So now what... tweels?

http://www.businessshrink.biz/psycho.../tweelflex.jpg

It could be good for brake cooling.

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/...berg-for-2010/

Williams confirms Barichello and Hulkenberg.

The 2010 grid prediction from GPupdate:

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/...e-grid-so-far/

wow.....wonder who will take over

Mclaren should turn the whole silly season upside down and sign Sutil.

Sutil and Trulli.

:lol:

I'm excited for Williams again. Hopefully they can build those guys a car this time around.

Toyota officially announced they were pulling out. I guess the good news is that it leaves a spot on the grid for Sauber. Bad news is for Kobayashi, though he may have impressed another team well enough to at least get a test spot for next year.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...04100540.shtml

And now the FIA is 'concerned' about Toyota "and says it wants to clarify Toyota's legal position as it had previously committed to the sport until 2012."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80012

Actually it sounds like the FIA isn't going to do something stupid and demand Toyota race for the next 3 years, but they are probably trying to get something from the deal.

Well then... now Renault might be bowing out as well:

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/...out-f1-future/

F1 w/o any manufacturer teams might be an interesting sport. It certainly would feel like the F1 of old. Renault should leave and the team could revert back to Benetton. :lol:

That sucks for Kubica if it goes through.

Ug, poor Kubica. I'm sure he could find a drive at the Sauber team :lol: or somewhere else.

Alright, lets give this another shot

Mercedes GP: Heidfeld / Rosberg
McLaren: Hamilton / Button
Ferrari: Alonso / Massa
Red Bull: Vettel / Webber
Renault: out
Toyota: out
Toro Rosso: Buemi / Alguersuari
Williams: Barrichello / Hulkenberg
Force India: Sutil / Luizzi
USF1: Kubica / Wurz
Virgin/Manor: Di Grassi / Glock
Campos: B Senna / Chandhok
Lotus: Kovalenin / Trulli
Sauber: Kobayashi / Grosjean

Raikonen sitting out a year, maybe doing some rallying
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/154432/...dfeld_way.html

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/...osso-for-2010/

Buemi confirmed at STR for next year.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...16133246.shtml

Mercedes is buying a 75% stake in Brawn GP and its getting renamed to Mercedes GP. Mercedes will be selling its stake in McLaren back to McLaren over the next 2 years and continue to be an engine supplier until 2015.

That and this little tidbit:

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/...cedes-benz-gp/

Jebus... silliest silly season ever! Who would have thought BAR would eventually be the Mercedes factory team, with time spent in between as the factory Honda team, and an independent championship along the way. :lol:

I think this season is also the first time that someone besides one of the 'big four' (Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Benneton/Renault) have won a championship since the mid 80s. I think Mercedes is making a big move here

But man, what a wild ride for the Brackly team.

Also, updated my picks for next year

Mercedes GP: Rosberg / Heidfield
McLaren: Hamilton / Button
Ferrari: Alonso / Massa
Red Bull: Vettel / Webber
Renault: Kubica / Montagny
Toro Rosso: Buemi / Alguersuari
Williams: Barrichello / Hulkenberg
Force India: Sutil / Luizzi
USF1: Wurz / Villeneuve
Virgin/Manor: Glock / Kobayashi
Campos: B Senna / Chandhok
Lotus: Kovalenin / Trulli
Sauber: Klien / Grosjean

Glock to Manor http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80177
Rumor is also that Button just signed a 3 year deal with McLaren.
And wild rumor that Schumacher will quit Ferrari to go drive for Mercedes GP

crazy rumor but maybe it goes along with this....

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...17002218.shtml

Button officially at McLaren.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80197
http://www.f1technical.net/news/1379...le+Feedfetcher

Kimi is officially taking a Sabbatical.
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/154719/...m_campaign=rss

I remember reading somewhere (but of course can't find the link right now) that Ferrari would pay Kimi $17M for the rest of his contract, or $10M if he found another drive. McLaren was only offering to pay him $5M, which means that financially it wouldn't make sense to drive. But then again, you'd still be getting $15M to drive the fastest cars in the world. Is that $2M really worth not doing that?

EDIT: Found the source, but its Euros, not dollars.
http://www.crash.net/F1/news/154432/...dfeld_way.html

I never would have guess Button would move to McLaren even 2 weeks ago. This silly season is nuts.

What's next... Villeneuve back in F1? (http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/...n-f1-comeback/)

Hell, at this rate, maybe Bernie will retire and hand the reigns over to Briatore. :lol:

Kimi's giving the WRC a shot.

http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk...in%20the%20WRC

Crash.net (which is like The Sun of the racing world) is reporting the Eddie Jordan (who is also known for wild remarks) says the Schumacher to Mercedes GP deal is definitely going to happen.

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/154816/...to_happen.html

If any team was to make it happen, this would be it. A Ross Brawn led team owned by a German manufacturer is probably just about the only team that could pull him out of retirement (baring his Ferrari contracts and whatnot).

damn maybe I will have to dust off those hats again when I get to CO

That article makes a good argument for the possibility. Normally I'd scoff at the absurdity of the idea, but it wouldn't be the strangest thing to go down in F1 in recent months.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80316

Totally expected Rosberg to Mercedes GP announcement

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.a...47499&PO=47499

Last week BMW backed out of the deal to sell the team to Qadback after it was found out the guy leading it was a serious fraudster. BMW agreed to sell the team back to Peter Sauber, on the condition that the team was granted the final grid slot.

And today it was, which means that someone looking to buy the ex-Toyota team for a free grid spot won't happen (and Toyota may face the consequences of violating the most recent Concorde Agreement).

Other rumors that Prodrive is going to buy Renault's team, and move their entire operations from Branbury to Enstone.

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/155109/..._takeover.html

And there is also news that Kubica could be automatically released from his contract if Renault doesn't confirm their commitment to F1 soon, meaning that he may be able to take a drive at Mercedes or elsewhere.

this is a silly season for the record books

Kimi confirmed at Citroens Junior squad for a year. Co-driver will be Kaj Lindstrom, who used to co-drive for Tommi Makinen.

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/...-championship/

I'm starting to think that not denying a comeback is as good as confirming it.

I bet Schumacher is driving the Brawn/Merc next year alongside Rosberg.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...09145316.shtml

Best quote in that story...

"Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg has revealed he would welcome sharing a Mercedes GP garage next year with the most successful driver in F1's history."

No shit Nico? :lol:

New points system in the works for next year due to the larger grid.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80521

1st - 25
2nd - 20
3rd - 15
4th - 10
5th - 8
6th - 6
7th - 5
8th - 3
9th - 2
10th - 1

F that. Now I'm gonna have to make a shitload of FF1 code changes to support 10 picks?

Or stick w/ 8 picks with new points. Is that easier?

That's way easier, since it's just a configuration value that assigns the point value to each position. But the number of picks is a much bigger change because it involves changing the database and the column layout in the user interface.

Time to get coding. The point overhaul was approved.

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/...rmed-for-2010/

Lotus announced that they signed two drivers, who will be announced on Monday.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80542

Trulli looks to have the first seat, and the second seat being either Kovalanien or Sato.

EDIT: Confirmed as Trulli and Kovalainen.

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-...nd-kovalainen/

Di Grassi To Virgin
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80577

and Kobayashi to Sauber
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.a...47559&PO=47559

Which makes the grid look like this (guesses in italics):

Mercedes GP: Rosberg / Schumacher
McLaren: Hamilton / Button
Ferrari: Alonso / Massa
Red Bull: Vettel / Webber
Renault: Kubica / Montagny
Toro Rosso: Buemi / Alguersuari
Williams: Barrichello / Hulkenberg
Force India: Sutil / Luizzi
USF1: Wurz / Villeneuve
Virgin/Manor: Glock / Di Grassi
Campos: B Senna / Chandhok
Lotus: Kovalenin / Trulli
Sauber: Kobayashi / Grosjean

Nick, you forgot to put Renault in italics.

And I'm starting to worry about USF1 ending up w/ a bunk lineup... we should have had some stronger rumors by now unless they're actually flailing to find drivers. I can see Wurz there, but what have you heard about Villeneuve? Is that just a wild guess?

Maybe Renault will be the boon to USF1... if they decide at the last minute to drop out, maybe USF1 will be Kubica's only chance at a drive in 2010. I'd love to see him there, except I'd feel bad for him since the car probably won't be a winner in their 1st season. Kubica's a good enough driver to win regularly, he just needs a developed car, IMO.

schumacher comeback seems to be progressing along

http://en.espnf1.com/ferrari/motorsport/story/5346.html

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/5479.html

It's official this morning, MSC will be Back!


edit: hahaha, also, Top gear story...http://sundayafternoonclub.blogs.top...race-for-merc/

Even with all the leaked stories, I'm still kind of shocked its actually happening.

EDIT: 3-year deal? damn.

OMG this is awesome! :D

I need to get some Mercedes GP gear :lol:

US F1 is coming along

That's great. I saw yesterday or the day before that Peter Windsor called out Bernie Ecclestone in the paper for claiming they werent going to make the grid

All they need now is a driver or two. And maybe some wheels.

Good to see something going on with them, especially after that other hokey video they had.
Matt and Debbie can be their drivers.

I hope it's a "wide-body" design in my case :lol:

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-...la-1-comeback/

And the F1 community at large laughed heartily.