Ponderbox

[CarlosFerreira]

In celebration of Mario's 1000th post, I feel obliged to post this song.

Something, somewhere, went horribly wrong. And that's a properly pondered post.

[RAK]

In celebration of Mario's 1000th post, I feel obliged to post this song.

I can't listen to the first part of that song without thinking about jumping. I always did it in the game itself.

[FullMetalJack]

Fisichella was so much better than Sutil at Force India in 2009.

[mario]

In celebration of Mario's 1000th post, I feel obliged to post this song.

I can't listen to the first part of that song without thinking about jumping. I always did it in the game itself.

It also reminds me of the spectacularly bucolic comments by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw when talking about the blatant overuse of the character by Nintendo ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... unctuation ).
To be honest, I'd completely overlooked that reference - I actually chose the name as a reference to Mario Andretti (and, of course, his various [reject worthy] descendants hoping to cash in on the fame of their father)...

[Phoenix]

In celebration of Mario's 1000th post, I feel obliged to post this song.

I can't listen to the first part of that song without thinking about jumping. I always did it in the game itself.

It also reminds me of the spectacularly bucolic comments by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw when talking about the blatant overuse of the character by Nintendo ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... unctuation ).
To be honest, I'd completely overlooked that reference - I actually chose the name as a reference to Mario Andretti (and, of course, his various [reject worthy] descendants hoping to cash in on the fame of their father)...

So you're not called Mario then?
Mario Andretti is one of my all-time favs as well mainly because he was an absolute all-rounder that you can't find these days. Shame his three last F1 seasons-I admit he was a bit weak, especially in 1980.

[RAK]

It also reminds me of the spectacularly bucolic comments by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw when talking about the blatant overuse of the character by Nintendo ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... unctuation ).

"The Wii's game lineup consists of the usual Nintendo staples of Zelda, Metroid, Mario, etc. because Nintendo's policy seems to be that if you beat a dead horse vigorously enough its constant twitching and juttering will at least give a semblance of activity..."

Admittedly, I haven't watched it in ages, but I'm currently burning through the back Weekly Issues of The Escapist in order to have read at least one article from every single issue.

Also:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... Real-Thing
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... fe-Lessons

Interesting articles, not least for their simulator content. Speaking of simulators:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... -Evolution

[pablo_h]

In celebration of Mario's 1000th post, I feel obliged to post this song.

You could have posted this version at least http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42fsPaAkcag (it's a bit more formal )

[mario]

So you're not called Mario then?
Mario Andretti is one of my all-time favs as well mainly because he was an absolute all-rounder that you can't find these days. Shame his three last F1 seasons-I admit he was a bit weak, especially in 1980.

When you see the breadth of disciplines he covered, from F1 to sports cars, oval racing and Le Mans prototypes, you can't help but admire the fact that he would give it a go, and could be very successful (for example, getting a podium at Le Mans at an age when most drivers would have stopped racing).
In fact, if you look back, although I'm too young to remember those days first hand, it was an entirely different age when Jim Clark and Graham Hill, for example, could spend their time in between F1 races driving in the BTCC or at the Indy 500 (and at the time Clark and Hill won it, the prize for winning the Indy 500 was greater then the prize money for winning the World Drivers Championship in F1), or Ickx swopping between sports cars and F1.

It also reminds me of the spectacularly bucolic comments by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw when talking about the blatant overuse of the character by Nintendo ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... unctuation ).

"The Wii's game lineup consists of the usual Nintendo staples of Zelda, Metroid, Mario, etc. because Nintendo's policy seems to be that if you beat a dead horse vigorously enough its constant twitching and juttering will at least give a semblance of activity..."

Admittedly, I haven't watched it in ages, but I'm currently burning through the back Weekly Issues of The Escapist in order to have read at least one article from every single issue.

Also:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... Real-Thing
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... fe-Lessons

Interesting articles, not least for their simulator content. Speaking of simulators:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... -Evolution

Those articles are interesting, as is the review (I've got GTR Evolution, and the touring cars are good fun, along with the radicals and caterhams, although I do find that the AI can be a bit more dumb witted then the reviewer found in that article). As a track and vehicle familiarisation tool, they are very useful (we've heard about how the teams use simulators to train their drivers for each circuit well in advance of the event, and use it to work on preliminary setups), although it'll be interesting to see what the next generation of racing sims bring.

[shinji]

In celebration of Mario's 1000th post, I feel obliged to post this song.

You could have posted this version at least http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42fsPaAkcag (it's a bit more formal )

Why can't the entire world be Japan?

[DonTirri]

In celebration of Mario's 1000th post, I feel obliged to post this song.

You could have posted this version at least http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42fsPaAkcag (it's a bit more formal )

Why can't the entire world be Japan?

cause USA has THIS to offer back

[Klon]

Pondering, esé?

I'm currently pondering how difficult it could be to get a long-term internship in Ireland.

But to get back to the serious things in life (AKA Formula 1): will Nick Heidfeld break the series of mediocre 2010 comebacks?

[Phoenix]

But to get back to the serious things in life (AKA Formula 1): will Nick Heidfeld break the series of mediocre 2010 comebacks?

Honestly, I'm only expecting from him to bring the car home, and not much more.

[Tombstone]

In celebration of Mario's 1000th post, I feel obliged to post this song.

You could have posted this version at least http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42fsPaAkcag (it's a bit more formal )

Why can't the entire world be Japan?

I have a bad back, bowing could be an issue.

I have often pondered how much cooler spoken English would be if it was compulsory to do so with a Dutch accent.

[Wizzie]

I've just realised that next season could easily be the best season in the history of Formula 1 regardless of whether Raikkonen does sign for Renault.

[CarlosFerreira]

I have often pondered how much cooler spoken English would be if it was compulsory to do so with an Italian accent.

There you go, fixed.

[Wizzie]

I have often pondered how much cooler spoken English would be if it was compulsory to do so with an Italian accent.

There you go, fixed.

Good... Italian is one of the accents that I can fake

[CarlosFerreira]

I have often pondered how much cooler spoken English would be if it was compulsory to do so with an Italian accent.

There you go, fixed.

Good... Italian is one of the accents that I can fake

Goode. Itáálian ize ofthe ache-cents ai can feique.

[tristan1117]

I have a feeling that there's going to be some major controversy at the Korean GP. Strange.

[FullMetalJack]

I have a feeling that there's going to be some major controversy at the Korean GP. Strange.

Maybe because nothing else will happen.

[Phoenix]

I have a feeling that there's going to be some major controversy at the Korean GP. Strange.

Or a major crash.

[dr-baker]

I have a feeling that there's going to be some major controversy at the Korean GP. Strange.

Maybe because nothing else will happen.

I reckon the major controversy will be that nothing else will happen, not even the Grand Prix itself because the track won't be ready enough.

[FullMetalJack]

I have a feeling that there's going to be some major controversy at the Korean GP. Strange.

Maybe because nothing else will happen.

I reckon the major controversy will be that nothing else will happen, not even the Grand Prix itself because the track won't be ready enough.

It'll just be a dirt track, in which Kimi Raikkonen will return and win.

[Kobacrashi]

What would the world of F1 be like if Ayrton Senna had not been struck by tragedy?

His accident was after all the major force behind most of the safety improvements and updated circuit design, but if he had survived/not crashed was it inevitable that there would have been a major accident with a top name driver involved which would have spurred on the safety related changes.

On a competitive front would schumacher have won the two tittles with senna in such a brilliant car, as i don't think there is an argument that Senna would have kicked Hills arse. So maybe Herr Schumacher would not be the most decorated driver of all time, coulthard wouldn't have got his break and would we have ever seen Villeneuve.

HRT would in fact be Senna racing with his nephew driving and maybe, just maybe they would not be an utter farce. Maybe I am jumping the gun but i don't think he would have been dropped for Sakon at Silverstone.

[patrick]

What would the world of F1 be like if Ayrton Senna had not been struck by tragedy?

His accident was after all the major force behind most of the safety improvements and updated circuit design, but if he had survived/not crashed was it inevitable that there would have been a major accident with a top name driver involved which would have spurred on the safety related changes.

On a competitive front would schumacher have won the two tittles with senna in such a brilliant car, as i don't think there is an argument that Senna would have kicked Hills arse. So maybe Herr Schumacher would not be the most decorated driver of all time, coulthard wouldn't have got his break and would we have ever seen Villeneuve.

HRT would in fact be Senna racing with his nephew driving and maybe, just maybe they would not be an utter farce. Maybe I am jumping the gun but i don't think he would have been dropped for Sakon at Silverstone.

I think it's entirely probable that he would have had won or close run 1994-1997, looking at the worldbeater cars that williams had then.
Don't forget Ratzenberger was still the first driver to die for 8(?) years, and Rubens had a horrible crash that weekend too - even if Senna hadn't died then I still think safety would have been improved a lot.

Hill might not have stuck around for long being dominated by Senna, which would have left the door open for Coulthard, Villeneuve, or even Montoya (who was associated with Williams as far back as 1997 I think).
Of those three drivers, it's most probable that Coulthard wouldn't have been in F1 due to Senna surviving - but he had intrest from McLaren pretty early on as well so it's difficult to say.

Senna would have probably retired by 2000 at the latest, interestingly he may have moved to Ferrari in 1998-1999 as Luca di Montezemolo always claimed Senna privately told him he wanted to finish his career in a Ferrari. Obviously this would have had some effect on Schumacher, if he indeed moved to Ferrari as he did in 1996.

Doubtlessly Senna would have wanted to set up an F1 team, especially since arch-rival Prost did in the late 90s.

It's an interesting, ultimately pointless and sad thing to think over...

[mario]

What would the world of F1 be like if Ayrton Senna had not been struck by tragedy?

His accident was after all the major force behind most of the safety improvements and updated circuit design, but if he had survived/not crashed was it inevitable that there would have been a major accident with a top name driver involved which would have spurred on the safety related changes.

On a competitive front would schumacher have won the two tittles with senna in such a brilliant car, as i don't think there is an argument that Senna would have kicked Hills arse. So maybe Herr Schumacher would not be the most decorated driver of all time, coulthard wouldn't have got his break and would we have ever seen Villeneuve.

HRT would in fact be Senna racing with his nephew driving and maybe, just maybe they would not be an utter farce. Maybe I am jumping the gun but i don't think he would have been dropped for Sakon at Silverstone.

I think it's entirely probable that he would have had won or close run 1994-1997, looking at the worldbeater cars that williams had then.
Don't forget Ratzenberger was still the first driver to die for 8(?) years, and Rubens had a horrible crash that weekend too - even if Senna hadn't died then I still think safety would have been improved a lot.

Hill might not have stuck around for long being dominated by Senna, which would have left the door open for Coulthard, Villeneuve, or even Montoya (who was associated with Williams as far back as 1997 I think).
Of those three drivers, it's most probable that Coulthard wouldn't have been in F1 due to Senna surviving - but he had intrest from McLaren pretty early on as well so it's difficult to say.

Senna would have probably retired by 2000 at the latest, interestingly he may have moved to Ferrari in 1998-1999 as Luca di Montezemolo always claimed Senna privately told him he wanted to finish his career in a Ferrari. Obviously this would have had some effect on Schumacher, if he indeed moved to Ferrari as he did in 1996.

Doubtlessly Senna would have wanted to set up an F1 team, especially since arch-rival Prost did in the late 90s.

It's an interesting, ultimately pointless and sad thing to think over...

Given his devotion to training and technical developments, it is quite likely that Senna could have continued for a number of years and still been competitive, and it certainly would have had a major impact on the fortunes and shape of most of the grid. I agree that Coulthard might have started at Mclaren instead (it is possible - he had connections with West Racing through Formula 3), and Villeneuve and Hill might have had very different careers (Hill might have spent most of his time as a test driver, for example).

But the big difference could well have been with the teams. If Di Montezemolo was right, and Senna really did intend on moving to Ferrari, I doubt that Schumacher would have wanted to be in the same team as Senna (and the reverse would probably be true as well). So, assuming that Schumacher's Ferrari move might have been blocked, he might have chosen to stay at Benetton for longer - and, more importantly, that means that people like Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne, who were the intellectual firepower behind Schumacher's success, might have stayed at Benetton.
Alternatively, there is the possibility that Mercedes might have pushed Schumacher towards Mclaren, due to his existing links with Mercedes via their sports car program (I remember hearing a whisper that Mercedes did try once to put Schumacher in Mclaren, but the deal with Ferrari had already been done).

Sadly, all this speculation is just that - would that it were the case that he had survived...

[watka]

I have a feeling that there's going to be some major controversy at the Korean GP. Strange.

Maybe because nothing else will happen.

I suggest that the GP will get cancelled but not replaced and a Red Bull driver will lose the championship by 1 point and claim that they would have been fastest around the Korea track.

Or someone will have an engine failure in the last race and still win the championship. The runner-up will claim they would have won the championship if there was another race because the champion would have had to take a 10 place grid drop.

[WeirdKerr]

i was glad to see that donnington has risen from the ashes like the phoenix at the touring car race at the weekend

[patrick]

i was glad to see that donnington has risen from the ashes like the phoenix at the touring car race at the weekend

Yep, despite the rather silly chicane antics

[dr-baker]

i was glad to see that donnington has risen from the ashes like the phoenix at the touring car race at the weekend

Yep, despite the rather silly chicane antics

Gotta love the BTCC. When I go to Brands (Indy loop) in a couple of weeks' time, it will be the fourth time this year to see them (The first two rounds of the season at Rockingham and Brands GP loop and Silverstone in August).

[AndreaModa]

i was glad to see that donnington has risen from the ashes like the phoenix at the touring car race at the weekend

Yep, despite the rather silly chicane antics

Gotta love the BTCC. When I go to Brands (Indy loop) in a couple of weeks' time, it will be the fourth time this year to see them (The first two rounds of the season at Rockingham and Brands GP loop and Silverstone in August).

Couldn't agree more, even in that one little snippet of replay, there's so much action going on, and thats even before they get to the chicane! Superb stuff, and with the variety of cars and no crappy team tactics, so so much better than the rubbish WTCC.

[CarlosFerreira]

Couldn't agree more, even in that one little snippet of replay, there's so much action going on, and thats even before they get to the chicane! Superb stuff, and with the variety of cars and no crappy team tactics, so so much better than the rubbish WTCC.

Well... back at the time of the Ferrari hearing, someone mentioned the BTCC as an example of a formula where no team orders happened - I immediately remembered Onslow-Cole has let Chilton pass a number of occasions this year, for example...

[ADx_Wales]

Just been watching early 90s f1 footage, and I've realised, they dont show much stastistics, maybe we're getting an overload of it in recent years, and it's destroying our enjoyment, the mystery of "how far is driver-b behind driver-a, he's catching him up", and do we REALLY care how much 1.647 seconds is compared to 1.651? Is there really a need for the entire field to be given three letter names? when simply you could show the top 6 every now and again in giant block letters in the language of the venue their visiting......dernier tour......

Also, there are not many camera views from on high, like most of the races recently the cameras are positioned at a level where you can see the entire track most of the time (exaggerate much?), maybe if the cameras were akin to that of sitting in the stands without someone's head in the way, or much like they were in the 90s, we'd enjoy the races?

Just pondering...

[coops]

Just been watching early 90s f1 footage, and I've realised, they dont show much stastistics, maybe we're getting an overload of it in recent years, and it's destroying our enjoyment, the mystery of "how far is driver-b behind driver-a, he's catching him up", and do we REALLY care how much 1.647 seconds is compared to 1.651? Is there really a need for the entire field to be given three letter names? when simply you could show the top 6 every now and again in giant block letters in the language of the venue their visiting......dernier tour......
Also, there are not many camera views from on high, like most of the races recently the cameras are positioned at a level where you can see the entire track most of the time (exaggerate much?), maybe if the cameras were akin to that of sitting in the stands without someone's head in the way, or much like they were in the 90s, we'd enjoy the races?
Just pondering...

I agree with you with regards the on screen information, its too much and often whats on screen is irrelevant to the narrative of the race. Perhaps thats subjective but how often do we watch P1 and P2 more or less holding position to the flag with the (unchanging) time difference on screen. Meanwhile, someone is attacking to get P4 and some decent points but we're unaware of the seconds that hes gaining lap by lap?

Also, P1 will have a pit stop and the time will be flashed up. Three laps later P2 will take his pitstop and his time will be posted. Oh, hang on, I forgot the time P1 did. Was I supposed to write it down? If the commentary team doesnt fill me in on the difference then the information was irrelevant. And what about P3s time?

Other than the director often following the wrong piece of action I do think the camera side of it has improved. The on-board stuff is fantastic. Although, I can live without the shots of the wheel turning left and right.

[CarlosFerreira]

Just been watching early 90s f1 footage, and I've realised, they dont show much stastistics, maybe we're getting an overload of it in recent years, and it's destroying our enjoyment, the mystery of "how far is driver-b behind driver-a, he's catching him up", and do we REALLY care how much 1.647 seconds is compared to 1.651? Is there really a need for the entire field to be given three letter names? when simply you could show the top 6 every now and again in giant block letters in the language of the venue their visiting......dernier tour......
Also, there are not many camera views from on high, like most of the races recently the cameras are positioned at a level where you can see the entire track most of the time (exaggerate much?), maybe if the cameras were akin to that of sitting in the stands without someone's head in the way, or much like they were in the 90s, we'd enjoy the races?
Just pondering...

I agree with you with regards the on screen information, its too much and often whats on screen is irrelevant to the narrative of the race. Perhaps thats subjective but how often do we watch P1 and P2 more or less holding position to the flag with the (unchanging) time difference on screen. Meanwhile, someone is attacking to get P4 and some decent points but we're unaware of the seconds that hes gaining lap by lap?

I don't totally dislike the information we're given, but the fact the commentators get more info than we do causes some awkward moments, such as someone "going purple" or "there's been an incident in sector 7". Odd things happening.

[Klon]

I am currently pondering if Nico Rosberg's career will end after the end of 2010. Now, before you, and reasonably so, go ahead and claim I am totally nuts, let me explain how I got to this idea - by reading Wikipedia. Yes, I have read the Wikipedia article on Bruno Spengler, in which it says:

Norbert Haug (Mercedes motorsports director) commented that if Spengler were to win the DTM championship he would earn a ride in F1.

That means he will most likely be put into either one of the three Mercedes powered teams. McLaren is full (although I would love to see Button without a drive, but that is another story) and Force India has confirmed Liuzzi and Di Resta is as good as confirmed ... and also a Mercedes man. That leaves Mercedes Grand Prix itself, where only Schumacher is secure for the upcoming season. Knowing that MSC likes a teammate in a lower class (and Spengler would be one, simply for lack of experience in a F1 car) and assuming that he already managed to get a certain hold of the team, he might want it that way.
Now, if we look at the other teams, it's not looking good either: Williams will not throw away Hülkenberg so fast, Virgin would unlikely be interested in two German drivers, Lotus, Ferrari, Red Bull, Toro Rosso have already two drivers and HRT/Villeneuve/Stefan/WhatevertheywillbecallingthemselvesnowF1 will most likely be looking for cash, which Rosberg has but not in the required quantities. That leaves either the second Sauber or the second Renault, both seats of desperation, if I may say so.
So Rosberg should better start hoping that Audi does enough underhanded maneuvres in the last three races (because Spengler will not lose that championship if they do not) or he might face trouble.

[Phoenix]

What about this points system?
1-50
2-30
3-20
4-10
5-8
6-6
7-4
8-3
9-2
10-1
10 points awarded for fastest lap and pole position. Only 75% of the results count towards the championship (the best results, of course) BUT the points awarded for pole position and fastest lap always count.

[coops]

What about this points system?

Phoenix, why do you want life to be more complicated? I hope Bernie doesnt cast a glance over your points system as he may well take them up!

What about 5 points for the most shiny helmet and points deducted for terminally dull press conferences?

[Phoenix]

What about this points system?

Phoenix, why do you want life to be more complicated? I hope Bernie doesnt cast a glance over your points system as he may well take them up!

What about 5 points for the most shiny helmet and points deducted for terminally dull press conferences?

I don't think it's that complicated. Discarding results has been a regular practice in F1 for 40 years, and it's not that hard to award points for fastest laps and poles. I just think stretching the margin between 1st and 2nd and 3rd and the other points-scoring positions would help increase spectacle.

[F1000X]

I wonder if Williams will ever win again... I hope so.

[dr-baker]

I wonder if Williams will ever win again... I hope so.

I concur, I hope they will conquer again...