Drag Reduction System isn't working and the Power Steering is out."

Pobrecitos.

So only Marussia (Virgin) will be flying the Cosworth flag which I'd be more disappointed about if Cosworth were any good.  Renault and Mercedes are the plants of choice if you care about contending and like any Billionaire Boy Toy if you're not going to spend the money to stay at the table you should get out of the game.  Sympathy for the not Yankees is misguided; professional sports isn't a money making enterprise, it's showing off, and if your penis isn't large enough to cash the checks your trash mouth signs you deserve the pointing and hooting in the sauna.

Red Bull is showing vincibility which is a pleasant anomally and Scuderia Marlboro UPC continues to suck which is simple justice for both those union busting scabs.

Speed will be re-broadcasting @ 2 pm today and noon on Tuesday.

• Formula One: Alberta Park Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

A surprising (and pretty) table below that will probably become all too familiar.

Formula One: Alberta Park Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Fri Mar 16, 2012 at 22:46:42 PM EST

Zoom, zoomy, zoom, zoom.

We'll start slowly with the generally agreed upon facts before we get to the rabbit holes, the first of which is that Red Bull supports about 4 programs and dominates Formula One except for prestige where Scuderia Marlboro UPC is capo di tutti even though they haven't had a fast car in years.  They have both abandoned the Formula One Teams Association to suck up to Bernie.  There are also the gritty Brits, McLaren, who have one driver who can pass (Hamilton) and one driver who's easy on the equipment (Button) either of whom could handily win if McLaren weren't so fucking stupid about their race management.

Everyone else is just filling the field.

Of the also-rans Mercedes and Renault were the closest to competitive, Mercedes has good buzz, Renault is now Lotus. Team Lotus is now Caterham F1 Team, Virgin is now Marussia.

Rubens Barrichello is driving IndyCars this year and my Dad is very excited about the season, says there are a lot of changes.  I think you know how I feel about hopeyness.  Bruno Senna is driving for Williams.

Bernie Ecclestone is still an enormous rich festering boil on the face of the universe but his pustulence seems minor in comparison to Rupert.  Bahrain is on because you just can't have enough Shi'ite slaves piss in your drinks and then there is Perry's Billion Dollar Boondoggle (let's fire all the teachers) Hole in the Desert.  20 thrilling races in all lasting until November 25th.

Hopeyness

No more blown diffusers.  No, really.  We are so over that having replaced it with the next innovation in downforce.  Pirelli promises tires that wear out even quicker and the difference between them is even less.  Helium (which makes your air guns work 30% faster) is now banned.  You can unlap yourself under a safety car.

There are 15 more days of in season testing which can only improve things.  If you're too tight fisted to test you deserve to be uncompetitive.

• Speed Racecast
• Formula One Site

F1: Interlagos

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Nov 27, 2011 at 10:31:11 AM EST

Pirelli is racing an experimental Soft compound designed for next year.  Pirelli is designing around a 3 pit strategy which frankly won't be enough to introduce any competitiveness or position changes with 3 second pits despite protestations to the contrary.  The other tire is the normal Medium.  There's only .8 seconds speed difference between them, the new Soft is expected to last 25 laps and the Medium 35.

Red Bull reports that they're loosening the development restrictions in the next agreement which contrary to their intent can only be good news for the field filling teams.  They're also reportedly going to clamp down on Red Bull type flexy wings.

Austin's ultimatum has been extended until Wednesday, but Bernie is talking tougher about licking the boots of Bahrain's despotic regime than having a US race next year.  It's easier to hate on Rick Perry because he's the local boy, but I don't think there's a dime's worth of difference in their evilness and Perry's more likely to lose because he's also stupid.

Barrichello is probably a cut next year which is a shame because he's performed really well in 3rd rate equipment and had a surprisingly good Qualifying yesterday.  I don't understand how you can rate drivers or teams with no points at all as being better than those that do.  I guess it has to do with how our elites define persistent failure as 'meritocracy'.

Below you will find the last pretty tables of the 2011 season.  Unlike the Debrief crew I won't bother revisiting them because nothing will change.

• F1: Interlagos Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

F1: Interlagos Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Nov 26, 2011 at 10:43:36 AM EST

One interesting thing of note is that many of the backmarking teams spent a longer than usual time running practice laps and brought out some fiddly aero bits from next year's machines.  This is indicative of the most pressing anti-competitive problem in Formula One which is that teams in general are not allowed to test enough because the weaker teams can't afford to do it.

More than all the Downforce Reduction Systems and Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems in the world, if you really wanted to advance the fortunes of the non-scoring teams you'd allow them to do some real engineering and instead limit the amount of simulation time which as we've seen as they've struggled the last 2 years to integrate is no substitute.

This year was a boring replay of last year only more one sided and there is no reason to believe next year will be any different since the regulations are only changing in the direction of making the cars less durable and safe.  No tire you can put on the track is going to deteriorate fast enough to create real pit competition or a meaningful alternative race strategy.  Likewise all the aerodynamic changes are in the direction of making less downforce and the cars more difficult to steer and unstable.  Great if you like flaming chunks of twisted metal, not so good if you want lead changes and racing opportunities.

Stories to watch in the off season are the negotiation between Ecclestone and the teams on a new agreement and the continuing unfolding of big money financial scandals particularly in connection with the 2 new US tracks in Austin and New Jersey.  Bernie is already jacking Texas up for their multimillion dollar entry bribe which the Comptroller has refused to release because the contract has insufficient assurances the race will even be held.

I predict Austin is going to become the embarrassing step child and the track a billion dollar boondoggle of a white elephant.  NASCAR for good or ill (and mostly ill) dominates racing in the States supporting no less than 3 separate series in a weekend that pack the stands with boozy beer-drinking red necked boors who like their blood sport flaming chunks of twisted metal wrecks so much that they build them like bumper cars, bend the rules to force the drivers to drive them that way, and don't care that they're slow moving pieces of crap.

Good luck with that Bernie.

Maybe I'll be surprised and something interesting will happen by tomorrow, but I don't expect it.  If you want to find out more about Interlagos which if it wasn't a track would be nothing but a malarial swamp, click the link.

F1: Yas Marina

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Nov 13, 2011 at 05:40:34 AM EST

The first tidbit is that Bahrain is back on the calender, HIS Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander and Bahrain Motor Federation Honorary President expressed confidence yesterday which title in and of itself tells you what a tinpot dictatorship Bahrain is.  Bernie will feel right at home.

In other news there may or may not be racing at the new 'Circuit of the Americas' track in Austin Texas, the $300 Million Boondoggle Rick Perry is financing by firing teachers ensuring that Texas schoolchildren will be even more ignorant due to class overcrowding than their Confederate Christianist textbooks already make them.

You see, Bernie doesn't need Rick so much now that he has Chris Christie in his pocket.  Who wants to swelter when you can watch from your Wall Street Fat Cat Corporate Shelter?  Not only are the commute times from the Hamptons shorter, but the food is better unless you like Tex-Mex which you can get from Bobby Flay anyway.

If that seems a lot of races, not to worry.  Ecclestone will probably dump Yeongam for having the temerity to try and renegotiate their contract.

Miscellaneous AFP stories- Rosberg signs with Mercedes, Schumacher plays coy (that's an ornamental carp to you), Hamilton goes zen, and a season recap.

Now some racing related stuff.  Finally found a source for the compounds they'll be using today.  Mediums and Softs, not the Super Softs the commentators were saying.  Do these guys get anything right ever?  There will only be 2 pits tops and there's just not a lot of speed differential between the compounds.

It's a twi-night race which will create visibility challenges as the sun sets.  When the track cools the engines will develop more power and the tires less grip which could make things more slippery except that it's a very fast track with few turns.  Teams are running their low downforce configurations and there are 2 DRS zones, but don't expect a lot of passing because they won't have to slow down much (creating opportunities).

The Cosworth engines that the Williams are running are flat worn out.  Maldonado has already had to accept a 10 grid spot penalty for using a 9th and Barrichello is saving his last fresh for his home race at Interlagos.  Only 2 teams will be using Cosworths next year.

Teams attempting to emulate the Red Bull 'Wiggle Wing' are experiencing aerodynamic inbalances that cause them to oscillate and hit the track at the ends of the 2 long straights.  If that's your cup of tea then I recomment the Razor Spark.

Hamilton had fastest Practice this morning, which really doesn't make up for his disappointing Qualifying performance.  If you hurry you can still make book on his having a collision with Massa.

• F1: Yas Marina Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Speed will be broadcasting the exhibition GP2 All-Star race starting at 6 am.  Re-broadcast of the main event at 4 pm.

Pretty meaningless tables below.

F1: Yas Marina Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Nov 12, 2011 at 07:16:31 AM EST

Just two days ago Bernie was in Munich testifying in the Gribkowsky Case.  Bernie's story is that his $44 Million payment wasn't a bribe to ensure that Gribkowsky sold the interests of the Kirsh Group at a loss so that it wouldn't trigger the profit sharing agreements, INSTEAD it was extortion money given Gribkowsky so he wouldn't testify that Ecclestone's (then) wife's $8 Billion Trust Fund was in fact under Bernie's control, allowing him to evade $3.2 Billion in taxes and penalties (here and here also).

You see, that makes it so much better.

Like James Murdoch however, Bernie still faces contradiction under oath from a lawyer associated with Bambino Trust and other Formula One related entities, Stephen Mullins; but we'll get back to Jimmy-boy later.

2012 is the last year teams will be racing under the current extension of the Concorde Agreement between the Formula One Teams Association, CVC, and the FIA and Scuderia Marlboro UPC and McLaren at least (just the current 2nd and 3rd most powerful teams this season and 1st and 2nd historically).  Just as he did in 2005, Bernie seems poised to give Maranello an exclusive bribe to stay loyal, this time $100 Million in 'chump change'.  FOTA canceled a scheduled meeting this weekend.

Still, Ecclestone is under increasing pressure, summarized in this extensive Bloomberg article-

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and the Agnelli family's Exor SpA want to buy the 63.4 percent of Formula One owned by London- based buyout firm CVC Capital Partners Ltd. through its Jersey, Channel Islands-based holding company Delta Topco Ltd.

The would-be buyers are pushing ahead despite News Corp.'s run-ins with U.K. authorities over a phone-hacking scandal involving one of its newspapers, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

Bernie's continued control is complicated by the fact that he only owns a 5.3% direct stake while 15% is owned by his ex-wife's Bambino Trust.

The Bloomberg piece also reports this incident-

It was 10 a.m. on a June day in 2005 as fans filed into their seats for the U.S. Grand Prix. Two days earlier, a Michelin & Cie.-made tire on Toyota team driver Ralf Schumacher's car had burst on turn 13 and the auto smashed into a wall at 175 miles per hour, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its December issue.

The tiremaker said it couldn't rule out more accidents.

As the managers gathered around, Ecclestone called Max Mosley, president of Formula One's ruling body, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), at home in Monaco in a last-minute attempt to persuade him to alter the racetrack layout so the grand prix could proceed smoothly.

Mosley was unmoved, according to Paul Stoddart, then owner of the now-defunct Minardi team, who was in the trailer. He wouldn't change the rules.

With the 1 p.m. start nearing, the crowd swelling toward 120,000 and a public relations disaster looming, Ecclestone lost his temper and swore at Mosley, by Stoddart's account. As if on cue, irate fans hurled beer cans onto the racetrack after 14 of the 20 cars withdrew from the race.
...
For his part, Ecclestone now says Mosley was "probably right" to stop the race because the FIA president could have faced a murder charge if another crash on the same turn caused a fatality.

Nice guy eh?  Mosley's intervention was probably the only thing that prevented a Dan Wheldon incident.

Max, for all his reported goose stepping sado-masochistic sex romps, had a relatively good week; winning a $51,000 verdict against News of the World and Nigel Thurlbeck for invasion of privacy, while James Murdoch sat before a Parliamentary inquiry again-

Murdoch's Former Allies Deliver a Counterpunch
By RAVI SOMAIYA, The New York Times
Published: November 11, 2011

The two men had presented a united front with Mr. Murdoch through years of scrutiny since the scandal surfaced in 2006. But that cracked after Mr. Murdoch's first round of testimony, in July, as the panel tried to determine how long he had known of potentially rampant hacking at The News of the World, now defunct.

Any remaining bonds between them shattered after Mr. Murdoch's second round, on Thursday. In both appearances before the parliamentary committee, he was asked sharp questions about clear evidence of broader hacking that circulated among his executives in 2008. Mr. Murdoch sought to deflect the panel's focus from himself and toward Mr. Myler and Mr. Crone.

After the first round, the two men released a statement rejecting Mr. Murdoch's testimony that they had not informed him of evidence suggesting more widespread hacking: an e-mail that indicated more than one reporter at The News of the World had used information from hacked voicemail messages for stories. On Thursday, after Mr. Murdoch said their statements were "inconsistent and not right" and "misleading," the rejoinder was swift.

"It is regrettable," Mr. Crone counterpunched in a statement, "but I can perfectly understand why James Murdoch felt the need to discredit Colin Myler and myself. The simple truth is that he was told by us in 2008 about the damning e-mail and what it meant in terms of wider News of the World involvement." He concluded: "At best, his evidence on this matter was disingenuous." Mr. Myler, too, said he stood by his account.

Oh, you want to know about racing.  Why?  The Scuderia Marlboro fanboys won't even tell you what compounds we are using this week so obsessed are they with the fascinating duel for 6th place in the Constructor's Championship (the only position still contested) where a mere 10 points separate the 3 contenders.

Yas Marina is the penultimate race this season which is already over for all intents and purposes.

Developments, surprising or not, below.

F1: Buddh Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Oct 29, 2011 at 02:52:30 AM EST

Unlike Yeongam's first season the course is quite smooth, though it hasn't much been rubbered in or tested since it only opened September 1st.  They will be running 2 DRS zones during the race, though in Qualifying of course they can use it anywhere.

Pirelli is offering Hards and Softs which means teams will be very concerned about tire management during this session and you'll probably find the top contenders spending a lot of time parked after they lay down their hot laps.  Alonso at least will be running a new engine though I suspect that has as much to do with the fact there are only 2 races left after this one as anything else.  Might as well use them up.

Once more the stewards are picking on Hamilton, both he and Maldonado will suffer a 3 grid penalty for driving too fast through a yellow.

The Practice and Qualifying sessions will repeat tomorrow starting at 2 am before the Race itself at 5.  The Race will be shown again at 3 pm for you sleepy heads.

As always surprising developments, if any, below.

F1: Yeongam

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Oct 16, 2011 at 00:25:08 AM EST

Ross Brawn of Mercedes vehemently denies the team is violating spending limits and then says they're poorly written and porous.  He also claims teams are extorting other teams that want to change their names.

They're re-writing the 'one defensive move rule' to basically disallow any defensive moves at all.

Both Button and Hamilton are pooh-poohing the idea that Button is taking over the lead position on McLaren and trying to get next year's car designed around his driving style, however no team is wasting any time on this season which is done.  All that's left is the race for second place.

There is no rain forecast.  At the moment it appears Ricciardo will start.

• F1: Yeongam Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Rebroadcast at 11:30 am.  Not so pretty tables below.

F1: Yeongam Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Fri Oct 14, 2011 at 23:45:00 PM EST

In any event there was very little testing that could actually be done and McLaren's dominance is no indicator of anything.  Button had to switch his car since the carbon fiber is deteriorated.  Serves him right for talking trash about Vettel and Hamilton.

Yeongam is actually one of the more interesting tracks with a nice long straight between turns 2 and 3.  Unlike last year when they were rushing to finish it and the possibility of a Daytona tarmac malfunction existed this year should see little drama.

That little you will find below.

F1: Suzuka

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Oct 09, 2011 at 00:30:00 AM EST

Even after shouldering the burden for their mistake in not sending him out soon enough to guarantee at least a hot lap if not the pole (this isn't a decision the driver makes) washed up has been Nigel Mansell and the rest of the Formula One establishment jump all over him for daring to suggest that Schumacher's cutting the corner on the grass was 'dangerous'.

Just like fucking skiing folks, the burden is on the overtaking driver to make a clean pass and don't bother trying to tell me this isn't all about lingering Scuderia Marlboro UPC bias.

In other great moral triumphs, Bernie and the teams are going to discuss once again whether they should be supporting an anti-Shiite dictatorship in Bahrain or if it's even safe to do so since the oppressed class are the ones making your beds and serving your drinks.

Of course I didn't pee in it sahib.

The deeper you look at things the more you discover class struggle everywhere and sports are no exception.  That's one of the reasons I bring them to your attention.  They're not just simple diversions but microcosms of society at large and if you don't think the fate of great empires can turn on small events I encourage the study of Justinian and the Blue/Green riots.

• F1: Suzuka Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Speed coverage repeats at 3:30 pm.

Kobayashi advances from 10th to 7th because he at least attempted a fast lap in Q3.  Apparently Rosberg and Liuzzi will race, making the 107% rule officially a joke.

Pretty tables below the fold.

F1: Suzuka Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Fri Oct 07, 2011 at 23:00:00 PM EST

What pit crews hate about it is that the asphalt is abrasive and eats up tires.

The choices are Mediums and Softs.  Softs are about 1.6 Seconds a Lap faster, but they only last for 10 - 15 laps at all and drop off quite quickly after a mere 4 or 5 laps, barely enough to turn a hot one.  This will be magnified under heavy fuel so Pirelli expects that even some Q3 teams to switch to the Mediums at the end of Qualifying so they don't have to pit extraordinarily early.

Mediums are good for 17 - 22 laps which means it's technically possible to run a 2 pit strategy, but I wouldn't count on it unless the driver is very easy on the equipment like Jenson Button.

Speaking of Button, his contract extension with McLaren kind of one ups Hamilton's existing agreement so negotiations for next year could be interesting since McLaren has done nothing for 2 years now except fuck up his chances at a second title with bad pit decisions.

On the other hand McLaren has the second fastest car on the track and he likes to win and is unlikely to score a Red Bull ride.

About that championship, Vettel would have to park for the rest of the season to lose it and it's highly likely that if he scores any points at all he'll clinch this weekend and it will officially become The Race For Second Place.

Surprises (if any) below.

F1: Singapore

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Sep 25, 2011 at 05:59:23 AM EST

While Hamilton blames a fueling problem for his unexpected absence from the last laps of Q3, others speculate it was due to his blow out at the end of Q2 which frosted a complete set of Super Softs leaving him with just one new and his qualifying tires.  Other drivers are defensive of the tire saving practices which have parked teams and sucked out the drama.

At Singapore you have to hope for the unexpected like rain or wrecks because the track itself is among the most impossible and boring on the circuit.  Next year is the last in the contract and it may get moved or dropped.  As I noted yesterday it has a history of that so maybe there's a chance of something interesting happening.

Other than that it is completely...

Well, dictable I guess.  You have only to look at the Starting Grid in the pretty tables below.

• F1: Singapore Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Speed coverage starts at 7:30 am.  Repeat at 3 pm.

F1: Singapore Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Sep 24, 2011 at 09:30:00 AM EST

Flaming chunks of twisted metal.

The problem with unlimited formula racing of some duration is that at a certain point dominant teams tend to... well, dominate and chances for an upset are vanishingly small.  The press part of the Sporting Press is overwhelmed by stories of how Vettel can clinch in Singapore this weekend, but the truth is it's highly unlikely since even with a victory a top 3 finish by Alonso (who's had good results at the track) will push the day of reckoning off until Suzuka.

Still you have to have something to write about and the other story line is silly season driver seat speculation with an emphasis on the backlog depth at Renault and Red Bull.  Those of you rooting for Kubica's return are likely to be disappointed since his rehabilitation is incomplete.

Singapore is a street course run at night entirely under the lights.  It is hot, humid, and long with practically no straight sections to the point that they had some problem finding a suitable place to engage the DRS and you hear disparaging comparisons to Monaco.  It's also known for parking cars with 5 Safeties in just 3 years.

Exacerbating that problem this year is that they're having some difficulty keeping the racing curbs down.  These are slightly raised sections designed to keep the cars on the racing line and out of the barriers.  For drivers they're like rumble strips and they regularly run their wheels over them which is a problem when the sharp, pointy anchor bolts work loose and they start working like tire shredders.

They took 30 minutes off the initial Practice for emergency repairs and were going to be doing some more work before qualifying so this will hopefully be a non-issue except for the time lost refining racing setups.

The tires for this race will be the Softs and Super Softs.  The Super Softs are from 1.5 to 2.5 seconds faster per lap and lose 6 seconds on full fuel.  Both McLarens had some trouble in practice with Button parking 50 minutes early and Hamilton damaging his under car diffuser on the curbing.

Surprises (if any) below.

F1: Autodromo Nazionale Monza

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Sep 11, 2011 at 06:19:12 AM EST

The New York Times is asking the big questions which is another sign that the racing is almost over with Red Bull dominating for the second year in a row.  Scuderia Marlboro is talking about future directions and has given up on this year's because Maranello is unable to master aerodynamics.

The last 7 races (including this one) are shaping up to be a contest of 'the also rans' and the field has stratified into 4 distinct groups with some fighting on the fringes-

• Contenders- Red Bull, McLaren, Scuderia Marlboro
• Wanna Bes- Mercedes, Renault
• Bums- Sauber, Force India, Toro Rosso
• Field Fillers- Williams and the n00bs, Lotus, HRT, Virgin

Lotus is demanding better results next year.  I suppose we shall see.

• F1: Autodromo Nazionale Monza Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Speed coverage starts at 7:30 am.  Pretty tables below.

F1: Autodromo Nazionale Monza Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Sep 10, 2011 at 06:53:07 AM EST

Not much, so this will be a short one.

Button is not moving to Marlboro Country.  Who wants a slower ride anyway?

India on October 30th may be canceled due to a tax dispute.  Seems India wants to collect taxes on 1/19th of team and driver yearly incomes.

Scuderia Marlboro is struggling in desperation, hyping the prospects of a 12 year old (A Twelve Year Old!) as a future driver, unable to master aerodynamics and whining for simpler and cheaper rules.

The rules committee will be enforcing a camber (tire slant) limit from Pirelli, but the Softs are still expected to wear quite quickly especially under full (heavy) fuel.

Why?  The Autodromo Nazionale is very straight and very fast which means that when you do have to slow down for corners you put a lot of stress on your brakes and tires.  The speed of the course also stresses engines (we had a Cosworth blow up in practice).  Teams will be running their lowest drag configurations and there are two, two, two Drag Reduction System zones.

This is supposed to make the teams more evenly matched.  I'll believe it when I see it.

Surprises, not that I expect any, below.

F1: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Aug 28, 2011 at 06:25:00 AM EST

Overall Qualifying was more entertaining than it usually is.  Conditions were wet with rain in fits and a drying line at the end when they brought out the Softs.  If it rains again today many teams will be in trouble since you only get 3 sets of Inters for the weekend and you had to use them all during Practice and most of Qualifying.

Schumacher lost his wheel nut, no deeper explanation given yet.  Button walked back his rather harsh criticism of McLaren, he felt he had been called in too early but later said he lost track of the lap count and didn't give it all he might have.  Senna did much better than expected despite a faulty KERS which is a big problem for Heidfeld, but also for Romain Grosjean who clinched his GP 2 title yesterday.  Hamilton's contact with Maldonado after the end of Qualifying was resolved in favor of Hamilton with Maldonado suffering a 5 position penalty and Hamilton a mere reprimand.  All 4 drivers who failed the 107% rule were given passes to race.  So much for that rule.

As an aside, has anyone besides me noticed that there is much more media attention now that the season is almost finished?  Yesterday's Evening Edition coverage came from all 3 wire services- AFP (11), Reuters (28), and AP (44).

What will we see today?  Well it kind of depends on the weather.  If Irene knocks out my power, internet, or cable I won't see much, you'll have to make your own fun.  It has rained all weekend at Spa and if it's not dry enough for Softs I don't know what the stewards will do (my Dad says they'd be idiots not to issue another set of Inters and Wets).  I note that as I write this during the start of the GP 2 preliminary you can see shadows, but there are clouds in the sky.

Other than that there are some fast guys at the back of the grid so there will be some off lead racing as people move up.  There have been no substantial changes to the cars except Renault who has been falling farther and farther behind Mercedes in the second tier group.

Scuderia Marlboro UPC has taken it's engineering group off this year's car and put it on next year's machine.  'We must get off to a fast start!' says Maranello.  They said that last year and the year before too.  The truth is that only 2 teams are strong enough to continue development for this year AND develop for next- McLaren and Red Bull (which is strong enough to support 2 teams).

The Driver's Championship is all but decided.  Heidfeld's mathematical chances were that he had to finish first and Vettel DNF for all the remaining races and everyone else is in pretty much the same boat.  The Constructor's Championship would be closer if McLaren made better decisions and could ever finish 2 cars in the same race.

This is race 12 of 19, not halfway, and who knows, lightning could stri

• F1: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Enjoy the rest of the season.  Speed coverage starts at 7:30 am.  Pretty tables below.

F1: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Aug 27, 2011 at 06:02:30 AM EST

Who is Gerhard Gribkowsky you say?  He's a German banker who's been charged recently with corruption, tax evasion, and breach of trust (you'll be pleased to know he's actually in custody).  While this is only part of the case against him, in 2005 he helped organize the $1.7 Billion sale of the 100 year Formula One lease to the current holders CVC (headed by Bernie Ecclestone) and accepted $44 Million in payments from Bernie.

One of the former minority shareholders was a media group named Kirsh which put it's shares up as collateral for a loan with the agreement that they would participate in the profits from any sale.  Constantine Medien, part of the Kirsh group, filed suit last month against Ecclestone, his lawyers, his family trust, and Gribkowsky contending that the $44 Million payment was in fact a bribe to reduce the price of the sale ensuring there were no profits to be shared.

It's kind of like forcing a foreclosure instead of a principal reduction or a short sale.

German prosecutors are now investigating the deal and there's definitely a very slim possibility Bernie might go to jail and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

In other suits Nick Heidfeld, the points leader of the Renault team, has been unceremoniously dumped in favor of Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton.  Heidfeld contends this was partly to grab the $3 Million bribe sponsorship Bruno brings.  Renault denies this of course and in turn accuses Heidfeld of being slow (did I mention he was points leader of the team?) and lacking leadership.

Last night's Evening Edition noted this dispute in stories 10, 11, and 33 (other Formula One news in stories 9, 32, and 43).  It's doubly difficult for Heidfeld because Renault is one of the few teams debuting substantial changes to it's cars AND missing the race mathematically eliminates him from the Driver's Championship (not that he had much chance anyway).

Mark Webber had a birthday and got a 1 year extension on his Red Bull contract.  Michael Schumacher is celebrating his 20th anniversary in Formula One.  Red Bull was quickest in the second practice session.  Teams are not allowed to use Down Force Reduction in Eau Rouge because of safety concerns.

The two teams claiming the Lotus name appear to be approaching a settlement of that dispute.  Robert Kubica who was badly injured racing Rally Cars has one more reconstructive surgery to go and is expected back in a simulator before the end of the season.  Heidfeld was Kubica's replacement after the accident.

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is one of the longest (4.4 miles) and fastest.  In dry weather it's said that you can drive 85% of it flat out.  Of course it's also one of those tracks where you will get tired of hearing it's always raining or threatening to rain.

Speed coverage begins at 8 am.  Surprising developments below.

F1: Hungaroring

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Jul 31, 2011 at 06:26:26 AM EST

Teams are also asking for a rethink of the 2012 Schedule because it has 7 races in 10 weeks.

You're going to get sick of the phrase "Monaco without the houses", but there's no denying the 2.73 mile track is twisty with lots of elevation change and no long straights.  This is thought to disfavor the Red Bulls which won't be able to show their speed.  Teams will be running their big high down force wings that we haven't seen since the Principality (though they've been re-engineered) and McLaren is thought not to have as effective a Drag Reduction System as some.  Red Bull is having difficulties of their own charging their KERS electric boost system which sucks so much energy out of the cars that it's effecting brake balance and causing slips and spins.

It's also usually very hot which will stress engines, brakes, and tires, tires, tires.  You'll hear a lot about tires since they were decisive at Nurburgring with McLaren doing exceptionally well on stop times and Hamilton extracting unexpected performance out of the harder compound to thwart 2 passing attempts by Red Bull and Ferrari.  Given the speeds (actually slower than Monaco) there is a one pit strategy possible despite the Super Soft compound.  Still, the alternate Softs are not much different in performance and while Buemi and STR may fancy themselves clever by saving all 3 sets of the Supers in Qualifying given their 5 position penalty (for which they got a bad rap in my opinion, I think the replays show Heidfeld is just as responsible) there might not be enough race to use them all up before they are forced to switch to the just plain Softs.

The Silverstone and Nurburgring results didn't change the standings as much as the announcers would have you believe.  The Driver's Championship is a 3 way tie for second between Hamilton, Webber, and Alonso.  In the Team competition once again McLaren failed to finish both of its cars.

Your half hour of hype starts at 7:30 am on Speed.  Rebroadcast 4:30 this afternoon.  I want to once again encourage you to read this great piece on the 1936 race.  My last year's coverage is here and here.

• F1: Hungaroring Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

This is the 11th race of 19 and the last before the summer break.  We will resume August 27th in Spa.

Pretty tables below.

F1: Hungaroring Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Jul 30, 2011 at 06:35:19 AM EST

The New York Times kind of miscounts the number of Formula One Grand Prix held in Hungary, forgetting the 75th Anniversary of the very first one in 1936 (you should really click that link, it's a fascinating read).

Jenson Button is celebrating his 200th start in F1.  He thinks his biggest mistake was the 2nd contract he signed with Williams that he had to buy his way out of for $17 million in 2007 to move to Honda (later Brawn).  The English language press is celebrating a McLaren resurgence conveniently forgetting that one race does not make a season and that last week Button had his second consecutive DNF.

The week's big off track news was the announcement of the tentative 2012 schedule.  Turkey gets dropped.  USA gets added and shifted to the next to last race to avoid the Texas summer heat.  The desert races in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain get shifted to the end of the calendar too while the season starts with Australia and Malaysia.  They're trying to group the races by region to cut down on travel expenses and schedule them closer together with more consecutive off time including a 5 week summer break.

The Hungaroring is frequently described as Monaco without the houses.  It's a slow twisty track where they'll be using lots of down force and the softest tires they can get.  This is said to be good for McLaren which is having trouble with its Drag Reduction System.  Charging the Kinetic Energy Recovery System is putting a lot of drag on most teams during turning and is causing the rear ends to hop around.  It's traditionally a very hot track too and there could be engine failures.  Webber took the front end off his Red Bull during practice and they're still usining the mystery wires which were clearly visible.  Buemi is going to be penalized 5 grid positions for an incident last week at the Nurburgring.

This is the 11th race of 19 and the last before Spa at the end of August as the teams take their summer break.  As usual surprises below.

F1: Nurburgring

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Jul 24, 2011 at 10:49:37 AM EST

• Wiki Nurburgring
• Nurburgring for Dummies

After Nikki Lauda died in 1976 they pretty much bulldozed the Südschleife and built a new 2.8 mile track that was used today.  Any ordinary person who happens to find themselves in the area can purchase a ticket and drive the Northern Ring which is pretty remarkable when you think about it.

As of yesterday they were predicting rain, rain, and more rain although the 6 am ET GP2 race took place in the dry (though it was threatening).

I've heard no more interesting rumors about phone hacking even though the irony of having this covered on Fox is appealing.  This is the last race that will be tape delayed this season which has drawn a surprisingly strong reaction from my readers.

Of course what's surprising to me is that I have any readers at all.

I plead both distraction and fatigue for the brevity of my introduction and I'm afraid I can't promise any better for next week's Hungaroring when with any luck at all I'll have a chance to visit my doggie friend and his owner too.

While there might be pretty tables below all that they'll show is continued Red Bull dominance with Scuderia Marlboro UPC improvement and Renault decline relative to Mercedes.  Everyone else is an also ran even though the season is but half complete.

However wet has the potential to mix things up and Hamilton for one has opined he wouldn't mind if they ran every race in the damp from now on.

Pretty tables will wait.  I think commentary is more important.

• F1: Nurburgring Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site

F1: Nurburgring Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Jul 23, 2011 at 06:52:23 AM EST

• Speed Racecast

Tomorrow's broadcast will be tape delayed on Fox at noon and I won't be able to do those fancy lap position things because I get them from the Speed Racecast which since it's live will be good only for spoilers.  Fortunately all the rest of the coverage will be exclusively live on Speed (thank you sir may I have another?) starting with the Hungaroring next week (what did I say about rest?).

Can you get more meta than that?

Oh my yes.  You remember Silverstone don't you?

Things are not happy in the Formula One Teams Association, there's also the fact the Concorde Agreement has expired and is extended only through a letter, not a contract, through 2012 following a heated dispute that led many teams to threaten to go CART.  While nominally guided by Martin Whitmarsh of McLaren and Ross Brawn of Mercedes the FOTA is widely viewed as a tool of Bernie Ecclestone who has a distinct conflict of interest and a hazy history of influence on the FIA itself with his cozy relationship to Max Mosley the fifth columnist Nazi's son who got the boot for his sexcapades.

Interestingly enough this was the scoop of the recently deceased and unlamented News of the World who published sick Nazi Sex Orgy by Neville Thurlbeck so who knows what to think?

Well, Neville's in trouble again-

Rupertgate Friday - "For Neville"
By Gordonskene, Crooks&Liars
July 22, 2011 03:58 PM

As was reported yesterday, there are now growing questions over the honesty of the testimony given by James Murdoch during the Inquiry hearings on Tuesday. One centers around Neville Thurlbeck, who was a registered unpaid Police informant and has been a key suspect in the phone hacking scandal and an e-mail and attached file that carefully listed transcribed hacked messages.

Murdoch denies any knowledge of the e-mail, however former NoTW editor Colin Myler and former head of legal affairs for News Of The World Tom Crone claim the younger Murdoch had full knowledge of the "For Neville" e-mail and file and has been lying to the Commission. If this winds up being true, and Murdoch is found to be lying, it tosses an enormous question mark over the entire testimony on Tuesday and puts James Murdoch in the position of being arrested and held for further questioning.

Oh, you want racing news.

Regarding the Scuderia Marlboro UPC hissy fit

Engine Mapping (changing the engine management software) between Qualifying and Race is out.  Off Throttle Blown Diffusers are in.

Renault has never found another taker for their forward blown diffuser project and is running an experimental setup developed during the confusion on one of it's cars.  Both McLaren's are running on new configurations, no doubt in part to a strategic decision by management to prepare for 2012.  In fact their problems are in the Pits and always have been.  Lost wheelnut!  Throttling back because you bet on wet in your fuel setup!?  Maranello seems to have finally figured it out to an extent and is betting on a late season charge for 2nd because Red Bull continues to dominate.

Mercedes seems to have a car at last while Renault is floundering so there's kind of a race for 4th and 5th and then there are the remaining teams who will never ever be competitive unless they're permitted and can afford to track test more.  I refuse to believe sponsor money is the problem.

• Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland

As usual, surprising developments below.

F1: Silverstone

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Jul 10, 2011 at 10:53:35 AM EST

You know it's nothing unusual for the boys from Maranello to fail to engineer a competitive car and use their influence with the FIA to change the rules in their favor, but their days of influence may be over.  There's no doubt at this point that they're behind the mid season Off Throttle Blown Diffuser rule change and they're looking pretty sad and pathetic when only Sauber (who uses their engines) supports them.

Things are not happy in the Formula One Teams Association, there's also the fact the Concorde Agreement has expired and is extended only through a letter, not a contract, through 2012 following a heated dispute that led many teams to threaten to go CART.  While nominally guided by Martin Whitmarsh of McLaren and Ross Brawn of Mercedes the FOTA is widely viewed as a tool of Bernie Ecclestone who has a distinct conflict of interest and a hazy history of influence on the FIA itself with his cozy relationship to Max Mosley the fifth columnist Nazi's son who got the boot for his sexcapades.

Interestingly enough this was the scoop of the recently deceased and unlamented News of the World who published sick Nazi Sex Orgy by Neville Thurlbeck so who knows what to think?

It's a small world after all, it's a small, small world.

Sometimes it helps if you sing.

There will be another meeting before Nürburgring (did I mention I like irony?) which probably won't help much since the FIA is insisting on unanimous consent.

Oh, car racing.  Haven't the foggiest.  No spoilers you know.

• F1: Silverstone Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Eventually I'll have pretty tables, stay tuned.

F1: Silverstone Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Jul 09, 2011 at 05:06:28 AM EST

That said there are big changes at Silverstone.  The first is the track itself where they have repositioned the pit and renumbered all the turns.  The new Paddock Building is not as horrendously ugly as it could be I suppose, but the snide sniping at the fact the press pen doesn't have any windows where you can check your imported Maine Weather Stick (remember- if it's wet, it's raining) has already begun.

The FIA Rules committee frowns on the practice of using Pit Lane to shorten your lap even though it's perfectly possible and difficult to prevent even with the speed limit.

This is not their only folly, the principal one under discussion this weekend will be their jihad against Off Throttle Exhaust Blown Diffusers.  A diffuser is a bit of aerodynamic undercarriage designed to replace the downforce lost when the FIA shrank the rear wing to encourage overtaking because big ones were spoiling the air for following cars (the opposite of Turn Left drafting).  In order to make it more effective they blow the exhaust from the engine across it (usually back to front) to increase the wind speed.

Now the fact is that when you usually need this downforce is just at the moment when you take your foot off the gas which not only reduces the ambient air speed but also the exhaust volume.  Smart engineers have learned how to increase the exhaust volume when you take your foot off the gas.

The FIA has now ruled this 'movable aerodynamics' and disallowed it, starting with Engine Mapping (different software setups controlling off throttle engine speed between Qualifying and race day) at the last race in Valencia, and now limiting off throttle exhaust output to 10% of maximum in every instance.

The problem with this is it makes cars fall off the track and find walls and gravel pits when the difference between the downforce produced by the ginormous front wing and the teeney tiny back one unbalance the car in a turn.

Made worse by rain, which always seems to be a factor at Silverstone.  Both practices so far were in the wet and the forecast for Sunday is typically English- a pronounced sense of damp.  Hamilton is openly rooting for the race to take place at the bottom of the Channel, perhaps because he feels things can't get much worse.

If today's Qualifying takes place under dry we'll get for the first time a sense of how badly the FIA has screwed up.  The agreement between the teams and the FIA expired long ago and the current extension is done next year.  Many people are unhappy and Barack Obama Bernie Ecclestone may be facing a revolt by his base.

There are other issues I'll maybe get to tomorrow when I'm less pressed for time.  Surprising developments below.

F1: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Jun 12, 2011 at 11:57:31 AM EST

Pedro de la Rosa gets a ride with Sauber today, coming from the McLaren reserves to replace Sergio Perez who is not yet recovered from his Monaco concussion.  bmaz reports on the Bahrain decision I covered Friday.

Scuderia Marlboro UPC did a little better in qualifying than I expected, but it doesn't mean much for anyone as they are forcasting a 60% chance of rain.  To make things even more (ahem) interesting they've all dialed down the downforce because of the long straights and it's not the kind of thing you're allowed to adjust.  Virgin will start it's second car despite missing the 107% cut off.

Hopefully during the boring parts I'll find a source for the Le Mans results, it was actually much closer than I predicted, a mere 13 seconds after 24 hours that Audi won over Peugeot with their single remaining car.

• F1: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Pretty tables below.

F1: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Jun 11, 2011 at 13:02:04 PM EST

During yesterday's practice they were running the Softs and Super Softs, but they're expecting a rainy weekend so as per usual it's not an indicator of actual performance.  Last year Hamilton and McLaren had a particularly good day.  The year before that it got dropped in favor of Abu Dhabi.

At least Bernie got negotiated down from the $35 million he initially demanded to a mere $15 million taxpayer dollars.

Other than that I'm not sure what there is to say.  Vettel has a commanding lead in the Driver's Standings, Red Bull is not quite so convincing in the Constructor's Championship.  Scuderia Marlboro UPC needs several miracles to avoid being overtaken by some of the mid-range teams like Mercedes, Renault, and Force India and Maranello is unhappy about it.

Race coverage tomorrow is on Fox starting at 1 pm.

Developments and surprises (if any) below.

24 Hours of Le Mans

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Jun 11, 2011 at 06:22:49 AM EST

One of the differences is the length of the races.  Many of the events are timed rather than a fixed distance and some last quite a while.  This weekend is the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency commonly known as Le Mans.

It's run on the Circuit de la Sarthe which at 8.5 miles is one of the longest still used for racing.  The Ligne Droite des Hunaudières (better known as the Mulsanne Straight) is 3.7 miles long though they added 2 chicanes in the '90s when the FIA decided that no straight section of track over 2 kilometers would continue to be allowed.

Other safety changes include not letting any driver do a shift of over 4 hours or drive more than 14 hours in total.  You must have a team of at least 3 drivers.  The top 2 classes are Le Mans Prototypes 1 & 2 and the other 2 classes are GT 2s and GT 1s (for the last year) and GT AMs (their successor).

It really is an endurance race.  Cars are required to turn off their engines in the pits so there's always the question of if you can start them up again.  It's very hot which is tough on tires and the high speeds (over 200 mph in many sections of the track) put a lot of strain on the brakes when you want to change direction (say for a corner or something trivial like that).

Just as in the iconic movie Le Mans, interesting things can happen at any time, though in fact they rarely do.  Speed will have 18 hours of live coverage starting at 8:30 am with breaks for the Turn Left Pocono 500, Qualifying at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (at 2 pm), and Motorcycle racing from Mt. Morris.

This year they'll be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 1991 Mazda win and the 44th of Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt spraying Henry Ford II and Carroll Shelby with champagne instead of drinking it starting the tradition of wasting good wine.

If anything actually exciting occurs feel free to make note of it below.

Update:  Now with Grid positions.

Mo' Meta, Mo' Betta

by: ek hornbeck

Fri Jun 10, 2011 at 04:22:58 AM EST

It's a metaphor.

Consider today's offering from The Gulf Daily News-

OVERTAKEN BY LIES..?
By ANWAR ABDULRAHMAN, The Gulf Daily News
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2011

Bahrain always assumed that the Western world was too wise and mature to mix politics with sport. But the way it is behaving towards our Grand Prix fixture begs many questions now about its judgement.
...
No country in the world can guarantee itself totally free of some form of domestic disturbances - and we fully understand that when lives and security are endangered, such events can be postponed, as happened here.

But to now use human rights allegations as an excuse to deprive Bahrain of such an important sporting occasion, contradicts every ethic and value, as well as the spirit of global competition in its broadest sense.

Because you know, after all, Jesse Owens humbled Hitler in Berlin (not actually the story you think it is, the real one is Marty Glickman).

But our hole is not yet to China, let's dig a little deeper.

Unfortunately, hidden hands are at work to discredit Bahrain government's positive measures which have restored law and order to the country. It seems as if there is a willingness for members of this sporting body to be swayed by opposition claims of ongoing and brutal repression.
...
The facts of the matter are simple. The government of Bahrain has advised that the country is a safe and secure destination to host the Bahrain Grand Prix in October this year. The FIA, F1 management and the teams should not allow political machinations of a disaffected and small opposition group to affect the decisions taken by the FIA which quite rightly are based entirely on logistics and security considerations.

For members of the F1 fraternity to single out Bahrain over questions of human rights issues is unacceptable victimisation. A number of other countries which host F1 are considered to be far more repressive. The same stance should apply to Bahrain as to these other nations.

Certainly Bahrain should share part of the blame for innocently allowing both international media and human rights organisations to twist the truth. For years they have been fed a dubious diet of information. However, we have relied on individuals like Lord Gilford and public relations organisations such as Bell-Pottinger (whose staff deserted the kingdom en masse as soon as trouble started). They have milked the country's financial resources for a long time, yet failed to deliver any positive result.

From now on we hope such tasks will be undertaken by organisations with true local links, knowledge and understanding, as well as a genuine love for Bahrain.

The defamation of Bahrain was started by so-called native opposition elements, therefore only local, loyal media and public relations companies with a vested interest in the future of this country can be relied upon.

There are many highly capable, mature, experienced Bahrainis and expatriates who have been in this field all of their professional working lives.

They are the ones fully aware of internal politics, and only experts of such calibre can explain and influence Western thought and decision-making.

In fairness and to his credit Mr. Abdulrahman calls out Max Mosley as the fascist he is but to decry as he does "mixing sport with politics"...

My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator.
Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don't have men killed.
Oh. Who's being naive, Kay?

This could never happen here.  We're "exceptional".

F1: Monaco

by: ek hornbeck

Sun May 29, 2011 at 04:46:05 AM EST

Hamilton got pretty screwed by Perez's crash since he was saving tires in the pits and was only able to qualify 7th after half an hour of Red Flag while they reset the track.  Then he was penalized down to 9th for blowing off a chicane.

Speaking of tires, when asked why there was so little 'clag' or scrubbed off rubber on the track a Pirelli representative laughed and pointed out the dramatically lower speeds at Monaco.  This is significant because the projections are that even the Super Softs are good for 23 laps and it's only a 78 lap race.  Likewise non-competitive teams like Scuderia Marlboro UPC should suffer less from their lack of downforce and horsepower.

But they will suffer from grid position, it's practically impossible to pass and anyone looking to make up positions will have to do it in the pits or by avoiding the mistakes of those ahead.  I stand by yesterday's prediction, "Yet another snooze fest made exciting by flaming chunks of twisted metal which will be made more numerous by the frequent appearance of the safety car."

Speed's coverage starts with GP2 at 6 am, pre-race at 7:30, and roll off at 8.  I'll also be covering the Indianapolis 500 today which starts on ABC at 11 am and tomorrow I might have a word or two about Lime Rock.

• F1: Monaco Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Pretty tables below.

F1: Monaco Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat May 28, 2011 at 06:30:00 AM EST

Those who do like it for reasons other than tradition and glamor, point out that these are just the qualities that make it a great equalizer where more horsepower and superior aerodynamics don't count for as much to which my reply is- so you're relying on sheer dumb luck then?

Partisans of McLaren are much encouraged by the tight finish at Catalunya.  People who root for Scuderia Marlboro UPC are encouraged by...

Not much actually.  Their best news is that the rumors flying around Hamilton last week are now swirling around Button.  Otherwise while their team chief is professionally optimistic, Alonso is entirely unhappy with their performance so far and is demanding a faster car.

Moving back to McLaren, the Marlboro Scuderia may be picking up damaged goods (assuming either McLaren driver is insane enough to switch).  Button had a near collision with a forklift as they were setting up their palatial compound and Hamilton is very, very, unhappy with Scuderia Toro Rosso (the Red Bull team with the less reliable and powerful Ferrari engines) and/or Mercedes depending on who you read.

In other off track news, despite Bernie's naturally dictatorial nature it seems unlikely the Bahrain Grand Prix will be rescheduled.  This has less to do with the protests of human rights organizations or any sympathy for the serfs and is more about scheduling and transportation.  In a story straight out of the PR department, Formula One gets to claim to be environmentally friendly by transferring KERS technology from the Nissan Leaf.  Team Lotus gets to keep their name.

Oh, you want racing news.  Have I mentioned it's all about the tires?  Pirelli is debuting new Super Softs this weekend which will be mixed with the softs to ensure pit stops and simulate excitement.  Vettel says the Super Softs are good for 23 laps though so who knows?

My prediction?  Yet another snooze fest made exciting by flaming chunks of twisted metal which will be made more numerous by the frequent appearance of the safety car.

As usual, surprising developments below.

F1: Circuit de Catalunya

by: ek hornbeck

Sun May 22, 2011 at 04:53:31 AM EST

Teams are going to absurd lengths to save their Softs and in this race particularly so since Pirelli is introducing their new Super Hards and they are a full 2 seconds a lap slower.  While Hards and Super Hards are supposed to produce durability benefits that offset their lack of speed, there is absolutely no evidence that they do so even with the small number of non lemming-like teams that have dared to persue unorthodox strategies.

This leads to spectacles like Istanbul where Red Bull ran their hot Qualifying laps and parked (which McLaren emulated yesterday) and the 6 also rans from Scuderia Marlboro UPC, Renault, Mercedes, and Williams staying off track until a mere 2 minutes were left in Q3 (Schumacher didn't bother turning in a time).  I hope Bernie heard the boos and jeers from the crowd at the empty track that were quite audible to the cameras in Pit Lane, but he's such a arrogant and greedy bastard I doubt it.

Bottom line for racing?  Red Bull and McLaren have an extra set of Softs and everyone else pretty much doesn't.

But it goes to a bigger picture mentioned by one of the commentators- Formula One used to be about technology, innovation, and going fast.  There used to be a U.S. series like that too called Champ or CART who's turbo-charged cars in the early '80s were actually faster than F1 because they also allowed more down force.

It's successor, 'IndyCars', is open wheel NASCAR- bumper cars so evenly matched (supposedly to highlight 'driver skills') that the only thing to watch is who ends up in a flaming chunk of twisted metal, modern gladiator games with rules designed to enforce nose to tail racing and bunch cars up whenever someone gets too far ahead so as to ensure more crashes for the blood thirsty fans.

Did I mention the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 is next week?  Dad would want me to.

Circuit de Catalunya is notoriously boring and I expect nothing different today (the front five are exactly the same as they were last year).  Next week is also Monaco which is all about glitz, glamor, and tradition.  No actual racing is allowed.

I'll probably produce 2 separate pieces, one for Monaco and one for Indy.  I'll have to watch them both anyway since Richard will quiz me at the end, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to keep my eyes open.

As usual I used up all my good material yesterday so I really encourage you to click that top link.

• F1: Circuit de Catalunya Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Speed has GP2 at 6 am to rubber in the track, Formula One at 7:30 am with a repeat at 4:30 pm.

Pretty tables below.

F1: Circuit de Catalunya Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat May 21, 2011 at 05:59:41 AM EST

To the more mundane.  Williams has gotten off to it's slowest start ever and has already announced changes to it's technical team, director Sam Michael leaves at the end of the season.  Adrian Sutil is under investigation for getting into a fight with someone from Renault at a bar in Shanghai and stabbing him in the neck with a champagne glass.  Then there is Formula One: Texas Subsidy Style where Rick Perry fires 100,000 teachers and gives Bernie Ecclestone $250 million to subsidize the new race.

Oh, you want racing news.

Lots of technical changes at Circuit de Catalunya.  It's one of the off season testing tracks and in recent years has been extremely uncompetitive and boring.  F1 officials are hoping all the new rules, the tear away Pirellis, the KERS kinetic energy recovery system, and the DFR down force reducer will change that.  In particular they're hoping the DFR will finally have an impact and are activating it over the longest section of track yet this season.  Everyone has once again tweaked their aero bits.

What will probably have the greatest impact though is the new Pirelli Super Hard tires.  The Drivers hate them.  They're 2 seconds slower and don't last any longer than the softs.  You only get 3 sets of softs for both racing and qualifying and as Alonso puts it, "It's difficult to think about going in Q1 with the hard tyre, so I think 95 per cent of the people will try to use one soft unfortunately in Q1. We'll see if anyone takes the risk."

Speaking of Scuderia Marlboro UPC and how Formula One kisses their ass at every opportunity, there is the blown diffuser controversy.  Red Bull and McLaren along with some of the other teams are using engine management (mapping) to keep the amount of forward moving engine exhaust over their under car diffusers constant regardless of throttle position.  Just before this race and without any time to design or test new systems for the next 3 races (Monaco is next week and Canada shortly after) they decided it violated the movable aerodynamic parts rule they decided to ban it.

While you may argue about whether this disadvantages McLaren or Red Bull more, there is no doubt at all which team in the top three doesn't use it because their engineers have been too stupid for the last two years to make it work.  Oh, and the rumors about booting Massa and replacing him with Hamilton are apparently true, though Hamilton would have to be an idiot to transfer to a team with third rate equipment like Scuderia Marlboro.

Fortunately they're delaying a final decision until a regularly scheduled review next month.

But apparently flexible wings are just fine even though nobody has been able to duplicate them yet despite seeing the dangly wires after Vettel's practice crash in Turkey.

My Dad has requested I mention today is Indianapolis 500 Pole Day.  This is the 100th anniversary of the race.  TV coverage is from noon to 2 pm on ESPN2 and from 3 to 6 pm on ABC with post qualifying coverage from 6 to 8 pm again on ESPN2.

Speed coverage of Formula One starts with the Debrief at 7 am and Qualifying at 8 am.  Tomorrow GP2 starts at 6 am with the race at 7:30 am.

As usual any surprising developments below.

Formula One: Texas Subsidy Style

by: ek hornbeck

Fri May 13, 2011 at 09:26:29 AM EST

But not much.

Ecclestone is a corporate whore who hired the son of a Nazi that likes his sex with 5 or 6 workers dressed in jackboots.  He's probably just as responsible for the repression of the Bahrain Democracy movement as the Emir so he wouldn't have nasty icky protesters spoiling his circus.  Under his direction driving is pay to play, a seat goes for over a million in sponsorships and without it you watch from the stands no matter how good you are.

In short an example of Galtian Greed that makes selfish George Steinbrenner seem all warm and fuzzy by comparison.  At least George wanted to win.

Which is why it's no surprise to read stories like this-

Texas Taxpayers Finance Formula One Auto Races as Schools Dismiss Teachers
By Darrell Preston and Aaron Kuriloff, Bloomberg News
May 11, 2011 12:43 PM ET

As many as 100,000 teachers in Texas may be fired because of spending cuts to cope with the state's budget crisis, according to Moak Casey & Associates, an Austin-based education consultant. For $25 million a year, the state could pay more than 500 teachers an average salary of $48,000.
...
If the financing works as projected, the decision will use $250 million in state tax revenue for the races over 10 years.

"With places struggling, spending that much money on an essentially one-off event is tough to do," said Michael Cramer, a former president of baseball's Texas Rangers and hockey's Dallas Stars who runs the sports and media program at the University of Texas at Austin. "It's a very high cost of entry."

Texas, like other states cutting budgets for schools, nursing homes and basic services, uses economic-development spending to bring in jobs and seed growth. That often involves giving up tax revenue generated by a project to pay part of the cost. New Jersey is providing $200 million of tax-increment financing to help develop the American Dream in the Meadowlands, which will be the biggest mall in the U.S. when it opens.

"I'm not sure of the wisdom of using tax dollars to fund a racetrack," said Siwak, the Austin teacher. "They're giving so much tax dollars away I don't think they could make it up with the racetrack."
...
The state's $25 million is being paid to London-based Formula One Management Ltd. to hold the race in Austin, Sexton said. Formula One, owned by London-based CVC Capital Partners Ltd., a private-equity firm, is run by Bernie Ecclestone, the chief executive officer of the series.

"It's going to Mr. Ecclestone and Formula One to get them to bring the event here," Sexton said.

Paying such a fee goes beyond the intended use of the state fund, which was set up to support bringing annual events to Texas by rebating increased taxes they generate to cover costs including security and traffic control, said Richard Viktorin, an accountant with Audits in the Public Interest. The Austin- based group opposes government support for the races.
...
"It's off-balance-sheet financing for a rich man's sport," Viktorin said. Combs is "supposed to be a fiscal officer for the state. She's not controlling that fund."
...
Austin and the state are unlikely to recover their investment directly, Cipolloni said. However, the race will expose the city to a wide audience of tourists and executives that could help recruit companies and create jobs, he said.

"They won't collect tax money equal to the $25 million" from the state, Cipolloni said. "It's just a way to get exposure for the city."

As State Faces Deep Cuts, Texas Commits $250 Million Of Taxpayer Money To Auto Racing
By Marie Diamond, Think Progress
May 12th, 2011 at 3:45 pm

The motorsport franchise left the U.S. four years ago because of low attendance, but the effort to bring it back - and base it in Texas - has been spearheaded by B.J. "Red" McCombs, the co-founder of conservative media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications. Despite being consistently ranked as one of Forbes 400 richest Americans - with a net worth last estimated at $1.4 billion - McCombs has gotten state Comptroller Susan Combs to agree to build a racing track in Austin at taxpayer expense. Austin's city government may also invest an additional $4 million a year in tax revenue to facilitate the plan.
...
Corporate backers of the plan and their GOP allies insist that F-1 racing will pump money and jobs into the Texas economy. But sporting experts say the state is betting taxpayer money on an uncertain investment. Michael Cramer, a former president of the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars, told Bloomberg, "With places struggling, spending that much money on an essentially one-off event is tough to do."

F-1 races have tried and failed to gain traction in the U.S. in different cities since since the 1970s. Even Bernie Ecclestone, the CEO of the F-1 series admitted that, "No one wanted to hold it," until the Austin promoters stepped in.

F1: Istanbul Park

by: ek hornbeck

Sun May 08, 2011 at 04:30:00 AM EST

Will this be significant?  Who knows?  Rain is not expected.

GP 2 will rubber in the track, barring catastrophic failure, tactical miscalculation, and aggressive driving they'll finish the way they start.

So is Formula One boring?

Not the way Turn Left Bumper Cars are boring.  There you might as well ignore everything except the last 5 laps.  

Massa didn't turn in a time for Q3.  Kobayashi may or may not start under the 107% rule since he coasted into the pits during Q1 with fuel problems.

• F1: Istanbul Park Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Re-broadcast at 1:30 pm ET.

Pretty tables below.

F1: Istanbul Park Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat May 07, 2011 at 05:24:04 AM EST

There are some off track developments.  Ecclestone turned down a buyout bid saying that Formula One is not for sale, yet.  At least not to Murdoch's News Corp.

Tomorrow will be the first race of the GP 2 season.  They keep them in Europe to reduce the travel expenses.  I can hardly keep the teams and drivers of Formula One straight, but it you have an interest they kick off Speed's coverage at 6 am ET.  The actual race starts with the hype at a relatively civilized 7:30 am ET with the green flag at 8 and a repeat at 1:30 in the afternoon, so Richard can sleep in if he wants to (Dad seldom does the 3 am thing like I do anyway).

This break is traditionally used by the teams for technical development, so the cars you see in Europe are hardly the ones you saw in Asia at all, but with the new rules designed to make things "fairer" they're not allowed to do as much of that any more.  Most teams have tweaked their aero, but they do that all the time anyway, the big news is Scuderia Marlboro UPC's hydraulic dampeners.

You see Red Bull has been making everyone else (except McLaren) look pretty slow and apparently a big reason for that is their front wings flex a little closer to the track improving downforce.  Red Bull has been subjected to extensive 'scrutineering' and found legal because there are rules about how close to the ground you can get.  It's tough to tell because their system is totally mechanical and it's difficult to duplicate race conditions.

Marlboro UPC is attempting to counter with a hydraulic system to ensure they don't exceed the limits and spent a long time at the end of practice getting examined.  I say it's just something else heavy that can break so I see no real advantage, but the orders from Maranello are to start winning or they'll take their toys and go home.

Frankly, outside of Vettel, Red Bull doesn't look nearly as dominant as they did last year anyway and he hard parked during the second practice tearing up everything except the tub.  Not that it makes much difference, if they can't fix it he'll just have to drive the spare.

It rained heavily during the first practice and a lot of other people parked too.  McLaren never made it out of the pits because of clutch problems.

Istanbul Park is known for the 3 or 4 apex Turn 8, but most of the twisted metal yesterday was at Turn 11.  The surface is very rough so there will be lots of tire wear and again we are hearing rumors of back markers running unorthodox tire strategies.  They took over 1000 pounds of rolled up rubber off the track in China, Mark Weber has been changing tires more than anybody with little to show for the effort.

It's also a Turn Left circuit, one of 4, but at least you have the 151 feet of elevation change to keep you amused.

As usual I'll note the surprising developments, if any, below.

F1: Shanghai

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Apr 17, 2011 at 00:56:12 AM EST

It was odd last night to watch pretty much everyone except McLaren and the one Red Bull left sit in the pits until there was only 2 minutes left in Q3 (time enough for one warm up and one hot lap).

They are very concerned about having enough Soft Pirellis and those are going off quickly, particularly if abused from the start which is, unfortunately, typical.

Tyre allocation has been reduced for 2011, with 11 rather than 14 sets of dry-weather tyres available to each driver per race weekend. Drivers will receive three sets (two prime, one option) to use in P1 and P2 and must return one set after each session. A further eight sets will then be at their disposal for the rest of the weekend, although one set of each specification must be handed back before qualifying.

So in total you have eight sets of Softs to get you through the final 2 practices (one before the Qualifying and 'Warm Up Laps' pre-race) and 3 rounds of Qualifying and then the race.  Some desperate soul sometime is going to make themselves famous by running an all Prime strategy but it hasn't happened yet though some of the also rans have attemped it.

KERS you!

Mark Webber is pretty pissed off today.  In a car supposedly identical to pole sitter and Championship leader Sebastian Vettel's, his KERS software is sucking power like a broken air conditioner at all the wrong places.

Speaking of Red Bull, Scuderia 'I'll have a cigarette with my espresso' will start surprisingly strong.  Michael Schumacher once again under performs, his team mate Nico Rosberg is driving a contender.  Scuderia Marlboro UPC is over rated.  Paul di Resta impresses, Petrov couldn't even put it back on the track.

It's still very early in the season, this is only the third race of 19 and there are lots of points out there, but like The America's Cup and Le Tour, Formula One tends to magnify advantages.  As a die hard McLaren fan I'm really satisfied with their performance this year, but Red Bull doesn't seem to be suffering from their hardware failures.

• F1: Shanghai Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Re-broadcast Monday at noon.

Pretty tables below.

F1: Shanghai Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Apr 16, 2011 at 00:04:15 AM EST

Vettel dominated as predicted.

So we don't know anything we didn't already and the Shanghai circuit is equally a mystery except that the sinking has evidently passed inspection.

Tomorrow's race at 2:30 am will not be preceded by anything special and will not be repeated until noon on Monday so Richard will just have to wait until then to read though I'm sure Grandma's nurse will call him long before that to spoil it anyway.

I'll spare you my insights from Sepang since they haven't changed much, nor do I expect many surprises but if there are any I'll document them below.

F1: Sepang

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Apr 09, 2011 at 21:11:48 PM EST

Pick any random race from last year and you have almost exactly the same Starting Grid.  Michael Schumacher once again underperforms and Kamui Kobayashi does better than expected.  Everyone made the 107% limit so we start a field of 24.

As we approach the actual race there are 2 scenarios- rain and not rain.

If it doesn't rain then the drivers and teams who waited in the pits until the last 2 and a half minutes of Qualifying (warm up and hot lap) may have done themselves a favor in terms of tire wear since Sepang is notoriously tough because of the heat and cornering.  On the other hand everyone might start a fresh set of Wets which will be exciting racing.  If dry they are predicting 3 or 4 pits.  The bottom 14 get a chance to start Hards (weather permitting) and run some tire strategy.  Right now the forecast is for temperatures in the high 80s, 70 - 80% humidity, and a 60% chance of scattered Thunderstorms (if there is lightning they Red Flag the race because it's just not safe).

Nothing I've seen yet has changed my overall opinion, which is that it's McLaren and Red Bull and everybody else.  Hamilton and Button will be running handcrafted Titanium underwings that they're running their exhausts back to front over to improve downforce.  The exhaust direction is not unique, all the other teams are doing the same thing but their wings are Carbon Fiber.

• F1: Sepang Qualifying
• Formula One Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Pretty tables and discussion below.

F1: Sepang Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Apr 09, 2011 at 01:57:05 AM EST

Sepang is hotter than Albert Park this time of year and there's also a history of afternoon downpours that shortened the race in 2009.  This could effect tire strategy, though Jenson Button reports the McLaren team is getting excellent wear from the designed to deteriorate faster Pirellis.

Speaking of go fast technology, because of the long straights Red Bull is not shunning KERS the way they did in Australia.  In practice the 2 McLarens split Webber and Vettel and everyone else was pretty much an also ran.  Considering the results from Albert Park this very much reminds me of last season where Red Bull had a clear speed advantage in the early races that tightened up over the course of the season, except that this year is much closer.  Hamilton finished second despite major damage to his under carriage aero.

We also know now that they're going to be strictly enforcing the 107% rule for qualifying (though it only applies to the Q1 ETs).  The split spoiler is only activated for the trailing car and only in certain sections of track and within a certain distance of the car you're attempting to overtake.  It was no apparent advantage in Melbourne.

If I had actually watched Friday's practice last night I suppose I'd know more, but I was busy examining my eyelids from the inside.  I totally understand if others feel the same about tonight, qualifying is only interesting if there are surprises and there haven't been many so far.  Tomorrow though you get a rare chance to see the whole weekend in about 5 hours as Speed will be rebroadcasting the Friday practice and tonight's Qualifying starting at 12:30 am before the race itself at 3:30 am.  I'll try to have the piece up around midnight though I might nap after that for a while.  They'll be repeating the race only at 2:30 pm Sunday afternoon.

F1: Melbourne

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Mar 26, 2011 at 22:30:00 PM EST

Here is a season preview from The Telegraph and here is another one from the same source focusing on the drivers and teams.

I like Wikipedia for pop culture (since that's hardly ever controversial).  Their description of the Albert Park course is here.

I can't claim to have been paying a great deal of attention to last night's Qualifying (results below) but my take away was that not much has changed.  Vettel qualified almost half a second faster than he did last year (as one commentator quipped- "Thank goodness they made the cars slower").  The announcers are still way over rating Scudiero Marlboro which shows no sign of having improved at all.  Nor has Team Mercedes or any of the other 'also rans' from last year.

It was not known at the end of the broadcast if they would waive the 107% rule so it may be that HRT-Cosworth doesn't start at all and we proceed with a 22 car field.  My interpretation was that they could start from the pit, but I'm not in a position to enforce that.  Ecclestone and I ceased talking well before his facist friend Mosley got caught with his jackboots on but his pants down.

In March of that year the News of the World, a British tabloid newspaper, released video footage of Mosley engaged in sado-masochistic sexual acts with five sex workers in a scenario that the paper said involved Nazi role-playing, a situation made more controversial by his father's association with the Nazis.

Speed Racecast

In Other Formula One News

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Mar 05, 2011 at 05:56:18 AM EST

You might not have heard about this one-

Kickback Probe Tests CVC's Ties With F-1's Ecclestone
By Anne-Sylvaine Chassany, Karin Matussek and Alex Duff, Bloomberg BusinessWeek
February 15, 2011, 9:56 PM EST

Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Banker Gerhard Gribkowsky may have taken a $50 million kickback for engineering the sale of Formula One, the world's most-watched motor sport, German prosecutors say. Who paid that suspected bribe, they aren't saying.

That mystery has thrown a spotlight on the partnership between 80-year-old Formula One Management Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Bernie Ecclestone, a fixture of London's tabloids, and the company's buyer, CVC Capital Partners Ltd., one of Europe's largest and most-private buyout firms.
...
The investigation is focused on the 2005 sale of a 48 percent stake in London-based Formula One to CVC by Bayerische Landesbank in Munich, which received a 10 billion-euro ($13.5 billion) government bailout following losses on U.S. subprime mortgages. That investigation is adding to uncertainties about Formula One's future, making an exit more difficult for CVC, which manages 31 billion euros, including Europe's second- largest buyout fund.
...
"According to the current findings, the suspect, in turn, received $50 million in payments disguised via two consultancy agreements," Munich prosecutors said in the statement. A spokesman for the prosecutors declined to say who may have made the payments. No charges have been filed against Gribkowsky, who is being held while the probe continues. Ecclestone hasn't been accused of wrongdoing.
...
The kickback case "has been a ticking bomb for at least a year now," said Klaus Fleischer, professor of banking and finance at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich. "BayernLB is a money sink and is under enormous political pressure to clean up the whole mess of subprime, Hypo Alpe-Adria and Formula One."

Gribkowsky didn't run a competitive auction when BayernLB sold its 48 percent stake, two people with knowledge of the deal said. Kirch's lawyers say the sale undervalued Formula One, according to a letter sent to the bank on Jan. 6.
...
Since the CVC acquisition, Formula One has been plagued by a cheating scandal, and the global economic slump led Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Co. and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG to quit. The average race audience fell to 44 million in 2009 from 52 million in 2004 as younger people watch less TV, according to London-based Future Sport & Entertainment.

The sport is betting on growth in Asia and the Middle East after France was dropped from the schedule because it couldn't meet the costs and Italy and Germany lost one of their two annual races. This year, the championship has 20 races, including one hosted by India for the first time.

F1: Yas Marina

by: ek hornbeck

Sun Nov 14, 2010 at 07:25:38 AM EST

An interesting feature of the Yas Marina race is that it takes place at dusk and will finish under the lights like Singapore.

All the Top Qualifiers used Softs and they start on the same rubber.  The Bridgestone guys still swear they're only good for about 10 laps, so perhaps we'll see some early pits that mix up the field.  Were I a back marker I'd at least consider giving the Prime tire tactic a shot.  They take 2 laps to warm up and then they're just as good as the Softs.

Something that doesn't often get mentioned is that now days Drivers, while they are paid by the Teams, are also expected to bring their own sponsorship money to the table, effectively buying their seat.  While I don't think any Team would start a Driver they thought was slow just for the money, I can't see how this situation is good for the sport.

For all it's recent expansion Formula One is on the financial edge and a lot of the rule changes are compromises to make it cheaper to field a Team (not that this helped the US effort much because it's still very expensive).  I think this is an unfortunate development.

One change in particular I disagree with is the restriction on track testing time.  While it makes it cheaper for new Teams, it also prevents them from learning the things they need to know to be competitive.  For instance the Virgin Cars still don't have enough fuel on board to go the whole race at top speed.

If "cost cutting" rule changes continue Formula One will degenerate into the Open Wheel NASCAR Bumper Car sport that IndyCar and all the 'strict' formulas have become and while you may think it's thrilling to have the cars all bunched up so there are lots of chunks of twisted flaming metal, I don't really watch for the wrecks.

That's what Monster Jam is for.

I promised I'd talk about Auto World and Ferrari World, but I think most of it is in the links.  I will say that I had a chance to go to Auto World twice and I found it kind of sad in the same way Lake Compounce is sad.  The second time was the revival and they were only running the 'Historic Flint' front end, not that the back was much of a much.  An up escalator past painted walls with a sound track about making cars.  A moving Airport slide walk past cam driven HMS Pinafore wave cut outs of engines and stuff with a sound track about making cars.  A down escalator past painted walls with a sound track about making cars.  No wonder my Grandma thought Michael Moore was a smart ass.  Ferrari World is said to have the world's fastest roller coaster.  We'll see how long it lasts.

I really, really, really encourage you to click through on Yas Marina Qualifying, it's a much better piece.

Pretty tables below.

• Yas Marina Qualifying
• F1 Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Repeat at 4:30 pm.

F1: Yas Marina Qualifying

by: ek hornbeck

Sat Nov 13, 2010 at 07:45:00 AM EST

The Constructors' Championship is already done- Red Bull, McLaren, Scuderia Marlboro.  Fair enough I suppose, the others were playing catchup to Red Bull all year.  It's a big triumph for the former Jaguar/Ford team which knew nothing but futility in it's previous incarnation.  They're now the biggest in Formula One too, with 2 separate groups (Toro Rosso, running the Ferrari engine) and 4 cars on track.

Speaking of engines, the Top contenders are all on used engines and are using different ones today than they used yesterday in practice.  Both the Red Bull drivers have relatively low milage, ultra reliable Renaults, everyone else is running the best they have left.  Barrichello's stopped during the first practice.

Yas Marina is about 3.4 miles and because of it's long straight and a couple of other fast bits can put a lot of strain on brakes.  It's a relatively new track and while it's designed to resemble Monaco it's really nothing like it at all.  Yeah, sure, there are high walls and stuff, but they're mostly not as close as they look on TV.  Instead there are acres of smooth asphalt run off areas, no gravel traps at all.  This has the unintended(?) side effect of making drivers more aggressive since there is rarely a parking penalty for an off.

Now you'd naturally think that being in Abu Dhabi and all you wouldn't have to worry about rain, but it did in fact, quite heavily, just before yesterday's practice and at practice time it was 80 degrees with 60% humidity.  The drivers won't have to worry about 'rubbering in' the track though since after almost 2 months of down time the support races in GP 3 and GP 2 will stage their season finales before the main event (Speed's coverage of GP 2 starts at 6 am).

About that rubber, next year Pirelli is taking over from Bridgestone as the sole source supplier to Formula One and they're already talking about deliberately putting out 'risky' tires to encourage 'tire management strategies'.

Well, for one thing they're tactics not strategies and were I a driver that would certainly give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside, especially after parking.

Branson's toy Virgin team has sold off the Lloyd's Bank stake to Russian Sports Car manufacturer Marussia who would dearly love to have Petrov on the team next year, but it would be a big step down from Renault for him.

After this racing starts again on March 12th, 2011 with Qualifying in Bahrain and they'll be adding a 20th race in India.  If you want to see some of the other changes click the link.

I think I'll spare you my comparison of Auto World and Ferrari World until tomorrow.  Pre-race coverage starts at 7:30 am.  Qualifying will repeat at 4:30 pm.  Surprising developments (if any) below.