F1 Season 2009

Haven't really watched F1 since the Schumacher procession era, excitement for me has gone from F1.

But I reckon the changes this year might make it a little more interesting. Qualifying results anyway.

1 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes
2 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes
3 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault
4 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber
5 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota
6 10 Timo Glock Toyota
7 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari
8 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota
9 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
10 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault
11 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
12 7 Fernando Alonso Renault
13 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota
14 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
15 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
16 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari
17 8 Nelsinho Piquet Renault
18 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes
19 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes
20 11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari

And F1 wouldn't be F1 without controversy. 5 cars in the top 8 are driving under appeal due to their rear diffuser design. Would love to hear opinions on this, especially from the likes of Jomo who know F1 inside out. Is it legal?

since the new changes came in, the new mclaren car is supposed to be too slow to compete against the others, even in the practice sessions it didnt do well at all and during testing when it was launched, with the qualifying times there making down in 14th and 15th place thats very bad for a top f1 team. lewis hamilton wont be happy with that result.

the driver to watch out for this year, is sebastian vettel, he is good

Just watching the re-run of qualifying now! Seems to be a lot more drivers that are hitting fastest times rather than the few that are usually up there! Brawn GP having a great start!!

Hamilton might have a 5 place penalty too if they have to replace his gearbox!!

Whats the story with Toyota being demoted because of their diffuser?? Did they not get the all clear during the week??

BBC's coverage gets the thumbs up from me anyway, although Coultard and Eddie Jordan are a little bit annoying at times

The "double decker" diffusers seem to have an advantage over the others, I can well understand the other teams protesting, it will be very hard for them to develop their own designs at this stage because in season testing is now banned.
Just heard that Toyota have been excluded from qualifying because of an infringement with the rear wing.

I've been following the rear diffuser thing for a while now, here's everything I can find! :lol:



[size=12pt]Williams rear diffuser design:[/size]

[quote author="[url]http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2009/0/623.html"]Like[/url] engine suppliers Toyota's, Williams' interpretation of the revised diffuser regulations is highly innovative. Much of the diffuser's central section is actually lower than the outer sections. However, clever shaping of the rear crash structure immediately below the rear light effectively creates a second central section (red arrow). In combination, the result is a central section that exceeds the 175mm height allowance that applies to the diffuser alone.[/quote]

[size=12pt]Toyota rear diffuser design:[/size]

[quote author="[url]http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2009/0/622.html"]Toyota's[/url] diffuser makes a very interesting interpretation of the revised 2009 rules (and one that has already prompted speculation regarding its legality). By exploiting regulations that allow extra bodywork within a 150mm zone in the centre of the car, the team appear to have cleverly shaped the TF109's rear crash structure (upper red arrow) so that it effectively lengthens and heightens the diffuser's central section, which also features a very low splitter at its base (lower red arrows).[/quote]

[size=12pt]McLaren rear diffuser design:[/size]

[quote author="[url]http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2009/0/621.html"]McLaren[/url], Ferrari, Renault and BMW Sauber have all made very literal interpretations of the revised 2009 rules regarding the rear diffuser. All of the channels are the same height and length, with no difference in height between the main central section and the side channels. This contrasts with the designs of Toyota and Williams (see subsequent illustrations), which interpret the new regulations slightly differently.[/quote]


Here's the ambiguous rule that's causing all the confusion!
[quote author="[url=http://www.fia.com/resources/documents/1151088479__2009_F1_TECHNICAL_REGULATIONS.pdf]F1 Technical Regulations 2009 (Click to download (1MB))[/url]"]
3.12.7 No bodywork which is visible from beneath the car and which lies between the rear wheel centre line and a point 350mm rearward of it may be more than 175mm above the reference plane. Any intersection of the surfaces in this area with a lateral or longitudinal vertical plane should form one continuous line which is visible from beneath the car. A single break in the surface is permitted solely to allow the minimum required access for the device referred to in Article 5.15.
Additionally, any bodywork in this area must produce uniform, solid, hard, continuous, rigid (no degree of freedom in relation to the body/chassis unit), impervious surfaces under all circumstances.[/quote] Make sense of that!?

Can't wait till tomorrow morning 6.00am!

Was watching it during the night last night. Was good enough. There are also teams using this boost system (to lazy to look the name of it up) which didnt seem to give much advantage to the teams using it

its going to be some season loved the whole build up and the hear the chain as the intro music I got goose bumps....
I hope eddie jordan does not keep going the way he went today, was a bit cringe worthy watching him have a go at richard branson.
hopefully the whole rear diffuser will be put to bed and not take away from brawn gp achievements
but beside all that bring it on going to be some class racing

Hello Lads,

Fair play to Brawn GP

I never taught Ross Brawn would own/run his own team, so fair play to him on this

F1 engineering is all about designing around / testing the limits of the rule book

Patrick Head was one of the designers, who always pushed the limit & its always great to see innovation

I'm a fan of the Red Cars myself (& was before they were good)

But again, Fair play to R.B. & his team

Cheers,

Michael

Why was Hamilton stripped of the third that they handed him on Sunday?? Heard something about him deliberately misleading them?? Does Trulli now get the 3rd place back or does it go to the 5th place driver?

Trulli is back into 3rd.

Basically Trulli was penalised for passing Hamilton during a yellow flag & while safety car was on circuit. More evidence has been furnished which shows that McLaren actually told Hamilton to slow down & pull in so as to allow Trulli past. They shouldn't have done this, its seen as trying to get Trulli penalised so they've been excluded.

Hope I explained that well enough for you to understand

I get you Brian!!

Cheers!

[quote author=STi Brian link=topic=13930.msg174056#msg174056 date=1238677620]Basically Trulli was penalised for passing Hamilton during a yellow flag & while safety car was on circuit. More evidence has been furnished which shows that McLaren actually told Hamilton to slow down & pull in so as to allow Trulli past. They shouldn't have done this, its seen as trying to get Trulli penalised so they've been excluded.[/quote]Read yesterday9 think from bbc.co.uk/sport) that when the safety car was out, Trulli made a mistake and went off track,Hamilton passed him out so to avoid getting a penalty for passing under yellows McLaren told Hamilton to let Trulli pass

did nt see the incident so not sure if this is what happened

FIA Press release!

Press Release
Stewards Decision Australian GP 02/04/2009
PENALTY IMPOSED ON DRIVER NO 1 LEWIS HAMILTON AND COMPETITOR VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES



SUMMARY OF KEY CONSIDERATIONS


At the first hearing following the Australian Grand Prix the Stewards did not have the benefit of the radio exchanges between driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and his Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes nor did they have access to the comments to the Media given by Lewis Hamilton immediately after the end of the race.



From the video recordings available to the Stewards during the hearing it appeared that Jarno Trulli’s car left the track and car No 1 moved into third place. It then appeared that Trulli overtook Hamilton to regain third place, which at the time was prohibited as it was during the Safety Car period.



During the hearing, held approximately one hour after the end of the race, the Stewards and the Race Director questioned Lewis Hamilton and his Team Manager David Ryan specifically about whether there had been an instruction given to Hamilton to allow Trulli to overtake. Both the driver and the Team Manager stated that no such instruction had been given. The Race Director specifically asked Hamilton whether he had consciously allowed Trulli to overtake. Hamilton insisted that he had not done so.



The new elements presented to the Stewards several days after the 2009 Australian Grand Prix which led to the reconvened Stewards Meeting clearly show that:



a. Immediately after the race and before Lewis Hamilton attended the Stewards Meeting he gave an interview to the Media where he clearly stated that the Team had told him to let Trulli pass.


b. Furthermore, the radio exchanges between the driver and the Team contain two explicit orders from the Team to let the Toyota pass.



The Stewards, having learned about the radio exchanges and the Media interview, felt strongly that they had been misled by the driver and his Team Manager which led to Jarno Trulli being unfairly penalised and Lewis Hamilton gaining third place.

Click to expand...

hope mclaren get fooked out for cheating!!!!

any ideas wot time the chineese gp is on at lads???

[quote author=finnmcool link=topic=13930.msg178760#msg178760 date=1240052520]
any ideas wot time the chineese gp is on at lads???
[/quote]

most of the qualifying is over now it started at 1pm, the race starts tomorrow at 7am on bbc1

Thanks Mark

Vettel really did the business today Superb drive

Really good grand prix today, starting to enjoy watching this again

just watching now!!!!!
very competitive now that they are on an even par!!!
2 weeks ago the race was abandoned for heavy rain yet today was not really any different!!!!

I was thinking that myself Marko, at times today it seemed exactly as dangerous as two weeks ago...weird.