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

Wow that was boring
Happy for Webber's win, he deserves it! (shush, I need his autograph to be worth something )
Glad to see Schumacher suck less, was obvious the previous car configuration was utterly wrong for his driving style.
As for Hamilton... I laughed my ass off, at least...

 

Pretty gutted that Hamilton missed out on some important points, would have made the standings even more interesting than they already are:

Code:

1st	70pts	Button
2nd	67pts	Alonso
3rd	60pts	Vettel
4th	53pts	Webber
5th	50pts	Rosberg
6th	49pts	Hamilton
7th	49pts	Massa
8th	44pts	Kubica
9th	22pts	Schumacher
10th	16pts	Sutil

 

You said it all.

The only consoling fact from a boring race was that Lewis was going to get some good points... and then that got taken away.

Congrats to Mark Webber though, he drove a Schumacher-esque race - i.e. left the competition miles behind.

 

Yea i was gutted by Hamilton's sudden puncture (who wasn't!)

But tbh the Red Bulls should be doing that every race with a car that quick! At least until it falls apart and stops working, i haven't been impressed so far by RBR, the qualifying pace just doesn't get through to the race it seems. Hopefully with some more upgrades to reliability and some better judgments on the drivers parts they can finish the season at the top of both championships.

 

Shame about Hammilton, those red bulls are dam quick.

 

His defensive work was about the most exciting thing in that race. Even the crashes failed to be exciting :/

 

Yeah... the procession that everyone expected, really.
Webbo was driving WICKED fast the whole weekend, and his victory was undoubted.
As for the rest of the GP, some thoughts:

Gutted about Lewis. Stealing fastest lap from Webber was epic, and then that puncture.... *sigh*

Vettel and Webber showed good pace. It seems to me that the RBR's have STUNNING single lap pace, but aren't as impressive in the long haul. This is the second time that a brilliant drive from Lewis put him up there with the two red bulls. Yes, they are a bit quicker over all, but not the "ZOMG-Rocketzzz" that they seem to be in every quali session.

What the hell was Alguersuari doing on top there all of a sudden (i.e. after the Kubica-Rosberg bump right at the start)? That was an epic moment for that rookie.

Also great to see that Sutil is being crashed out less this season (second time in the points this season, I believe?). It almost seems like Kimi was his cryptonite.

Seeing smoking brakes used to be a bit of an "oooh" moment where I didn't know if someone overcooked it proper now, But since Kamui "Banzai" Kobayashi is driving, I see brake dust or smoking tyres, look at the car and go "oh... it's the Suaber-kamikaze". We (a mate and myself) were joking about this, imagining the pit crew when Kamui charges for an overtake. Radio traffic goes "Banzaaaaaaaai" - "Kamui.... NO!. NO!. NO!. Slow down, Kamui. The car is expensive"

 

Everyones commenting on the pace of the red bulls and yes they where outstandingly fast, especially webber but Lewis was still able to split them until his puncture. Vettel's brakes didn't really do much in terms of effecting his pace since he was behind Lewis most of the race before the problem. I also wonder how far schumacher would of fallen behind too if over taking was possible. Massa and Button probably could of pressed and raced Alonso.

 

Yeah.
When Button got "pushed back" on his pit-exit by schumacher, it was clear as day for a good few laps that both him and Massa were quicker than Schumacher. But Schu was defending well, and that's part of racing.

As for the RBR pace - as I said - they are fast as lightning in quali every time, but on race-pace seem less impressive. Especially with Mister Talent (Lewis Hamilton) in a quick car.

Next race is Monaco this weekend, and my decision is that unless (due to traffic and the non-split quali) quali yields some really off-whack results (think Vettel, Lewis, Button, Alonso in the back of the grid) or it rains (and let's be realistic - It's Monaco - it never rains), I reckon I won't bother with Monaco.
It's a stunning track, but in the dry, with the RBR quali pace, it's pretty much sure that it'll be led from pole to finish.

 

Monaco is so chock full of slow corners that the Red Bull might not be particularly quick. If anything it's probably the track where the driver has the most effect on the pace, so there could be an interesting result. Maybe

Also of note is that the teams have agreed to ban F-ducts from next year:
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-news/234295/teams-agree-to-ban-f-ducts/

 

Valid point. But it's also a narrow track where a bit of blocking goes a long way. a mistake there iss rather likely to cost a driver the race.

 

I thought the Red Bulls were so fast because they are very good at generating downforce, without the penalty of drag. That should still pay dividends at Monaco with max downforce levels. It might be as little as 1-2% less drag than a McLaren or Ferrari with the same amount of downforce but it will be enough even in Monaco to make a difference. More downforce means better traction out of the slow corners, less drag means they'll be able to accelerate faster, power and electronics being equal of course. Like the other races though it'll be qualifying where you see the difference, as the fuel loads negate the advantage at the start of the race. I reckon RBR will have a similar advantage in qualy again as they did in spain. But Monaco is a drivers track, so Vettel pole, Lewis 2nd, Alonso 3rd, Jenson 4th, Mark or Michael 5th. Lewis Win, and does what Jenson did last year running the pit straight. Probably wont happen like that and will be all scrambled up because of rain and HRTs, Lotuses and Virgins.

 

The additional downforce is most advantageous in faster corners, the average speed of Monaco is very low. The track surface is also very bumpy and low-grip, so other cars might be better at riding the bumps or whatever. I do however think it would be foolish to suggest (as some of my friends have!) that Red Bull will be off the pace though - their advantage just won't be as great as at other tracks.

 

ses - I agree there.
With regards to the upcoming race - The weather man predicts rain, so I suppose that's a good thing.
On the other side, one of the few overtaking spots around the track, the chicane, has been "upgraded" to a point that seems like it'll break a car that crosses it. I know it's not TECHNICALLY a good overtaking spot, but due to the narrow track, it's one of the few where the drivers had a chance to take a risk.

Rain would be good for this GP, and I'd almost say that a weird quali order would be even better. Otherwise everyone in the front of the grid (with the exception of those batitling 3rd/4th) will just cruise their cars around, collecting points wihtout trying anything that could end their car up in the barricades.

 

Dont forget the traffic aspect in quali, with a few very slow cars on the track it could provide so upsets. Unless the slow teams agree to not run when the big boys are.

I can see a few people getting caught out this weekend, who knows if some of the slower cars time a run right they might get somewhere up the grid.

 

Yeah - Quali could make this interesting. ESPECIALLY wet quali.

 

It's looking like a dry race but possibly some rain around for qualifying as said, that would make things very interesting. I'm going to go for an Alonso win - they're using the supersoft and medium tyres this weekend which suit the Ferrari well, if they can get through quali unscathed then it should be a good race up the front.

UK TV times, don't forget that practice is tomorrow due to the Prince's day off on Friday.

Thursday 13th May 2010
Monaco Grand Prix Free practice 1 – 09:00 – 10:30 (BBC Red Button and online)
Monaco Grand Prix Free practice 2 – 13:00 – 14:30 (BBC Red Button and online)

Saturday 15th May 2010
Monaco Grand Prix Free practice 3 – 10:00 – 11:00 (BBC Red Button and online)
Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying – 12:10 (BBC1 (BBC2 in Scotland), Red Button and online) (Qualifying starts at 13:00)

Sunday 16th May 2010
Monaco Grand Prix – 12:10 (BBC1, Red Button and online) (Race starts at 13:00)

 

McLaren are taking their usual low-profile approach to Monaco weekend by having Steinmetz bling the drivers' helmets and steering wheels. Expect to see replicas in the McLaren store soon as always

 

Monaco is all about mechanical grip, acceleration and braking. Button and Hamilton will both like this circuit as Button has excellent throttle control and Hamilton likes a loose car. A wet quali would be great, as long as Hamilton or Alonso is at the back, they are the only drivers who would risk those late braking suicide overtakes.

 

Wouldn't that steering wheel just be supremely distracting to the drivers? >_<