Formula One World Championship

Rosberg, Mercedes dominate MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX practice

Red Bull not so dominant

Vettel back on the front row.

It begins.

at least there's some competition this year, and Red Bull cannot fix the Drivers Championship by slowing down one of its two cars

So Ricciardo can start better than Webber...

He finds it hard to drive on three wheels, though ... trike.

And he's been penalised for the next race too.

lardbucket wrote:He finds it hard to drive on three wheels, though ... trike.

so overrated!

an overly optimistic article...

>>>

Michael Schumacher's agent says the Formula One world champion is making progress and showing signs of waking from an induced coma, three months after a Skiing accident in France.

Schumacher, 45, slammed his head on a rock while skiing off-piste in the French Alps resort of Meribel on December 29 last year.

"Michael is making progress ... He shows moments of consciousness and awakening," his agent Sabine Kehm said in a statement.

Schumacher remains in hospital in the French Alpine city of Grenoble, where he underwent two operations to remove life-threatening blood clots before being placed into a coma.

Doctors started lowering the retired German racing driver's sedation at the end of January to wake him up from the coma.

Ms Kehm says Schumacher's family remains confident about his condition, and is by his side.

"We are on his side during his long and difficult fight, together with the team of the hospital in Grenoble, and we keep remaining confident," she said.

Ms Kehm once again asked that the privacy of Schumacher's wife, Corinna, and their two children be respected, while thanking well-wishers for their support.

"We again ask for understanding that we do not intend to disclose details," she said.

"This is necessary to protect the privacy of Michael and his family, and to enable the medical team to work in full calmness."

Schumacher, who won a record 91 grands prix, left the sport last year after a disappointing three-year comeback with Mercedes following an earlier retirement from Ferrari at the end of 2006.

The news of an improvement in his condition was greeted with relief by the sport's current top German drivers, who are taking part in this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

<<<

translation: the sedation has been weaned, and he is having occasional fits

It's 2009 again, minus the charm that Brawn GP had.

Good effort by Ricciardo for 4th from 13th in Bahrain. And how grouse was it to see the Red Bull crew order Vettel to let Daniel pass "as he is faster than you".  

Looks like Red Bull have been replaced by Mercedes this year.
I honestly don't see a car to beat the Silver Arrows . . .
.... unless Red Bull start tweaking their engines PDQ.

skully wrote:Good effort by Ricciardo for 4th from 13th in Bahrain. And how grouse was it to see the Red Bull crew order Vettel to let Daniel pass "as he is faster than you".  

He already looks to be more talented/faster than the steady Webber

Doesn't get much better than Vettel ignoring team orders to let his team mate pass, only to then get passed anyway. F*cking classic.

ARTICLE: Damon Hill interviewed 20 years after Imola; how his feelings about that tragic weekend have changed over time.


"What came out of it was changes in safety... the sport itself grew up and how many more lives were saved afterwards because of these safety improvements we'll never know."

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/ayrton-senna-remembered-on-20th-anniversary-of-his-death-20140502-zr2wr.html

from formula 1 website:

>>>



Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen were amongst a host of F1 drivers past and present who attended a memorial service at Imola in Italy on Thursday to mark the 20th anniversary of the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger.

In an emotional ceremony at Tamburello corner attended by thousands of fans and members of Senna's family, the Ferrari duo were joined by Marussia’s Jules Bianchi and a number of former F1 drivers in paying their respects to the two racers who lost their lives over the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix weekend.

“The only positive thing to come out of the weekend that took Ayrton and Roland Ratzenberger away from us was that, from then on, safety in Formula One improved significantly,” said Alonso. “In fact, we can say that inside our cars there is something of the legacy of Senna and Raztzenberger, because after that terrible 1994, nothing was ever the same again.”

Raikkonen echoed his team mate’s thoughts: “Senna was very important for Formula One, as a driver and a person and his death led to a rapid acceleration in the process of increasing the level of safety in our sport.

“That has avoided other tragedies from occurring. Unfortunately however, one cannot change the past, neither for Ayrton nor for Roland Ratzenberger. The only thing we can do is remember this champion, whose exploits defined the history of Formula One for a long time.”

<<<

So it seems the F1 drivers think the safety changes have been good for the sport.

Well, obviously safety in itself is good as nobody wants to see drivers killed, it has lost some of its magic though and some of the changes made for safety reasons have played a part. I particularly hate tarmac run-off areas, if you leave the track through a mistake your race should be over, gravel traps usually did their job. Lewis Hamilton hinted at this when referring to drivers e.g. Vettel leaving the track to overtake/defend etc. which is rarely penalised, whereas in Senna's days they had to learn to put the car in the right place to the millimetre.

Yes, much more fun to see them flying through the air upside down and colliding with the Armco.

Now, if they could bring back refuelling...

beamer wrote:Well, obviously safety in itself is good as nobody wants to see drivers killed, it has lost some of its magic though and some of the changes made for safety reasons have played a part. I particularly hate tarmac run-off areas, if you leave the track through a mistake your race should be over, gravel traps usually did their job. Lewis Hamilton hinted at this when referring to drivers e.g. Vettel leaving the track to overtake/defend etc. which is rarely penalised, whereas in Senna's days they had to learn to put the car in the right place to the millimetre.

tho most of the bogans who watch F1 consider the crashes the highlights...F1, boxing and mma are the modern day collesseum 'sports'

Any update on the Schu?

Nope, seems to be another Ariel Sharon type.

Cheers t.

The Spanish GP is being led by 3 Mercs ahead of the first Red Bull Renault - Ricciardo.

The Mercs clearly got the new formula much righter than the rest. I wonder how fast Ricciardo would go in one? Hamilton already looks a cert for the drivers championship.

Best race of the season so far. Individual battle froms 1-10. Apart from Ricciardo who once third never looked like being caught or catching the mercs.