Is it me? Or does this year's championship have ZERO charisma so far. The only hi-light so far this year has been Max Mosley’s escapades.

I didn’t see qualifying for this weekend’s Spanish GP, but I did see the results, and I will watch the race.

My predictions: Raikkonen (pole to finish), followed by Massa and then Kubica. I don’t see Alonso holding on for a podium, although it would be great for the Spanish tifosi.

Back to back 1-2's for Ferrari. Who cares about charisma as long as the red cars finish first.

Great race. This Turkey track has now moved into my top 4 race tracks (Canada, Spa, Monaco...all for different reasons).

I heard an interesting statistic today. Of all the sponsors in F1, the country with the most financial interest is the good ol' USA. And yet they don't have a race. Ironic? Next year for sure.

quote:

Great race. This Turkey track has now moved into my top 4 race tracks (Canada, Spa, Monaco...all for different reasons).

I heard an interesting statistic today. Of all the sponsors in F1, the country with the most financial interest is the good ol' USA. And yet they don't have a race. Ironic? Next year for sure.

Reason is: Poor finaccial support, Poor TV ratings, Poor attendance. Add politics with IRL, FOMA, FIA etc.

As a prior F1 official, Indy does not constititute a great circuit. we need something better. The Glen was good, but now very much outdated, we do not need to race in LV parking lots, nor on an oval.

Renault is moving up, but expcect BMW to get more points than McLaren within next couple races.

Surprising stat, as with the mid-eastern interests, EU area,I would be surprised that the US is at the top. Obviously the EU and ME constitute aboout 30 countries.

As for Circuit Villeneuve, I appreciated the old layout VS the change to move the Pits to old station eight. I loved teh dip at the end of pit out.

Do those stats figure in the actual shareholder ownership of those publicly-owned companies or just where they are based?

Anyway, marketing relates to where the products are sold, not who's profiting from selling them.

Brings to mind all the NASCAR fans whining about Toyota. While the former Big Three have massively exported jobs (how "patriotic" is that?), Toyota and Honda have come in bringing jobs. So, as far as providing U.S. jobs and contributing to the U.S. economy, the real Big Three is GM, Toyota and Honda.

The stats came from a pre-race segment on Speed TV. I don't remember the exact breakdown, but they claim that F1 is a $2 Billion industry. The average annual expense for an F1 team is $200 million. Again....AVERAGE. Obviously some teams spend more than others. Each team gets an average of $50 million from Bernie Eccelstone, which he gets from the track sponsors. The $150 million dollar balance for each team needs to come from their sponsors. According to the Speed TV segment, the US is the leader (worldwide) when it comes to sponsorship dollars.

Some of the biggest sponsors I know are Vodafone (and other Telecom), Shell (and lots of other oil companies, i.e. Petronas, ELF), Marlboro (last of the cigarette giants), Panasonic (Lenovo, HP), ING and RBS (and other banks) and Red Bull. Those are the major sponsors. From this list, one must deduce that the US has large to major claims (shareholders as YHN noted above) in all of these companies, since all of them are located outside the US.

Anyway, cheers to Massa. Hope Ferrari aren't really trying to oust him.

I'd like to see Sato and Davidson land somewhere good. I've been wanting to see what Davidson could do in a decent seat for a long time (aside from leading the time sheets for many Friday practice sessions for several years.)

Hey Mezzo

Thought I'd give this a bump for ya seeing as no one seems to care.....

Of course, you know, this means war.

Ferrarie is trying, however Massa manager is Todt's son. However, management is also seeking to dump Todt, & he is sought to be the new FIA boss.

If Massa, goes, there will be a bidding war for some drivers.

Ant hopefully will wind up with a test driver slot - somewhere

Well that didn't go so well yesterday. If Ferrari wants to get rid of a driver it should be Kimi, Massa left him in the dust. Now on to Montreal where they should do much better if it doesn't rain.

I think Kimi will be gone next year, regardless. Rumours of Kubica coming to the prancing horse are interesting too. I think he would be a great fit.

As far as Massa is concerned, get rid of him. he's a glorified test driver...nothing more.

Part of teh erro in Monaco was the team ledership, planning, and tire selection.

No reason for a drive thru penalty.

What is with Alonso?

Massa is better than Kimi this year, so I would expect him to stay, and Kimi to depart

quote:

Originally posted by flwino:Massa is better than Kimi this year, so I would expect him to stay, and Kimi to depart

Umm, this is F1. Don't expect a rational decision.

This is where teams with $300M budgets wait several years to getting around to developing safety car strageies. A driver is signed to a lucrative testing contract for a car he is too tall to test. Teams sabotage their own results to get a driver out of contract. Etc...

Who's goin' to the Montreal GP this weekend? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

Can anyone recommend a good SAQ location, close to the track?

Really wish I could go but work and family get in the way. I will be watching at work though.

FIA Extraordinary General Assembly - Vote

During the Extraordinary General Assembly (EGA) held in Paris today, the FIA Member Clubs voted on a motion of confidence in the FIA President.


The FIA membership voted as follows:


For the motion: 103

Against the motion: 55

Abstentions: 7

Invalid votes 4

Again, it's not what you know, it's who you know. He's a tough old bird, with lots of friends

He's a tough old bird, with lots of friends.

He makes some deals that would give credit to the God Father.

Beautiful weather today in Montreal. Great qualifying session. Kubica almost got Pole (no pun intended) Position, but Hamilton bumped him on the last lap. Should be a great race tomorrow. Good chance of Hamilton winning again, but if Kubica is on a higher fuel load, look out for him. The Ferrari's seem fast, but it's the last section where they are losing a lot of time. Hopefully they can tweek the car before tomorrow's race.

I was at the F1 all weekend. Hamilton in the lead over 10sec but funny how things can change so quickly. Exciting stuff.

PS, the real reason F1 was removed from the US is ONLY because the interests behind NASCAR were worried F1 would over shadow it. All the Americans who I spoke to this weekend about F1 say it is way bigger than NASCAR. But then again, I may be just talking to the converted.

Good race with major exceptions:

1] Absolute stupidity on part of Hamilton. Nice he got a deserved 10 place penalty at GP France. Too bad Rosberg got sucked in for a 10 place penalty too. Kimi was pissed.
2] Age old problem there with track surface. Has been a problem since 76. Breaks up at hair pin, and turn 5.
3] FOX TV sucks!!!! Missed Peter Windsor pre-race show, had so many commercials that it detracted from race, and at the end they cut the Interlocatory short in midst of Kubica interview. BTW Fox will televise GP France.

quote:

Originally posted by Mimik:PS, the real reason F1 was removed from the US is ONLY because the interests behind NASCAR were worried F1 would over shadow it. All the Americans who I spoke to this weekend about F1 say it is way bigger than NASCAR. But then again, I may be just talking to the converted.

Did you make this up or where did you get this conspiracy? It's about money. Bernie wants it all to the degree that most F1 hosts lose money. Both sides still want the race. We're just seeing the results of hardcore financial negotiations.

NASCAR is much bigger than F1 in the U.S., but worldwide F1 has a BILLION or so more viewers. Not exactly profound or controversial saying its bigger.

Being a loyalist to circuits, and not ovals, I would love to see nothing more at Indy.

we should be able to modify and upgrade an existing track for F1, and get back to real racing. i.e. Road America

If not that, a decent city course. Long Beach was not one of those I would include.

Nas-crap does not appeal to me at all. I'm still an old bold open wheel racer, and do know how to turn right.