F-1 news. 8 years in the slammer.

[Patrick]

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/0...8HRFLV20120627

[MikeFleming]

Curious - the article doesn't say if the banker has to give up the $8million.

So that's $500K a year to sit in prison? Definitely more than he'd make working (legitimately) as a banker.

[Patrick]

So that's $500K a year to sit in prison? ...

That's a lot of hookers, but Jamie Dimon doesn't work that cheap!

[MikeFleming]

Mr. Dimon isn't a "banker", he's a CEO at a gambling institution, aka bank.

[Mike Croke]

Are we supposed to be surprised there is hanky panky going on behind the scenes of the Playboy racers?

Seems to me every aspect of F1 has some element of payola. How could there not be with all that cash?

[Patrick]

I don't expect anyone to be surprised. It's just part of the ongoing show, circus, menagerie. Bernie always to stay distanced from the prosecutors, though.

[Mike Croke]

Funny you explain it that way. My wife is fan of F1 for essentially the same reason. I don't have much interest because it is so over the top, too hyped, too expensive for the actual performance.

We have attended the Historics at Monterey numerous times (should be on every gear head's bucket list ). During one event a few years ago when Ferrari was the honored marque, Scuderia Ferrari brought over several F1 cars from eras ranging from an early 80's car with a naturally aspirated 12 cylinder (music ) to Schumacher's last driver's title winning car. Around the Laguna Seca track, even with 3 days of testing, the uber F1 car was 2 seconds slower than a mid-90's Champ/CART car. Ferrari has since managed to get the current unofficial lap record but I was disappointed the F1 car wasn't way faster than the comparatively cheap CART car.

There's no denying the technology is cool, it's just the performance of the cars doesn't match the cash outlay. Of course, there are a lot of things in life where the presentation is more important than the substance. Style means a lot much of the time.

[MikeFleming]

^
Who was driving the Ferrari?

[Mike Croke]

Driving? I cannot remember exactly. As I remember, it was one of the factory test driver's for the F1 teams at the time and not some mere privateer.

From the always reliable Wiki page on the track:

The all-time unofficial lap record around the current configuration is 1 minute, 5.786 seconds, set on May 19, 2012 by Marc Gené in a Ferrari F2003-GA Formula One car.^[6] The previous record was 1 minute, 5.880 seconds, set on March 10, 2007 by Sébastien Bourdais in a Panoz DP01 Champ Car, beating the previous unofficial record of 1 minute, 6.309 seconds, set by Ricardo Zonta in a Toyota TF106 Formula 1 car during the Historics on August 20, 2006.

I just thought the F1 cars should spank the bejeesus out of the cheaper Champ cars.

[MikeFleming]

I just thought the F1 cars should spank the bejeesus out of the cheaper Champ cars.

I would expect that also.

My guess is that it was not setup for that course and Mssr, Gene was instructed to not break anything (which includes off-course excursions) since it was merely an exhibition event with a million dollar car. I expect track familiarity might play some part also.

Tell you what: Let's get Lewis and McLaren out there with a 2003 model car (and a tire sponsor) and see what the team can do in a day. I bet we could sell tickets for that too! Maybe get Alonzo and an older Renault too? Now we're talking!

[Patrick]

Comparing an old race car in it's heyday with the same restored car at a vintage race with a different driver is like comparing a Kentucky Derby winner with one of those cute horsies in the Rose Parade on New Years day.

[MikeFleming]

^
But there's all those pretty smelling flowers ...