Grand Prix 2012 European Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Valencia........

Even Abu Dhabi and Bahrain are more exciting in comparison. Valencia is the only grand prix on the calendar that I genuinley do not look forward to. It's dull, boring and hasn't provided an interesting race at all since its inception on the F1 calendar in 2008. Thankfully it won't be a regular feature in the future as it will be alternating with Barcelona in the future.

Going into the Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton is back as the Championship leader after becoming the 7th driver to win in 7 races with victory in the Canadian Grand Prix. After missing out on the podium in recent races he was back with vengeance after fighting back from starting second and being third with 10 laps to go but thanks to fresher tyres he made easy work of Vettel and Alonso in the latter laps who fell away after a gamble to one stop failed. In the end Roman Grosjean and Sergio Perez finished on the podium and it is testament to the unpredictably of 2012 that it wasn't the first time either of them have been on the podium this season.

From race to race no team has been consistently at the very front, in Spain it was Williams, in Monaco it was Red Bull and in Canada it was McLaren. Both Ferrari and Lotus have probably been the most consistent package over recent weeks but not enough to win races with podium places the highest they can manage, but considering the start to the season Ferrari made, that probably isn't a bad thing and Alonso is only 2 points off the championship leader with world champion Vettel just one point behind in third.

It's a complete reversal of 2011 as this time last year Hamilton left Canada with a world of problems after a DNF which involved a collision with team mate Button who went on to win one of the best races of his career passing Vettel on the last lap. But 12 months later Hamilton won the race with Button finishing a lapped 16th. What's worse for the 2009 champion is that was on merit as well and not down to any car failures or pit problems, it marks a horrid fall from grace after winning the opening race in Melbourne and an early run of podiums but now he is struggling to even get into Q3 and convert that into points finishes. Button appears clueless as to where the problem lies and it may not be a short term fix as the car isn't slow as Hamilton is currently proving. It could be already over as far as Button's title hopes are concerned as he is currently 43 points behind Hamilton and has roughly half the points total.

It is also interesting to note that Button was further behind the leader last season and he was second in the championship, while at the moment he lies in 8th behind both Lotus drivers who are the only front running drivers yet to win a race (excluding Schumacher) and having come close in Bahrain and Spain they will want to be the next winners and take the total to 8 winners in 8 races and with both Raikkonen and Grosjean closely matched it's hard to say who is the more likely. But it's Grosjean's form which is the most surprising, a lot of people questioned why he was given the driver role given the way he was outperformed in 2009 and a lot of people said he would be outraced by the returning Finn, but after 7 races he is only 2 points behind and that is despite several first lap incidents where he has been the innocent part in some cases but not others (Malaysia). With the pendulum swinging from race to race it is hard to predict who will have the upper hand in the Spanish heat.

For Galahad's brilliant circuit write up - http://cliptheapex.com/pages/valencia-street-circuit/

 

[Jen]

Well done Lewis

 

[Fenderman]

 

[Brogan]

The FIA lap chart shows the SC from laps 27 to 32 yet in chat G said it was from 29 to 33.
So which is correct?

 

[Jos the Boss]

27 it was deployed, 33 was first racing lap, called in on lap 32, 29 it picked up Vettel I think

 

[F1ang-o]

I just looked at the race again, lap 51 listened to McLaren team radio, giving Lewis the g..up
"blah ....& you were .6 of a second quicker than Alonso on the last lap as well"
talk about floggin a.......
I echo that Jen 'well done Lewis'........done in by Macca, surely they were not expecting him to win....on those tyres

 

[RasputinLives]

RasputinLives - what would Bottas have done today?

Took his time and had Lewis later in the lap.

ExtremeNinja - you say he won the racing battle but he didn't because Lewis DNF'd - I still think you're missing the point in the Lewis was going to lose the place, he knew it, we all knew it and instead of being sensible and yeilding and being there to pick up some points and maybe even profit from Maldo being penalised for going off the track or even him chucking it off the road he is in the wall.

I understand your stance of this is right and this is fair etc etc but this is the real world not a ideal world. Lewis should have let him through and took the points. His championship would have been better for it.

As for these calls of 'he's dangerous' I've commented on the witch hunt before. I seem to remember there being one about another driver hitting people too often last season led by Fellipe Massa and I didn't like that either. I've never seen a more dangerous driver than Ayrton Senna but people tend to forget that.

 

[racecub]

They blew any chance of that with his pitstop.

 

[Fenderman]

F1ang-o At that moment in time he was lapping quicker than Alonso, bringing the gap down from around 5s to under 3.5s at one point. Don't forget that the radio message will have been delayed and was probably one or two laps old by the time it was played on screen for us. Hamilltons tyres didn't appear to hit the cliff until lap 51 or thereabouts. Having said that, it will be interesting to see Clip's stat's guru's tyre analysis when they get round to it.

 

[Jos the Boss]

Alonso did have tyre wear, Hamilton's was just worse, he was 6 tenths faster at one point, I thought he was easily gonna catch him easily! But then he started oversteering in T25 and it was over

 

[riskitall]

sebastian was extremely quick during the race,it looks like that redbull is going to be dominant again,especially with vettel driving it.
doesnt look good unless youre a vettel fan.

 

[MCLS]

Red Bull always have been dominant in Valencia though, and as we've seen so far this season, the pendulum changes almost race to race with no team being consistently dominant

 

[Fenderman]

I can understand the desire to defend people and give them latitude, benefit of the doubt, whatever. I have followed F1 since the 1960's and those who know me know that I am not usually moved to making the kind of comments that I have felt the need to make today. So, having said that, today I am nailing my colours to the mast. Call me Witchfinder General if that's what floats ones boat.

For the third time in his F1 career a driver has wilfully driven an opponent off the track. Obviously, no amount of video or photographic evidence is sufficiently conclusive proof for the naysayers of my statement. So, I make this prediction. it is similar to a prediction I made in another place, at another time, with regard to a very popular character - liked as much by me as any of his other fans. I see the same issues at play today in a person who clearly demonstrates his inability to control his red mist. In the case of my previous prediction tragically it came to pass with a fatality - and please don't attempt to goad me into telling you who that was. The memory is painfull enough as it is. I do not want to see a repetition in my lifetime, thank you very much.

So, here it is and I make no bones about predicting this: If Maldonado is not taken to one side and given some heavy duty mind management training by a suitably qualified person, he will continue to use his car as a weapon and one day the result will be serious injury to himself or to a fellow competitor, or worse.

Maybe it is fun for some to make some kind of my bloke / your bloke game out of this, but to me it is a serious issue that needs looking at by the powers that be. The stewards today missed that opportunity and their decision will not help Maldonado to reflect and progress. It may not reinforce his belief that he did no wrong but it certainly will not do enough to cause him to reflect to any sufficient degree. This season is so tight with racing so close that I fear my prediction may even come true before the season is out. I do so hope not.

That is my opinion and last word on the subject. I'm off to have myself renamed WitchHunterGeneral .

 

[Fenderman]

I'm so disgusted I just had to report my own last post!

 

[F1ang-o]

Josh
It is self explanatory, the team were expecting him to have a go for the win...
but as Fenderman says that message would have been delayed, sent out before his tyres went off?
But with not much more than a lap to go, he would only yield when he could not do anything else. It is a racers instinct.
Maldo could have cut the corner and gone back on the circuit behind Lewis and passed him in the DRS zone, Karun Chandok showed this approach on Sky Magicboard & added that he had been taken out by Maldo at some race.
But IMO Maldo chose instead to drive into Lewis, what does this say about his instincts?

 

[Jos the Boss]

I was gonna read it but England are playing!

 

[Fenderman]

Sorry, didn't mean to interupt!

 

[Jos the Boss]

I read it, I agree!

 

[F1ang-o]

Josh
You asked me to explain & now you have deleted your request, ..?

 

[Josh]

Yeah sorry, I probably deleted it while you were writing your post. I read it again and understood what you meant so I deleted it! Sorry for wasting your time but thanks for the explanation

 

[siffert_fan]

According to the stewards, Schumacher slowed significantly in the yellow flag zone, despite the DRS being open. Therefore no penalty. To me, this makes sense, assuming it is true. If one driver slows, even with DRS open, while another barrels through at unabated speed, even though HIS DRS is closed, obviously it is the second driver in contravention of the rules and who should be punished.