The 2011 Formula One Season
Posted by madotter
The tests at Barcelona probably give a bit of a distorted reality though. Last year, this was one of the Red Bull's absolute strongest circuits, so if Ferrari can get close there, there will be other tracks that they will probably have a significant edge. Like last year, it will probably be downforce vs. mechanical grip again.
As for McLaren, both drivers have proven to not be great in a poor car. Look at Button in the Honda earth car years, for example - and compare it to the first half of 2009. I think its fairly well documented that Button struggles when everything is not going well - I think Villeneuve and others have publicly stated that.
Hamilton also didn't cover himself in much glory when the car was struggling in early 2009. He had a poor attitude, and then when the car was reasonable, made mistakes - such as at Shanghai and Monaco.
X (@ed24f1)
As for McLaren, both drivers have proven to not be great in a poor car. Look at Button in the Honda earth car years, for example - and compare it to the first half of 2009. I think its fairly well documented that Button struggles when everything is not going well - I think Villeneuve and others have publicly stated that.
Hamilton also didn't cover himself in much glory when the car was struggling in early 2009. He had a poor attitude, and then when the car was reasonable, made mistakes - such as at Shanghai and Monaco.
X (@ed24f1)
marcl Wrote:
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> ^I do not think we can look at the past tbh as
> both drivers have improved a lot.
The past is the best indicator we have as to what to expect, so yeah, we should at least take it into consideration when speculating about this season.
> Lewis was only in his 3rd year and that was his
> 1st time in a bad car and he learnt from that, and
> he had that crap from the 1st race to deal with so
> it was not just the car he was having problems
> with.
Of course, none of that crap was self-inflicted.
In the first half of 2009 Lewis showed a lot about his true self, on and off the track, which had been successfully hidden from most of us previously. That was his first time in an uncompetitive car, and he failed to outperform that car. So, if the McLaren isn't competitive this season it doesn't look positive for him.
> Lets see how MS goes as well in a better car as
> last year he was that bad compared to Nico. Any
> other driver and he would not be on the grod this
> year.
Disagree. I think any other driver wouldn't have had the bashing MS had for his relatively poor performances(Pace-wise; his use of extreme tactics is another matter altogether) and would've gotten off lighter, since they wouldn't have had the expectations on them that Schumacher did. Drivers have performed worse than he did in 2010 and kept their drives the following season.
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> ^I do not think we can look at the past tbh as
> both drivers have improved a lot.
The past is the best indicator we have as to what to expect, so yeah, we should at least take it into consideration when speculating about this season.
> Lewis was only in his 3rd year and that was his
> 1st time in a bad car and he learnt from that, and
> he had that crap from the 1st race to deal with so
> it was not just the car he was having problems
> with.
Of course, none of that crap was self-inflicted.
In the first half of 2009 Lewis showed a lot about his true self, on and off the track, which had been successfully hidden from most of us previously. That was his first time in an uncompetitive car, and he failed to outperform that car. So, if the McLaren isn't competitive this season it doesn't look positive for him.
> Lets see how MS goes as well in a better car as
> last year he was that bad compared to Nico. Any
> other driver and he would not be on the grod this
> year.
Disagree. I think any other driver wouldn't have had the bashing MS had for his relatively poor performances(Pace-wise; his use of extreme tactics is another matter altogether) and would've gotten off lighter, since they wouldn't have had the expectations on them that Schumacher did. Drivers have performed worse than he did in 2010 and kept their drives the following season.
im putting special attention on how each drivers will adapt to pirellis in race... is a significant change a think... JV career was destroyed when grooved tyres were introduced... im sure this thires will suit better massa and hedfield style than sutils for example
Yet last year in some races where was Button compared to Lewis so I think last year he did show he could out drive problems in the car, so I think he showed enough tbh. Button dunno.
In 2009 he pushed way to hard and spun far to much, and yes a lot of the problems were his own doing i.e Australia which he actually had a good race lol. Even last year Lewis let his out of F1 screw him up and that is a real weakness something he needs to sort out.
I am not saying he is the best thing out there btw, just saying I do think he has got better and wont make the errors of 2009 if the car is bad.
No you are right as no other driver would have lasted the year to get the bashing MS got lol
I am joking with u btw, at the end of the year he was driving better lets see how he does,
In 2009 he pushed way to hard and spun far to much, and yes a lot of the problems were his own doing i.e Australia which he actually had a good race lol. Even last year Lewis let his out of F1 screw him up and that is a real weakness something he needs to sort out.
I am not saying he is the best thing out there btw, just saying I do think he has got better and wont make the errors of 2009 if the car is bad.
No you are right as no other driver would have lasted the year to get the bashing MS got lol
I am joking with u btw, at the end of the year he was driving better lets see how he does,Good points, well made. I know I probably seem to have a tendency to flame Lewis like he's a Whopper at Burger King, but a large part of that is actually frustration/despair at the guy because he's one of the best drivers out there, and good enough to be able to win fairly, without resorting to stuff like Spa 2008 and Australia 2009 and making daft comments. However he's been showing signs of being much more mature in the last year or so, which I hope will be continuing, and generally developing well as a driver. He should cope better this time round if his car turns out to be off the pace.
Regarding MS, I'm expecting him to make a big step forward this year, and to generally have the edge on Rosberg. I think that if he doesn't, it'll be a failure for him; Schumacher in his prime would've smashed a Rosberg, and while I'm not expecting him to smash Rosberg this year, he should still be capable of beating him on a regular basis.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2011 06:05AM by EC83.
Regarding MS, I'm expecting him to make a big step forward this year, and to generally have the edge on Rosberg. I think that if he doesn't, it'll be a failure for him; Schumacher in his prime would've smashed a Rosberg, and while I'm not expecting him to smash Rosberg this year, he should still be capable of beating him on a regular basis.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2011 06:05AM by EC83.
EC83 Wrote:
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> However he's been showing
> signs of being much more mature in the last year
> or so, which I hope will be continuing, and
> generally developing well as a driver. He should
> cope better this time round if his car turns out
> to be off the pace.
I'm not to sure about that. In the first half of 2010, it looked like he had matured, but then showed that he hadn't changed much at all in the second half of the year.
He had practice crashes at Hockenheim and Suzuka, almost binned it in Spa with a big lead, destroyed the tyres twice in Brazil and of course put himself in ill-considered positions in Monza and Singapore.
X (@ed24f1)
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> However he's been showing
> signs of being much more mature in the last year
> or so, which I hope will be continuing, and
> generally developing well as a driver. He should
> cope better this time round if his car turns out
> to be off the pace.
I'm not to sure about that. In the first half of 2010, it looked like he had matured, but then showed that he hadn't changed much at all in the second half of the year.
He had practice crashes at Hockenheim and Suzuka, almost binned it in Spa with a big lead, destroyed the tyres twice in Brazil and of course put himself in ill-considered positions in Monza and Singapore.
X (@ed24f1)
But thats Lewis.
He wont ever calm down, its an advantage but disadvantage at times too...
As for Schumacher, if he matches Nico more often than he did in 2010 then ill be impressed. Like Gav, I still consider Nico one of the best, so if Schumacher can indeed match him, then its an achievement in my eyes.. Im sure he will even beat on many occasions.
"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL
He wont ever calm down, its an advantage but disadvantage at times too...
As for Schumacher, if he matches Nico more often than he did in 2010 then ill be impressed. Like Gav, I still consider Nico one of the best, so if Schumacher can indeed match him, then its an achievement in my eyes.. Im sure he will even beat on many occasions.
"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL
Rosberg has to scoop up and chase podiums this year to retain credibility.
I still have all my faith in his skill as a driver - he is bloody consistent, it just makes you wonder if he just had that extra oomph from a car he may just show more flashes of brilliance and notch up trophys instead of top 4 finishes.
He's in the second tier of top drivers, or bottom of the top, whichever way you see it.
A first win MUST be close this year.
Still, I say watch Toro Rosso in the background.
Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it
I still have all my faith in his skill as a driver - he is bloody consistent, it just makes you wonder if he just had that extra oomph from a car he may just show more flashes of brilliance and notch up trophys instead of top 4 finishes.
He's in the second tier of top drivers, or bottom of the top, whichever way you see it.
A first win MUST be close this year.
Still, I say watch Toro Rosso in the background.
As I said the 2nd half of the year he let his outside life get in the way which has been covered already, drivers like Senna and MS shut that out as soon as they got in the car which is something Lewis had to learn.
Even in the Germany and Japan he crashed in practise and still done better the rest of the weekend than his team mate. Japan in the race he was closing in the leading 2 when the car let him down yet again.
Spa you mean the race where it started to rain and Alonso and Vettel both totally messed up, it was wet and he went off but got back on and kept his head. The number of times Senna and MS done that and got away with it and yet people dont put them down for it Did he go off yes, did he win the race yes whats the problem?
Italy he was a prat, but Singapoure sorry still think that was not all his fault.
As I said before when he cocks up I say he has, but others have done things even worse and they dont get mentioned as much as his cock ups
Anyway its all old stuff and I do think he changed last year for the better and learnt how to deal with things.
MS did improve at the end of the year and if he carries that forward I think he will be up there, the problem is though I dont think MS can extract that last 10th out the car now and Nico will probably start most races ahead of him like last year. But if MS can drive like he used to in races then with these tyres he should win some races.
There are 2 ways to race this year, look after the tyres or just go for it and make the extra stop.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2011 11:59AM by marcl.
Even in the Germany and Japan he crashed in practise and still done better the rest of the weekend than his team mate. Japan in the race he was closing in the leading 2 when the car let him down yet again.
Spa you mean the race where it started to rain and Alonso and Vettel both totally messed up, it was wet and he went off but got back on and kept his head. The number of times Senna and MS done that and got away with it and yet people dont put them down for it
Did he go off yes, did he win the race yes whats the problem?Italy he was a prat, but Singapoure sorry still think that was not all his fault.
As I said before when he cocks up I say he has, but others have done things even worse and they dont get mentioned as much as his cock ups
Anyway its all old stuff and I do think he changed last year for the better and learnt how to deal with things.
MS did improve at the end of the year and if he carries that forward I think he will be up there, the problem is though I dont think MS can extract that last 10th out the car now and Nico will probably start most races ahead of him like last year. But if MS can drive like he used to in races then with these tyres he should win some races.
There are 2 ways to race this year, look after the tyres or just go for it and make the extra stop.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2011 11:59AM by marcl.
Singapore was not completely his fault, but I think that Webber was never going to back down, so he could have left some more room and still had the inside line for the next corner
I think that his new management might also be too much of a distraction. I suppose it can't go much worse than Simon Fuller's last entry into F1 - the Honda earth livery.
X (@ed24f1)
I think that his new management might also be too much of a distraction. I suppose it can't go much worse than Simon Fuller's last entry into F1 - the Honda earth livery.
X (@ed24f1)
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