Grand Prix 2014 Chinese Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Ni hao!!

Welcome to the discussion for the 11th running of the Chinese Grand Prix, in 'Shanghai' (i.e. the middle of nowhere). The imposing circuit, with its 200,000 capacity grandstands, stand tall and large in the middle of marshland. Unfortunately, there is very little danger of anything like 200,000 people entering the circuit (despite whatever the Chinese government claims!!) This was the scene of Nico Rosberg's win in the Mercedes in 2012, and, given the form of the Silver Arrows this season, who says that the team can't repeat that feat?

As I'm sure you all know by now, thanks to previous Chinese discussion threads, the circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke, was created in the shape of the Chinese symbol 'shang', which means up/above/on top of. Whilst the circuit may not be the most thrilling in the world, it does often produce great races, mainly down to its tight hairpin preceded by a 1km long straight at the end of the lap. Most notable of these was perhaps in 2007, where Lewis Hamilton's title hopes were postponed and eventually crushed in the Chinese gravel in the pit lane.

After the thriller in the Bahraini desert, the pressure will be on the F1 circus to continue to provide the thrills and spills for the Chinese Grand Prix. With the teams sure to be closely matched (apart from the Mercs, obviously), there is little to suggest that it won't be a competitive event, with many questions to be answered. Will the team-mate grudges continue? Will Maldonado stop driving like a nutter? Will a Sauber finish the race? And, most importantly, will Chilton not finish last?

All that remains for me to say is..... Ready, Steady, Discuss!!!
 
Alonso doesn't seem to get it right in quali very often though does he? Lucky his starts are good. I worry for the Ferrari down that long straight though.
 
teabagyokel ..... I can live in hope teabag. You must remember, I've been saying for four years now that Alonso will win the title with GP's to spare. ROFL Alonso can do it no doubt, "IF" they put a half decent car under him, and Lewis and Nico take points off one another. :thumbsup:
 
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RasputinLives ...... You know I'm clutching at straws Ras. LOL Try not to take me too seriously. :popcorn: I'm not concerned about Ferrari's reliability, that long straight will be a threat to all of them, including Mercedes
 
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Does anyone else find it strange that Alonso has suddenly found some speed on the 1st day his new boss comes to work?
 
F1Yorkshire ....... Not really. Ferrari knew Bahrain would probably be their toughest GP. They've clearly mad changes to the car, there was talk of an upgrade for China. It's quite possible they could make significant gains from Spain on.
 
I don't think so. They did preliminary tests at Bahrain and have run them at China and are very pleased with the results. Kimi's problems were unrelated but I would assume both drivers will have been given the benefits of the upgrades.
 
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Well I thought that Maldonado gave us a master class in crap driving during the first two FP's he spun off twice because he was looking at his steering wheel and then he binned it in the pit lane for no apparent reason, quality stuff Pastor like Crofty said I wonder if you were looking down at the steering wheel when you left the pits and hit Gut, and I also wonder if you need your eyes testing....

By the way I call him Gut because I can't spell his name and that's how it appears on the timing boards...
 
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Crofty mutter something about the Renault engines in the Lotus cars having another 20BHP. Thought the engines were frozen?
 
Yes but if you make the engine you have work better you can gain power. 20BHP seems like quite a lot that way, but with the way the Renault and Lotus have been working I wouldn't be all that surprised.
 
My understanding is... (I read an article translated from German) Apparantly Lotus didn't receive an engine update that Red Bull and Toro Rosso had in Bahrain. It's meant to be worth around 20-40BHP, presumably Caterham will get this too.
 
Ok I have read the sporting regulations 3 times and they are as clear as mud when it comes to grid drop penalties being carried over to the next race for Pastor. Anyone else want to have a go at this?

Page 8.
 
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Looks like it's all the way down on page 21 Greenlantern101. It's under "SPARE CARS, ENGINES AND GEARBOXES" though, so maybe it only applies to penalties for those things?

If a grid place penalty is imposed, and the driver’s grid position is such that the full
penalty cannot be applied, the remainder of the penalty will be applied at the driver’s
next Event. However, no such remaining penalties will be carried forward for more than
one Event.
 
Wet qualie often throws up some interesting and/or excitement but this one did neither. I hope the race will be better but somehow I think Hammy will disappear into the distance and we will be left watching the other scrapping for the left overs.
 
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