Retro_Link Posted August 25, 2011 Author Posted August 25, 2011 Do you know if/how long BBC will have F1 on iplayer? I'd be glad to watch the race next weds when I'm free :PF1 should definately still be on the iPlayer by then. Definately watch this one Jay... Spa is the best track of the year, and often throws up some great races, especially if there's a bit of rain, which there often is.
jayseven Posted August 25, 2011 Posted August 25, 2011 Thanks very much I'll avoid the news and watch it upon return!
gaggle64 Posted August 25, 2011 Posted August 25, 2011 (edited) Do you know if/how long BBC will have F1 on iplayer? I'd be glad to watch the race next weds when I'm free :P It's always on there for exactly one week. Anyway, now that we're all here I stumbled across these gems a few days ago and well, my god. They're edited by some kid named Antti Kalhola who only turned twenty this year. It's positively pornographic. Also, Grand Prix: The Killer Years was on again recently and is definitely worth watching if anyone hasn't already. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00z8v18/Grand_Prix_The_Killer_Years/ Edited August 25, 2011 by gaggle64
Will Posted August 26, 2011 Posted August 26, 2011 Holy crap those videos are amazing. Thanks so much for posting them.
Retro_Link Posted August 26, 2011 Author Posted August 26, 2011 And we have rain at Spa! Schumi's got a new helmet for this weekend, Yellow (and Black), confusing because Nico's is yellow Spa's looking great! Nice new grass everywhere!
Retro_Link Posted August 27, 2011 Author Posted August 27, 2011 Cracking Qualifying! Crazy Maldonado! Gotta hand it to Vettel, but great job from Lewis, hopefully he can get/overtake Seb off the line/on the opening lap. Wonder what happened to Alonso? Yes they were having low tyre temps, but Massa is 4th and was quite a bit quicker. Still, I'd expect Alonso to do better in the race. Hats off to Senna aswell, impressed by that! He's had to learn Pirelli's/DRS/KERS... and still managed to Qualify 7th ahead of Petrov! Good stuff! Really looking forward to the race!!
Goron_3 Posted August 27, 2011 Posted August 27, 2011 (edited) SOOOOOOOO excited for race tomorrow! Lewis vs Vettel will be great to watch, watching Alonso claw his way back up will be brilliant and ofc, Schumacher attacking through the field will be just incredible. SO.SO.HYPED! That said I'm actually hoping for a dry race! Edit: It''ll be confirmed in a few hours but it looks like Spa will no longer be a yearly race, instead it'll alternate with the new French GP held at Paul Ricard circuit. Edited August 28, 2011 by Goron_3
martinist Posted August 28, 2011 Posted August 28, 2011 gaggle64 here: The BBC Twitter boys are saying both Red Bulls have heavily blistered tyres, so that should put them on the back foot from the off. Should be a fascinating race, expecting Button to be on another stormer.
Goron_3 Posted August 28, 2011 Posted August 28, 2011 gaggle64 here: The BBC Twitter boys are saying both Red Bulls have heavily blistered tyres, so that should put them on the back foot from the off. Should be a fascinating race, expecting Button to be on another stormer. Infact, it goes deeper than that. Vettel and RB have been pestering Charlie to ask if they can change tyres because they went OVER the amount of camber that Pirelli suggested. Whiting is saying the tyres are fine and it's their fault they went wrong on set up, so they are really going to struggle in the race. The same applies for LH and the Toro Rosso cars. Basically, I won't be surprised if Ferrari and Renault do well!
Retro_Link Posted August 28, 2011 Author Posted August 28, 2011 Did Martin just say Ferrari are uphappy aswell though? Senna/Petrov top 5? EDIT: Oh right no, Unhappy should they have been able to change. UPDATE: EPIC RACING!!!
Retro_Link Posted August 30, 2011 Author Posted August 30, 2011 (edited) **Spoilers for Jayseven** --- Everyone just a bit pissed off with the result? The first half of the race was absolutely awesome! After Lewis' crash and the safety car however, it all became more predictable and spaced out. Jenson loosing his wing mirror to a flying piece of front wing was bloody scary!!... @50secs (and then again in slow motion) When they showed this footage after the race you could see his head in the screen, and him physically ducking his head left to avoid it (as much as you can in an F1 car)... whilst approaching Eau Rouge at 180mph! Edited August 30, 2011 by Retro_Link
Goron_3 Posted August 30, 2011 Posted August 30, 2011 Ah man, it was great race, I've gotta say. Some good overtakes (Webber on Alonso made me look away, terrifying). That said, the end result was so disappointing. The championship in defo over and DRS made overtaking WAY too easy. Now that I know the sport is going to SKY as well I'm losing some motivation to watch it. Schumacher's drive though
Retro_Link Posted August 30, 2011 Author Posted August 30, 2011 (edited) Yep Webber/Alonso was terrifying! Had the same effect on me. Yeah DRS was a bit of joke at Spa. Vettel a 2 times World Champion! *really* Read that the teams have agreed to a week of mid-season testing at Ferrari's Mugello circuit in Italy, between the first fly-away races and the return to Europe... May 10th or something. If it's fully open to the public in the same way it was when it was at Silverstone, I might look into going next year. No matter what ends up happening with how I watch F1 in the future, I've still got to make it to a race at Spa and Monaco at some point!... Silverstone/Monza/Spa/Monaco. Edited August 30, 2011 by Retro_Link
Murr Posted August 31, 2011 Posted August 31, 2011 No matter what ends up happening with how I watch F1 in the future, I've still got to make it to a race at Spa and Monaco at some point!... Silverstone/Monza/Spa/Monaco. Monaco's the dream man, I've said to my girlfriend that we will be going to Monaco at somepoint and it'll be when the Formula 1 is taking place there. I know it'll be ridiculously expensive, but I just have do it.
Retro_Link Posted September 1, 2011 Author Posted September 1, 2011 Retro, are you at Monza this weekend?!Not this weekend... but yeah the next/following weekend!! Fly out start of next week... really excited!!
Murr Posted September 9, 2011 Posted September 9, 2011 Well practices don't really give much indication on how quali will be tomorrow. but a quali like P1 today would be great. McClaren 1-2 to start the race would be perfect.
Goron_3 Posted September 9, 2011 Posted September 9, 2011 Yeah Mclaren look very strong, Lewis could do with a good result. Red Bull also look very strong, Ferrari looking slow :/
Murr Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 Was really hoping that Hamilton could of pipped Alonso on those final 2 laps, unfortunately just didn't have enough laps remaining when he had a clear run at catching Alonso up. Vettel needs just one win from the next 6 now to re-claim his title. It's a given then really, and you've got to assume the constructors title is done and dusted too. man turn one on the first lap was just havoc. A shame that Petrov & Rosberg were wiped out so quickly. Senna is looking right at home in the Renault, a good performance from him.
gaggle64 Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 (edited) It was a corking race, even if Vettel scampered away over the horizon yet again. Hamilton V Schumacher was a thrilling duel - Hamilton's luck didn't seem to be with him yet again today. I can't help but feel Lewis would not have gotten away with some of the same double & blocking moves that Schumi pulled on him. Button v Alonso was a good one for a bit too. Good fighting up and down the field once again, but a shame for those who got clattered by Liuzzi, Petrov in particular. There was one specific moment that summed up both the race and the entire 2011 season for me - about 20 laps in, Hamilton finally getting out from behind Schumacher, Button battling Alonso and the whole midfield scrapping for the rest of the points in one big lump, a purple graphic pops up. "Vettel's just set a new fastest lap" says Martin. "Forgot he was leading this race actually." Edited September 12, 2011 by gaggle64
MadDog Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 I thought Lewis looked alot more cautious than usual. He would of usually tried to take one of the numerous half chances he had to overtake, but he seemed content with waiting for a clear chance.
Nikos9 Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 Gotta love the opening lap smash ups! Anyone else see Lewis on last weeks Jonathon Woss?
Retro_Link Posted September 18, 2011 Author Posted September 18, 2011 (edited) My Monza Story! So I'm back from my holiday in Italy, having had the most incredible time and an absolutely amazing experience at Monza!! The Flight OK, so our holiday didn't get off to the best of starts with our flight being cancelled due to strikes in Italy. However... this turned out to be a blessing in disguise!! People from flights throughout the day ended up being put on a later flight that evening in random seats... and they only went and sat me next to Jenson Buttons Chief Mechanic!, who's worked in F1 for some 18 years. What's more, my Mum was further up the plane sat next to Lewis' Chief Mechanic and my Sister a few rows back sat next to a young Cosworth Engineer! Thus we all spent much of the flight chatting away about F1 etc... There were also 3 other McLaren engineers on the flight, aswell as 3 Ferrari hospitality girls and a guy in their Ferrari blazers/outfits. Everyone had their team branded clothing suitcases/carry on bags etc... A very exciting and unexpected start to the trip!! Thursday So early that morning, drove to the Parko Di Monza! We arrived just in time to see a few of the drivers also arriving at the circuit/coming out to meet the fans. Got a touch on the shoulder from Lewis as he made is way through (without sounding too much like a groupie)! We then went for a little walk about, before casually saying 'would be great if we just randomly bumped into Jake Humphreys at some point'... then literally 5mins later... that's exactly what happened! (My Sister asked for the photo, before I decided to get in on it aswell :p) (I read a tweet from Jake saying Lewis had taken the mick out of him for wearing that scarf, and rightly so!... it was really hot!) We then went and checked out the merchandise area where I bought a Lewis cap... Before making our way to the Pit Lane at 3.00pm for a walkabout and a look at the Team Garages. Red Bull of course had their customary music pumping out! After this (what with it being a quieter day at the circuit in terms of fans), I thought now would be the best time for us to go and check out one of the things I was most excited about experiencing at Monza... the old Banking!! It was an incredible feeling to walk the old track! Such an overwhelming sense of F1 history and what it would have been like... OMG was it steep in places!! Walking along the top of the banking holding onto the railing as I went I actually got stuck at one point because up until then I'd felt I could have run/slid down... but it got to a point where I didn't feel I had enough grip on my shoes to have been able to do this, and not wanting to damage my camera/graze my ass on what would have been a fast slide down, I made my way back abit, ran down and walked along the bottom. It was Incredible! Saturday Saturday morning we drove to the circuit, only to find on our way into Monza that parking isn't at the circuit, but in the roads leading into Monza itself! They effectively close the town/city down and use it as a car park! :p We paid the parking and hopped on one of the circuit buses provided, which took us the short distance to park. Getting off the bus you then walk through the park into the circuit. Man was it hot, and it was probably a half hour walk, but it just adds to the excitment. Streams of fans walking in, all the little stalls set up selling all types of mechandise/food/drink... (these paths were absolutely packed on race day) We then took up our seats on the Pit Straight for Practice 3 (which from the sound of the cars echoing around the park had just started)... and Qualifying!! Sunday - Race Day!! Got to the circuit in time to see the Drivers Parade... which truth be told was pretty rubbish... they went by in like 5 seconds! But anyway! :p Soon after, the 'dancers' and marching band made their way on to the grid, and marched their way down to their position after the start line, where they stayed entertaining the crowd. Then came the grid girls! The Grid quickly filled up as the mechanics made their way on and started setting up (managed to spot Lewis' chief Mechanic from the plane). And then of course it was time for the drivers in their cars! (that's Jenson giving a thumbs up to the crowd, but I've made the pic too small here) Then spotted Martin doing his Grid Walk (he's just left of the FIA flag) And just up from the two guys pushing Vettel on to the grid, you can see Jake, Eddie and DC on the grid. The Race I was SO excited at the start of the race!! It just built and built as the time came for the mechanics to leave the grid, then the cars went off for their warm up lap, before settling into their grid slots for the start of the race! Had that excited/apprehensive feeling in my stomach! The noise was awesome!! And then it was GO!!! Watching the cars pull away was Epic! (I have a video, but I can't seem to get it off my camera!) The roar from the crowd as Alonso led into the first corner was brilliant! I couldn't quite see turn 1 itself... I could see the exit of it... but you could already tell what was happening from the excitment of the crowd! Them came the first corner mayhem... the crowd cheering again as Alonso came round leading behind the safety car... before soon enough the race was once again underway. The race itself I thought was a good one! Especially for a dry race at Monza! The battle between Lewis and Michael was brillaint! It may have been frustrating for Lewis, but it was pretty great for the fans... as we got to watch Lewis and Michael side by side down the pit straight for several laps, aswell as Jenson sometimes getting in on the slipstreams, making it 3 of them battling down the pit straight! Some decent racing/overtaking throughout the field, and Jenson drove a really great race! Shame the Lewis and Alonso battle just ran out of time, and that Vettel had a pretty easy victory, but on the whole, loved it! Vettel crossing the line (finger in the air) to win the Italian Grand Prix... And then came the podium celebrations!! Decided not to go down on to the track... there were way too many people waiting already/placed closer to the gate(s)... but instead to make our way down the grandstand, closer to the podium. Watching the initial few people on to the track sprinting to be the first to get their was hilarious! There crowds were cheering them on, one guy was seriously powering/going for it, as if he were in a 100m (well 400m) final! Brilliant! After the podium celebrations, we made out way down on to the track to walk down to turn one, then right the way up the pit straight to the final hairpin, soak in the amazing atmosphere, and of course, collect a few marbles! :p Overall it was an absolutely amazing weekend, an incredible F1 experience, amazing atmosphere, and I cannot recommend the Monza GP enough to anyone wanting to choose a race to go to! As Lee McKenzie said, Monza is truely a special place! Had the best time!! Edited September 18, 2011 by Retro_Link
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