F1 Racing Thread

[AtiFCOD]

Australian GP qualification, top 6:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault, 1:23,529
2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:24,307
3. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:24,395
4. Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:24,779
5. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:24,974
6. Vitalij Petrov, Lotus Renault, 1:25,247

I'm pretty disappointed with Ferrari... :-/

 

[RossMk2]

I watched the Qually...... Vettel & Hamilton times both come without KERS!!!

Race pace is going to be great and the uncertainty with the new tyres could make for a crazy race!

 

[t1tpfdc]

I like it when somebody mixes things up a bit.
Well Done Petrov and Perez!

 

[OzExorcist]

Results definitely bode well for some interesting middle-pack racing this year.

Vettel crushing the whole field without even bothering to use KERS doesn't bode so well for interesting racing at the front, though I'm sure Ferrari and McLaren will make their usual gains to try to keep them honest.

 

[AtiFCOD]

Qualification, chinese GP
Vettel won it. 0.7 sec between the first and second. Very huge!

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:33.706
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:34.421
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:34.463
4. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:34.670
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:35.119
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:35.145

 

[ChuckyEgg]

What a thoroughly enjoyable race (Shanghai), and HOORAY to Lewis Hamilton for an excellent win

LOL, had to laugh when mark slipped up by say it's good to see someone else winning other than Seb ... he did add that it was good for the sport

And Mark himself, what a race... he managed to get himself from 18th to 3rd and a place on the podium... awesome Man of the race I'd say

Obviously from this, the winning strategy is focused on the tyres. 3 stops thus healthier tyres gave Hamilton the edge over Vettel's 2 stops thus more worn tyres.

 

[Pothole]

Best race in YEARS.

 

[OzExorcist]

Best race I can remember watching in a long time too, awesome stuff.

In other news, just how dominant are the Red Bulls going to be if they finally get their KERS working right?

 

[Swear Engine]

Great race, interesting from first to last without help from the weather. My highlight was definitely JB trying to pit in the RedBull berth before swiftly moving onto his own team lol. I reckon he'll be getting some stick from the pit crews for a while about that!

 

[Zorba]

Best race I can remember watching in a long time too, awesome stuff.

In other news, just how dominant are the Red Bulls going to be if they finally get their KERS working right?

I agree, great race.

Awesome drive by Webber.

 

[ChuckyEgg]

My highlight was definitely JB trying to pit in the RedBull berth before swiftly moving onto his own team lol. I reckon he'll be getting some stick from the pit crews for a while about that!

LOL, yeah, I did not realise what had happened until the commentators pointed it out, and JB moved on to the McLaren pit. I was busy considering what JB should do, considering Vettel was pitting at the same time, and that JB had better make a fast pit stop to stay in the lead. I bet JB was thinking the same, and with the thought of RBR in his mind he then drove into their pit, lol, and damn !

In other news, just how dominant are the Red Bulls going to be if they finally get their KERS working right?

UNBEATABLE

Only hope will be that Webber will get the win rather than Vettel.

McLaren are the only true contenders, but the McLaren car is not as fast as the Red Bull one.

Hopefully the other teams will get their cars up to scratch. Merc GP were looking good. Renault will keep things interesting (good to see Heidfeld on the podium the other weekend). Ferrari ???? (good to see Massa finishing ahead of Alonso the last 2 races)

I agree, great race.

Awesome drive by Webber.

Man of the race in my books The great Ausi hope, against the might of vorsprung Vettel technik

 

[OzExorcist]

I've got no doubt Ferrari will catch back up again just like they did last season. Finding out whether Renault have the resources and inclination to keep up will be interesting though...

 

[Pothole]

I think Renault are the dark horses this year. The car seems real easy on the tyres which are playing a major part this season. No doubt Alonso will soon start whining because Massa beat him. The best thing Red Bull can do, is take KERS out (they proved they don't need it), the car will be 3/10ths faster for the 20kg it weighs.

 

[AtiFCOD]

I've got no doubt Ferrari will catch back up again just like they did last season. Finding out whether Renault have the resources and inclination to keep up will be interesting though...

Ferrari is very disappointing for me. Moreover Alonso does mistakes he never did before. :-/ I hope they will be on the same level with RBR and McLaren soon.

 

[Chemist]

Ferrari ???? (good to see Massa finishing ahead of Alonso the last 2 races)

Would be even better to see some team orders later in the season.
'Massa is faster than you, can you confirm that message'

 

[OzExorcist]

I think Renault are the dark horses this year. The car seems real easy on the tyres which are playing a major part this season. No doubt Alonso will soon start whining because Massa beat him. The best thing Red Bull can do, is take KERS out (they proved they don't need it), the car will be 3/10ths faster for the 20kg it weighs.

Agree on Renault - the only question mark for me is whether they're really going to plow the necessary resources into this year to take a real shot at the title or whether they're going to hold back a bit and work on next year when they should have their star driver back.

Ditching KERS altogether from the Red Bull is an interesting idea and you get the impression it's what Adrian Newey would really like to do, but I thought the teams had some kind of gentleman's agreement that they'd all pursue KERS for the good of the sport this season, much the same as the one that had none of them using it last season.

 

[OzExorcist]

Another awesomely entertaining race in Turkey, though I think I agree with Martin Brundle when he said that the DRS probably made overtaking a little too easy down the back straight...

 

[OzExorcist]

...and Spain goes the other way with DRS being pretty much ineffectual. Obviously still a system they're working the kinks out of

 

[AtiFCOD]

Ferrari is still disappointing. :-/ They dont have much time to get better.

 

[OzExorcist]

Yeah - really don't think it's going to be our year

 

[Pothole]

Yeah - really don't think it's going to be our year

5 races in???????? 13 to go yet, oops 12, forgot about the cancelled one.

 

[OzExorcist]

Sure it's early and there's a long way to go so in theory we can make a comeback just like last year. But I don't get the feeling it's going to happen for us.

For one thing Red Bull seem like they've sorted out most of the infighting that hampered them last year and I don't think we'll see Vettel make anywhere near as many silly mistakes as he did last season. If they're screwing up less it'll be that much harder to catch up to them. Red Bull also have a lot of room to improve given the current sketchy operation of their KERS system. That mouldy old cliche about catching being one thing but overtaking being another probably applies just as much to the technology race off-track as it does on the track (maybe moreso this season )

Plus I remember Ferrari being a lot closer to McLaren in the performance stakes at this stage last season - this year it seems like McLaren is much closer to the Red Bulls and Ferrari is running a very definite third. I'm hoping for the best as far as a Ferrari comeback goes but I don't think it's likely.

 

[Pothole]

The prancing horse will never win the constructors as long as Massa is in the team. It's sad I know but when a piece of metal hit's you in the head at a closing speed of 300 mph, just TG your alive to tell the tale, never mind race again. The results so far have been odd as tyres seem to be the biggest deciding factor in the results. Yet if that were true, how does LH finish ahead of JB so often when JB is the master at conserving his tyres? SV has really matured as a driver in the off season and despite MW's spectacular drives, still comes out way ahead ( in time ) of races so far. Alonso will fight to the end but I would really like to see Nico replace Massa as I'm sure he would really kick ass.

 

[OzExorcist]

Yeah, it kills me to say it but it really seems like it's time to let Felipe go. I just don't think he's got it in him any more and let's be honest the only time he really shone was when he had a killer car under him and a completely disinterested teammate. No doubt he could keep making money for years to come doing something like Barrichello has being the experienced driver heading a middle-pack team and I'd really like him to surprise us and prove us wrong but I don't see it happening.

On Jenson and the tyres issue my theory is that even if he is better at conserving his tyres, at the rate the Pirelli's seem to degrade it's probably only keeping him out a lap or two longer and isn't really saving him much, whereas in previous years nursing his tyres might have saved him a whole pitstop. Plus pretty much every race the winners have been the ones who have stopped more often than whatever the supposed optimum strategy called for and IIRC Jenson has been stopping less times per race than Lewis for the most part?

 

[Pothole]

Alonso 2nd in 1st Friday practice and 1st in 2nd practice. As Sherlock would say, "Watson, the games afoot".