andy moore

It looks as though the remainder of the season will continue to keep us all on our toes, as McLaren continue to improve their form, and Ferrari keep us guessing as to whether we will see them race Luca Badoer again this weekend in Belgium.

Here are the latest standings after the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

I’m aware that the FF1 rules, as stated on the website, do not make clear what happens when drivers are replaced on either a temporary or permanent basis. At present this now affects three teams, Toro Rosso (Jaime Alguersuari replacing Sebastien Bourdais), Ferrari (Michael Schumacher replacing Felipe Massa) and Renault (a replacement for Nelson Piquet Jr to be announced).

In each of these situations, the replacement driver will score points for all those who had chosen the driver being replaced. So, as Schumacher is Ferrari’s chosen replacement for Massa, points scored by Schumacher will be allocated to those who have Massa in their team – likewise with the replacement of Bourdais in Toro Rossa.

Another shake up to the season, so keep an eye on the table…

Aside from the racing this weekend, I think the most important news is that the injured Massa is no longer in a critical condition, and hopefully steps are being taken to improve safety even further after the incident in qualifying that led to Massa’s crash.

And another extraordinary weekend sees the table shaken up again, although ‘The Gherkins’ stretch out their lead once more – can they be caught before the end of the season?

So, will Fernando Alonso be racing with Ferrari next year? And if so, which current Ferrari driver would be your favourite to lose their red seat? Will Rubens Barichello still be racing with Brawn next year after his frustrated outburst? And will you be racing in the FF1 league in twelve months’ time? I hope so!

The BBC continue to excel in their coverage of the season, especially given all the politics that seem to be bogging the sport down at the moment. I particularly liked the feature on the pit crews. What was your favourite?

I thought that this race would have shaken the table up a bit more, but perhaps that will happen if Vettel and Red Bull continue to improve at their current pace.

Until next time…

Here is the latest update for the Fantasy Formula 1 league following another exciting race, in Turkey.

With all the controversy surrounding next season and its disputed regulations, perhaps now would be a good time to kick-off our own discussion on the rules for next year. What changes, if any, would you like to make to the FF1 scoring system for next year? Would you prefer to have just two drivers rather than three? Greater penalties for retirements? Scoring for only the first eight finishers, more reflective of the real formula one?

If you need a recap of how this season is scored, you can find out more here.

Add your thoughts and comments at the end of this post.

There is an interesting post over at think vitamin that predicts six ways that Google Wave will change your business, career and life.

It’s a title that probably promises more than it can deliver to a lay man like me, but it does give a good insight as to why we should be excited.

Daniel got me thinking with his last post, and here are my thoughts…

“Thank you for being open with your position, and giving some explanation for it. As someone who is easily confused by these things, it helps solidify some of my own thinking too.

I think I would stand with you on some-most of these issues, particularly on small, local government. However, I still have questions about how this applies in a fast-changing world where national boundaries are increasingly blurred, and where it becomes increasingly difficult to control a global economy to ensure the welfare of all, not just the wealthy or powerful.

For example, I would like to buy from local producers as much as possible, and yet I often have to make decisions that have a global impact. Where consumer is less directly-linked to producer, do we need some form of government that helps protect the powerful from perpetuating the slavery of the vulnerable? And if so, what does that / should that look like, from a Biblical perspective?

I don’t say that because I believe in the EU, but because I struggle with, well, actually even being conscious of the wider impact of many of my decisions, to be frank. Living in light of the gospel should shape all of my decisions, and yet I rarely take time to think beyond ‘convenience’.

Having been out and voted today, one thing I was quite startled by was the number of ‘nationalistic’ parties represented on the ballot paper for the European Parliament. Is the only non-EU option to be inward looking, bigoted and self-serving, which would seem to be the manifesto of the BNP, UKIP and ‘Britain First’? How should we vote to reflect the gospel call to love our neighbour as ourself, even when this is costly? Do we want fewer immigrants in the UK because caring for the needy would have an impact on our comfortable lifestyle?

These questions are as much to myself as anything else, and are not intended to be pointed comments in response to what you have written – rather they have been provoked by what you have written, and come for a deeply unsettled view that the gospel needs to have a much greater impact in our nation and in our world – what are we doing about it?”

“Listen to me, my people;
hear me, my nation:
The law will go out from me;
my justice will become a light to the nations.”
- Isaiah 51:4

Looks like Microsoft are launching their next attempt to try and steal a slice of the search market from Google.

Quotes below are taken from the BBC’s Darren Waters.

Microsoft’s expensive experiment in search reflects the insatiable appetite of chief executive Steve Ballmer to take on Google.

This may well be the best related information; it may well not. Who decides, and on what basis?

» read more: Microsoft’s bada Bing (BBC)

Google Wave is a new model for communication and collaboration on the web, coming later this year.

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

» read more: about Google Wave