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/
 
Yeah, bit hard to penalise Schumacher as he crashed out and Perez (was it?) was amazingly unaffected where as Hamilton affected Massa’s race quite badly.
As I posted earlier in the thread, the penalty is for causing a collision.

There is nothing in the regulations about how it affects either driver's race.

Causing a collision is causing a collision and the rule should be applied consistently or not at all.

Before I get accused of being a Hamilton apologist or making excuses for him, again (something which is starting to piss me off immensely), I have already said he deserved the penalty under the strict definition of the rule and made my comments on the Hamilton thread as to what I think of him currently as a driver and what his future prospects are.
 
Schumacher was given a reprimand for his collision - ok so he wasn't given a grid penalty, but if he receives sufficient reprimands then he will receive a penalty..... Frankly, he could have been given a drive-through in Singapore for causing an accident - it still wouldn't have affected his race!!!
 
- Certainly giving a reprimand to Schumacher is equivalent to giving a drive-through to Hamilton - since it only affects their respective races - and not future races (Which is something that the stewards really should avoid - it would be like saying to a football team "Oh, you had a foul in the last game, so we're going to make you start the next game with a 1 goal deficit!".....
 
Yes - I agree - Buemi was a case that he should have been given a drive-through during the race - they had plenty of opportunity... - But he still went unpunished during the German GP, so his punishment was carried over.....

I suppose you could always ask about Hamilton's lack of penalty for clipping Webber in Montreal?

There is always a place for applying rules with common sense!
 
Sorry to butt in here, but there was nothing meaningful about Schumacher's reprimand. It was only down to luck that he didn't wreck the races of both Perez and Rosberg (who he only just missed after hitting Perez). And as has already been stated, there's nothing to say that a penalty is only applied depending on the other driver's race being affected. Schumacher drove into someone, but as a reprimand doesn't affect him (as he was already out of the race!) it stands to reason he should have a 5-place drop at the next race which is the equivalent to a drive through. If you're applying penalties consistently regarding driving into other people, that is.
 
Brundle made the point yesterday in the BBC forum.

He said that the problem is at each race there is a different set of stewards and they all interpret the rule book differently and apply a different level of severity to identical incidents.
That is the problem; it always will be when it comes down to individuals.

Of course there's no excuse for applying different penalties to the same incidents in the same race.
 
This season is just turning from bad to worse for Hamilton. Little things that keep on going wrong, like in qualifying on Saturday are then causing him larger problems in the race, at a time when he really just needs to be in free air and be able to push to the limit, not be messing around getting stuck behind slower cars.

.

I thought Hamilton drove a blinding race with some clinical passing moves, notwithstanding the issues he had. It would’ve been easy to fold under all that pressure and we’ve seen many drivers fade away into mediocrity after such as eventful start but he stuck to it. There’s too much negativity around and people are too quick to latch on every misfortune/mistake but personally I thoroughly enjoyed the race and Massa needs to grow up.
 
Brundle made the point yesterday in the BBC forum.

He said that the problem is at each race there is a different set of stewards and they all interpret the rule book differently and apply a different level of severity to identical incidents.

I thought the stewards panel was fixed and only the former driver adviser varied?
 
That's why I said set :)

Unless we are to assume the driver advisor has no say on matters, in which case why have him there and why the inconsistency?
 
I've got no issue with the penalty, only with the consistent application of it.

The penalty is "causing a collision" which Hamilton undoubtedly did.
Likewise Alguersuari hit Trulli and he too was penalised.

However, Schumacher and Rosberg also caused collisions and they didn't receive drive through penalties.

I think it's this inconsistency and uncertainty which causes most frustration amongst fans and viewers.

Kind of hard to give someone who crashed a drive through penalty ;). But I get your point.

Schumacher was reprimanded for anyone who didn't know yet btw.
 
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?

I'm not getting into this debate with you Cook. Jenson had a faster race lap time than Lewis by a clear 2 seconds so yeah he did have the legs on him - the point I was making about quali was that they were pretty much on the same pace and for once I don't think we could assume just because he had another run that Lewis would have been in front of Jenson. He may have been, he may not have been - we will never know.

But as you firmly believe the only way Jenson can ever finish in front of Lewis is by something unfourtunate(and not Lewis's fault) to happen then I fully expect you to disagree with me.
 
Back
Top Bottom