2010 Formula 1™ Chinese GP THREAD **SPOILERS**

they said on autosport forum that Lewis Hamilton has gone for wet setup because rain prediction is 60-85% and u have to use same setups for race as u used in quali.Schumacher was a dissapointing today, Vettel once again stunning even if he made a small mistake on his final lap by going one corner after the first sector a bit wide.Massa has never been fast at china so it was not bad job at all from him to be suprisingly close to Alonso.

I don't think so. The possibility of wet race is almost 100%. Everybody knows it. It wouldn't make any sense to use normal setups. I think McLaren's problem is more obvious. They're very fast in Q2, but when they changed to race setups before Q3 they lost lots of performance. Not just here but in Australia and Bahrein as well. They are doing very well on one lap at the moment but they should improve on the long runs still.

I hope it rains tomorrow as there is no contest against the RedBulls in the dry.

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YES! Vettel and Webber! Yeeeeeeeah! :D

I kinda hope it rains tomorrow as well, I wanna see some racing, like we had at Melbourne a couple of weeks ago.

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matt3454 Wrote:
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> I hope it rains tomorrow as there is no contest
> against the RedBulls in the dry.


Well it rained here last year and there was no contest to either of them in the wet.

Barring a safety car, accident or failure, I just can't see anyone getting near the Red Bulls. If Vettel beats Webber to T1, he'll control the race. If Webber beats Vettel to T1 then we'll have a fight on our hands.

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Quote
DaiMOn
They're very fast in Q2, but when they changed to race setups before Q3 they lost lots of performance.

They have to use the same setup all the way through qualifying. Once they roll out of the pitlane in Q1 they're stuck with what they have other than tyre pressures and front wing angle.

Their funky false neutrals the McLarens were getting could be a big issue if it's wet tomorrow; less of a problem if it's dry. They should be allowed to change the offending electronics though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2010 01:31PM by gav.

I now feel that MS is wasting that car and I really cannot see him lasting much longer. Yes it is not the best car out there but he is getting shown up and is making no progress at all, infact he is dropping more behind Nico than at the start of the year.

I am impressed by Button he is really holding his own and doing a really great job as is Alonso.

Other than the few days of pre-season testing he's had, he's had zero input into the car, as all the updates so far have been very minor. The car wasn't even designed with him in mind, as he was a late choice. Basically it's the car designed around Button and Rubens last year, and the car Button enjoys (predictable, stable and relatively conservative) is almost the exact opposite to what Schumacher enjoys (pointy front end with a back-end which just has to hang on for the ride). Even watching him driving he looks like he's got a very effective rear of the car which he's trying to get around with setup options - it's a nasty compromise.

At least allow the team to give him a car which suits him to some degree before writing him off completely. That starts in Barcelona apparently.

He's only had 2 and a bit races.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2010 04:50PM by gav.

I sort of accept that but Button is not doing too badly in a car designed around Lewis Hamilton. Maybe the McLaren guys are just that bit better at adapting the car for him than the Mercedes folk. It was a worrying comparison today looking at Vettel in the last corner and Michael. Just think back to what he did with a bad Ferrari in 96, you can't see him back at that level. I hope I'm wrong and he does brilliantly in the rain tomorrow but I just doubt it.

He somehow comes across less motivated to me. He used to be 'FFS, I hate losing damnit!' but his reaction after the Aussie GP really surprised me. It was something along the lines of 'this isn't what I hoped for, but at least I had fun!'. And that's the thing, he seems back for fun, not winning and if you desperately want to win, you are willing to go further than when you're in for fun.

I don't think he came back for the all-out winning, like he raced for in the past, more the buzz from the driving. He knew before he returned that he wouldn't be in a position to win, and that was only confirmed in pre-season when the Merc wasn't as quick as many expected. Add into it the fact that it's really not yet the sort of car which inspires him and it's only to be expected that he's a bit more laid back at the moment. He knows the pace will come to him.

He isn't hustling the car like he used to, but then you can't hustle these cars much anyway. It's only really the Red Bull and the Virgin which look like they reward aggressive driving. The Red Bull in particular looks extremely drivable - it's looks like a car from the 80s turbo days.

What's making MS look worse is how well Rosberg is going. I said last year that I thought he was one of the best performers with epic mid-season consistency and I was ridiculed by many for doing so, but for me he's only confirmed that so far this season, being only 4 points behind the championship leader. I think the guy is massively under-rated... whether he's got the mental capacity to challenge for a title in the future is another matter, but he's got everything else for me.

I don't think the Merc will be fast enough to win races on outright pace this year anyway and certainly not the title, regardless of who's driving it, so if MS has come back for winning, he'll have to wait until 2011 - at least if he's still up for it then, he'll have the opportunity to have car which suits him.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2010 05:53PM by gav.

It should also be remembered just how long MS has been out of racing for. Remember Jacques Villeneuve. He was out of F1 for exactly one calendar year, from late 2003 till late 2004, and even in early 2005, he really struggled. Well off Massa's pace, and a lot of mistakes. It took him at least half of the 2005 season to get up to speed, but once he was, he got on top of the job, and on top of Massa. He carried this through into 2006, when he had some excellent performances and generally had the better of Heidfeld.

MS has been out of F1 for over 3 years, and that time out has coincided with the biggest change to the cars over a 2-3 year period since the mid-1990s. And although he drove a Ferrari last summer, it was a 2007 car fitted with slicks, which can hardly count as proper preparation for a 2009-onwards comeback. So, he came into the 2010 season completely cold, apart from a few test days in a Merc which would have felt completely alien to him. So, is it any wonder he's been out of practise? And being out of practise in F1 counts for more than most people seem to realise. Also, as Gav points out, MS is up against Rosberg, who is in the form of his career, and has risen brilliantly to the challenge of being in a new team with Michael as a teammate.

MS hasn't been going badly, he's just been going less well than Nico. And as he gets more used to the car and Merc get the car to suit him more, there's no reason why that shouldn't be able to change.

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Rosberg will notch up very consistent results just like Kubica in '08.

The car MIGHT pull in a win when the other guys are out, but the new points are certainly favouring consistency. Massa is evidently showing that.

Don't write off Schummi. He is an old man, and the fact he is still in the top 10 is astounding. That alone is creditable.

Button is really showing Hamilton up in terms of pressure and just shrugging it all off - but his race pace and aggression is not on par with Lewis. He really is something else.

I am frankly enjoying watching Kubica tug that Renault around.

And I cannot wait for Barcelona to see if Mercedes can make some progress. If Nico can get into some regular podiums, he could cause trouble.


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

It just looks like one lap pace is his issue. On the longer runs on Friday he was as quick, if not quicker than Nico. But because how close F1 is now compared to when he last raced, qualifying makes or breaks a weekend, more so than ever. Once he gets qualifying sorted I am fairly sure he wil be on Nico's pace. He wasnt all the far off in Bahrain. Aus showed he was rusty regarding racecraft, and we never really got a chance to see what he could do. Bahrain has been the only judgeable example, and he finished just 4 seconds behind Nico, and set a faster race lap too. So yeah, once he sorts one lap, Schumacher will be at least matching Nico. I think thats the reason he is still smiley in interviews. Aside from Bahrain, he hasnt had a chance to race a normal race, he knows that and Ross knows that.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

As already mentioned, it would be good to see Webber get ahead into Turn 1 and it would be interesting to see if he can hold him during the race.

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X (@ed24f1)

Webber just needs a good start, get through those first few turns in front of Vettel, and then just an ounce of good luck for a change! Would be great to see Webber notch an early season win, and keep himself firmly in the title hunt.

One more double win for Red Bull I bet

Nice rain to spice things up.

Mr. Cynical inside me says that the safety car was only out so long after Alguersuari lost his front wing because the difference between Petrov in P4 and the rest of the field was 50seconds.

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Bet Hamiltons a bit mythed now, Button showing the difference between outright aggression and just plain smart driving.

1. why didn't Hamilton got a penalty for pushing Vettel out of t-16 at the restart?, is Stewart and Herber still doing stewards job?, that would explain some stuff, won't it?

2. Jenson's the man!, anyone wondering why he made the move???, he pulled away from Lewis to make a 10 sec gap, and then managed it down to 1 sec, and he only changed his tyres twice!!!, how 'bout that?... now i bet some of you will find excuses to say he hasn't "fought for his win".. is it his fault?, that everybody else gets scared with some water and then decide to change their tyres???

just for the record

qualys, 3 to 1 in favour of Jenson and 2 wins to 0 in favour of Jenson as well!!

ps: abaout the penalty, rules clearly state as ww know that you're not suppossed to overtake anybody before the start/finish line... not only did he overtake Vettel, but he pushed him wide, Hamilton that is...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2010 11:18AM by Slash.