F1 2009 Season discussion/development thread

clv101 said:
I really hope they can be competitive. I'd love to see this British underdog team on the podium in 2009.
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They wont be, its a forgone conculusion unless they can find millions to spend on thier cars...
at least we can take solace that 6 of the teams are based in the uk and have a high percentage of british people staffing them:rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
With new rules, Mercedes engine, and they did have a large budget last year when developing the car. There's no certainty they'll be at the back of the grid.
 
I'm hoping with 2 experienced drivers both who have in the past proved they can drive well, along with Ross Brawn at the helm that Honda will surprise us all and be quick.
I have no doubt the McLaren Engine will be a good one once they have it all up and running.

Wonder how the Brawn car will look, I'm really looking forward to seeing all the cars with there different looks all together on the grid in Melbourne :)
 
gord said:
Why does my heart go "ooooo" and my head go "winter testing means diddly squat"... its a rollercoaster of internal emotion.
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Winter testing is VERY important and is a good indicator of how the majority of the season will progress.

In the last 10-15yrs (as far as I can remember), when a team does well in Winter testing, it also does well during the season. Similarly, if a team does badly during Winter testing, they also do badly during the season proper.

From what we've seen so far, McLaren should be seriously worried at their lack of pace. On the final test day, Hamilton was 1.2s slower than the fastest car. This is very serious as you can bet that Hamilton was pushing like mad to go as fast as possible. What is really worrying is that as yet, they havent ran a full 2009 spec car - logically, this doesnt make any sense to me. I'm not a big believer in "top secret car parts", but this seems to be the only reason, as it will hurt McLaren by not running any tests with a complete 2009 car, before Australia.

BMW so far, are the team who have done the most amount of test miles and this bodes well for them - usually the teams who do the most testing have the fastest cars - and dont count out the Ferraris, who have been testing away from the other cars and whose drivers are renowned for not pushing their cars to the limit in practise and test sessions.

Next week, will be the final test (at Barcelona) before the season starts and all the big boys will attend. It should be fun.
 
clv101 said:
With new rules, Mercedes engine, and they did have a large budget last year when developing the car. There's no certainty they'll be at the back of the grid.
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For the last few years, Honda have had one of the biggest budgets in F1. They have consistently made turkeys and have then "concentrated on next year's car", which in turn was a turkey. Hence, I have every confidence that 2009's car will also be a turkey, especially when you consider the staff have had to endure in the last few months.
 
Eh ? and whats Button done recently ?
Barricello would stay and Button should be dropped, as he just gives up and looks bored of the sport when he's not competative.


Skeeter said:
Brawn owning the team would be why Barricello is still there and not Senna. Has Bruno Senna run out of options now? Is it still down to race in GP2 for anyone?
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philjohn said:
According to the McLaren press release this morning they tested fuel flow to empty and then the accident this afternoon was caused by a gust of wind :eek:.
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Wind speed yesterday afternoon was 21mph with gusts up to 35mph. Enough to cause a crash? Possibly, the circuit is partially cut into the hillside so unusual wind speeds and rapid changes of direction are possible. Were McLaren looking strong you'd take it as the truth and move on but given their apparent lack of pace and mis-matched parts you have to wonder......;)
 
Doesn't look that bad, just a bit plain compared to the others.

I assume there was no indication of any sort of performance in the shakedown. I guess we will have to wait until next week to see if they will be rooted to the back of the grid or not.
 
I wouldn't say that it's a done deal for Brawn GP to be stuck at the back. The rule changes this year are large enough to throw everyone a curveball (even the mighty McLaren it seems, unless they're just taking sandbagging to extremes). With two experienced drivers, including one who has actually raced a GP car on slicks before, and the Mercedes engine they might stand a chance at hauling themselves up into the midfield pack.

That said, I won't be too shocked if they are mired down at the back!
 
The Mercedes engined teams have been amongst the slowest during testing (Force India and McLaren of course). I just can't see anything other than poor performance from Brawn GP.
The car wouldn't have been designed for the Mercedes engine or KERS and whatever else they are buying from them. Did they have enough time to work on the car with this in mind?
 
It doesn't matter if they'll be compatative. The back of the grid is no shame. So long as they and the other tail enders race closer and as much or harder than the guys up front we can sit back and watch some awesome races so it's a good thing they're going to make it to the grid in the first place.
 
sunama said:
For the last few years, Honda have had one of the biggest budgets in F1. They have consistently made turkeys and have then "concentrated on next year's car", which in turn was a turkey. Hence, I have every confidence that 2009's car will also be a turkey, especially when you consider the staff have had to endure in the last few months.
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Yes, but didn't they bring the aero and car design work "in house" (Japan) and hand it over to some guy who admitted the only knowledge he had of aero was in designing motorbikes?

This year is the first year the car will have had design input from Brawn himself.

edit: wow...look at those sidepods, very different to any of the other cars.
 
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