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

Is the season over yet?

Unfortunately the answer is no as the F1 circus rumbles onto India for a brand new track, but after problems with the construction of the track, there is a degree of hesitation as not everyone is overjoyed about the prospect of a race there at the current moment in time. Added to the fact that it is another Tilke track, many fans aren't optimistic for an exciting race, but we've been proven wrong before. After all, we thought 2011 would be a close championship!!

Red Bull reasserted itself as the best car on the track after a dominant win in Korea with Vettel taking yet another win as he continues to rewrite the record books in the same way as Schumacher used to, just not as controversially as the elder German. Mark Webber had his strongest races recently pushing Hamilton very hard for second place, perhaps showing that he still has it for next season.

Hamilton put a long list of poor races behind to finish second in Korea after taking his first pole position of the season and it turned out after the race that he was running with tyre bits in the front wing which was costing a good couple a tenths a lap, something which would surely have cost him a true crack at a third race victory of the season, but at the very least it shows that he's getting back to his best, but a split with his partner might explain a less than happy mood recently.

Ferrari are constantly lingering as the team behind the top 2 and they are almost in a race with themselves as they are far quicker than Mercedes but not quick enough (mainly Massa) to challenge the Red Bulls and Mclarens for victories, particularly on a consistent basis after the problems with the EBD after Silverstone.

In the midfield there is a serious log jam as Mercedes, Renault, Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso fight over points and championship places as a lot of money is at stake for 4th-8th in the championship and it's probably the best place to see action at the moment as the racing has been close and extremely well fought with different cars being better at each different circuit with none having the best all round package of the 5 teams. Now even Team lotus is getting involved in the action as they are starting to beat some of these cars on pure pace which will no doubt please the owners, and Kovalainen beating Petrov on pure pace in Singapore would particularly have pleased the team after the rows with Group lotus this season.

No-one knows what to expect from the Indian track, but early reports indicate it's better than previous Tilke tracks, but then it can't be worse than Bahrain and Abu Dhabi really.... We hope so anyway.

For Galahad's superb write up, see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/buddh-international-circuit/
 
When Martin said Drive through, I thought Lewis' race was over then, could of put thousands on it being for Hammy! Pleased when it wasn't for him, however I have discovered a new found hate for Felipe Massa. He seems to think that he can't do anything wrong, when he can and is.

Yeah so did i. Normally you'd expect the penalty followed by the driver's name but he said car number 6. My personal view is that it was a racing incident and nothing more. Great circuit but utterly boring race and Pirelli's tyre choices didn't help.
 
Regarding the conflicting stories from Hamilton and Massa about speaking to each other, I'm more likel to believe Massa as Hamilton has a proven track record of lying to skew circumstances in his favour (AUS/MAL 2009).

There are no conflicting stories. Massa hasn't denied that Hamilton spoke to him after the minute's silence, although he contradicts himself in as many sentences. Someone just needs to pull both of them to one side and speak to them before it gets out of control.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/95808.

Q. He said he tried to bring an end to hostilities after the minute's silence?
FM: No, he didn't try. He didn't try to do anything. When I tried to speak to him he passed through. He did not look to my face, so no. Not here. Here after the one minute silence he was at my side and then he just said, 'have a good race'. So this is trying to what? Have a good race? Is that not part of talking, or whatever?
 
There are no conflicting stories. Massa hasn't denied that Hamilton spoke to him after the minute's silence, although he contradicts himself in as many sentences.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/95808.

Q. He said he tried to bring an end to hostilities after the minute's silence?
FM: No, he didn't try. He didn't try to do anything. When I tried to speak to him he passed through. He did not look to my face, so no. Not here. Here after the one minute silence he was at my side and then he just said, 'have a good race'. So this is tryingto what? Have a good race? Is that not part of talking, or whatever?

Conflicting stories: Trying to bring an end to hostilities vs. Not trying to bring an end to hostilites.
 
That's the media's interpretation but you can make of each other's actions as you will, going as far back as Singapore and what happened in front of the cameras when Massa interferred with Hamilton's post race interview. As I said, I think they both need to calm down and be mature about it. Both have bigger issues to worry about to get sidetracked by personal feuds
 
I think Lewis is calm enough about Felipe. After all, I haven't heard him saying anything disparaging about Massa's driving nor have I heard him saying anything about Massa "not using his head, etc". And before anyone says anything about his statement on the radio - i.e. "he turned in on me" - that was a statement of fact.
 
From the press conference:

Q: (Sudhir Chandran - Chequered Flag,) When Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, he said those famous words ‘one small step by a human being and one giant leap for mankind.’ Any famous first words?
JB: I think it should just be the winner who has these special words.
SV: Dhanyawaad… aapki aankhei bahut khoobsurat hai (thank you, your eyes are beautiful). Obviously that’s for the ladies of India. You know the girls, to all the girls in India, you have beautiful women in this country. They have beautiful eyes.
JB: Beautiful smiles.
SV: Thank you very much. As I said we all enjoyed it, everyone is happy to be here and happy to come back which is a good sign.


LOL

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/f1releases/2011/Pages/f1-conf-ind4.aspx
 
Just caught the end of replay on the BBC - As comic book guy would say "Sachin Tendulkar worst chequered flag waving, ever"
Au contraire...

2002 Brazilian - Footballer Pelé waved the chequered flag too soon technically making Takuma Sato the race winner, despite being 1 lap behind the leader. When Michael Schumacher crossed the finish line, Pelé was talking to someone and forgot to wave it again.

LOL

Edit: Snap! c_a_t
 
Just caught the end of replay on the BBC - As comic book guy would say "Sachin Tendulkar worst chequered flag waving, ever"

Tad harsh I was very excited when I saw him waving it and when he got interviewed and I'm not even a cricket fan! and anyone know who the regular is? Is it charlie?
 
in how many races this season has tyre wear hurt lewis during a race?
i personally think its bad luck in quali and mistakes he's made thats hurt him the most.
in most races this season he's been very quick,but today he wasnt quick at any stage.
in monaco it was quali that hurt him.
in canada he got a dnf trying to overtake button,but he was very quick in that race.
in malaysia lewis didnt have enough good tyres for the race,he was quick in that race.
in silverstone he struggled on worn tyres.he was quick in that race.
in hungary the team pitted him far to late imo making him lose to much time,which i thought was strange.it basically handed the win to button.he was quick in that race too.
in belgium another dnf.he was doing well in that race.
in singapore he got drive thru.
and today he was just slow from start to finish.
so i dont think the tyres have been his biggest problem to be honest.
oh and he's had some other problems in quali like puntures,problems refueling and not making it over the line in time.
and i wish mclaren would be quicker with his pits too.3.5 secs for buttons.4.2 for lewis today.
 
I think the ticket prices needs to come down, and also make the sport a little more accessible to the fans. This would definitely bring more fans and money into the sport.

£350 just for a grandstand ticket for the Silverstone GP....
 
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