Formula 1 – Team Orders; Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

Following Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the world watched as Red Bull Racing suffered yet another implosion in inter team relations. Sebastian Vettel had done the unthinkable; he had passed Mark Webber after being told to hold position on the circuit. Mark Webber was clearly upset as he thought the race was over and had no idea why he was being challenged by Vettel. Almost immediately, fans took to the Twitter stream and the Facebook with comments regarding how dirty a move it had been on the part of Vettel. Mark…

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2011 Formula 1 Review – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Andy (@TheSpeedGeek) as they go back over the 2011 Formula 1 season. We talk about KERS and DRS as well as the Pirelli tires. We then go team by team and talk about the season that was Sebastian Vettel’s masterpiece. We talk up the winners and call out the losers and even have a little friendly debate! Thank you for the download and we hope you enjoy our look back at 2011.

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F1 – 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…

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F1 – 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…

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Episode 61 – Openpaddock.net Podcast

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.

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F1 – Ferrari…Seriously??

Once again the FiA was able to make a dull pathetic race exciting by adding in the trump card of all F1 Grand Prix. The race steward. This card is a controllable means to making a race interesting when there is no chance of rain. So it happened this weekend in the bright sun of Valencia on a race weekend that even the most die-hard fans live to forget. Let’s face it, the race track itself is silly and the on track action is even worse. Yet that race has…

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F1 – Massa Extension Settles Market

Ferrari has announced this morning the extension of Felipe Massa until the end of the 2012 season. This will give the Maranello based squad the lineup of Alonso/Massa until that point. A smart move by Ferrari who need to keep things relatively the same until they produce better results. It was thought that Alonso and Massa would give Ferrari a nearly untouchable combo this season and while the season is still young, it has been far from roses for the Italian marquee. This decision however will make for a very…

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F1 – Torque Drive Ended Vettel’s Race

It has now being reported that the left torque drive was the reason for Sebastian Vettel’s retirement down under this weekend. This coming out as Brembo says their brake system was in fact not at fault for what happened to the 22 year old star. Below is a segment of the press release from Brembo: “With regard to the retirement of the Red Bull Racing’s driver Sebastian Vettel during the Grand Prix of Australia, Brembo communicates that the cause of his exit in Turn 13 was not caused by the…

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F1 – Friday Practice Thoughts

I will preface this bit by saying this will only cover free practice 2 since that is all we in the US are legally capable of getting. I was happy to see that cars were on track for the first time in 2010. With all the depressing news on USF1 and the other teams as well as the return of Michael and all of the positive stories in the news, I was like a boy on Christmas Eve hardly able to sleep last night. Here are just a few things…

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F1 – Webber to Stay at RBR?

Red Bull has announced today that it would like Mark Webber to stay in the car for the 2010 season. Fresh off of his first career victory last weekend, the Australian is set to begin talks very soon. It is amazing what one victory can bring you these days. Many forget that it took Webber nearly his whole career to get the elusive grand prix win. However victories are not everything in racing. Mark has been a phenomenal setup driver and really understands the car and its capabilities. These are…

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