I predict trouble for the new team McLaren

Why?

Because there'll be a squabble over team order- as in, which one of them is to be the leader and which one of them has to be the 'second' who keeps the other cars off the leader. I guarantee Hamilton will refuse to be second, because he's too much of a fucking prima donna

Hamilton won't be asked to be second, because he's probably going to hand Jenson Button his arse on a plate.

I think this will all end in proverbial tears. They have such different driving styles that it would be near impossible to make a car that would suit them both, among other reasons.

I dunno. It's a dream team and all that but I worry about McLaren. They've started to make their own cars again, they no longer have the backing of Mercedes, there have been a few scandals in the past couple of years, I dunno it isn't a home-run.

Also I think >>1643 is entirely correct, we're going to quickly discover what a loser Button is and what an enormous advantage he had with the Brawn car early in the season.

>>1650
The dream team will be the one whose drivers collectively hold the most world championships. I hope with all my heart that this team is Mercedes, formerly known as Brawn.

McLaren do still have the backing of Mercedes. This month they extended their engine contract until the end of 2015, with the option to extend further. The agreement you may be thinking of, McLaren's commitment to buy Daimler's shares, is set to be concluded before 2011.

>>1672
Come on, I adore Mr Schumacher but he is fortyish. He might get the odd race (in the wet) but not the others. It will be a flop.

I'd still love to see it though which is why it will happen.

>>1673
Oh, I do accept that he is unlikely to blitz the field as he did before leaving, but that doesn't make his appearance any less of a dream for me.

These two posts contain at least one too many gushing expressions of admiration.

I'm still gutted that Schumacher had to pull out of that GP this past season. It would be brilliant to see him back in the saddle.

>>1678
He'd have been an out of form driver driving a pretty poor car which wasn't designed for him at all. It would have been nice to see Schumacher come out of retirement and blitz the competition one last time, but that's just not what we'd have got.

Wow, I'm anticipating this season like no other and not just because of Shcumie's now-confirmed return. There's the competition in my favourite team between Massa and Alonso; I hope Felipe Baby can prove to the world he's more than a strong number two. There's also the fight to establish the best British driver, again I'll be behind the underdog. I think the title this year is between Vettel and Alonso, but I'd love to be proven wrong.

Bahrain Grand Prix: 12-14 March. Can't wait.

Football is for nancy boys.

>>1783
Every time it rains I think he'll stand a good chance of a podium but I think the fitness demands of F1 will do him in. He is well known for keeping superfit, but as a forty-year-old myself I just can't see him maintaining the sort of form he used to manage.

I adore him, it will be great to see him storm the odd race and show the kids how it is done, but I'm not expecting the metronomic performance of old.

Forty hurts.

>>1784
Don't worry, you'll be dead soon.

>>1784 speak for yourself old man, you are only as old as you feel, and I feel like a 20-yr old tonight :D

Really looking forward to it now.

pre season prediction: Lewis vs Fernando with the odd bit of Felipe. It will take Jenson six races or more to get anywhere.

Schumacher will win a race or couple of podiums but that's it.

The whole fuel-tank thing will change the races though. Heavy cars at the start, no refuelling, cars basically 25% heavier from qualifying to race-start. Interesting.

Start your engines gents.
Qually now on.

Vettel on pole, Schumacher not as bad as we thought he would be..

I am digging the BBC live streaming. About to start. I predict first-corner carnage.

I dunno about all these rule changes. The middle section of that race seemed like a procession.

>>1870
>The whole fuel-tank thing will change the races though. Heavy cars at the start, no refuelling, cars basically 25% heavier from qualifying to race-start. Interesting.

An interesting side effect of this is that the aerodynamic profile of the car changes significantly throughout the race now, as the car rises with the reduction in weight.
Also, I for one enjoyed watching Vettel fail, such is my dislike for Christian Horner and Mark Webber, I wish to see everyone they associate with fail.

>>1877

>I for one enjoyed watching Vettel fail

Same here, to an extent. I took umbrage with the arrogance of a lot of his fans in predicting his inevitable rise to preeminence, especially dismissing the ever unpopular Hamilton even as he won the title. I've got no problem with the guy himself, mind. Seems a decent enough chap.

One thing I can't avoid thinking about is how shit it is to have the first GP in Bahrain. Was there even anybody there? Australia used to have a fucking party so at least you'd know that the season was back, this felt more like the dregs of pre-season testing with a cobbled together practice race thrown in for a laugh. Very flat.

I don't watch F1 much, but about all this team order stuff - does the arguing about who should win and who should be the flank happen off the track, or on it? Because in MotoGP, it happens on the track - and the best part of last season was watching Rossi and Lorenzo (teammates) working together for most of the race then spending the last two laps frantically battling each other for the lead, doing everything but kicking each other off to win. It's fucking brilliant stuff, and I would watch F1 if that is happening with the McLaren team.

>>1879
They're more a thing of the past. Of course, teams have bias, right now McLaren has one new driver and one driver that has been with them most of his driving life. Also, all radio communications between team and pit are made public, so it's harder to pull off, particularly after the Briatore/Renault-crash scandal.

Love MotoGP though, different class. Rossi is a god.

Looking forward to tomorrow morning.

Good grief.

Things are shaping up nicely for Malaysia: http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/5013

>>1901

I'm going to go ahead and predict first lap carnage. Some of these rookies might be actually killed with 2 big red cars, the world champion and a brown in a fast car piling in behind them.

You can only imagine my distress when this message was flashed across the screen.

>>1906

bernie knows best! Of course we should be hosting a gp in the mddle of the rainy season!
I like seeing the occasional wet race, monaco two years ago was outstandng, but seemingly timing the weekend to be hit by a torrent? No.

Red-Bull rock again. I still don't like Vettel.

Who's awake for the race then?

Button, the cheeky git.

>>1921
and what exactly are we supposed to do for the next two weekends? fuck

Schumacher going well at last.