Ponderbox

[Meatwad]

Who is the youngest? I'm thinking it's between Mike Thackwell, Esteban Tuero and Alguersuari.

Alguersuari. Thackwell previously held the record but Alguersuari was 57 days younger when he started his first race.

[eurobrun]

Who is the youngest? I'm thinking it's between Mike Thackwell, Esteban Tuero and Alguersuari.

I am fairly sure that it is Alguersauri.

[East Londoner]

Who is the youngest? I'm thinking it's between Mike Thackwell, Esteban Tuero and Alguersuari.

The Alguersaurus wins this one, followed by Thackwell, Ricardo Rodriguez, Alonso, Tuero and Chris Amon.

It's yet another thing that Chris Amon hasn't won, as he debuted after Rodriguez.

[eurobrun]

Who is the youngest? I'm thinking it's between Mike Thackwell, Esteban Tuero and Alguersuari.

The Alguersaurus wins this one, followed by Thackwell, Ricardo Rodriguez, Alonso, Tuero and Chris Amon.

It's yet another thing that Chris Amon hasn't won, as he debuted after Rodriguez.

Has Amon ever won anything?

[FullMetalJack]

Has Amon ever won anything?

He wouldn't win even if he was injected with Charlie Sheen's tiger blood.

[tommykl]

Who is the youngest? I'm thinking it's between Mike Thackwell, Esteban Tuero and Alguersuari.

The Alguersaurus wins this one, followed by Thackwell, Ricardo Rodriguez, Alonso, Tuero and Chris Amon.

It's yet another thing that Chris Amon hasn't won, as he debuted after Rodriguez.

Has Amon ever won anything?

8 non-championship GPs, the 24 Hours of Daytona and Le Mans, the Tasman Series and the 1000 km of Monza.

[eurobrun]

Random observation, with the exception of Alonso all the drivers have had at least one non-points finish>

[mario]

Random observation, with the exception of Alonso all the drivers have had at least one non-points finish>

Alonso's finishing record over the past few years has been very impressive - if you go back into 2011, he has had 23 back to back points finishes, with his last retirement being in the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix (when there was that coming together between himself and Button - incidentally, that was the only race that season where Alonso failed to finish in the points, and his first retirement since the 2010 Belgian GP).

It is going to be an interesting question over whether or not Alonso can keep that form going over the rest of the season - even in the past few years, when the cars have been incredibly reliable and the drivers only rarely making mistakes, none of the major players have had a perfect season (Vettel was close in 2011 until that race ending puncture in Abu Dhabi) because there are so many other variables outside of their control.

A mechanical failure is possible, albeit a rare occurrence these days - Massa and Alonso have only had one race ending mechanical fault in the past three years that wasn't driver related (Massa had a gearbox failure in the 2011 Spanish GP and Alonso had an engine failure in the 2010 Malaysian GP - I would argue that Massa's suspension failure in the 2011 Indian GP was a fault of the driver more than the car), which also shows the strength of Ferrari's back stage operations.
Engine usage may be one key area this year - more than a few times this season, we have seen drivers being ordered to turn their engines up right to the limit in order to attack or defend, something that may start to bite those teams later on when they are having to stretch the mileage out (not so much in terms of reliability, since the engines are fairly durable, but in terms of performance loss through degradation). Still, with the long life components being installed on the cars these days and Ferrari having the best reliability record this year (in fact, their reliability record has been equal to or superior to Red Bull and McLaren over the past few years), the chances of a mechanical failure is fairly low.

I suppose that the only really likely scenario where Alonso fails to finish or finishes out of the points would be some sort of on track error that either leads to him crashing out or being penalised, or being taken out/having his car damaged by another driver. Generally, though, Alonso is normally a pretty clean driver when it comes to passing and being passed by other drivers - he is the sort of person who would generally prefer to let another driver through and gain some points rather than fight that driver and risk having no points (a strategy he was sometimes criticised for in 2011 but arguably helped him finish much closer to Webber and Button in the WDC than raw pace alone suggests he should have).

All in all, I wouldn't necessarily go all out and bet that Alonso can have a perfect season and finish in the points in every race - but if I were to pick a driver who would have the best chances of doing that in the latter half of the season, I would probably nominate Alonso for the above reasons.

[eurobrun]

Random observation, with the exception of Alonso all the drivers have had at least one non-points finish>

Alonso's finishing record over the past few years has been very impressive - if you go back into 2011, he has had 23 back to back points finishes, with his last retirement being in the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix (when there was that coming together between himself and Button - incidentally, that was the only race that season where Alonso failed to finish in the points, and his first retirement since the 2010 Belgian GP).

It is going to be an interesting question over whether or not Alonso can keep that form going over the rest of the season - even in the past few years, when the cars have been incredibly reliable and the drivers only rarely making mistakes, none of the major players have had a perfect season (Vettel was close in 2011 until that race ending puncture in Abu Dhabi) because there are so many other variables outside of their control.

A mechanical failure is possible, albeit a rare occurrence these days - Massa and Alonso have only had one race ending mechanical fault in the past three years that wasn't driver related (Massa had a gearbox failure in the 2011 Spanish GP and Alonso had an engine failure in the 2010 Malaysian GP - I would argue that Massa's suspension failure in the 2011 Indian GP was a fault of the driver more than the car), which also shows the strength of Ferrari's back stage operations.
Engine usage may be one key area this year - more than a few times this season, we have seen drivers being ordered to turn their engines up right to the limit in order to attack or defend, something that may start to bite those teams later on when they are having to stretch the mileage out (not so much in terms of reliability, since the engines are fairly durable, but in terms of performance loss through degradation). Still, with the long life components being installed on the cars these days and Ferrari having the best reliability record this year (in fact, their reliability record has been equal to or superior to Red Bull and McLaren over the past few years), the chances of a mechanical failure is fairly low.

I suppose that the only really likely scenario where Alonso fails to finish or finishes out of the points would be some sort of on track error that either leads to him crashing out or being penalised, or being taken out/having his car damaged by another driver. Generally, though, Alonso is normally a pretty clean driver when it comes to passing and being passed by other drivers - he is the sort of person who would generally prefer to let another driver through and gain some points rather than fight that driver and risk having no points (a strategy he was sometimes criticised for in 2011 but arguably helped him finish much closer to Webber and Button in the WDC than raw pace alone suggests he should have).

All in all, I wouldn't necessarily go all out and bet that Alonso can have a perfect season and finish in the points in every race - but if I were to pick a driver who would have the best chances of doing that in the latter half of the season, I would probably nominate Alonso for the above reasons.

Then again if Alonso has 1 or 2 terrible races he could see his lead evaporate.

[This]

Random observation, with the exception of Alonso all the drivers have had at least one non-points finish>

Alonso's finishing record over the past few years has been very impressive - if you go back into 2011, he has had 23 back to back points finishes, with his last retirement being in the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix (when there was that coming together between himself and Button - incidentally, that was the only race that season where Alonso failed to finish in the points, and his first retirement since the 2010 Belgian GP).

It is going to be an interesting question over whether or not Alonso can keep that form going over the rest of the season - even in the past few years, when the cars have been incredibly reliable and the drivers only rarely making mistakes, none of the major players have had a perfect season (Vettel was close in 2011 until that race ending puncture in Abu Dhabi) because there are so many other variables outside of their control.

A mechanical failure is possible, albeit a rare occurrence these days - Massa and Alonso have only had one race ending mechanical fault in the past three years that wasn't driver related (Massa had a gearbox failure in the 2011 Spanish GP and Alonso had an engine failure in the 2010 Malaysian GP - I would argue that Massa's suspension failure in the 2011 Indian GP was a fault of the driver more than the car), which also shows the strength of Ferrari's back stage operations.
Engine usage may be one key area this year - more than a few times this season, we have seen drivers being ordered to turn their engines up right to the limit in order to attack or defend, something that may start to bite those teams later on when they are having to stretch the mileage out (not so much in terms of reliability, since the engines are fairly durable, but in terms of performance loss through degradation). Still, with the long life components being installed on the cars these days and Ferrari having the best reliability record this year (in fact, their reliability record has been equal to or superior to Red Bull and McLaren over the past few years), the chances of a mechanical failure is fairly low.

I suppose that the only really likely scenario where Alonso fails to finish or finishes out of the points would be some sort of on track error that either leads to him crashing out or being penalised, or being taken out/having his car damaged by another driver. Generally, though, Alonso is normally a pretty clean driver when it comes to passing and being passed by other drivers - he is the sort of person who would generally prefer to let another driver through and gain some points rather than fight that driver and risk having no points (a strategy he was sometimes criticised for in 2011 but arguably helped him finish much closer to Webber and Button in the WDC than raw pace alone suggests he should have).

All in all, I wouldn't necessarily go all out and bet that Alonso can have a perfect season and finish in the points in every race - but if I were to pick a driver who would have the best chances of doing that in the latter half of the season, I would probably nominate Alonso for the above reasons.

Then again if Alonso has 1 or 2 terrible races he could see his lead evaporate.

Where's the pastor when you need him

[BlindCaveSalamander]

Then again if Alonso has 1 or 2 terrible races he could see his lead evaporate.

Where's the pastor when you need him

Crashing into Hamilton or Perez, probably.

[FMecha]

This may sound off topic but I noticed that Captain Hammer tends to attack Joe Saward (everyone may already know this) and Kostas likewise tends to attack Juventus.

So forumites, what one thing/person you didn't like and always attacked by you here?

[pasta_maldonado]

This may sound off topic but I noticed that Captain Hammer tends to attack Joe Saward (everyone may already know this) and Kostas likewise tends to attack Juventus.

So forumites, what one thing/person you didn't like and always attacked by you here?

Red Bull

Slightly off topic, but IIRC airboxes were banned in 76 following the Ligier tea pot, so how comes they started to spring up again in 1989? Was there a rule change? If so, why? Sorry for so many questions but that's just niggling me

[eurobrun]

This may sound off topic but I noticed that Captain Hammer tends to attack Joe Saward (everyone may already know this) and Kostas likewise tends to attack Juventus.

So forumites, what one thing/person you didn't like and always attacked by you here?

The bathplugging idiot that is David Reynolds.

[tommykl]

This may sound off topic but I noticed that Captain Hammer tends to attack Joe Saward (everyone may already know this) and Kostas likewise tends to attack Juventus.

So forumites, what one thing/person you didn't like and always attacked by you here?

Red Bull

Slightly off topic, but IIRC airboxes were banned in 76 following the Ligier tea pot, so how comes they started to spring up again in 1989? Was there a rule change? If so, why? Sorry for so many questions but that's just niggling me

I'm guessing the teams had figured out a way of making the cars not need airboxes, but when the atmospheric engines returned, maybe airboxes were needed to be competitive.

[takagi_for_the_win]

This may sound off topic but I noticed that Captain Hammer tends to attack Joe Saward (everyone may already know this) and Kostas likewise tends to attack Juventus.

So forumites, what one thing/person you didn't like and always attacked by you here?

Red Bull

Slightly off topic, but IIRC airboxes were banned in 76 following the Ligier tea pot, so how comes they started to spring up again in 1989? Was there a rule change? If so, why? Sorry for so many questions but that's just niggling me

I'm guessing the teams had figured out a way of making the cars not need airboxes, but when the atmospheric engines returned, maybe airboxes were needed to be competitive.

Although some teams, including Ferrari I believe, at least beagan 1989 without airboxes.

[mario]

This may sound off topic but I noticed that Captain Hammer tends to attack Joe Saward (everyone may already know this) and Kostas likewise tends to attack Juventus.

So forumites, what one thing/person you didn't like and always attacked by you here?

Red Bull

Slightly off topic, but IIRC airboxes were banned in 76 following the Ligier tea pot, so how comes they started to spring up again in 1989? Was there a rule change? If so, why? Sorry for so many questions but that's just niggling me

I'm guessing the teams had figured out a way of making the cars not need airboxes, but when the atmospheric engines returned, maybe airboxes were needed to be competitive.

Strictly speaking, airboxes weren't totally banned from the sport in 1976 - the ultra high airboxes were banned from the sport, but there were some teams that continued to place air intakes around the drivers cockpit in the late 1970's. For example, here is a picture of Hunt driving a McLaren at the 1978 British GP with air intakes either side of the cockpit:

As for why they started appearing again in 1989, the reason for that would be that a well designed airbox yields a slight improvement in engine performance through increasing the air pressure within the air intake system of the engines. Before 1989, when the teams were using turbocharged engines, there was no need for the airboxes because the turbocharger was far more effective at raising the pressure; with the return to normally aspirated cars, the high airboxes reappeared again (they had already made an appearance in 1987 when outfits like Tyrrell and March switched to the DFZ that year, and they also cropped up again in 1988 on cars like the Williams FW12).

[pasta_maldonado]

Thank you mario for clearing that up for me, very informative as always

[AndreaModa]

The Benettons of the late 1980s didn't use high airboxes though did they? IIRC they had two intakes either side of the cockpit, similar to that picture of the McLaren you posted Mario, but further down, just above the radiators. I guess that whilst that would improve airflow to the rear wing, it was the most effective way of getting air into the engine because of the turbulence and obstruction caused by the front wheels and the suspension and steering arms.

It would be nice to see a team try that now though, when airflow to the rear of the car is so important these days.

[Wizzie]

The Benettons of the late 1980s didn't use high airboxes though did they? IIRC they had two intakes either side of the cockpit, similar to that picture of the McLaren you posted Mario, but further down, just above the radiators. I guess that whilst that would improve airflow to the rear wing, it was the most effective way of getting air into the engine because of the turbulence and obstruction caused by the front wheels and the suspension and steering arms.

It would be nice to see a team try that now though, when airflow to the rear of the car is so important these days.

Didn't Force India and Caterham both try something similar last year before reverting back to the traditional design for this year?

[AndreaModa]

The Benettons of the late 1980s didn't use high airboxes though did they? IIRC they had two intakes either side of the cockpit, similar to that picture of the McLaren you posted Mario, but further down, just above the radiators. I guess that whilst that would improve airflow to the rear wing, it was the most effective way of getting air into the engine because of the turbulence and obstruction caused by the front wheels and the suspension and steering arms.

It would be nice to see a team try that now though, when airflow to the rear of the car is so important these days.

Didn't Force India and Caterham both try something similar last year before reverting back to the traditional design for this year?

They just moved the airbox back, with the 'blade' further forward to keep the car within the required dimensions I believe. Mercedes were the first to try it in 2010 I think, but there weren't any significant advantages to doing it. It would be nice for a team to really try something left-field, like McLaren's sidepods last year, just to give us the illusion that technical freedom still exists in F1!

[MinardiFan95]

This may sound off topic but I noticed that Captain Hammer tends to attack Joe Saward (everyone may already know this) and Kostas likewise tends to attack Juventus.

So forumites, what one thing/person you didn't like and always attacked by you here?

Triple 8/Team Vodafone in both V8 Supercars (switching from Ford to Holden/near domination of the championship) and BTCC (Jason Plato).

[Ataxia]

This may sound off topic but I noticed that Captain Hammer tends to attack Joe Saward (everyone may already know this) and Kostas likewise tends to attack Juventus.

So forumites, what one thing/person you didn't like and always attacked by you here?

Triple 8/Team Vodafone in both V8 Supercars (switching from Ford to Holden/near domination of the championship) and BTCC (Jason Plato).

Bristol Rovers. And Nelson Piquet (Sr. AND Jr.)

[pasta_maldonado]

This may sound off topic but I noticed that Captain Hammer tends to attack Joe Saward (everyone may already know this) and Kostas likewise tends to attack Juventus.

So forumites, what one thing/person you didn't like and always attacked by you here?

Triple 8/Team Vodafone in both V8 Supercars (switching from Ford to Holden/near domination of the championship) and BTCC (Jason Plato).

Bristol Rovers. And Nelson Piquet (Sr. AND Jr.)

For me, it has to be Red Bull, but the ultimate hatred has to go to Manchester United They are utter cheating rule-twisting scumbags and dislike Alex Ferguson as well

[FMecha]

For me, it has to be Red Bull, but the ultimate hatred has to go to Manchester United They are utter cheating rule-twisting scumbags and dislike Alex Ferguson as well

Ironically both team are/were dominators of their respective series/league. Ironic, isn't it?

[pasta_maldonado]

For me, it has to be Red Bull, but the ultimate hatred has to go to Manchester United They are utter cheating rule-twisting scumbags and dislike Alex Ferguson as well

Ironically both team are/were dominators of their respective series/league. Ironic, isn't it?

I wouldn't say that Manchester United are dominators, as they are beaten often, but yeah, quite

[Phoenix]

I've just realized that McLaren was featuring side skirts to try and emulate Lotus's ground effects, unsuccesfully

[AdrianSutil]

I've just realized that McLaren was featuring side skirts to try and emulate Lotus's ground effects, unsuccesfully

Always thought that McLaren was one of the ugliest to grace the track. The engine cover looks bulky and incomplete, the front wing looks like its had bits ripped out of it, the cockpit surround looks overweight and the poor-man attempt at ground effect looks... Shite.

[Phoenix]

I've just realized that McLaren was featuring side skirts to try and emulate Lotus's ground effects, unsuccesfully

Always thought that McLaren was one of the ugliest to grace the track. The engine cover looks bulky and incomplete, the front wing looks like its had bits ripped out of it, the cockpit surround looks overweight and the poor-man attempt at ground effect looks... Shite.

For me, the M28 looked much worse. It looked flimsy, chunky and unsophisticated, which was exactly what it was.

[pasta_maldonado]

For me, the M28 looked much worse. It looked flimsy, chunky and unsophisticated, which was exactly what it was.

And what's more, God was it shite. The car looks like it shares some components with the M25, M26, and the M27.

The M30, which turned out to be the last car McLaren would make in it's original form, looked much better. The car was intended to race in 1981, but had two outings IIRC in 1980.



It reminds me actually of the Arrows A3

[Nuppiz]

Ah, the era when car numbers were still very visible and drivers didn't change their helmet designs for every race...

[mario]

I've just realized that McLaren was featuring side skirts to try and emulate Lotus's ground effects, unsuccesfully

Always thought that McLaren was one of the ugliest to grace the track. The engine cover looks bulky and incomplete, the front wing looks like its had bits ripped out of it, the cockpit surround looks overweight and the poor-man attempt at ground effect looks... Shite.

Now you can see why Hunt described that car as a "museum piece" (the car was effectively two years old by that time, having originally been designed in 1976 - and even in 1976 the M26 was somewhat old fashioned).

[Peter]

For me, it has to be Red Bull, but the ultimate hatred has to go to FC Barcelona They are utter cheating rule-twisting scumbags and dislike Lionel Messi as well

ftfy.

[pasta_maldonado]

I've recently noticed that the stewards haven't handed out a stop-go penalty for ages. Why have they stopped giving them out? I thought the stop-go was a good penalty because a)it was instant and b) was more punishing than a drive through

[mario]

I've recently noticed that the stewards haven't handed out a stop-go penalty for ages. Why have they stopped giving them out? I thought the stop-go was a good penalty because a)it was instant and b) was more punishing than a drive through

I think that the reason for that is that, for most offences, a drive through penalty is considered to be adequate, with grid penalties now seemingly being preferred as the substitute for a stop go penalty.
That said, the last stop-go penalties that I can recall being awarded would be for Schumacher and Kobayashi in the 2011 British GP (Schumacher for an on track collision and Kobayashi for an unsafe release by his pit crew) - admittedly, that was because the design of the pit lane at the new Silverstone circuit would have meant that a drive through would have had very little effect (it might have even given them an advantage due to the design of the pit lane entry and exit routes).

[Ferrim]

Random observation, with the exception of Alonso all the drivers have had at least one non-points finish>

You jinxed him!

[dr-baker]

Random observation, with the exception of Alonso all the drivers have had at least one non-points finish>

You jinxed him!

Do it again! Do it again!

[pasta_maldonado]

Random observation, with the exception of Alonso all the drivers have had at least one non-points finish>

You jinxed him!

Do it again! Do it again!

:O Don't do it as Vettel will win again!!!

[This]

Random observation, with the exception of Alonso all the drivers have had at least one non-points finish>

You jinxed him!

Do it again! Do it again!

Do it with everybody who doesn't drive for Marussia or HRT

[JeremyMcClean]

Raikkonen has yet to DNF this season, so I've found out...

The next race, I think, is going to be good