2011 Formula 1 Season

[Eliseos]

Apparently the big announcement was just the name of the track It's going to be called "Circuit of the Americas". Sounds dumb, but whatever. They also already have a deal with F1 from 2012 to 2021, which was announced last year, so I must have been dumb reading about it. They don't know an exact date for the US GP, but I'm going to assume it'll be later in the season. The track isn't supposed to be finished until June 2012, so it'll definitely have to be after that. Probably around the time they go to Brazil.

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/artic...k-gets-a-name/

[Esvedium]

My guess is it'll be Austin > Sao Paolo > Dubai (as long as those 2 are still on the calendar) right near the end of the season. The only other option would be to cram it in the middle of the season, either before or after Canada, but Austin in June might be a scorcher.

[Diamicles]

Yeah, Austin in June or July wouldn't even be fun to watch a race in....100F+ heat down there isn't fun. Late October could have some potential for sure.

[Eliseos]

I'm hoping it is later in October. Besides the better temps, it would add a lot more excitement to the race if it was towards the end of the season, especially if Austin will have a big impact on driver/constructor points.

[Diamicles]

Vettel is still fastest after Free Practices today, but McLaren is closing the gap quickly. If Red Bull can't straighten out their KERS problems....well, they may have a fight on their hands even if they do. McLaren looks to be progressing faster, at least at this point. Love seeing Alonso struggle, but I want Massa to regain his form and be truly competitive again...

[Gryffes]

The problem with massa is that if he's 0.2% slower because he wont push it quite that hard, well, 0.2% over 1hr 30 of a race is still 10-15 seconds over a race.

I think Ferrari will drop him at the end of this season, and hopefully pick up my main man Kobayashi.

[Darlantan]

... Love seeing Alonso struggle, but I want Massa to regain his form and be truly competitive again...

Just out of curiosity, why all the hate?

[Gryffes]

Alonso is a douche of epic proportions.

[Esvedium]

Alonso is a douche of epic proportions.

This times eleventybillion.

[Enedin]

What a race by Webber. If this doesn't boost his confidence, nothing will. Also funny how he basically said that he's glad to see Hamilton win instead of Vettel, for a change. Vettel and Webber, I'd like to see them get along better.

Pretty sure Helmut "Vettel drove a very good race, he had problems with KERS, Webber's KERS was working all along." Marko feeds Seb all kinds of bullshit. Seriously getting tired of that guy's comments.

[Diamicles]

Yes, a quite interesting race. Interesting that Vettels crew went with a 2 stop strategy, even when Pirelli was saying it would be a 3-4 stop race. I know Vettel is good on worn tires, but it seemed like 3 was the correct number today.

Echoing Webber's sentiment, it is nice to see someone beat Vettel. Happy it was McLaren - even though it wasn't my man Button. I think Vettel had a 4 race streak going from last season, right? Either way, they are running away quickly with the Constructors Championship, just after 3 races.

Now, my question is how fast will Webber be when Red Bull can get his KERS working? He still wasn't using it this weekend in China.

[Blabj]

Great race from Webber, definitely star of the show.

[Diamicles]

Great race from Webber, definitely star of the show.

Cannot be said enough. I think they said he made up 13 places after the first 17 laps. Absolutely sick.

[Blabj]

I'd also like to say that at this point in the championship I'm happy to let Red Bull get a 2-3 instead of 1+podium. It does make a pleasant change! Although I wont be saying that come October/November time...

Spoiler: show

such an RBR fan boy

[Gryffes]

Mclaren always develop strongly during a season, RBR caught up to brawn when brawn won, but he gap was closed towards the end of last season by both Mclaren and Ferrari.
Both Mclaren and Ferrari are closer now than they were at this point last season by a long way, I think any of those 3 teams/drivers has a legit shot at the title ( Webber not so much, Vettel is clearly better ).

[Eliseos]

Really exciting race from start to finish. Really glad Webber got a podium after it seemed like RBR was preferring Vettel's car for the year. Hamilton drove well, his team performed even better with barely getting onto the grid to start the race. He also had an exceptional start considering how anxious and stressed he would have had to have been from waiting in the garage like that.

Webber's KERS wasn't even working for the race, was it? Shows how dominant that chassis is.

[*Shinzon*]

Here's some interesting news from autoblog:

You've probably heard the old saying that the best way to make a small fortune in Formula One racing is to start with a big fortune. The Telegraph in the UK is reporting that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. may be looking to put that saying to the test, as the media empire is reportedly engaged in early talks to take over the popular global racing series. The talks reportedly also include Sauber sponsor Carlos Slim, who happens to be among the richest men in the world, and companies connected to at least one of F1's car manufacturers.

The talks are reportedly so fresh that they have not yet involved private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, which currently holds the keys to the racing series. F1 has proven to be popular with its fan base, though there have been plenty financial of struggles as many automakers and banks have bailed on the sport.

Another option for Murdoch (above) is to make a play to buy the broadcast rights to F1. The move could generate more money for the sport, while giving it a larger worldwide spotlight.

Since these talks are little more than rumor at this point, it's difficult to discern whether anything will come of it. But given Carlos Slim's love the sport and News Corp's history of shelling out big bucks for NFL broadcasting rights, we'd add that anything is possible.

[Diamicles]

Eccelstone has been emphasizing that Formula1 isn't for sale since that news came out. Not really sure how I'd stand on that sale if it were to happen, but it would be possible to grow F1 in a North American market a little more if it did happen, IMO

[Eliseos]

I hope they don't buy broadcast rights. I think speed does a pretty good job of coverage. It would give F1 a much bigger US audience though, assuming they'd broadcast it on just fox, and not a fox sports network.

[Diamicles]

Wow, I was really hoping after the 3 week layoff, that more teams would be able to challenge Red Bull, but it looks like all the time off just gave Red Bull an even bigger advantage. 4 polls and 3 wins for Vettel after just 4 races...I think we will be lucky to see anyone get to those sort of numbers over the last 15 (16 if Bahrain GP runs) races this year. And another solid run and podium for Webber as well.

McLaren looked like they struggled quite a bit, Button and Hamilton struggled with the Red Bull pace. Ferrari looked like they are getting better, but maybe missed the setup on Massa's car? Alonso looked quite a bit faster than Massa this weekend, and for the first time this season. Renault looks like they will be truly welcoming their upgrade package before Barcelona. Doesn't look like they have made much progress since the start of the season, but still posting fairly decent results. Mercedes GP, I think, should be pushing harder than what they are now, they look fast in qualifying but can't get the strategy right in the races - odd for a Brawn operation.

Lets hear some more opinions on the field....obviously Red Bull Renault will make quick work of the championships if nothing major changes, how do the other teams close the gap quicker than Red Bull can pull away?