It sure is restrictive.
But if they must get American drivers, the only two good road course drivers born in the USA in the current IRL grid are Hunter-Reay and Rahal. Hardly good pickings. Danica Patrick sucks on road courses.
JV is certainly in for a shot, if "American" includes the whole of North America. Perhaps if it can be extended to include South America, Castronevez or Kanaan could be in for a shot, but both are very old by F1 standards.
I'm thinking JV and Scott Speed as racers, and either Graham Rahal or Marco Andretti as 3rd driver. Andretti's F1 testing experience must count for something, even though he was 1.5 seconds slower than Button.
Adam Caroll? He's worse than Nelson Piquet Junior. A worthy F1 driver does not compete in GP2 for four seasons and finish 5th.
Consistently good performance across multiple categories.
But if they must get American drivers, the only two good road course drivers born in the USA in the current IRL grid are Hunter-Reay and Rahal. Hardly good pickings. Danica Patrick sucks on road courses.
JV is certainly in for a shot, if "American" includes the whole of North America. Perhaps if it can be extended to include South America, Castronevez or Kanaan could be in for a shot, but both are very old by F1 standards.
I'm thinking JV and Scott Speed as racers, and either Graham Rahal or Marco Andretti as 3rd driver. Andretti's F1 testing experience must count for something, even though he was 1.5 seconds slower than Button.
Adam Caroll? He's worse than Nelson Piquet Junior. A worthy F1 driver does not compete in GP2 for four seasons and finish 5th.
Consistently good performance across multiple categories.
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Most large commercial aircraft are designed to withstand conventional lightning. But they're still vulnerable to positive lightning (most lightning comes from the clouds to the surface, but positive lightning rises from the surface to the cloud or from the anvil of the storm to the surface: the original of the phrase, "bolt from the blue"), because they are too powerful to protect against. Pan Am lost a plane because of positive lightning many years ago.
Many things could have happened here, all related to the thunderstorm in the vicinity. It would have been nonsensical to try to fly anywhere but over or around the thunderstorm. Given that the storm covered a very large area, they probably tried to fly over it. Flying THROUGH a thunderstorm is pretty frigging dangerous, so that would have been a last option (there are myriad of problems flying through a storm, such as downbursts, funnel clouds or tornados, wind shears, lightning, hail, etc.). The problems with flying OVER a thunderstorm are that the clouds can tower way above 40,000 feet (so the plane can't make it over the top) and the threat of ice at the anvil - the top part - of storm clouds.
The A330 is one of the safest planes in the world. This has got to be a freak accident, particularly given that both the captain and first officer were very experienced pilots.
Catastrophic electrical failure and rapid de-pressurisation is what it has been described as.
There was a similar incident with an Air Mauritius A330 on a test flight in 2007. The de-pressurisation was so sudden that some of those on board had no time to grab oxygen masks!
Hopefully at least some survivors can be found and rescued.
There was a similar incident with an Air Mauritius A330 on a test flight in 2007. The de-pressurisation was so sudden that some of those on board had no time to grab oxygen masks!
Hopefully at least some survivors can be found and rescued.
"Oh, my MacIn-penis is so much bigger than your Windows X-penis, and totally owns his Lin-penux." :rolleyes: 
Lighten up, folks.
Lighten up, folks.
Well, you have have to be one of best to get into F1. They don't hire pumpkins (well, maybe with the exception of Yuji Ide).
Well, speed doesn't necessarily dictate whether a category is the "pinnacle of motorsport". Around a road course, F1 is the pinnacle, true. Around an oval track, short road course, off-road, or straight-line drag, others rule the roost (IRL, superkarts, WRC, top-fuel drag racers, respectively), and I haven't even touched on endurance categories.
F1 is the pinnacle because of its combination of speed, driver ability, rich finances, historical prestige, and technological advancement, not merely speed alone. In recent years, speed, technology, and finances have all been tuned down. Going by current trends, Le Mans LMP1 teams could outstrip F1 in all but outright speed.
Gong for you.
Choice = competition = good for consumers.
I use Linux because it does everything I need to do on a computer, without the vendor lock-in garbage, security problems, and other junk that plagues Windows. Word processing (including Word and Excel documents), web browsing and email, movies, music, games (Windows games via Wine), and the best software developer platform in existence are all within the reach of my fingertips with Linux.
Been there, done that with Macs. Liked the OS. Didn't like the expense and Apple's tendency to exert total control over the consumer's choice of hardware.
Others do just fine with Windows. Yet others like their Macs. Yet even others like their FreeBSD, Minix, Solaris, CDE, PalmOS, or what have you.
Since the Mac OS kernel is a type of Unix (Mach + BSD), you could include Linux, BSD, Solaris, Minix, AIX, and other Unix and Unix-like operating systems in that category of "something decent".
Blocking FTW! 
FOTA is going for a no-cap proposal, but with non-performance-related cost-cutting measures and technical partnerships with new teams (sort of a watered-down version of what RBR is doing with STR).
Frankly, a cost cap is not practical.
Linux as my primary OS (Arch x86_64).
Windows 7 RC in a virtual machine for testing.
Windows 7 RC in a virtual machine for testing.
I don't think there are any "free" engine changes any more.
The regulations don't make any mention of a free change:
If you're talking about the parc ferme regulations about engine change, it is not relevant in Vettel's situation, since parc ferme is only applicable between Qualifying and Race.
Interestingly, this means Vettel has already used up two of his eight allowed engines. He has six engines to last eleven more races after Monaco.
On another note, the Red Bull cars are running DD diffusers. It doesn't seem to have resulted in any improvements relative to their competitors.
The regulations don't make any mention of a free change:
If you're talking about the parc ferme regulations about engine change, it is not relevant in Vettel's situation, since parc ferme is only applicable between Qualifying and Race.
Interestingly, this means Vettel has already used up two of his eight allowed engines. He has six engines to last eleven more races after Monaco.
On another note, the Red Bull cars are running DD diffusers. It doesn't seem to have resulted in any improvements relative to their competitors.
I wouldn't put it past Hamilton to try for some dare-devil overtaking manoeuvres. 
"Mental reserve" is what it's called. Basically it's the ability to multi-task. I wonder if women are better mentally-equipped for F1 than men, since it's scientifically proven that women are better at multi-tasking?
I'm pretty sure KERS would be a liability. Monaco is a low-speed track where mechanical grip rules above all. You're right in saying it could be used through the tunnel, but one needs to be able to get alongside first, and that will be hard with the high-speed curve on a narrow track.
If a driver is able to draft and get alongside on the pit straight, they could muscle their way through T1 and make the move stick. Other than that, it's hard to think of how else drivers could pass.
How much does a rugby player cover, then?
Not most. Two of five races is not "most", and both of those races were in Asia.
Monaco had rain last year though. I'd be interested to see how things will turn out if there is rain this time around, with low-downforce cars and KERS.
Monaco had rain last year though. I'd be interested to see how things will turn out if there is rain this time around, with low-downforce cars and KERS.
In the UK, perhaps. But apparently not in Spain.
Is it the lack of cultural perception being shown in this thread the lack of ability or lack of willingness?
I personally find the guy's action to be distasteful, but that doesn't necessarily make him wrong. I've never been to Spain, but if the Spanish culture tolerates such actions, who are we to cry about it? We're talking about perceptual differences here, not physical harm, defamation, etc.
Is it the lack of cultural perception being shown in this thread the lack of ability or lack of willingness?
I personally find the guy's action to be distasteful, but that doesn't necessarily make him wrong. I've never been to Spain, but if the Spanish culture tolerates such actions, who are we to cry about it? We're talking about perceptual differences here, not physical harm, defamation, etc.
You forgot to account for fuel, amp88. Then there is the 30-40kg of KERS.
Indeed, it looks like a largish driver with KERS won't be able to use any appreciable amount of ballast.
Indeed, it looks like a largish driver with KERS won't be able to use any appreciable amount of ballast.
Should've changed to Barrichello. 
Come on, Monaco!
Come on, Monaco!
It would be the most painful kick in the nuts for Kimi Raikkonen if Felipe wins today. It would also be one of the most epic recoveries from a team that has no WCC points in four races.
But I'm hoping Vettel will win.
But I'm hoping Vettel will win.
The turbo-era cars were mighty quick, but as unreliable as phone-booked taxis.
You should tell Bernie that.
He seems not to know.Button has a lighter car and more powerful engine (Merc > Renault). Assuming all other factors are equal, Button will have not problems leading into T1 and zooming off into the distance. The dice will start rolling at the first pit stops. Button will probably be the second driver to stop (after Alonso). If he can make up enough distance in the first stint, it's Button FTW. But if he can't... Vettel could go FTW.
In Circuit de Catalunya, the pole-sitter usually wins. Furthermore, no-one who started behind the first row of the grid has won (from what I've read). But seeing that we're in the midst of the strangest F1 season in many seasons, I wouldn't count my virgin hens before they hatch.
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That's what I was thinking.
It takes second. First place goes to Renault!
One is a rough sport, the other is a rough crowd.
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG