The F1 Thread

[Deutsch Wolf]

I suppose it should reward "smooth" drivers like Jenson.

 

[Kenny]

The tyres will add something to the races. Not so much the pit stops but the drivers looking after the tyres as they are designed to go quickly. The final ten laps could be very interesting indeed.

 

[Nando]

There's no problem with the tracks, the aerodynamics of the modern cars prevent overtaking.

The tyres will make a big difference, we'll see more races like Canada last year which was brilliant.

 

[pavlosmacwolf]

i hope so nando, i can only get to see very few races here, but overtaking has always been a massive part of F1 for me, and pit stops, bore the arse off me.

 

[Law's Bus]

There's no problem with the tracks, the aerodynamics of the modern cars prevent overtaking.

The tyres will make a big difference, we'll see more races like Canada last year which was brilliant.

Indeed - I can't wait for 2013 and the return of ground effect cars, meaning that cars will be able to follow closely without wrecking the airflow over the front wings - or at least not caring so much about it!

 

[wombourne wolves]

Quite astonishing that the front 2 cars on the grid did not use KERS. McLaren seem to have made some big strides, but Vettel looks a class apart.

 

[Nando]

Red Bull have apparently developed a lightweight KERS system, just for use at the start. Frighteningly quick car.

 

[Psychowolf]

Good qualifying I thought, decided to wait till after the re-run before posting anything so heres my thoughts.
Brundle and Coulthard we're pretty decent and worked well i thought, fountains of knowledge of the sport working well with each other and no real say what you see style of Legard.
Red Bull, or atleast Vettell just looks insanely quick, i'm still shocked at the gap he pulled out. That's some catching up for the rest of the teams.
No idea how Sutil kept that out of the wall
Massively pleased to see the McLaren's put up a fight and qualify on front 2 rows, after the winter I wouldn't have been surprised to see them around 8th-10th.
Hispania seemed slower than last year. I know it's hard for them and they doing a great job just to be where they are, but with last years developments over the season (0 I believe) I'm very concerned for them.
All in all it should be a great race. Felt alot of the pack seemed pretty close to each other at times in terms of times (think at one stage around 6 were seperated by half a second) so could make for some good close racing behind the leading pack. Vettell to run away though, just see how the tyres mix things up.

 

[Nando]

Hispania are a joke, time for them to get off the grid for good.

DC and Brundle were really good together.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

3 and 5 seconds slower than everyone else? Jesus - that is a lifetime in F1. Looks like they are unlikely to make the grid all season at this rate.

 

[Nando]

Karthikeyan is 11 seconds down on Vettel's Q3 time. Ridiculous, quite right that they've been prevented from racing tomorrow.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I feel a bit sorry for them, but it's a bit like San Marino and the like in football; they're so uncompetitive that it makes a mockery of things.

They need to drop down to GP2 and build from there because their present state helps no-one.

 

[Nando]

This car wouldn't compete in GP2, I've got absolutely no sympathy for them. They've had as much time as anybody else to design a car, you should not be turning up to the first race without your car having completed a single lap. Grand Prix's are not for testing, if they can't compete then they should just pack it in. They're a hazard to every other driver at the moment.

Liuzzi's mad to have taken a drive there.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

You're a harsh man. ;-)

F1 needs new teams coming through all the time, it's just unfortunate that they don't have the money to compete. The passion is there but the funding isn't. Minardi were perennial backmarkers all the time but an integral part of the sport for me when I was growing up. Where do you draw the line? You must finish in the top ten within 2-3 years or you're out?

They're not as bad as Midland/Spyker were anyway.

 

[Law's Bus]

Minardi were perennial backmarkers all the time but an integral part of the sport for me when I was growing up. Where do you draw the line?

Minardi served a useful purpose. They weren't always backmarkers, but when they were they were generally within a reasonable distance of the teams ahead. There was none of this "we couldn't test because our dampers couldn't get through Spanish customs" rubbish. If that was the case, then why the hell were they still finishing the cars off this morning?

They remind me of a slightly less kakh Andrea Moda, or Coloni/Forti. You can't see how on earth they can actually get better, unlike Lotus and Virgin who are serious racing teams, especially Lotus.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Well, that was all a bit mundane.

Webber's annual choke at his home GP, Vettel miles clear all race, Button's race wrecked by the stop and go, and minimal overtaking. Kudos to Perez and Petrov though, and good to see that McLaren have fixed whatever issues they had in pre-season.

 

[waggy on the wing]

hopefully the racing will get better. Vettel won easily, never looked like anyone else would win.

 

[Psychowolf]

Wasn't exactly a classic. Perfect and faultless race for Vettel. Good result for Hamilton given the tough winter. Button shot himself in the foot, was obvious he had to give the place back. Good result for Petrov. Keep reading around different forums comments like "if Petrov can finish there i bet Kubica would have challenged Vettel" etc. Frankly I don't think Kubica would have done much better than Petrov and if anything would have only finished in 3rd himself. Petrov had tough season last year but showed glimpses of what he's capable of and hopefully this season makes it more consistent, and what a great start for him.
Good race for Perez too, massively impressed by that given it being his debut. Hopefully keeps it up and looks forward to a good season and bright future.

Tyres didn't seem to add much other than the inconvenience of an extra pit stop. The DRS looks like it will be really effective in the next 2 races given the lengthy straights. Seemed to be able to just get cars within the stream of the car infront but straight just wasn't long enough for anything more.

Ticker bar thing on BBC sport site is now showing Sauber drivers disqualified for technical infringement. Doesn't say what though, anyone have anymore on that?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

No idea on that one mate. What a terrible shame for Perez who was superb.

What amazed me was that McLaren asked race control for their opinion on what Jenson should do. Surely they should have just made their own call based on the pictures? Obviously it wasn't helped by Alonso immediately overtaking Massa which meant he would have had to let both through, but still.

 

[Psychowolf]

Yeah its massive shame for Perez. Really impressed today. Di Resta is classified as 10th now so least he gets a point on his debut.

I couldn't believe McLaren asked race control either. There really wasn't anything to ask. Can't see how Button thought he was ahead either as judging from the pictures Massa still had his front tyres ahead of Button so he must have seen that. Could have minimised the damage though had he done it straight after cutting the corner and tried to filter in between them rather than driving off into the sunset.

Saubers disqualified for a rear wing infringement. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90294