Formula One ( F1 )

I'd put my money on him going back.

Boo.

A World Championship with Ferrari is worth less than with another team though- it's harder if you can't get the FIA to simply rubber-stamp whatever you are doing, or look the other way when you cheat.

Thing is no one really knows who's going to have a good car next year. I'm pretty sure the Mercs will be the ones to beat (supposedly around 100hp up on power) and I've heard rumours the new Ferrari V6 turbo ain't all that in the power department and even worse on fuel consumption. Personally it's a better gamble to stay with Lotus and the fuel efficient Renault. Which he just might do.

I'd like to see him stay with Lotus, personally.

Me too!

Ferrari/FIA days are long, long gone though. And if the Merc is anywhere near 100bhp up on everyone else I will buy a hat and eat it.

100 brake is a lot, would suggest some sort of breakthrough in cooling to allow higher boost pressure, or some sort of cunning combustion chamber design.

Possible, but unlikely I grant you.

Still, best get one of these put by Mick:

You could well be right, I'm only going off reports such as these:

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns26086.html?

http://www.f1today.net/en/news/mercedes-to-have-100hp-advantage-in-2014?

But there are more changes than just the engine next year: Significantly revised aerodynamics - wings, lower noses, lower front bulkheads. Also increased KERS capacity and to accommodate that and an increase in the minimum weight for the whole car etc... It's certainly going to be interesting to see how it all pans out.

I've heard all teams are producing more power that what was expected and now it looks like the combined power will be somewhere in the region of 850bhp as opposed to 700-750bhp as originally expected. Could have something to do with that. Not a chance in hell of Merc coming up with an engine that can produce 10-15% more power than the others though. If that were the case I imagine there would be a lot of engineers at Ferrari and Renault out on their arse.

Still, I may be setting myself up for a "I told you so" moment here.

One point to note is the Mercedes, over the last few years, have been hoovering up a considerable amount of talented engineers from other F1 teams (for the chassis / Brackley factory). They've been throwing massive salaries at them to do this. It's almost like a win-at-all-costs mentality and I'm sure they've been doing the same with their engine side of things too. 100hp up is a high claim but I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they walk away with the Championships next year.

They don't have Adrian Newey, however.

He does seem to be a requirement if you are serious about winning.

True.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/109359?

Practice on live right now. BBC 2, or www.TVcatchup.com

Should be interesting if we see any of tyre blowouts during the race. Could have a huge impact on the championship. No coincidence that the two in practice happened right after the tyre in question was under most stress.

Did this actually happen? I missed the live coverage...

LiveLeak.com - Shell's priceless Belgium Grand Prix F1 moment

Did this actually happen? I missed the live coverage...

What kind of a question is that!?

It's an actual video of it happening.

Rhetorical and formed out of disbelief.

missed some racing recently - so is vettel undeniably 2013 champ?

Fernando Alonso is going to buy the Euskaltel Euskadi cycling team
http://www.fernandoalonso.com/en/fernando-alonso-a-un-paso-de-adquirir-el-equipo-ciclista-euskaltel-euskadi/

... and Red Bull confirm Ricciardo. That wasn't obvious at all was it...

Fernando Alonso is going to buy the Euskaltel Euskadi cycling team
http://www.fernandoalonso.com/en/fernando-alonso-a-un-paso-de-adquirir-el-equipo-ciclista-euskaltel-euskadi/

This is annoying, I really don't like Alonso but I cannot help but think better of him for this.

He's a huge cycling fan, regurlarly training with pro teams before the season and made some steps to put together a pro team with Contador.

fuck I am so bored of the German national anthem

Do they test F1 drivers for EPO/PED's?