F1 General

[TheRob]

So Mika Hakkinen finally wins in England. Quite a good race actually. Lot's of passing, and drama. Anybody watch it? Any comments?

TR

[Jinky]

I didn't see it by I think legendary music producer, Christopher Walken might have.

[TheRob]

I want you to explore the space of this thread Jinky, I mean really explore it.

TR. aka Bruce Dickenson.

[TheRob]

Some surprising news from the F1 world this morning. Jordan Honda has fired Heinz Harold Frentzen for the rest of the season. Frentzen has taken the matter to court, so we'll see what happens next.

TR.

[TheRob]

Some more news from the F1 world.

Jaques Villeneuve, and Olivier Panis have both signed on for another year at British American Racing. To bad, I was kind of hoping JV would go somwhere else.

TR.

[Jinky]

London, July 30 (Bloomberg) --

Eddie Jordan, owner of a Formula One motor-racing team, may buy a stake in Celtic Plc, owner of the Scottish soccer champions, the Financial Times reported, without citing sources.

Jordan, who declined to comment, may be interested in the structure of the company's recent share offer, which links returns to the football club's success in European games, the FT said.

Celtic said it was unaware of Jordan's interest, the FT said. The Glasgow, Scotland-based company is hoping to raise 25 million pounds ($35.6 million) from the sale, for which applications closed last week.

The club gained a guaranteed place in next season's European Champions League, the most lucrative European tournament, when it won the Scottish championship. This was Celtic's 37th league title.

[TheRob]

JV finished third at the Grand Prix of Germany yesterday. I don't think he passed a car all day. Lot's of attrition. The race was won by Ralf Shumacher of Williams. Juan Montoya had the race won, but his engine blew 20 laps from the end. Current points leader Micheal Shumacher of Ferrari did not finish, but still has a huge points lead over David Coultard.

Hey Jinky, It's nice to have somebody else in here besides me. Come back anytime hey?

TR.

[tps]

hey boys, this makes three of us now.

the german grand prix was definitely different, especially when shummy and mclaren don't finish the race. ironically, it was one of the more entertaining races, mainly because new faces were on the podium.
maybe shummy should stay out of the next race to make it more interesting. i guess if shumacher wins one more race and coulthard does not finish, that will be pretty much it.

how about jacques, staying on with BAR, that is like abdur rahim wanting to play for the grizzlies. obviously, the fact that he owns part of BAR had probably all to do with it. I think he made a huge mistake, first of all becoming part owner, and second of all choosing a team like BAR. he is stuck and his stock is going down very quickly. forget the german grand prix, he was on the podium because there was no one left. Sorry, i just don't like the guy

talk to you soon.

[TheRob]

Glad to have you back tps!

What do you think of the FIA's decision to restart the race. Do you think it was warrented, or do you think there was a little bit of favoritism there? Like you said, it was good to see some other teams get some points, especially Benneton. We need more races like that.

TR.

[tps]

TR,

I think restarting the race was a good idea. i.m not sure the exact criteria to start a race, but with what happened to shummy, it could have serious for him and the other driver, but also the fact that there must have been a hell of a lot of debris on the track and i think that would have caused a lot of problems for other drivers. i cannot disagree with the decision regardless of my ferrari stripes.

Did anyone go to the italian car show at the italian centre last saturday, aug 4th. not bad for the first year, most all alfa romeos, with 2 ferrari's.

til the next race fellows.

[TheRob]

So Shumi wins the F1 title with four races left. Impressive. He is a great driver there is no doubt about that. JV had another crappy weekend. Now it looks like Hakkinan might retire. JV should have waited before signing back with BAR.

TR.

[TheRob]

Some news from the F1 world,

From the TSN webpage:

(Aug. 24) After just nine months on the job, Bobby Rahal found out just how fickle the F1 circus can be.

Rahal has parted ways with the Jaguar Formula One team following a meeting with team management on Thursday.

An official statement from the team says the departure was mutually agreed upon and made in the best interests of the team.

Niki Lauda, who had been in charge of Ford's Premier Performance Division, now takes over Rahal's role as team principle.

"It has been a tremendous privilege to play a key role in the formative stages of the development of Jaguar Racing," said Rahal. "I have truly enjoyed the time I have spent with the many talented people at Jaguar Racing and I wish them all the best for the future."

Rahal will return to his ownership duties with Team Rahal in the CART series. It's believed he will receive around $5-million US in order to cover the remaining two years of his contract.

"I would like to thank Bobby for the contribution he has made to Jaguar Racing," added Lauda.

Rahal was brought in last December to try and rebuild the sagging fortunes of the Jaguar team. However, reports of problems developing between Rahal and Lauda began surfacing earlier this year.

Lauda's decision to allow Cosworth to sell engines to Arrows next year and Rahal's offer to sell Eddie Irvine to Jordan earlier this month highlighted some of the management difficulties between the two men.

Then there was the 'Newey-gate' affair. Rahal appeared to have pulled off a coup when Jaguar announced it had lured technical director Adrian Newey away from McLaren. However, Newey changed his mind and despite saying that Jaguar had a binding deal with Newey, both sides settled the issue without going through a prolonged court battle. The end result was Newey remained at McLaren and Jaguar ended up with egg on its face.

I think Rahal is a bit of a jerk, so this makes me chuckle a bit.

[5bigtoes]

TR,

What is the story with Shummy not wanting to race in two weeks in INDY. I heard it has something to do with the recent events in the USA. I also heard he was not comfortable with the air travel to the US, and there is some fight with the F1 admin and the drivers.

I noticed he approached every driver prior to the start of the race? (Except Jacques V)

Any comments or clarification from you TR or anyone else interested in this thread?

Cheers 5BT

[TheRob]

Well, as you can see, there aren't to many people interested in this thread but it's always nice to see someone else here.

As for this Schumacher thing. It just gives more ammunition to the people, like myself, who can't stand the guy because he is an arrogant wanker. A great driver, yes. A huge wanker, Yes. After the race yesterday there was a lot of talk about that topic. He says that he won't race there. Bernie Ecclestone said that the championship is not over until the last race. Meaning if he doesn't go, he could lose all his points, and therefore the championship. He claims to be scared, and for good reason I suppose, but what about all the other drivers who are going. The only driver that publicly agreed with him was his brother.(who is also a wanker) We'll see what happens, but if I were a betting man, I would think that he would be there. Time will tell. Remember, all drivers are under contract. If they are told to go, I would imagine that they will go.

[TheRob]

From Formula1.com


Ferrari confirmed today that if Michael Schumacher decides not to race in the US Grand Prix in two week's time they will back his decision.
Sporting director Jean Todt told Italian sports newspaper Gazetta dello Sport: "Michael was very disheartened when he arrived here (Monza). I asked him if he felt like competing in this race or if he would prefer to stop.

"At Monza he wanted to race, but following this we will respect his opinion. It is he who drives, and he who needs to say if he feels like doing it."

The German was distracted all weekend, and put in a fairly lacklustre performance by his standards to finish fourth in the race. He also led the drive to prevent overtaking at the first two chicanes in a bid to ensure driver safety on the opening lap.


However, Bernie Ecclestone issued what appeared to be a stern warning to the German in the Sunday Telegraph should he decide not to race, saying:

"Let's get one thing straight. Michael Schumacher is not yet the 2001 world champion. Anything could happen. Maybe he could lose his points over one of the next three races. I'm sure that won't be the case, but it could be..."

His brother Ralf Schumacher has also spoken out against the idea of racing in the US - saying it was a "bad joke" - but it is thought that he will definitely appear at Indianapolis.


Michael Schumacher has made no comment as to his plans.

[5bigtoes]

TR,

Thanks for the clarification. I think your right M. Schumaker is a self-serving wanker. I love watching the guy race though.

Congrates to Montoya on winning the race in Italy.

[TheRob]

From the TSN webpage:

(Sep 17) MILAN, Italy (AP) - Formula One champion Michael Schumacher will race in this month's U.S. Grand Prix.

"I'm not thinking at all about not driving in the U.S.A. and Japan," Schumacher said Monday in a statement issued by Ferrari.

The Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper reported Monday that Ferrari would allow Schumacher to skip the race if he wanted to.

Gazzetta said Ferrari would use test driver Luca Badoer for the Sept. 30 U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis if Schumacher doesn't drive. Schumacher clinched his fourth world title last month.

Before Sunday's Formula One race in Monza, Schumacher said: "After things which have happened in the United States and with one driver in hospital badly hurt, we have a question whether we should be racing."

Sounds like someone got their wrist slapped by the FIA.

[TheRob]

Jaques is at it again.

From the TSN web page:

As first reported by TSN Formula One analyst Gerald Donaldson, Villeneuve had more than just driving on his mind at the U.S. Grand Prix at Indinapolis.

The former world champion took time out to propose to his 19 year old girlfriend, New York based ballerina Ellie Green. The two have been dating for just three months since they first met back in July when Villeneuve was visiting his sister in New York.

According to Donaldson, Villeneuve popped the question on Friday night with a sparkling, diamond engagement ring.

Apparently, Villeneuve did not want to take the spotlight away from his friend and Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who also announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend Connie Freydel this past weekend.

This is Villeneuves' second engagement in six months following official confirmation earlier this year that he and Australian actress Dannii Minogue had split up.

Not a bad looking bird for a goofy looking F1 driver.

[Keeper]

Sounds like his clock is ticking.

[Keeper]

TheRob, they don't always pit like this do they?

Love tap