The Battle for 2nd

[landogeorgelewis1]

Well title is well and trully Vettels now, it'll take a horrendous turn of events for him to lose it now.

But the battle for 2nd place is about to heat up well and trully ONLY 14 points seperate Alonso in 2nd and Hamilton in 5th, with Button and Webber in the middle of them two.

But which driver do you think has the momentum at the moment to finish second behind world champion elect Vettel?

I'll open a poll, but would be good to have a debate on this subject too!

At the moment i have to say that Jenson Button would be my favourite to finish behind Vettel in the last few races he's really stepped up to the plate and has won 1 of the last 3 GP's with Vettel winning the other two.

Over to you guys?

 

[Brogan]

Button.

 

[Galahad]

I would agree that Button has the momentum at the moment, however, I have voted for Webber for two reasons;

1) I expect the Red Bull to be the better-suited to many of the upcoming events,
2) I expect Red Bull to concentrate more on Mark once Vettel has secured the championship (since they'll have nothing better to do) and with that focus he will get on the front row a bit more often that he has managed of late.

Ferrari I think have effectively packed it in for this season, and I think will only bring minor tweaks. Their chief designer has gone, remember, so they're more inclined to start with a clean sheet of paper for 2012 than the others will be - or so it seems to me.

Should be a good battle though (and the races are bound to be good irrespective of whatever the points situation may be).

 

[Jos the Boss]

Voted Hamilton its him button alonso or webber to be honest! but wheres the vettel option? and Massa, Rosberg Schumi Petrov, Kobayashi and Sutil option? they can all do it!

 

[Slyboogy]

Buemi.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Have to say Galahad, i think you could be on to something with regards to Webber. I didn't really think about the fact that Red Bull as soon as Vettel has won his Championship would focus on Webber but come to think about it you could be correct.

Do you also think that Mclaren might do a similar think to Ferrari and pack it in for this season and focus on 2012?

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Buemi.

!

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Voted Hamilton its him button alonso or webber to be honest! but wheres the vettel option? and Massa, Rosberg Schumi Petrov, Kobayashi and Sutil option? they can all do it!

Jos TBH yes all could be among the mix but realistically it's just down to these four!

 

[Slyboogy]

Alonso has the consistency over the other 3, Webber has the better car, Button is on form, Hamilton is on a dip 1 podium in 8 races now is it? I expect that to change.

It will be close.

 

[Brogan]

Hamilton is on a dip 1 podium in 8 races now is it?

It is.

Points scored in the last 8 races are quite interesting.
Sebastian Vettel - 166
Fernando Alonso - 121
Jenson Button - 106
Mark Webber - 100
Lewis Hamilton - 81

 

[teabagyokel]

Alonso is more consistent, so I'll go for him...!

 

[Slyboogy]

Thanks for that, backs up my points really.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

I wonder how many points Hamilton would be on now if he hadn't made silly errors in the GP's gone before?
Also that last Podium was his win in Germany right?

 

[Slyboogy]

I wonder how many points Hamilton would be on now if he hadn't made silly errors in the GP's gone before?
Also that last Podium was his win in Germany right?

Indeed

He should have more than Alonso.

 

[Galahad]

Do you also think that Mclaren might do a similar think to Ferrari and pack it in for this season and focus on 2012?

It hasn't sounded that way from Whitmarsh's comments this weekend. All the 2012 cars will be evolutions of this year, broadly, so any new developments they can bring to the end of this season may still have value next year. Since Aldo Costa laid down Ferrari's car, though, I think they're probably going to make the most radical changes of the three. They're probably the most extreme of the three in terms of their tyre usage too.

 

[Josh]

I voted for Button but then I read all the posts in this thread and now I don't know

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Cheers for the feedback Galahad.
So guessing by your comment that bar the Blown Diffuser, the cars will be exactly the same next year?

 

[Slyboogy]

Cheers for the feedback Galahad.
So guessing by your comment that bar the Blown Diffuser, the cars will be exactly the same next year?

Engine mapping will be gone too, and I think the front wing will be lowered (that might come in later though I think).

 

[Galahad]

Banning the blown diffuser will have a knock-on effect on other parts of the car, of course, but this winter will see the fewest regulation changes that I can remember for a long time. So several teams have said that they'll build on what they did this year.

 

[teabagyokel]

Banning the blown diffuser will have a knock-on effect on other parts of the car, of course, but this winter will see the fewest regulation changes that I can remember for a long time. So several teams have said that they'll build on what they did this year.

And, indeed, they'd be insane not to do so, unless their 2011 car is a stinker.