Formula 1 - 2011

[virge666]

Here we go lads. join one - Join all.

Come join my F1 tipping

http://www.superbru.com/f1/pool.asp?p=166835


(http://www.superbru.com/f1/pool.asp?p=166835Pool)Name: Vettel is a Dick.
Pool code: curdpest

[Grunt]

Done

[rubin]

in

[goonie]

Joined, why can we only make one set of picks, can this be changed, surely you should be able to make changes right up to the cut off time.

[TourFit]

Please approve my application.

[Veefore]

In, pending approval.

[virge666]

Joined, why can we only make one set of picks, can this be changed, surely you should be able to make changes right up to the cut off time.

Nah - I actually agree with this. One set of tips that you confirm twice before are entered.

I usually get this in 1hr short of Qually.

Also - last weeks tip don't carry through like "OzTips" - much better setup also hae an iPhone/Mobile app / website that is bloody good so you can do it on the fly.

[virge666]

http://m.superbru.com

[goonie]

Nah - I actually agree with this. One set of tips that you confirm twice before are entered.

I usually get this in 1hr short of Qually.

Nah - It sucks, not everyone has the time to put there tips in just before Qually, if someone crashes and is injured in practice your screwed, it sucks.

[virge666]

Nah - It sucks, not everyone has the time to put there tips in just before Qually, if someone crashes and is injured in practice your screwed, it sucks.

Not really - that selection is released and you can choose another...

[goonie]

Not really - that selection is released and you can choose another...

choose another what?, once picked you can't change it
your much better off being able to put picks in early and then update them if you wish, that way if you forget you at least have some picks, and this site only lets you have 1 default pick. you just need to hide peoples picks up until the deadline.
I hope as Captain you can't see our picks as half of us have already made our picks.

[virge666]

choose another what?, once picked you can't change it
your much better off being able to put picks in early and then update them if you wish, that way if you forget you at least have some picks, and this site only lets you have 1 default pick. you just need to hide peoples picks up until the deadline.
I hope as Captain you can't see our picks as half of us have already made our picks.

If you pick Massa - and Massa crashes and it out... then you get to go back and replace Massa. Simple.

As soon as you have made your picks you can look up everyone elses pick - only after you have made your picks though... You can see everyone in the group, in your state and in you larger supporters group.

Quick Q - why would I want to see your picks ?

[goonie]

Quick Q - why would I want to see your picks ?

Do I really need to answer that? :-)

[Bruce]

I can see a bit of turn 7-8 from the lunch room.

[rubin]

first car on track Karun in a Lotus........

30 seconds later first crash of the year, Karun on a Lotus......

but webber's running quickest at the moment!

[henno]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhtjec_auto


Sutil's spin in Q2. Crazy stuff.

[MegaWatty]

Zzzzzzzzzz

[virge666]

That was awful...

Just awful

[MegaWatty]

If the whole season is like that race, then I will be saving on sleeping pills this year.

[PeteyD]

so much for the tyres making it interesting. Only good ting was the big crash in the V8s.

[TourFit]

Well, I think that Peres in the Sauber doing ONE STOP was interesting when you compare him to the others...

The Pirelli's have ALWAYS been a softer type tyre, and so the potential need for more stops this year will certainly make for more interesting race strategies....

The race was certainly more boring 'cos 'The Dick' won from start to finish...

The DRS system was a little disappointing though. Typical FIA, give them something that allows for overtaking and more potential excitement, then red tape it with so many absurd rules & regs on how / when it can be used...not in first two laps, only on main straight, must be within one sec of car in front. FFS, a boost button is just that. Let them use it whenever they like. The car in front will know coming onto the straight to use his boost to cover the car behind !!! I think A1 GP had it pretty well covered in the way it was used. But FIA bureaucracy just drives me mad...

PS: Over 300 GP's and Barrichello still doesn't know how to overtake properly...

[kpac]

was pretty dreary wasn't it... :(

i dont think the DRS benefit was able to be seen as a overtaking device very well at Albert park tho... Hopefully it works better on the other circuits, i think it will.....

[goonie]

Webber certainly had issues with the tyres having to pit 3 times, I hope they don't have quality control issues that cause some people to get better performance than others. I vaguely remember this happening in the past in F1.

The other teams must be very worried about Red Bull not even using Kers, Webber certainly could have used it with DRS for overtaking.

Does anyone else get a feeling that maybe Webber isn't getting the same car as Vettel? They were so close in Qualifying and fastest lap times last year but in this race there was a noticeable gap, more races will tell the story I guess.

[PeteyD]

Same feeling as last year, Red Bull looking after the Vunderkid.

[goonie]

Same feeling as last year, Red Bull looking after the Vunderkid.

yeah but they were still very close, Now the The Dick has the title it may be worse.

[rubin]

I think Web may be thinking the same thing based on his post race comments.

They do have different styles, but not overly so. In pre-season testing webber was noticably softer on the tyres than the dick.

But it is only the first race of the season, remember back to last year, web started coming good after about race 2-3

[CobraSS]

Does anyone else get a feeling that maybe Webber isn't getting the same car as Vettel? They were so close in Qualifying and fastest lap times last year but in this race there was a noticeable gap, more races will tell the story I guess.

Might be true, might not be true, my feeling is that Vettel is just better than Webber....................

[virge666]

Might be true, might not be true, my feeling is that Vettel is just better than Webber....................

+1

[PeteyD]

Doesn't stop him being a dick.

[Veefore]

I didn't get to see any of the race weekend so it is really sad to hear that the changes haven't made the racing better. Although Melbourne doesn't really lend itself to good wheel to wheel racing anyway.

Hopefully some of the other circuits help to make the new rules add a bit of excitement.

[McMw]

hope it rains at Sepang this afternoon, will make the racing more fun, especially with reports on how bad the P-Wet-Tires are...

[virge666]

Doesn't stop him being a dick.

+1

[virge666]

Qually was good.

RB, MAC, RB, MAC . . . some others...

[Grunt]

What time is the race on here? 7pm?

[Grunt]

Sorry make that 6pm. Just looked it up.

[goonie]

Webbers screwed, or been screwed. Looks like he will do well to get in the top ten from where he is with no kers for overtaking.

[jaybam]

Weber is shit. He needed to win it last year and didn't. Will be lucky to be top 5 this year.

[virge666]

Webbers screwed, or been screwed. Looks like he will do well to get in the top ten from where he is with no kers for overtaking.

Have they fixed his KERS . . if so - there is a chance of a top 5... otherwise - he is rooted.

[simmsy]

his kers was a no show in Q1 and they put him out there on hard tyres (1sec/lap slower) so they aren't doing him any favours. either he or the car are performing really badly.

does Vettel have his kers operating?

[virge666]

his kers was a no show in Q1 and they put him out there on hard tyres (1sec/lap slower) so they aren't doing him any favours. either he or the car are performing really badly.

does Vettel have his kers operating?

Yep. All good

[goonie]

Have they fixed his KERS . . if so - there is a chance of a top 5... otherwise - he is rooted.


his kers was a no show in Q1 and they put him out there on hard tyres (1sec/lap slower) so they aren't doing him any favours. either he or the car are performing really badly.

does Vettel have his kers operating?


Yep. All good

Looks like Webber is getting the number 2 driver treatment even more than last year, they are probably using his car for parts to get Vettel's Ker's etc perfect.

[Coffs_Hacker]

Webber should of retired at the end of last year.. With all the shit that went on there was no way that RBR was going to give him a decent car to drive this year. Should of went out on a high

[simmsy]

Please explain where the high was? Crashing at Korea with no pressure or fighting with your team with tech and tactics all season or making a clusta-f&$k of the final race of the season.

He ended miserably and this year looks to be a lost cause by rd3.

[Bruce Dickinson]

not a bad drive from Webber, casually moved from 18th to 3rd

[Grunt]

That was one of the greatest drives I have ever seen. Also liked how Webber was more pleased that Hamilton won. You then saw how he tried his best to explain it. You can tell he does not like Vettel.

[virge666]

not a bad drive from Webber, casually moved from 18th to 3rd

Best race I have seen in a decade.

For all those webber whingers. He does make it hard for you some times but he was awesome today.

Says a lot for starting on hard tyres too. And what happens when they get KERS working ??

[Fraser]

i caught the last 10 laps,
webbers drive was unbelievable,

[Bruce]

He made 5 places in the last 5 laps. Incredible work.

Another lap he might have got Vettel. Another 2 and who knows...

[Dazza]

Fantastic race. Webber, unbelievable effort.

[PeteyD]

Stupid wife wanting to watch the stupid news.

[sol381]

agree that the last 20 or so laps was just sensational.. just a shame webber didnt start from 16th position.. he might have won.. if he can drive that like with the same car in the next gp and have a top 5 grid look out. interesting to hear the radio from the pits "webber is on fresher tyres and hes coming after you".

[steviebhoy]

best F1 race ive seen in years, the massive back straight combined with DRS thing made for plenty of overtaking. webbers last 20 or so laps were unbelievable!

[goonie]

Best race I have seen in a decade.

For all those webber whingers. He does make it hard for you some times but he was awesome today.

Says a lot for starting on hard tyres too. And what happens when they get KERS working ??

It sounded like he started on hards to get rid of them because the were shit, and don't last any longer than the softs, and he would be stuck in traffic anyway. Looks like he still didn't have Kers, he certainly didn't at the end.

If he could of cleared a few more cars early and had Kers he might of been fighting for P1.

[virge666]

Goonie - i reckon he had them in 3 laps...

[CobraSS]

agree that the last 20 or so laps was just sensational.. just a shame webber didnt start from 16th position.. he might have won.. if he can drive that like with the same car in the next gp and have a top 5 grid look out. interesting to hear the radio from the pits "webber is on fresher tyres and hes coming after you".

The problem with your scenario, is the fact that Webber only had the extra set of "Fresh soft "tyres was because he failed to make to top ten in quals, and thus did not get the chance to use them. So next GP if he quals in the top 5 he is unlikely to have the advantage of the extra set of fresh softs in the garage. Plus every track is different, the weather is different race to race, and day to day, this advantage may be a one off, and more than likely be very hard, or near on impossible to plan for with all the uncontrollable variables.

[rubin]

Monaco could be looking like a 5 stopper. Soft and super softs are set for tht race, and it is notoriously hard on tryes.

[virge666]

Monaco could be looking like a 5 stopper. Soft and super softs are set for tht race, and it is notoriously hard on tryes.

Mate- Wait for Canada - that one is going to be brutal !!

[Bruce Dickinson]

Interesting race last night, the winner was never really in doubt but plenty of action behind him. Great to see Schumacher get passed on numerous occassions

[oncewasagolfer]

They might as well give vettle the championship now will be hard to real his lead in. I suppose there is still 16 races left so hopefully webber can get a few wins.

[TourFit]

Thought it was a good race...plenty happening, good overtaking and jostling, and different strategies.

Man those tyres degrade, don't they. Finally, a good call by the FIA. Makes for much more interesting stuff rather then the ONE STOP long stint/short stint racing of the last few years.

[oscar]

Monaco is always a great specticle, not always a great race. Last night was shaping for a tight finnish with the leaders tyres going off.

Webber missed the kick again, so important to get a decent start. Terrible pit stop didn't help either.

Good to see Jensen finding some pace after being back in the pack for a while.

[Ronny]

Whats the thoughts on tonight?? Vettell Webber front row. Webber any chance if he can actually get off the line??

[virge666]

Whats the thoughts on tonight?? Vettell Webber front row. Webber any chance if he can actually get off the line??

Nope

He just doesn't have the speed this year... No idea why... Guessing it is the tyres.

[TourFit]

Yep...it's the tyres.

I think that these Pirelli's heavily favour the guy in front of the race too. The fact that Vettel is so often on pole (and gets good starts) means that he is not in the dirty air of any cars. To me, it seems to degrade the tyres more, and faster, when the aerodynamic grip seems to be a little compromised. Especially under full load early in the race!

[kpac]

I thought it was always better on tyres if you're in the lead, as you're not jostling for position and fighting to overtake etc.
Surely any tyre would benefit by being infront? Webber just seems to continuously get racing decisions wrong. Pits/tyres/aggression. Even so, i think he's doing well again this year considering at least a couple of teams have all but bridged the gap to redbull.

[TourFit]

True enough...tyres will always be better when in the lead!

What I meant was that with the new Pirelli's, the degradation rates seem to be more pronounced than before when chasing, and under the rear wing of the car in front.

[rubin]

True enough...tyres will always be better when in the lead!

What I meant was that with the new Pirelli's, the degradation rates seem to be more pronounced than before when chasing, and under the rear wing of the car in front.

I remember seeing something earlier in the year about the tyre performance, and apparently because they generate heat so quickly in comparison to the Bridgestones, the performance drops right off when they are within the 1 second mark of the car in front, due to the heat generated by the lead car.

[oncewasagolfer]

Webber hasn't had much luck with his kers he did well to qualify 2nd but that final pit stop combined with gearbox trouble ruined his chances.

[rubin]

Apparently, ricciardo has now been released from the remainder of his torro rosso reserve driver contract to race the remainder of the season at hispania. Tr and rbr wanted him to get some race time, and it was organised by helmut marko the rbr advisor. Well done to the young fella.

He remains a part of the redbull team, but is just contracted out to hispania for race duties.

[Dazza]

I stay up til midnight, only to see Webber being told by the team (and I use that term loosely) to maintain the gap to Seb. Nice work RBR.....

[rubin]

I stay up til midnight, only to see Webber being told by the team (and I use that term loosely) to maintain the gap to Seb. Nice work RBR.....

Have a look at their Facebook page, 1500+ comments, most of them saying it was a piss poor effort by rbr.

[MegaWatty]

Pffft. LIke it matters.

[oncewasagolfer]

I thought that blatant team orders were a thing of the past in f1 obviously not. Vettle has been favoured by red bull ever since he joined them this is just another display of that. There were a lot of mistakes made in the pits during the race poor button.

[Veefore]

I find it amazing that anybody expected different. Of course they were going to favour Vettel. The finish order made no difference to the teams championship points and Vettel is their best chance at a drivers championship. The decision was an obvious, though distasteful, one.

[MegaWatty]

With Webber's overtaking history, I'd say it was an intelligent move!

[PeteyD]

He had a couple of cracks at Vettel before the final lap when they asked him to maintain distance.

[virge666]

He had a couple of cracks at Vettel before the final lap when they asked him to maintain distance.

That was only delay mate...

he was asked 4 or 5 laps from the end - and he told them to get rooted.

[PeteyD]

Ahh cool. Good on him.

[rubin]

That was only delay mate...

he was asked 4 or 5 laps from the end - and he told them to get rooted.

Just reading the reports now, I dont know if he actually told them to cram the team orders, but Webber maintains he was still attacking and ignored the order.

I agree with Petey though, good on him - its a big call to get a professional racer to just roll-over and cop it on something like that.

[kev]

It was probably code for "Just so we don't get fined, make it look like you're still trying to overtake, but don't actually do it".

[rubin]

It was probably code for "Just so we don't get fined, make it look like you're still trying to overtake, but don't actually do it".

They wouldnt get fined anymore anyway. Following the Ferrari team orders deal last year, it was deemed that as it is a Team sport, the teams are allowed to issue directives for the driver to follow.

[Veefore]

That was only delay mate...

he was asked 4 or 5 laps from the end - and he told them to get rooted.

I doubt he would do that.
Webber knows that he has to do whatever they ask him to if he wants a seat in a competitive car next year. That's why he didn't speak out about it after the race. Instead, he made some "for show" attacks at Vettel then settled back to accept 2nd best.

[Toolish]

I doubt he would do that.
Webber knows that he has to do whatever they ask him to if he wants a seat in a competitive car next year. That's why he didn't speak out about it after the race. Instead, he made some "for show" attacks at Vettel then settled back to accept 2nd best.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/webber-rebuked-for-ignoring--team-orders-20110711-1ha9i.html

[PeteyD]

It was just before the barbed wire fence incident

[oncewasagolfer]

Didn't Massa get cut up with the off into the barb wire fence

[Dotty]

Didn't Massa get cut up with the off into the barb wire fence
It was Thurston. That's why he was in the wheelchair.

[virge666]

Q: (Byron Young - Daily Mirror) Seb, isn't this a sham? You're the World Champion, you're supposed to be best driver in the world and Red Bull are reduced to begging on the radio to make your team-mate slow down, so he doesn't overtake you, suggesting the results aren't really what we've seen. How do we know you're a worthy champion?

SV: I finished second, I think. As I said earlier: Mark tried to pass me; I could stay ahead. Clearly you could see he was quicker at that stage. If I wasn't racing, I would just wave him past. Sure, the last thing you want is to do something bad for the team. If it would be the other way round, there's no point - of course, I would like to overtake Mark at that stage but there's no point trying to do something stupid, especially from a team point of view, so I don't see why there is a big fuss really.

Q: (Byron Young - Daily Mirror) But this is motor racing, it's about beating a guy on the track, not the team deciding who wins what.

SV: I think we were racing, it was not a scheduled 'I move right, you move left, I move left, you move right, I brake here, you brake there.' As Mark said, he stayed flat out and tried to race me, as hard as he could, didn't find his way past. To me, at this stage it's quite amusing.

[virge666]

"I can understand Mark's frustration in that, but had it been the other way round, it would have been exactly the same"

Just like Hungary last year, Christian Horner is a total Wanker . . .

[oncewasagolfer]

Sure vettle has won most of the races this season and looks to have a lock on the championship but as well he should with all the favorable treatment redbull give him. I remember a race earlier in the season where they pulled parts off webbers car to put on vettles ffs.

[Veefore]

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/webber-rebuked-for-ignoring--team-orders-20110711-1ha9i.html

Thanks Toolish. I guess his weak passing attempts weren't just for show then, they were genuinely weak.
Maybe the deal with Renault has already been done and there is no reason to humor Horner any more.

[Coffs_Hacker]

My God Webbers starts suck fish

[virge666]

My God Webbers starts suck fish

Yes they do...

[oncewasagolfer]

Ferrari stuffed that last pit stop letting vettle through fifth would have been awesome;)

[virge666]

Mark's second set of tyres would have been nice if they worked too.

[PeteyD]

Yea that was weird.

[kev]

Cadel wins, Stoner wins, Webber lets the country down. Would have been a great trifecta.

[Biggles]

Cadel wins, Stoner wins, Webber lets the country down. Would have been a great trifecta.

Pirelli let him down!

[Daves]

Webber to stay at Red Bull

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-27/webber-sticks-with-red-bull/2858532

[jaybam]

Must not mind being treated second best then. Didn't think he would stay but his other options must not have been real good.

[Grunt]

Might be the coin though.

[rubin]

Must not mind being treated second best then. Didn't think he would stay but his other options must not have been real good.

Mass a had already signed to stay with the Ferrari, and both button and Hamilton have contracts with mclaren. He didn't really have a decent choice.

[PeteyD]

Watching Great Grand Prix Heroes on 7 Mate (James Hunt this week). Man the cars were funny little things, and the tracks, no sand traps, no curbs on half of them. this was in the 70s bfore Lauda caught fire and they started looking after the drivers.

[jaybam]

The only way webber could win a race is if it was a rolling start. He sucks ass off the line. Useless.

[Dazza]

Another shocker! Ah well. Long race etc etc. Tyres could be an issue for Red Bull.

[rubin]

3 laps into a new set and vettel is already blistering the softs. They must be running some ridiculous camber levels to cause that to happen so quickly.

[Dazza]

Great move from Webber on Alonso.

[Veefore]

The only way webber could win a race is if it was a rolling start. He sucks ass off the line. Useless.

What's with Webber's revs dropping right off just before the lights go out?
Every incar shot they show of him at the start it sounds like he is at full revs then after the last red light goes on the revs drop significantly. I don't know if it is clutch drag from getting on it too soon or if he has the yips and is coming off the pedal subconciously.

Also, that pass on Alonso through Eau Rouge was one of the ballsiest I have ever seen.

[PeteyD]

That's the Vettle bug in the engine managemnt system to make sure Webber gets an engine protection rev drop at start.

I love the Belgian GP, the sweeping turns and fast overtaking are awesome.

[virge666]

What's with Webber's revs dropping right off just before the lights go out?
Every incar shot they show of him at the start it sounds like he is at full revs then after the last red light goes on the revs drop significantly. I don't know if it is clutch drag from getting on it too soon or if he has the yips and is coming off the pedal subconciously.

Also, that pass on Alonso through Eau Rouge was one of the ballsiest I have ever seen.


That's the Vettle bug in the engine managemnt system to make sure Webber gets an engine protection rev drop at start.

I love the Belgian GP, the sweeping turns and fast overtaking are awesome.

If he wasn't 7th by the first corner and 13th by the 10th lap - he would have won the bloody race by about 30 seconds. He only finished 3 seconds behind Vettel

That would be 5 shit starts in a row.

[Grunt]

Spa is what all race tracks should be. Only bad thing was the drs things Makes it too easy on tracks like spa.

[virge666]

Spa is what all race tracks should be. Only bad thing was the drs things Makes it too easy on tracks like spa.

All you have to do is make the DRS zone smaller... very easy fix.

[rubin]

What's with Webber's revs dropping right off just before the lights go out?
Every incar shot they show of him at the start it sounds like he is at full revs then after the last red light goes on the revs drop significantly. I don't know if it is clutch drag from getting on it too soon or if he has the yips and is coming off the pedal subconciously.

Also, that pass on Alonso through Eau Rouge was one of the ballsiest I have ever seen.

He's always been a pretty poor starter.

Apparently the way the system for the redbulls is incredibly temperamental and the margin for error is really fine (more so than Maclaren or ferrari). If theyre slightly below the anti-stall kicks in, if theyre slightly above and they drop the clutch (yes, there is a clutch) the tyres spin up and its the same problem.

[Grunt]

All you have to do is make the DRS zone smaller... very easy fix.

if that is the case remove it at tracks like spa entirely, would show who can drive sensibly and who cant. Look at the pass by webber on Alonso. Both did a great job at showing how exciting real racecraft can be.
Yet to see Vettel perform anything like that.

What does everyone think of Hamiltons accident. I was leaning towards Brundle's arguement that he just should have given the guy a little more respect that he would fight for hte postion rather than just give it up.

[rubin]

if that is the case remove it at tracks like spa entirely, would show who can drive sensibly and who cant. Look at the pass by webber on Alonso.

I think the best part about that pass (and Button on massa a bit later on) was that you could see the difference between guys racing with genuine respect for each other and the sport, and the guys who take the winning is everything, i'll knock you out of the way if i have to approach.

I would much prefer to see the ballsy yet gentalmanly approach taken, rather than the hamilton-esque bumper carts approach.

[Grunt]

I think the best part about that pass (and Button on massa a bit later on) was that you could see the difference between guys racing with genuine respect for each other and the sport, and the guys who take the winning is everything, i'll knock you out of the way if i have to approach.

I would much prefer to see the ballsy yet gentalmanly approach taken, rather than the hamilton-esque bumper carts approach.

Agree 110%

[rubin]

What does everyone think of Hamiltons accident. I was leaning towards Brundle's arguement that he just should have given the guy a little more respect that he would fight for hte postion rather than just give it up.

I think Hamilton summed it up himself perfectly taking the blame - He thought the pass was done, and obviously didn't give himself and Kobi enough room into the corner. There wasn't much in it, Hamilton turned a little early trying to shut the door, not realising that Kobi was on his right side with some awesome straightline speed (Hamilton had DRS open and still couldn't clear the sauber completely). Maybe Kobi could have pulled out a little earlier, maybe Hamilton could have given a bit more space, but it was a racing incident. I dont think either would change anything if in the same position.

[TourFit]

I think Hamilton summed it up himself perfectly taking the blame - He thought the pass was done, and obviously didn't give himself and Kobi enough room into the corner. There wasn't much in it, Hamilton turned a little early trying to shut the door, not realising that Kobi was on his right side with some awesome straightline speed (Hamilton had DRS open and still couldn't clear the sauber completely). Maybe Kobi could have pulled out a little earlier, maybe Hamilton could have given a bit more space, but it was a racing incident. I dont think either would change anything if in the same position.

Agreed...Lewis was looking right, at the apex and just didn't seem to expect it. It was Kobayashi FFS, probably one of the true racers out there.

And Mark's toe to toe with Alonso through Au Rouge was great. Scary, but great. Kudos to Vettel for going round the outside of Hamilton (I think) mid race too, that was quite a ballsy move as well, though he is still a wanker!

Thought it was a good race. Mark just needs to get his starts right FFS. How many times does he wanna stuff that up? But it was a good drive & recovery...and some excellent racecraft to go onto the harder tyre and do such a long stint (and surprisingly wasn't that much slower!). Button did well to recover and was lucky to stay out of trouble at the start. And what about the old boy Shcumy...dead last to 5th. You're kidding me, where did that form come from? And they had some top end speed too.

[virge666]

And what about the old boy Shcumy...dead last to 5th. You're kidding me, where did that form come from? And they had some top end speed too.

Drive of the day for mine... beat Rosberg and started an hour behind him . . .

[Grunt]

Was a great drive by Shumey, how fast was the Mercedes in a straight line? almost 320km/h

[rubin]

Monza will be interesting.

Spa and Monza are probably the only tracks on the calender where you can stay in contention with just pure straightline speed. I'd expect the Saubers to be doing pretty well in comparison to their normal finishing places as well.

Interestingly, Force India weren't up towards the top of the speed traps. They're normally straightline rocketships.

[virge666]

Interestingly, Force India weren't up towards the top of the speed traps. They're normally straightline rocketships.

+1 and +2 here !

[Veefore]

I didn't get to hear Hamilton's comments but it looked to me like his hit with Kobayashi was a true "racing incident", a case of both expecting the other to be in a different position and both guessing wrong this time.

To me it looked like Koba was expecting Hamilton to turn in a bit sooner to "defend" and was trying to do the under-and-over for a better line on exit from the chicane while at the same time Hamilton was drifting out a little for a better line but expecting a lunge up the inside from Koba so not giving too much room but not completely shutting the door.

[rubin]

Was just doing some more reading on the RB7 and its start system.

It seems that the RB mechanical team (not Newey as such - he's the aero king) have never had a brilliant start system, and this year because of the huge loads that it was putting on the car as a whole last year, they tried to develop a new system.

Apparently there is a range of about 100rpm (on a vehicle with a max RPM of 18,000) with which the optimal launch, clutch slip etc are setup for. Vettel has hit this once in 2011, as has Webber. This means these guys have a range of 0.5% with which to hit their mark (most teams have a margin of approx 4-500 rpm+ or 2-3%).

Try doing it in your own car with the needle moving less than 100rpm. Its almost Impossible!

[rubin]

MONZA!!

One of my favorite gp's of the year.

[Grunt]

Watching qualifying right now. Just such a fast flowing circuit.

[Dazza]

How good was the power slide from Vettel. On the limit!

[Grunt]

How good was the power slide from Vettel. On the limit!

Was pretty impressive indeed. He is really starting to show that he is actually above the field in the driving now.

How was the after qualifying press conference when the McLaren guys just said straight up they did not have anything in the bag to even get close to Vettel.

Comments during qualifying about Webber being on an old engine, I did not realise he had blown up any yet, well not racing. Maybe he is pushing it that hard to stay close to Vettel that the cars can't take it.

[rubin]

Comments during qualifying about Webber being on an old engine, I did not realise he had blown up any yet, well not racing. Maybe he is pushing it that hard to stay close to Vettel that the cars can't take it.

It wasn't that he had blown them up, he and his engineers had just opted not to take a new one for this round. Out of all the front runners, rb, mclaren and Ferrari, he has the most new engines available.

[TourFit]

You gonna pick any names in the comp that you are in Rubin...?

Just curious as Veefore is AVERAGING per week your current TOTAL score!!!

[rubin]

You gonna pick any names in the comp that you are in Rubin...?

Just curious as Veefore is AVERAGING per week your current TOTAL score!!!

I had obviously Planned to, but kinda forgot about it, and it's not really worth me doing from now on.

[Dazza]

Those McLarens seem to have a lot more rear wing on than the Ferrari's and Red Bull.

[rubin]

Nope - different gear ratios.

6 laps, and this race is a cracker. Hamilton, schui, and Alonso for 2nd. The 3 to watch.

[PeteyD]

Awesome so far except for Webber. How about Schu, silly old kraut is going ok.

[Dazza]

Webber gone.

[rubin]

Awesome so far except for Webber

Agree. Wtf was he doing without a front wing, pushing it into parabolica? Brain fart?

[TourFit]

How slow did that Ferrari go on those Medium compounds. They have REALLY been struggling with the first 5 laps or so on them all year. And then they seem to go off pretty quick to.

A good race I thought. Lewis was patient and didn't hit anything (or anyone) for a change, Shuey was pretty good in a very quick car, Jensen was solid again and really seems to be coming on mid season. How was Vettel's pass on Alonso...now that took balls to go around the outside at over 200mph...by BOTH of them. My respect is growing for the wanker (though I still don't like him. Not one little bit!), But he can sure drive that car.

[Hawkers2008]

Webber seems to be way off the pace in Singapore. If he can finish 2nd Vettel can wrap the title up, maybe Red Bull will give him a race after that ...

[rubin]

It's not that webs of the pace, it's more so vettel is jus so much quicker. Still, he's not putting in shit runs.