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/
 
Looks as though he is.
http://www.sauberf1team.com/en/news.cfm?id=O5AOMN87-European_GP_-_Preview# Sergio Pérez (car number 17):
”I flew home from Montreal, and back in Mexico I spent the time preparing myself for the next race and trained together with our physiotherapist. I feel perfectly well and I’m very much looking forward to racing in Valencia. Without doubt it is an advantage that I know this track well. In 2009 I was on the podium after both GP2 races and last year I had pole position.”
 
Anyone want some completely irrelevant European GP statistics?

Thought so:

CTA.webp
 
I just don't get double DRS. Even though we haven't had a fully dry race to 'appreciate' it yet, I can't help feeling that it will just be a massive failure and everybody will be calling for single DRS to return.

Look at Canada (when it was dry - eventually). When Mark passed Schuey, even though Schumacher's Mercedes was slow at the time, his car was one of the fastest in a straight line (and the red bull was one of the slowest). Now, without Double DRS, Schuey would have been able to have a go at the Red Bull into Turn 1 (slipstream, and it would be jolly exciting). However, as there was only one detection point, Webber was just able to extend his lead over Schuey. Therefore, in a way, Double DRS in its present form may just decrease the amount of close racing between the cars, as a faster car with less top speed (like the Red Bull) will be able to overtake and pull away again using the double DRS. I personally feel that cars should be punished for weaknesses in their armour. The HRT's are for a lack of downforce (slower lap time), and cars with less top speed should not be able to artificially pull away from the car they have overtaken on the straight with the 2nd DRS. If you cannot pass with one DRS zone (which has been hugely successful - even at Monaco), then why should you need 2? If you cannot pass the car in front uising the DRS overtaking zone, then I don't think that you should be given 2 bites of the cherry with greater speed than the car would normally have. The DRS was initially created to allow cars an oppurtunity to follow closely and pass, not give a chance for the car to pull away using it. Therefore, I think that the number of DRS detection zones should be equal to the number of activation zones, in order for it to enable the chasing car to overtake, not the car ahead to pull away.. I don't care how many DRS zones there are, just as long as there are the same number of detection zones whether that be 1, 2, 3 or 4.
 
I quite agree with you there, not a fan at all of DRS (as many here know) one zone is fine enough (sometimes can be too far) but if you are going to have two, it should be only allowed for overtaking, not overtaking then pulling away in the second zone.

Actually come to think of it....just stick to one. :bored:
 
Vettel running the Silverstone settings today. I'm sure he was full of fuel as well.

I really can't wait to see how this Hot-Blown Diffuser ban shakes up the order, or if it will have any effect at all. At least we're getting closer to some answers and the wild speculation can stop.

Even if the racing isn't the best at Valencia, I quite enjoy watching these guys negotiate the circuit at speed. :)
 
Hasn't been a good year for Friday drivers. Should have seen this coming when Chandhok binned it in Australia on the first lap of the season.

You have to wonder if the benefit to the reserve driver is worth the possible negative effects to the race driver. Nevermind the extra work for the pit crews.
 
How come Ligier and Prost are not viewed as seperate teams if all the others are? :thinking:

and stunned not to see Tyrell on that list!
 
Looking at the FP2 lap times, it seems that the prime tyre is taking 3 or 4 laps to get up to speed, but then is going faster in line with the fuel load reduction (0.08s/lap here) for as long as they have tried the tyres (15+ laps)..

The option runs are all quite short, but Rosberg, Heidfeld & Barrichello seem to be 1s a lap slower after 10 laps than they should be if just taking fuel into account, after which they deteriorate quite rapidly.

Both Red Bulls on the other hand, bang in quick ones around lap 12 of the option stint which would indicate little degredation. If they can get to lap 15 with the tyres they qualified on, I make a two stopper fastest (option / option / prime). If, like the Mercs, the tyres fade after 10, they probably need three stops (option / option / option / prime), because the conservative 2 stopping plan (option / prime / prime) is perhaps 5 secs slower than the 3 stop sprint and 7 seconds slower than an option / option / prime approach.
 
I just had a play around as well based on what you said. Like you say 2/3 stops does look the most likely but if the degradation on the prime is low and the difference between new primes/options is just 1s like Pirelli are suggesting then 1 stop might even be possible.

e.g. I tried 1s/lap difference between option and prime, 0.1s/lap degradation on the option, 0.03s/lap degradation on the prime and 16s for a pit stop in the infamous spreadsheet/python thingy and got that a one stop would only be 2 seconds slower than a 2 stop. EDIT: Having said that this does include a long 21 lap stint on options which probably wouldn't work.
 
Hello all. Sorry i've been away for a while. Actually have work now so no sitting around on CTA for the summer like i do at Uni. Can't wait for this Quali. Shall be most exciting for a while now they've mixed up the engine settings rules. Be interesting to see how much advantage it gave to Red Bull. It's going to be tight.
 
I expect there might be a few disappointed people after Q3 today.

I think Red Bull will still be right up there, possibly with a slightly reduced advantage.
 
Red Bull are obviously the most likely to get pole. It isn't just one or two things that make their car good, it is the whole package.
 
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