USA, USA, USA!!!(Formula 1)
#11
I'm no so sure about the negative publicity the US F1 team has been getting. Windsor said towards the end of last week in an interview, that they had a delay in payment from a sponsor so they had to drop them and move on to another, which resulted in a payment delay that took them longer to get some parts(since they're subcontracting heavily to American companies for parts). He was very adamant that they'd be on the grid in Bahrain though, and that their car will continue to remain very innovative and be unlike any of the other cars out there. He also said the delay was a result of them choosing to continue to develop the car as far as they could and not rush it out.
They've already signed Jose Maria Lopez, who said in an interview last week I think it was in an Argentine newspaper, that the car should be starting testing somewhere around the 20-25th of this month, as opposed to the initially stated release date for testing of "early February." There was also a small article in I think a Spanish magazine or paper stating that a second driver, Adrian Valles, was already well into negotiating with US F1 and possibly close to finalizing a contract as the second driver within the next few weeks.
Windsor did admit that though they will be at Bahrain, they "may not be pretty." Of course, that's to be expected with a brand new team, with a brand new car...especially since they seem to be trying some new things. They're actually the ONLY F1 team for 2010 running a gearbox of their own design, and transverse mounted. What has been stirring things up lately, has been their lack of large amounts of released media or pictures of the car etc. Everything has been very quiet and hush hush, which has led to some pretty wild speculation.
Most all the negative publicity I've seen lately, and all the rumors about missing the first 3 races, or not having a car yet, or not being able to field more than 1 car, or not having money etc etc, has come pretty much entirely from message boards and people who claim to be in the know and have all this info, but refusing to give details. It seems like there's about a half a dozen people all saying "US F1 has no car/money/drivers/fill in the blank." And that they are all in the know in the racing world and that's what they've heard. Of course, these reports have so far only come from a handful of people on websites who are making those claims, with no way of substantiating it, and which seem to contradict what's actually happened within the last week(ie reports of driver 2 and Windsor's interview). It's all been nothing more than wild speculation based on no evidence of any sort one way or the other.
And what hasn't been helping that, is Bernie Ecclestone constantly saying that US F1 and Campos won't make the grid, or perhaps the season. Ecclestone has from the very start seemed to have an axe to grind with both teams, and what hasn't been helping is that at the same time as all this is going on, Stefanovic has bought cars and invested a bunch of money to run team StefanGP like he's actually going to compete in the season, yet he doesn't have a team license so he can't compete unless US F1 or Campos drops out. AND Ecclestone has been courting Stefanovic like they're practically bed buddies, which has led to a LOT of speculation that Ecclestone is intentionally trying to undermine US F1 and Campos in order to get one of them to fail so the team license can go to StefanGP.....a decision of course which would require Ecclestone himself to sign of on. It just seems far too convenient for people that StefanGP needs US F1 or Campos to fail, and Ecclestone to sign of on their license, and at the same time, Stefanovic and Ecclestone are very friendly and Ecclestone continues to forecast gloom and doom for both US F1 and Campos.
Too much politics, I mean seriously, there almost wasn't even a 2010 F1 season when FOTA initially threatened to create their own break away racing season and leave F1 because of all the political crap around sudden rules changes, which eventually led to lawsuits nearly being filed. And even then some of the FOTA teams only agreed to sign on to the 2010 season provided that Max Mosely not seek re-election as F1 boss.
There's so much politicing and BS right now that it's really hard to say anything for certain about what's going to happen until the Bahrain GP actually starts.
But I do think it's cool that Schumacher is back though. That "old man" is definitely gonna be schooling some of those younger guys. Who knows, maybe he'll end up breaking his own world record of most GP championships for a single driver.
They've already signed Jose Maria Lopez, who said in an interview last week I think it was in an Argentine newspaper, that the car should be starting testing somewhere around the 20-25th of this month, as opposed to the initially stated release date for testing of "early February." There was also a small article in I think a Spanish magazine or paper stating that a second driver, Adrian Valles, was already well into negotiating with US F1 and possibly close to finalizing a contract as the second driver within the next few weeks.
Windsor did admit that though they will be at Bahrain, they "may not be pretty." Of course, that's to be expected with a brand new team, with a brand new car...especially since they seem to be trying some new things. They're actually the ONLY F1 team for 2010 running a gearbox of their own design, and transverse mounted. What has been stirring things up lately, has been their lack of large amounts of released media or pictures of the car etc. Everything has been very quiet and hush hush, which has led to some pretty wild speculation.
Most all the negative publicity I've seen lately, and all the rumors about missing the first 3 races, or not having a car yet, or not being able to field more than 1 car, or not having money etc etc, has come pretty much entirely from message boards and people who claim to be in the know and have all this info, but refusing to give details. It seems like there's about a half a dozen people all saying "US F1 has no car/money/drivers/fill in the blank." And that they are all in the know in the racing world and that's what they've heard. Of course, these reports have so far only come from a handful of people on websites who are making those claims, with no way of substantiating it, and which seem to contradict what's actually happened within the last week(ie reports of driver 2 and Windsor's interview). It's all been nothing more than wild speculation based on no evidence of any sort one way or the other.
And what hasn't been helping that, is Bernie Ecclestone constantly saying that US F1 and Campos won't make the grid, or perhaps the season. Ecclestone has from the very start seemed to have an axe to grind with both teams, and what hasn't been helping is that at the same time as all this is going on, Stefanovic has bought cars and invested a bunch of money to run team StefanGP like he's actually going to compete in the season, yet he doesn't have a team license so he can't compete unless US F1 or Campos drops out. AND Ecclestone has been courting Stefanovic like they're practically bed buddies, which has led to a LOT of speculation that Ecclestone is intentionally trying to undermine US F1 and Campos in order to get one of them to fail so the team license can go to StefanGP.....a decision of course which would require Ecclestone himself to sign of on. It just seems far too convenient for people that StefanGP needs US F1 or Campos to fail, and Ecclestone to sign of on their license, and at the same time, Stefanovic and Ecclestone are very friendly and Ecclestone continues to forecast gloom and doom for both US F1 and Campos.
Too much politics, I mean seriously, there almost wasn't even a 2010 F1 season when FOTA initially threatened to create their own break away racing season and leave F1 because of all the political crap around sudden rules changes, which eventually led to lawsuits nearly being filed. And even then some of the FOTA teams only agreed to sign on to the 2010 season provided that Max Mosely not seek re-election as F1 boss.
There's so much politicing and BS right now that it's really hard to say anything for certain about what's going to happen until the Bahrain GP actually starts.
But I do think it's cool that Schumacher is back though. That "old man" is definitely gonna be schooling some of those younger guys. Who knows, maybe he'll end up breaking his own world record of most GP championships for a single driver.
#12
That is part of the reason I have followed a bit less the past couple years. Far too much political manipulation behind the scenes for my tastes.
#14
Then there was Renault's 2008 Singapore crash fixing scandal. Evidently a French court just a few weeks ago overturned the FIA's lifetime ban on Briatore for setting up the fix. Under the ban Briatore was forbidden for the rest of his life from even attending ANY FIA sanctioned event as a simple spectator.
All the politics is why F1 has lost something like 150 million viewers worldwide over the last few years.
#17
sorry to hurt your feelings, I mean nascar is like street racing on the highway, I think it takes a lot of skill to do it, but I feel that track racing such as F1 requires more strength, endurance, and skill... I didn't mean that nascar isn't racing, it's just boring, no need to get your panties in a bunch
Last edited by tdcalhoun89; 02-09-2010 at 10:20 AM. Reason: typo
#18
compared to F1 nascar is nothing but simple; braking for a hard turn in F1 causes redout...i dont think turning left at a steady speed does that. not to mention it's not even stock car racing anymore....so that alone makes it FAIL
i am excited about this, and they recently go permission from the F1 "commission" to test their car here in Alabama at barber motor sports....i will definitely be following them
to quote henry ford II
“Today, on the grave of my grandfather Henry Ford, I pledge that I will make a car that will beat the **** out Ferrari in endurance races.”
i am excited about this, and they recently go permission from the F1 "commission" to test their car here in Alabama at barber motor sports....i will definitely be following them
to quote henry ford II
“Today, on the grave of my grandfather Henry Ford, I pledge that I will make a car that will beat the **** out Ferrari in endurance races.”
#19
Yup, Montreal this June, Grand Prix Du Canaduh!! :P
I think it was for the same reason as the American Grand Prix, the newer FIA safety standards means tracks have to spend money to retrofit to meet the new safety standards to host a Grand Prix. Whether Indianapolis will do it is another story.
I think one of F1's biggest problems in the states is the lack of televising the events as well as the lack of advertising. Not many people know much if anything about F1, they think it's kinda like Indy or know very little about it.
But yeah, NASCAR is like a childrens tricycle race compared to F1, no offense to NASCAR. No NASCAR driver(unless they were an Indy car champion the previous year, or met the other qualifications) even comes close to qualifying for an FIA Super License to run in F1, let alone even being able to drive one effectively. Speed used to have the "Tradin' Paint" show where race car drivers from different disciplines would swap cars...Jeff Gordon hopped into a BMW-Williams F1 several years ago and didn't even make it through the 1st turn. He spun out and went off track on about 2/3-3/4 of all the turns and was barely able to control the car. And this is a veteran NASCAR driver we're talking about.
Maybe if the US F1 team can get out there and do well it will revitalize interest in F1 in the US, but I'll admit F1 has a long way to go in advertising and capturing the interest of the American audience.
I think it was for the same reason as the American Grand Prix, the newer FIA safety standards means tracks have to spend money to retrofit to meet the new safety standards to host a Grand Prix. Whether Indianapolis will do it is another story.
I think one of F1's biggest problems in the states is the lack of televising the events as well as the lack of advertising. Not many people know much if anything about F1, they think it's kinda like Indy or know very little about it.
But yeah, NASCAR is like a childrens tricycle race compared to F1, no offense to NASCAR. No NASCAR driver(unless they were an Indy car champion the previous year, or met the other qualifications) even comes close to qualifying for an FIA Super License to run in F1, let alone even being able to drive one effectively. Speed used to have the "Tradin' Paint" show where race car drivers from different disciplines would swap cars...Jeff Gordon hopped into a BMW-Williams F1 several years ago and didn't even make it through the 1st turn. He spun out and went off track on about 2/3-3/4 of all the turns and was barely able to control the car. And this is a veteran NASCAR driver we're talking about.
Maybe if the US F1 team can get out there and do well it will revitalize interest in F1 in the US, but I'll admit F1 has a long way to go in advertising and capturing the interest of the American audience.
#20
The problem with F1 is it gets NO PUBLICITY here in the states. People don't understand the differences and yeah, it doesn't get televised (just like all other motorsports like rally and drifting). It would be nice to see some Americans build an American car and win with some American drivers. Maybe that would cause some attention.