Any ideas who should commentate next season now that coverage is moving to the beeb?

I'd like to see Coulthard do something but he's going into an advisory role for Red Bull I think...

As long as James Allen and Steve Rider don't come back I think I can be happy anyways

Jeremy Clarckson and James May????????????????????????????????????????
with the stig as the guy in the know?????????????????????????????????????

DC needs to commentate

DC has apparently been confirmed to work with the BBC for next year!

Not sure if he'll be taking a full-on commentray role though, I'd like to see DC and Brundelli do the talking

Martin Brundle is a must.

DC as a pundit would be good, I suppose - but Davidson was the one with the gift of the gab in race commentary.

I hear that the commentary team will be Martin Brundle and Jonathan Legard, but official confirmation of that is yet to materialise.

Brundle and Legend should be great, DC would be awesome.

Murray Walker has said for years that, although he would never come back full time, he would consider doing a 1 off British GP for the Beeb!

As some of you may have heard, testing at Barcelona has just started for all teams. Mainly this is just an excuse potential drivers to be tried out and for those in other racing leagues to have a go as well (Rossi is back with Ferrari for a couple of days). But BMW and Williams have decided to get a head start with their '09 models...



Interesting, eh?

That picture genuinely makes me sad

Yeah I saw some of these, I think all 'coolness' about F1 just fell out the window.

Also if you're bulimic, I suggest you don't look at these pictures:
http://www.formula1.com/gallery/testing/2008/331.html

Loeb and Rossi in one test? AWESOME D D D

Some more official proof that Mark Webber IS the unluckiest man in Formula One, ever.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 743308.stm

Why did we stop talking about Formula 1? :S

Meh...so, who will win the title this season?

Button has a lead 18.5 points with a car that is arguably not even one of the 3 best on the grid anymore! Also in contention are Webber after some recent brilliant performances, Vettel (a further 4.5 points behind) and Barrichello (3 more behind). You wouldn't really expect anyone else to figure points-wise as Rosberg is next a full 18.5 points behind 4th and a colossal 44.5 down on Button! If anyone down there were to figure then you have to look at Hamilton and Räikkönen in 8th and 9th positions with 19 and 18 points respectively...but that would surely be too big an ask. More than 50 points in 7 races? Could they really make that up, even with the best car on the grid?!?

Brawn has a lead in the Constructors of 15.5 points but Red Bull are of course chasing hard. Ferrari are 74 points down on the leaders and even Schumi's return wont be enough, will it?

My prediction is that Button take the title, as Brawn will not sit idly by as Red Bull gain on them. But I think Red Bull will take the Constructors...4 drivers in contention at the final race anyone? :p

I didnt know you were good with statistcs Jon. Maybe just maybe Webber will win the championship, Followed by Jenson, then vettel then Barichello, closely followed by Dare i say Micheal. I can't see Massa coming back this season. He got the same as what Richard hammond got and that took him 6 months, and was considered a fast recovery. I can't see the recover being any faster.

Predictions for who will get the second Reanult seat anyone?

I'd say it was most likely to be between Lucas di Grassi and Romain Grosjean, but given that they are both involved in a scrap for the GP2 title, would they want to give up on that? And there is of course the danger that they might match Alonso

Romain Grosjean surely...would be surprised if they gave it to Di Grassi. But then again what do I know, I thought Schumi would never come back

I would quite like to see Brawn on some manner of slippery slope, resulting in a final race in which any one of the Brawns, Red Bulls, Hamilton and Raikkonen could walk away with the big gold. I think Massa could well have hauled himself into contention this year, but his accident would appear to have ruled out that particular scenario. As for exactly who I want to win, well, a Raikkonen or Hamilton victory would speak volumes about their respective talents, as they scurry back into position at the top of the F1 table. A Vettel win would satisfy me well enough as he is clearly destined to fight at the front for a long time to come. A Webber win would be quite unexpected but he is driving very well at the moment and with another couple of wins would more than look the part in '09. A Barrichello win is the dream for me, and it will have been a long time coming if he gets it - but I will not hold out too much hope. Jenson Button? No thanks.

As for Renault, I cannot see beyond Romain Grosjean. But he will have to act fast to stop Flavio from having another change of heart before next year or 2011. The GP2 title race is hotting up and it would be a shame to lose the Frenchman from it, but then if F1 was calling me I would definitely pick up the phone and answer.

I would rather fight a bear than see Sebastien 'OMG EVERYONE THINKS I'M THE NEXT SCHUEY WTF IS WRONG WITH MY GOOFY EXPRESSION' Vettel win the WDC

What does everyone think the drivers line-up will be next year? Some of the calls will be really tough, and the addition of the new teams will add to what will already be a massive merry-go-round of drivers

Here are my predictions, although in some cases its what I think should happen as opposed to what could happen

Numbers based on if the season stopped now

BRAWN
01. J BUTTON
02. R BARRICHELLO - In the form of his life, he maybe 37, but he's still got a couple of years left in him

RED BULL
03. M WEBBER
04. S VETTEL

FERRARI
05. K RAIKKONEN - Raikkonen deserves to stay at Ferrari, his form has really picked up the last few races
06. F ALONSO - the worst kept secret in F1

MCLAREN
07. L HAMILTON
08. N ROSBERG - with Kovalainen looking likely to be leaving, Rosberg would be the ideal replacement

TOYOTA
09. T GLOCK
10. F MASSA - Will be squeezed out of Ferrari, and with Trulli thought to be retiring from F1 at the start of the season, Massa could do alot worse than go to Toyota

WILLIAMS
11. H KOVALAINEN - With Rosberg likely to be moving to McLaren, Kovalainen could well be going the other way
12. N HULKENBURG - Been on Williams' books for years, and after winning the GP2 title comfortably, looks a pretty safe bet

REANULT
14. R KUBICA - BMW pulling out, Alonso leaving, Kubica could well end up at Reanult
15. R GROSJEAN - Unspectacular start to his F1 career, but he'll be back in 2010

FORCE INDIA
16. A SUTIL
17. V LIUZZI - Deserves another shot at F1, was very unlcuky at Monza

TORO ROSSO
18. S BUEMI
19. J ALGUESUARI - Will stick with these 2 drivers for 2010, the whole point of Toro Rosso was for 2 young Red Bull backed drivers to hone their skills, and they have gone back to this

USGP
20. M ANDRETTI
21. G RAHAL - Always said they wanted 2 American drivers, these 2 look the most promising and the most likely

MANOR
22. N HEIDFELD - Losing his drive with BMW pulling out, and with other doors shut this could be his best bet, Manor have said they want an experienced driver
23. L DI GRASSI - Deserves a shot at F1

CAMPOS
24. P DE LA ROSA - has been linked with the team constantly, may well like a final chance in F1 after being a test driver, similar to Alex Wurz in 2007
25. V PETROV - also been linked with the seat, decent in GP2 this year

LOTUS
26. B SENNA - Lotus could well want a big name in team, and they dont get much bigger than Senna!
27. A DAVIDSON - Deserves another shot at F1

If it comes to it, then I'd rather see you fight a bear as well. I suppose I can share your grievances about all the hype surrounding him and his being called the next Schumacher; let's just be thankful he's not British!

Speaking of Schumacher - now he isn't returning to F1 - news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8186319.stm

Oh well...