For once, we agree on something!

Later, Ken

 

I am a diehard Ferrari fan. There is ups and downs in every car maker history.

But end of the day for me Ferrari appeals the most of all of them. And for that is several reason i have.

 

Rob?... is that U...a "die hard" rally driver and fan?...Ferrari?...they have no rallying history..zero...would think U R a Subie, Audi or Mitsu "die harder"...what gives here?

Later, Ken

 

I knew you would get a kick out of that. From the boards I am on, the opinion is overwhelming that RB get rid of Webber. I am throwing the Kobay idea out there hoping that maybe Christian Horner or Adrian Newey will read it and do what it is right. LOL

 

speaking of premium channels, is F1 going to be on local NBC channels? if that's the case, then i can finally drop the Premium package which i got just for Speed. F1 was the only thing worth watching on Speed anyways. Velocity has much better automotive related shows.

 

Okay, just saw a commercial last night on Direct TV that talked about NBC sports channel, which is different from the main NBC network channel. It is 220 on Direct TV. They were already promoting F1 races for next year, which is a great thing! Looks like they may pick up the ball and run with it. We can only hope.

 

xVforVelocityx: That video was hilarious!

Agreed. I do like Ken's passion and the differing view he brings to the discussions. If we all agreed with each other all the time, this thread would probably get boring quick.

So for us Cable guys I wonder if NBC Sport will be part of the regular channels (I hope) or a Premium channels (hope not) ... Either way the silly season is officially in full swing. Start making predictions guys.

Which manufacturer is going to have the fastest car at the start of the season?
How is Sergio going to do @ McLaren?
How is Hulk going to do @ Sauber?
Who will get the last remaining FI seat?
How much progress will Merc make over the off season?

Just a few Qs to get the ball rolling here.

 

Thanks brah

I'm guessing either McLaren or Red Bull since there haven't been any dramatic rule changes this year.

As I've said before Sergio will be another Kovalainen at McLaren, will be gone in 2 years.

The Hulk will dominate Esteban at Sauber, I almost feel bad for Esteban because he will be going up against one of the best drivers on the grid and he will probably be the worst driver on the grid depending if HRT and Narain stay in F1.

I'm really pulling for Kamui to get the FI seat, I'd also like to see Kovalainen stay at Caterham.

This one I'm not sure about, with Hamilton I think they could potentially make some gains, but I don't think we'll see any big progress until 2014.

Lets see what everyone else thinks?

 

I still don't think he'll challenge Alonso next year for even team supremacy, but the thing that surprised me with his recent return to form is that he was actually quick in wet conditions too, which was always his achilles heal back when he was challenging for championships before the spring to noggin incident.

 

What's the channel #?

 

All of this talk about RBR's place in formula history got me thinking.....what are the odds that the RBR team is still racing in F1 as RBR within 10 years after Newey leaves/retires? Not to say that he's the only guy responsible for their three consecutive championships, but obviously a vital piece to the puzzle in this aero dependent era. I could easily see Mateschitz pulling the plug on their F1 racing program, and selling it to the highest bidder in the not too distant future if they're not competing for championships for X amount of consecutive years. Something else to consider is that Mateschitz is pushing 70 at this point, so if/when the fate of the program is in the hands of the Red Bull board of directors, then anything can happen there too. I could easily see them deciding that spending $500M per year on their F1 team is not the best marketing investment they could be making for that amount of money. They could easily be the next BMW, Honda and Toyota, except for the actually winning some championships before bailing on the sport.

 

I'm not nearly as impressed with hulk as many of you are. In brazil he clearly was on a wet setup while most of the rest of the field was setup for dry. The only times he's shown promise were situations like that where force India did a unconventional setup and got lucky. Even in brazil hulk spun once and made. Rookie mistake of diving to deep in wet and paid the price. It was his race to lose and he lost it. I don't think he's at the same level as vetted or Alonzo. Vetted was able to win in the torro rosso, hulk hasn't.

 

This is exactly what I was talking about in my post yesterday, I don't see Red Bull sticking around and breaking the cycle like Ferrari and McLaren have. If they do it would be great, I'd love to have another legendary F1 team stick with the series for 60+ years but its very unlikely.

I agree, but the point is that he has the potential to become another Vettel or Alonso once he matures a bit, as of right now your definitely right in saying he's not at the same level but in time he could become a future prospect. And his record in the junior series like GP2 etc. is very impressive as well.

 

It is 220 on Direct TV.

 

Very interesting and insightful post. I actually have not considered this before. Hmm, you have a point that if Newey leaves, then the team might fall apart. I wonder if they are in fact, grooming someone for a future replacement? As for Dieter M., 70 is not that old. Heck, I am 60. F1 is a fabulous marketing tool for Red Bull as the energy drink is promoted around the world. Dieter M. may be like Ron Dennis and build his team for the long haul. Really hard to say, but you bring up some good points.