The 2010 season

[snowy]

No Ray of Hope!

No light at the end of the tunnel then?

"It's clearly not dangerous," Walker was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun newspaper.

"You can't please these drivers, they are a bunch of lazy people who won't do anything to help the sport, except for two or three.

"A lot of drivers are prima donnas. They are never happy," he added.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82754

 

[Brogan]

Putting the current race results into the old scoring system comes up with some interesting differences.

Driver			New	Old

Felipe Massa 		39	16

Fernando Alonso 	37	15

Sebastian Vettel 	37	15

Jenson Button 		35	13

Nico Rosberg 		35	14

Lewis Hamilton 		31	12

Robert Kubica 		30	13

Mark Webber 		24	9

Adrian Sutil 		10	4

Michael Schumacher 	9	3

Vitantonio Liuzzi 	8	2

Rubens Barrichello 	5	1

Jaime Alguersuari 	2	0

Nico Hülkenberg 	1	0

Nico Rosberg would be in 4th ahead of Jenson Button and Robert Kubica would be in 6th place instead of Lewis Hamilton.

The top 7 places would be separated by just 4 points.

 

[snowy]

You have to say that using the old system would give much more tension and reinforce the prospect of a really strong competitive season ahead.

With this new system I've already got the feeling of some major contenders lagging behind and a fear of them dropping out of contention.

 

[Muddytalker]

You have to say that using the old system would give much more tension and reinforce the prospect of a really strong competitive season ahead.

With this new system I've already got the feeling of some major contenders lagging behind and a fear of them dropping out of contention.

It might look that way at first glance, but if you consider the top 7 are covered by 9 points, which is between 5th or 6th place, or 36% of a race win, and compare using the previous scoring system (3 points, 6th place, 30% of a win) then it's not that much different. Even MS is just over a race win behind (1st & between 7th/8th), when on the old points system it would have 1st and a 6th. Whilst the sample is only 3 races that have included wet/dry laps and unreliability (Vettel could easily be on 75/30pts by now), it's clear that changing the points was never going to make much difference.

Slightly if I remember rightly, the intention of the points change was to "make 3rd place challenge 2nd place then the leader", so the key indicator for success here is looking at the overtakes in the top 3 or 4 places. And so far, we have (courtesy of Galahad's Overtaking Analysis Thread...)

Overtaking by position gained:

1st	0
2nd	1
3rd	1
4th	1
5th	6
6th	3
7th	3
8th	1
9th	7
10th	7
11th	6
12th	6
13th	3
14th	3
15th	4
16th	9
17th	7
18th	4
19th	5
20th	3
21st	5
22nd	1
23rd	0

[td]Position[/td][td]No. of passes[/td]

So the overtaking for positions 1-4 is still much less than elsewhere (apart from 8th - Probably due to the gap between the top 4 teams and the rest). Well done Bernie, another winner

 

[Andrea_Moda_Rules]

You have to say that using the old system would give much more tension and reinforce the prospect of a really strong competitive season ahead.

With this new system I've already got the feeling of some major contenders lagging behind and a fear of them dropping out of contention.

The thing with that is, I feel that the whole 'Championship would be closer under the old points rule' is a bit of an optical illusion.

Just as you can lose more points by having a bad race, you can also gain them back if you have a big weekend or your rivals drop out.

Really apart from the etra two points places jigging things up at the lower midfield, Really its just status quo. The Only big difference being that the Championship is a little more biased to the people who win more, but even then thats not much different to the old system of 10,6,4.... really

 

[snowy]

Fans should learn more about F1 before they judge says Mika Hakkinen

"People have to have a deeper and better understanding of F1 and understand what the driver is going through and what the teams are doing,” Hakkinen explained to New Zealands 'Weekend Herald' newspaper.

"They should study it. If you just turn on your television and watch the grand prix and watch people go around and around, it’s boring and you change the channel. The more knowledge you have, the more interesting it is."

http://www.f1technical.net/news/14623?sid=bc4badbc7c90d9d278c97ed87eba41d1

 

[Speshal]

Fans should learn more about F1 before they judge says Mika Hakkinen

"People have to have a deeper and better understanding of F1 and understand what the driver is going through and what the teams are doing,” Hakkinen explained to New Zealands 'Weekend Herald' newspaper.

"They should study it. If you just turn on your television and watch the grand prix and watch people go around and around, it’s boring and you change the channel. The more knowledge you have, the more interesting it is."

http://www.f1technical.net/news/14623?sid=bc4badbc7c90d9d278c97ed87eba41d1

I think that the cognoscenti are probably the lunatics that get up at 6am for the far eastern races

 

[Andrea_Moda_Rules]

I think that the cognoscenti are probably the lunatics that get up at 6am for the far eastern races

Or the ones who are up at 4am to watch the eastern Practice sessions! DOH!

 

[Matthew Little]

I think that the cognoscenti are probably the lunatics that get up at 6am for the far eastern races

Or the ones who are up at 4am to watch the eastern Practice sessions! DOH!

This is true.............it's an insomniacs' special, the first couple of F1 race weekends.............. DOH!

 

[Andrea_Moda_Rules]

[quote="Andrea_Moda_Rules":366fd2kk]

I think that the cognoscenti are probably the lunatics that get up at 6am for the far eastern races

Or the ones who are up at 4am to watch the eastern Practice sessions! DOH!

This is true.............it's an insomniacs' special, the first couple of F1 race weekends.............. DOH! [/quote:366fd2kk]

Hahaha Thats made me chuckle, describes me perfectly

 

[snowy]

I don't regard myself as an insomniac, in fact I'm the complete opposite, I regard staying up to watch practice and qualifying in the wee small hours as a privilege. I don't have to worry about any idiots phoning me, people knocking on my door, loved ones berating me etc, etc... the list of pros is endless and the only con is that at some point I have to catch up with the sleep I've lost... which is actually a pro because I like sleeping at any time of the day or night!

 

[Brogan]

Some data related to Q3 times and gaps.

Bahrain				

Pos.	Driver			Team			Q3		Gap

1	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault		1:54.101	

2	Felipe Massa		Ferrari			1:54.242	0.141

3	Fernando Alonso		Ferrari			1:54.608	0.507

4	Lewis Hamilton		McLaren-Mercedes	1:55.217	1.116

				

Australia				

Pos.	Driver			Team			Q3		Gap

1	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault		1:23.919	

2	Mark Webber		RBR-Renault		1:24.035	0.116

3	Fernando Alonso		Ferrari			1:24.111	0.192

4	Jenson Button		McLaren-Mercedes	1:24.675	0.756

				

Malaysia				

Pos.	Driver			Team			Q3		Gap

1	Mark Webber		RBR-Renault		1:49.327	

2	Nico Rosberg		Mercedes GP		1:50.673	1.346

3	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault		1:50.789	1.462

4	Adrian Sutil		Force India-Mercedes	1:50.914	1.587

				

China				

Pos.	Driver			Team			Q3		Gap

1	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault		1:34.558	

2	Mark Webber		RBR-Renault		1:34.806	0.248

3	Fernando Alonso		Ferrari			1:34.913	0.355

4	Nico Rosberg		Mercedes GP		1:34.923	0.365

5	Jenson Button		McLaren-Mercedes	1:34.979	0.421

So it would seem the gap from Red Bull to the rest is slowly coming down.

Is this due to Red Bull's non existent adjustable ride height system no longer being used?
The others catching up via upgrades?
The circuits suiting the other cars more than Red Bull?

Or a combination of all 3?

 

[slickskid]

So it would seem the gap from Red Bull to the rest is slowly coming down.

Is this due to Red Bull's non existent adjustable ride height system no longer being used?
The others catching up via upgrades?
The circuits suiting the other cars more than Red Bull?

Or a combination of all 3?

I'm erring on the side of the last two tbh with Mclaren winning the developmental race so far but as i've said before it won't be until we get back to Spain in a few weeks that we see exactly who's developed better over the opening races.

The first point - I saw no discernable difference in the way in which the Red Bull's rode today compared with any other race weekend so far and thats borne out by setting the quickest times through all 3 sectors in China quali. I'm now tempted to agree with Horner and say they never had a system that was adjustable, thats not to say that they may have run different pressures in the dampers prior to the loophole being closed by the FIA.

 

[slickskid]

4 races down and a most unusual start to the season..

One stat jumps out at me as being quite unusual.

4 races - 3 containing 1,2 finishes each by a different constructor!! i'm sure someone will crunch the stats to see if that has ever happened before.

Bharain - Ferrari
Malaysia - Red Bull
China - Mclaren

And still we have yet to see anyone win from pole!

 

[snowy]

The season is shaping up to be the most competitive and exciting in the past two, perhaps even three decades.

 

[teabagyokel]

The state of play after race IV

McLaren - surprisingly top despite looking 3rd best at most points. One-two in China. Jenson ahead of Lewis in WDC, through two excellent strategic calls in Australia/China. Undoubtedly 2-2 between the drivers, Jenson has taken advantage of his two races by winning them though.

Mercedes - 4th in WCC with consistent Rosberg in 2nd in WDC. Only driver to score at least 10 points in every race. Schumacher 40 points behind Rosberg, beaten in every race/quali session thus far.

Red Bull - Pole at every race and two front row lockouts. Reliability/racecraft lacking throughout. Vettel well clear of Webber in WDC. Fastest qualifiers but 3rd in WCC. Malaysia showed racing potential, but with McLaren/Ferrari essentially absent from race!

Ferrari - Alonso looked faster than Massa but unlucky to be at 2-2. 2nd in WCC, lucky to win Bahrain GP and tactical calls off in wet. Good pace threatens McL/RB for rest of season though.

Williams - 5 points through Barrichello and 1 from Hulk. RGB had best of qualifying so far but Hulk better in wet quali in Malaysia. Occupying mid-table position customary since 2005.

Renault - Best of the mid-table teams and a clear 5th in WCC. Kubica in 7th within 20 points of JB. At least 10 points in 3 chaotic wet races; made right decisions. RK in Q3 for all races. VP missed out on Q1 at one point, but retirements cost him, first points for first finish in China.

Force India - Sutil also Q3 in all races, usually 10th! Only points for AS in 5th at Malaysia; AS similar pace to Kubica but less results. Liuzzi scored in first 2 races but no Q3 and missed Q1 in China. 6th in WCC.

Toro Rosso - Alguersuari missed Q1 in Bahrain but improved since; both Buemi and JA near fringes of Q3 in each race though didn't break in even in Malaysia. Only points through overtaker JA in Malaysia, ran well in China till apparent problem struck and OTed by 4 and fell back.

Lotus - Best of the new teams, finished both in Bahrain & China. HK out of Q2 due to McF nonsense in Malaysia; generally faster than Trulli. HK even ran in points in China!

Hispania - Miles behind in Bahrain but getting closer and surprisingly reliable after Bahrain with only Senna retiring in Australia. Not last in China! Slowest team, with KC now having edge on Senna II. Improving.

BMWSauber - Worst of the old teams but never Q1 fall guy. Nearly points for dlR in Australia and Q3 for KK in Malaysia. But 7/8 retirements! Patchwork team not yet got going.

Virgin - Mentalist team on the grid. Not enough fuel to usually finish. Glock often beats Lotus in quali, but never finishes, reached Q2 in Malaysia. di Grassi slow but a finisher in Malaysia. Unreliable and a little bit Simtek.

Everyone agree?

 

[Brogan]

TBY, I've merged this with the general 2010 thread as I think it fits quite nicely here.

Your summary is spot on.
It will be interesting to see how it develops from here on with more dry/predictable races.

 

[snowy]

What if there are no more dry predictable races!? os:

 

[snowy]

The last volcanic eruption in the Eyjafjallajoekull area occurred in 1821.

And it lasted 2 years!

Expect the unexpected.

 

[cosicave]

Congratulations and apologies...
I'm sorry if this is not following any developing theme, or disruptive from not being related to the last post by snowy. But once again, I feel I really should congratulate the author of this article for his simply excellent work.

But my apologies are really for not having noticed this thread before and not using "Clip The Apex" as much as I should! There is so much stuff here to learn, but everything I come across is hitting a level of comprehensive excellence rarely seen.

Thankyou for everyone putting the hours in to make this such a rewarding site to use. Especially Brogan.