Open Wheel Racing Chat 2013

[rvrdgsfn]

I could see DTM working but I was hoping for more of luxury touch IE Cadillac, Mercedes, BMW, Acura, Lexus... I'd say Lincoln but we all know that isn't going to happen anytime soon. I'm excited to see this come into fruition though.

Qualifying was rained out in Melbourne, they will Qualify before the race. Plus the 12 hours of Sebring has started & as usual, Audi is dominating.

It also looks like McLaren to Honda is going to happen, there's too many reports backing this up

http://www.autosport...t.php/id/106086

"Mercedes will move to ensure that McLaren's knowledge of its 2014 engine is of no benefit to Honda should the team subsequently switch to the Japanese engine manufacturer."

Now tell me, does that show any hope that Mercedes is sticking around? Say hello to Telmex McLaren Honda

[raysox]

Now tell me, does that show any hope that Mercedes is sticking around? Say hello to Telmex McLaren Honda

That was good.

They got Q1 in on saturday, but called the other two sessions until race day. Vettel put it on the pole, and the lights just went out as the 2013 Formula one season is underway!

[JackieMoon]

Hamilton isn't showing any signs of slowing down with Mercedes. Maybe he just needed some new scenery.

[rvrdgsfn]

Kimi wins a "easy" Australian Grand Prix

[raysox]

Adrian Sutil was leading a lot of this race. He was short pitting everyone and was waiting for the skies to open up so he could make one less pitstop than everyone else but they never did. I SOMEHOW managed to stay up to see Kimi cross the line, but after he did I went to sleep ahahaha

[Hathaway Browne]

Ah I remember the days of getting up at Stupid o'clock to watch the GP.. too many Schumacher wins put paid to the fun of all that.

Anywho... great win for the Kimster. Certainly didn't pick him to win this one, maybe Lotus is the one to watch this season?

[rvrdgsfn]

Now tell me, does that show any hope that Mercedes is sticking around? Say hello to Telmex McLaren Honda

That was good.

They got Q1 in on saturday, but called the other two sessions until race day. Vettel put it on the pole, and the lights just went out as the 2013 Formula one season is underway!

Well, it helps that Sergio is in contact with the richest man in the world plus Vodafone is dropping their sponsorship & McLaren already has an announcement coming in December, so I figured Telmex is in it unless otherwise. Kimi was impressive today, I watched the replay this afternoon while watching NASCAR and it was impressive, I gotta say, Lewis impressed me, give him a few races, he can turn the Silver Arrows into a contender, I still say that the 2 teams to watch out for though are Ferrari & Infiniti Red Bull... My dark horse is still Lotus.

EDIT:

IndyCar starts in St.Pete next Sunday!

[Hathaway Browne]

^I agree, Telmex seem like the likely replacement. I quite like the idea of ditching the Vodafone red for Telmex powder blue...

[rvrdgsfn]

Well Checo is for it.... Also this would make sense...

http://formula-one.s...orts-gain-speed

Yet another Austrian newspaper is reporting that Sebastian Vettel has extended his contract with Red Bull through 2016.

From Melbourne last week, the Kleine Zeitung newspaper claimed the German driver had agreed to extend his current deal from 2014 to 2015, including an 'option' for the following season as well.

Which means by 2017 He'll have his seat at Ferrari, by then Alonso will have possibly retire. Then again, he'll be... 29 I think.

[DolphinManatee]

2013 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix - Sepang International Circuit

(Map)- Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia (Near Kuala Lumpur)

(Race @ 4:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on NBCSN [uS] or TSN/RDS [Canada])

Starting Grid:

1. Sebastian Vettel (Deutschland) - Red Bull

2. Felipe Massa (Brasil) - Ferrari

3. Fernando Alonso (España) - Ferrari

4. Lewis Hamilton (United Kingdom) - Mercedes

5. Mark Webber (Australia) - Red Bull

6. Nico Rosberg (Deutschland) - Mercedes

7. Jenson Button (United Kingdom) - McLaren

8. Adrian Sutil (Deutschland) - Force India

9. Sergio Pérez (México) - McLaren

10. Kimi Räikkönen (Suomi) - Lotus*

11. Romain Grosjean (France) - Lotus

12. Nico Hülkenberg (Deutschland) - Sauber

13. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) - Toro Rosso

14. Esteban Gutiérrez (México) - Sauber

15. Paul di Resta (United Kingdom) - Force India

16. Pastor Maldonaldo (Venezuela) - Williams

17. Jean-Éric Vergne (France) - Toro Rosso

18. Valtteri Bottas (Suomi) - Williams

19. Jules Bianchi (France) - Marussia

20. Charles Pic (France) - Caterham

21. Max Chilton (United Kingdom) - Marussia

22. Giedo van der Garde (Nederland) - Caterham

* - Räikkönen originally qualified 7th, Assessed 3-place grid penalty for blocking Rosberg in qualifying.

IZOD IndyCar Series

2013 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Albert Whitted Airport and Downtown St. Petersburg, Florida

(Map)

(Race @ 12:00 p.m. EDT on NBCSN [uS])

Starting Grid:

1. 12 - Will Power (Toowoomba, Queensland) - Team Penske - Chevrolet

2. 14 - Takuma Sato (Tokyo) - A.J. Foyt Racing - Honda

3. 78 - Simona de Silvestro (Thun, Bern) - KV Racing Technology - Chevrolet

4. 27 - James Hinchcliffe (Oakville, Ontario) - Andretti Autosport - Chevrolet

5. 3 - Hélio Castroneves (São Paulo, São Paulo) - Team Penske - Chevrolet

6. 55 - Tristan Vautier [R] (Corenc, Isère) - Schmidt Peterson Motorsports - Honda

7. 25 - Marco Andretti (Nazareth, Pennsylvania) - Andretti Autosport - Chevrolet

8. 1 - Ryan Hunter-Reay (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) - Andretti Autosport - Chevrolet

9. 6 - Sebastián Saavedra (Bogotá) - Dragon Racing - Chevrolet

10. 10 - Dario Franchitti - (West Lothian, Scotland) - Target Chip Ganassi Racing - Honda

11. 11 - Tony Kanaan (Salvador, Bahia) - KV Racing Technology - Chevrolet

12. 22 - Oriol Servià (Pals, Catalunya) - Panther Racing - Chevrolet

13. 19 - Justin Wilson (Sheffield, England) - Dale Coyne Racing - Honda

14. 83 - Charlie Kimball (Camarillo, California) - Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing - Honda

15. 15 - Graham Rahal (New Albany, Ohio) - Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing - Honda

16. 67 - Josef Newgarden (Hendersonville, Tennessee) - Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing - Honda

17. 98 - Alex Tagliani (Lachenaie, Québec) - Barracuda Racing - Honda

18. 16 - James Jakes (Leeds, England) - Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing - Honda

19. 77 - Simon Pagenaud (Montmorillon, Poitou-Charentes) - Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports - Honda

20. 9 - Scott Dixon (Auckland) - Target Chip Ganassi Racing - Honda

21. 7 - Sébastien Bourdais (Le Mans, Pays de la Loire) - Dragon Racing - Chevrolet

22. 5 - E.J. Viso (Caracas) - Team Venezuela - Chevrolet

23. 20. Ed Carpenter (Indianapolis, Indiana) - Ed Carpenter Racing - Chevrolet

24. 4 - JR Hildebrand (Sausalito, California) - Panther Racing - Chevrolet

25. 18 - Ana Beatriz (São Paulo, São Paulo) - Dale Coyne Racing - Honda

[Hathaway Browne]

Malaysia.....

Well that was an odd race.

Was it a Ferrari stuff up or Alonso's? Lewis had an embarrassing pit stop mistake... such a shame for the Force India's and Jenson.

And let's not forget those brewing inter-team battles. Nico has just seen off a team mate that he had to defer to, he doesn't deserve another. Over at RBR, well what can I say?

[rvrdgsfn]

Malaysia.....

Well that was an odd race.

Was it a Ferrari stuff up or Alonso's? Lewis had an embarrassing pit stop mistake... such a shame for the Force India's and Jenson.

And let's not forget those brewing inter-team battles. Nico has just seen off a team mate that he had to defer to, he doesn't deserve another. Over at RBR, well what can I say?

with Infiniti Red Bull.... Business as usual

EDIT: It made me think of this.... I swear the tension could be cut with a knife

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smW9yo-P_zk

Moving on.... IndyCar starts to day with the race at St.Pete & Will Power has the pole, I can't wait to see what Indy brings this season

[Hathaway Browne]

^I wonder who will blink first at RBR? No doubt the Vettel to Ferrari rumours will start up again.

Debut for Indy on ESPN UK... rugby presenter before intro'd it as the race from San Fran-Pittsburgh. *face palm*

Anywho Indy is looking good in HD, just a shame I couldn't hear the comms. for about 10 laps.... then when they get the audio sorted they promo the Pens game. Thanks NBC - rub it in for those of us who can't see NHL any more.

A question for the thread regulars, I've seen criticism of the St. Petersburg track elsewhere on the interwebs is it really that bad? Seems reasonable enough to me. Could be better I guess, but its by no means a Valencia.

[Burkell007]

The mayor wins!!! Just remember my pre-season picks people

[JackieMoon]

Glad to see Hinchcliffe get his first win. Nice to see Marco get a podium as well.

Wonder why Dinger wasn't at St. Pete?

[rvrdgsfn]

More on DTM America...

http://www.speedcafe.com/2013/03/27/dtm-confirms-next-stage-of-global-expansion/

Grand Am has signed a license and co-operation agreement with DTM administrators, the Internationale Tourenwagen-Rennen.

The two parties say that they are aiming to have a US DTM series underway as early as 2015, running on the same bill as the soon-to-merge Grand Am and American Le Mans Series sportscar races.

The announcement follows a similar tie-up between the DTM and the Japanese SuperGT series that is set to see the latter adopt the DTM rule package for 2014.

“In addition to the six German and Japanese manufacturers – Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Nissan and Toyota – which are already involved, the new cooperation quite obviously also offers a new and extraordinary field of activity for the American premium manufacturers such as Cadillac, Lincoln or Dodge SRT within the framework of future motorsport programs.

[Hathaway Browne]

^Sounds like it should be good. I do like me some DTM and the idea of a Caddy and Lincoln going head to head only sweetens the deal.

In F1 news... Force India have signed a deal for to continue with Mercedes engines from '14 onwards. Makes you wonder, is that another sign that the Three Pointed Star is leaving McLaren?

[rvrdgsfn]

This wouldn't surprise me, I mean, this is usually a bad sign that MB is re uping with Force India... Who may not exist after a few seasons. Besides, FI was considered to go to Ferrari next season so this came out of nowhere...

Now we wait to see the puzzle pieces fall into place with McLaren...

So now the hot topic, who do you think replace's Webber? Or better yet, does Infiniti Red Bull lose both drivers?

[RedRenesis]

So now the hot topic, who do you think replace's Webber? Or better yet, does Infiniti Red Bull lose both drivers?

Does Webber even finish the season with IRB? And when he does leave I imagine replacements won't get much better then Buemi, it'll be a tough sell to bring in an established driver alongside Vettel at this point.

[JackieMoon]

You can't blame Webber and Rosberg for being pissed at Malaysia. I love F1, but the politics just might turn me off to it. Webber could have easily won the race. Rosberg was held up by Hamilton most of the time. Rosberg could have easily place 3rd, and probably would have challenged Vettel for second.