Wow…

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz says his company could quit Formula 1 if he is not happy with the way the sport is run.

His remarks follow Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo’s exclusion from the Australian Grand Prix and the adoption of new rules.

Mateschitz said Red Bull’s future in F1 was more “to do with sportsmanship and political influence” than finance.

He said: “In these issues there is a clear limit to what we can accept.”

He also referred to the “inappropriate politicisation” of the sport.

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Mateschitz also criticised the new format of F1, both in terms of the use of a fuel limit and in the sound produced by the turbo hybrid engines, which are much quieter than last year’s naturally aspirated V8s.

“You have to make F1 like it used to be – the top discipline of motorsports,” he said.

“F1 is not there to set new records in fuel consumption, nor to make it possible to have a whispered conversation during a race.

“It is absurd to race a lap seconds slower than last year. GP2 partially provides more racing and fighting and almost equal lap times as F1 with a small fraction of the budget.”

More here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/26721387

Here-Here!*

I have to agree with him…

Huge fan of Music here. It’s a part of life, life without Music is like life without Breathing… Its just not possible.

I’m a Metal guy at heart, first and foremost the early Metal/Rock genre heavily influenced Blues type that goes way back when, (before Elvis, he merely adopted Rock n’ Roll). So, Led Zeppelin (I mistrust anyone that dislikes them), The Kinks, The Troggs, Thunderclap Newman, Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd etc. later, Iron Maiden whom are my main influence, Anthrax, Megadeth, early Slayer, Scoprions… etc. etc. etc. There’s a huge list and not just in Metal/Rock. Richie Havens, Buddy Holly, Jack White, Gary Numan – specifically latter Numan,… Simply put, Blues, Jazz, Progressive Rock, RnB (not this Beyonc� sh*te, real RnB), Alternative, Industrial. My favourite right now is a Swedish band called Cult of Luna, incredibly talented, inspirational and rather nice guys, know them well.

Just, good music. Other than Dance/Hard Style, Trance or whatever this utter crap is called this week, I usually respect Music that does nothing for me but this is an exception – standing on a Mixing/DJ Desk ruining someone else’s Art by adding bass beats and speeding it all up, is not Art nor Music… Soulless cr*p, and I don’t respect it! Pop is a no-no, put that’s down to Mainstream and ‘Contacts’ in the industry that just want big Bucks.

I’m a Touring/Studio Musician at the moment, as of mid/late last year, currently playing Live for… rather not say… and currently in the US, played NYC last night (ghastly place, don’t like it.) and Boston, MA (cool place) tonight then Montreal after this then somewhere else, I forget, but it’s great fun and quite an experience. I play Guitar (beloved Gibson Les Paul Custom before they went all Corporate and Crap), and it’s a huge part of life for me, words cannot describe. Pretty special, especially as a fan of Music – Good Music – where influence is the key to playing, for me at least.

I met Jack White last week, came to one of out shows, hung out with us before and after the Gig. What a great guy, fascinating, inspirational.

I’ve always been strongly against Bull Fighting, or any other forms of Animal cruelty for that matter. I reserve a special kind of hatred for anyone that intentionally and sadistically harms any Animal, it’s uncalled for and I have no other words to describe what is felt.

However, there are those rare moments where the Bull gets it’s Revenge which is, hilariously satisfying…

Fighters that have yet to see combat: F-22 Raptor, Saab Gripen, Eurofighter Typhoon, Ching-Kuo, J-10, Saeqeh, Azarakhsh, MiG-31, Su-30, Su-33, Su-35.

You need to observe a little harder. Both the Gripen and Typhoon have been used in anger.

It is highly probable that it is a fake competition, i agree, but in itself, having a country already commited to F-35 finally step back and open a competiton would be kind of a victory for other contenders no?

No. Because the benefits the F-35 programme offers to Canada are far greater than what Dassault, EADS (or Airbus or whatever they’ve changed their name to this month) and Saab can offer, more specifically in the long run. If the latter aircraft were produced in their thousands then maybe they’d have a reasonable and realistic chance of being selected. They also will offer Canada more freedom to do what they wish with as opposed to the F-35, but it’s the political and industrial side Canada are thriving for. Sure, the European types would offer a production line, or a large percentage at least, in country, but the numbers wouldn’t be significant enough from such an order.

If Canada weren’t a partner, hadn’t invested the amount they have done, or are doing. It’d probably (and I emphasize, [I[probably[/I]) be an open competition. Otherwise, one may as well sell the Death Star… Complete with a Death Star Canteen, Eddie Izzard style.

Well at least Rafale is delivering to french armed forces promised capabilities, on schedule and within expected budget… Not like some other planes… Btw

Wonder which ones they would be…

Let’s expect an open competition in Canada?

We could discuss what potential Aeroplanes would be suited for Canada’s needs. However there’s no point in pretending to expect an open competition in Canada because the simple fact of the matter is, it isn’t. Regardless of what’s being reported.

Dassault will never go to Korea after FX1…Maybe they simply want a real confrontation in an open competition?

Is Canada a real confrontation and an open competition?… I seriously doubt it. It’s as about as open as Japan and South Korea.

I can’t get the link, but I remember Ferrari, once doing a tyre, and fuel change in 5 seconds flat.
Jim.
Lincoln .7

When the F1 cars had to refuel (which should be brought back today in my opinion) Ferrari were one of, if not the, quickest guys in the Pit Lane. It was incredible seeing them and McLaren changing tyres and refuelling when they both came in on the same lap.

Last year, Red Bull set the World Record with Mark Webber of, if I remember correctly, pretty much 2 seconds flat… From the car physically stopping, being jacked up, changing tyres, put down and being released.

Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6j8JWZeMqU

I remember watching and saying to my Girlfriend: ‘Did Mark just literally drive through!?!?’