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smilingSpongeMuffin

Listed below are comments made by smilingSpongeMuffin between Wednesday, 27th May 2009 and Friday, 2nd October 2009.

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Ted Kravitz - the Singapore Grand Prix from the pit lane 08:18am on 02 Oct 2009 Another point about Alonso's expectations.

Testing and financial restrictions have leveled the playing field, and Ferrari have been nose diving recently. Ross Brawn is not only no longer there, but racing against them. Ferrari is just a name, but the personnel are the important factor, and I don't think they have it. Alonso will be very disappointed.
Ted Kravitz - the Singapore Grand Prix from the pit lane 05:43am on 02 Oct 2009 Does anyone think Webber will get to keep his drive? Since winning, he seems to have accepted it as the pinnacle of his career, and taken his foot off the gas. Maybe.
Ted Kravitz - the Singapore Grand Prix from the pit lane 05:38am on 02 Oct 2009 Look at this scenario.

Japan. Barrichello comes 4th. Button finishes 8th. (74 -85)

Brazil. Barrichello wins. Button 5th. (84 - 89)

Abu Dhabi. Barrichello comes 3rd. Button finishes 9th. (90 - 89)

Those are my predictions. This will make Barrichello the champion. This really reflects the recent form, and can't be considered to be a shock.

So, this means that we are really very close to a situation where the world champion will be looking for a drive next year, as the teams are looking elsewhere.

Does anyone agree with me that there seems to be a little bit of age discrimination here? He is very overlooked.
Alonso to Ferrari could herald golden age 11:55pm on 30 Sep 2009 Ferrari's image has been squeaky clean of late, and yet Alonso has a very dubious track record in terms of personal composure in a team, which does leave a question needing to be answered, but overall this is a great move for both teams. McLaren have always tried to maintain the equality with the drivers to maintain the competitive edge. Ferrari, on the other hand, have a team culture which has traditionally produced better results when having a clear No1 driver. Different ways for different teams.

What is certain is that these moves have worked out well for BOTH teams. The only one which may be disappointed is Massa. But having said that, Massa has always been motivated when he is expected to under perform.

Kovalainen has been solid, but he is not in Hamilton's class. Raikkonen is however, and I hear a lot of talk about Alonso having to prove himself, but not much about Hamilton, and it could well be that Raikkonen brings him back down to earth. It is not an outrageous thought.

We still have to consider Brawn as the favorites. Any team is only as good as their last season. I know people with disagree, but the fact is that Brawn are scoring more points than anyone else. And it would not be outrageous to think of Rosberg winning, and if Renault put a good car together, then Kubica could easily crash the party. We haven't even got on to what Red Bull or Williams are capable of, and I am putting my money on Force India to win at least one race next year.

I personally see this as one of the most complete driver line up's in F1 for a long time. And with drivers like Hulkenberg on the horizon, I see the good times continuing. We can already see F1 morphing into a different sport than it was in Schumacher's era, like it did the era before that, making the usual comparison's of one champion rather redundant. The only use of commentators comparing one generation of drivers to another is to pass the time waiting for the next Grand Prix.
My Singapore Grand Prix predictions 11:01am on 26 Sep 2009 Sutil is a man to watch, but the force India car needs fast corners. This will not be their day.
My Singapore Grand Prix predictions 10:58am on 26 Sep 2009 Formula 1 has never been more exciting. If you don't think this is exciting, then stop watching, as F1 is not for you. Fortunately, millions agree.

Button's positive strength is the undulating season in terms of technical suitability of car, track, tyre and temperature. Indeed, 6 winners in 6 races. His advantage is that almost anyone can win, and so this spreads the points out thin.

There are a lot of drivers without cars next season, and so I think that this will be a very important factor. Button has to stay close to Rubens, but the others have to do more to be seen. Nico wants to get revenge for last year, and I go for him and a maiden victory. Some son's have it, so me don't. Nico is a fast driver, and it would be a suitable slap in the face for Piquet the cheat.

1. Nico Rosberg
2. Vettel
3. Heidfeld
4. Hamilton
5. Button
6. Kovalainen
7. Raikkonnen
8. Barrichello
The ramifications of the Singapore race fixing verdict 08:25am on 23 Sep 2009 Just like Murray Walker, blame the little guy! Not very big of you or him. I suspect that lots of young ambitious drivers would have behaved in the exact same way. He should never have been put in that position.

Really. Think on this. If you were one of the drivers behind, you would not agree.HE knew it was going to happen,but the others were unprepared and racing on the limit. They were the ones in danger as they had no prior knowledge. WHAM, accident in front of you. They are blaming Piquet, even tho they have remained quiet. Just like you would do if a 23 year old skidded in front of you on purpose at 100 mph.

The crime wasn't much of a crime in F1 terms, well, not as much as the press have hyped it up, but the truth is that Piquet committed the crime, then pleaded immunity to blame someone else. That is how it is in legal terms, in the terms of your law court. But in the F1 carnival, politics rules. Don't be fooled into thinking it is a way to run a sport. It is surely wrong to commit a crime, and then get immunity by pointing the finger at the team.

What an awful thing Piquet did by blagging on Briatore. Who was his career adviser on that one? I have had plenty of employers I didn't feel had my best interests at heart. I mean, he is a cheat and that, but this is no way to go about exposing him.
Costs and politics to decide the future for Kers 09:14am on 23 Aug 2009 Formula 1 is a science as well as a sport. I personally dislike the offense that has been taken by the comments of the Williams team. They attended a meeting. Questions were discussed about the KERS system, and they spoke only what they thought. Their argument presented by Mr Parr was solid and sound. Now you may not agree with him, but his views are sound, and he needed to be heard as a result, and not suppressed. It is risible that people feel that this is not the true way to manage technical meetings, or feel that people who share a different view than theirs should be quiet. It is laughable nonsense.

There are arguments for KERS inclusion, and valid reasons to leave it out.

When people seem to personally attack others for just expressing their view, then that conflict will only have a negative outcome, and is beneath the majority of technical directors and their teams.

There seems to be two types of journalism going on here. That which concentrates on the pros and cons of the technical details, and that which concentrates of the tabloid drama, which in reality, doesn't exist.
Can Jacques come back? 4:52pm on 20 Jun 2009 F1, next year, is going to be very very different to this year, which was very different to last year, in either scenario you want to follow. Equally, the economic depression is yet to hit it's lowest point. Everyone knows people are being laid off, and not hired. The dire financial situation of the globe is not played out in the news, but in real people's lives, and make no bones about it, it's going to be financially worse next year, in real terms, than this year, as the reality of less money filters through to those who provide the money for the sport.

If you want money to flow to your team, you'd better deliver. For me, I think that if, for example, Adrian Sutil (Who?) was replaced by Villeneuve, more people would look at the car. The same goes for Johnny Herbert and Jean Alesi, unlikely as it may seem.

The sport is about nickle's and dimes, and in a world where we can watch every corner in digital from our boxes, the majority of the money comes from sponsors, and the sponsors only care about how many people are looking at their car. Sure, a win would be nice, but not everyone can do that. Second place is getting people to look at the car. Believe me, at the current asking price, sponsors ARE NOT queueing up to throw money away to limit their taxable cash

The idea is not preposterous, as formula 1 is not just about racing cars, unfortunately. Attempting to re-live past glories would be fitting to the "freak circus" atmosphere that has started following Formula 1, and no more stupid than having the sport itself in the hands of two "has been" bored old men, with too much money, too little pride, and in all probability, suffering from early onset senile dementia. If the sport is to be run by a couple of dirty old men, with a credibility image problem, then why not expect the same from the drivers?

The Pope driving for BMW? Mandella at Brabham? I'd watch it. And I have money to buy stuff, and am a sucker for an advert.
Ferguson cool as history calls 5:01pm on 27 May 2009 Man Utd will win 4 -1.

They will get the early goal, and then the flood gates will open second half. Secretly, I want it to go to extra time, but not penalties.

But I see a 4 - 1 win. Ronaldo 1, Rooney 1, Park 1, and I think that Mr Giggs is going to put the cherry on his formidable career with the goal to put the game out of site. Even the Barca players will applaud that goal.

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