Fernando Alonso is NOT appearing in the new Pirelli Calendar: Formula 1 2011

Martin Brundle...lead commentator. David Coulthard...colour commentator? Really?

Niki Lauda's entry for the 1st Annual Bernie Ecclestone Award For Stupid Rent-a-Quotes

I hope Kubica recovers and returns from this accident. Sounds really nasty, and judging from photos of his car, it was really nasty.

Shit, that looks horrifyingly bad. Really hoping that ILX's Favourite Driver pulls through and recovers.

Poor old Kubica is probably going to miss the whole season.

Oh well, we have to discuss this eventually - T/S: Lotus vs Lotus.

Bahrain GP cancelled

Ah, one less Hermann Tilke circuit on the calendar. Those protesters are true heroes.

SEE YOU IN MELBOURNE!!1!!1!

So, Big E reckons that nobody is going to watch F1 on Television when the smaller turbo engines come in because there'll be much less noise.

Surely he could overdub some engine noise? Nobody goes to half the races anyway (Hello China) so it's not like anyone would know.

can i just

Martin Brundle...lead commentator. David Coulthard...colour commentator? Really?

is this 4real??

I torrented the bbc coverage last year and it was just awful. The stiffest, most uncomfortable people ever! I'm assuming this year will be even worse?! The SpeedTV (US) commentators are much better.

much prefer the BBC coverage to the SpeedTV tbh

It's main advantages were no commercials and no annoying nu-metal intro.

is this 4real??

yes it is!!

DC will be comin atcha with opinions4u 4real with the mad taste of Red Bull!

A big hand for HRT, they've completed ~~one lap~~ in practice.

btw

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/120/301893563_56a5c2e1a0.jpg?v=0

HRT are only 12 SECONDS off the pace now!

Vettel on the in-car radio: "We are who we are."

What a minute...

http://images.sonymusicdigital.com/autoimage/display/product-detail/media.sonymusicd2c.com/manual/Kesha_WeRWhoWeR-Kesha_WeRWhoWeR/1000x1000.jpg/1000x1000

???

Er, well, I think Vettel is looking good for 2011.

IN SOVIET RUSSIA PODIUM STANDS ON YOU!!

did mark webber just get sonned by a sauber kid??

"PLAN A"!!

They should introduce a Yawn Reduction System.

Equip viewers with a Non-Kinetic Energy Recovery System imo.

THIERRY BOUTSON NAMEDROP

A big hand for Seb, etc.

Shout out to Lotus for their second podium in a row (unlike Lotus who have not scored a point yet), but I can only imagine what THE KOOB would have done.

"Great job," Vettel tells his colleagues on the Red Bull team radio. "In the heat we stayed cool. It's a pleasure working with you guys every weekend."

Might be worth watching just to see Button fuck this up.

Prescient!

I liked it when the mechanics were waving him forward and then he just suddenly got it.

Why are the top five cars all within 8.5 secs to each other? What is this, NASCAR?

If Button wasn't such a useless knob this could have been an exciting threeway.

There's probably a joke in there about there always being a useless knob in a threeway but this isn't ILTMI.

Alas, Button needs to be watching his rear.

Button taken from behind, there.

this was a pretty awesome race.

So many stories in this one. Loved it.

http://video.gazzetta.it/motori/formula1/index.shtml?videoid=781168f0-8f65-11e0-924d-e1a84762a358

I appreciate the work done to increase excitement, but they have to step it up by adding this at random times in the races.

o Lewis. He appears to have adopted my driving tactics from Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 2 lately.

Fox has the coverage in the US. We're on our fourth ad break in 38 minutes. They don't even inset the picture to the corner of the screen. Complain all you want about the pundits, but the BBC could be a lot worse.

Wild race!

that interminable red flag seems a long time ago now, dunno that i've seen many better races than that.

yeah that was awes. button shenanigans followed by that massa run. hope all DRS zones are right up to the finish line from here on out.

That was brilliant. Glad I picked the right race to watch this year!

Wait, it's after ten o'clock?!

yeah the whole DRS seems like a great idea

lotsa chicanery

wha? button passes vettel to win?

wonder what lewis is doing/thinking right now

I loved during the red flag, when Rihanna visited the McLaren garage and Lewis was all 'have you ever seen one of these close up?'

wonder when the stewards will pass judgment on Button for that Alonso collision.

wth happened to that one car who's front wing exploed near the end of race (like 10 laps left), did he rear end somebody? there was debris everywhere

Yeah he nudged someone in a slow corner who'd run wide and had to slow right down to get back on line.

Then that marshall who came on to pick up debris and slipped & fell into the path of onrushing cars, not once but twice - that was pure horror slapstick. I'm sure I have bad dreams where that happens.

jesus, i didn't see that

the commentators were talking about the marshall but it wasn't shown on Fox TV

the contact only loosened the wing, I think it was a few corners later when it fell off and he ran over it, hence the explosion.

Brundle had spoken earlier about an incident when he crashed into a marshall, that guy musta been listening and thought of it as an easy route to minor fame.

This has to be the race held at 3am local time that I always miss out.

Niki Lauda just said that Lewis Hamilton should be sent to The Formula 1 Penalty Box (an all-inclusive holiday to Bahrain) which means he must be a mad racist or something. It's no different from the M. Schumacher heyday really.

1. The Koob is recovering.
2. Look at his AMAZING T-Shirt.

http://www.fakt.pl/m/Repozytorium.Obiekt.aspx/-650/-550/faktonline/634434818184699635.jpg

Quite the shirt. The season has been incredible to watch, even if most of the results have been the same damn thing. Kubica would have only made things better.

he'd have had a car too

This is the first time this year that Nico Rosberg had made the headlines. Good job, son.

Also: I was unaware of this new revisionist Formula One history in which Formula 1 was in danger of going bust during the 80s because turbocharged engines had a different noise to naturally-aspirated engines.

And no, a 1.5 litre four-cylinder turbocharged BMW engine didn't reach 1000bhp in 1984.

I believe some of you will be getting Sky.

Who would have thought that Glorified Go-Kart Track + Rain = Good Racing??

Meanwhile, Jenson Button sulking after website hack.

"The guy who did it obviously didn't have any better offers on a Saturday night so stayed home to do that instead #getsomefriends," he added.

Vettel is World Champion again, nobody cares.

BBC F1 commentator Martin Brundle: "I was in the gym the other day and Michael Schumacher is in such immense condition. He has such a lot of muscle. Sebastian Vettel looks like stick insect in contrast but somehow it's never been a problem for him."

the blown exhaust systems (red bull the worst offenders) are so, so, so bad to listen to. thank christ they're banning them for next year.

Can I just say how boring this season is.

Apparently I'm supposed to give a shit about the Hamilton vs Massa feud but my only thought is "why the fuck is Massa still driving and why bother watching?"

Yeah, it's a bit of a yawn prix this year.

Montreal was great though. And there were a few other good races as well.

I thought China was great, but I haven't been into F1 all that long. Vettel is an ultimate driving machine but he makes races sooooo dull. I keep watching his lead over Button during races get longer, and longer and hope that something will happen to create a battle at the front.

This is pretty cool, it's a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m10_f1o_0So&feature=youtu.be";>simulated lap of the Weehawken track</a> (I'm sure they'll end up calling it the New York City Grand Prix).

What is it with me and links

Could be decent, that track. I haven't seen anything about the Austin one.

I'm really dubious of 90-degree turns. I think it was in Detroit that one 90 had a driver spinning off it every few laps.

Beeb did a long feature on Austin in the leadup to India. I can't find a simulated lap anywhere, which is what I'd rather see. Right now the track is just a dirt path and not much else, since construction stalled for a while - disagreement over who owned it, etc.

I'm stoked for The Big E's seventh attempt to run a GP in New Jersey.

Then again, I thought those guys in Austin would have been bankrupted by now

I don't see how the Jersey one could fail - if you've been keeping up with what Joe Seward's been writing about it, it seems like a great cash scheme. Everybody looking to entertain or impress will descend on it.

Having F1 in NASCAR country, though ... I don't see that one working out at all. Long-term I could see NASCAR running races on the circuit, they've started talking about it.

does NASCAR race in non-ovals? Also isn't it widely held that Austin is not *really* part of a Texas and is thus not in NASCAR country?

Well, they're pondering a Circuit of the Americas race. After the latest crash they must be thinking outside-the-oval generally.

Good zing re Austin - but of course nobody flying in to see the race would know that ...

I just think that a sport with as much Eurocache as F1 would be actively despised by Americans generally and NASCAR fans in particular, hence my low bet on Austin. But that's completely out of my ass.

Kind of dreading Abu Dhabi as no driver has expressed enthusiasm for the track.

Pretty though

Er, if actual fan support in the locale was a requirement for staging a Grand Prix, half the 2011 calendar would be missing.

Ill advised investments and tax dollars into The Big E's pocket >>>>>>> nice Paddock Club structure >>>>>>>>> fan support.

(That's why I can't see New Jersey getting off the ground. Where are they going to find the money that India and China are pumping into Grand Prix ahead of anything else?)

Yeah, we'll see. At least Jersey isn't based on constructing an entire city a la South Korea.

I know everyone's past caring about the rest of this season but I wanted to rep for Another F1 Podcast and F1 Weekly podcasts.

Would have mentioned Sidepodcast as also being great but they've entered the 'how do we monetize this' phase of podcasting so 25% of the show is them hawking their wares

Then again, I thought those guys in Austin would have been bankrupted by now.

KBP with yet another bold prediction; Big E is giving them a "seven day deadline", it's just like Neo-Donington Park again.