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

Getting closer and closer

Every time we say that Vettel won't win, he comes up trumps with a flawless performance and Monza was no different, taking pole, won the race and put a smart move on Alonso which won him the race.

Ferrari have pretty much admitted defeat and are stopping development on their frankly dissapointing 2011 car which so far has only taken one win at the rain affected British Grand Prix which was also the only track where the EBD was banned which was negatively affecting McLaren and Red Bull more than it was Ferrari. It means that Fernando Alonso will have gone 5 years without adding to his 2 world championships which he took at Renault in 2005 and 2006 and he will be more determined than ever to fix that soon. Felipe Massa looks to be just going through the motions and is a shadow of his pre 2009 self.

Jenson Button continued his strong second half of the season with a podium at Monza to further assert himself as the number one driver at McLaren, indeed his performances recently have been putting his team mate in the shade and a series of overtakes in Spa and Monza have showed that he has the mantle to be the leading driver at McLaren.

In contrast Lewis Hamilton has been somewhat troubled recently, after a crash in Spa, a spin in Hungary and just 1 podium in 8 races, he was notably less agressive in Monza, particularly when trying to overtake Schumacher who arguably should have been penalised for agressive defending which other drivers have been penalised for recently.

Apart from over agressive defending Schumacher has been driving a lot better recently and has been up at the front on a more consistent basis and surely he must be close to a podium now? Rosberg has been very unlucky recently, a good strategy in Monza was ruined when he was t-boned by the missile that was Liuzzi who was given a penalty for his spin, he claimed that he was pushed off by Kovalainen but this wasn't true and the stewards took a dim view of him.

Toro Rosso have enjoyed a very strong second half to the year with another double points finish in Monza with Alguesari continuing his Lazarus act from near expulsion to take his season total to 16, 3 ahead of his team mate Buemi who took a solitary point in the sister Toro Rosso, both will be looking to get the upper hand on each other as the season draws to a close and Riccardo in the rear view mirrors when the 2012 contracts get drawn up.

Renault showed a resurgance in Monza with Bruno Senna taking his first F1 points in 9th, he might have finished higher but he was caught up in the first corner crash which forced Petrov to retire after both cars had made it into Q3, but with Singapore being a totally different track, it will be a good test on whether the last upgrades for the car have worked.

Singapore is the first night race in F1 but apart from 2008 which was affected by deliebarate crashing and race fixing, the races have been rather dull with little action throughout the race and many fans criticising the circuit despite decent overtaking figures.

For Galahads superb write up, see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/marina-bay-street-circuit/
 
McLaren's re-fueling gaff in Q3 cost Hamilton a 2nd run which, at worst, would have put him on the clean side in 3rd and, at best, on the front row in 2nd.

Not sure on that one to be honest - usually I'd agree with you but this weekend has been the one weekend Jenson's actually had the legs on Lewis. Certainly did with lap times in the race so I don't think we can assume he'd have been in front of him.

As for Lewis 'worst most disastourus season ever ever ever.com' we keep hearing, I have to say, its just not true. I think he's had a better and more consistant season than he did last year, 2009 and even his championship year. He's had 2 bad races of his own making(Malaysia and Monoco), 2 DNF's not his own fault (Canada and Belgium) and 2 races messed up by racing incidents which he recovered from (Hungary and Singapore) but he's also scored probably his 2 greatest Grand Prix victories, China for coming through the field and Germany for his dominance. He great races in Australia, Spain and Great Britain, He got the best results his machinary allowed at Turkey and Valencia.

The truth of it is that Lewis is not driving badly but that others have stepped their game up this year. Vettel is clear of the field and Lewis is in a pack fight with Button, Alonso and Webber and unfourtuantly results have just gone their way this season. I think thats whats 'frustrating' Lewis.

Lets not make excuses for him - I'm the first to praise him when he does something amazing but this year he's been beat fair and square and he needs to accept that if he's going to come back from it
 
Yup, he made a mistake and lost his wing, everyone makes mistakes, he drove great after there after.

Actually he didn't. He overtook a shedload of drivers who were over a second a lap slower than himself due to being in slower cars and then he lucked in with the safety car. As has been said he was not as fast as Button, in fact his fastest lap was over 2.3 seconds slower than Button's. As it was he was only 59 milliseconds quicker than Alonso.

Had it not been for the safety car he might have got into the points but it would have been a close thing.
 
Unusual bit of strategy at McLaren, on lap 29 they gave Lewis the same option tyres they removed 16 laps earlier after his collision!

From Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/adamcooperf1/status/118022332458602497

I would think that they changed them just in case they had been affected resulting from the collision. They would then have inspected them and decided that they were OK. Since they were the only super-softs he had and in reasonable condition I would expect them to be re-used.
 
When i saw Schumacher almost flip up in the area i was having flashbacks of Webber at Valencia last year. I know Schumachers done well in some races this season, but does someone of his age really need to be in F1?
 
Lap chart for those who are interested in that sort of thing.

f1-2011-singapore-grand-prix-lap-chart.png
 
He'd only done a lop or two before hitting Massa, so they were equivalent to the scrubbed tyres every one else was using.

I did wonder why he went for SS rather than Soft, with 30+ laps to go at that point, it was always likely to require a further stop. And he did seem to have an advantage using the SS against all those on Soft around at that time.

The alternative of fighting back through the field and overtaking while preserving the tyres (Softs) to the end would have been difficult
 
Webber once again loses places from the start.

Rosberg cuts a chicane and gets away with it.

Hamilton hits Massa and receives a drive through penalty.

Schumacher launches himself over Perez and slams into the barrier triggering a safety car and earning himself a post-race reprimand.

Alguersuari hits Trulli and gets a drive through penalty.

Rosber hits Perez and there is no further action.

Kovalainen has an unsafe release almost taking out Vettel and the team is fined.

Senna hits Perez and the team is fined.

Vettel wins comfortably and is 1 point away from being the youngest ever WDC with back to back titles.

Force india have both drivers in the top 10.

Button is the only other driver left in the title race, although realistically it's all over.

Why is it seemingly only one of those incidents is worthy of discussion?

Because it's Lewis, and people find him and his travails a lot more interesting than a driver such as Massa. Lewis commands more interest and therefore more posts debates media content etc

It's like these pop idol type shows, the public generally takes interest in those they find most interesting and not those whom the judges or authorities prefer or deem worthy
 
Hamilton's response was the right one. I don't want to imagine the outcry had Hamilton responded either verbally or physically :no:
 
Not sure on that one to be honest - usually I'd agree with you but this weekend has been the one weekend Jenson's actually had the legs on Lewis. Certainly did with lap times in the race so I don't think we can assume he'd have been in front of him.

So the fact that Lewis didn't have a second run in Q3 due to a team error with fuel means Button had the legs on Lewis?

You do know that his first q3 run practically matched Buttons second better run?

Let's wait till the end of the season to see if Lewis gets bad luck every race
 
Actually he didn't. He overtook a shedload of drivers who were over a second a lap slower than himself due to being in slower cars and then he lucked in with the safety car. As has been said he was not as fast as Button, in fact his fastest lap was over 2.3 seconds slower than Button's. As it was he was only 59 milliseconds quicker than Alonso.

Had it not been for the safety car he might have got into the points but it would have been a close thing.

You do know that Button was in clean air the whole race? And you must have noticed that Lewis was almost always behind others on a street circuit? Different races due to tyre management, Button went fast at the end, Lewis had primes at the end, but you knew that
 
Not to disturb this rather one way conversation but what a great race Seb V drove today. Brilliant pole lap, stamped his authority on the race whilst his team mate yet again got bogged down at the start, flew away at the restart after the safety car and always appeared to be in total control even when Button put him under pressure at the end. Sublime - a truly deserving World Champion whenever he gets that one point he needs.

Special shout out for JB as well. Kept the pressure on but, as he himself said, the car simply wasn't fast enough. And a mention in dispatches for Paul di Resta, 6th in the FI is quite some achievement. Seems to have got past his mid-season blip and is back on his game again.

Question: what is it with Ferrari and these tyres? They either can't get any temperature into them or they wear out before everyone else's. Need to sort this if they are going to mount any sort of title challenge next season.
 
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