Motors The Official bit-tech F1 2010 Thread - Post season washup

What was he supposed to say? I think he was perfectly entitled to be infuriated/frustrated with the turn of events and was frankly put on the spot by Lee McKenzie asking who made the call. I really don't see what the big problem is with him sayin that he thinks he deserved a better finish after his drive, that the team performed well but that the strategy was wrong and that they'd find out who had made the call to pit for the second time.

 

Not to get too hung up on this, but how freaking difficult is it to see which person is which? I can reliably tell which driver is which from the shortest glimpse, just from car + helmet colour alone. While it can't be easy at the first race of the season, I don't get paid to commentate where I should get it right. So why can't Legard? Even this race he must've got half a dozen wrong.

p.s. Seeing Hamilton show a bit of emotion and get annoyed is quite refreshing, I'd be annoyed with the team too, but he'll inevitably accept that as part of racing and get on with it. Next week all will be well.

 

I'm not 100% sure, but while referring to one driver (in todays race), did he not call the team Prost?

 

I think he might have. I reckon it might be time for him to retire if he can't even keep track of what the teams are called.

 

I'm positive he wasn't referring to the team Prost as it was, but was speaking about a current team. Just wasn't totally sure as I didn't go to bed will 1am (which was 2am after putting the clocks forward) and I was back up at 6 to watch it.

 

Fantastic race.

In regards to the commentary team, Legard's constant errors and raising of his voice are annoying in the extreme, but the most irritating issue for me is the fact, the commentary always seems to be some 2-5 seconds behind what I've already seen.

Buttons last call pit stop, was a real last min decision and I saw it happen instantly on the screen, yet it took both Legard and Brundell till he hit the pit lane limiter to suddenly shout "BUTTON IS IN!".

Maybe they are constantly staring out the window as opposed to following the screen.

 

I do enjoy Brundle correcting him though. I often imagine him patting Leggard on the head as he does so

 

Legard isn't that bad. I don't mind him, particularly when you remember Martin Brundle's previous side kick James Allen.

That guy used to seriously get on my tits.

 

Well, my family being over for breakfast meant i couldn't go out and have breakfast with mates to watch the F1... instead i caught a good bit of it through live commentary, McLaren telemetry and F1.com's live timing. What a shame.

I reckon well done Heikki and Karun, for bringing the cars home.
That being said - Webber got reprimanded. It's the very least.. .that crash was a rookie mistake and "went down fighting" is much like saying "he started it" in my books...
Lewis was driving incredibly well, and the tyre call went well for Jenson.
Massa got lucky.
Alonso also got rather lucky... his race could have ended way earlier.
Vettel got unlucky - that's 2 for 2 with mechanical failure for him.
Rosberg outran his famous team mate... AGAIN. well done.
Oh, and while Bob Kubica was building a car train, he was driving REALLY well, IMO.

The rain did help the race, though... bring in some more of that.

 

Was a good race, MUCH better than last weekend. BUT was that down to the rain? I hope we don't go back to the Bahrain stylee procession racing next weekend.... Overtaking once the track had dried looked as impossible as ever.

Maybe, but no doubt he's a bit narked at Button taking the risk and getting his switch off inters bang on. Hamilton was "out thought" this weekend by Button and no doubt the teams decision to bring him in and not Jenson will make him think a little.
However, how does he know his tyres would have lasted the whole race? Button is REALLY gentle on his tyres, not sure how much compared to Lewis. Spose we'll never know whether Lewis's tyres would have gone off totally towards the end of the race.

Bodes well for Button tho, finished the race on a good pace despite being on tyres which had done 3/4 the total distance.

 

Yeah... i actually expect different strategies for the two Macca drivers more regularly (whenever the softer tyres are brought along by Bridgestone).
IMHO, Lewis can beat Jense in outright pace, but Jenson can make his tyres last. How this plays out is anyone's guess.
Malaysia might go down well for McLaren, though... two longish straights intersected with a hairpin bend... sounds like McLaren could use that top end there, and we know that both Lewis and Button are good at dominating a line.
That plus more upgrades, and maybe a bit of bad weather (and a reminder: last year, Malaysian weather cut the GP short), and it could be a great GP

 

I don't think they would have. Let's face it, the way Lewis likes his car setup it moves around a hell of a lot more than Jense's - He tends to drift the car more, and that's not good for keeping your tyres in one piece... On either your F1 car, or your road car.

 

Had a feeling that'd be the case. There's no way he can "blame" the team or strategy for his extra stop then.

Should make things interesting for the two drivers over the course of the year. Maybe this is where we'll get the excitment from in the races Those 1 stopping vs those 2 stopping. Do you save tyres or go flat out and make an extra stop...

 

1 stop seems to be choice right now.
The whole reasoning between bringing more different tyre compounds lies in this.
I know one of the team bosses suggested that instead of bringing a medium/soft, soft/super soft, medium/hard combination, rather leave a gap and bring super soft/medium or something like that.
The idea behind it being that the performance/durability penalty for switching is bigger.
The issue presenting itself (one of them) this year is that the bridgestone tyre is TOO GOOD. Almost every driver can run even the soft tyre all through the race. As the soft is the faster one (it sticks better), it's logical to assume that everyone will start on the harder tyre, and switch to the option and run with that through the race.

if they left a gap, those starting on the softs would be FAST out of the blocks, but would have to come in and pit 5 laps down, then run slower later laps.
Or they might start on the harder option tyre, and keep the softer one for later, when the fuel load is less, thus making the tyre last longer, but risking a spread out field.
however, a more substantial tyre speed difference would mean that overtaking could be easier later in the race for the guy running on softs.
It's an interesting idea.

One of my mates mentioned (on that note), that the issue isn't that the tyre lasts so long... the issue is that it "throws pebbles", and thus rubberises the track too well.
The difference between a rubbered in track and one that's "fresh" is HUGE, hence the drivers have to sit in the hot, dirty and turbulent air behind the other driver to close the gap, which in turn makes overtaking harder.

i doubt this is gonna change this year, but Bridgestone's contract is expiring this year, and they have indicated that they are thinking of pulling out.

 

If hamilton hadnt made a second stop i doubt he would have been anywhere near where he finished.

He wouldnt have killed his tyres but they would have been very slow, to think he would have been as quick as he was in the closing laps on 40+ lap old tyres is daft he should know that.

 

Can someone please tell me what they're basing these claims that Hamilton's first set of tyres would have pretty much completely disintegrated before the end of the race on? I have yet to see any evidence to support that his tyres were in any worse condition than anyone elses. I know his driving style can be a little more exuberant than others but are people seriously saying that it's so much more damaging to tyres that he would have destroyed the same set of tyres that managed to last race distance on the cars of Button, Kubica, Massa, Alonso and so on?

I think the simple case is Mclaren made a strategic decision in an attempt to cover both bases, i.e. the rest of the grid pitting for new tyres or not doing so, and perhaps if they'd pitted Hamilton a few laps earlier and overtaking wasn't so problematic it might have worked. As it was they made a gamble which backfired and likely cost them a 1-2 finish. Kubica has said in his post-race interviews that at the time of the pit stop Hamilton was challenging him hard and from the race coverage it seemed likely he would have overtaken him in the next few laps and most probably been able to open up a decent gap after that. By the time tyres became a significant issue, if they ever did, it seems probable Hamilton would have had a safety cushion of a decent time gap and difficulty of overtaking to help him maintain track position till the end of the race.

 

Well, the argument from Martin Whitmarsh tells a slightly different story.
Webber pitted before Lewis, and was reeling in the front at a second per lap. "going purple", as they say.
McLaren felt that Lewis could retake position and be in a better position to build a gap in front if he had fresh tyres. A decision that clearly backfired a bit... even though - coming in from 3rd and coming back out in 5th is not that bad...
as for Lewis being heavy on the rubber - he DID complain rather quickly after his fateful stop while being stuck behind Alonso. He reported graining, which is what caused Webber to take the shot and run into him.
It's not "proof" per se, but it's an indication of how hard on the rubber chasing can be.

 

I think this race puts credence on the theory posted earlier that a harder compound and less grippy tyre and the reintroduction of manual gearboxes would encourage overtaking. It was one of the best races i have seen for a long time.

Was Jensens tyre choice inspired or an act of desperation after Lewis passed him?

 

he was (apparently) struggling on the inters, and as he could feel it drying (as he says "it's not raingin, and I am slow... it must be dry"), he decided to switch to slicks... how much of that is inspired and how much desperate is anyone's guess

 

Absolutely brilliant drives from Button, Hamilton, Kubica and Webber. Really gutted for both RBR drivers, Webber was trying so hard to get a result for his fans and maybe Vettel should hang back next quali, clearly starting in front is a bad omen for him.... if he can get over his bad mechanical luck he easily has the raw speed and skill to win races.