not with obama in the white house. it just seems wrong somehow. we're in a new era now. time to forget and move on.

but your sig isn't new. i've seen it before. or does our need to forget include forgetting that i've seen that before?

i could do the imagine thing earlier. but i draw a line when it comes to brain scraping.

It's new to me. Pre Obama, the thought of having a coloured person in my signature (even a frightened one) would be inconceivable. It's my own way of registering change.

wow you really have a crush on B-Rock.

it's all about making changes.

....except in regards to kickass owl sigs

can you at least place the owl scarfing the rodent in place of your new sig character's face?

as for mclarens punishment...its exactly what was deserved although i didnt think they would suspend the sentence...i thought they would ban them for 3 races! they were punished for the ontrack activities or cock up by being disqualified from melbourne....and now they have had their knuckles slapped for the diabolical balls up in the stewards office..if they didnt receive any action anarchy would have ensued with every team bending rules here and there until they met in the middle....

all the controversy this year is all silly and totally avoidable, the dd diffusers..illegal, then legal then protest then counter protests then legal and guess what...still legal!! melbourne..mclaren made a scapegoat out of one of their longest loyalest employers in dave ryan..and they sacked him, no question. all he was doing was trying to rectify, albeit a bit sloppily, a mistake and lewis had to back him up but no, he totally hung him out to dry...i thought it was shameful..and then dennis gets out of there 5 months early..coincidence????? no i dont...

lets hope thatsall behind us now..
this weekend

a1gp finale at brands
the world touring cars in marakeesh in morrocco
world seies by renault in..spa i think
richmond trash around the short oval for nascar....
weekends rule all!

That was my point. I think a three match ban would've been appropriate so to suspend it is effectively turning a blind eye and I'm sure that if it'd been a smaller team the towel would've been thrown at them.

And COMPLETELY agree about Ryan being made a scapegoat.

Also, can I be the first to say that I find Lewis Hamilton's dad really annoying? You compare him to Massa's dad, who is obviously just there supporting his son. Lewis's dad though seems to wander around like he's a part of the team. He'll be trying to call strategies soon.

well he is on his managerial team....... but yeah, well i dont know to be honest..lewis really hasnt had much of a life, its been racing racing school racing and now a pussycat doll... strange...

other news

september 2009.. nintendo wiii official f1 game with kers, slick tyres and the first chance to race on the abu dhabi track before they do in reality...cant fucking wait... mario kart wheel essential!!!! also seemingly voice contact with pit radio.....yes..the last few ps2 f1 games have been shite..the best was the ps1 f1 99.. it was the only game that you could really do a full race simulation and not get bored with it or win by 7 laps......

ireland on 2 poles for the a1gp finale.... bring the trophy to ireland adam!!!!

if you are still up..nascar from richmond on sky sports 1 at 12.30am...

Motorsport coverage is the sole reason that I might actually get sky.

it is the sole reason i got it! well i do watch a bit of football too!

Great win for Ireland in the A1GP, Carroll drove a great race - hope he gets a shot in F1

F1 could still learn a lot from A1GP as regards on board action, and making the cars and drivers more accessible to ordinary fans

for certaindave. i think f1 are slowly learning that they arent royalty and they shit like veryone else.... ticket price reduction would be a start..
it would have cost me 250 euro to get a ticket for the f1 race in silverstone this year, that doesnt include paddock or passes to the pit... its 35 euro for a ticket for the a1gp finale, paddock pit and entire circuit access for that!!!

adam carroll, possible replacement for piquet or maybe barrichello when he retires at the end of the season....hope so!!

and rte (irish state broadcaster) should be ashamed of themselves, barely a mention in the news of irelands victory...rio ferdinand got higher than an actual irish achievement........

Barcelona.

The start of the season 'proper' I suppose, and Brawn still on top. I can't quite understand Reuben's problem with the team's decision to switch Button to two stops. Ferrari look to be closing the gap while McLaren seem to be widening it. Not much interest during the race, despite the mini pile up at the beginning. Jenson has to start thinking about the prospect of being possible champion now. He's never had to face that kind of pressure before. It'll be interesting to see how he deals with it.

I wish the BBC would replace that Jake Humphrey's bloke though. He seems like a blue peter presenter. They should just let Martin Brundle anchor the whole thing.

I agree, he just seems like some cunt who has no input and gets paid to travel around the world for nothing. He knows nothing about F1 compared to Brundle.

I'm very pleased for Jenson Button, and it nice to see a season which isn't just dominated by Mclaren and Ferrari.

wow, no way guys. humphrieys is pretty ok. he was brought up in a racing family. his dad used to run a quite respectable formula ford/formula three team and i reckon he does know what he is talking about for certain... the weak link in the whole bbc thing is eddie jordan, he is increasingly getting more irritating and self applauding. i reckon dc will deck him sooner rather than later....

great season in prospect but what about this shit about ferrari pulling out next year if this 40million quid budget cap is introduced? my feeling is fuck them, if they cant abide by the rules then dont play. f1 needs a budget cap to welcome in new teams, to financially survive and it seems its a good excuse for ferari to excerise their strangle grip on the fia again...although its weakening.. there was a time when f1 needed ferrari but not now, ferari needs f1, its their only real marketing ploy, its their business..they are a f1 team that makes road cars on the side, they always were and always will be but they are too big in their boots to see the bigger picture..would these guys have threateded to pull out about 6 or 7 years ago...i doubt it. the worryting thing is that toyota, renault and now i hear bmw are threatening the same, they of course havent got the rewards for their input, they have all been pretty terrible bar 05 and 06 for renault..and this year bmw should be thrown out for their total inept attitude to the team and their drivers....... maybe its time for the manufacturers to fuck off and get f1 back to the way it was and thats race teams building their own cars.....its not that long ago that there wa only maybe 2 manufacturers in it..... nferari in f1 is much better than a two tier have vs have nots that would happen otherwise...... its crazy but at the end of the day ferrari are not gonna pull out, if they do you will see them as a company falling flat on its back.

as for the on track..yes its great to see jenson up there but its better to see mark webber and vettel giving it loads. the red bull is the fastest car out there and the prettiest by amile and thats without double diffusers and the now seemingly pointless kers systems...

monaco in 2 sundays.... williams to score a win with rosberg??? bvery possible, he was great last year until his smash and following that we have the greatest race ever, i mean they take one month to complete the practice and qualifications, the indianapolis 500... dari franchitti and hopefully helio castro nevers to battle it out for the win. now thats some racing!!!

monaco and indy 500 in one day!! it doesnt get much better than this...

Great qualifying session for Monaco today.

Hamilton out in the first round, Ferrari on the pace and Button pulling it out of the bag at the last knockings.

Button v a KERS loaded Kimi into turn one is going to be a thriller.

Can't wait (obviously)

I've been noticing that too. I'm still not sold on Humphreys but Eddie Jordan is really getting on my tits. His constant jibes at DC are just weird. Have you noticed he won't even look at him when DC is talking to him? It's actually quite embarrassing to watch.

yes..he was actually standing in front of dc yesterday when speaking to him..... its a bit weird!

as for the race, no ferrari or any car is gonna use kers, there is no point at monaco, no where really to use it bar off the line.... kers should be totally forgotten about........ i mean power boost and not one kers car has hit pole or done fastest lap yet??

ferraris are running light, cant see them anywhere near the podium, button will walk away from the field..... rosberg.....podium..but yknow its monaco, anything can happen...it will be a long race...but not as long as the indy 500!!! bring it on..im off to cut the lawn in preparation for the afternoon!!!!

An interesting, more than exciting, race today. Certainly looks like Ferrari are competitive. Button has to be thinking about the possibility of becoming champon. Being English, I'm obviously a bit biased but would love to see it. Button drove like an absolute champion today.

Anyone notice Piquet's little dig at Buemi? Hilarious. I wonder which of the two will be in an F1 car next season. lol. What a prat.

No mention of the Turkish Grand Prix yet.

Not a great race in terms of deciding the winner I suppose (at least after the first lap and that stint where Vettel was right on Button's tail) but some great drives nonetheless. Webber seemed to capitalise on Vettel's weird strategy but generally drove an excellent race I thought, and fully deserved second. Good to see Kubica slowly begin to make progress too. Button though was quite brilliant and, without wishing to repeat myself, has to now be thinking very seriously about the possibility (likelihood?) of becoming Drivers Champion. The likelihood of Vettel, Webber and Barrichelo taking points off one another in the remaining races means that even if Button were to finish third in the rest of the races it's unlikely that he'll be overtaken, and if he now finishes no higher than second in all of the remaining grand prixs he's champion. The only thing that I can see really hampering Button's chances now is reliability.

yeah, sorry...forgot to post anything... yknow..this season is so damn close but button is just driving beautifully.. ok the car is damn good but jenson has really stepped up a gear and looks uncatchable... but in reality, the field is so close its unreal!

a thought, if the fia went ahead with championship by most wins instead of points like they were gonna do, button would probably be champion right now! no one i9s gonna win more than 5 races this year!

tonnes of shit politically in f1 again but yknow all this thing about boycotting 2010, its all smokescreen and manouverings.... f1 will have alk the teams plus hopefully 4 more in the field for next year...a full grid of f1 cars, that hasnt happened in well over 12 or 13 years!!!

I agree about the smokescreen regarding a boycott. I thought Ferrari might be serious about leaving F1 but I can't see it.

'Beautifully' is the right way to describe Button's driving so far. As they said on the commentary, he's only made perhaps one or two (minor) driving errors all season.

I have to say that Barrichelo sounded totally ridiculous after the race with his 'it's always me' thing. He's in probably the best team on the grid and is in no way treated in the same way that he was when he was at Ferrari. Saying that, he is going to have to start coming to terms after the next couple of races at most (assuming he doesn't win them) that his role within Brawn will be to secure the constructers title and to help secure Button's title. As far as I can see, both Brawn drivers were given an equal chance - and if anything, judging from Ross Brawn's own comments, he might even have favoured Rubens over Button at the beginning of the season, at least in terms of respect. It's just that Button has had an incredible season so far while Barrichelo has just had an excellent one.

i feel for rubens tho.. you cant blame him for getting frustrated, i mean he played 2nd fiddle to michael for years as ferrari do not possess the ability to run 2 cars equally for 2 star drivers (proof this year and last with massa and kimi?) and rubens now finds himself in his 16th season with suddenly a front running car...he doesnt want to play second fiddle to anyone let alone jenson button and he has had the bad luck (there was some...) that nbrawn has etched out! shame cuz i reckon he truly deserves a championship! but brawn cant afford to looose him, he has too much experience and brains and skill and alos he and ross brawn know each other so well! but at the end of the day... i dont think team orders will come into play, common sense will tho!

ross has been suprised by button, f1 has been suprised by button..... its a wonderful story and part of me wants to see jenson win every single race left this year! but part of me wants to see red bull catch up, especially mark webber...rubens to win a few and lets have an end of season scrap with 4 or 5 drivers in it!

Peugeot 1-2, Audi dethroned finally, awesome to see a turnabout after Sebring

yeah huge win for peugeot..... but will they repeat it again..they are french and all!!!!

seriously tho, some of the driving at le mans this year was pretty dire.... some seemed to forget it was a 24 hour race and not a sprint! still tho, great great event and one i shall attend in the near future!

I know exactly what you mean. Jenson winning every remaining race would be an incredible thing to watch but it would be at the expense of the tournament in terms of interest. Apparently the destinations at the end of the season that have invested huge sums to put on a race are concerned that the championship will effectively be over by the time it reaches them.


Regarding Le Mans, i had vague plans of going to it this year but predictably put them on the back burner to the extent that i never got around to it. Something i'd definitely like to attend at some point though.

yeah indianapolis 500, monaco gp , le mans 24 hour are 3 races i have to attaend at some point in my life!

as for the circuit owners investing to see a championship decider..... fuck them, if they are stupid enough not to understand the sport well let them eat cake! championships have been decided many times before the end of the season, in fact more often than not.... its just money talking..bring back tracks like montreal, austria, mexico and sod little places in the far east that no one without a franchise in a computer company lives.... sod them, f1 needs to remember its history before history forgets f1.. im not gonna beat on this drum again but did you see how many fans were at turkey? i counted about 15! that looks worse on telly than a championship being won with 3 races left..

look at the indianapolis 500, and the irl is supposed to be a poor series with no supporters at all....


no point in having races where no one sees them, but then again, no point in charging a months salary for tickets!!! f1 has to loose that elitist approach and get to grips with its fans.......... sorry drum banging complete!

I couldn't agree more. While i don't object to F1 expanding into new territories, the fact that the new territories it chooses to expand into happen to be oil-rich countries with no obvious interest in the sport besides finance and prestige is surely bad for F1 long-term. I love the track at Turkey but did notice an almost total lack of spectators. And all this while doubts continue to shadow plans to secure the long-term future of the British Grand Prix.

as for new tracks..i really hope they bring f1 to the algarve circuit in portimao..... that track is just stunning, it would instantly become a classic..very like spa in its style... a1 gp was great there.....

and now silverstone.......

not bothered with any predictions only to say the sorry state the sport is in...

this move to create a breakaway championship is going to destroy f1 as we know it..... its not good for the governing body, for the temas, for the image of the sport but most importantly for the fans....

max to resign, maybe even as early as this weekend, bernie to get the support of the 2 teams who signed up for 2010 williams and force india..... the whole lot will be in one group, carry on as normal for next year and let the new guy (jean todt anyone???) deal with the bullshit about budget capping..... the sport cannot sustain 2 championships and it makes a mockery of the integral ethos of formula one......... (f1 1950-2009)

history will show this crap doesnt work... the usac/cart split of 1979 is proof as is the irl/cart split of 1995...... it dilutes both championships in to non events......i sincerely hope f1 sorts itself out or abu dhabi will be the last grand prix i will watch and ive seen em all since monaco 1979.............

Yes I've been following this too.

It's now just one big power play between FOTA and the FIA to decide who needs the other more or, more dramatically, whether they need each other at all. FOTA clearly believe that the commercial power is with the teams and the drivers more than it is the F1 name and, to be honest, I think they're probably right. The best chance now for F! is, as you say, for Mosley to resign - although i'm not even sure that'd be enough to sort things out now. If Button wins this years driver's championship, he could end up being the last driver ever to do so.

i reckon all sides wills ee sense and carry on as normal maybe toyota will withdraw but a breakaway..no winners at all..

how about ilverstone, what a dull race.... only spark of exitement was kovalinen forgetting his mirror signal manouevere..... vettel, absolute perfect drive..the 2nd half of the season may well be close..brawn have been caught!

I think it's interesting how this whole breakaway thing increasingly seems to to revolve around the conflicting egos of Mosley and Briatore (neither of whom I have any time for). I'm perhaps a little less optimistic than you in terms of some kind of agreement being reached. From what I've read the breakaway already has huge financial backing from banks and talk of turning it into a roadshow that'd finally recognise the US certainly makes it more appealing than the FIAs current commitment to oil rich countries with lots of money but no fans. i honestly don't know. I think it could be a success but i can't disagree with something Mosley said in a pre-race interview: that inter-team squabbling would potentially prove fatal if they went it alone.

Yeah, the race was terribly dull. I did enjoy Hamilton and Alonso's battle with each other at the back. They were obviously racing for pride more than points but it was good to watch anyway. Red Bull have definitely caught Brawn and I'd say Vettel, although maybe less consistent, is easily the match of Button as a driver.

It'll be fascinating to see how Brawn and Red Bull compare in Germany. I suppose the key issue now for both teams is reliability and how they deal with their second drivers. It's too early yet but, assuming that the real challengers for the drivers championship will be Button and Vettel, it's going to be interesting to see how Webber and especially Rubens take to the idea of playing rear gunner.

All in all, not a classic season so far in terms of on-track excitement, I'd say, but definitely the most fascinating that I can remember.

all i have to say is webber...... brillinat, couldnt be happier.....amazing drive despite being penalised for "causing a collission", what bollocks!

Yeah. I agree. A brilliant victory and a nonsense penalty. Probably my favourite race of the season so far.

Red Bull definitely have an edge now. In terms of the driver's title, I think Button's gonna be OK so long as he stays ahead of Rubens and the Red Bulls keep taking points off one another. Assuming he doesn't significantly start catching up with Button in the next couple of races, it'll be interesting to see how Brawn deals with Rubens in terms of race strategy - and more significantly, following yesterday's outburst, how Rubens deals with them. I can increasingly see Red Bull taking the constructors title though. I just don't think Brawn have the money to compete in terms of upgrades.

Couldn't believe Hamilton at the beginning. A mixture of bad luck and madness surely cost him a podium at least.

 

no gp last week but a sad loss to the sport...henry surtees (son of f1 champion 1964 john surtees (pictured above) ) died in a freak accident in the second formula two race at brands hatch last sunday. an errant wheel from joe clarkes spinning car bounced accross the track and came into contact with henrys helmet, immediatly henry was fatally knocked out and the car at unabaited speed hit the barrier and came to rest with the throttle wide open. initially the accident didnt look much , he was knocked out alright but personally i thought he would be fine, it wasnt til a couple of hours later that the whole picture was revealed.......


these cars should have tethers stopping the wheels from becoming detached in a crash but relativly slow speed accident , these tethers failed miserably with fatal consequences..... this was the most unacceptable death ive ever seen at a racetrack and indeed the saddest...... such a waste of talent.......

here is the clip if you wish to view it....german language, british eurosport removed all clips from youtube

Yes. I read about it this morning. Considering just how safe motor racing has become it's all the more shocking to see such an avoidable tragedy as that. As you said, a terrible waste of a talent and a life. A very sad day for motorsport but hopefully one it can learn from.