In a brief span of a couple laps, Fernando Alonso committed more mistakes than he had all of the 2012 Formula 1 season. It started by shoving Sebastian Vettel which led to a severely damaged front wing. The wing was completely diagonal compared to its usual horizontal position. The wounded wing shot sparks out as it made contact with the quickly drying tarmac. Common sense would say pit and change the wing. This situation was not common sense at all. The fact of the matter was the track was drying…
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Episode 163 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadShaun makes his last appearence on OpenPaddock Live before being shipped out to Qatar to pound sand and watch MotoGP racing. Joining Shaun are Mike (as always), Doug, and the new Shaun, Kevin Neely. On the docket this week: Rally WRC – the future of M-Sport. Will Nasser Al-Attiyah’s Qatar money be the team’s saving grace? WRC – Sistemas Integrales de Telecomunicacion (SIT) slated to take over timing duties for 2013. Kubica will drive the WRC Citroen C4 in two rallies this month. Back…
Read MoreF1 – 2011 Launch!!!
2010 was by far one of the best seasons in history for the FiA Formula 1 circuit. The season finale that seen four drivers with a chance at lifting the the trophy and a boy emerging as THE man to beat in F1. Michael Schumacher returned after three year absence to drive for Ross Brawn and Mercedes GP. While the results were not pleasant to look at, his participation in the championship was rewarding enough. 2010 also seen a host of new teams arrive on the grid. Finally Max Mosley’s…
Read MoreF1 – Ferrari Succeeded in 2010
As headlines ring around the world hailing Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel on his world championship, there have been some very vicious headlines as well regarding Ferrari and their strategy that lost the title for Fernando Alonso. While I have distanced myself from Ferrari and latched on to Mercedes (Schumacher), I still think these attacks are ridiculous after you compare 2009 and 2010. For that very reason alone, Ferrari should be praised and their season should be viewed as successful. look back at 2009 for just a second. Felipe Massa…
Read MoreF1 – Our Thoughts on Abu Dhabi and the 2010 Championship
Well, the long 2010 Formula 1 season has finally come to an end. Ultimately, it has come to the end that we sort of expected toward the beginning of the year, but given the results of the last few races, there was some serious doubt regarding the final outcome of the drivers championship. Red Bull Racing lead out the season strong taking pole position in the first seven races. With a bit of foreshadowing, the team would only realize victory in three of those first seven. In fact, the eventual…
Read MoreEpisode 61 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin myself and Doug as we firmly plant our head in the wall over no motorsports news. We talk about Korea and Rally Spain of course as well as get into some IndyCar news. Also we prepare for the Indy Down Force Banquet and go into all of the great features and services the Indy fan club offers.
Read MoreF1 – USGP Returns in 2012
The United States Grand Prix is set for yet another return as the traveling circus trades in their glitz in glamour for cowboy hats. The event was announced to day by Formula 1 and will be held in Austin Texas from 2012 to 2021. The race is slated to be held on a new fixed circuit that will be purpose built for the event. This is the first time since 1980 that the race will be held on a purpose built, fixed road course and the first time ever a…
Read MoreOp-Ed – The Rules Are Clear! …clear as the Muddy Mo.
The crown jewel of Formula 1, the historic Monaco Grand Prix, took place this past weekend and as usual the race was filled with lots of interesting happenings except for actual racing. …ok, there was Alonzo who was simply brilliant, but that’s only a single data point, not a trend. You can hear Shaun and Mike dissect the race later this week in Podcast Ep 39, but I want to take some time to analyze the mayhem that happened at the end of the race. With just a handful of…
Read MoreF1 – Ross Brawn Explains the Pass
F1 – Grand Prix of Monaco
This weekend Formula 1 was on its grandest stage of all with the Monaco Grand Prix. Red Bull Racing was able to take yet another pole position with Mark Webber carrying momentum from the Spanish Grand Prix. However, we all know that Monaco can yield some surprising results and nothing would be a guarantee. Those surprises would not creep up this weekend as Mark Webber dominated his second event in a row. The Australian led flag to flag in what would be a Red Bull Racing 1-2. The result would…
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