Your latest USF1 update: they’re officially asking to have their entry deferred until 2011. Mr. Youtube Chad Hurley, his money being no good elsewhere, is willing to write a large check on the promise that they’ll have 2 working cars a year from now. Honest! We’ll see what the FIA says. Hopefully someone can convince Anderson to walk away if he truly was the root cause of the problems.
http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-usf1-asks-for-delay-until-2011/
Today’s launch of the Hispania Racing Team (HRT F1), barring a last second decision allowing Stefan GP to take over for the failed USF1 operation, closes the grid with twelve teams competing for the 2010 F1 Championship – though in all reality we’re talking about four, maybe five teams with real options for the title or even race wins.
This is what Spain’s first F1 team entry looks like:
HRT Dallara Cosworth: First impressions
A better look at the car. Kind of like the livery myself if only because it resembles the galactic gray of my own 4Runner. As for what to expect of the car itself, I’ll be pleasantly surprised if it doesn’t go backwards…
Question: I’ll be Stateside for the next couple of weeks – Fla, in the Mia/Boca Raton area to be exact.
Anyone know how/where I can watch the races? Doubt live streaming’s an option as the wifi in hotels usually sux.
ETA: thanx in advance.
The season is nearly here!
RedFury, this is going to be tough for you. I’d tell you to head to a sports bar, but the race starts at 7:30am ET so finding one open at that hour (even in Miami) may be difficult. If the hotel you are staying at has Speed on their cable system, you won’t have to leave your room, but that’s unlikely too.
I bet Miami has at least a couple of “soccer bars” catering to Euro ex-pats, that’d probably be your best bet to finding a place with lots of TVs that is open at 7:30am.
Might try posting the question the Autosport forums too…
Results from Bahrain
1 F Alonso Ferrari
2 F Massa Ferrari
3 L Hamilton McLaren
4 S Vettel Red Bull
5 N Rosberg Mercedes
6 M Schumacher Mercedes
7 J Button McLaren
8 M Webber Red Bull
9 V Liuzzi Force India
10 R Barrichello Williams
11 R Kubica Renault
12 A Sutil Force India
13 J Alguersuari Toro Rosso
14 N Hulkenberg Williams
15 H Kovalainen Lotus
16 S Buemi Toro Rosso
17 J Trulli Lotus
Strangely tame race IMO.
@fiddlesticks, thanks for the suggestions. I was able to find one of those ex-pat pubs* you allude to in no time and watched the Madrid CL match on Weds; asked about F1 and it was a no-go due to the starting time. No SpeedTV at the hotel, but the good news is that I was able to stream both the qualies and the race w/out a hitch. Again, due to the starting times there’s was very little clutter on the hotel wifi.
Impressions: Not the most exciting of races; perhaps the no refueling reg will have the opposite effect than desired, for as long as you can take care of your tires one-stoppers such as today will be the norm. And as overtaking on track was already something of a feat, taking away Pit stop strategy might result in more trains; specially up front. Doubt that’ll do much in term of excitement but rather opposite.
As for the race itself, too bad we were deprived of a battle-to-the-end between Fernando and Vettel due to the latter’s car trouble. Although a hard-core Alonso fan myself, I’d guesstimate that Sebastian would have had the upper hand – even with Alonso’s superior pace it’s close to impossible to overtake on tracks such as Bahrain. Which unfortunately are more the norm than the exception now a days. Heck, the changes they (Bahrain) made from last year made it that much worse. The only “real” racing happened in mid-pack and though entertaining I think most fans would rather see the fights up front.
In closing, can’t deny I enjoyed seeing Fernando doing his thing with – after what seems forever – competitive machinery at his helm. Obviously lots can happen during the season, but everything else being equal I think Alonso is just one notch above the rest of the grid.
Looking forwards to some h2h with both Hamilton and Shummi; as well as Vettel and Massa himself, the latter being, for me, The Man Of The Race if only for coming back from such a horrific crash and driving like it never happened.
Bring it on Melbourne!
Vamos Fernando!
For any footie fans that happen to pass through Boca Raton and need a fix: Lion & Eagle English Pub
Boring race. The cameras seemed to ignore the fights at the back. Poor Vettel, laid low by a cracked exhaust.
My impression is that removing refuelling will make the drivers less likely to gamble on an overtaking manoevre, except perhaps in a small window of opportunity immediately following the tyre change.
At the start of the race, the car is carrying something over 100kg of fuel. Suspension and ride-height settings are selected with the requirement to avoid the heavy-laden cars bottoming out easily foremost. The extra weight also means the brakes have to work harder to slow the car down.
As the cars lighten, the ride height increases, reducing the downforce the cars generate, and therefore the grip in the corners reduces - thus lessening their ability to overtake.
I don’t think one race provides enough evidence to say yay or nay. Let’s wait until another few races have been run.
Oh, did anyone think Hamilton was lucky to jump Rosberg at the pitstop?
Not a terrible start to the season… or maybe I’ve just missed the racing that much. A little excitement in some of the middle-ground, not much at the front until Vettel’s exhaust cracked… once he started to pull away in the first couple laps I was sure he’d have it well in hand. He might have managed it still if he’d been able to get further ahead of the Ferraris earlier… the F10 has a lot of speed and the Red Bull doesn’t seem to have made much of a leap over last year.
I wonder if Vettel will use ALL of his engines again this year? 
The strategy with no refueling is a little less interesting. It was more fun to see which team could balance tires and fuel to get the best race.
What are the details of that rule? I know that there’s a limit to the number of engines a driver can use during a year (is it 8?), but what maintenance are the teams allowed to do on those engines during the season? Change the oil, change the spark plugs, new pistons? If Vettel’s engine in Bahrain had a cracked exhaust header, can they replace that part if they leave the rest of the engine intact?
I’m sure Alonso would’ve passed Vettel regardless.
He just took off like there was no tomorrow.
Red Bull blamed Vettel’s problem on a faulty spark plug. So maybe he won’t have to switch engines for Australia, assuming spark plugs are “swappable” by the FIA engine rules and the plug didn’t cause any permanent damage.
Wish the cameras had gotten a shot of the Red Bull guys taking a hacksaw to their car’s bodywork…Newey must have been pissed to have his creation assaulted so.
The Speed guys said both Ferraris changed their engine for the race, so they’re already one in the hole. And this confirms it (around about page 5).
did anybody come up with a reason for that giant cloud of smoke from… uh… the other Red Bull care at the beginning of the race?
I’m begninng to suspect a smoke screen. To much Spy Hunter as a kid.
The summarized version of the rule just mentions the 8-engine limit. The full sporting reg 28.4c says “… the FIA will attach seals to each engine prior to it being used for the first time at an Event in order to ensure that no significant moving parts can be rebuilt or replaced.” (Italics mine.) I’m not a gearhead, but I’m fairly sure the exhaust header isn’t a moving part, yeah? But if you have to get at moving parts in order to change it, you might be out of luck. But I’m also pretty sure it’s not a pit-stop sort of repair. Oil and plugs look okay to change, but not pistons - the same reg says engines are sealed again after use, and cannot be run until the next Event.
Tristan:
From an F1 Q&A with Chrisitan Horner (Red Bull Renault’s Team Principal),
Webber himselfhad only comments about the rules changes and the frustrating lack of overtaking opportunities in Bahrain.
Well, just got back from the US this afternoon and I am trying hard to stay awake to watch the race. Hoping the adrenaline rush I get on race days will carry me to 2:00 AM and beyond.
Couple of points: Looks like Hamilton was right in the comments he made mid-week in terms of RBR being the class of the field for the time being. Their one-tow in qualifying was not just impressive but seemingly achieved without much effort.
OTOH, no doubt Hammy is a bit red-faced at the moment what with blowing qualies and being pummeled by the lesser British McLaren star, current WDC, Jenson Button. Good on Jenson.
Hell of a drive by Alonso as well, a full 7/10th faster than Massa. Should be an interesting start what with the stubborn Webber defending 2nd from the dirty side and Fernando knowing that odds aren’t very good for overtaking during the race.
Rev 'em up ladies and gents, The Aussie Grand Prix is about to start – here’s betting we’ll see a SC or two…especially if it rains as they are predicting towards the end of the race.
Simply brilliant racing today. Amazing overtaking, great back-and-forth, all the drivers in the top 10 pushed hard today. Very pleased I was able to watch this one live. It would have been just as spectacular a race later, but I enjoyed following all the teams on Twitter and using the F1 timing app on my iPhone.
I saw Button leave the pits after ditching his inters and thought, “Oops… that was probably a little too soon.” Then he gets a bit of luck and off he goes on those same soft tires to the top of the podium. Fantastic drive.
Dame Fortune simply didn’t favor the Red Bulls today. The possible exception to that was Jaime Alguersuari - he was really giving Schumacher a run back there at the tag end of the points, wasn’t he?
Glad I managed to stay up for this one. With so many variables Albert hardly disappoints and such was the case this morning (EST). I’d hate to be in Vettel’s driving shoes as this makes two in a row he should/would have won if it hadn’t been for the RB’s reliability. Then again, that’s a huge part of a championship run.
Big ups to Jenson for finishing the job – great early call/gamble by McLaren on his tire change. Excellent drives by Hamilton and Alonso…though for the life of me I can’t figure out what Ferrari was thinking by keeping both drivers on a single tire change and not giving team orders to allow Alonso to overtake Felipe when he had the much faster pace; yeah, I know, technically illegal to do so, just ask Shummi … hell, Massa didn’t have one overtaking maneuver while Nando roared back from 18th. Surely that’ll will settle the “Alonso has to be the main man in order to perform”…till Kuala Lumpur anyway.
In any event, great race IMHO. Here’s looking for more of same the rest of the season.
History Geek,
You and I both watched the same race. So much for the dire predictions after Bahrain, which had me honestly skeptical about the new rules…yet again.
Yet here’s hoping for more of the same – including some much earned luck for Vettel.
An excellent race. My only disappointment is that my DVR didn’t record it. 
Highlights on in 10 mins, though! 
