The Official Formula One Thread

[Trace17]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

It appears that the stewards had the same response.

Saubers disqualified over technical infringement

I saw that. Don't know how guilty they are, but it would explain them being quite fast in the speed trap, especially Perez. Hopefully he doesn't let this get to him and continues getting point finishes. He's so much better than Pastor "Amateur Hour" Malmoneybags

Di Resta wasn't too bad either.

[steve1971]

Saw the repeat of the race yesterday and man was Vetttle flying. Red Bull and Vettle look once again like the team to beat. I was disapointed in Ferrari because they seemed like they couldnt handle the new Perrelli tires and they better learn how to handle them and fast. Massa once again was a disapointment and I think this will be his last year with the team. I have faith in Alonso though and he will get a handle on it. I felt bad for Schumacher but he will be back, the season has just begun. But again Red Bull and Vettle looked very good and look as though they are the team to beat. This year its gonna come down to the new tires and who can make the best of them.

[Trace17]

FP1 starts for Malaysia in a little over two hours. Can be found streaming here for US residents:

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/artic...ideo-streaming

Good chance of rain every day this weekend. Might see the new wet Pirelli tyres tested. Personally, I'm hoping for a wet race, as it will even up the field a bit. But I don't want a red-flagged monsoon like 2009.

If there's no rain, I predict another runaway lights-to-flag victory for Vettel. And I think without rain an HRT will qualify. Yeah, I went there.

[Trace17]

Qualifying was darn exciting, came down to the last lap and Seb pulled it out.

The race though was pretty fantastic. The first run down to the first corner was crazy, the Renault's had absolutely superb starts. Nice job for Renault to get their second podium in two weeks. Unfortunate results for Petrov (massive air!), Hamilton and even Perez who showed promise last race.

Once Red Bull sort out the KERS issue they'll be even more dominating. Hopefully McLaren and Renault can give them a run, as well as Alonso.

[Hatter]

Alonso and Hamilton handed 20 second penalties.

Watch this for Hamilton's penalty:

YouTube - Alonso vs Hamilton Malaysia 2011 - Hamilton changes direction

Hamilton throws three blocks. I watched the race this morning and I'm surprised I didn't notice. I was too into the scrap I guess.

Alonso got 20 seconds for hitting Hamilton. You would think that Alonso losing an endplate causing him to have to come in for a new wing was punishment enough. Perhaps he further damaged Hamilton's rear tire but Hamilton's tires were already in poor shape. Hamilton would have probably come in for tires either way.

[Trace17]

Rules are rules, but I disagree with both penalties. I have a feeling they were issued to make an example. The problem is stewards can't not give penalties because of final outcomes, they have to adhere to the rules.

That being said, I just feel that although Hamilton was weaving a lot on the straight, it's a bit necessary. The biggest criticism of the DRS is the defending driver has one less tool to use to keep his position and he may have been screwed otherwise. We saw how fast Kobayashi flew by Webber. The DRS was quite effective at this track.

Oh well. Shanghai in a week. Maybe it can give us some rain, since Malaysia let us down. But it was a good race regardless, except for 1st place.

[Hatter]

Originally Posted by Trace17

Rules are rules, but I disagree with both penalties. I have a feeling they were issued to make an example. The problem is stewards can't not give penalties because of final outcomes, they have to adhere to the rules.

That being said, I just feel that although Hamilton was weaving a lot on the straight, it's a bit necessary. The biggest criticism of the DRS is the defending driver has one less tool to use to keep his position and he may have been screwed otherwise. We saw how fast Kobayashi flew by Webber. The DRS was quite effective at this track.

Oh well. Shanghai in a week. Maybe it can give us some rain, since Malaysia let us down. But it was a good race regardless, except for 1st place.

The only problem with what you said is the fact that Alonso's DRS was jammed closed.

[Trace17]

Originally Posted by Hatter

The only problem with what you said is the fact that Alonso's DRS was jammed closed.

Balls, I completely forgot about that. In that case I could see more reasoning for the penalty. Though I'm unsure if Hamilton was "blocking" or just trying to break the slipstream. Either way, the stewards have the telemetry data and Hamilton admitted and took the penalty, so oh well.

Edit: If the stewards were cracking down on multiple blocking procedures, why didn't they penalize Vettel on the run to the first corner? He clearly throws multiple blocks.

Have to throw this in here as well:

[sikander]

Since F1 is downsizing to 1.6 litres (with turbo) in 2013 and going green I hope we could see an even great use of the KERS or hybrid system, with a larger capacity battery and a more powerful electric motor. F1 could even achieve ZERO EMISSION racing by going pure electric at low speed sections ...!!!!!!!

[Trace17]

Webber out in Q1 in Shanghai. Big surprise. He has had KERS issues all weekend, but being 1.2 seconds back is more than a KERS issue.

Once again, Seb was just too fast. I believe .7 seconds faster than Button in second and I think he only set one time in Q3.

Hopefully we see an exciting race, as exciting as the end of Q2 was. Red flagged at 2 minutes, about 8 or 9 cars went out in a hurry to get to the line to get one last lap in and it looked like a race. Was great.

Originally Posted by sikander

Since F1 is downsizing to 1.6 litres (with turbo) in 2013 and going green I hope we could see an even great use of the KERS or hybrid system, with a larger capacity battery and a more powerful electric motor. F1 could even achieve ZERO EMISSION racing by going pure electric at low speed sections ...!!!!!!!

No.

I don't want F1 sounding like rice cookers. Bernie is attempting to appeal it too I believe.

[steve1971]

Excellent race this morning from China. Finally Vettel dont finish first but Hamilton did with Vettels teamate Webber 3rd. It was also nice to see Michael Schumacher have a strong race and its about time. Dont count out the 7 time world champ yet! As for my team Ferrari? They seem to be going backwards instead of forward and another dissapointing race for my team yet again. I think this year it may be a battle between Hamilton and Vettle and it may come down to the wire but that kid Vettel is a great F1 driver. He is world champ and has my respect in every way. Sord of reminds me of a young Schumacher. But again great race from China.

[Maximus]

Best race since Spa 1998! Seriously good stuff today, loving the new Pirelli tyres.

Also, Lewis > Seb. Seb is a good driver, but Lewis is better and in equal cars there wouldn't be any competition as we saw today.

[steve1971]

Originally Posted by Maximus

Best race since Spa 1998! Seriously good stuff today, loving the new Pirelli tyres.

Also, Lewis > Seb. Seb is a good driver, but Lewis is better and in equal cars there wouldn't be any competition as we saw today.

I disagree Max,

Vettel is the better driver of the 2 and this is no disrespect to Lewis, I like both but it wasnt for the mixup in China Vettel would have won easily.

[Maximus]

Which mix up?

[Shin-Ra]

Another enjoyable weekend of F1! Hopefully the graphics for tyre choice and anything else that makes it easier to track what's going on with all the pitstops come in before too long.

[Show spoiler]

Petrov had another entertaining 'trip'

[steve1971]

Originally Posted by Maximus

Which mix up?

The pit stops killed Vettel and stoped him from winning the race.

[Trace17]

Originally Posted by steve1971

Excellent race this morning from China. Finally Vettel dont finish first but Hamilton did with Vettels teamate Webber 3rd. It was also nice to see Michael Schumacher have a strong race and its about time. Dont count out the 7 time world champ yet! As for my team Ferrari? They seem to be going backwards instead of forward and another dissapointing race for my team yet again. I think this year it may be a battle between Hamilton and Vettle and it may come down to the wire but that kid Vettel is a great F1 driver. He is world champ and has my respect in every way. Sord of reminds me of a young Schumacher. But again great race from China.

Ferrari desperately need to figure out something. Mark Webber started the race in a different area code, fell back to P20 on Lap 11, and STILL beat both of them. Heck of a drive. Given another two laps he could have passed Seb too.

Also, fastest lap times for each driver say it all:

Trulli - 01:42.052
Alonso - 01:42.070

Originally Posted by Maximus

Best race since Spa 1998! Seriously good stuff today, loving the new Pirelli tyres.

Also, Lewis > Seb. Seb is a good driver, but Lewis is better and in equal cars there wouldn't be any competition as we saw today.

It was indeed an absolutely fantastic race!

Think about this:

-6 lead changes
-Webber goes from P18>P15>P20 then up to P3. Stunning.
-23 cars finish! Massive applause to the reliability this race. And arguably 24 cars should have finished.
-I don't know the exact number off the top of my head, but the Top 5 were all within about 10 seconds or close to that. Very close race all day.
-OVERTAKING! Even in places without DRS (like Lewis passing Seb).

As to the Seb/Lewis argument, Lewis is a better racer, Seb is a better driver. Lewis is better in the field/overtaking/etc., Seb is better at outright pace and being fast. Seb hasn't proven himself (to me) as being a great field driver yet. I need to see him start OFF the pole several times this season and pull a win.

Originally Posted by steve1971

The pit stops killed Vettel and stoped him from winning the race.

If you're referring to slowness or Button deciding to order some burgers in the RBR drive-thru, that's not what killed him. What killed him is having older tyres at the end of the race. Webber could have passed him too given a bit more time. Hamilton's overall strategy of sacrificing pole for tyres was better.

EDIT: Nice avatar Shin-Ra! We will Renaultionize the forum!

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by steve1971

The pit stops killed Vettel and stoped him from winning the race.

Do you mean the one with Button or just the 2 stop strategy. If it is the latter then it's his own fault for losing pole position from the start. The former was good for him as he gained a position when he came out of the pit lane ahead of Jenson.

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by Trace17

It was indeed an absolutely fantastic race!

Think about this:

-6 lead changes
-Webber goes from P18>P15>P20 then up to P3. Stunning.
-23 cars finish! Massive applause to the reliability this race. And arguably 24 cars should have finished.
-I don't know the exact number off the top of my head, but the Top 5 were all within about 10 seconds or close to that. Very close race all day.
-OVERTAKING! Even in places without DRS (like Lewis passing Seb).

As to the Seb/Lewis argument, Lewis is a better racer, Seb is a better driver. Lewis is better in the field/overtaking/etc., Seb is better at outright pace and being fast. Seb hasn't proven himself (to me) as being a great field driver yet. I need to see him start OFF the pole several times this season and pull a win.

I can't remember a better race that I watched live!

Seb still needs to prove himself in a rubbish car, Lewis proved himself in the awful 2009 McLaren, Schumacher had the Benneton years, Alonso had the Renault years. Seb has always had an awesome setup, and when he hasn't he has been average. He only did well in the rain with the Torro Rosso and his BMW year was unspectacular. At RBR he had the best car in 2010 and so far in 2011, when he didn't have the best car in 2009, he didn't win the championship.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by Trace17

As to the Seb/Lewis argument, Lewis is a better racer, Seb is a better driver. Lewis is better in the field/overtaking/etc., Seb is better at outright pace and being fast. Seb hasn't proven himself (to me) as being a great field driver yet. I need to see him start OFF the pole several times this season and pull a win.

Your last statement is one reason why I remain unconvinced of Vettel's superiority as a driver (over Hamilton or Alonso). I'm no fan of Alonso, but I respect his on-track driving abilities, and I think he has kept Ferrari in the running for the constructors' title when their chassis was clearly outmatched by RBR and McLaren for the past two seasons. Vettel has been the beneficiary of a competitive chassis since the day he entered F1, which has allowed him to remain in the hunt for row one in qualifying, as well as a podium finish. If Vettel can replicate Webber's achievements from yesterday, I may change my tune (somewhat), but until then, I have to side with the commentators regarding who is/are the best drivers in F1 right now: either Hamilton and/or Alonso.