Motors The Official bit-tech F1 2012 Thread - Post season

Back to the actual on track stuff, the tradition of Monaco struck me this morning as I remembered free practice takes place TODAY. So, BBC times and channels:

Thursday 24 May
Monaco Grand Prix free practice 1 - 0855-1035, BBC Red Button & online
Monaco Grand Prix free practice 2 - 1255-1435, BBC Red Button & online

Saturday 26 May
Monaco Grand Prix free practice 3 - 0955-1105, BBC Red Button & online
Monaco Grand Prix qualifying - 1210-1415, BBC One & HD

Sunday 27 May
Monaco Grand Prix Live - 1205-1530, BBC One & HD
Monaco Grand Prix highlights - 1900-1950, BBC Three

 

FP3 is live now and the weather is much like here in the UK, warm and clear. Hopefully it stays around for quali so we can really see the pecking order.

 

Come on hamilton, stick it on pole!

Think lotus shall be quick though.

 

There's the Maldonado we all love to hate....

 

Hmmm. So that's twice now we've had Maldonado deliberately driving into someone. I'm sorry but to me that should be a ban from open wheeled racing. In tin tops it's almost a part of your racecraft but in open wheels it is intentionally putting other drivers and marshalls lives at risk and should therefore result in, at least, a years ban if not permanently.

 

not having seen qually, I can't comment on the maldonado incidemt buit it's refreshing to see schumacher on pole.

)slightly pissed now, will review sunday AM)

 

I'm sorry but that shows nothing without context for what's being shown. Is Maldonado being passed or doing the passing?

The video appears to show the person being passed quite far from the wall and the person doing the passing clipping them, presumably accidentally.

It's a terrible spot to either pass someone while on a hot lap or to try to pass someone who's not.

 

What a drive from Schumacher, so glad to see it. Penalty is a shame but that's life. I'd love to see Webber be the 6th winner this season really opening the championship.

 

Maldonado is passing Perez. Perez leaves him plenty of room to get past and still just about make the apex of the corner, yet Maldonado aims his car far too tight and deliberately (to me, the onboard makes it far more obvious) hits him. Another instance when he should've been black-flagged for that session, grid penalty definitely deserved.

 

I would put myself dead last in a list of people to judge this sort of incident, and David Coulthard certainly seems to think it's obviously deliberate, but I can't see how there can't a be big enough element of doubt that Maldonado deliberately struck Perez' car and that it might just have been a misjudgement. And if there is an element of doubt then any ban would harsh, it's not like it was actually dangerous.

 

When you say "it's not like it was actually dangerous" the thing is it could have been. You never now how these cars are going to react. Plus there is the possibility this could have contributed to Perez's later crash.

 

Maldonado claims cold tires and a lack of grip caused his shunt.

As far as I'm aware, cold tires tend to understeer. Also, one's tires are not typically cold at the end of a session.

What a flaming moron.

 

A little rebuild needed for tomorrow race :


@Maldonaldo: one thing is the crash itself, i will not talk about that. But he is right in one thing - Schumacher gets 5 place penalty for destroying a race of another driver (Senna), while Maldonaldo gets 10 place penalty for a minor hit ? It's time for the rules to be defined exactly, what kind of penalty is for what kind of rule breach.

 

^^ Never good seeing wheels flying off like that, one of the drivers in a blue car is a very lucky fellow indeed as it looks like it hits about half way along his nose cone.

 

Circumstances are completely different though, the incidents aren't even comparable. Schumacher was following Senna at the end of a long straight at a very high speed, his was a poor braking judgement (and a slightly suspect change of direction from Senna).

Perez purposely moved himself out of the way and was crashed into while practically parking his car before the apex to allow Maldonado through. If this were any other driver you could *possibly* spin it enough to claim it was oversteer/understeer/cold tires/whatever, but as it was Maldonado and as it was almost a completely identical incident to what he did on Hamilton in Spa you can only question the guys mentally behind the wheel.

Mark my words, that bloke will either hurt himself or someone else before he's done with Formula 1....

 

@Joey: still, more consistency would be good.

 

That's exactly why I would desire a much harsher penalty. Even at such a slow speed with open wheels one of those cars could easily have rolled and/or thrown debris over the fencing potentially causing major injury. Such an act being performed intentionally must be dealt with in the most sever and public manner possible.

With regard to the actual incident Johnny Herbert made the observation that it can only have been deliberate since, if Perez's car hadn't been there, Maldonado would have gone straight into the barrier well before the apex; drivers don't tend to turn their own cars into walls on purpose (no Piquet comments )

 

Looked at this again after your comment and I think you are right to raise Johnny Herbert's point - it certainly looks like an unusual line Maldonado chose to take there and it does warrant further investigation. I wouldn't have thought the understeer explanation would hold water with many so unless he can come up with something else it does indeed look like a petty move which would be deserving of a ban. Thanks for putting me straight

 

Think you're beating a bit of a dead one there mate