The Official Formula 1 2009 Season Thread

[falcongsr]

Welcome to the 2009 F1 Season! 12/5/08: Honda pulls out of Formula 1 3/5/09: BrawnGP launched: Honda chassis with Mercedes power ------ 2008 was an epic year for F1. From a title being decided at the last corner of the last lap of the last race, to plenty of off-track drama, there was something for everyone. From the president of the FIA caught with his pants down to the unfortunate demise of Super Aguri. Race steward shenanigans, suprise rain, and surprise winners. DC retires. Vettel thrills in Monza in the wet. Robert Kubica wins in Montreal to give BMW their first ever win as a constructor, while Hamilton inexplicably rear-ends Raikkonen in the pit lane. Fernando Alonso gets mysteriously fast in the last 1/3rd of the season and scores consecutive victories, the first being under the lights of the first ever night race in Singapore. Massa spins 5 times in the wet at Silverstone and then charges back to finish 1 point short of glory. Surely 2009 will offer plenty for F1 fans to discuss. Can Hamilton defend his title? Will Massa fight back again and steal the crown? Will Kimi find his winning pace again? Will the rule changes re-shuffle the pecking order? Will there be more passing? Will Super Aguri rise again? Will Prodrive field a car? Will KERS make a difference? There is much to discuss... 2009 Race Schedule (as of 11/17/2008) 1 Australian GP Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit Melbourne, Victoria 29 March 2 Malaysian GP Sepang International Circuit Kuala Lumpur 5 April 3 Chinese GP Shanghai International Circuit Shanghai 19 April 4 Bahrain GP Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir, Manama 26 April 5 Spanish GP Circuit de Catalunya Barcelona 10 May 6 Monaco GP Circuit de Monaco Monte Carlo 24 May - Canadian GP (left off schedule due to finance problems) - French GP (promoter cancelled race due to finance problems) 7 Turkish GP Istanbul Park Istanbul 7 June 8 British GP Silverstone Circuit Silverstone 21 June 9 German GP Nürburgring Nürburg 12 July 10 Hungaroring Hungarian GP Budapest 26 July 11 European GP 4 Valencia Street Circuit Valencia 23 August 12 Belgian GP Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Spa 30 August 13 Italian GP Autodromo Nazionale Monza Monza 13 September 14 Singapore GP Marina Bay Street Circuit Singapore 27 September 15 Japanese GP Suzuka Circuit Suzuka 4 October 16 Brazilian GP Autódromo José Carlos Pace São Paulo 18 October 17 Abu Dhabi GP Yas Marina Circuit Abu Dhabi 1 November Race Schedule Notes: Abu Dhabi: new circuit Canadian GP: It will be the first time since 1958 there has not been a GP in North America. Japanese GP: Suzuka Circuit alternating with Fuji German GP: Hockenheimring alternating with Nürburgring Chinese GP: Moved to April from previous October date Teams / Drivers: - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Lewis Hamilton Heikki Kovalainen - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Felipe Massa Kimi Räikkönen - BMW Sauber F1 Team Robert Kubica Nick Heidfeld - ING Renault F1 Team Fernando Alonso Nelson Piquet Jr. - Panasonic Toyota Racing Jarno Trulli Timo Glock - Scuderia Toro Rosso Sebastian Buemi Sebastian Bourdais -Red Bull Racing Mark Webber Sebastian Vettel - AT&T Williams F1 Nico Rosberg Kazuki Nakajima - Force India F1 Team Adrian Sutil Giancarlo Fisichella - Honda Racing F1 Team Jensen Button Reubens Barrichello Team Notes: David Coulthard retires, replaced by Sebastian Vettel Force India switches engine suppliers from Ferrari to Mercedes Technical Specifications / Rule Changes: - After being banned since the 1998 Formula One season, slick tyres will be provided by Bridgestone in 2009. - Car width (wheel to wheel) increased from 1.8 meters to 2.0 meters - Front wing lowered (from 15cm to 7.5Cm) and widened (from 145 to 180cm), limited number of elements - Rear wing higher and narrower (80cm wide instead of 100cm), and 95cm tall (instead of 80cm) - All appendages (deflectors, winglets, chimneys etc.) are banned - Diffuser moved towards the center axle of rear wheels - Diffuser max steep angle and height increased (max height 17.5cm vs 12cm) - Drivers will be allowed to alter their front wings twice per lap. The flap will be controlled and monitored by the standard ECU. The software in this unit is FIA-controlled, so it will only allow two adjustments per lap. The number of settings available to the driver will be up to the team, but the maximum flap angle range is +/- 3 degrees. - Heating tyre blankets banned - Optional "Kinetic Energy Recovery System", or KERS. This is a regenerative brake device that is designed to recover some of the vehicle's kinetic energy that is normally dissipated as heat during braking. The recovered energy could be stored electrically, in a battery or supercapacitor, or mechanically, in a flywheel, for use as a source of additional accelerative power at the driver's discretion. - Engine life extended from two to three races Reminders about thread etiquiette: - The membership of Honda-tech is primarily based in the United States. Posting spoilers before race events have aired is really bad form. Some races are slightly tape delayed, or delayed by several hours to fit broadcaster's restrictions. Please use disgretion when posting about live action (likewise as a reader if you are not watching the race live, it may be best to avoid the thread). - Insults and flaming are a sure way to get some unwanted attention from moderators. The thread is actively moderated.

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[mybrokenblinker]

Great starter post falcon! i look forward to a great season of F1 and i'm already counting down the days till the first race.

[georgiajdm]

UGLY. Why they are testing the 09 car w/ grooved tires i don't know.
[pic]http://images.gpupdate.net/large/115669.jpg[/pic]
[pic]http://images.gpupdate.net/large/115689.jpg[/pic]
[pic]http://images.gpupdate.net/large/115674.jpg[/pic]

[georgiajdm]

stupid new forum software sucks donkey balls.

[racinjason]

The Canadian GP is officially DEAD.

At rare look at a race contract proposal and the denial fax from Bernie:

http://files.newswire.ca/643/F1correspondance[1].pdf

[MSchu]

In for 2009

------------------------------



What a hideously weird look... I tell you, full bodied cars are the way to go

[Tim2179]

Ibtl!

[Chris F]

Originally Posted by Tim2179

Ibtl!

Me too!

Agreed, those cars are ugly. I hope they grow on us.

[BauleyCivic]

Oh...my...god...that 2009 nose is hideous. The rest of the car is okay though.

[T I F O S I]

What he hell happened to this stupid website... I love you guys and this F1 thread, but I can't even make it function properly.

Hopefully I can get you guys to help start active discussion on ***********... I need zeroforum

[Nishant]

The new car looks really weird to me, especially the rear wing. I guess it will have to grow on me

[FifthGearOnline]

omg what the hell is that thing. LMFAO!

[Spade]

When the hell did MSchu become a Mod!?! :-) And what the heck defines a "Senior Member"?

(I hate not having my recent posts)

Enjoy watching the ugly cars guys.

[vinuneuro]

Spade, are you really done with F1??

These 09 cars still look better than current HT.

Hoping to see GP2-like passing in 09, and real proof that Massa sucks.

[MSchu]

I see nose to wheel contact exponentially increased next year

[cbstd]

It appears that Reubens is out with Honda, he was not invited to winter testing. Is there any place for Reubens to go?

His book should be interesting, I will read it.

Scott

[unrealwrc]

Wow you where right bauley. These cars are goofy as hell and wtf is up with the front wing.

[BauleyCivic]

I *think* that is a 2008 base chassis on the BMW...meaning the track will be much wider on the actual 09 cars.

Williams' front wing looks prettier

[unrealwrc]

Thats for sure but look at that rear wing. has FIA officially realeased WHY the constraints on that? Is it really going to promote that much more passing?

O and btw you still need to send me that link... F1 stream...

[rota92]

It's going to take a lot for these cars to grow on me, I say just tell them to bring their late 90's cars back out and race them lol

[Ponyboy]

The 2009 car screams "Don't look at me! I'm hideous!" Poor car.

But hey, if it allows a little more passing and tighter racing, I could learn to love it.

[rota92]

BTW, where is the ALMS 09 thread? lol Those cars are usually gorgeous :p

[BauleyCivic]

Originally Posted by unrealwrc

Thats for sure but look at that rear wing. has FIA officially realeased WHY the constraints on that? Is it really going to promote that much more passing?

O and btw you still need to send me that link... F1 stream...

http://www.sopcast.com/

Star Sports Malaysia. They broadcast the races live in English.

[falcongsr]

Originally Posted by rota92

BTW, where is the ALMS 09 thread? lol Those cars are usually gorgeous :p

Yeah we need to get on that, so I can bore you all with my pics :-P

Where is the previous 2008 F1 thread? I fear it was too big to survive this conversion to the vbulletin database.

this forum software is shit.

[Ponyboy]

Originally Posted by falcongsr

Yeah we need to get on that, so I can bore you all with my pics :-P

I think Spade was thinking about starting it. I'll be following ALMS pretty closely in 09.

Originally Posted by falcongsr

Where is the previous 2008 F1 thread? I fear it was too big to survive this conversion to the vbulletin database.

I know...I haven't searched for it but I'll take a look. I hope it didn't get canned b/c of the sheer size of it.