Formula 1 - F1 - Current Season Discussion

Alonso was upbeat after:

Fernando Alonso defends Ferrari's Canadian Grand Prix strategy

"It's all positive. The strategy we tried was positive, the result was positive and, again, the points scored are positive."

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Alonso can defend all he wants but he knows he made a bad move. Would have easily scored a podium had he pitted.

Great race. McClaren finally looked on form (for the most part) with Lewis. Idk what was going on with Jenson. 16th... ouch.

Really enjoyed the last 25 laps.

idfnl said:

Alonso can defend all he wants but he knows he made a bad move. Would have easily scored a podium had he pitted.

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what's amusing is grosjean was on the same strategy as alonso, same tires, even a few more laps on them, and yet was faster at the end
alonso destroyed his tires holding vettel and hamilton off
and when hamilton passed alonso first time he jinked twice, a violation of the rules...but ferrari is special

the only way alonso might have won
pit a lap or 2 before hamilton, maybe the same lap or 1 lap later
anything after that would be in vain, hamilton was smoking
vettel passed alonso in 6 laps and started with a 19 sec gap


great season, 7 races, 7 different winners, and some new blood on the podium

i really like Sergio pErez and Grosjean. Even though I'm a fan of Raikkonen I don't mind him being outshone a bit by Romaine. Especially the way he was treated by REnault during Briatore's error.

BOOM! finally made it over here (thanks sb!)

I'll read up on the thread AFTER I've caught up with Monaco and Canada.... still trying to find time to watch them







In other news.... we lost our local 14hr endurance karting event

We qualified 4th and ran p1 with an 8sec gap for 4hours.... then race control's timing got fux0red, on top of that - within 2 kart changes a rough estimate of 13 laps were not counted for us.... PLUS twice our kart broke... probably another 3-4 laps lost. We went down to p20, clawed up to finish in p10

oh, not to mention we ran out of gas well before the guaranteed 1hour stint before refueling. FML

/vent

Just caught up on the past 2 races!

Monaco:
Heikki vs Button
new engine/upgrades for caterham or button sucking? I've not been as in-tune these past couple months...


Canada:
My boy Hammy
and jumping hugs with Whitmarsh?
Grosjean has shown great pace in the earlier GP's and I'm starting to like him but I'm very impressed with Perez - slowly becoming a fan!


If there was a clear definition of a dirty dive bomber, it's M f-ing Schumacher can't even pass Kobacrashi. He was a donkey last season and he's a donkey this season. I would say "minus his quali in Monaco" but his 5grid penalty for running into Senna + the bad luck is well-deserved.


And what happened to Vettel? crazy pace on quali but no race pace? Highly unlikely but were Mclaren holding back in quali? particularly their DRS?


Oh and for anyone that saw the pre-quali & pre-race commentary on Sky from Jacques Villenueve.... that guy is a negatron, I liked his father better.



ianGP said:

Just caught up on the past 2 races!
Monaco:
Heikki vs Button
new engine/upgrades for caterham or button sucking? I've not been as in-tune these past couple months...

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Button has really struggled this season other than the first 2 races. He was 2 seconds off the pace in Canada compared to Hamilton. He's having issues with setup and adapting to the tires which I dont understand since they were the same as last year.

Stuck behind HK in Monaco was more than it being an impossible place to pass.

ianGP said:

Canada:
My boy Hammy
and jumping hugs with Whitmarsh?
Grosjean has shown great pace in the earlier GP's and I'm starting to like him but I'm very impressed with Perez - slowly becoming a fan!
If there was a clear definition of a dirty dive bomber, it's M f-ing Schumacher can't even pass Kobacrashi. He was a donkey last season and he's a donkey this season. I would say "minus his quali in Monaco" but his 5grid penalty for running into Senna + the bad luck is well-deserved.
And what happened to Vettel? crazy pace on quali but no race pace? Highly unlikely but were Mclaren holding back in quali? particularly their DRS?
Oh and for anyone that saw the pre-quali & pre-race commentary on Sky from Jacques Villenueve.... that guy is a negatron, I liked his father better.

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Grojean and Perez are the 2 best young talents on the grid.

Re Vettel, its the tires. A couple of degrees throws the car of significantly.

I think I remember either Brundle or Croft commenting on how the McLarens do/did well that the temps went down a few....

I thought it was tire deg at first but it seems to me even after Vettel's pit, he wouldn't have had Hammy's times.

RE Monaco - I imagine it's a combination of Button's driving and the track.....moreso Button though. There were several passes made between same caliber cars(I'm thinking Perez and a few others in the Nouvelle chicane) and with the distinct differences in overall car performances between the caterham and mclaren, it should have been relatively easier. *sigh* I hope he gets back on the saddle, and fast.

after Texas.......NJ GP ?




dunno how to embed ]



edit: w00t figured it out!



idfnl said:

He's having issues with setup and adapting to the tires which I dont understand since they were the same as last year.

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Tires may be the same, but the cars are completely different. The banning of the exhaust-blown diffuser has radically reduced rear downforce, leading to more sliding at the rear and increased degradation. Button is clearly lost on setup, but hasn't forgotten how to drive. Unfortunately for him, his teammate likes a mobile rear and Button would rather deal with some understeer, so he can't just adopt Hamilton's setup and go faster.



sugarbutch said:

Tires may be the same, but the cars are completely different. The banning of the exhaust-blown diffuser has radically reduced rear downforce, leading to more sliding at the rear and increased degradation. Button is clearly lost on setup, but hasn't forgotten how to drive. Unfortunately for him, his teammate likes a mobile rear and Button would rather deal with some understeer, so he can't just adopt Hamilton's setup and go faster.

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According to Paddy (tech director for mclaren) - "...Lewis and Jenson have the same car..." 2:27



Maybe what you meant was that they have the same car which is precisely why Button is having problems.
Their driving styles are complete opposites and if that car is doing well for Lewis, then not so much for Jenson.

Setup can only do so much for a driver - take a look at Schumi on his first comeback, he had another car made - completely different from Nico (IIRC longer wheel base) just to suit his driving style. He's maxed out the setup on the old and can't do no more for it.



ianGP said:

According to Paddy (tech director for mclaren) - "...Lewis and Jenson have the same car..." 2:27

Maybe what you meant was that they have the same car which is precisely why Button is having problems.
Their driving styles are complete opposites and if that car is doing well for Lewis, then not so much for Jenson.
Setup can only do so much for a driver - take a look at Schumi on his first comeback, he had another car made - completely different from Nico (IIRC longer wheel base) just to suit his driving style. He's maxed out the setup on the old and can't do no more for it.

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that actually makes sense. Its true button does like a car that understeers which I dont understand personally, I would find that harder to control. So it seems the rules changes have favored both webber and hamiltons driving styles.



ianGP said:

after Texas.......NJ GP ?

dunno how to embed ]
edit: w00t figured it out!

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That cute blonde must be his handler. She's always with him at the races during post race interviews, etc, and was even in that vid. She must go everywhere with him.

You know, he's gotta be tapping that.



ianGP said:

Maybe what you meant was that they have the same car which is precisely why Button is having problems.

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I meant that the 2012 cars are completely different than the 2011 cars. In 2011, the inherent balance was less on the nose and more to Button's liking. With the reg changes for this year, drivers able to cope with a more mobile rear end have a leg up.