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/
 
Maybe so, but can you seriously see past Red Bull? Barring some major balls up obviously
Personally I don't see past Red-Bull locking out the front row and dominating the race what with it being a high downforce track. Also its seems to be tradition that McLaren look to have finally caught Red-Bull on the friday and then Red-Bull pull half a second seemingly out of nowhere.

On the other hand look at last year If it hadn't been for a stray stone Hamilton would have finished 2nd and he looked like their closest challenger today, also their upgrades seem to be working.

And if McLaren (or another front running team) can somehow be on options while Red-Bull are on the 2 seconds a lap slower primes then they may just stand a chance...
 
Having read the autosport article I reckon Ferrari's wing will be legal for this race at least.

The FiA may well 'clarify' it our though...
 
As this is a high downforce track I don't see anyone getting near the Red-Bulls unless the new super hard tyres allows the tactic.

I wouldn't describe it as high downforce at all (unlike Monaco for example). It's a 'variable downforce sensitive' track in my eyes. There's a variety of low, medium and high speed corners which will dictate ultimate performance. Therefore the Redbull a car with superior downforce in general and balance will prevail. That said, McLaren look pretty tasty. Apparently the car is imbalanced, just how a certain someone likes it....to within 0.039 of a second...apparently....:whistle: Can't wait.
 
Look at the front right wheel. Then look at the nose. Then look at the front right wheel again.
Then do this for a while: :s
Then this::givemestrength:
And finally::embarrassed:
 
Hi guys. Sorry I didn't really explain the transparent nose / tub on Mac. Yeah as you've now mostly spotted, the most obvious thing to focus on is the tyre behind the bodywork, you can clearly see it through the bodywork.
 
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