Grand Prix 2010 Japanese Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

So the moment when the 2010 World Drivers Champion is crowned edges ever close and it's still a 5 way battle for the top. They say that fortune favours the brave however this year it's more about not making any mistakes. Ferrari will be looking to this weekend on a high after back to back wins and have to be the team to beat.

At Red Bull, it's now time for Webber to show what he's made of if he's to stay out in front. This must be his best and possibly only opportunity to win the title so it's all about composure and performance. Bumping into Lewis showed neither two weeks ago and it was lucky for him that it came off and not so lucky for Lewis.

Vettel, Hamilton and Button are all waiting in the wings and any one could be centre stage at any time. Hamilton's priority this weekend is to find the sweet spot with his car and restore some confidence. Yes he's not had lady luck on his side but neither has he done himself any favours.

A DNF for any of the top 5 while not leaving them out of the game all together would just pile the pressure on.

Being this close to the end of the season it's only natural that the focus will shift away from the middle of the field and towards the sharp end. Renault, Mercedes and Williams will once again be hoping to spoil the party of the front three and could well have an effect on the way the championship pans out during the final few races. Petrov will be interesting to watch as his performance picked up a little during the last race and he's still fighting for his spot next season if rumours are to be believed.

With nothing to lose there are several drivers in the mid field that may now take a few more risks that earlier in the season they wouldn't have done, especially those drivers who haven't yet got a signature on a contract for next year. These last few races are a chance to show what they can do. Kobayashi on home soil has to be an exciting prospect and it would be no shock to see him among the points this weekend.

And finally to the back of the field where the usual three suspects are to be found. Virgin are pushing harder and harder for that 10th place WCC finish and the money involved. Lotus have stopped all work on this years car some time ago and are now looking as though they are heading into a difficult of season that could see the inside of a court rather than the inside of a garage. At HRT they just seem relieved to turn a wheel at each race and while they limp towards the seasons end their only thoughts must be on how to keep going.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Only just seen the race, tried to get back up for quali and slept till 8.

If you take away the top 3 it was a great race plenty of going on, tons of overtaking and a classic engine blow out. Webber taking the fastest lap from Vettel was classic though.

Hamiltons had some shocking luck recently but at least he brought the car home.

 

[Jru]

This talks about the gear box change for Hamilton
http://www.manipef1.com/news/articles/11634/

 

[Brogan]

Thanks Jru

 

[F1Yorkshire]

This talks about the gear box change for Hamilton
http://www.manipef1.com/news/articles/11634/

No gearbox penalty then but what damage has been done to the engine if Hamilton was only using 4th gear upwards for the last 13 laps or so?

 

[siffert_fan]

Hamilton losing two gearboxes in one weekend makes it sound like either a chassis or electronic/hydraulic problem. Some component that effects the gearbox, but isn't part of the gearbox may be at fault.

 

[Brogan]

Apparently the first gearbox problem was an oil leak/loss of pressure, caused by the collision with Webber at Singapore.

 

[sportsman]

"There was an over-rotation of the differential and no outward signs of it," he said. "Clearly it damaged the diff which is in a sealed box, but yesterday after the end of P3 we could see that there was a big pressure rise which was probably a blocked filter, and indeed it turned out to be"

.http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87359

 

[RickD]

Glad I didn't get up for that race, just watched it now. Did wonder why McLaren left Jenson out so much longer when it was obvious he was losing time, Kobi is the only driver that gave it some excitement..

It really seems obvious that McLarens main problem is the suspension and it seems to be where they are losing time. If you watch the Red Bulls or Ferraris, they are no where near as stiff and this is seems to mean that McLaren are losing downforce when they need it most.

Well, thats my tuppence worth anyway.

 

[ATL11]

Did wonder why McLaren left Jenson out so much longer when it was obvious he was losing time

You could tell Jenson did the same wondering, his post race interview he was a little narked to say the least.

 

[tooncheese]

Hamilton also retired in hungary because of his gearbox. Button doesnt seem to struggle, so is it lewis revving to high, or is the chassis in a bad state?

 

[Galahad]

The motor racing gods seem to have decided it isn't going to be Hamilton's year. A shame after his qualifying lap, but it was always a long shot with the (mostly) third-fastest car and some slightly hit-and-miss upgrades.

Schumacher had his best weekend on pace since Barcelona, I would say, another circuit with more fast than slow corners. The sequence with him feinting to the inside at the chicane, only to out-drag Rosberg down the pit straight was classic Schumi, I thought (even if he didn't complete the move at turn 1).

Kobayashi and Sauber are to be applauded for making their contrary strategy work, as Kubica had in Singapore - though it had been forced on Robert. Whatever Button had done, fourth was only going to be the best for him I felt, so it was worth trying - if this is what McLaren intended - to back the Red Bulls into each other and into Fernando.

I have no idea what happened with Rubens today. Williams really are making hard work of beating Force India in the constructors' - if it rains in Brazil and Sutil scores a bag full of points they're going to look rather silly.

Yamamoto did a great job of holding back Glock for many laps and, probably, thereby ensuring Lotus win the new team championship.

 

[Brogan]

Overall I enjoyed the race.

It wasn't a classic by any means and Robert retiring was another of those "what-if" moments.
I really would have liked to have seen what he could have done from 4th on the grid.

Essentially though there was an element of uncertainty with regards to positions 3-5.

It was almost a foregone conclusion that Red Bull were going to come home with an easy 1-2 though.

 

[Brogan]

Christian Horner trying to cause trouble I see...

He's quick to criticise other teams when they comment on Red Bull and now he says McLaren sacrificed Button for Hamilton.

"Christian Horner reckons Jenson Button was used as a "sacrificial lamb" in Japan to help Lewis Hamilton - but it didn't work out.

Button was the only driver in the top ten to start the grand prix on the harder option tyres, meaning he could run longer than his rivals and hopefully get the jump on any of the three ahead of him.

However, instead of getting the jump, Button started to lose ground as the Red Bull drivers, who had pitted before him and where therefore behind him on the track, started to close the gap to the McLaren driver.

Horner believes it was at that time that McLaren switched Button's strategy to favour Hamilton, opting to pit him later than initially planned in the hope that he could back the Red Bull duo up, allowing Hamilton to close the gap."


http://www.planet-f1.com/news/3213/6438424/-McLaren-Sacrificed-Button-For-Hamilton-

 

[fat jez]

Horner could well be right, given that Button was baffled by the time it took to bring him in. The plan might have worked had Hamilton not had a dodgy gearbox.

 

[Brogan]

Horner could well be right, given that Button was baffled by the time it took to bring him in.

Well it wouldn't be the first time McLaren have messed up on tyre strategy, leaving a driver out too long.

China 2007 springs to mind...

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Brogan said:
[quote:ukqw3zf2]fat_jez said:
Horner could well be right, given that Button was baffled by the time it took to bring him in.

Well it wouldn't be the first time McLaren have messed up on tyre strategy, leaving a driver out too long.
China 2007 springs to mind...[/quote:ukqw3zf2]
And what about Singapore 2010? Martin Brundle was going on for ages before Mclaren eventually brought their drivers in, that their tyre degradation was obviously slowing them (particularly Hamilton) considerably. If they'd brought them in sooner, maybe Lewis would not have ended up behind Webber as he did...

 

[sportsman]

From Button himself.He doesn't think that it made any difference to his finishing position.

Q: Jenson, do feel that your tyre strategy worked out today?
Jenson Button: Not really. People on the option didn’t struggle at all at the beginning of the race. So no, the strategy didn’t really pay off. Disappointing, really. I think we stayed out too long. I think as soon as we saw that people were quick on their options at the start of the race and I was not able to pull a gap or pressure anyone - especially Alonso - maybe we should have pitted. But you never know. Probably we should have pitted to put the options on but we stayed on the prime. I am a little bit disappointed and we have to look at the reason why we didn’t do it earlier.

Q You started fifth and finished fourth. That sounds reasonable - and yet still there is no happy face…
JB: At first glance that might not look too bad, but we are in the fight for the championship and then you should cover the people that you are racing. We didn’t do that. We have to look at the data and look at the reasons for that. At the end of the race we put the options on and I had a lot of grip and the car was very fast. But still we haven’t been quick enough today - not compared to the Red Bulls and the Ferrari.

Q: Does that suggest that with a different strategy you probably would have been on the podium?
JB: No. I was just wondering… Again, we have to look at the data. In fact it was a pretty tough race and it was really run when we had the options on. I don’t mean that we would have finished further up - it is just useful information for the future.
http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews ... 11378.html

 

[FB]

Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere but Petrov has been given a 5 place penalty for his start line shenanigans but Massa has escaped without censure.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/ ... 11377.html

 

[Brogan]

*cough*

Can anyone explain why Petrov has been given a grid drop penalty at Korea but Massa hasn't?

 

[FB]

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Just read back through and found your comment