2009 Car Reveal

Snap that little villain in the corner, he’s got this wicked grin on his face 😬

Circuit of the Americas - Austin
Pos. Driver Team Tyres Time Laps
1 Jenson Button Brawn GP Bridgestone 01:19.127 130
2 Felipe Massa Ferrari Bridgestone 01:20.168 109
3 Robert Kubica BMW Bridgestone 01:20.217 109
4 Timo Glock Toyota Bridgestone 01:20.410 99
5 Fernando Alonso Renault Bridgestone 01:20.863 107
6 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Bridgestone 01:21.165 102
7 Nico Rosberg Williams Bridgestone 01:21.324 89
8 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India F1 Bridgestone 01:21.545 97
9 Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso Bridgestone 01:21.569 140
10 Lewis Hamilton McLaren Bridgestone 01:21.657 82

I don't even know what to make of this, but either Brawn GP is hunting down sponsors or they’re actually insanely fast.🤷

Man, how did things go south so fast? McLaren might actually end up being the backmarkers on the grid.😢
Sure, these are just tests, but they feel totally different from anything we've seen before. These are brand new cars, everyone's out there testing at once, and I highly doubt anyone is playing games or hiding their true pace. Testing isn't what it used to be—everything's been scaled back. You get fewer sessions and fewer miles, so you have to give it everything right now or you're screwed. There's no going back to fix it later.☕

stormybadger8 said:I'd suggest getting rid of that little villain in the corner, given that malicious grin he's sporting 😬

Personally, I just see pure sparks of love in his eyes. 😁

stormybadger8 said:Circuit of the Americas - Austin
Pos. Driver Team Tyres Time Laps
1 Jenson Button Brawn GP Bridgestone 01:19.127 130
2 Felipe Massa Ferrari Bridgestone 01:20.168 109
3 Robert Kubica BMW Bridgestone 01:20.217 109
4 Timo Glock Toyota Bridgestone 01:20.410 99
5 Fernando Alonso Renault Bridgestone 01:20.863 107
6 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Bridgestone 01:21.165 102
7 Nico Rosberg Williams Bridgestone 01:21.324 89
8 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India F1 Bridgestone 01:21.545 97
9 Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso Bridgestone 01:21.569 140
10 Lewis Hamilton McLaren Bridgestone 01:21.657 82

I don't even know what to make of all this, but either Brawn GP is aggressively hunting down sponsors or they are just damn fast.🤷

Look how things have turned out; McLaren could actually end up being the backmarker team on the grid.😢
Even though these are just tests, they feel completely different from anything we've seen before because these are entirely new cars, everyone is bunched up at the track, and I highly doubt anyone is playing games by sandbagging their pace. We aren't in the old days anymore where you could test endlessly; everything has been scaled back, testing sessions are rare and mileage is limited, so during these runs, you really have to give it everything you've got or you're essentially finished, because there's no second chance to fix things later.☕

Personally, I’ve always been a skeptic when it comes to testing; every single year they hide their true potential, so even if you think things are different this time around, I just can't bring myself to buy into it.☕

It’s a bit foggy out here at the Circuit of the Americas - Austin, so they haven't actually started racing yet; they're just running through some installation laps right now.

stormybadger8 said:I honestly don't even know what to make of all this, but either Brawn GP is pulling some serious strings to land sponsors, or they're just straight-up terrifyingly fast.🤷

It’s honestly hard to believe how quickly things have spiraled; at this rate, McLaren might actually end up being the backmarker team on the grid.😢
Sure, these are technically just testing sessions, but they feel fundamentally different from anything we've seen before since we're dealing with entirely new cars. Everyone’s out there in a massive pack during these runs, and honestly, I highly doubt anyone is playing games or sandbagging their pace like they used to. The days of endless testing are dead; everything has been scaled back so much that sessions are rare and mileage is kept to a minimum. You basically have to go all out and leave everything on the track right now, because once you're done, there's no going back for repairs or second chances.☕

I’ve got to hand it to Brawn GP—if they can actually carry this pace over into race weekends, they might just shock us. It’s pretty wild when you think about it; they basically took a car designed for a completely different engine, hacked it together, and now it’s flying through these testing sessions. They could definitely be a huge threat at the start of the season, though I have my doubts about whether they'll actually be able to hang with the heavy hitters in the long run. As for MCM, honestly, everything seems to be working against them right now, from the results to the remaining test time. If you look at the chatter on the international forums, the vibe is pretty much the same. I think I'll wait a little longer before I start reaching for the sedatives. 😁

Nico Rosberg is currently sitting pretty in P1 with a 1:19.970
Results:

mistybear87 said:Nico Rosberg is sitting at P1 right now with a 1:19.970

1. Nico Rosberg Williams Williams FW31 1:19.970 23
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing RB5 1:20.678 +0.708 10
3. Felipe Massa Ferrari Ferrari F60 1:20.813 +0.843 11
4. Timo Glock Toyota Toyota TF109 1:20.928 +0.958 18
5. Robert Kubica BMW BMW Sauber F1.09 1:21.484 +1.514 13
6. Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP GP BGP 001 1:22.365 +2.395 12 1:22.365 +2.395 12
7. Fernando Alonso Renault Renault R29 1:25.014 +5.044 7 1:25.014 +5.044 7

Ahaha, I’ve been watching the timing screens the whole time, just waiting to see when you'd finally decide to copy and paste them.😉

Here are the latest results, just before things get crazy 🙂

Code:

mistybear87 said:well, here are the latest results—before everything goes sideways 🙂

Code:

1. Nico Rosberg Williams Williams FW31 1:19.774 33
2. Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP GP BGP 001 1:19.971 +0.197 35
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing RB5 1:20.678 +0.904 19
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari F60 1:20.702 +0.928 24
5. Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1.09 1:20.740 +0.966 59
6. Timo Glock Toyota TF109 1:20.928 +1.154 36 pit
7. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso STR4 1:21.151 +1.377 36
8. Fernando Alonso Renault R29 1:21.399 +1.625 23 pit
9. Giancarlo Fisichella Force India VJM-02 1:21.555 +1.781 33 pit
10. Lewis Hamilton McLaren MP4-24 1:22.143 +2.369 9 pit

God willing, if races were actually this unpredictable... now that would be something interesting... maybe Brawn GP 🙏

It’s pretty interesting to look at today—it seems Williams has moved away from those vertical air guides, but just look at how Force India is set up:

It seems like the fans here just can't stand Lewis Hamilton.

Last week, he pulled a maneuver right in front of the grandstands, and the local crowd absolutely lost it. Every single time Lewis shows up in the pit lane or pulls out onto the track, the fans erupt—it’s constant whistling, aggressive hand gestures, and even people flashing him the middle finger.

The vibe was pretty much identical to what we saw last year over in Valencia.

mistybear87 said:The Spanish crowd just can't stand Lewis Hamilton

I was driving past the grandstands last week and honestly, the atmosphere was wild—every time Lewis pulled into the pits or even just rolled toward the track, the locals would absolutely lose it, booing him and throwing up middle fingers like they were at some rowdy tailgate party back home.

It felt pretty much like that chaotic scene in Valencia last year.

What can you expect from such an unruly mob? 🤣🤣🤣😁

mistybear87 said:The Americans here seem to have absolutely no love lost for Hamilton.

Last week, he was driving right past the grandstands, and the crowd just erupted; every single time Hamilton shows up in the paddock or heads out toward the track, the fans start booing, gesturing aggressively, or even flipping him the bird.

The atmosphere was pretty much identical to what we saw last year in Austin.

That kind of hostility usually stems from issues in other sports.☕

This Grand Prix could be a total wild card. You've got a car originally built for a Honda engine, then they probably just slapped a Mercedes inside at the last minute. Clearly, the combo didn't quite click, though maybe it actually performs better than it would've with the Honda. Either way, back in the day, this setup used to absolutely tear it up.

McLaren running Honda power, and who knows, maybe now we'll see Honda running Mercedes power. 🤣

It would be pretty hilarious to see how the higher-ups at Mercedes react if the former Honda crew starts consistently outrunning McLaren using their engines. 😬

Here we go again ☕

Circuit of the Americas
Pos. Driver Team Tyres Time Laps
1 Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP stats Bridgestone stats 01:18.926 110
2 Nico Rosberg Williams Bridgestone stats 01:19.774 120
3 Timo Glock Toyota Bridgestone stats 01:20.091 128
4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull stats 01:20.576 83
5 Fernando Alonso Bridgestone stats 01:20.664 64
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari Bridgestone stats 01:20.677 92
7 Robert Kubica BMW Bridgestone stats 01:20.740 134
8 Lewis Hamilton Bridgestone stats 01:20.869 70
9 Sebastian Buemi Toro Rosso Bridgestone stats 01:21.013 62
10 Force India stats 01:21.045 141
11 Sébastien Bourdais Bridgestone stats 01:21.629 27

Old man Rubens was the fastest today.😁

edit: here are today's final results. 😉

There’s been plenty of chatter and speculation flying around the forums lately, suggesting that Brawn GP might be running an illegal car—something lighter than what the regulations allow—just to catch the eye of potential sponsors, or whatever else people are dreaming up...

But if you ask me... when are we finally getting to ☕Melbourne? I'm just ready to see who actually delivers when the lights go out.

mistybear87 said:There’s all this chatter on the forums about how Brawn GP is running an illegal car—claiming it's underweight just to bait sponsors, and all that nonsense...

Personally, I'm just thinking... when is this Melbourne race finally happening? I need to see who actually has the goods. ☕

Everyone’s talking about Brawn GP, but this is easily the best quote I've seen yet:🤣

Thank God that Brawn GP didn't manage to lure Fernando Alonso. We would hear no end of his magic abilities now. 🤣😂😬

And a few more for good measure:

Ferrari technician: "They are one second faster than us. It can't be real."
Flavio Briatore: "When I arrived here I was still optimistic as far as our chances are concerned. Now I am not optimistic any more."
Michael Schumacher: "If they can repeat the Melbourne lap times which were set by Button on Wednesday morning during his long stint, Button and Barrichello will win the Australian Grand Prix by one lap advantage." 😬
Norbert Haug: "Team development has been ahead of the curve compared to the others. It seems to pay off."

mistybear87 said:Here are the absolute latest results, before everything goes sideways again 🙂

Code:

1. Nico Rosberg Williams Williams FW31 1:19.774 33
2. Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP BGP 001 1:19.971 +0.197 35
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing RB5 1:20.678 +0.904 19
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari F60 1:20.702 +0.928 24
5. Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1.09 1:20.740 +0.966 59
6. Timo Glock Toyota TF109 1:20.928 +1.154 36 pit
7. Sebastian Buemi Toro Rosso STR4 1:21.151 +1.377 36
8. Fernando Alonso Renault R29 1:21.399 +1.625 23 pit
9. Giancarlo Fisichella Force India VJM-02 1:21.555 +1.781 33 pit
10. Lewis Hamilton McLaren McLaren MP4-24 1:22.143 +2.369 9 pit

Hang in there, your boy Rosberg is holding his own, and even Fisichella isn't looking half bad out there.

Here’s what would actually be interesting:

Red Bull beats Renault - faster and better than the Renault engine😬
Brawn GP beats McLaren Mercedes - faster and better than the McLaren Mercedes🤣
Williams beats Toyota - faster and better than the Toyota engine😁

If all this actually happens...🎉 😈

Scuderia Toro Rosso beats Ferrari - faster and better than Ferrari🤣

Then we've seen everything. We'd have seen it all, and there couldn't be a bigger spectacle if we wanted one.😍

Bernie and Max, if you're reading this, hear our prayer:🙂 if it doesn't happen on the track, settle it at the Green Table.😬