Knock, knock - can I come in? Phew, smelly socks, I don't normally set foot in this forum, now I know why

Is this where we talk about F1?

I am just listening to the qualifying rounds, I am unsure what I think about the new rules yet but it could be interesting.

Please don't mention who wins as I am not intending watching it live so won't see the race until this time tomorrow.

What do other think of the changes? What are all the changes apart from having to do the qualifying round carrying the same weight of fuel as they intend starting the actual race, and the banning of team rules governing which of the two drivers is being helped to win?

Ah a F1 one fan! where's Spanishliz?

anyways why did Mad Max change the rules? While I admit these were the MOST radical changes F1 has seen since Senna death (when all the safety regulations came into force!)

Sue, what you should be asking is "Can they stop FERRARI at least this year?"

By the way, Ferrari is still with its Old car (F2002) - its kind of becoming a fashion statement! First we beat you with our old car, then we take out our new one!

After all that, Lets get to the point:

I believe it is quite nice. Strategy will become more important. As you said, you carry the qualifying race's fuel load into the next day! So technically saturday's lap is the first lap of the race.

Maybe its too early to comment on whether it will work - the Minardi's have already latched on to one loop hole. Knowing Brawn (or is it Brain?), he will find out the loop holes in the new format pretty fast.

and if anyone had any doubts on whether this new format affected Ferrari, One should have looked at the relief in their camp after the qualifying (after all, Schumi crashed his car 2 or 3 times in saturday practice!)

With only one lap, any driver 'could do a kimi' in future races

oh by the way, I forgot to tell you this

Schumi is GOD

Come on you Reds! I am with you there Ace, Michael can do no wrong for me.

I will be watching a recorded race tomorrow afternoon (our time), to watch it live would mean going to bed at 5am and that is too late for me, I can't do these all night stints now.

I knew you'd be coming in for this, Sue and I meant to get the boys into shape and clean the place up a bit. Mind you don't trip over that pile of pizza boxes and beer cans.

The new rules seem to be popular with the fans but not so much with the drivers and teams.

It is definitely 'hide the remote' time, I am totally addicted to my fortnightly fix of F1. Nice to see that I am not going to be the only girly on the sofa.

Didn't someone say that they are not going to be permitted to tweak the car remotely during the race? If that is the case we could be seeing more pitstops.

I'm here ace! Hi Sue, I'm just as addicted as you are; going nuts because I can't get it live here (unless TVE2 has done a deal - they keep talking about it). I have to go out to a bar to see the replay even (and I don't even drink), but it can be fun to be with a few other rowdy fans.

I'm not sold on the rule changes, I'll reserve judgment till we've seen them in action. Qualifying results have not led me to hope for much. Oh, forgot to say, I am not a Schumacher fan.
Ace already knows what I think of the new points system, we discussed it when it was first announced, methinks.

The fuel thingy could open up some strategic fun and games. We'll see. I'd just like to see anybody other than some guy in a red suit on the top step of the podium. Please!

I am not giving out the results so that Sue can enjoy the replay!

But trust me - what an action packed race! As Chris Goodwin said, " there has been more action in this race than the whole of last year"!

It has just finished and I could weep!

OK, yes it was an action packed race but I didn't like it. It seems totally unfair that they cannot change their tyres before the race to suit the track at the beginning of the race.

I am not a happy bunny.

But Sue, it was bits falling off the red car that were a problem, not tyres surely?

Needless to say, I am a happy bunny! No red suits in sight on the podium - I love it! It may not last of course.

Nerd that I am, I can reveal that the winner of this race has a 38.89 per cent chance of being champion at the end of the year...

I guess that means my guy has a 61.11% chance of being champion, again.

LOL

Thats a true Tifosi Speak!

Well, I am also happy that Schumi decided to give the others a chance to win!
Look at problems he faced and still finishing fourth - anyone who watched the race would NOT be able to dispute the fact that F2002 is still the fastest car around!

Actually the stewards did also changing certain specifications like tyres after seeing the conditions!

Just hate to say this but in a fortnight, things are going to be BACK to normal!

On other note, BAR seems to have a much improved car this year!

And even with the improved BAR and points down to eighth my countryman (Villeneuve) still managed to finish just outside the points. I can't tell you (well, I could if I wasn't feeling lazy) how many times he has done that. It's very frustrating...