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

The championship is still alive!!!!!!!!!!! Okay that may be a bit over optomistic

Despite another crushing win by Vettel in Singapore, Buttons valiant second place ensures that the championship mathematically remains possible for the experienced Britain, but for him to take his second world title he requires Vettel to not finish in all the remain races and Button to win every race and to be honest there is as much chance of me winning the lottery.

Indeed, Button has had a strong 2011 and this would be more highlighted if it wasnt for the sheer dominance of Vettel who has taken a podium in every race apart from Germany. He has outperformed his beleagured team mate Hamilton who is under severe pressure from the media after another incident, this time with Massa who didn't take kindly to it and made his feelings clear after the race.

But at Ferrari they seem to be going through the motions after a great win at Silverstone, Alonso has strong drives without challenging and Massa is regularly in the middle of the points without ever challenging the podium, surely he'll be on the way out soon as he's not performing at a level that Ferrari require him to be if they want to be serious Constructors Champions in the future.

Big news at Mercedes as Aldo Costa and Geoff Willis have joined the team, with the team struggling (in comparison) since their return to the sport in 2010, these two signings might just get them back at the front in the near future and might convince Schumacher to extend his contract, Singapore aside, Schumacher's performances have been a lot better this season and at the very least he has matched Rosberg and perhaps there is still life in the old dog yet and the podium might not be too far away.

Japan has become famous for title deciders with Prost/Senna being the most memorable with the crashes at the final chicane and turn 1 being some of the most controversial in the sport (particularly the latter after a dispute over the start position). The track is regarded as one of the best driver tracks on the calendar, second only to Spa and returned to the calendar in 2009 after Fuji pulled out of F1 due to financial problems after holding the grand prix in 2007 and 2008 where Hamilton and Alonso won respectively.

No doubt the championship will be won in Suzuka but you never know, stranger things have happened in F1, surely the reliability of the Red Bull can't hold out forever, can we hope?

For Galahads superb circuit write up see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/suzuka-international-racing-course/
 
That's what Lewis needs to be aware of.......he follows team orders.......JB wants to beat his faster team mate...as Turkey last year...I just wish LH would wake up & realise
 
That's what Lewis needs to be aware of.......he follows team orders.......JB wants to beat his faster team mate...as Turkey last year...I just wish LH would wake up & realise

Apparently he didn't today though? That was Whitmarsh's gripe.
 
Yes I did. It looks like he and Hamilton will be starting on the older set of softs with Schumacher, Kobayashi, Senna and Petrov on new tyres.
 
hamiltons post race interview http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/15226576.stm .to be fair to him i think he slowed down because he saw jenson ahead of him,but maybe he slowed down too much,and then he got sandwiched inbetween webber and schumacher.i think if lewis had of gone quicker he would have been a little to close to button which probably would have comprimised his lap anyway.
but 3rd isnt a bad place to start,and we already know lewis will be pushing hard from the start.hopefully he wont be held up like in the last race.
 
who was infront of lewis that we saw?was it button?and how much time was left after button crossed the line for the others,webber,schumacher and lewis to cross the line?
 
who was infront of lewis that we saw?was it button?and how much time was left after button crossed the line for the others,webber,schumacher and lewis to cross the line?

The very rough numbers from the TV.

It was JB in front of LH. I reckon he crossed with ~6s remaining, so there should have been 6s for those behind Button to start.

Not enough for all 3, given they want ~3s, but perhaps 2 had Schumacher not just bypassed the chicane.

I always get DSQ when I do that on F1 2011 ....
 
Worse for Hamilton, Massa has been one of the best starters all year and Alonso has been very good as well. Massa has the inside line and Alonso has the clean side + hamiltons slipstream.

I don't see hamilton keeping 3rd place at the start tomorrow.
 
Apparently Kobayashi will be 7th on the grid, shouldn't it be schumi?
Sauber confirmed to me that the FIA has said Kobayashi will be seventh on the grid when it is published... Adam Cooper F1
Schumi did 3 sectors Kamui did 2? And Hammy could be penalised for impeding Schumis lap then? :crazy:
 
Apparently Kobayashi will be 7th on the grid, shouldn't it be schumi?
Schumi did 3 sectors Kamui did 2? And Hammy could be penalised for impeding Schumis lap then? :crazy:
No, Schumacher should be penalized if anyone, for a dangerous move on his out lap and for leaving the confines of the track. It wasn't Hamilton's fault that the German (not to mention Webber as well) left it too late leaving the pits, then tried a desperate move at the last corner in an attempt to reach the line before the chequered flag, compromising Hamilton in the process.
 
No, Schumacher should be penalized if anyone, for a dangerous move on his out lap and for leaving the confines of the track. It wasn't Hamilton's fault that the German (not to mention Webber as well) left it too late leaving the pits, then tried a desperate move at the last corner in an attempt to reach the line before the chequered flag, compromising Hamilton in the process.

Well they all could be blamed but none should, I'm more bothered about who starts where cuz it should be schumi P7 not kamui
 
If Hamilton had of been any closer to Jenson then he would without doubt have had his lap compromised. Therefore he did nothing wrong - this is a fact.

The team should have sent them both out earlier and should have at least told Jenson to hurry up a little.

Yet again another complete farce from McLaren. I don't know why I support them, I really don't. I'm becoming tired of these constant unprofessional errors.

With how this seasons gone, generally it is Lewis who ends up paying the price and they seem to do it in qualifying at the only races where pole is in his grasp (Monaco, Suzuka).

Now im just waiting for another incident packed race for Lewis. Either his team will screw up his strategy or he'll get a bad start and then lose loads of time. I just cannot see anything going his way at the moment. No wonder the guy looks permanently depressed at the moment.
 
Unfortunately missed qualifying, but when I saw the words "Hamilton" and "incident" in the same sentence, I let out a small groan, probably more so than the fact that Vettel got pole again.
 
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