F1 news

[peter]

Ferrari abandon Kers for China GP

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8001866.stm

did not see that one coming so soon EJ will be loving it.

McLaren's Dennis quits Formula 1

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8001425.stm

This may come back to bite me in the a** but what if I was to say that maybe after the end of the month and Mclaren are no more. That we may see a new team ie a team Mercedes

[devilgas]

abandoning kers has done no good so far, but then having a car belching smoke from a kers induced bbq doesn't help much either. from what ferrari have said, they didn't really have much choice in the matter.
both ferraris behind sutil (force india) in free practice 2. renault & bmw were also a very poor show in that session.
on the showing so far, i think this may the 3rd race in a row the maranello team don't get any points.

why would mclaren be no more? bit lost on that one. LH was fastest in fp1. not so strong in fp2 though. new front wing and interim diffuser appear to have made a bit of difference.
was intersting to see just how well the brawn handled and how much of a handful the red cars were in fp. the brawn is certainly a very well dialled in chassis.

ron to challenge mad max for president?

[peter]

why would mclaren be no more? bit lost on that one.

It's just a feeling I have. I think it will all depend on what happens at the end of the month with the hearing. I just think if it goes against mclaren and say they get kicked out of the championship then Mercedes may well think it would be better to go it alone. They would then buy up the rest of the team from Ron who would not have sold it in the past when he was there but now things may be different.

[devilgas]

ok, get the point. would mclaren just go and do a honda/brawn in that case? kicked out in 2009 so come back in 2010 and blitz it?
i think with ron going, they're trying damage limitation as it's more than clear that RD and the max and benny show don't get on at all.
you're right about merc though. whether they would put up with being kicked out is a big question.

[JSR]

Originally Posted by peter

It's just a feeling I have. I think it will all depend on what happens at the end of the month with the hearing. I just think if it goes against mclaren and say they get kicked out of the championship then Mercedes may well think it would be better to go it alone. They would then buy up the rest of the team from Ron who would not have sold it in the past when he was there but now things may be different.

Got to admit that I didn't even consider that option. If McLaren shuts and Mercedes opens up as a new team, would they have to honour Lewis' contract? Or would they be free to pursue cheaper (less controversial) drivers?

I know Lewis is hot property - being the WDC and all - but there is a lot of fresh new blood coming through the field that would be cheaper and have a less tarnish reputation. If those two factors are important, who knows what might happen..?

[peter]

http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,189...227007,00.html

It does not say which one of the sponsors it is but this could bring what I was talking about closer.

[JSR]

These people never learn, do they?

Agents for McLaren's sponsors have reportedly approached the FIA pleading for leniency at next week's WMSC hearing, fearing a "disproportionately large" punishment could see the Woking team forced out of F1.

Yes, and if this pleading does encourage leniency then that will mean that in all future cases, the FIA will have to cow-tow to "pleading" from sponsors.

All the FIA can do here is to show those agents the door and judge the case based on its merits. To allow themselves to be swayed by outside influences just undermines their authority and renders the entire case a sham.

If a large punishment is deemed appropriate then it will send the message to all teams that lying to the stewards will not be tolerated. That, IMHO, is the right message to send. If, however, the message ends up being "well, we would have punished them, but didn't bother because the sponsors cried into their nappies", then it just opens the floodgates and allows everyone to lie knowing that they'll get away with it by getting their sponsors to go on bended knee the plead for leniency.

[JSR]

It seems that McLaren are not convinced that having their sponsors doing all thee begging is sufficient: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8016611.stm

McLaren are apparently apologising ahead of the meeting. If only they did this after the first lie and before they compounded it, there'd be no meeting to worry about.

Like the sponsor-pleading, the FIA need to ensure they're not swayed by this apology from McLaren. If McLaren get away with a light slap on the wrist just because they apologised, then all the other teams will just get pre-typed apologies ready and start lying to the stewards as well. Why not just hand in your apologies before the season starts, and then have a free-for-all?

It's going to be a fraught few days for McLaren now... I hope the FIA do the right thing, as they did with the diffuser "row".