auyongtc’s blog

Hmm, at the same time it was announced that Bridgestone will be sole tyre supplier for F1 in 2008, Microsoft won the bid to be the sole supplier of Electronic Control Units (ECUs) for F1 cars too. Don’t believe me? Read the news.

Yeah, OMFGWTFBBQ indeed. Microsoft and ECUs, right.. anyone have any clue as to Microsoft’s prior experience in ECUs?

Anyway, I believe with the upcoming MS ECU 2008, we can expect the following to happen whenever an F1 engine stalls on track:

• Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) will appear on the tiny LCD screen on the driver’s steering wheel
• Driver will have to press the 3-key sequence (Ctrl-Alt-Del) on their steering wheel to restart the ECU
• The ECU will restart, showing Windows Vista splashscreen on the same tiny LCD before presenting the driver with a logon menu
• Driver logs on to the team’s network server in the pit garage wirelessly (by using a USB mini keyboard stashed to the side of the driver’s legs in the cockpit)
• Driver finally can start the engine by clicking on the Start -> Engine sequence.

Of course, MS ECU 2008 will come in the following editions (in line with marketing Windows Vista editions):

• MS ECU 2008 Ultimate - the full-featured edition includes MP3 and HD movie playback capabilities for the best in-drive entertainment. Suitable for big teams like McLaren, Ferrari and Renault
• MS ECU 2008 Business - the edition for serious teams in the F1 business - BMW, Toyota, Honda
• MS ECU 2008 Home Premium - the not-so-full-featured edition suitable for homegrown teams like Williams and Red Bull Racing
• MS ECU 2008 Home Starter - the basic edition without any bells or whistles (or horns) for smaller outfits like Scuderia Torro Rosso, Super Aguri (Japanese language pack included)
• MS ECU 2008 N Edition - the standard edition for use for all European races, due to Microsoft’s current anti-trust ruling by the EC. This edition will not include the bundled Windows Media Player, so drivers are free to install iTunes instead

Yeap, I’m back writing regularly about Formula 1. It is now at its own domain name - http://www.f1pitbuzz.com/. Go check it out now

Also, a forum is provided at http://forum.f1pitbuzz.com/

Because you might just end up like him:

Running a lap of the Silverstone circuit

It all started when this smart alec journalist Bob McKenzie said in his article that he would run a lap of the Silverstone circuit should McLaren win a race in the 2004 season. Of course, team principle Ron Dennis took his bet on and Kimi did win a race last season. So yeah, Bob lost the bet, and he just paid for his bet last week at the sold-out British GP event.

Adding some fancy “bodykits”

Ensuring that his “engine” doesn’t leak

Getting ready on the grid

Flagging off by Ron Dennis

DNF (Did Not Finish)

First it was the supposed tennis accident (or was it something else?) that fractured Juan Pablo Montoya’s shoulder blade, sidelining him for a month and missing the last 2 races. It didn’t help too when both his replacement drivers, Pedro de la Rosa and Alex Wurz got 5th and 3rd (he got promoted to 3rd when BAR got disqualified) at the last 2 races.

And now this:

What’s left of JPM’s crashed MP4-20 at the Spanish GP Friday Practice 2

The future looks really bleak for JPM now, seems like biggest flop high profile transfer from Williams team…. Sigh…

By the way, BAR got barred for the next 2 races (pun intended)

Seems like Renault’s the team to beat this season. The results speak for themselves, 2 win out of 2 races. They’ve really managed to come up with a superb complete package for this season. Though I’m singing Renault praises, that’s not because they gave me their bike and that I’m about to jump ship to support them. I’m still very much a McLaren fan, and I’m glad at least there are teams trying to give Ferrari and that overpaid German a run for their money.

McLaren came up with quite a good car too, evident with the best race lap record set by Raikkonen just 2 weeks ago. However, it seems that there are still issues to iron out, especially with the car setup to suit the 1 lap qualifying. McLaren is still hampered by the lack of performance during these qualifying sessions that is so different than those sessions a few seasons back. It didn’t help with Montoya stupidly got himself injured over tennis… let’s hope that Pedro de la Rosa can step up the plate and help deliver some vital points for the Silver Arrows in this race.

As for Toyota, they really springed a big surprise to the F1 fans around the world. Out of nowhere, they improved tremendously to become one of the top 5 contenders and now could even vie for a maiden grand prix victory real soon. This Japanese team started from scratch a couple of seasons back and now they’re comfortably well within the top 5, I’m impressed. Too bad, earlier Ralf Schumacher screwed it up during his qualifying session and dropped so far back down the grid, that there’s gonna be nothing much he can salvage in tomorrow’s second qualifying session. Be on the lookout for Jarno Trulli though, he’s really the man to watch this weekend to try and snatch victory away from the boys in blue. As for Ralf, I’d like to tell the Toyota team boss to start checking out some drivers in the paddock to replace the younger Schumi. He’s almost past his due and can never get out of his brother’s shadows.

Ferrari, Ferrari, Ferrari… had it so bad the last 2 races, that they had to force the introduction of the F2005 car for this race. Embarassingly, they’re short of a gearbox for Rubens’ car. Didn’t help that Rubens just screwed up his qualifying session earlier with a big right front wheel lockup at Turn 1. Schumi managed to prove that the new car is so much better than the modified F2004, but I don’t think it’s invincible. Nope, the car this year seems pretty ordinary to me. It’s about time I guess, the glory days of Ferrari may soon be over. New powers are emerging on the racetrack, that’s undeniable!

Oh yeah, Datuk Michelle Yeoh was spotted in Bahrain at the Ferrari team garage. In case you didn’t know, she’s the fiancee of the Ferrari team boss, Jean Todt (yeah, that short grumpy looking fella). Now, if the wife of a Datuk is called Datin, what’s the title for Jean Todt when they finally walk down the aisle?

Also, I think Michelle Yeoh is now a better Malaysian F1 figure than Alex Yoong. You’re forgiven if you have no idea who’s Alex Yoong, doesn’t matter really. Well, if you really want to know, just check out 8tv’s broadcast of F1 races this season, and you can see him there. Yeah, sitting on a couch, not driving an F1 car. Why is Michelle Yeoh a better F1 figure? Well, at least she’s in the Ferrari camp!

Seems like FIA finally spoken regarding the exploitation of the 2-race engine rule loophole, as demonstrated by the BAR Honda team when they retired both Button and Sato into the pit on the final lap of the 2005 Australian F1 GP. FIA closed the loophole, and warned that both Button and Sato may be docked 10 grid slots this weekend at the Malaysian F1 GP should they decide to use new engines for their cars this weekend.

This knee-jerk FIA decision only came up after the Toyota F1 team cried foul over what BAR had orchestrated the exploitation at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne almost a fortnight ago. Personally, I don’t think BAR should be penalized for exploiting this loophole.

Firstly, that particular rule was not clarified and it’s up to anyone’s interpretation. None of the other teams can really blame BAR Honda for that stunt, perhaps only blame their own team strategist for not coming up with that idea first . After all, if it was not for BAR’s exploit, this rule would not have been clamped down and it might even be a bigger controversial issue when the battle heats up in the later stage of this season.

Since FIA did not do a preventive measure with sufficient clarification of the new rules, I think that the FIA reactive clarification should only be in effect this weekend and BAR should be allowed to change their engines as they please. After all, BAR did prove this concept and in the process, raise the issue. Let’s just move on with it, hopefully the FIA won’t get too anal about it and have BAR come in with lawyers and all. Let’s have more racing and overtaking, and less court orders and bitching, shall we?

It’s been quite sometime since I last wrote much about Formula 1. What better time to resume than now, at the start of the 2005 season!

Woke up and saw the Qualifying 1 of Australian F1 Grand Prix in Albert Park, Melbourne. My thoughts? Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid - the changes made to Formula 1 qualifying makes it boring and dull. Like for instance, today’s qualifying session was ruined by rain. The only driver smiling around the paddock now must be Giancarlo Fisichella of the Renault F1 team. His gamble to use dry tyres on the drying track paid off, and it started to rain heavily right after he finishes his hot lap. I think the saddest driver there now must be Takuma Sato, and not Kimi Raikkonen, JP Montoya, or even Schumi. He crashed out badly on his out lap, he must be furious now that his insurance premium is definitely gonna increase, again

If you thought last season’s qualifying was bad, this season’s worse. I really have no idea what that stupid Max Mosley was thinking. Then again, what could you expect from someone who sleeps with Ferrari? I bet if Schumi and Rubens can’t make it to Top 10 on qualifying in the remaining runaway races (Malaysian and Bahrain), Max would alter the rules again when F1 goes back to Europe, just to favour his lover Gosh, really wish someone would contest for the FIA top seat that Max’s been hogging. Paul Stoddart might not be the best candidate, but sure as hell he’s different. Heck, even Eddie Irvine would be preferred instead of Max for the seat!

Why did I think it was worse? Well, this season’s qualifying format aggregates both the Qualifying 1 (Saturday) and Qualifying 2 (Sunday morning) sessions to determine the grid position for the drivers. And today’s rainy session gave a very good example how weather can dictate the outcome of the grid position. Should there be no weather changes in tomorrow’s qualifying session, the grid is pretty much decided by today’s session. I really feel that this is just crap. It’s an uneven playing field now, with grid slots easily decided if weather intervened. What about driver talent and car performance, does it not matter? Furthermore, if it rains tomorrow during race time, it’s gonna be really dangerous having slower cars up in front of the faster cars on the grid. It’s just accidents waiting to happen if it rains tomorrow at the start of the race. Mark my words…

At least in the last season, if the first qualifying session was ruined by bad weather, teams can still salvage something during the second qualifying session - having only penalized with an earlier lap queue. Even then, it’s not a fair session. Cars that go out later typically have tremendous advantage over the cars that go out first. It’s not even interesting. They should just bring back the old qualifying format, with some changes of course.

During the low-time of F1 viewership, the new qualifying format was adopted in order to improve TV ratings and attract more audience. However, the old qualifying format is still the best for the race. 1 whole hour of maximum 12 laps per driver. Fastest time decides the grid. It was criticised only because the top teams would normally drag on until the last 20 mins before starting out when the track is at its best condition. Heck, if that’s the case, split the session to 2 x 30 mins in succession. Require each driver to record at least a lap at each session, exempted only if there are technical problems. Still the best time gets the best grid position. More excitement, more fun, lesser crap - Are you listening, Max??!

And then there’s this change to tyre use. Now the cars must have tyres that survive the Qualifying 2 session and whole race distance (up to 200km) in only 1 set of tyres. So now we don’t get to see much tyre change during pitstops, unless of a puncture or change of weather. Makes it even more boring. And if another pitfire happen like what happened to Jos Verstappen in 1994 at Hockenheim, Germany (see here for the video clip), definitely we can kiss pitstops goodbye for a long time! And if Schumi dominates this season like he did previously, F1 is definitely gonna be boring… that time I’ll rather just watch World Rally Championship (WRC) instead.

Let’s just hope that Kimi and Montoya gives Schumi a run for his money this season. Watch out, McLaren’s on the bounce back!

… with Kimi Raikkonen putting on a stunning lap to secure the pole position for tomorrow’s British F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone!

Kimi Raikonnen with the new MP4-19B

Can’t wait for the race tomorrow! Watch out Schumi, your domination is over! Wooohoooo!

Starting line-up for tomorrow’s race:
1. Kimi
2. Rubens
3. Button
4. Schumi
5. Trulli
6. DC
7. Montoya
8. Sato

… hehe… taking a break from CommunicAsia 2004 day 2… wooohooo Lakers lost!

In your face Cheok Yeen!

… with Manchester United finally winning a silverware in the English FA Cup Final to lift the spirit at the end of a dissapointing season. Man Utd beat Millwall 3-0 at the Cardiff Millennium Stadium in Wales with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring with a header and Ruud van Nistelrooy scoring one each from the penalty spot and from free play.

And in Monaco, the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monte Carlo just concluded with Jarno Trulli of the Renault F1 team clinching his maiden victory from his maiden pole position… great effort I tell you!

Although McLaren showed some glimpse of improvement, however, it all ended in dismal performance on race day again with DC getting caught in the accident that sent Fisichella’s car flying and ended up turtle while Kimi Raikonnen retired to the pit garage after the team found out that there were some serious problems with the car via the telemetry.

Quite a spectacular race I tell you, with numerous incidents that required the Safety Car to be deployed to ensure safety of the track before race could resume in full pace. It all started even before the race when Panis couldn’t align his car to his grid position at the end of the formation lap due to a stalled engine and resulted to an aborted start. After that, Takuma Sato’s engine blew up big time in smoke that blinded Fisichella that caused him to bump up DC’s rear wing and sent himself flying.

More wacky incidents followed, with Fernando Alonso tried to outsmart Ralf Schumacher by overtaking him on the outside of the tunnel road that lacked grip… way too smart I tell you, crashing into the wall and while his car was spinning to a stop, he managed to show his middle finger towards Ralf Schumacher… And BEST OF ALL Schumi finally cracked when he locked up the left front wheel in the tunnel road and end up colliding into the wall trying to avoid Montoya who was beside him. Lost his front wing and his left front wheel… that spelt retirement for his race today…

So the lack of McLaren pace is compensated this weekend with the amount of incidents in an otherwise almost-not-overtake-able race track, especially with Schumi’s DNF

Also, Renault F1’s site at www.renaultf1.com offered live telemetry of both their race cars on their website… a cool feature indeed… here’s a screen capture in case you missed it:

Click on the image for full size

Oh yeah, I’m single again after what has been a month of emotional rollercoaster ride… guess you’ll all see more of me on this blog… hope that’s not too bad a thing…