Chinese Grand Prix

Amdathlonuk

Somewhat related.........
Contributor
Well, I'm afraid to say it was a rather boring race.
Unlucky of Kovi to get a puncture late on but to be honest he was out of the running anyway.

A decent drive from LH but nothing more in my opinion.

An inevitable result of KR letting FM through for second place, but there was no way in the world he deserved that he was short of pace all the way through the race, it think it just goes to show how important USEFUL team mates are and how they can affect your championship.
I think I would be correct in saying that LH has not recieved ANY help of such from any of his team mates?

Still a good result from LH and again from FA although it pains me to say it as I don't really like him but you can't deny he seems to be in touch with the Renault at present.
 
Agreed, it was basically a procession.

Very little over-taking too except for Massa's amazing recovery to make up an 8 second deficit and blast past Kimi on the straight... ;)

It's possible Kovy's puncture was caused by his over-heating brake?
Haven't seen any news to say it was debris or otherwise.
I found it odd how heavy he had been fuelled for the race. I would have expected McLaren to fuel him light so he could be right up the front and possibly take more points off Massa.

FA again showed his skills, makes you wonder what he was doing for the most of the season.
Have Renault really improved the car that much in the last few weeks?
 
I have to admit it was on TV and i watched intermittently due it not being that exciting a race and just listened mostly.

Maybe MM were hoping Kovi could stay in touch enough with the front runners so he could do some damage in the pit stop strategies with the extra few laps of light fuel, obviously that one back fired nicely and again his race pace seems to have been lacking despite brake / tyre issues. Makes me wonder what benefit to the team he is.

Renault have been flying of late and yes Alonso has looked good again. I read somewhere that nando claimed the team have found a different way to set the car up which appears to be working very well, although i'm a little bit suprised they could find that much of a setup to compensate for what is aledgedly an unpowered engine.

My fair play award goes to Kimi for playing the team game, unfortunately for him he has found some form again late season and clearly the better of the two red car drivers but just to late this time to have any impact.
 
slickskid said:
My fair play award goes to Kimi for playing the team game, unfortunately for him he has found some form again late season and clearly the better of the two red car drivers but just to late this time to have any impact.

Agreed, he has helped Massa stay in touch.
I know these tactics have been going on for years, but the results that transpire hardly make the winner a 'worthy' WDC.

I think the points system should be changed to reflect overall driving throughout the season if at all possible.
 
What makes me deeply uneasy about the racing is that it seems so heavily dependent on what tyres Bridgestone bring to the races. In China, Bridgestone brought the hardest 2 in the range, and I truly believe that this disadvantaged Ferrari, whilst in Singapore, Bridgestone brought the softest 2 compounds, and this disadvantaged McLaren. I would be much more comfortable if Bridgestone brought all 4 compounds to the races, rather than the 2 that they currently bring...... However, this would raise the big issue of doubling the shipping to the races.....
 
I would agree with that.
The current system is a compromise which may favour some teams over others, depending on the compounds available.

As you say ideally they would make all compounds available but this would increase costs and go against F1's "green" credentials.
 
F1's green credentials? Are we kidding? Remember Greenpeace having ago at Honda for the Earth Car. (Half expected Nick Fry to do the Earth Song at karaoke last year - "What've we done to the car? Look what we've done! What about all the things that made Hungary Button's one?")

Anyways, Schumacher-esque from Hamilton! Utterly boring! I reckon Kimi must've had a problem, he was losing a second a lap at one point after his second stop! :snigger: And it was funny that it took Massa quite some time to actually get past him!

I'm starting to get some real doubts about Kovalainen, I mean, its one thing being a no.2, but he's 7th in the Drivers' Championship - in a McLaren! Now, either Hamilton is better than we think or Kovalainen is out of his depth! (It does have shades of Schumi/Irvine 1997 about it, including the disqualification after the final race of the season :whistle: )

All in all, F1 has had a bored day. (Although he finished well back, himself!)
Say it aloud!
 
Something no-one else seems to have picked up on is the performance of the Renault compared to the McLaren.

When Alonso and Heikki were on the straight side by side, Alonso was actually pulling away.
For a car with a supposed under-powered engine, it looked to have the McLaren well and truly beaten.

Although having said that, I'm not sure what their respective fuel loads were at the time.
 
I'm still somewhat baffled by the choice to fuel Kovi up for the race. On numerous occasions now Lewis has had him well beat in qualifying not only on equal terms fuel wise, but also a few times where Kovi was the lighter of the two.

If they really want to get Kovi in to have a impact, bearing in mind we have a mix of McLaren being the slower car vs the Ferrari & the fact the Kovi just doesnt have the raw pace to compete at the top level, what they should be thinking about is fuelling him lighter in Brazil. Though presumably it will be preferable for Lewis to let the Ferrari's take the front row of the grid and let them disappear off into the distance, i think his team mate is too unreliable to take that chance. It would be nice to see Kovi as a rear gunner rather than a back marker for once.
 
Gav - I agree. I was very surprised Kovi wasn't running on Fumes just to make sure he 'held up' any opposition for 10 laps or so, enough to pull a good lead out.

Howwever, I think I'll stick to my first comment and yours, let the Ferraris go and play, and just cruise home in 3rd or so.......... job done.

But, you never know what might happen, I was praying today Maclaren wouldn't make a mistake in the pits!
LH could always come out into a fracas from one of his stops.

I'll be glued to the race, that's for sure. :)
 
Brogan said:
Something no-one else seems to have picked up on is the performance of the Renault compared to the McLaren.

When Alonso and Heikki were on the straight side by side, Alonso was actually pulling away.
For a car with a supposed under-powered engine, it looked to have the McLaren well and truly beaten.

Although having said that, I'm not sure what their respective fuel loads were at the time.
There is no way they haven't put more horses into that engine. Even Piquet is faster. As they aren't allowed to work on the power of the engines, are all their results lately going to get stricken from the record?
 
"There is no way they haven't put more horses into that engine. Even Piquet is faster. As they aren't allowed to work on the power of the engines, are all their results lately going to get stricken from the record?"

Although teams can't specifically work on the design of the unit & alter components they can try to make efficiency improvments within the existing design. For example, lower viscocity fluids, allowing the engine to run hotter so they can use smaller radiators = less drag, improved transmission efficiency to reduce energy loss etc.
 
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