BARCELONA Grand Prix 2009 - Race 5/17

Entai said:
TBH I bet he was not that far off in reality. I know someone who worked in the old McLaren Hospitatlity unit a couple of years ago, the one they walked past in Barcelona is nearly twice the size of the old one apparently. That unit was carried to each race in 12 seperate lorries, took 20 people 40-50 hours to construct, had around 60 people working inside it, catered for roughly 250-300 people each day of a Grand Prix, with a budget of approx £100 per head for a four course a-la-carte meal including all drinks etc. The rumours were that it cost in excess of £15 million to build. On top of that you have all the staff wages etc.

Ron Dennis himself explained that in the course of the last five years the old Communications Centre resulted in deals worth $500m between McLaren partners and their customers, so a cost of, lets be very reserved, and say $25 -$30 million each year to run it would still make huge financial sense.
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Its amazing, I was saying to workmates as we watched that EJ section that in the early 2000's BARs motorhome was laughed at because of excessive spending and that was just two massive motorhomes with a center joining section. They didn't really take up much paddock space.

I was amazed at the size of them now. They basically used to have briefings in a huge mobile home, these new hospitality units are amazing.
 
hospitality Holmes surly wouldn't be under the budget as it must be classed as advertisement. There's a reason they are big and plush. They are used as a statement and a centre for business deals.
 
We've got some of the better tracks to come yet. We've mainly had the flat boring ones so far, I think some of the times will be much much closer over the coming races and we'll see some more racing up front.

You can't take anything away from Jenson. He's raced the last two races like a proper race winner and put the car where he wanted it without the need for rain or misfurtune to boost his position. He has also shadowed poor Rubens in the same car most races which shows some great potential. Yeah he's old blah blah but age has no bearing on ability and Rubens is just as fast as the rest of the field.

I'm looking forward to Spa, my fave circuit. Would be nice to see how the cars cope wit hthe loads at Eu Rouge.
 
Watched the highlights package this morning after my sky + decided to have a failure during the actual race, didnt seem a great race, but plenty of differing strats, was laughing a little when felipe dropped back towards the end, great race from Brawn again, the tactics just seem to be what are killing the other teams around them.

If we can have more overtaking like the webber/alonso manouevre I will be extremely pleased.

Will be interesting to see what happens in monaco depending on what updates we get. Maybe a bit of rain with some luck :D
 
SoliD said:
Watched the highlights package this morning after my sky + decided to have a failure during the actual race, didnt seem a great race, but plenty of differing strats, was laughing a little when felipe dropped back towards the end, great race from Brawn again, the tactics just seem to be what are killing the other teams around them.

If we can have more overtaking like the webber/alonso manouevre I will be extremely pleased.

Will be interesting to see what happens in monaco depending on what updates we get. Maybe a bit of rain with some luck :D
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In all honesty you didnt miss much. Highlights for me were:

Alonso v Webber just after the re-start
Webber leaving the pits ahead of Massa & Vettel after laps and laps of "what happened to Webber."
Massa's fuel **** up

Got to feel sorry for Rubens but at the same time it could well have worked for him but when it mattered he just didnt have the pace he needed. Also have to wonder what would have happened if Vettel had managed to pass Massa early on in the race, he was clearly quick as shown by his drop in lap times after Massa slowed.
 
JRS said:
Was it hell....between ITV's fawning over Hamilton, the distinct lack of overtaking or even closeness generally found at the pointy end of things and the sheer ugliness of the cars it will hardly go down in history as a vintage season of F1. But hey, if you're easily pleased by crap like that....

I like how you're taking this race as a barometer of how things are going to be though. Barcelona is *always* one of the duller races of the year. There have been a few exceptions over the years - 1991 with Mansell and Senna going at it down the main straight, 1996 with the deluge of water and Schumacher's masterclass, 2001 and seeing Mika's car lunch itself right at the very end and Schumacher going by with barely a lap left. But in general, it's a dull one.

We've got Brawn doing well. The Red Bulls look good for more wins. The Toyotas are competitive on their day. The Williams seems to have some kind of pace lurking within. Ferrari are starting to get to grips with the new rules. Renault has Alonso, who can make up for a lot. McLaren will probably start to come to the fore again if they don't write the year off. And you think this season is over already?

**** off is it. There'll be a few stories yet.
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Button will win the championship and Brawn will win the constructors.

This makes it boring

You can quote me on that come the end of the season :)
 
Jono8 said:
Button will win the championship and Brawn will win the constructors.
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Might do. They've certainly got off to a good start.

Jono8 said:
This makes it boring
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Why?

Jono8 said:
You can quote me on that come the end of the season :)
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I shall. And if BGP and Button run away with it and win by a country mile, I'll even quote my post and point out how stupid I was. Can't say any fairer than that can I? :)
 
Jono8 said:
Button will win the championship and Brawn will win the constructors.

This makes it boring

You can quote me on that come the end of the season :)
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We're only a few races in, those of which are fairly straightforward and flat and two bummed by rain, one a safety car fest.

I love Jenson, but all but two races were pretty easy for him results wise. The cars are just within tenths of each other with similar weights and the only factor deciding a drivers fate seems to be strategy on and off the track.

There is talent all dow nthe field in big or small budget teams all capable of a win if they put their all into it. Things wil lbe even closer as the year progresses and we're seeing a lot of action down the field. We're also seeing some great fights in qualifying.

F1 is not all about who takes the title and the win. There is racing to be watched all down the field and the personal achievement of a driver putting a poor car higher than it should be has to be admired and enjoyed too.
 
Jono8 said:
Button will win the championship and Brawn will win the constructors.

This makes it boring

You can quote me on that come the end of the season :)
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Hate to say it but he has a point, unless there is a massive upset (for example Brawn will have to be banned from about eight races) then history says that every driver that has won four out of the first five races has gone on to win the championship that year.

Basically everyone else is racing for second spot in the championship, yes there maybe a few more stories to come, but I believe that both the championships have been settled already.

We spent eight or so years waiting for the Ferrari bubble to burst, I cannot see that the Brawn GP bubble is going to burst very soon at all, personally I think it is fantastic that the grid has been swapped about a bit for a change, and long live the change, Ferrari, McLaren, and Williams have dominated this sport for far too long, lets give someone else a chance.
 
Entai said:
We spent eight or so years waiting for the Ferrari bubble to burst, I cannot see that the Brawn GP bubble is going to burst very soon at all, personally I think it is fantastic that the grid has been swapped about a bit for a change, and long live the change, Ferrari, McLaren, and Williams have dominated this sport for far too long, lets give someone else a chance.
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Without much money and a "hope for the best" approach to this year, Brawn may not be as competative next year. They still lack any major sponsors to inject real money and this might allow other teams to overtake them in development this year which will include McLaren and Ferrari. Well that is if any teams sign up for 2010 anyway. As I see it they are running on a combination of a handover investment from Honda and Brawn/Frys own money which will soon dry up. With Virgin on the car and no mention of real investments yet, this could put off other potential title sponsors in the mean time.
 
Dup said:
I'm looking forward to Spa, my fave circuit. Would be nice to see how the cars cope wit hthe loads at Eu Rouge.
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They will take eau rouge flat as usual, as has been the way since about 2000 ish. Corners like that and the 130R should always be about the brave. Any time just about every car can take a corner like eau rouge flat the fia should butcher the aero.

Those sorts of corners should be a decision between the drivers foot and brain to see which one wins in the battle of bravery. The cars have outgrown the tracks, even the great tracks with fantastic flowing corners.

Unless it rains spa is as boring as the rest for overtaking and if it rains for longer than 5 seconds the fia will have the safety car out.
 
dannyjo22 said:
They will take eau rouge flat as usual, as has been the way since about 2000 ish. Corners like that and the 130R should always be about the brave. Any time just about every car can take a corner like eau rouge flat the fia should butcher the aero.
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Isn't Eau Rouge flatout since they went from V10 to V8 engines?
 
Dutch Guy said:
Isn't Eau Rouge flatout since they went from V10 to V8 engines?
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Nah before that, 99 a few of the cars could do it. 99 both BARs tried it and crashed in spectacular fashion. In 2000 or 2001 when Ralf went round Eau rouge and proclaimed it to be easy flat quite a few journo's ran articles that if ralf can take the corner flat then the cars needed to be changed :D

Its been flat out for years now. Fantastic section of race track. Edit found a bit from 2002...

Ralf Schumacher:
I am really hoping that in Spa we will have a more exciting race than in
Budapest, although I have to say under the circumstances, I was really happy
with the outcome in Hungary. I must admit that I am going to Spa with mixed
feelings. I am looking forward to the many fast sections of the track that
suit our car very well, but on the other hand I believe this circuit is not
up-to-date particularly in the run-off areas. The once popular Eau Rouge corner
has lost a bit of its glamour. Today you can drive it without any concern, as
the cars remain stable. There are certainly other corners in F1 that raise my
heartbeat higher.
 
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Dutch Guy said:
Isn't Eau Rouge flatout since they went from V10 to V8 engines?
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Eau Rouge has been mostly flat-out since the aero wars took off post-2000. I remember JV stacking it there in '99 when he tried to go flat in the BAR. Since then, the cars have gotten a tad better at getting through there with just the bare hint of a confidence lift. I guess the lower power of the V8s now means it's easier as well. Mind you....an 'easy' Eau Rouge is probably still rather challenging!
 
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