Grand Prix 2011 Indian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Is the season over yet?

Unfortunately the answer is no as the F1 circus rumbles onto India for a brand new track, but after problems with the construction of the track, there is a degree of hesitation as not everyone is overjoyed about the prospect of a race there at the current moment in time. Added to the fact that it is another Tilke track, many fans aren't optimistic for an exciting race, but we've been proven wrong before. After all, we thought 2011 would be a close championship!!

Red Bull reasserted itself as the best car on the track after a dominant win in Korea with Vettel taking yet another win as he continues to rewrite the record books in the same way as Schumacher used to, just not as controversially as the elder German. Mark Webber had his strongest races recently pushing Hamilton very hard for second place, perhaps showing that he still has it for next season.

Hamilton put a long list of poor races behind to finish second in Korea after taking his first pole position of the season and it turned out after the race that he was running with tyre bits in the front wing which was costing a good couple a tenths a lap, something which would surely have cost him a true crack at a third race victory of the season, but at the very least it shows that he's getting back to his best, but a split with his partner might explain a less than happy mood recently.

Ferrari are constantly lingering as the team behind the top 2 and they are almost in a race with themselves as they are far quicker than Mercedes but not quick enough (mainly Massa) to challenge the Red Bulls and Mclarens for victories, particularly on a consistent basis after the problems with the EBD after Silverstone.

In the midfield there is a serious log jam as Mercedes, Renault, Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso fight over points and championship places as a lot of money is at stake for 4th-8th in the championship and it's probably the best place to see action at the moment as the racing has been close and extremely well fought with different cars being better at each different circuit with none having the best all round package of the 5 teams. Now even Team lotus is getting involved in the action as they are starting to beat some of these cars on pure pace which will no doubt please the owners, and Kovalainen beating Petrov on pure pace in Singapore would particularly have pleased the team after the rows with Group lotus this season.

No-one knows what to expect from the Indian track, but early reports indicate it's better than previous Tilke tracks, but then it can't be worse than Bahrain and Abu Dhabi really.... We hope so anyway.

For Galahad's superb write up, see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/buddh-international-circuit/
 
From my perspective it seemed Hamilton was just pacing himself to Massa in the early stages, waiting for the pit stops much as Button has tended to do this season. Obviously I've got nothing to base this on other than my assumption that he had quite a bit of pace in hand.
Unfortunately (for Hamilton) I just don't see it that way. Thats simply not in the Hamilton strategy manual - he likes to get past people and get on with it. There's no way he'd be pacing himself to Massa by choice whilst knowing that Vettel, Button and Webber et al were all driving away from him into the sunset - he's there to win.
 
Did anyone make sense of what Massa was saying?

Yes, from what I thought, Hamilton said himself he tried to talk to Massa and make amends, Massa tried this several times to talk to him. From Massa's view Hamilton didn't try to make amends saying "have a good race" doesn't mean anything, so I think he's trying to say that Hamilton isn't exactly trying to talk about the incidents and making amends like he states.
 
Unfortunately (for Hamilton) I just don't see it that way. Thats simply not in the Hamilton strategy manual - he likes to get past people and get on with it. There's no way he'd be pacing himself to Massa by choice whilst knowing that Vettel, Button and Webber et al were all driving away from him into the sunset - he's there to win.

I thought the same as G actually. His biggest problem in races (apart from incidents) has been the tyre wear so I thought that he was probably trying this strategy as a test - I mean what else has he got left to do now. Pirelli are not going away so if he wants to have a shot he is going to have to work with them.

Sly, if Alonso/Rosberg/Schumacher etc. were Massa in that situation they would have given the room and that could have been a beautiful opportunistic overtake. He is one of the few drivers that seems to think he is entitled to drive into someone if they are in his space. It's racing, it should be expected. To have seen Hamilton as he clearly did and not give him space was unforgivable.

For goodness sakes he even blamed the curb and said they should be modified, doesn't think maybe sticking to the track is probably safer course of action. If there was a chump of the weekend it would be him. No doubt.
 
Maybe he's attempting to learn from his team-mate? What with him being 38 points behind him in the championship and all...
I sincerely hope not.
There's nothing worse than a driver just following another one around lap after lap, just to pass them in the pit stops.

Not that I'm suggesting that's what Button does, but I inferred from the comments that's what some are suggesting Hamilton is now doing.
 
Looking at it again the only way Massa could have avoided an incident was to pull right very early and basically yield, or to run well wide off the track giving Lewis the room. Never been a fan of block passes, they only worked of Schumacher as everyone was scared of him and Ferrari.
 
Yeah - when the race is great the cameras can't keep up much to the frustration of the viewer. But on a bad day like today they're panning around looking for action and can't find any. So they pan in on Mr.Bean instead LOL

To be fair, if they'd have sat on that piece of footage it would have been absolutely criminal!
 
so I think he's trying to say that Hamilton isn't exactly trying to talk about the incidents and making amends like he states.

"We had the one minute silence before the start of the race and me and Felipe were standing next to each other. He hasn't spoken to me in a long, long time so I put my arm around him and just said 'good luck for the race'.
 
I thought the same as G actually. His biggest problem in races (apart from incidents) has been the tyre wear so I thought that he was probably trying this strategy as a test - I mean what else has he got left to do now. Pirelli are not going away so if he wants to have a shot he is going to have to work with them.
Well I hope that wasnt the case coz he was dropping anything between two and seven tenths a lap to Button and still had to pit first. On the other hand a setup issue can hopefully be resolved.
 
Sly, if Alonso/Rosberg/Schumacher etc. were Massa in that situation they would have given the room and that could have been a beautiful opportunistic overtake. He is one of the few drivers that seems to think he is entitled to drive into someone if they are in his space. It's racing, it should be expected. To have seen Hamilton as he clearly did and not give him space was unforgivable.

Hm...I have only seen him get into incidents with Hamilton while with everyone else he seems to be fine has not been caught up with any of the incidents. I am not blaming either of them here, it was mentioned in commentray that their incidents are usually half-hearted moves between both drivers, so no I don't think he thinks that he's entitled to drive into someone.

He was at fault today, I have said that, but for the rest of your points I have already stated my points.
 
"We had the one minute silence before the start of the race and me and Felipe were standing next to each other. He hasn't spoken to me in a long, long time so I put my arm around him and just said 'good luck for the race'.

I am not making excuses for him here, but I am looking at it from his view. Massa still probably feels annoyed as he's tried to talk to Hamilton several times after the incidents this year, so I doubt "good luck for the race" is going to make him feel happy
 
Maybe he's attempting to learn from his team-mate? What with him being 38 points behind him in the championship and all...

I sincerely hope not.
There's nothing worse than a driver just following another one around lap after lap, just to pass them in the pit stops.

Not that I'm suggesting that's what Button does, but I inferred from the comments that's what some are suggesting Hamilton is now doing.

I think what Hamilton needs to learn, and Button is a great exemplar for, is that these tyres will bite you in the arse if you take too much out of them when they first appear on the car.

Button does not generally waste time overtaking someone himself. I'm not suggesting Lewis does. But the current regulations (i.e. tyres) suit a race manager like the three podium finishers today, rather than an agressive charger such as Webber or Hamilton.

Unfortunately, he should probably have the pace to avoid being on a similar piece of tarmac to Massa as often as he is.

I don't think its a disaster for his future career, because he will still generally outqualify Button, and I think he has the capacity to learn and adapt. What would have changed this weekend was not picking up that penalty on Friday.
 
What's bad for the show might be good for the driver's results. I want Hamilton to realise his full potential and it may be that there are some specific aspects of Jenson's approach -not many - where Lewis could learn something. Lots of fan favourites end up not winning as much as they could or should.

Anyway this wasn't the weekend to be conservative, the tyres were hanging on very well and it looked as though the leaders' stops were all strategic rather than by tyre wear necessity.
 
I am not making excuses for him here, but I am looking at it from his view. Massa still probably feels annoyed as he's tried to talk to Hamilton several times after the incidents this year, so I doubt "good luck for the race" is going to make him feel happy

Lets look at it from Lewis' point of view then. In Singapore Massa comes barging into the media centre, interrupts his interview with sarcastic applause and goes on to slate him publicly, whilst supposedly expecting they deal with it behind closed doors.
 
I am not making excuses for him here, but I am looking at it from his view. Massa still probably feels annoyed as he's tried to talk to Hamilton several times after the incidents this year, so I doubt "good luck for the race" is going to make him feel happy

I've not seen the interview yet, I just don't think Lewis was stating he was trying to make amends.

They've both been at fault this year. I think Massa might want to leave the talk that somebody else is dangerous out of the equation as he's hardly Mr Sensible. He compromised three drivers laps yesterday having a fight with a curb (that he repeated today) and blamed the curb. Like he's had no incidents with other drivers this year, no other drivers terminally damaged their cars doing the same thing two days in a row either. He's not blameless and I think can be somewhat erratic as a driver.
 
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