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

And so on to Spain, after the anti climax that was Turkey, it seems that no-one can stop Vettel as he marched to his 3rd win in 4 races and is in dominant form as we head to the Iberian peninsula. Despite the highest amount of overtakes since records began (126), a lot of people were questioning how authentic these overtakes were due to their artificial nature because of the DRS. The Spanish Grand Prix hasn't been known for its overtakes, indeed this is a track where more often than not, the driver who gets pole goes on to win so thats the race in the bag for Vettel. In 2010 the race was won by Mark Webber in the first of back to back wins from Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. lewis Hamilton was on course for second until a wheel rim failure with two laps to go.

After a dominant performance in Turkey, Red Bull will be aiming at another one two in Spain, and on current form and given the nature of the track it is hard to see past the Red Bulls from extending their championship lead. However Ferrari and particularly Alonso have showed that Red Bull won't have it their own way and no doubt Alonso will be boosted by a capacity crowd all cheering him on. Mclaren planned to bring updates to Turkey but abandoned them and instead will introduce them this weekend to plug the ever increasing gap with Hamilton currently second in the drivers championship, over 30 points behind Vettel.

Mercedes were Jekyll and Hyde in Turkey and its not exactly hard to figure out who was who. Mercedes Rosberg has shown improved form recently and has been mixing with the Mclarens and Ferraris and with continued development, Mercedes will be confident of a top 5 finish this weekend.

Renault have seemed to have fallen back recently with Heidfeld and Petrov in the lower reaches of the points, their podium form of Australia and Malaysia now seems a distant memory and have now been overtaken by Mercedes in the development battle. In the midfield it is really tightening up as Toro Rosso have found a speed boost with Buemi claiming points in Turkey and Kobyashi coming from last on the grip to claim a top 10 position with Force India not holding the same level of competitiveness as the first few races with Di Resta's first DNF of his career.

While Team lotus didn't gain the jump that they hoped, they have high hopes that this weekend is the one where they establish themselves as a solid midfield runner while Virgin and HRT continue to fight it out over who gets the wooden spoon.

With the arguments over DRS raging on, no doubt we will see a circuit record of overtakes as cars breeze past each other down the main straight but if only one thing is certain it is that Red Bull will be right at the front barring major developments (or crashes)

For Galahads excellent circuit write up, see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/circuit-de-catalunya/
 
Actually, thinking about it, FP3 is the first session of the Grand Prix, so in theory the protests against EBDs can be made now and cars can be DSQed from the event now, can't they?
 
Actually, thinking about it, FP3 is the first session of the Grand Prix, so in theory the protests against EBDs can be made now and cars can be DSQed from the event now, can't they?

Yes, technically, but I don't think it is going to stick!
 
Not looking good for qually. Seb V was very out of shape a couple of times during his only FP3 lap but still fast enough to go top.
 
Not looking good for qually. Seb V was very out of shape a couple of times during his only FP3 lap but still fast enough to go top.

Must be incredibly depressing for the entire paddock. The guy sits in the garage the whole session, then brings it out for one lap, runs wide over every kerb, mashes the gas before anyone else can, and makes the whole thing look rather pedestrian.

I'm not sure what McLaren were doing out there though. I doubt Schumacher will be the Red Bull's closest competition.
 
I'm not sure what McLaren were doing out there though. I doubt Schumacher will be the Red Bull's closest competition.
I presume you're not suggesting Mclaren were sandbagging? I don't think Lewis got the best of runs on his options, due to the way the traffic panned out.
 
Must be incredibly depressing for the entire paddock. The guy sits in the garage the whole session, then brings it out for one lap, runs wide over every kerb, mashes the gas before anyone else can, and makes the whole thing look rather pedestrian.

I think this brings serious question marks over Mark Webber this season. That didn't seem like a good lap from Vettel, yet the car still gets him round quicker. There must be something going on with Mark. Psychologically, physically, technically. It makes no sense to go wide so often as you say and still beat your teammate.
 
HOW DARE FERRARI TRY TO BE SLIGHTLY INNOVATIVE. THEY'RE RUINING OUR SPEC SPORT.

Anyway qualy looks like a formality, and there will be once again no overtaking at the very front of the race.
 
HOW DARE FERRARI TRY TO BE SLIGHTLY INNOVATIVE. THEY'RE RUINING OUR SPEC SPORT.

What worried me was Charlie whiting saying that they had to decide if it was 'a good interpretation of the rules'

If the loophole is there, it is there and the FIA's responsibility to be clear on it. I would rather they let Ferrari use it this race and release a clarification for next race. I guess the only remaining question is whether Ferrari asked the FIA to check it beforehand (as some teams do), if they did not then you could argue it is their fault if it is deemed illegal. However, if it is merely using a loophole that the FIA don't want them to use, that is for the FIA to sort out not on the eve before race weekend. Never thought I would stand up for the red team on a technical point ... :sick:
 
Rules on dimensions are pretty clear. I think Ferrari were being quite cheeky on this one. Either that or someone has trouble reading a ruler. I suspect the former. Cheeky at best.8-)
 
Rules on dimensions are pretty clear. I think Ferrari were being quite cheeky on this one. Either that or someone has trouble reading a ruler. I suspect the former. Cheeky at best.8-)

Exactly right.

This isn't the first time that Ferrari have had a rear wing banned.

They ran a "Double Rear Wing" at Long Beach 1982 under protest from Tyrrell, and Villeneuve ended up losing his Podium because of it when he was disqualified after the fact.
 
Yup, some things just don't change. What I find remarkable is that a team with such a fantastic heritage do such daft things. That's not to say the others don't get up to dodgy stuff, they just seem to be a little smarter at it.
 
I wouldn't call it daft, it's no different to what Brawn did with the DD or what Red Bull are doing with their front wing.

It's just trying to find a loophole in the rules to gain an advantage.
 
If the loophole is there, it is there and the FIA's responsibility to be clear on it. I would rather they let Ferrari use it this race and release a clarification for next race.
Why? If Ferrari bring a part to the race which is different to previous versions and the FIA, having studied it, decide that it is against the rules, then the part is illegal, end of story. If Ferrari went on to race the part they would and should be excluded.

That would go for any team (as Sauber found out to their cost; they were unfortunate that their illegal part wasn't discovered until after the race, by the stewards).
 
I wouldn't call it daft, it's no different to what Brawn did with the DD or what Red Bull are doing with their front wing.

It's just trying to find a loophole in the rules to gain an advantage.

I don't think this solution was nearly as clever as what Brawn did and what RBR are doing.

This seemed like it was a case of flouting the rules for flouting's sake.
 
Sorry, Bro'. Can't see how a 30mm mis-measurement is a loophole. Maybe I need that part of the issue to be explained to me. Any diagrams about this "innovation"?:thinking:
 
I don't know the specifics but it obviously wasn't cut and dried as the FIA took quite a while to come to a decision.
 
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