In today’s round-up: Kubica has another operation on his elbow.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
Kubica has extra elbow surgery (Autosport)
“Robert Kubica has undergone a fourth operation in hospital in Italy.”
How committed to F1 is the BBC? (Doctorvee)
“There is also a myth that Formula 1 can be adequately covered by commercial broadcasters. Anyone who actually tried to sit down and watch a race on ITV will know that this is simply not true.”
The 2011 Motor Sport Hall of Fame (YouTube)
Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.
Comment of the day
Einarai shares my thoughts on yesterday’s sodden test at the Circuit de Catalunya:
Why doesnit heavy rain ever hit Barcelona during race time?
Einarai
From the forum
VettelS has an idea for an F1 road trip.
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Starosta, Armen and Pabs!
On this day in F1
Nelson Piquet won his home race in Brazil on this day in 1983.
Woffin
13th March 2011, 1:29
Obviously 1996 stands out in the memory as a wet Barcelona GP but it really is a rarity to see the levels of rain we’ve had in testing appear at a race weekend as well. It would definitely liven up the race a little, although not as much as it would have done if the final chicane wasn’t installed.
Damon
13th March 2011, 18:22
Malaysia in 2009?
Spa – very often. Suzuka as well.
David-A (@david-a)
13th March 2011, 18:44
Korea, China.
sato113 (@sato113)
13th March 2011, 1:55
what does this mean-> ^^
f1 circuits by joe ‘vitantonio’ saward :D
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/the-thing-about-f1-circuits/
and scarbsf1 on mclarens exhaust
http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/mclaren-mp4-26-exhaust-is-the-u-bend-a-front-exit/
Calum
13th March 2011, 10:03
The 2 arrows mean: In reply to the above.
Feynman
13th March 2011, 2:36
I appreciate the pre-season is dragging on, but do we really need to start posting links to comedy blogs?
RIISE (@riise)
13th March 2011, 9:46
This.
Bernard
13th March 2011, 12:17
Bingo
snowman
13th March 2011, 14:21
Well summed up Feyman. If it ain’t comedy it’s Legard in disguise writing it.
Rob G (@rob-g)
13th March 2011, 3:14
Completely agree with COTD!
Fixy (@)
13th March 2011, 17:13
Completely agree with Rob G!
Icthyes
13th March 2011, 8:11
Here’s something to think about: the McLaren MP4-24 of Lewis Hamilton got out of Q1 in Barcelona in a time of 1 minute 20.991 seconds. The current car is doing 1 minutes 22s. Yes, Q1 was done in anger on low fuel and these cars aren’t nearly as developed yet, but this was at the stage when the McLaren was a real dog and was to improve by quite a lot.
So my question is: why didn’t McLaren use the final variant of the MP4-24 as a basis for this year’s car? It might have ended up being a better choice!
Steve
13th March 2011, 8:56
Pretty blind of you to be honest.
They have said many times that the tyres are much slower than last year, and the new aero regulations slow the cars down further.
Considering they are the experts with all the info, and we are not, you will probably find that they made the right choice to try and improve the car according to what the new regulations allow.
There is a good chance that the potential to improve last years package more than it had already been improved was less than the potential to improve the current one. The whole point of winter testing is to build a base that can then be improved drastically on during the course of the year. Last years base was probably already max’d out.
Icthyes
13th March 2011, 10:59
I apologise for having the temerity to answer an innocent question. I only hope that one day I can have your superior intellect.
By the way, if you’re going to act all mighty, at least get your facts right. The MP4-24 was from two years ago. Last year’s was the MP4-25. I am talking about the former, not the latter. Perhaps you might want to read things more carefully next time you feel like satisfying your complex.
Icthyes
13th March 2011, 11:02
D’oh! To ASK an innocent question.
Last Pope Eye
13th March 2011, 11:27
lol, to the two of you… These made F1 Fanatic more awesome site! Shake your hands both of you please :)
Icthyes
13th March 2011, 11:44
Lol, don’t worry, it’s all banter.
Steve
13th March 2011, 8:58
Their car was also not a dog. It was quicker than all other teams except two. The virgin, lotus and HTR’s were dogs.
hawkfist
13th March 2011, 10:55
In 2009 those 3 teams didn’t even exist, that car was 2 years ago.
Toro Stevo
13th March 2011, 11:01
The MP4-24 Icthyes was referring to was the ’09 car, which was at the beginning a pretty slow car. That said, its pace wasn’t tragic compared to the field before Barcelona, it did pick up points in most of the early season races (just not podiums, or podia).
It was tragic in the middle stint of 09 though, which may include Barcelona, I can’t remember.
Icthyes
13th March 2011, 11:10
The speed with which they got their double diffuser was impressive, I think they had it by China. Then from Barcelona until Nurburgring they were pretty bad, they key upgrade in Germany being the outwash front wing, which was for more important an innovation than the headline-grabbing ever was, both in terms of downforce and keeping the cars susceptible to aero wakes. Obviously the final spec of the MP4-24 had the DDD, as it did in Barcelona, but the car was never designed around it.
Icthyes
13th March 2011, 11:14
What I mean is the fundamental design, the Abu Dhabi spec was geared towards maxing the diffuser but the DDD was always just an add-on, not like with the Brawn, Toyota or Williams.
Toro Stevo
13th March 2011, 11:38
Yeah, the upgrade between England and Germany was immense. They went from being lapped by Red Bull at Silverstone, to Lewis battling them for the lead on the first corner at the Nurburgring (and Heikki helping Webber get up by slowing most of the field). McLaren seemed to struggle with the air flow for the entire European season up to that point, they were going backwards.
I remember them saying around Silverstone that the upgrades were good, but they were missing a critical component that would bring it all together and make it a quick car. I laughed at the time. They were then I think one of the quicker cars for most of the remainder of the season.
OEL
13th March 2011, 18:20
“(and Heikki helping Webber get up by slowing most of the field)”
Well, Heikki was still driving the un-updated version in Germany.
f1geek
13th March 2011, 9:32
The BBC preview :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnxGvZubvaU
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
13th March 2011, 11:56
Exciting :D
somerandomguy
13th March 2011, 9:42
quiet day today
Calum
13th March 2011, 10:06
1 week to go!!! :D
DeadManWoking
13th March 2011, 10:17
Until there’s another week to go :(
sato113 (@sato113)
13th March 2011, 13:12
well it’s 1 week until we start seeing build up photos from oz on f1.com and other sites!
SennaNmbr1 (@)
13th March 2011, 11:05
If the BBC really want to cut back on the F1, they should do it like they did in the early 90s on Grandstand and just show the race with two commentators.
Journeyer
13th March 2011, 12:02
Re: COTD – Heavy rain has hit Barcelona – twice, in fact. First one was in 1992, which Mansell won. The other was in 1996, which Schumacher won. Both wins were achieved in dominant fashion, but only Mansell had the best car in the field for that win.
PJ
13th March 2011, 13:14
Quiet Sunday indeed given all the testing’s done (great coverage of it all by the way).
I liven things up, take a look at these F1 2011 posters I made for the upcoming season. There’s one for every Grand Prix on the calendar :)
http://www.pjtierney.net/2011/03/formula-1-2011-poster-series.html
wificats (@wificats)
13th March 2011, 16:30
Those posters are awesome! I particularly like the Turkey and Japan ones, but they all look very sophisticated and authentic. Nice job.
SennaNmbr1 (@)
13th March 2011, 16:45
Silverstone one is awesome, incorporating the new wing building.
PJ
13th March 2011, 17:28
Thanks guys, GB one’s my favourite of the lot, the shapes of the wing are awesome. Looking to get these printed and then open up a store :)
Dan
13th March 2011, 19:37
Awesome work man!
Icthyes
13th March 2011, 20:04
Those. Are. Awesome.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
14th March 2011, 6:31
I am so sick of this nonsense! The BBC is one of the only television stations in the world who broadcasts F1 without commercials, hence, the British are nearly the only people in the world who have the pleasure of seeing F1 without commercials. I live in Australia, and the quality of our local OneHD telecast is well documented, but I have watched some old F1 races including the build-up and analysis from ITV and I can’t fault it. I would do anything for coverage as good as that, in fact!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
14th March 2011, 7:52
Sorry Damon but it’s not the fault of British people that you can’t enjoy the benefits of a state-funded broadcaster.
F1 should be broadcast ad-free wherever it is shown. It’s hard enough broadcasting and covering a race which may have multiple focuses of attention at any one time (unlike many other sports which typically have one) without huge chunks of live footage being cut out.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
14th March 2011, 8:40
We have the ABC in Australia, but they’ve never been interested in broadcasting the sport. I wish they would, but it doesn’t seem to be a priority. I am not angry at the people who are critical of ITV because it has advertisements, I am just annoyed that many people seem to take the BBC’s fantastic coverage for granted. The British are extremely fortunate to have it, but it’s not going to last forever.
I am thankful for our woeful coverage in Australia, because if it weren’t for OneHD, there’d be no way in the world I could possibly follow F1. Unfortunately, that is the case with GP2, which I happen to enjoy a lot.
Indeed. Moments I’ve missed this year include the battle between the Ferraris before the switch in Germany, Hamilton trying to pass Hulkenberg in Brazil, the restart in Australia and very nearly, the moment when Vettel wiped Jenson Button out of the Belgian Grand Prix. Be thankful whilst the uninterrupted coverage lasts.