F1 » Peter Windsor, US F1 - Q&A - Pt.1.

The P51 came about as a result of a British specification - and was considered a failure until the Allison engine was substituted for a (British) Merlin - done unofficially, and against orders. The rest, as they say is history. Just thought I'd throw that one in the pot...

F1 » Surtees: Brawn should have ditched lacklustre Button

There's a DVD out - The History of CanAm - '65 - '73 - has some wonderful footage of Surtees, Clark, Gurney - particularly in early part, pre-CanAm sportscars in '65. Don't know if you can get it in UK - look on Amazon - but there's some fine shots of Surtees in his T70, both on, and off the track! - narration by Jim Hall and Sam Posey - well worth getting. Nothing to do with the thread, but thought I'd chuck it in for free!!

F1 » Surtees: Brawn should have ditched lacklustre Button

Mr Surtees is entitled to his opinion. However it does rather seem at odds with the coverage I watched last year - Button, as far as I can recall always behaved professionally when commenting to the media - you can hardly say your car is a winner, when you're a second or so off the pace. He always seemed to be positive, and complimentary to the team, whilst realistic. Of course Surtees himself was not the most diplomatic when racing - and maybe, had an oil bolt not dropped out of Clark's Climax engine in Mexico, then Surtees might have been remembered as another multi world motorcycle champion who never quite made it to the top in F1.

F1 » FOTA hits out at F1 points changes

Quite right Sunny - but let's do it by points difference rather than most wins - give the winner 15 or 16, 2nd only 8 or 9 etc. That way there'll be no ambiguity - and I bet that's what will be agreed upon for 2010.

F1 » FOTA hits out at F1 points changes

As for the breakaway series - which tracks would/could they run? Any circuit that signed up would immediately lose it's FIA sanction for other series, and other than Monaco/Singapore and some F. East tracks only used once a year or so, most others would be unable to survive. Much as I would like to see the FIA cut down to size, I doubt that it would come to anything.

F1 » FOTA hits out at F1 points changes

There is a press release on the FIA site - tried to cut and past, but this stupid system says there are invalid characters! The gist is that "if the teams do not now agree, then the change is deferred until 2010" Much egg on the President's face!

F1 » Most wins to decide 2009 F1 World Championship

Rubbish it is, for sure. If a driver has a good run and looks like putting up enough wins in the first half of the championship, you can bet the FIA will have a hurried re-think and go back to points. FOTA's idea to increase the gap between the placings achieves everything that everyone wants - in fact you could up the points for a win to, say, 15 or 16. Dumbing it all down for the TV audiences - not us enthusiasts who actually follow the sport 12 months a year. Mind you, if one of the Brawn drivers put away 5 or six wins, that would make a few people think...especially in Japan!!!

F1 » $100m buy-out saves Honda

Hey Munro - if he (Fry) were sweeping the rubbish - it would end up anywhere but in the dumpster!! Great news though for the team - and I REALLY hope the car is a good one and chucks egg all over those doubters

F1 » Brawn 'positive', but JYS reckons it's over for Honda F1

Whilst I have agreed with a lot of Sir JYS's comments in the past, I feel that right now he would do well to try to be more positive over the Brackley F1 team's future. As for his continued association with RBS, maybe after today's announcement of such stunning results, he might find it morally appropriate to take a voluntary fee-cut. Not to do so, the legalities of his contract notwithstanding, will certainly lower his standing in the public eye - and to take this action would, accordingly, show him in a much better light. And now it appears he is going to do just that. Good.

F1 » Whiting sure 'lethal' KERS will be safe

Reading his comments leads me to wonder even more why on earth KERS is being introduced. Other than the lip service to "Green/Envonmental" groups, as has been stated elsewhere, it has no relevance to Formula One. The needless risk of injury to pit crew, marshalls etc makes me wonder if these ramifications were ever considered when the FIA made their "plans". I fear that these systems could be summarily removed in the event we suffer a serious injury, or worse. And of course, in our increasingly litiginous society how long before spectators are required to wear protective clothing? Not as far-fetched as you might imagine.