So – that was a pretty decent championship.

Now on to next season – who will be going where? I am sure Massa won’t be at Ferrari so who will take his spot? Webber? Button???? I know Hamilton has made the odd comment about leaving McLaren too…

Whatever happens I think we will have another interesting season – and with the revised rules on KERS and adjustable wings…

Kubica/massa to swap seats.

McLaren to stay the same.

Red Bull to stay the same.

Should be a cracker.

117 days to go…..

Webber wont stay at red bull.

More than ten overtaking manouvers and you recon it’s a good season ???????????

I’m not convinced Webber’s ‘Yes’ to staying at Red Bull yesterday was entirely honest.

I would be surprised if either RedBull or McLaren stay the same – all drivers want to be top billing and with Ferrari sure to jetison Massa, there will be moves all round.

And no Barrichello/Schumaker – both should hang up their helmets.

Massa will still be at Ferrari, would be my bet anyway.

I also think Button and Hamilton is a very good partnering, which will survive at least one more year. If the car doesn’t work out more to Jenson’s liking maybe he’ll be on his way after that. Lewis will stop all his moaning and get on with it. No way is he off to Ferrari anyway!

I also can’t see Red Bull wanting to lose Webber, although if Kubica were to be available that might appeal to them.

Outside chance that Schumacher will slip away – Sutil would be a good choice for them.

I think Liuzzi has had enough chances – Hulkenburg is available…

Can’t see much changing amongst the big teams.

Barrichello has been confirmed at Williams for next season. Maldonado will be providing the cash!

Weber will stay at Red Bull – don’t forget its two top performing drivers that have given them the constructors title.

Massa will stay at Ferrari – Alonso needs a whipping boy!

McLaren – no reason to change. They get along well, are PR friendly and deliver solid points.

Renault(Lotus!) – no where for Kubica to go.

More than ten overtaking manouvers and you recon it’s a good season ???????????

What the hell are you talking about? That was an absolute vintage season. I’ve been following F1 for a long time, and I can’t recall a better one. Defending is as much a part of motor racing as overtaking. This dumb overtaking whine is about as valid as the Americans wanting bigger goalmouths to make “soccer” more interesting.

It really was a vintage season and for anyone to challenge that claim clearly hasn’t watched any of it, taken an interest in it or simply doesn’t like F1.

I was loving it yesterday – even down to the last few laps anything could have happened (especially with Red Bull’s occasional reliability issues).

Absolutely, m_f. F1 is a bit unrewarding for the casual spectator, I will concede – but when (for example) you know all about the engine situation, and how close to the wire they push it, another level of interest opens up. I guess a lot of people just don’t appreciate how massively difficult it is, let alone when you add in the huge pressure, the politics, the science etc.

I thought it was a vintage season
then again I watched most of the races at 12x speed on Sky+

It’s just got better and better since it went back to the BBC, the Red Button coverage has been excellent/ I’m sure we’re going to see a lot more of Schumacher next season 😯

then again I watched most of the races at 12x speed on Sky+

Just don’t do it at 30x – you can miss entire passages of the race and you don’t want to miss any crashes do you?….

🙂

More than ten overtaking manouvers and you recon it’s a good season ???????????

up to & including Korea, there’s been 500 # overtaking passes this year

Which is more than double last year’s total

#Does not include
* Position changes on the first lap of the race
* Position changes due to drivers lapping back-markers
* Positions gained in the pits
* Positions gained due to drivers yielding
* Positions gained when a car has a serious technical problem; e.g. puncture, accident damage, etc.

I thought Webber signed on for another year a few months ago?

Rumours etc who the hell knows?

I hope Schumacher can do better next year 😯

if your able to get so exited about F1 when a close race is one were more than one third of the cars finish on the same lap and there is one change of the lead other than a pit stop you would wet yourselves watching a World super bike race . Yes maybe it’s the best season for years but exiting it is most definitely NOT

It’s just cos you’re too stupid to understand the impact of the machinations of strategy Mr W. And to type in English.

Now, back under your stone.

if your able to get so exited about F1 when a close race is one were more than one third of the cars finish on the same lap and there is one change of the lead other than a pit stop you would wet yourselves watching a World super bike race . Yes maybe it’s the best season for years but exiting it is most definitely NOT

I don’t see the relevance

It’s a bit like comparing rugby & football

As for wetting myself, I did once when I crashed at Quarter Bridge on the Isle of Man 😳

Whyte1 – you’ve obviously not seen Kobayashi overtake!!

There’s too much passing in bike racing for me, it gets rather dull after a while.

Whyte – the fact you don’t like it doesn’t make it boring. You simply aren’t interested enough in it to want to understand what is going on.

I guess in that way bike racing could be more exciting as you can sit there going ‘ohh, another overtake’ and ‘ohh, look, he’s overtaken again’. ‘This is great, everyone is overtaking’.

You could liken the argument to test cricket v 20/20 – if you don’t like it, then test cricket is deathly boring, but if you do like it and understand what is going on, it is a fascinating game. Whereas 20/20 is quick on action, but ultimately a less satisfying experience.

Its the modern tracks that make F1 dull for me. Endless run off areas, no character, too wet to race etc etc.

What car changes are happening next year? Are they finally going to reduce the amount of downforce?

What car changes are happening next year? Are they finally going to reduce the amount of downforce?

Isn’t it F-Duct charges so the downforce can be reduced on straights (given more overtaking opportunity). Not entirely sure what is meant to happen when they reach the corner at the end though – I assume braking will automatically set the duct to full downforce again.

Another keyboard Rocky are you POOK ?

I do understand the strategy and i find the ban on team orders ridiculous , though i can understand it’s been a close championship i just feel they still have a very long way to go before the RACING is good enough , going by uplinks numbers of less than thirty ??? passes per race is not enough for me .

So a good race is measured in the number of overtakes?

Whyte1
Lets look at the last WSB race

http://sbk.perugiatiming.com/pdf_frame.asp?p_Round=FRA&p_Anno=2010&p_Manifestazione=13&p_Gara=01&p_Sessione=002&p_Stampa=CHT

There wasn’t really an awful lot of overtaking going on there
especially in the 2nd half of the race

1, 2 maybe 3 position changes in the whole of the 2nd half of the race

It isn’t the amount of overtaking, it’s the fact that they CAN’T overtake.

I was loving it yesterday – even down to the last few laps anything could have happened

were we watching the same race?

I watched one where everyone followed each round for the last 40 or so laps, incapable of overtaking due to the inherent design of the cars, regardless of ultimate driver pace.

Sure, something could have happened….

So back on topic…

Don’t think there will be any changes at the top four teams (Mclaren, RB, Merc, Ferrari)

The reintroduction of KERS is going to be interesting. The new KERS system will be twice as powerful as the last generation equivalent to around 120HP

Another [random capitals]KEYBOARD ROCKY[/random capitals]?

No.

Unless you mean do i get progessively better at typing over time, to an emotionally stirring hair rock anthem?

In which case still no.

I just refer you to the F1 threads regarding WSb/Moto GP v F1 ad nauseum. It’s been done. Coming on a pro-F1 thread and whingeing, incoherently is pretty damn pointless in the grand scheme of things as, ironically, this response.

Anyway, back on topic. Next year will be a cracking season.

mastiles_fanylion i would say yes and not one where everyone follows the car in front( at a safe distance of about 100 yards ) for 50 or so laps . I’ll still have a look at the first few races of next season though as the new regs may work . At least we had the RED button so we didn’t have to waste too much riding time .

I thought the main changes for next year were

1) no more F duct
2) reintroduction of Kers (don’t know if it’s optional for teams)
3) driver adjustable rear wing if following someone

I can see the point of 2 from a technology POV but not sure about 3.

What I can’t understand is why they design a new track where overtaking is very difficult (as per the weekend). I don’t want to see endless swapping of positions but at least give them a chance !!!

Yesterdays closing credits – a great compilation to end a brilliant season…

I’d assume that with adjustable wings there may be benefits for speed that when adjusted will make it easier for those following to keep up.

ie: adjusted wing = greater speed, but less dirty air out the back. So there’s a compromise between speed and aerodynamic obstruction

Well, for those interested, here is my understanding of the 2011 regs.

KERS is back, power and duration same as before. It is optional, but there will be no point in not having it because minimum weight goes up by 50kg and weight distribution is mandated fore/aft – that means that the advantage you might have got by leaving the KERS off and running ballast at the front of the car no longer exists. Basically, everyone will have KERS.

Rear wing adjust does something similar to F-duct, which is banned. You can trim out the rear wing to go faster and this will add to the KERS effect.

Double deck diffusor also banned, as well as exhaust blowing through diffusor – total downforce will be reduced but if history tells us anything the teams will get it back somehow.
__

By the way, the biggest factors in overtaking in F1 are track layout, tyre wear and random factors such as mixing the grid up. There has been tons of overtaking this season – I do like WSB, but I don’t think it is any better for overtaking – the races settle down just the same as F1. Moto GP hasn’t been much cop this year, whereas F1 has had a dozen or more properly spectacular races.

I’d like a KER system for my bike, for when I’m tired and that.

The next season F1 should be great. RBR should stay the same, McL too. Ferrari will as well as Renault. We’ll have 4 teams capable of winning the Constructor’s Championship and 4 drivers for the Driver’s – Vettel, Button, Hamilton and Alonso. Webber might be a nice guy but not enough of a driver. He’ll be 5-6th. Kubica might mess things up a bit if his car is good enough and support’s there.
The newest changes to the R&R’s won’t make much of a difference at the top. The extra buttons will allow for more crashes and overshot corners. Should be fun 😈

I agree with Whyte1.
F1 has never been the same since Nick Doohan was banned.
And the change to four strokes has been ruiness.