MinardiFan95 wrote:Briashaw F1 Team - Renault 34: Rrrmmmnnn Grrrjjjnnn 35: Alex Rossi
Flavio Briatore and Tom Walkinshaw decide to join forces and start a team. Briatore has signed Grosjean and Walkinshaw has signed Rossi, just to annoy kostas22
Lothian Oil Racing System Lamborghini 46. Jonathan Summerton 47. Craig Lowndes
Alasdair Lindsay enters his own team with the sole intention of pissing off Tom Walkinshaw. Rossi's arch enemy Summerton signs on as lead driver, and former F3000 turned V8 Supercar driver Craig Lowndes is signed on from Triple 8 Racing - Walkinshaw Racing's arch rivals at Holden. Lamborghini supplies the V8s.
Novitopoli wrote:Everytime someone orders at Pizza Hut, an Italian dies.
shinji wrote:The FIA announce that sponsorship is banned, after Kamui Kobayashi suffers a freak Burger King related injury, and Lewis Hamilton speaks out against the cost of texts of Vodafone.
In a desperate measure to stop Rossi defecting to Duacti a Ferrari C team is set up around him. Raikkonen is poached from WRC to create a 'non F1 driver' superteam.
"will you stop him playing tennis then?", referring to Montoya's famous shoulder injury, to which Whitmarsh replied "well, it's very difficult to play tennis on a motorbike"
Tiago Monteiro decides to enter with his own team, simply named Hello, because this can't get much more sillier, and with backing from the Portuguese Tourism Agency and Sonangol, who put Ricardo Teixeira in the second seat.
Axis of Awesome 26. Jacques Villan-euve 27. Kim Jong-OK 28. Osama "Not One Of Those Bin Ladens" Bin Laden 29. Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Jnr.
In a bid to improve their image, the world's tyrants and dictators band together to form the Axis of Awesome.
mario wrote:I'm wondering what the hell has been going on in this thread [...] it's turned into a bizarre detour into mythical flying horses and the sort of search engine results that CoopsII is going to have a very hard time explaining ...
mario wrote:I'm wondering what the hell has been going on in this thread [...] it's turned into a bizarre detour into mythical flying horses and the sort of search engine results that CoopsII is going to have a very hard time explaining ...
I got a little carried away when making my predictions...
Orange McLaren
#1 Lewis Hamilton #2 Nyck de Vries
Lewis Hamilton wins the 2010 World Championship after agrees to play second fiddle after Singapore, and Vettel and Webber spectacularly take each other out on the last corner at Abu Dhabi. Mercedes withdraw their Mercedes engines in an act of "cost-cutting" (i.e. jealousy), and McLaren decide to build their own engines and revert to their original orange paint scheme (with an appropriate lead sponsor). 15 year old Nyck de Vries is sensationally brought in on Anthony Hamilton's advice, and instantly matches Hamilton for pace, causing Hamilton-Alonso-esque tensions ala 2007, and ruins any hope of them in both championships.
Red Bull-Renault
#3 Sebastian Vettel #4 Rubens Barrichello
Despite all of Christian Horner's efforts (including a staged Buemi-esque crash with all 4 wheels shearing off the car), Webber continued to give no quarter to his team mate Vettel, which ended with the team losing both the drivers and constructors titles with a coming together at the final race in Abu Dhabi. The team instantly blame Webber, but compensate him by setting him up for a ride in the Red Bull Air Race series, after impressing many of the flight teams with his antics at Valencia. Vettel insisted on a more obedient team mate for 2011, and therefore the team brought in the most qualified man for the job, Rubens Barrichello, who goes on the let Vettel past at every opportunity, even the first race of the season. Vettel eventually wins the championship, the winning margin being equivalent to amount of points gained by Barrichello giving up places.
ArcelorMittal-Renault
#5 Robert Kubica #6 Karun Chandhok
Renault achieve a massive upserge in performance towards the end of the year, with Kubica winning under a suspicious safety car in Singapore, and also more convincingly in Japan, with Petrov also getting podiums. The Genii group had given a massive cash injection into the team, which had obviously paid dividends. However, it emerged at the end of the season that the biggest shareholder in the Genii group turned out to be Flavio Briatore, who was immediately prosecuted, with his share of the team falling into the hands of QPR co-investor Lakshmi Mittal. Mittal rebrands the team under his own name, keeping Renault engines and Robert Kubica. After it emerges that Karun Chandhok has signed a deal with Force India for 2011, Mittal is desperate to outdo his Indian business rival, and sparks a massive bidding war which ends with Chandhok going to ArcelorMittal and becoming the highest paid driver on the grid. He has a miserable 2011, whilst Kubica still earns the occassional win for the team.
Vodafone Mercedes GP
#7 Michael Schumacher #8 Bernd Schneider
Mercedes GP decide the best way forward is backward by holding onto Schumacher, but by also recruiting another Mercedes legend and former F1 driver, Bernd Schneider, and with it a Vodafone sponsorship deal. Mercedes even find a way to bend the rules and create a closed-wheel car within the rules. Despite 12 titles between them, the Mercedes slip towards the back of the grid with a car described as "worse than a Zakspeed" by Schneider, and "worse than an Eiffeland" by Schumacher. Indeed, Schneider fails even to unrejectify himself.
Kingfisher Force India-Tata
#9 Paul di Resta #10 Ajith Kumar
Force India have a great end to the season, replicating their epic performances at Spa and Monza from 2009 to consolidate 5th place in the championship. Karun Chandhok is announced as a driver within weeks of the end of the season, having impressed at Hispania, but is then wretched away by Mittal. Amidst the struggle over Chandhok, Mercedes took away their engine supply, and also took Adrian Sutil to be Mercedes test driver. The Force are then left in little position but to promote Paul Di Resta, and also provide Indian "pride" by securing a Tata engine deal and Bollywood actor/part-time racer Ajith Kumar in the 2nd seat. The season is a terrible one for the Force, with engine failures at most weekends and Di Resta struggling to cope with the fact that F1 cars cannot barge into the side of each other to overtake.
T-Mobile Williams-BMW
#11 Nico Hulkenberg #12 Nico Muller
Williams have a steady end to the season, with Frank Williams winding up his involvement in the team. However, the shock comes in the off-season when he is reapproached by BMW, who buy a controlling stake in the team (but the name remained). Mario Thiessen explained the decision being made was due to "the board not wanting to miss a chance to pass up Mercedes-Benz". One condition of the take over was to bring in yet another Nico; Nico Muller the GP3 race winner. Hulkenberg and Muller make the perfect team mates, and the car has the best KERS system on the grid by miles, and they become surprise title challengers for 2011 to end a barren winless streak.
McDonalds BMW Sauber-Ferrari Ford
#13 Felipe Massa #14 Sebastien Buemi
Sauber have a reasonable season, catching the eye of McDonalds, who refuse to be out done by Burger King and sign up to title sponsorship for 2011. However, the sponsor income is again small, with only a tiny logo appearing on the front wing end plate. The new colour scheme of yellow, red, white, and grey proves to be disgusting. With McDonalds came further American influence as Ford signed up as engine supplier. Peter Sauber refuses to drop BMW or Ferrari from the team name, so the official team name gets even longer! Buemi was announced as #1 driver for 2011 towards the end of the 2010 season in a Swiss nationalistic move. Ferrari refugee Felipe Massa then became available at a late stage, but refused to take the number 2 position in the team, instead taking on the #13 race number. Needless to say, Massa incurs a tirade of bad luck, crashing more often than in his first stint at Sauber, whilst Buemi has a quietly competent season.
Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari
#16 Kimi Raikkonen #17 Daniel Ricciardo
Toro Rosso are worst of the established teams for 2010, and are quick to blame the drivers. An all new line up is announced, with Raikkonen as team leader, and Ricciardo keeping perpetual bridesmaid Brendon Hartley out of the 2nd seat. Rumours are abound that Raikkonen agreed to the team's offer after discovering the delights of Red Bull Cola and Vodka mix. Despite the help of the former world champion, Toro Rosso have another anonymous season.
Fondmetal Team 1Malaysia Lotus-Renault
#18 Bruno Senna #19 Kazuki Nakajima
After forcing Richard Branson into an air hostess' outfit, and securing a Renault engine deal for 2011, Tony Fernandes gets all nostagic and sets about creating the ultimate Chapman tribute team. Fernandes singles out Bruno Senna for the #1 driver spot early on, and runs a shoot out for the second seat between the sons/grandsons of former Lotus drivers. Nelson Piquet Jr, Marco Andretti, Greg and Leo Mansell were all humbled by the might of Kazuki Nakajima. The driver selection is largely a success, with Senna punching well above his weight and challenging for podiums and the occasional win, whilst Nakajima has many good runs spoilt by collisions with Kobayashi.
Royal Brunei Airlines Hispania Racing Team-Seat
#20 HM Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah #21 Max Biaggi
A string of 11th place finishes for Chandhok propels Hispania above Virgin in the 2010 standings. However, things are not all rosy as the team struggles for cash, and has to design it's own chassis, and Carabante insists on a Spanish engine manufacturer. Colin Kolles uses all his nous to hunt out the best pay driver possible, and finds what he wants when the Sultan of Brunei comes knocking. The team is decked out in the yellow, black, and white of Brunei. The 2nd driver seat is filled by former motorcyclist Max Biaggi, who tested for Midland under Kolle's leadership. Unfortunately, Biaggi does not attract the hype that Rossi does in a Ferrari, and is frequently intimidated off of the track when Rossi comes up to overtake or lap him.
Singapore Airways Virgin Racing-Cosworth
#22 Alex Yoong #23 Andy Soucek
Richard Branson is so disgusted by the debut season of the Virgin team that he sells a 49% stake of the team to Singapore Airways and removes most of the Virgin sponsorship from the car. Branson and Wirth are keen to promote Andy Soucek from his position as test driver, and whilst showing impressive initial pace from the new CFD car, however he is demanding on the small team, even managing to impound the team in their own garage when he thinks that they are not working hard enough. Singapore Airways demand that an Asian driver be hired, and former Lotus driver-coach Alex Yoong is chosen. Despite being a laid back antidote to Soucek, Yoong found no pace since his last F1 race in 2002 and is routed near the bottom of the timesheets.
Castrol Toyota Racing
#24 Kamui Kobayashi #25 Mike Skinner
The FIA surprise everyone by letting all of those bidding for a 2011 grid sport join the championship. One of the biggest surprises is the return of Toyota. The Toyota directing committee sited their main reason for coming back was that they wanted to build a team around Kamui Kobayashi and inject some excitement back into the brand. They certainly achieve this, with Kobayashi frequently scoring pole position, but just like the old Toyota, he flags in the race, and has some catastrophic incidents. The 2nd driver seat is more than filled by American Mike Skinner, promoted from Toyota's NASCAR ranks. It is rumoured that he turned up at Piquet Jr's test for Lotus to threaten to put him in a trash can if he ever rejoined F1. Alongside Kobayashi, Skinner runs up a sizeable repairs bill, and one that eventually forces Toyota out of the sport again at the end of 2011 due to lack of funds.
Lucky Strike Team Villeneuve-Supertec
#26 Jacques Villeneuve Snr #27 Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve does indeed make a return to F1 with his own team in 2011, having got Reynard to design the chassis and Supertec to provide some rebadged Renault engines, a combination that Villeneuve trusted from 1999. Needless to say, Jacques Villeneuve wrote himself into the #27 seat through his contract. Like his father, Jacques struggles with a dog of a car; unlike his father, Jacques fails to even bring it home near the points. Jacques Villeneuve Snr, Jacques Jnr's uncle, is the only person trusted in the #26 car, and he famously manages to unrejectify himself with a lucky 4th in Canada, after a pile up at the Champions Wall. This proves to be the team's only points finish of the season.
BBVA Epsilon Euskadi-Judd
#28 Jaime Alguersuari #29 Marc Gene
Experienced junior formulae team Epsilon Euskadi earn their spot on the grid, but immediately run into problems as Renault state that they are only willing to supply 3 teams (ArcelorMittal, Red Bull, and Lotus). Instead, Epsilon Euskadi use their sports car links to bring the Judd name back into the sport. With a distinct lack of Basque driving talent about, Joan Villadelprat hires 2 Catalans in the form of Alguersuari and Gene. However, this has a negative effect on the staff of the team, with the drivers getting the blame for poor pace in the first part of the season. Gene and Alguersuari start to hit back at their engineers, however they respond by sabotaging the cars, with bodywork and components being weakened to fall off halfway through a race. The team is said to have picked up sabotage tips from ETA, and this link leads to an FIA investigation and their eventual removal from motorsports.
Munchi's Sol de Mayo-Cosworth
#30 Jose Maria Lopez #31 Esteban Tuero
The Argentinian government was so disappointed with Jose Maria Lopez's failure to make the 2010 grid, they approached the FIA with a proposal for their own team. The FIA granted the team a position on the grid, providing that the Argentine authorities improve the Potrero de los Funes track to Grade 1 quality. The team is funded by a massive rise in taxes, and is actually able to bring in good resources and produce a competitive car even with the Cosworth engine. Esteban Tuero is coaxed out of F1 retirement to drive alongside Lopez, and the team even scores a podium at the soaking wet Brazilian GP. However, the team is not popular in Argentina and a celebratory parade in Buenos Aires after the race ends with a Sol de Mayo car being torched by fans, and Lopez and Tuero running for their lives.
Comma MotorSport Vision-Audi
#32 Joleon Palmer #33 Allan McNish
Another surprise entry came from Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision. The team is mainly allowed entry due to it's intent of bringing Audi into F1. Whilst Palmer picks out his son for one of the race seats, Audi hold sway over the other, with McNish selected for his car development abilities. However, it becomes clear early on that Audi are the main power brokers in the team as all the new updates are put on McNish's car as Palmer lags behind. Threats of replacement by Sakon Yamamoto cause poor Palmer to overdrive the car, and with the likes of Massa, Kobayashi, and Skinner around him, it often ends with Palmer's car somewhere behind the crash barriers.
ESPN Cypher-Cosworth
#34 Jonathan Summerton #35 Alexander Rossi
Cypher enter F1 as US-flag bearer, but immediately mess up with their driver line-up by recruiting Alexander Rossi alongside long-time Cypher associate Jonathan Summerton. It becomes clear from the very first race that Summerton and Rossi get on worse than Senna & Prost, Hamilton & Alonso, Piquet & Mansell, Jones & Reutemann, and anyone & Grouillard combined. To make matters worse, the cars are rooted to the back of the grid, with the safety of some of their parts questionable. Through their battling, Summerton's and Rossi's cars tend to fall apart, leaving the driver sitting in the middle of the track just the steering wheel in his hand.
AMCO Stefan GP-Toyota
#36 Ralf Schumacher #37 Plamen Kralev
The 7th, and most miraculous of the new entries, is Serbian based Stefan GP. Zoran Stefanovic manages to collects enough parts; Toyota engines, old Lola chasses, X-Trac gearboxes; and convinces the FIA of the team's abilities to race and bring the sport to Eastern Europe. With Jacques Villeneuve busy with his own team, it is Ralf Schumacher that jumps at the opportunity to sign for the team. Alongside him is Plamen Kralev, who buys his way into the race seat backed by the Bulgarian tourist board. Ralf Schumacher has a nasty accident in testing as the Stefan is not suited to the new Pirelli tyres and an exploding tyre pitches him into a series of flips into the nearest tyre wall. Despite a few injuries he is OK to drive for the season, and outpaces Kralev, who is often several seconds off the pace of the driver's parade float.
Parmalat Scuderia Ferrari
#38 Fernando Alonso #46 Valentino Rossi
Throughout the 2010 season, Ferrari continue to be on the rough end of some contentious steward's decisions, which eventually leads to the team being banned from the championship on vague terms of Alonso's "consistent ignorance of the rules", after a broken pit lane speed limiter sees him speed in the pits at Korea. However, Alonso brakes his thumb at the same race, for which Santander are obliged to pay out €10m in insurance monies. In the off-season, Ferrari manage to buy their way back into the championship by recruiting Valentino Rossi in a multi-million £ deal, a situation that the FIA cannot turn down. Rossi races with his fabled #46, and challenges Vettel for the title in his first season. Alonso on the other hand doesn't look the same driver after breaking his thumb, and blames his poor performances on being unable to adjust certain settings on his steering wheel. He also accuses the team of favouring his Italian team-mate, who is idolised by the Tifosi, and walks out of the team at the end of 2011 with a huge payoff.
I'll jump into the silly silly season predictions. I'll try to keep some realistic and add some rejectful spice into it - in the places you may expect.
The FIA, having determined that 30 cars on the GP3 grid was successful, allow 15 teams to enter Formula 1. However, 30 cars would rarely start on race day due to the 107% rule.
Note: I can’t be bothered to do test drivers since there is no real testing, sorry.
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1 Jenson Button 2 Lewis Hamilton
Jenson Button retains his World Championship, in no small part due to his smooth style during a rain afflicted Asian swing while Lewis Hamilton bounced off a few too many walls. Fortunately for Woking, despite this they clinch the Constructors Championship at Yas Marina. All the ingredients are maintained into 2011, although rumors are rife that Hamilton claims the team didn’t support him enough to win the title.
Red Bull Racing 3 Mark Webber 4 Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull squandered their championship hopes in 2010 with internal strife. Both drivers, having already been signed, appear to work together in the off season under close watch from Christian Horner. Horner, himself, is thrilled to lose Renault engines in favor of Ferrari power. Webber drives car number 3 in an effort to appease the Australian but the team is still centered on the German prodigy. The fastest car in testing comes to naught; their 2011 season quickly disintegrates into all out war, once again sabotaging their championship aspirations.
Scuderia Ferrari Santander 5 Fernando Alonso 6 Robert Kubica
An outraged Luca di Montezemolo sacks Felipe Massa, blaming his errors in Japan and Korea for costing the championship that had already been lost. Alonso maintains his seat and Santander increases their sponsorship of the scarlet cars while Kubica finally joins the Scuderia. The Polish driver is immediately on the pace of Alonso in testing, just off the times of Red Bull-Ferrari, setting high expectations in Maranello.
Genii Billionaire Renault F1 Team 7 Nico Rosberg 8 Heikki Kovalainen
Renault announced their intention of pulling out of Formula 1 at the end of 2010. Renault’s shares are quietly purchased by a large, shadowy figure. Internally, the team comes to an agreement to continue releasing publicocrap under the Renault brand. At the team launch, Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen, who have impressed the new co-owner in substandard machinery, pull the covers off the Billionaire sponsored car. A Renault press officer announces they will provide engines, but no technical backup, as a thank you to the years of service by the new owner and primary sponsor, Flavio Briatore. He calls on building from the base of the 2010 car. Rosberg continues to run at the Billionaire-Renault’s high level while Kovalainen gets on with an allegedly weaker car.
Williams continues their strong performance to the end of 2010 and finish fifth in the championship. The F1 world is rocked by news that sports car legends Porsche will power the latest Williams chassis due to their successful Hybrid Drive GT cars. Nico Hulkenberg is retained on the back of strong finishes while Porsche installs LMP ace Romain Dumas in the second seat. The engine proves powerful but thirsty in testing.
Petronas Mercedes GP Ltd. 11 Michael Schumacher 12 Adrian Sutil
A disheartened end to 2010 skidded Mercedes to sixth in the championship. Nico Rosberg left for greener pastures at Billionaire-Renault while Michael Schumacher goes into hiding during the off-season on fitness frenzy. The Germans add Adrian Sutil to the lineup. The team is immediately right near the top of the timesheets in testing with the much younger Sutil having a slight edge on the reinvigorated 7-time champion.
Force India Mercedes Formula One Team 14 Paul di Resta 15 Karun Chandhok
Vitantonio Liuzzi, having been temporarily replaced in Abu Dhabi, is given his outright release and the team waves goodbye to stalwart Adrian Sutil. The inconsistent team installs tester Paul di Resta as the Force and Karun Chandhok as the India. Surprising everybody, Chandhok is the faster man in testing as the team heads into another midfield season.
Peter Sauber is unable to make ends meet and sells his team to Paul Stoddart. Peter Sauber remains on board as the team manager while Stoddy brings back the Minardi name and acquires Cosworth powerplants. OzJet is the primary sponsor as Stoddart continues to look for somebody to charter his aging planes, but the team honestly continues on a shoestring budget. The new car is fast but extremely fragile in testing as Kamui Kobayashi is given number one status over Vitaly Petrov, securing the ride early with Rostekhnologii's money after Renault dumped him.
Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari 18 Sebastien Buemi 19 Jaime Algersuari
Finishing the 2010 season with steady drives and contracts, on paper STR keeps everything together until they launch their 2011 challenger. It is quickly identified as a copy of the newly Ferrari-powered RBR chassis and grievances are quickly in the air from rival teams. The team desperately builds up cars for the opening round of the season, only to fail their crash tests. STR finally gets the monocoque certified, only to discover the car fails a series of other technical stipulations. The team finally arrives at round six with a compliant car but struggle to qualify.
1Malaysia Fondmetal Lotus Toyota 20 Felipe Massa 21 Fairuz Fauzy
Tony Fernandes and his boys secure Toyota engines and limited technical assistance. The driving lineup is all-new, as Kovalainen joins the Billionaire team and Jarno Trulli finally retires. Felipe Massa signs on the last 'known' seat available to partner Fairuz Fauzy who receives most of the mollycoddling within the Lotus operation. Fauzy and Massa easily run in the midfield in the Gascoyne-directed outfit.
Speed Epsilon Euskadi 22 Adrian Valles 23 Alexander Rossi
HRT manage to stay ahead of Virgin on count back throughout 2010 but Jose Ramon Carabante admits he cannot fund a second year and becomes the third team to sell. Epsilon Euskadi acquire the Hispania assets and set to work on a Sergio Rinland design bringing in Adrian Valles to add some extra Spanish flavor. The resources are still limited, forcing the team to part ways with Colin Kolles and take on a pay manager, Peter Windsor, who brings in sponsorship from American television Speed Network. Windsor tries to convince the Cosworth-supplied team of an USF1 tie in, but settles for Alexander Rossi in the second seat. The car barely manages to get within 107%.
ACA Manor Grand Prix 24 Timo Glock 25 Jose Maria Lopez
Richard Branson distances himself from F1 as a waste of money, leaving Manor to run the show on their own. The team set about building a team around Timo Glock and Cosworth. Manor find their paying driver, Epsilon Euskadi signing Jose Maria Lopez, when the Argentine leaves the Spanish team as Windsor comes aboard. The Argentine Auto Club revives the scheme that sent Fangio to Europe, but erroneously proclaims Lopez to be the 'next Pampas Bull.' He never qualifies Wirth’s CFD car while Glock can barely get it under 107%.
Villeneuve Racing 26 Sebastien Bourdais 27 Jacques Villeneuve
JV makes his dream come true of running and driving for an F1 team. He brings on Sebastien Bourdais to create a cross-Atlantic Francophone dream team. Unfortunately, the dream is a nightmare when Durango goes under which forces Villeneuve Racing to work out of a small factory in Gatineau, Quebec. In addition to this, the cars are designed in conjunction with the nearby University of Ottawa. Neither driver can put the clumsy car on the grid as the sponsorless team disappears after only a few events. Unfortunately, this puts their highly regarded Zytek engines out of F1 as well.
Lukoil Marussia Cosworth 28 Sergey Afanasiev 29 Ivan Lukasevich
Nikolay Fomenko’s Marussia car company gets one of the 15 grid spots. The team brings in Lukoil driver Sergey Afanasiev out of Formula 2 and Marussia-backed GP3 backmarker Ivan Lukasevich. Cosworth supplies the engines to the Russian team as Colin Kolles is brought in to run the team. Both the cars and Lukasevich are completely hopeless while Afanasiev performs miracles by qualifying the car in Monaco and Singapore. Kolles admits they’re progressing slowly, merely waiting for Daniil Kvyat to get a superlicense.
Zoran Stefanovic finally gets his team into F1 after 13 years of aborted attempts. The Toyota TF110 is finally acquired in exchange for a race seat for Kazuki Nakajima and 425 million dinars. The team operates under the SGP abbreviation using Toyota-badged engines until their launch when Lotus files an injunction, and Zoran renames the engines Stefanovics. Telekom Srbija is brought in for minor sponsorship with Milos Pavlovic. The team never has the chance to test and start the season lagging behind their very bitter rivals at Lotus.
Theoretical hierarchy: I: 1) Ferrari. 2) Red Bull. 3) Mercedes. 4) McLaren. 5) Huelkenberg's Williams. 6) Rosberg's Billionaire. II: 7) Dumas' Williams. 8) Kovalainen's Billionaire. 9) Minardi. 10) Force India. III: 11) Lotus. 12) Stefan GP. IV: 13) Epsilon Euskadi. 14) Toro Rosso. V: 15) Manor. 16) Marussia. 17) Villeneuve.
Nissanymania! Friday has never been the same since.
Red Bull Racing / Renault #1 - Mark WEBBER #2 - Sebastian VETTEL
Webber wins the title whilst Vettel wins Reject of the Year for finding creative new ways to throw away certain points finishes. The RB7 is muted in comparison to the RB6's radical concept after the RB6 is found to have flexible aerodynamic parts.
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Vodafone McLaren Automotive / Mercedes #3 - Jenson BUTTON #4 - Lewis HAMILTON
McLaren manage to save face with a handful of wet races including Italy and Japan. The MP/4-26 is more of an evolution of the current car than a total revolution as McLaren start planning their own engine programme.
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Mercedes GP Petronas #5 - Michael SCHUMACHER #6 - Nico ROSBERG
The Old Master arrives to the party too late to do anything but fend off a charge from Renault at the end of the season. Despite its lacklustre performance, the W01's organic design and "bladed" rollhoop are the must-have designs for 2011.
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AT&T Williams F1 / Cosworth #7 - Rubens BARRICHELLO #8 - Nico HULKENBERG
Hulkenberg only just keeps onto his seat after a string of unfortunate mechanical failures whilst fighting over tenth place. Barrichello stays on-board for another season, but the FW33 is once again an example of Williams being too conservative.
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Verizon Force India / Mercedes #9 - Adrian SUTIL #10 - Will POWER
Vitantonio Liuzzi is dropped at the end of the season. His seat is the last to be filled, and just as it looks like Vijay Mallya will be forced to take on a pay driver, he somehow convinces Will Power - fresh from his IndyCar championship - to join the team.
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Telmex Sauber F1 Team / Ferrari #11 - Sergio PEREZ #12 - Kamui KOBAYASHI
Pedro de la Rosa is dropped by Sauber at the end of 2011. GP2 runner-up Perez fills his seat, bringing title sponsor Telmex to the team. Those teams who do not copy Mercedes' organic design opt for Sauber's aggressive industrial look.
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Red Bull North American Racing Team / Ferrari #14 - Sebastien BUEMI #15 - Jonathan SUMMERTON
Parris Mullins does the deal and buys into Scuderia Toro Rosso, replacing Jaime Alguersuari with Jonathan Sumemrton in a strange Ferrari0Red Bull hybrid. Conspiracy theorists claim it is an attempt by Ferrari to hijack Vettel from Red Bull.
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Virgin Racing / Cosworth #16 - Timo GLOCK #17 - Esteban GUERRIERI
After Timo Glock places eleventh in a race of attrition in Singapore, Virgin secure tenth place in the constructors' championship. Lucas di Grassi is dropped in favour of Argentine hopeful Esteban Guerrieri.
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AirAsiaX Lotus Racing / Renault #18 - Heikki KOVALAINEN #19 - Fairuz FAUZY
Frustrated at the team, Jarno Trulli quits Formula 1. Lotus promptly shoot themselves in the foot by recruiting Fairuz Fauzy, who proves to be entirely out of his depth ten minutes into the first official test of the season. It is no secret that he is warming the seat for Nabil al-Jeffri, who is denied a Superlicence as he is considered too young.
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Embratel Epsilon-Hispania Formula / Cosworth #20 - Jaime ALGUERSUARI #21 - Bruno SENNA
Epsilon Euskadi save Hispania's bacon by merging with the team. Dani Clos is set for a drive, but a disappointing late-season run in GP2 means team principals opt to give him another year whilst giving Red Bull NART refugee Alguersuari a run.
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Villeneuve Racing by Durango / Cosworth #22 - Jacques Villeneuve #23 - Pastor Maldonado
Villeneuve wins the thirteenh and final grid position, adopting the pretentious name Villeneuve Racing by Durango (to avoid a "VR" clash with Virgin). Villeneuve attempts to take the role of team principal and lead driver at the same time, but clearly struggles and is summarily humiliated by GP2 champion Maldonado. Nevertheless, Villeneuve insists on retaining both roles and earning him the nickanme Jacques Villain-euve.
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Sberbank Renault F1 #24 - Robert KUBICA #25 - Vitaly PETROV
An odd move, this. Renault are on top of the world by the end of 2010, especially after Kubica's dramatic win in Singapore and Petrov mounting the podium for third in Korea. Yet they sell the team to a third party the day before 2011 entires close, before buying it back the day after without explanation. It soon comes to light that Renault were on-target for fourth in the championship - and they consider the numbers 7 and 8 to be unlucky given their previous experience.
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Scuderia Ferrari Santander #26 - Felipe MASSA #27 - Fernando ALONSO
The story of 2010: after being found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute after the Germany incident, Ferrari attempt to take civil action against the FIA in an Italian court. The FIA retaliate by suspending Ferrari's 2011 entry until the dispute is settled. Although Ferrari are acquitted by way of a hung jury (Ferrari crow that this proves they are innocent; the rest of the world point out that they just weren't found guilty), the FIA deliberately draw the process out until after entries close for 2011, shunting Ferrari to the bottom of the entry list.
mario wrote:I'm wondering what the hell has been going on in this thread [...] it's turned into a bizarre detour into mythical flying horses and the sort of search engine results that CoopsII is going to have a very hard time explaining ...
Unless i'm very much mistaken, its Esteban Gutierrez, not Guerreri, and I like the idea of a 26 car field again.
However if Ferrari get thrown out because of Germany, even though they LIED THROUGH THEIR TEETH JUST LIKE MCLAREN AND HAMILTON IN MELBOURNE LAST YEAR, they will pull out of F1 quicker than an overexcited Eddie Irvine.
But i'd be amazed if the FIA tar Ferrari with the same brush as all the other cheaters of the past decade.
"The worst part of my body that hurt in the fire was my balls" Gerhard Berger on Imola 1989
ADx_Wales wrote:Unless i'm very much mistaken, its Esteban Gutierrez, not Guerreri, and I like the idea of a 26 car field again.
Nope, there's two of them: Gutierrez and Guerreri. The former is Mexican, the latter Argentine.
ADx_Wales wrote:However if Ferrari get thrown out because of Germany, even though they LIED THROUGH THEIR TEETH JUST LIKE MCLAREN AND HAMILTON IN MELBOURNE LAST YEAR, they will pull out of F1 quicker than an overexcited Eddie Irvine.
And Formula 1 will keep going. Contrary to Ferrari's beliefs, they are not the only thing keeping the sport alive.
As for the incident in Melbourne, the FIA should not go lightly on Ferrari just because they went lightly on McLaren (who were, after all, disqualified). There are new Powers That Be, and this is the first incident that has required action from the Todt regime. He has an opportunity to impose a reasonable penalty on Ferrari and maintain it through subsequent incidents, thus establishing the credibility of the FIA.
mario wrote:I'm wondering what the hell has been going on in this thread [...] it's turned into a bizarre detour into mythical flying horses and the sort of search engine results that CoopsII is going to have a very hard time explaining ...
There will be no Reanult. They will go bankrupt before the end of the season. I've heard their suppliers complaining the new owners are screwing them over because they're not being paid the money they're owned by Genii.
And I quote..."Has been a VERY difficult year thanks to those new Renault F1 'owners' but they'll soon be bankrupted out of F1 and will spend time wishing they'd not f**ked us!"
And of course they asked for an advance on FOM rights money...should we be worried?
Novitopoli wrote:Everytime someone orders at Pizza Hut, an Italian dies.
kostas22 wrote:There will be no Reanult. They will go bankrupt before the end of the season. I've heard their suppliers complaining the new owners are screwing them over because they're not being paid the money they're owned by Genii.
And I quote..."Has been a VERY difficult year thanks to those new Renault F1 'owners' but they'll soon be bankrupted out of F1 and will spend time wishing they'd not f**ked us!"
And of course they asked for an advance on FOM rights money...should we be worried?
Hmmm, I wonder. You did report things weren't going well at the beginning of the year - but now, Renault have a few more corporate sponsors, and should be more on the ball, right?
ADx_Wales wrote:Unless i'm very much mistaken, its Esteban Gutierrez, not Guerreri, and I like the idea of a 26 car field again.
Nope, there's two of them: Gutierrez and Guerreri. The former is Mexican, the latter Argentine.
ADx_Wales wrote:However if Ferrari get thrown out because of Germany, even though they LIED THROUGH THEIR TEETH JUST LIKE MCLAREN AND HAMILTON IN MELBOURNE LAST YEAR, they will pull out of F1 quicker than an overexcited Eddie Irvine.
And Formula 1 will keep going. Contrary to Ferrari's beliefs, they are not the only thing keeping the sport alive.
As for the incident in Melbourne, the FIA should not go lightly on Ferrari just because they went lightly on McLaren (who were, after all, disqualified). There are new Powers That Be, and this is the first incident that has required action from the Todt regime. He has an opportunity to impose a reasonable penalty on Ferrari and maintain it through subsequent incidents, thus establishing the credibility of the FIA.
Although he is the current chief, has it not been reported that Todt will take no part in the upcoming WMSC?
DemocalypseNow wrote: when eagleash of all people says you've gone too far about something you just know that's when to apply the brakes and do a U-turn.
kostas22 wrote:There will be no Reanult. They will go bankrupt before the end of the season. I've heard their suppliers complaining the new owners are screwing them over because they're not being paid the money they're owned by Genii.
And I quote..."Has been a VERY difficult year thanks to those new Renault F1 'owners' but they'll soon be bankrupted out of F1 and will spend time wishing they'd not f**ked us!"
And of course they asked for an advance on FOM rights money...should we be worried?
Hmmm, I wonder. You did report things weren't going well at the beginning of the year - but now, Renault have a few more corporate sponsors, and should be more on the ball, right?
One of the corporate sponsors (although not a new one) is a bank started by M. Renault himself back in the day, & is now owned by another bank started by the Renault Co. also years ago to fund car purchase. So Renault is basically printing money & where's that going to lead us.
DemocalypseNow wrote: when eagleash of all people says you've gone too far about something you just know that's when to apply the brakes and do a U-turn.
kostas22 wrote:There will be no Reanult. They will go bankrupt before the end of the season. I've heard their suppliers complaining the new owners are screwing them over because they're not being paid the money they're owned by Genii.
And I quote..."Has been a VERY difficult year thanks to those new Renault F1 'owners' but they'll soon be bankrupted out of F1 and will spend time wishing they'd not f**ked us!"
And of course they asked for an advance on FOM rights money...should we be worried?
Hmmm, I wonder. You did report things weren't going well at the beginning of the year - but now, Renault have a few more corporate sponsors, and should be more on the ball, right?
One of the corporate sponsors (although not a new one) is a bank started by M. Renault himself back in the day, & is now owned by another bank started by the Renault Co. also years ago to fund car purchase. So Renault is basically printing money & where's that going to lead us.
That's happened in NASCAR quite a bit. Dale Jarrett used to be sponsored by Ford's credit bureau, as did Hendrick's #25 car when Brian Vickers and Casey Mears drove for it. Also, the Dodge factory team, run by Ray Evernham, was two cars with full factory sponsorship. Don't think there's anything different here. These companies are just hedging more of their money into the team than others are. It's not necessarily a bad thing, if the visibility is there.
Visisbilty (or viability) is the key. Renault's bank is undoubtedly funded by other banks (& the French taxpayer). Relies on car sales, a slump, or downturn & how much viabilty will they retain? Just conjecture.
DemocalypseNow wrote: when eagleash of all people says you've gone too far about something you just know that's when to apply the brakes and do a U-turn.
I was reading earlier that Kimi has ruled himself out of F1 for next season and probably permanantly. Good on him for not crawling back into a sub-par team.
Although he does already have a racing team so you never know...
"Aerodynamics is for those who cannot manufacture good engines." -Enzo Ferrari
eagleash wrote:Visisbilty (or viability) is the key. Renault's bank is undoubtedly funded by other banks (& the French taxpayer). Relies on car sales, a slump, or downturn & how much viabilty will they retain? Just conjecture.
I think GMAC went bankrupt because of this... Its just standard procedure really - as the Citroen World Rally Team is sponsored by Citroen Bank, and there used to be a DaimlerChrysler Bank DTM team...
But the Renault thing...I don't know. All I know is the suppliers are being short changed. Does this mean they're short on cash? Maybe. Are they conning people out of money so they can make a runner at the end of the season with everyone elses money? Maybe that too. But it's rather fishy...said supplier said he's only been paid 10% of what he was suppoed to be by now. Not a great sign is it?
Novitopoli wrote:Everytime someone orders at Pizza Hut, an Italian dies.
kostas22 wrote:There will be no Reanult. They will go bankrupt before the end of the season. I've heard their suppliers complaining the new owners are screwing them over because they're not being paid the money they're owned by Genii.
And I quote..."Has been a VERY difficult year thanks to those new Renault F1 'owners' but they'll soon be bankrupted out of F1 and will spend time wishing they'd not f**ked us!"
And of course they asked for an advance on FOM rights money...should we be worried?
Oh, is this like that scoop you ran months ago claiming they'd be out by the middle of the season? Sorry, but I don't believe everything I read in the paper. Especially yours.
And yes, they asked for an advance on their FOM rights - but Bernie Ecclestone turned them down. And yet they're still going. Sorry, mate, but I'd give up on the career as a journalist. Nobody else runs your stories, and I'm yet to see one of your breaking news stories that actually came true.
eagleash wrote:Although he is the current chief, has it not been reported that Todt will take no part in the upcoming WMSC?
He can't. It would be a conflict of interests. But, at the same time, the WMSC is made up of people within the Todt Ministry of Motorsport. One of his big things is trying to get some consistency in penalties, and to do that, he needs to get the WMSC into line. This is his first test.
mario wrote:I'm wondering what the hell has been going on in this thread [...] it's turned into a bizarre detour into mythical flying horses and the sort of search engine results that CoopsII is going to have a very hard time explaining ...
kostas22 wrote:There will be no Reanult. They will go bankrupt before the end of the season. I've heard their suppliers complaining the new owners are screwing them over because they're not being paid the money they're owned by Genii.
And I quote..."Has been a VERY difficult year thanks to those new Renault F1 'owners' but they'll soon be bankrupted out of F1 and will spend time wishing they'd not f**ked us!"
And of course they asked for an advance on FOM rights money...should we be worried?
Oh, is this like that scoop you ran months ago claiming they'd be out by the middle of the season? Sorry, but I don't believe everything I read in the paper. Especially yours.
What paper? It's an email from the CEO of a Northamptonshire marketing firm that used to do a variety of work for Renault over the last year or two...I suggest you read more carefully before coming out all guns blazing like that.
Novitopoli wrote:Everytime someone orders at Pizza Hut, an Italian dies.
kostas22 wrote:There will be no Reanult. They will go bankrupt before the end of the season. I've heard their suppliers complaining the new owners are screwing them over because they're not being paid the money they're owned by Genii.
And I quote..."Has been a VERY difficult year thanks to those new Renault F1 'owners' but they'll soon be bankrupted out of F1 and will spend time wishing they'd not f**ked us!"
And of course they asked for an advance on FOM rights money...should we be worried?
You mind sourcing that quote?
Sebastian Vettel wrote:If I was good at losing I wouldn't be in Formula 1.
Captain and kostas, I have to request that should the 2 of you like to continue the argument, do so using the message/email system.
Further, please refrain from comments of a personal nature. I know you're both long time members and often get some stick for your respective opinions, but please keep it nice, OK?
kostas22 wrote:There will be no Reanult. They will go bankrupt before the end of the season. I've heard their suppliers complaining the new owners are screwing them over because they're not being paid the money they're owned by Genii.
And I quote..."Has been a VERY difficult year thanks to those new Renault F1 'owners' but they'll soon be bankrupted out of F1 and will spend time wishing they'd not f**ked us!"
And of course they asked for an advance on FOM rights money...should we be worried?
You mind sourcing that quote?
Nobody you'd have heard of. Not a Renault employee...rather a business owner that did outsourced marketing work for them for something like 18-24 months. Then the new owners eventually cut the cord suddenly and has not payed them back what is owed at all. I can't verify the second claim but apparently they're doing this to other suppliers as well. The above though...it's all true.
You'd have to say that with this + trying to get FOM money advanced, you have to question their financial stability right now...
Novitopoli wrote:Everytime someone orders at Pizza Hut, an Italian dies.
kostas22 wrote:There will be no Reanult. They will go bankrupt before the end of the season. I've heard their suppliers complaining the new owners are screwing them over because they're not being paid the money they're owned by Genii.
And I quote..."Has been a VERY difficult year thanks to those new Renault F1 'owners' but they'll soon be bankrupted out of F1 and will spend time wishing they'd not f**ked us!"
And of course they asked for an advance on FOM rights money...should we be worried?
You mind sourcing that quote?
Nobody you'd have heard of. Not a Renault employee...rather a business owner that did outsourced marketing work for them for something like 18-24 months. Then the new owners eventually cut the cord suddenly and has not payed them back what is owed at all. I can't verify the second claim but apparently they're doing this to other suppliers as well. The above though...it's all true.
You'd have to say that with this + trying to get FOM money advanced, you have to question their financial stability right now...
*puts Serious Business hat on* The point of sourcing is not that I, or anyone for that matter, know who they are, but rather to establish some credibility. Not disclosing who said what leaves some ambiguity over the whole thing - you could've been told that by the janitor of the company which provides crisps or somesuch, had I not asked you to clarify that.
Still, can you actually attribute this quote to said business owner? Could you provide some names and dates to back up these claims? How much money is owed? How do you know this is apparently happening to other suppliers? If you want to be taken seriously as a journalist, you can't just talk to a guy, make a couple connections, and jump to conclusions. You need to back this up with hard evidence - otherwise, you may as well be writing for a tabloid.
You'll have to forgive me if I come across a little harsh - I just want to be sure you're not getting the wrong end of the stick here. *takes Serious Business hat off*
Sebastian Vettel wrote:If I was good at losing I wouldn't be in Formula 1.
Seeing as you're not content with the important parts, fine...
BlindCaveSalamander wrote:Could you provide some names and dates to back up these claims?
James McArdle, Managing Director of Advantage Marketing Group. They've been owed money for a while now - but a major deadline for payments was last week and they got nothing.
BlindCaveSalamander wrote:How much money is owed?
£1.3 million in the last three months alone, give or take a few thousand. I don't know the grand total of what they're owed, but it's more than that.
BlindCaveSalamander wrote:How do you know this is apparently happening to other suppliers?
I don't for sure, it's only speculation I guess...
The whole janitor thing may be a joke - but the point is it hit them so hard they laid off everyone bar the MD and his right hand man. Their other projects included the Monaco A1GP team and West Surrey Racing...not exactly no-one are they?
And before you ask - no, I didn't get everything I reported on Renault through this one channel. Though it helped.
Novitopoli wrote:Everytime someone orders at Pizza Hut, an Italian dies.
Here's a more-challenging question: why are you the only one who ever reports these things?
mario wrote:I'm wondering what the hell has been going on in this thread [...] it's turned into a bizarre detour into mythical flying horses and the sort of search engine results that CoopsII is going to have a very hard time explaining ...
eagleash wrote:Although he is the current chief, has it not been reported that Todt will take no part in the upcoming WMSC?
He can't. It would be a conflict of interests. But, at the same time, the WMSC is made up of people within the Todt Ministry of Motorsport. One of his big things is trying to get some consistency in penalties, and to do that, he needs to get the WMSC into line. This is his first test.
What would constitute consistency in penalties? This is the first instance of this nature. Would consistency be no effect as in Hamilton's drive through, or unfortunately exacerbated effect like Alonso's after the safety car muddle. My point really was that a No. of members keep referring to the WMSC hearing as if it was Todt & he alone involved. He will take no part. How much influence he will have we do not know. I do not know the make-up of the WMSC, but I am sure those involved have minds of their own & Todt will abide by whatever decision they come up with.
DemocalypseNow wrote: when eagleash of all people says you've gone too far about something you just know that's when to apply the brakes and do a U-turn.
The WMSC is made up of representatives chosen by the FIA General Assembly.
mario wrote:I'm wondering what the hell has been going on in this thread [...] it's turned into a bizarre detour into mythical flying horses and the sort of search engine results that CoopsII is going to have a very hard time explaining ...
Captain Hammer wrote:The WMSC is made up of representatives chosen by the FIA General Assembly.
Yes, correct. But I still don't know the make up. I.e. who it is or will be & I'm sure they & the FIA GA both have minds of their own.
DemocalypseNow wrote: when eagleash of all people says you've gone too far about something you just know that's when to apply the brakes and do a U-turn.
Captain Hammer wrote:The WMSC is made up of representatives chosen by the FIA General Assembly.
Yes, correct. But I still don't know the make up. I.e. who it is or will be & I'm sure they & the FIA GA both have minds of their own.
Arabs. They're everywhere now! (Mohammed Bin Sulayem actually is some sort of FIA representative, though not senior enough to be part of the WMSC I believe...Jean Todt will be there in a non-voting capacity I think?)
Novitopoli wrote:Everytime someone orders at Pizza Hut, an Italian dies.
Captain Hammer wrote:The WMSC is made up of representatives chosen by the FIA General Assembly.
Yes, correct. But I still don't know the make up. I.e. who it is or will be & I'm sure they & the FIA GA both have minds of their own.
Arabs. They're everywhere now! (Mohammed Bin Sulayem actually is some sort of FIA representative, though not senior enough to be part of the WMSC I believe...Jean Todt will be there in a non-voting capacity I think?)
Thanks Kostas, but just between you & I , (& I don't mean this in any way at dig at you). Couldn't actually give a stuff who is on the WMSC. Just pointed out some posts ago that Todt was not the sole arbiter or even likely to take part as a couple of members seem to think.
DemocalypseNow wrote: when eagleash of all people says you've gone too far about something you just know that's when to apply the brakes and do a U-turn.
eagleash wrote:Just pointed out some posts ago that Todt was not the sole arbiter or even likely to take part as a couple of members seem to think.
One of the most scathing legacies of Max's was an overbearing sensation that there was no WMSC besides his opinions, so justice was effectively served as a function of his personal vendettas - let's hope Jeat Todt has decided to put that aside.
Captain Hammer wrote:Here's a more-challenging question: why are you the only one who ever reports these things?
Because no-one else gets told...duh. Do you really think he'd forward this email to every motorsport magazine just for the hell of it?
If he wants his grievance known ... yes. Yes, he would. Because I can't figure why he'd neglect to tell at least one major outlet and instead go to some mom-and-pop operation.
mario wrote:I'm wondering what the hell has been going on in this thread [...] it's turned into a bizarre detour into mythical flying horses and the sort of search engine results that CoopsII is going to have a very hard time explaining ...
Captain Hammer wrote:Here's a more-challenging question: why are you the only one who ever reports these things?
Because no-one else gets told...duh. Do you really think he'd forward this email to every motorsport magazine just for the hell of it?
If he wants his grievance known ... yes. Yes, he would. Because I can't figure why he'd neglect to tell at least one major outlet and instead go to some mom-and-pop operation.
Erm...what?
Novitopoli wrote:Everytime someone orders at Pizza Hut, an Italian dies.
He obviously told you because he wanted it known to the world.
However, why hasn't he told anyone else? He wants it known, so why doesn't he contact someone like Autosport?
mario wrote:I'm wondering what the hell has been going on in this thread [...] it's turned into a bizarre detour into mythical flying horses and the sort of search engine results that CoopsII is going to have a very hard time explaining ...
I'm glad he got better!
, (& I don't mean this in any way at dig at you). Couldn't actually give a stuff who is on the WMSC. Just pointed out some posts ago that Todt was not the sole arbiter or even likely to take part as a couple of members seem to think.