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

Got your breath back yet?

After an exhilarating grand prix which lasted for record time, it seems as if there is renewed optimism that Sebastian Vettel can be caught after a last lap slip in the moist conditions in Canada allowing Jenson Button to take his first win for over a year despite a turbulent race which included crashes with Alonso and team-mate Hamilton, a puncture and a drive through.

However, a candidate for most improved driver since the season started is a certain Michael Schumacher. Ridiculed early on after a poor start, he seems to have found the groove again and if it hadn't have been for the last safety car, he arguably would have gotten his first podium since returning to the sport, indeed he was closing the gap to Vettel and could even have taken the win at one of his favourite circuits. Now that he has overtaken Rosberg in the standings, is it time for him to push on and show that he is worth the 7 world championships to his name?

Another name that has been bandied about the press recently is Lewis Hamilton, after a disappointing race in Monaco, he followed it with a worse showing at one of his most successful circuits. During the race he hit everything that moved, and seemed to take the blame for most if not all of the incidents, whether he deserves the current criticism is another thing entirely. He knows he needs a strong showing in Valencia where he has finished 2nd on every single visit so far to the Spanish circuit.

It is the second home race of the year for Fernando Alonso, but it looks like he is going to need more than home support to beat the Red Bulls here, however an improved showing in Canada was masked by a clumsy incident with Button which punted him out of the grand prix. Felipe Massa had an overall strong race and recovered form an impact in the wall to finish 6th after beating Kobayashi in a drag race to the line.

Williams claimed their first points of the year finally with Barrichello claiming a handful of points while Toro Rosso managed to get both drivers into the points which will go some way into relieving the pressure on the two embattled drivers who will no doubt be looking over his shoulder.

Looking ahead to Valencia, it is easy for people not to get their hopes up about any exciting racing as the European Grand Prix here hasn't been known for frantic racing, particularly as the 2009 race didn't have any overtaking whatsoever, yes, there were 0 overtakes. But with a combination of two long straights and the new dual DRS zones, we should be seeing tons of overtaking into the hairpin, remember Kobayashi's overtake on Alonso late on last year.

No doubt Mark Webber will want to eradicate last years memories where he found that Red Bull literally did give him wings when he flew 360 degrees in the air after tagging Kovalainens lotus at high speed, seeing as this happened in what will probably be a DRS zone this year, I sincerely hope we do not see a repeat, while Webber walked away unharmed, it is never nice to see that happen in any kind of motorsport.

For Galahads superb circuit write up, see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/valencia-street-circuit/
 
Compared to previous years this wasn't that bad a race. I think we've been spoiled by how exciting some of the races have been so far and given Galahad's overtaking analysis this was a massive leap forward for Valencia.
 
To be honest the DRS didn't do much apart from help the faster car get past the slower one on tyres that where absolutley worn, example: Hamilton on Schumacher breezed past him halfway through the straight.

Luckily we did not see cars breezing past each other throughout the race even with a double DRS zone...

Plus I think the 2010 race was much better than this one...
 
To be honest the DRS didn't do much apart from help the faster car get past the slower one on tyres that where absolutley worn

I know you don't like DRS very much, Sly, but I have to say that I think today would have been much worse without it. The first zone undid the evils of T8/9/10 and the second gave the faster car behind half a chance of overtaking.
 
I know you don't like DRS very much, Sly, but I have to say that I think today would have been much worse without it. The first zone undid the evils of T8/9/10 and the second gave the faster car behind half a chance of overtaking.

You know for once I wasn't having a dig at DRS, it was a response to MCLS about how the overtaking statistics would be helped by the double DRS zone, but most of the passes we saw where more so to do with cars on degrading tyres no?
 
You know for once I wasn't having a dig at DRS, it was a response to MCLS about how the overtaking statistics would be helped by the double DRS zone, but most of the passes we saw where more so to do with cars on degrading tyres no?
Mostly, yes. But I think DRS was important keeping the gaps between the leaders down so the Webber / Alonso battle could take place.
 
I like what Hamilton did today, in his last stint he did not push at all just to emphasise how crappy the car was, so as not to give anyone any illusions of everything being well at Mclaren!
 
I would have expected Button to have done much better than he did today, with him driving to the best win in the history of motorsport last week!
 
Please don't troll the forums, it's immature and achieves nothing.

now no-FIAt-please, can you be kind enough to please explain what you mean by that, was i unjustified in my expectations of Button performing better than what he did today? Or was i supposed to reach a conclusion that his win in Canada was attributed to good fortune?
 
I like what Hamilton did today, in his last stint he did not push at all just to emphasise how crappy the car was, so as not to give anyone any illusions of everything being well at Mclaren!

Urm guys maybe hes right? What if hamilton is out preforming the car but has laid off today?
 
I thought this forum was about rational debate, i see no evidence in my posts which contradict this! I have been fair and just in my assessment of the happenings in formula1, I do not use any profanity in my posts and all my humble conclusions are backed up with solid facts!

I implore the powers that be on this forum to allow free and open debate, perhaps a quote from rosseau might be appropriate in this regard:
"I may disagree with what you say, but i will defend to the death your right to say it!"
 
I like what Hamilton did today, in his last stint he did not push at all just to emphasise how crappy the car was, so as not to give anyone any illusions of everything being well at Mclaren!

That's a solid fact? :rolleyes:
 
Jos the Boss, if you listen to the pit radio conversations between Hamilton and his engineer at two instances during the race you will understand what Im on about, the first pit radio Hamilton was told to go slower as his rear tyres were 'overheating' and he told them straight up 'I can't go any slower', the second pit radio he was told to push and he told his engineer, 'I can't go any faster'

This leaves me to conclude whatever Hamilton was doing today was purely to show his displeasure at the team and the way they have gone about racing this season! If anybody has a different intepretation to this please feel free to debate, this is formula one a sport about passion and adrenalin!
 
Erm, He was told to go slower because his rear tyres were over heating and he felt if he went any slower he'd risk dropping a place or two? Then when he was later told to push, he couldn't go any faster because he was already on the ragged edge?

Not Mclaren's day today. Somehow I don't think that Hamilton was on a protest go slow.
 
Urm guys maybe hes right? What if hamilton is out preforming the car but has laid off today?
*If* Lewis was not giving his all, especially for political reasons, then we should hang him out to dry, as should McLaren.

But where is the evidence that Lewis was trying to make a point, *by deliberately underperforming*?? Yes he had a whinge on the radio, which might not have been the most professional thing he has ever done, but put the messages in context: "slow down Lewis, you are going too fast for the tyres" being one of them...

He beat Jenson didn't he? Put in fastest laps when he could, generally kept within a reasonable range of Alonso and kept Massa behind. It's a ridiculous premise that he would just cruise round to show what a crappy car he has.
 
My evidence lies in two facts, besides the ones i have aforementioned, in his last stint Hamilton was going slower than Jenson who was without KERS and whom Lewis was faster than in all his previous stints. What Hamilton expressed in his interviews after the race confirms exactly what he was feeling during the race that of sheer frustration :

"We've not made an upgrade for several weeks now. We've had upgrades like the front wing for example but rear downforce, we've really been struggling with that."
He also predicted that McLaren could suffer more than most when the exhaust set-up rules are tightened from the next race at Silverstone onwards.
"I think in the next race we'll really, really struggle"

Hamilton feels like why should he constantly push his car over the limit week-in week-out risk crashes, as has happened, get blamed for it, get penalties from stewards, you tell me now why should he keep pushing hard when his team clearly are not?
 
And you believe what you said to be a "solid fact"? This is what you stated before:

I thought this forum was about rational debate, i see no evidence in my posts which contradict this! I have been fair and just in my assessment of the happenings in formula1, I do not use any profanity in my posts and all my humble conclusions are backed up with solid facts!

I somehow see a contradictory.... :whistle:
 
slyboogy21
I have mentioned the team radios
I have mentioned the fact that Lewis was slower than Button who had no KERS
I have mentioned Lewis's post race comments

Now it is your turn to produce any evidence of profanity and lack of facts in my statements!
 
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