F1

[Onyx]

Anybody a fan? I've been watching the sport lately, and been truly fascinated by it. The technology, the tracks, the locations (A race is upcoming in Dubai. Probably the most gorgeous track I've ever seen), and of course, the drivers. It's huge in Europe, apparently, so I guess only the Euros can chime in whenever

But for any fans out there, who do you think is going to take the cups? I think, by the looks of it, Jenson Button for the F1 Drivers and Brawn-Mercedes for the Constructors. Kinda disappointing on one sided the seasons been for the past few weeks. Although there have been some close races, that BM car is simply too damn fast.

[Mirsky]

I just got back from Singapore and it's really interesting to see them prepare for the race. Pit lane is more or less a permanent fixture behind the Mandarin and Ritz Carlton hotels but the rest of the track consists of normal city streets.

They've been spending every night putting up the 20-30 foot high steel and concrete fences that are topped with more lights than a Xmas tree.

The whole town has gone F1 mad... although in the case of the hotels it's more like a marketing gesture :)

Finally, finding a cool taxi driver that will take you on a tour of the track and even break a few driving regulations to hug the apexes was fun. Oh, and they drive the race going the wrong way down the roads (at least around the Raffles hotel area).

[Evil Superstar]

I used to be a big F1 fan in my teens, but I kinda lost interest when I noticed that I liked the stories behind the scenes more than the actual races.

But the current season seems to be interesting though.

[psycho chicken]

I'm not a massive fan, though I went to the Australian GP last year. And had a ball watching Webber win this year.

I just hope they keep moving away from the technical side of things and put more focus on the skill of the drivers. Ditching traction control was a good move, but there's a fair way to go.

[DumbGrunt]

I noticed that I liked the stories behind the scenes more than the actual races.

I agree. it's like WWE with really fast cars at the moment.

[Onyx]

I just got back from Singapore and it's really interesting to see them prepare for the race. Pit lane is more or less a permanent fixture behind the Mandarin and Ritz Carlton hotels but the rest of the track consists of normal city streets.

They've been spending every night putting up the 20-30 foot high steel and concrete fences that are topped with more lights than a Xmas tree.

The whole town has gone F1 mad... although in the case of the hotels it's more like a marketing gesture :)

Finally, finding a cool taxi driver that will take you on a tour of the track and even break a few driving regulations to hug the apexes was fun. Oh, and they drive the race going the wrong way down the roads (at least around the Raffles hotel area).That sounds so goddamn cool.

Yeah, it's crazy how they go mad whenever F1 comes over. You should of saw when Schumacher said he was coming back, freaking Germany was flipping it's lid like the saw the reincarnate of Christ or something.

I used to be a big F1 fan in my teens, but I kinda lost interest when I noticed that I liked the stories behind the scenes more than the actual races.

But the current season seems to be interesting though.The stories are pretty interesting, especially with some of the crew members. Some of those people, literally, poured blood, sweet, and tears to even be on the circuit.

I'm not a massive fan, though I went to the Australian GP last year. And had a ball watching Webber win this year.

I just hope they keep moving away from the technical side of things and put more focus on the skill of the drivers. Ditching traction control was a good move, but there's a fair way to go.Technical, as in stupid regulations? Totally agree with you there.

I agree. it's like WWE with really fast cars at the moment.F1 is hurting right now unfortunately. Mainly because FIA has had it's head up it's ass for the past couple years - especially with Mad Max at the healm. Not to mention FOTA was flexing it's muscles, basically stating that it's going to start it's own championship series if the spending cap isn't removed by the end of the season (With, no surprise, Ferrari at the head of the coupe); plus BMW pulled off it's deal with F1 in terms of being the main auto supplier, as well as it's team.

FIA also needs a reformation of leadership, especially with more teams (Such as Team US F1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_US_F1)) wanting to come into the picture.

[psycho chicken]

Technical, as in stupid regulations? Totally agree with you there.

Probably should of elaborated, I dislike driver aids. Give us V10s with crazy rev limits, put a real gearbox behind it (none of this auto crap) and give the cars shit tins of downforce and slicks.

I love the technology that goes into the cars, some of it is amazing. A hell of a lot of stuff on road cars started out in F1. Everyone craps on F1 as being a waste of time and petrol, but I reckon the long term benefits to engine technology are worth it. Can't wait for solenoid activated valves.

[Toastar]

I just got back from Singapore and it's really interesting to see them prepare for the race. Pit lane is more or less a permanent fixture behind the Mandarin and Ritz Carlton hotels but the rest of the track consists of normal city streets.

They've been spending every night putting up the 20-30 foot high steel and concrete fences that are topped with more lights than a Xmas tree.

The whole town has gone F1 mad... although in the case of the hotels it's more like a marketing gesture :)

Finally, finding a cool taxi driver that will take you on a tour of the track and even break a few driving regulations to hug the apexes was fun. Oh, and they drive the race going the wrong way down the roads (at least around the Raffles hotel area).


Some guy was recently caught going 114 in a 60 that is part of the Toronto Indy course.

[Onyx]

Probably should of elaborated, I dislike driver aids. Give us V10s with crazy rev limits, put a real gearbox behind it (none of this auto crap) and give the cars shit tins of downforce and slicks.

I love the technology that goes into the cars, some of it is amazing. A hell of a lot of stuff on road cars started out in F1. Everyone craps on F1 as being a waste of time and petrol, but I reckon the long term benefits to engine technology are worth it. Can't wait for solenoid activated valves.The problem with that, is you take away ton's of the driver skill, and you screw over some of the smaller teams that (Force India, etc) don't have a big as budget as some of the other teams (I.e. Scuderia Ferrar).

F1 is already expensive as it is, with many of the sponsor not getting a single cent back on doing something like this (Which is one of the main reasons BMW pulled out of it). I think the engineers need to go back to the drawing board to make something incredible, but not backbreaking in cost (Which could be impossible already)

Some guy was recently caught going 114 in a 60 that is part of the Toronto Indy course.Canada has it's own IndyCar racing league?

[Toastar]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Indy_Toronto

When they changed it to the Honda Indy I have no clue, it used to be the Molson Indy

[Wallrod]

I've been watching pretty closely. I'm glad Moseley is on his way out, but it's far too late imho and for the wrong reasons. The politics behind the racing is entertaining, but really shitty when it gets in the way of good races, though it's the nature of the beast when that much money is involved.

Spa was my favourite race so far aside from both of the british drivers getting wiped out before the end of the first lap. Dubai is a really dull circuit, i'm not really expecting an exciting race there, though 2009 is crazy season, so anything could happen. The cars are ugly this year too :(

[Wallrod]

Michael Schumacher is signed for 2010 with the old new old Mercedes team. This could be an awesome thing, it could also not be.

[Modest Genius]

It'll be entertaining to watch him fume and throw a wobbly when he ends up coming tenth all the time.

[vecdran]

Or it could be another five years of Schumi winning everything. :rolleyes: Winning car + winning driver = derp.

[psycho chicken]

Fucker is lucky Senna died. I hate the cheating prick.

[Polish Hill]

Ken Block to the WRC with Ford and Robert Kubica's situation all figured out at Renault? Hooray for sports I don't have the channels to follow.

[vecdran]

Fucker is lucky Senna died. I hate the cheating prick.

So he put a couple people into the wall, big whup wanna fight about it?

[Toastar]

It'll be entertaining to watch him fume and throw a wobbly when he ends up coming tenth all the time.

a what?

[Mirsky]

a wobbly; English slang for having a childlike tantrum with much wailing and gnashing of teeth

[psycho chicken]

Does Vettel have to keep proving what a fucking idiot he is?

[Wallrod]

Oh hey, i forgot about this thread. Awesome race yesterday, shame button got speared but the rest of the race was pretty good shit. Sadly probably the best one this year unless monza throws up something good. Glad Force India's doing well too, it was hilarious watching Alonso having problems passing them.

[vecdran]

Force India is good for hilariously throwing sand in the eye of all of the bigger teams.

[psycho chicken]

The races for the whole have been pretty boring this year, but the championship is pretty decent. The prospect of the first Aussie champion since fatty Alan Jones is good. Well, Fifty and I care, don't know about anyone else. As an Australian last night was pretty good, as a race fan it sucks the championship is now pretty much a two horse race.

Just wish Webber would hurry up and win at Melbourne so I can actually see one. Fifty, you ever been? I need someone to go with on the Sunday, all my stupid mates only go on Saturday.

[Wallrod]

The championship's still up in the air between the leaders really, the biggest chance goes to hamilton and webber but with 25 points for a win now the gap is a lot smaller than it looks among the top 4.

[psycho chicken]

I'd put Alonso out of it (ah well, shuts the stupid Tifosi up) and Vettel out of it based on his use of other cars as late braking aids. Hell Alonso might not even score any more points for the year.

[BAS]

I've never actually watched a whole race, just bits and pieces while I flip through the channels but I made an effort to catch Singapore since its the only night race and even though I had to get up at 8AM on a sunday morning this is great.

[psycho chicken]

Webber has fucked it, hard compound are useless at the moment.

[psycho chicken]

Are you getting BBC commentary or what? Webber's tyres meant to scrub up a bit and grip in the next 10 laps or so, he's starting to bring them in a bit. Or the softs are starting to lose grip. Rubens has a brain, he won't do anything stupid infront.

[BAS]

I watch on SPEED though the commentators are British so I always assume they know what they're talking about :P

[psycho chicken]

Only because Murray Walker doesn't commentate anymore. Martin Brundle is good though.

[psycho chicken]

Has Senna taken the bad luck award away from Webber? Pity he's not having the first season his uncle had.

[psycho chicken]

Oh hello! Need to see that on the replay, but I don't think Hamilton will be too happy.

Seen it now, that's 50:50, racing incident. Wonder if the stewards will see it that way.

[BAS]

I can't decide if Kovalainen is an idiot or a badass.

Also as soon as the final lap started my cable went out for like 30 seconds and I shot out of my seat and screamed.

[psycho chicken]

He's Finnish, what do you reckon?

Great race, though wish Vettel had of started pushing that hard a few laps earlier. Italian national anthem is gayer than AIDS.

[BAS]

So apparently the internet is abuzz because Bernie Ecclestone announced next year the races will be broadcast in HD but I'm confused because SPEED already does that:huh::huh::huh:

[BAS]

So the Japanese Grand Prix is on live at 1AM this saturday night/sunday morning. I have this weekend off, I'm gonna stay up to watch it :)

[psycho chicken]

Good luck, qualifying rained out. At least I have the Bathurst 1000 to watch tomorrow.

[Wallrod]

Do you know if there are any live feeds for that? That race doesn't exist as far as the UK is concerned.

[psycho chicken]

http://www.v8supercars.com.au/MyV8Register/LiveV8Login/tabid/782/Default.aspx

I think that's the one, gotta register though.

[BAS]

Good luck, qualifying rained out.

what does that mean. is the race moving to a new time?

At least I have the Bathurst 1000 to watch tomorrow.



according to their websites schedule, Speed is showing a V8 Supercar race from bathurst in like 2 weeks and its in a 2 hour block. I can't tell if its a different race or they're going to condense an endurance race into a 2 hour broadcast.





*edit* apparently qualifying is rescheduled but the race is not

[Wallrod]

Quali got shifted to a few hours before the race, which iirc should go ahead as planned. If no quali takes place (a possibility, as it's forecast to be raining still), then the starting order is whoever managed to put in a fast lap, whoever came out, then whoever's left.

[psycho chicken]

according to their websites schedule, Speed is showing a V8 Supercar race from bathurst in like 2 weeks and its in a 2 hour block. I can't tell if its a different race or they're going to condense an endurance race into a 2 hour broadcast.

Yeah it'll be the one, it's not too hard to condense it into 2 hours.

This is what happens when tyres let go at 300kph:

eCXZVuiEtdE

[BAS]

This video contains content from Telstra Bigpond, who has blocked it on copyright grounds.

[psycho chicken]

Jesus lawyers work quick. Fixed, for now.

[BAS]

that was a pretty crazy race

[vecdran]

Back to F1. Holy shit that was a lot of retirements in the first lap.

[BAS]

http://i.imgur.com/53k1S.png

[vecdran]

lol

[psycho chicken]

That was a pretty good race, going to be an interesting finish to the season. Looks like Hamilton will have to change gearboxes again, not sure on the exact rules about fixing this one. And Alonso is on his last engine before he earns a 10 spot grid penalty for changing it.

[vecdran]

If I remember it right, Suzaka was the third race distance on that gearbox, so they can now swap it without penalty. I was impressed he kept up for those many laps, missing third gear and all.

Alonso though, I couldn't give a flying fuck about. Fuck that inconsistent pretty boy.

[psycho chicken]

That gearbox that dropped third was fresh for qualifying.

[vecdran]

Well then I don't know. F1 engine and gearbox rules are about as clear as mud.

[BAS]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/11/f1-bosses-place-bet-that-involves-cross-dressing-flight-attendan/

Things are heating up in Formula One. As you may recall, earlier this year, Lotus head honcho Tony Fernandes jested that he would retire and kill himself if his team was bested by Virgin. A gaggle of reporters recently pinged Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson to see how he felt about Fernandes' oath of victory or death, and Branson responded with a challenge for the Lotus guru. The boss of the losing team will have to serve as a stewardess on the winning team's respective airline.

Surprisingly enough, ESPN reports that Fernandes is apparently just fine with the notion, saying that the sexier the outfit the better. Fernandes owns Air Asia, which was quick to crank out a rendering of what Sir Branson would look like all dolled up in the airline's standard flight-attendant garb. It's an image we won't be able to shake for a good long while.

Fernandes was also quick to throw a little more fuel on the trash-talking fire, saying that he was certain that his customers would be thrilled to be served by a Knight of the Realm. Judging from that rendering, we're not sure that "thrilled" is an accurate description.

http://f1.imgci.com/PICTURES/CMS/800/827.jpg



God this is the best

[BAS]

I'm trying to watch the Bathurst 1000 on Speed this afternoon but its unwatchable since they keep going to commercial break litterally every 5 minutes.

[psycho chicken]

End up watching it? Was a bit of a meh ending, everyone was saving fuel for the last few laps so there wasn't a massive race to the finish.

Shits getting real in F1. Alonso has put in a second hand engine that's a bit fresher than the one he had last round. Which engine it is I don't know. Red Bull killing practice like usual. I think Button is firmly in 'I've won a world championship, I earn millions of dollars a year, I don't give a fuck' mode.

Lucky for you it's close to your time zone, 0250 Monday here. Not going to have a productive day at work on Monday.

[psycho chicken]

Alonso wins with a podium,
Webber needs first with Alonso no greater than forth. If Alonso doesn't score he needs fifth.
Vettel needs a win or a second with Webber and Alonso well down in the points.
Hamilton needs a win, Alonso out of the points, Below fifth and Vettel third. Can't see that happening.

I reckon another Red Bull 1-2, Alonso or Hamilton filling the podium. Wouldn't be surprised if Red Bull pull a really sly lead change in the pits. Vettel winning from Webber and Alonso out of the points and it's a tie, I don't know what happens there.

[psycho chicken]

Shits about to get real. I fucking hope Red Bull has a killer race strategy, Webber muffed qualifying.

[Wallrod]

He's just pitted really early too, i think webber's in trouble. Vettel looks like he's going to walk away with 1st, since overtaking is an afterthought for this track.

[psycho chicken]

Why the hell he didn't come in under the safety car I'll never know. And he'll never pass Alonso hanging that far back. Vettel should win it from here.

[vecdran]

Yet again Alonso doesn't deliver under pressure. Good on Vettel for winning.

[BAS]

No Bahrain Grand Prix, stupid protestors :(

[Wallrod]

No loss, Bahrain's a dull track and i think they're talking about it being rescheduled for later in the year. I'd be tempted to start a protest every year. Maybe one in abu dhabi too.

[psycho chicken]

I'll be at qualifying for Melbourne.

[Wallrod]

Jammy git. I'm seriously tempted to line up a trip to spa-francorchamps this year.

[psycho chicken]

That and Monaco are on my to do list. Monaco for the tits, Spa for the awesome racing.

[Onyx]

Bahrain is a pretty good track to me, it' just not designed for an F1 car.

Spa, Monaco, Brazil, or Abu Dubai are definitely the races I'll be trying to go to.

Spa for the awesome racing, Monaco for the tits, and Brazil for the ass (Dubai for the Sci-Fi aspect :p). :D

[BAS]

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/28/lewis-hamilton-to-swap-cars-with-tony-stewart/

Formula One champ Lewis Hamilton will take the wheel of Tony Stewart's #14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chevrolet at Watkins Glen. For lending Hamilton his car, Stewart will get the opportunity to try out the 2010 McLaren MP4-25. While both men are likely to come away shaky in the knees and with a better understanding of each other's racing worlds (as did Jeff Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya when an earlier swap was arranged) this isn't just two random pals tossing their respective keys to each other.

The common link between Lewis Hamilton and Tony Stewart is sponsor Mobil1 – the same petrochemical company who had the former rendered in its own oils in the painting at right. According to ESPN, the swap, which will happen as an exhibition this summer, won't be a boulevard cruise. Both cars will have their respective race teams travelling with them for tuning, giving Stewart and Hamilton the opportunity to fully terrorize themselves in these two very disparate race cars.

very cool. I'll actually watch this nascar race!

for you non-americans Watkins Glen is one of the rare non-oval tracks in the NASCAR schedule and lots of privateer road racers usually show up to drive for some of the smaller teams

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Watkins_Glen_International_Track_Map.svg/450px-Watkins_Glen_International_Track_Map.svg.png

[psycho chicken]

Does Marcus Ambrose still kill it because he actually knows how to steer both ways?

[BAS]

He finished 3rd last year.

[BAS]

I misunderstood the promotion. Hamilton will not actually be participating in the race there, the 2 will just go there to drive the other's car :(

[Onyx]

So Vettel has just won two racings. In convincing fashion.

I REALLY hope this isn't going to be the season of Brawn GP from 2009 all over again.

[Wallrod]

well, Mclaren are a lot faster than they were at the start of last year, and Ferrari are looking like they have potential if they can get their shit together regarding strategy and pitstop times, and maybe some upgrades. It's looking like it'll be closer this year, though in fairness red bull had fuckups with their KERS and DRS this race, so they might start to fuck off into the sunset once things get going.


Also, that was probably one of the most exciting races i've seen in a while. Also had the bonus of Schumacher being overtaken like 50 million times by Kobayashi.


http://i.imgur.com/Tstca.gif

[BAS]

Kobayashi is my favorite driver for no other reason that hes got some guts and I like underdogs. Also fuck most races being at 3AM here.

[Onyx]

well, Mclaren are a lot faster than they were at the start of last year, and Ferrari are looking like they have potential if they can get their shit together regarding strategy and pitstop times, and maybe some upgrades. It's looking like it'll be closer this year, though in fairness red bull had fuckups with their KERS and DRS this race, so they might start to fuck off into the sunset once things get going. McLaren actually looks slower to me, especially because I thought their car last year was faster on the straights than everybody else. Now, it looks like Red Bull just can't be stopped; especially because of the controversial front-wing that looks like that's giving them tons of downforce.


Also, that was probably one of the most exciting races i've seen in a while. Also had the bonus of Schumacher being overtaken like 50 million times by Kobayashi.Agreed. This was a really good race, and I'm glad it was the one I finally caught that was really exciting.


http://i.imgur.com/Tstca.gifOh man. This moment was CRAZY. Petrov ended up snapping his steering column right in half because of that. Had to retire because he couldn't even steer the car anymore after that.

Did you also see when Alonso's front wing barely clipped Button's front left tire? That was crazy how it acted like a kind of buzz saw and literally broke off a healthy chunk of it. What was he doing? I don't understand why he was trying to overtake him like that, unless he was trying to get in position to overtake him on the next corner.

[Onyx]

Anybody see the race? I actually forgot about it because I was watching Angels & Demons last night :(.

I'm glad to see Hamilton get his first win and show RBR is not invincible. Was the KERS giving Red-Bull problems again? Because I'm surprised they didn't dominate since I think this is the kind of track the RB7 car would thrive on (Especially with turn 13 being a long straight shot).

[psycho chicken]

Given how Webber was performing I'd say Vettel just fucked up with a two stop strategy.

[BAS]

I havent watched it yet but sharing this bit of news:

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/01/steam-senna-on-netflix-now/

On the 17th anniversary of Ayrton Senna's death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Netflix has added Senna to its Instant Watch selection.

[BAS]

This has been an amazing race so far. Go Kobayashi!

[Onyx]

Dear Sebastian Vettel and RBR crew and team,

Please stop winning. I would like to see a repeat of last year title run where we had four drivers that had a chance of taking the cup (Sans the drama of your team showing favoritism over Mark Webber).

Sincerely,

A concerned F1 fan

P.S. Schumacher, please just retire.

[BAS]

well that was a crazy finish at monaco

[Modest Genius]

It'll be entertaining to watch him fume and throw a wobbly when he ends up coming tenth all the time.
I just found this post from 2009 again, and damn I like being spot on with my predictions :D

[Onyx]

I just found this post from 2009 again, and damn I like being spot on with my predictions :DTo be fair, he hasn't really been fuming like that. Plus, I really do think he's being dragged down due to Mercedes GP being a shitty team overall (Even Rosenberg is having trouble placing decently). From mechanical problems with the car, all the way down to the car handling.

well that was a crazy finish at monacoThe main attraction!

Shit just got real.

Although this track a pure joy to watch, especially because of the twisting hairpins and tight roads, the drivers are VERY scared to take any moves. One of the only ones not afraid to overtake is Hamilton, who's been famous for this because it's a staple to his racing style.

Let's recap: Hamilton got hit with quite a few penalties during this race, and it shows the frustration from this interview:

RteXh2Z_aps

Was this British humor? I don't think that was a good idea to really throw a comment about race out there.

Penalty 1: Got hit with a penalty for dangerous maneuvering and causing Maldanado to crash.

MLtXdVbeor4

At first glance, because of Hamilton skipping over the bump, it looks like he was driving aggresively, but at closer glance (Especially when the clip slows down), Hamilton was simply trying to overtake and Maldanado turned in early. I don't think this should be a penalty and just chalk it up to it being a racing incident.

Here's the onboard version; this is from Hamilton's view:

ppjrZmK4eak

I really don't see why he was given a penalty for this. He was committed to the overtake and set his line, Maldanado's front wheel just hit his because he turned in early.

Penalty Two: same situation, but it's MUCH more obvious this wasn't Lewis' fault. Massa did turn early, and whether that was "defending or not", Hamilton would of made a clean overtake if Massa did not do that move. Still, I would not of given a penalty out. Especially because Monaco is a very tight track already; things like this are going to happen. Unless they are deliberant and intentional (i.e. Schumacher trying to run Barichello into a wall), then there's no point of giving out time penalties.

Here's the onboard view. Again, this is coming from Hamilton's view:

BzyHNoWP4uc

And here's a view from different angles. The entire video could show why Hamilton was given a penalty since Massa ends up hitting the wall a couple turns later.

8sO9aDoTRs0

Overall, just a lot of drama this weekend for Hamilton. Poor guy. I do think his comments should be frowned on, but I do think the penalties were over the top and can further discourage overtaking in F1 (Which is what fans, I'm sure, do NOT want).

[Wallrod]

Getting a penalty for bumping with Maldonado is kind of bullshit, though he pulled the same maneuver on the same corner with Schumi who only just managed to avoid the barrier, so doing the same thing to someone less experienced is a judgment call thing. I think the bump on the hairpin was him pushing too hard and massa not paying attention and blocking him from the approach instead of slamming the door at the last second.

Either way i think Hamilton gets judged way harsher than other drivers, even if he does push too much at the wrong times sometimes.

Monaco's a processional track at the best of times, so i wonder how much of the problems were from Hamilton just reacting too much to pressure from having a shite quali session. The whole weekend was pretty messy in terms of racing though, red flags and safety cars all over.

[BAS]

http://jalopnik.com/5806620/the-ten-funniest-things-kimi-raikkonen-said-in-his-nascar-nationwide-series-debut

[Tuulos]

Was this British humor? I don't think that was a good idea to really throw a comment about race out there.

It's an Ali G quote, the joke is the fact that neither of them are black.

[Onyx]

It's an Ali G quote, the joke is the fact that neither of them are black.Did you really think I didn't know that? :p

I was just saying throwing that out there in general can be a bad look, especially when people take it the wrong way.

In other news:

The 2011 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix will take place on October 30, the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) announced on Friday. The 2011 Formula 1 Grand Prix of India, which had been scheduled for that date, will now become the season finale combined with the FIA Annual General Assembly and Prize-Giving Gala.

The Bahrain race had originally been due to take place on March 13, but was postponed due to civil unrest in the island state. A decision on whether to reinstate it had been expected at the start of May, but the FIA extended the deadline at the request of Bahraini authorities.

The decision means the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship will now comprise an unprecedented 20 rounds, with India having to wait to stage its inaugural Grand Prix at the all new Buddh International Circuit.Source (http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2011/6/12132.html)

I don't really like Bahrain as a track (I like tracks like Monaco and Montreal), but this is good news.

[BAS]

http://jalopnik.com/5808556/sebastien-buemi-accidentally-hits-crazy-fan-with-f1-car-in-japan

[Wallrod]

The start was slow and boring, but holy shit that ruled at the end.

[Onyx]

So this was, basically, like 2009 all over again when Brawn GP just dominated EVERYTHING.

Replace 2009 with 2011 and Brawn GP with RBR and you have this season in a nut shell.

Fuck that.