The latest Jean Todt’s Approval Rating will be up on the site later today.
Until then, here’s today’s round up:
Links
Sauber eyes more progress at Spa (Autosport)
"Sauber is optimistic that it can maintain its recent improved form at the Belgian Grand Prix as it eyes adding more points to its tally.
"The Hinwil-based outfit enjoyed its first two-car points finish in Hungary before the summer break and, having made good progress with its car since Valencia, it is confident of more strong form at Spa.
"Technical director James Key said: ‘Certainly we want to continue with the recent form we have shown, and the package for Spa is based around the ongoing developments we have introduced since Valencia.’"
Aerolab/Force India row set to intensify (Autosport)
"The ongoing dispute between Force India and Aerolab looks set to escalate after the Italian aerodynamics company hinted on Friday about fresh legal exchanges.
"In a statement issued by Aerolab, in the wake of Force India being forced to pay it more than one million Euros in unpaid fees, the company said that it expected its director, Jean Claude Migeot, to soon be charged following a criminal complaint filed against him in Bologna."
Why don’t F1 drivers have coaches? (jamesallenonf1.com)
"I was reading about tennis star Andy Murray the other day, who beat Roger Federer to win a tournament soon after dispensing with his coach. It seems to be quite a big deal and the more you read about it, the more you realise how central to an elite sportsman’s life his coach is.
"If you think about it, most sportsmen and women still rely heavily on coaches even when they reach the peak at the elite level. Golf, tennis, all the Olympic sports, all the team sports like football, rugby and cricket, basketball, NFL – they have armies of coaches on the staff, who work with the players constantly.
"So what about F1 drivers? Many get some coaching on the way up; young driver programmes usually have a coaching component to them. They spend some time with a professional driver coach like Rob Wilson or John Stevens, but do they bring them into F1 and take them to every race? Certainly not.
"Coaching is not part of the culture of F1."
F1 2010 E3 Gameplay Video – Spa in the Wet (YouTube)
Comment of the day
LIbby has two tickets to sell for the Belgian Grand Prix:
I have two tickets for Eau Rouge 3 covered for next weekend, if any one wants them please email me at lib.bowman@gmail.com to discuss prices. Having to cancel the trip due to illness, please email me asap.
Libby
Happy birthday!
No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
The Turkish Grand Prix was held on this day in 2005.
This was first grand prix held at the new Istanbul Park circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke.
The inaugural race was won by Kimi Raikkonen for McLaren, followed by Fernando Alonso and Juan Pablo Montoya.
sato113 (@sato113)
21st August 2010, 0:36
great f12010 game vid. however, codemasters should sort out the arms when turning the wheel. they don’t turn nearly as much as they should there! la source should be around 3/4 lock.
Hamish
21st August 2010, 1:30
I’m guessing you like Star Wars also?
sato113 (@sato113)
21st August 2010, 2:53
huh? i don’t get it!
Skett
21st August 2010, 9:21
Agreed, it just doesn’t look right. I quite like my driving games to be realistic and I’d also like the visibility to be much lower when in wet conditions. If you’ve ever been karting in the wet you’ll know what I mean, you can hardly see a thing!
Patrickl
21st August 2010, 18:45
Indeed, it also looked weird in that Sutil clip. You could see Sutil steering the wheel to full lock and then the on screen wheel turned only half way.
spark
21st August 2010, 20:36
Hopefully you’ll just be able to turn off the arms and/or wheel if you want to.
US_Peter
21st August 2010, 0:41
Here’s hoping Spa turns out to be as wet as that game.
daykind
21st August 2010, 9:18
Yes, would make for a great race!
Alexi
21st August 2010, 0:45
This F1 2010 game might be something I’m interested in. I hope there is a gameplay mode for full-lap races and F1-like lap times. Now that would be great.
Fer no.65
21st August 2010, 0:45
very nice graphics and all…
but i think that game will be rubbish… just hearing the engineer advice: “the track is wet, you’ll loose a lot of grip” and the tyre noise (on a wet track???? come on!)…
Jack Peekoc
21st August 2010, 1:22
Yeah I’m hoping you can shut them up. What I’m more worried about is all drivers having the same English guys voice.
The turning of the wheel should be easily corrected when you have all aids turned off (to try salvage what ever simulation is left in the game). If you have a wheel, the steering you see in game should mimic where your arms are. At least that how it is in rfactor.
I’m worried most about the easy AI, the limitations in setting the car up and in the actually on screen display.
Everything looks very dumbed down, as if its made for console gamers (because they don’t have a mouse).
I’m going to get the game, but I don’t see how it could possibly replace a game like rfactor in regards to re-playability.
Joey-Poey
21st August 2010, 6:03
I do recall them mentioning being able to set it up for more arcade type driving and more simulation type driving to appease both camps.
Jake
21st August 2010, 2:31
Look at a few of the gamescom videoes, they show an improvement, but even they aren’t the final build. The stupid tyre noises have gone, the engineer doesn’t state the obvious (probably due to the harder difficulty) and the AI looks better, although i’m yet to see a video with the most difficult AI setting.
Maksutov
21st August 2010, 0:56
“Why don’t F1 drivers have coaches? ”
you could say that engineers sometimes act as coaches to the driver, because they can see the telemetry and point out where the driver may or may not be going slow/fast. I don’t see how else one could coach an “f1 driver”, other than having an ex-WC to point out some useful tips.
the young driver programs are not going anywhere for F1. Testing ban needs to be lifted so that new and current drivers could practice and improve themselves. Just imagine having to play tennis but having no ability to train or practice your sport due to a ban.
mateuss
21st August 2010, 10:21
I was going to say the same, I think F1 has even more coaches than other sports, but they are all hiding under the title ”engineers”.
BasCB
21st August 2010, 16:37
I do feel, the closest things to a coach are their phisios and of course the engineers. Maybe that’s also the reason they don’t have coaches, as those would have to get between the driver and the race engineer, making the feedback less direct.
LewisC
23rd August 2010, 11:35
I think once you’ve got to F1 you’ve proven you can be fast – the technique is there.
After that, it’s about how well you can set up a car, and where your mind is – and they have support in those areas.
sato113 (@sato113)
21st August 2010, 1:12
http://www.vandal.net/video/13405/f1-2010-corea-vandal-tv-gc
lap of Korean track in the game.
Jake
21st August 2010, 2:25
looks a pretty dull track to drive, but also looks like there are a couple of places where overtaking is possible, particularly on the first lap.
Jake
21st August 2010, 2:26
oh and the game looks amazing =)
BasCB
21st August 2010, 16:42
Gee, nice spot Sato! First lap around that track we get to see.
Not too sure it will be any good, but that’s hard to judge just from this.
Steven (@modtl)
21st August 2010, 1:38
I’m sad I won’t get to play F1-2010 as I doubt my laptop will support the game (despite being only a year and a half old and have 2.0GHZ dualcore processor, 2GB RAM and 40GB free of a 250GB HD) as I don’t know what the video card is installed. My games console is the PS2 and that’s now outdated so I play the most recent F1 game possible – F1 2006 and I’m still content with the quality
beneboy (@beneboy)
21st August 2010, 3:10
If you’ve got a PS2 get yourself a copy of F1 ’97 mate, it’s not the most advanced game you’ll ever play but it’s loads of fun !
Skett
21st August 2010, 9:20
Or F1 99-02. But on the pc, the console versions were different and not in the same league
Tom L.
22nd August 2010, 0:43
Good call – what a fantastic game! Maybe not the most advanced but still ahead of its time.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
21st August 2010, 3:29
I think Sauber need to push a extra bit so that they can collect some strong result this season which will help them to attract sponsor & a good driver for 2011.
superted666
21st August 2010, 8:05
Game looks great!
That second video looks even more promising, i like that you cant just play dodgems like in some racing games.
Steph (@)
21st August 2010, 9:48
“Why don’t F1 drivers have coaches? ”
After reading the little extract it wasn’t until about 2/3rds down I thought JA was going on about busses. Interesting topic though.
BasCB
21st August 2010, 16:44
Haha, LOL.
I agree it’s an interesting thought.
shyguy2008
21st August 2010, 10:48
http://community.codemasters.com/forum/f1-2010-game-1316/423291-f1-2010-official-gamescom-videos-thread.html
That’s a forum thread with some high quality videos from gamescom
shyguy2008
21st August 2010, 10:51
sorry forgot to say they were of the f1 2010 game :)
BasCB
21st August 2010, 16:49
Nice videos there.
Patrickl
21st August 2010, 19:01
The game is not very realistic though. I checked the Red Bull on-board lap and the front wing doesn’t flex :)
TrueF1Grit (@truef1grit)
22nd August 2010, 21:03
What! Thats terrible! ;)
bosyber
23rd August 2010, 23:13
Maybe in anticipation of the new tests already?
SteveMovieVoice (@welshf1)
21st August 2010, 11:33
Im slighlty disappointed that you dont see the driver change gears. Im 98% sure i saw the drivers using the paddles on a previous trailer, from memory, i think it was Button at Monza in the 2009 cars. And THAT Geordie accent could get really annoying, i hope you can change it. Other than that, it looks great
Mandev
21st August 2010, 15:53
Are any F1Fanatics going to be at Silverstone tomorrow for the BTCC?
BasCB
21st August 2010, 16:46
Looks like Aerolab might have a go at confiscating FI assets to get their money. It might be a pretty hot weekend!
BasCB
21st August 2010, 16:52
Nice to see 2005 with Kimi, JP and Fernando battling at the front. Is it because it was a new track and nobody had any real data up front, or was overtaking more usual then?
Button did quite a nice race there. And Ferrari was nowhere with their Bridgestones.
Mike
21st August 2010, 16:58
I have every intention of annoying my brother into getting it for his PS3. ^^
It looks good, as a sim, I doubt it will even touch rFactor.
But as a game, I think it looks very promising.
Just as long as their is a hard mode.
YeaMon
21st August 2010, 23:30
rFactor isn’t even that good… There’s racing games out there that are 10 years old and are still 10x better than rCraptor
matt90
21st August 2010, 21:18
Thought the game looked really good except that the colours are all washed out a bit too much. Other than that and the steering arm angle it looks tempting. Unfortunately Gran Turismo 5 is out soon, and I know which of the 2 is more likely to get my money (hint, it’s the one that I’ve been waiting for since Gran Turismo 4)!
F1 Novice
21st August 2010, 22:01
Nice move by Button at 1min 31sec :)