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/
 
Rosberg's move wasn't that bad, but the end result was Schumacher's retirement. Michael wouldn't have been in position to challenge Perez if Sergio hadn't been pushed off the circuit.

No penalty was the right call I feel.
 
Massa is an embarrassment

It's not as though he is a proper racing driver with a chance to race and win things, he is a water carrier and should not be hindering real racers

There should be pink flags waved at Massa when the racers come behind him, like blue with back markers

Felipe, the others are racing each other, do you understand?
No he isn't - I'm not a great Massa fan but he was doing a good job before the 'incident'.

If we went by your criteria of 'a proper racing driver', we would have a grid of one.
 
Not sure why Whitmarsh is refusing to accept that Hamilton was at fault for that on the BBC forum, and saying it was an overtaking attempt.
Seems a reasonable reason to apply the penalty he received.

Can't understand Massa's rage at all; after Hamilton's change of wing/ penalty, he was >10s behind him. Perhaps Massa ought to analyse what happened from then onwards to mean he finished so far behind rather than blaming everything on that one incident
 
I do have some sympathy for Massa had but he's got to be careful publicly criticising Hamilton like that even managing to bring his father into it. Hamilton did lock his brakes and was probably surprised how slow the Ferrari was off the corner but overall I thought the drive through penalty, although a bit harsh was the right call. Once again the real issue here is consistency in rule application by the stewards.
 
Just saw the replay. Yeah, he simply overcooked a bit, locked the front and was clumsy.
I think this is the key word.

In previous years' a lot of Hamilton's, shall we say "work", was viewed as determined, opportunistic and in a lot of ways exciting. It shook up the establishment a little. Most if not all of this year's events for which he has been criticised for (rightly or wrongly, let's not go there today) have been very clumsy.
 
No he isn't - I'm not a great Massa fan but he was doing a good job before the 'incident'.

If we went by your criteria of 'a proper racing driver', we would have a grid of one.

Well the way the teams are shaping up...no one has a chance except Seb..........
He has got the best car ...curtesey of Adrian Newey
A team that is totally focused on SV.....
And Seb...who is obviously totally focused on winning WDC 2011.......
A team that is on...it...NO WAYwould anyone get the better of these smart :censored::censored:
And good luck to them!
I just feel LH deserves better...
A great talent.....no being used to ful potensial?
 
I recall several incidents between Massa and Hamilton this year: colliding in Monaco, Britain and Singapore, and also the incident in quali. Massa probably feels all of these are Hamilton's fault (I disagree about Monaco and Britain), which partly explains his reaction today.
 
Yes Lewis caused a racing incident that affected Massa. Wasn't on purpose now was it?

Regardless of whether it was on purpose or not, it's not the first time this has happened. It was clumsy and ruined Massa's race.

Did Massas puncture stop him winning the race or beating Lewis,

Massa wouldn't have won the race but he could have beaten Hamilton... That he didn't do so after the puncture and penalty for Lewis has nothing to do with the accident.
Massa would almost certainly have ended up higher than where he finished now. That is the point. Not whether he would or wouldn't have beaten Hamilton.
 
I have not seen anything following the race, however, I would suggest that although Massa has a right to be angry, he should be careful what he says, and even more careful about what he does.

Let the officials deal with the incidents, do not seek personal retribution.
 
Back on topic - I thought the penalty was a tad harsh but it did affect Massa's race and that is what the stewards look for. Personally, I'm a great believer in 'racing incidents' and think a lot more should be left alone by the referees.
 
Massa on the red button just been incedibley stupid to Lewis! Get over it massa. you were too slow!
Lewis got a penalty and that was a harsh decision. It was a racing incident. the rules dont say you get a penalty if the other driver suffers, it says you get a penalty if you cause an avoidable accident. Of course lewis would like to have avoided the accident. He didnt do it on purpose, it was a racing incident. just like Rosbergs, just like shumachers. But only Lewis got the penalty. And continuing to the fight off the track is stupid and childish Massa!
 
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