Luca di Montezemolo: "If he takes another road, our agreement will no longer be valid. You can't work with a competitor and with us at the same time". "He is only a dear friend, not a team member. He is a consultant for our road cars." "His position is not binding."

Sabine Kehm (Schu's PR spokeswoman): "I haven't got any more to say, I don't want to tell you anything, for whatever reason. I don't want to go into it any more." Is that because you have nothing to say, I asked, or because you can't say anything? "Because I can't."

Nick Fry: "He would be very good for our team. The view from inside F1, not just my team, is they all hope it will happen."

I know this started out as rumour and what seemed like the crazy rantings of Eddie Jordan, but a number of German newspapers, including Die Bild, are reporting that Michael Schumacher has signed a 12 month contract to drive for Mercedes next
season and that there will be an official announcement later this week.

Nothing in Formula 1 is ever too bizarre to be true, but do we really think Michael is going to race next year for Mercedes? I just think he might, but I'm not convinced it would be a good move. Anyone else got thoughts?

"Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes McLaren's 2010 pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will play into his team's hands because they will take points off each other"

I love comments like this, for two reasons.

One. If Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton alternate first and second, yes, they take points off each other, but they also stop your drivings from getting them as well.

Two. As far as the team are concerned, as long as they're both scoring points, it doesn't matter where they come from, and again.

Three. Surely if Vettel and Webber are free to battle, surely they'll take points off each other and that will play into the hands of Mclaren?

taste_buds
Holidays provide a built-in excuse for indulgent entertaining. This all-purpose foodie community covers everything from homemade hangover cures to dinner party menus. Need quick advice? Get five-minute snack suggestions, low-fat ingredient substitutes, and even measurement conversions. Delicious recipes garnished with humorous advice. Yum.

naturesbeauty
Always on the lookout for compelling images, we were delighted to discover this flourishing community of artists who share a love of nature. Honoring the subject with photographs, paintings, sketches, prose, poetry, and other creative works, you'll be simultaneously riveted to your monitor and inspired to run helter skelter towards the nearest wooded dale.

The BBC has just confirmed that Lotus F1 has lined up Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli with 3 year contracts. Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy has been assigned as the backup third driver.

What are your thoughts? I think this is a pretty solid lineup and will possibly make Lotus the best of the new teams in 2010. I'm excited to see how these two work together with their experience!

Okay, I hadn't realised the 'Brawnmania' and the had gripped me so badly, but looking back at the posts made in this forum last October, it looks like everyone else was similarly distracted.

Noone mentioned Todt receiving the FIA presidency.

Okay, I'll admit that the deal was done long before, in shady alleys and under tables but I can't help feel a little disappointed. On the flip side, he doesn't appear to be the Ferrari 'fluffer' that many of us expected to be, already allowing the rebadged 'Mercedes' team to keep the funding Brawn earned by winning the constructors title.
I'm opening the debate on whether the proposed points system will 'improve the spectacle' though.

backpacking
Want to embrace your wanderlust on the cheap? If you're tall on adventurous spirit, but short on funds, this community can help you plan a trip to anywhere. Offering plentiful tips on how to travel light, you can post about bargain hotels and hostels if you're into urban exploration or discuss camping gear and mosquito netting for the great outdoors. Hitch your backpack, pitch your tent, and carpe diem!

**FINAL EDIT Thu Dec 10 02:15:47 UTC 2009**

So there is the final update... Over the past day we have processed around 11 million jobs out of the 12 million that were in queue at that time. Please bear in mind that over this past day, more jobs for notifications are also created. So while the queue has been dropping, we are still not fully caught up at this point, due to backlog and new jobs. We have roughly 3 million jobs still pending that involve the notification system in some manner. We had hoped we could have fully cleared the queue in a day, but unfortunately we can't clear it too quickly, since we need the rest of the site to operate normally. From our current perspective on the amount of jobs that are left in queue, and how many it has processed thus far, we believe it will take around another 8 - 12 hours to process everything.

And finally some answers to some questions:

( Read More and Get Some Answers... )

freeskiers
While some of us long to escape the cold, dark stretch of winter for hot tropical beaches, for others, there's nothing quite like whoooooshing down those shimmering sugar alps. If you're fond of freestyle skiing, get ready to slide down the slippery slopes in good company. This passionate, international community shares travel/gear tips, anecdotes, photos, and videos for those who can't get enough of the sweet stuff.

seasonal_icons
Need some extra twinkle to decorate your place? Check out these dazzling holiday-themed icons. If you're an artist, you can post your own creations, provided you abide by the simple rules (which is to say, all cheer and no politicking). Be sure to comment and give credit if you wish to borrow a little spirit (no direct links, please). If you're feeling a touch of humbug this season, this is an instant shot of festivity.

handmade_gifts
High on creativity, but low on cash? You'll find tons of brilliant suggestions for do-it-yourself crafts sure to please everyone on your holiday gift list. Offering detailed instructions, photos, budgets, timelines, and active support, you'll soon turn spare remnants of fabric and time into cherished keepsakes. Be sure to search entries and read user guidelines before you post for help!

Who is the best sports commentator? Who else but Murray Walker!

Well, according to a survey, at least, and if they'd asked me, I'd have voted for him too.

Curious as to how others are using KERS in F1 2009. I am still developing my KERS strategy, but in general I find:

1.) Use a full blast from a standing start
2.) Use most (or maybe all) of it on the longest straightaway of a circuit
3.) In a rolling start (such as in certain challenges), use whatever I can immediately, but stop at the Start/Finish Line, when KERS resets)
4.) Use KERS when going uphill on a straightaway (could negate #2 above)
5.) When qualifying or in Time Trials and trying to set a fast lap, I generally negate all of the above and go for a full blast of KERS immediately before Start/Finish, to maximize speed at the start of the hot lap

While playing last night, I was wishing that KERS had been in use when F1 was racing at Indianapolis a few years back - KERS on the banking and the front straight would have been rather interesting!

The Guardian, Autocar and crash.net are all reporting that Renault have decided to pull out as an F1 constructor and will not enter the 2010 championship, though Renault still plan to remain as an engine supplier.
The story has been given added credence as the journalist that broke the story is Anne Giuntini, the wife of Denis Chevrier, head of Renault F1's engine division.
The interesting twist is Dave Richards's Prodrive outfit (which did have a technical partnership deal in place with McLaren Mercedes), is reported as close to taking a controlling stake in the Renault F1 team.
The Times has reported that a complex partnership deal has been negotiated between Renault, Dave Richards and Bernie Ecclestone, with Renault committed to supplying engines to both Prodrive and Red Bull Racing for at least the next two years.


Also, Sauber have been officially awarded a place by the FIA for the 2010 season.
As BMW had not signed the 2010 concorde agreement, the FIA had previously sought the approval of all FOTA teams before allowing Sauber to enter, but the deal was blocked by Williams who vetoed the plan.
The FIA have bypassed the FOTA vote by awarding Sauber the concorde agreement place previously signed by Toyota.

**EDIT Thu Dec 3 23:24:15 UTC 2009 **

Hey Everyone, we are about to run the last alter job that we need to on our database servers. This will effect userpics / scrapbook / vgift images for the next few hours. Have no fear, your images aren't lost, there is just a really intensive process running on the servers which store the information for mogilefs. Thank you for your understanding and all the LJ love...

Hey LJers,

I just wanted to let you all know that we are going to be performing some mogilefs maintenance over the next few days. We will be upgrading our current version to latest stable as well as changing some db config information to better handle the amount of files we are currently hosting. This shouldn't cause a big impact on site stability, but you may see some minor delays with userpic / scrapbook images appearing or other requests associated with our mogilefs. We would love to not have that happen, but unfortunately with some of the steps we need to take we have to cause a delay with images. I figured this was a better solution than taking down all of LiveJournal because well lets face it, we all need our daily LJ fix ;)

Thanks,