No F1 race this weekend but I’m going to Brands Hatch on Sunday to watch the DTM and F3 Euroseries. Are you taking in any races this weekend? Are you going to Brands? Let us know in the comments.
Here’s today’s round-up:
Links
Good weekend, bad weekend (ITV)
My latest article for ITV’s F1 site.
Beginner’s Guide to CFD (Renault)
From the team who are arguably doing the best job with it – Renault.
Massa grid error prompts FIA probe (Autosport)
Seems Ferrari stand to avoid punishment here which is fair enough given that ultimately no advantage was gained. Bit strange that it got overlooked though. Kudos to antizyklon, who posted a video of it in the comments here on Monday before I saw it anywhere else.
Comment of the day
John H is not impressed with the FIA’s handling of Massa’s start:
Well, if we, the fans, had efficient ways of contacting the FIA, they would have known and could have done something about it before Sunday night.
Pretty amateurish.
John H
From the forum
GeeMac is looking for old F1 season review DVDs.
Site updates
There appear to have been no problems arising from the recent changes to the server and the site now seems to have better stability.
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 first ever world championship was won on this day 60 years ago by Giuseppe Farina driving an Alfa Romeo.
His victory in the final round at Monza confirmed him as the sport’s inaugural champion. He beat team mate Juan Manuel Fangio by three points. Fangio suffered a broken radiator in his car so took over the Alfa of Piero Taruffi – only for a valve to break in that one.
Sparky Jay
3rd September 2010, 0:15
How did you not see Massa’s jump start? Everyone Watching the BBC Knew about it because Brundle told us. I love the fact no one cared till it got put on Youtube.
The only reason i can think for him avoiding punishment was the 1st corner crash taking up all the stewards and they just forgot about it.
Ace
3rd September 2010, 1:10
I remember Webber started a race about a metre ahead of his grid position in a race earlier this year and no action was taken.
Seems strange, considering that a fraction of an inch over the line on pit exit is a drive-through, but well over the line at the start is not punished.
sato113 (@sato113)
3rd September 2010, 2:03
all they have to do is reverse back a bit. it’s been done before.
Joey-Poey
3rd September 2010, 1:57
“How did you not see Massa’s jump start? Everyone Watching the BBC Knew about it because Brundle told us”
I was wondering the same thing. Seemed like old news to me.
sato113 (@sato113)
3rd September 2010, 2:03
what 1st corner crash?
David-A (@david-a)
3rd September 2010, 2:28
He may have meant the incidents towards the end of the first lap.
Mike
3rd September 2010, 7:55
I know I’m all angry still about the cheating ba, I mean Ferrari concerning the incident at Hock… But I hope they get away with this, just because, It was a mistake, no big deal…
If nothing else, this is yet another sign the the stewarding system in F1 needs revising… Charlie is great and all, but it’s not a one man job, and he isn’t three people.
John H
3rd September 2010, 9:17
This was the quote from the FIA:
“As no further information or complaints were received before the publication of the official result on Sunday night, the classification of the Belgian Grand Prix will now remain unchanged.”
Surely relying on protests from other teams should not be the mechanism here. If someone has done something wrong, millions know about it (thanks to Brundle) but not the FIA (even hours after the race), then something is wrong.
Pleased that they are investigating it anyway. Shows they are listening nowadays and admitting fault. Quite refreshing really.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
3rd September 2010, 18:57
It just says that they won’t change the race result.
I hope they won’t penalize Massa, but strictly speaking their statement does not say they won’t (or can’t)
Felipe Bomeny (@portugoose)
3rd September 2010, 0:28
That virtual academy trailer is so… epic. I wonder if Rob Smedley is going to tell you that Fernando is faster than you?
sato113 (@sato113)
3rd September 2010, 2:04
lol! cotd ‘for sure’!
andrewf1
3rd September 2010, 6:40
That comment is golden! lol
BasCB
3rd September 2010, 9:38
Interesting, that where the car is driven on track it seems to be the digitalized images from that so much critisized Fiorano “promotional run”.
It gives us a good view of what F(errari)1 would look like in case they would quit formula one. A whole 3 tracks to drive on an 2 drivers doing the driving, surely a Ferrari will win the champinoship!
Is Ferrari doing this to get some more CFD / Simulator experience for their guys? It seems they are somewhat behind in that respect.
Ned Flanders
3rd September 2010, 0:49
Techinically Massa might have been in the wrong, but with the new, lenient stewarding these days perhaps it was fairer just to overlook the incident. Ok, so he got a small advantage, but it wouldn´t have been even remotely near the 25 second penalty he might have taken. OK I said it, so can the people who accuse me of being anti Ferrari please gimme a break :)
Also I¨m pleased to see the Italian GP is still a week away, I had it in my wooden noggin that it was this weekend so I would¨ve missed it!
sato113 (@sato113)
3rd September 2010, 2:05
yeah but he could’ve been given a 5 second penalty i think…
Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
3rd September 2010, 12:04
I agree, actually. In the grand scheme of things, it had absolutely no impact on the race or the result.
That said, had Felipe won the race, however…
Jameson
3rd September 2010, 1:36
I guess Fernando ratted out Massa for the mistake.
Joey-Poey
3rd September 2010, 1:59
The Ferrari game looks pretty cool, but that trailer… YEESH. Couldn’t they afford a better narrator? I was just waiting for him to go “IN A WORLD…”
Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
3rd September 2010, 12:38
In a world…
…where man and machine become one…
…where speed is the only way of life…
…where a tenth of a second separates victory… (shot of Massa on the podium)
…from defeat… (onboard shot of Massa’s spring incident – fade to black)
…One team…
…one goal…
…to paint this world of speed…
…RED.
(montage of close-ups set to orchestral score)
…But one fateful day…
…threatens to tear this team…
…these brothers…
…apart…
…FOREVER.
“Fernando. Is faster. Than. You.”
…
“Can you confirm that you understand this message?”
Starring F. Alonso as ‘El Git Miserable’
And F. Massa as ‘Felipe Babeinho’
CAR WARS: Ep.II – Return of the Todt-i
…This time…
…he who casts the first stone…
…must face a Steward’s inquiry before a further summons to the World Motor Sports Council at a later date where extensive further questioning will be undertaken to determine whether further disciplinary action is to be taken…
IN CINEMAS SEPT 8
Ace
4th September 2010, 6:57
I salute you, fine Sir. You win 10 internets.
Skett
4th September 2010, 22:35
Now if anything deserves COTD its this!
Tomás
3rd September 2010, 2:00
someone noted that there is a black spot behind the car of Massa?
It may be oil, and he put forward to not get dirty.
BasCB
3rd September 2010, 7:32
Still it is not allowed to do so. Strange the FIA did not take notice, as it was clear to see for the Marshalls and television stations commented on it as well.
A bit of a mess.
Skett
4th September 2010, 22:36
If he didn’t want to go on his line, he should have gone behind it, thats still allowed (i’d guess)
alejandro
3rd September 2010, 2:54
regarding GeeMac’s request, I’ve just finished downloading quite a few season reviews from filestube.com, just enter “fia f1 season review” and the year in the search bar and you should be sweet. They are all rapidshare files, so will take time…. but bloody worth it for sure!! Seasons available, as I recall, are from mid-70s till 2008, so plenty to choose from…. enjoy mate!
alejandro
3rd September 2010, 3:15
oh, and http://www.thef1society.com/tf1s_forum/index.php? has full races. You just have to register, which is for free… cheers keith, big fan!
cyanide
3rd September 2010, 7:40
And/or racingunderground.com
Johann
3rd September 2010, 8:04
If it does not get stopped pretty soon everyone will start “from the front of the box” pretty soon. It is one way to negate a bad qualifying.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
3rd September 2010, 8:56
Korea surface progress:
http://pds19.egloos.com/pds/201009/01/69/a0010769_4c7dc20c30781.jpg
BasCB
3rd September 2010, 9:32
Wow, very nice find. Do you know how old this picture is, looks like about 3/4 of the track has at leas a first layer of asphalt.
In the worst case they can now race on the “national circuit” :-D
A shame they did not go onto that hill in the background to get some elevation changes.
John H
3rd September 2010, 10:00
Looking promising. As long as the tarmac’s there for the first year, I think we should cut the appearance some slack.
Shame it’s so flat though. But the wind off the coast may make things more interesting.
BasCB
3rd September 2010, 9:57
I am not a great fan of Nick Heidfeld, but I really like his new helmet design (picture link: http://www.itv-f1.com/popups/imageviewer.aspx?i=58720_2.jpg ) for the Pirelli tests.
Looks cool.
The picture is from an arcticle about Pirelli feeling positive and ahead of development schedule after their last test in Paul Ricard on ITVs website.
BasCB
3rd September 2010, 10:05
Something else, seems Pirelli feels pushed out of WRC by the FIA with constant rule changes and short contracts(http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86311), I think I saw something about Michelin wanting to get back into WRC as well.
MinusTwo
3rd September 2010, 14:20
Not watching any races, but going Karting on Sunday. Have dropped a couple of lbs, so hopefully that improves my power/weight ratio… My last few qualifying sessions have not been pretty.
Calum
3rd September 2010, 21:19
Forgot to say, iPod touch mobile version is working again ;)
antizyklon
4th September 2010, 10:24
Thanks for the mention Keith.
I really enjoy your site visit it almost everyday.
Good job!