# Formula One: The 2009 Championship. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 22, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312 "2009-03-22T03:11:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/101 "2009-04-20T04:46:05Z")
I wasn’t able to catch the race this week but I’m glad the Red Bulls performed so well sans KERS and double diffusers. I’ll be working for the next one too but I’ll get that from a torrent site. I hate, hate, hate the tire regulations this year. Those types of artifices are what turned me from other types of racing to F1. Here’s hoping they come to their senses at some point. ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/102 "2009-04-25T04:39:56Z")
Anyone have early predictions for Bahrain? I’m going to call it for Button, with Vettel and maybe Hamilton on the podium, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Toyota driver up there. At least one Ferrari will fail to finish and I’m hoping to see Force India put up some points. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/103 "2009-04-26T03:41:43Z")
Very interesting Qualy. I never expect much from Jarno in the race, however. Glock is kindof an unknown still as well. I’ll predict Vettel on the podium, barring any shinanigans. Maybe Hamilton, maybe Massa. Maybe the Brawn’s? Otherwise, this season is a total crap-shoot. Kinda fun, I must admit. Too bad about Webber’s qualifying, but he always seems to have something to bitch about. ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/104 "2009-04-27T04:22:18Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > … Too bad about Webber’s qualifying, but he always seems to have something to bitch about. It did seem like he would have been into Q2 if he hadn’t been held up. Then again, maybe he should have looked for a better opportunity to get past Sutil. The race itself was excellent. No crashes or major failures despite my Ferrari prediction (I had thought they might have a KERS problem in the heat). Anybody find out why Nakajima retired with 8 laps remaining? I don’t think the Speed commentators ever mentioned. The difference in tire compounds seemed to play a big role again. Trulli going to the harder tire for the middle portion of his race seemed to cost him heavily against Vettel and Button at the end. It certainly looks like Brawn GP isn’t going to be the big bad wolf everyone expected them to be after Australia and Malaysia. Fast and competitive, but not outright dominating. McLaren seem to have picked up some pace on them, and the Red Bulls and Toyota made Button earn his win today. I think the opportunity to make additions/modifications to the cars in Spain will show in the Friday practices there. F1 has certainly turned out to be an interesting sport to watch. ---
**Author:** ![BACI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BACI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BACI)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/105 "2009-04-27T05:01:05Z")
According to the Williams website Nakajima retired because: “In the end, my oil pressure was spiking so we took the decision to retire the car. The one positive thing is that the car felt good so we will hopefully do better at the next race.” Great to see a race run from start to finish without a safety car period, and was pleased for Jarno even if the race failed to deliver a victory for him. I did find it all a little processional though, although there were enough duels around the track at all stages of the race to make it more entertaining than recent shortened and rain soaked events. I’m still getting used to the new world order, where McLaren and Ferarri are also-rans! It’s refreshing. And great to see Vettel forge an identity and a bright future in the sport. Roll on Barcelona! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/106 "2009-04-27T07:46:19Z")
I found the race boring. Far too little overtaking and not enough places where driver error had a significant affect. The pit stop strategy side left me cold, as did the tyre strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/107 "2009-04-27T14:31:05Z")
> [@History\_Geek](#): > > The race itself was excellent. No crashes or major failures despite my Ferrari prediction (I had thought they might have a KERS problem in the heat). Actually, Massa did have a temporary problem with his KERS that meant his team advised him to switch it off for a couple of laps. However, this didn’t last long and so did not have a big effect. > [@BACI](#): > > According to the Williams website Nakajima retired because: “In the end, my oil pressure was spiking so we took the decision to retire the car. The one positive thing is that the car felt good so we will hopefully do better at the next race.” One could read that as a convenient excuse to retire so that he can get a “free” gearbox change for the next race. There was some discussion about this by the BBC TV commentary team. > [@Quartz](#): > > I found the race boring. Far too little overtaking and not enough places where driver error had a significant affect. The pit stop strategy side left me cold, as did the tyre strategy. It was a little bit, there was some exciting overtaking but not enough, I agree. Both Red Bulls seemed to consistently run much wider than the rest at a particular corner (I dont’ recall which) - I was just waiting for one of them to overdo it on one lap and spin out, but it didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/108 "2009-04-27T15:41:12Z")
Not the most exciting race, but not the most boring race ever either. Hard to feel sorry for big faceless Toyota, but they let a big chance slip through their fingers. I do feel sorry for Williams who can’t make their diffuser pay off. And if there’s one race that’s guaranteed to be boring every year its Spain. Yippee. Hopefully the engineers for the non-diffuser crowd will be ready to put a bunch of new bits on their cars and provide some rare bit of interest and excitement there. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/109 "2009-04-27T16:50:08Z")
Yeah, for this to be the season’s most boring race in four is actually something of an achievement. The early madcap shenanigans actually went on for quite a while (i.e. more than three corners), and while yes, it settled down into a relatively prosaic tactics battle, it wasn’t the worst of its species; you had Webber’s charge up the order to watch, and a couple of other middle-rank contests going on for some time\*. Also found it very interesting to watch Barrichello being held off by the KERS of Fisichella’s Renault. He just couldn’t get past, but unlike before where an inability to pass was dull, this was _entertainingly_ difficult; you always felt like he was in with a sniff, but with a random factor chucked in in favour of the defence. Novel stuff. \*I think this is part of the improvement this season, actually - the shaken-up nature of this season lends more significance to middle-order battles, whereas previously there wasn’t much point (apart from academic interest) in looking past the top four. ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/110 "2009-04-28T22:17:51Z")
As an aside: both Williams and Renault produce team podcasts. I listened to the most recent episode of each and think they were okay. Interviews covered drivers, mechanics, and design guys. Nothing earthshaking, but a nice look at each team. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/111 "2009-05-01T15:41:34Z")
What do people think about the proposed budgetary restrictions? I’m in two minds: on the one hand it will benefit the smaller teams who cannot afford the sums that the larger teams can, and on the other, the teams spending the money benefits the local economies. ---
**Author:** ![BACI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BACI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BACI)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/112 "2009-05-02T00:20:58Z")
This on the rule changes for next year: > **[Analysis: 2010 Formula One regulations](https://www.f1technical.net/news/12314?sid=a0ce6a308cea6932e1286511dc048b21)** > > The World Motor Sport Council has just introduced its proposal for the new set of rules to further economise Formula One. The budget cap should finally make its entrance in 2010 and any team opting for the solution will benefit of more technical... I’m going to miss refuelling, safety may be compromised (particularly in the first corners of races) through mandatory use of cold tires, and the budget cap will do nothing more than encourage creative accounting. Time for Max Mosley to go? Let’s see what pressure Ferrari bring to bear… ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/113 "2009-05-02T00:33:59Z")
> [@BACI](#): > > Time for Max Mosley to go? Let’s see what pressure Ferrari bring to bear… I think it’s time for new management in F1, really I’d like to see the teams own the league like many other sports do. Speaking of Ferrari, now that the Brawn-Schumacher era has ended I’m being reminded on a weekly basis of their old knee-jerk reactionary ways from the pre-Brawn days. They say they’re going to calm down and get the ship turned in the right direction but I’m starting to have my doubts. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/114 "2009-05-02T23:47:07Z")
> [@BACI](#): > > Time for Max Mosley to go? Let’s see what pressure Ferrari bring to bear… Isn’t this the guy who survived the “Nazi Sex Party” scandel without so much as a scratch? Gonna take more than a Ferrari-with-one-points-finish to get him to budge! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Albrecht\_Durer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ccd318/32.png) [@Albrecht\_Durer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albrecht_Durer)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/115 "2009-05-03T01:15:41Z")
I think the budget cap idea is brilliant; sure, there’s going to be some accounting shenanigans but I think it will be good for the sport overall, especially if FIA can watch the teams like hawks. If Brawn’s success has shown anything, it’s that fresh blood and new teams are good for competitiveness, two things that would increase in Formula 1 with the budget caps. Plus, I was excited to learn that there’s going to be a new US F1 team, USGP, in 2011 or so. Maybe that will coincide with a return to Indianapolis, so I will only have to drive an hour to see a race. Fingers crossed. I don’t agree with the no-refueling rule. Having to stop occasionally for fuel adds an interesting and exciting element to the race. That rule is going to make the races less about strategy and more about engineering. A small advantage in lap 3 can turn into a game-winning advantage by lap 40, with no chance for overtaking or better stratagem in the pit lanes. I know the drivers will still have to change tires, but doing without refueling will halve (or so) their time in the pits. And as for Mosley v. Ferrari? Mosley says its FIA that can do without Ferrari, and not the other way around: [see here](http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=45758&PO=45758). I think Ferrari just needs to pull their heads out of their asses and try to get their competitive edge back. Ferrari and Renault have been acting like children since the new diffusers came out, shocked, SHOCKED that other teams and other car engineers could best them. Ferrari is ignoring their huge reliability issues; Ferrari can’t even build a KERS system that works without putting their drivers in jeopardy. If Ferrari can’t take what they have and what they know and build a car with 40 million pounds, they need some new engineers. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/116 "2009-05-10T04:51:21Z")
Damn Ferrari! Again! :smack: Get your asses on the track in First Qually! And to the esteemed previous poster (didn’t wanna quote), I hardly think Brawn is “Fresh Blood”. Two of the oldest drivers, Ross- who has been around since they made the wheels round, and a car design 2 years in process. I agree that it is great to see a challenge to “the old guard”, but it ain’t coming from any new blood. The new blood is Vettel. Which brings me to my same question: How the hell does Red Bull funnel so much money into the various sports sponserships they got out there in the wind? That shit must not cost anything to produce! I mean, these Jokers sponser freakin’ aerobatic competitions! Those costs must make F1 look positively “reasonable”. Just random thought, waiting for the race to start… ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/117 "2009-05-10T07:10:27Z")
Dang, I gotta stay up until FOUR to watch the Spanish GP tonight? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/118 "2009-05-10T07:17:08Z")
With Hamilton in the middle and Kimi at the back, this is going to be a fun race to watch if the cameras keep on them. Button vs Vettel should be fun too. ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/119 "2009-05-10T12:34:21Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > With Hamilton in the middle and Kimi at the back, this is going to be a fun race to watch if the cameras keep on them. Button vs Vettel should be fun too. I hope those guys get some coverage too, there won’t be much action at the front of the grid today unless the Brawns beat themselves I think. ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312/120 "2009-05-10T22:16:36Z")
Spain turned out to be about as exciting as a lot of people thought it would be, which wasn’t very much. I was surprised that Ferrari managed to show as well as they did in qualifying. Massa managed to hold up Vettel for the best part of the race too, which might have kept him off the podium. There was the great mucking smash-up right after the start to provide a little excitement. Carbon fiber bits all over the place and four cars out in mere seconds! I think Barichello could have won easily if Brawn hadn’t favored Button strategically. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-one-the-2009-championship/490312.md?page=7)