The 2011 Season

[Chad Stewarthill]

By the way, i was wondering if there is anyone on the forum who finds the new look F1 confusing? It is unpredictable of course, but i don't get how it can be confusing. At the end of the first stops, Rosberg miraculously appeared in 1st place. My first thought wasn't "i'm confused" it was "wow"! I sometimes feel like pundits say the public are saying they are confused simply because the press are asking "isn't it confusing" or in one case "isn't it too exciting"?

I must say I haven't been particularly confused during any of the first three races. I think some of the races in the re-fuelling era when we had to cope with differing fuel loads/strategies and tyre strategies, especially when combined with rain and/or safety cars, were more confusing.

One of my favourite races from the past was the 1987 British GP, when Mansell on fresh tyres chased down teammate Piquet on old ones, over the course of 28 laps or so, catching and passing him to grab the win right at the end. Today, for me, had something of that edge-of-the-seat excitement; both with Lewis passing Button, Rosberg and Massa then chasing down Vettel, and with Mark Webber storming through from the back to chase down Button for a podium place. A thrilling, rather than confusing, race.

 

[johnnoble1990]

Super softs and softs at Monaco btw. That's gonna be interesting

Does there not need to be a one tyre gap anymore?

 

[MCLS]

Apparently not

 

[McZiderRed]

Does there not need to be a one tyre gap anymore?

The two softest tyre types are used for Monaco (they were last year with the Bridgestone tyres as-well). No gap for the race, probably due to the tight and twisty nature of the circuit.

 

[johnnoble1990]

During the early stages of the race i had a thought of how teams can use the DRS to protect both their drivers position when in a 1-2. Button, Hamilton and Vettel were all very close and on similar pace. Red Bull could not match Mclaren on straightline speed without the advantage of the DRS. What i started to think at this point in the race was that the best strategy for Mclaren would be to make sure Button let Hamitlon stay at least 1 second behind. This way Lewis could defend against Seb using the DRS with the DRS and protect not only himself, but Button as well.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

I seem to remember Vitaly Petrov describing after Melbourne how he was able to use the DRS, while following one car, to maintain the gap to the driver behind who was not close enough to him to deploy theirs.

 

[Brogan]

It would seem the Indian circuit has been renamed from Jaypee International Race Circuit to Buddh International Circuit.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

It would seem the Indian circuit has been renamed from Jaypee International Race Circuit to Buddh International Circuit.

I wonder if they will have a shortened form of the circuit for club racing, called Buddh Light?

 

[Brogan]

<groan>

Taxi for Chad!

 

[RickD]

Wonder if they have gold tickets on sale? You can then get into the Golden Buddh section..

 

[Jen]

Rather have a Buddh than a 'pee

 

[KekeTheKing]

Rather have a Buddh than a 'pee

If you drink enough, you know you'll have both.

Seriously though, is it next Friday yet?

I'm sure the teams and drivers are loving this time off after the fly-aways to start the year, but as a fan, it's agonizing.

 

[Brogan]

Indeed.

Two weeks between races is perfect for me as it gives me a break from doing data, etc. and also means the whole weekend doesn't have to revolve around the GP.

Three weeks is just though.

 

[LifeW12]

The calendar should be rearranged next year so there's not 6 fly-aways at the end of the year.

 

[snowy]

MotoGP and BTCC this weekend, that'll get me through.

 

[Fenderman]

Missed the BTCC. But MGP (Go Danny) , Snooker (John Higgins, Judd Trump ... exciting emotional ... who'd have thought it), BSB (The Hopper ... blimey!). What a weekend ... good job I've got duff pins otherwise I'd have been cruisin' in the sunshine and missed all that as well. Just about staved off the F1 DT's. Think I can handle the rest of this week now. Phew.

 

[snowy]

I'm glad I didn't record any of those!

 

[Fenderman]

Oops. Did I give Something away?

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Some intersting snippets form Ted Kravitz on the BBC F1 website's Sunday gossip page (of course, some of you may wish to take these with a large pinch of salt given your views on the accuracy of Ted's reporting):

1. Jean Todt has branded the in-season testing ban as 'stupid' and vowed to bring a limited amount back with the teams' agreement for 2012 or, failing that, unilaterally in 2013.

2. Todt has also commissioned a report on the Bahrain situation for presentation to the FIA prior to their decidion being taken as to whether to reinstate the race this season. So hopefully it's not just left to the Bahrain government and Bernie between them to decide.

3. Todt (again! Did Ted have him cornered in the gent's loo or something?) has said he will not abandon plans to introduce the 1.6l turbo engines for 2013, despite opposition by Ferrari and Ecclestone.

 

[Galahad]

Well, I hope those are all true!