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

also the racing in to the pit entry should be ignored because vettel/hamilton and alonso/massa overtakes were no different to the line that every other driver took on the entry to the pits when they went in on their own, they were all cutting that bit off the line :P

Good race lots of action and over taking.

Shocked a tad though as I can name 4 things Lewis got away with that maybe he should not.

The most shocking one for me was his 1st pit stop, he went to the pits cutting the track and that is simply not allowed. To a degree though its good there was no drive through as lewis yet again provided a lot of action.

I do not think Massa will be happy with Massa for doing that on pit entry.

Lewis was also telling Vettel he was pitting yet Vettel tried to over take going into the pits.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2010 01:09PM by marcl.

IMO there's nothing wrong with how Hamilton entered the pits. Sure, it's not how you're supposed to do it, but nobody was in danger and as said, the white lines at the entry mean jack. Also, why is this wrong and would entering the pitlane as they do at the Nurburgring be right? It's the same thing.

His release was definitely unsafe though.

TV pictures show Hamilton pointing from the cockpit to let Vettle know he was going in the pits....

To solve the dodgy pit entry stuff, either traffic cones or an amendment to the rules....we all know how Rosberg fell foul last year on the pit exit, why should it not be the same for the entrance?

Andy

Lewis had already gone round the last corner from what I could see so he did not use the normal pit land, but he actually lost time by doing that and places.

Anyway Vettel and Lewis have been told off no penalty.

doesnt matter now anyway , as there will be no penalties for anyone!

stewards too soft as usual.

they need to start being harder on the drivers ,

and if anyone has a problem with it tough (as long as what the stewards do isnt too extreme) as when you sign the concorde agreement/ get your fia driver license you sign saying you will obey all rules and decisions made by the fia

so..

When you start to punish such incidents we will get to a point where the drivers are scared to even attempt "racing"

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

ATL11 Wrote:
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> TV pictures show Hamilton pointing from the
> cockpit to let Vettle know he was going in the
> pits....

Yeh but Vettel wouldnt be looking at Hamiltons cockpit would he so surely wouldnt notice until in the pit lane?!

Anyway, quite enjoyed this race some good overtaking and battles. Alonso on Massa was hilarious, really put him in his place lol!
Personally I think Hamilton should have backed out before Vettel was squeezing him, very dangerous especially with mechanics around in a wet pit lane!

Shocked to see RedBull terrible, what a change from last year when Vettel was wishing for wet weather as he knew how good himself and the car was in it!

Jenson and Lewis did drive good though, deserved this victory again due to his good call! I never thought he would be leading the championship this year!

Just goes to show Mclaren give equal cars as do Renault

Quote
chet
When you start to punish such incidents we will get to a point where the drivers are scared to even attempt "racing"

The same was said after Spa 2008, but it doesn't seem to have changed much...

I can see why Hamilton in particular was under scrutiny. Technically he did do a few misdemeanour's. In many sports, offences are accumulative (in football for example if you commit too many fouls you get a yellow card, even if none of those fouls were individually worthy of a card), and if motorsport was the same, Hamilton would have been facing starting in 20th place or something in Spain. :D

They were all rather minor though, and probably nothing anyone did was worthy of anything more than a slap on the wrists.

Clarification is needed on the pit entry rules though. As Nick says, at the Nurburgring everyone cuts across the chevrons, while at Valencia in 2008 Alonso got a fine or reprimand for cutting across those chevrons. Today many cut the course in the same way, while Hamilton drove diagonally across the track in order to make the pit-lane.

Marc said that Lewis lost time doing so, but he actually gained massive amounts of time as if he'd stayed on course, he'd have had to have pitted the following lap. I think he was very lucky with that one.

They were under safety car so he would have lost more time by not pitting like he did and waited for another lap, saying that maybe if he stayed out he would not have pitted at all like button and others.

It was all just a bit messy and we have seen others as you say not get away with it, for all tense and purpose today Alonso cut the course as did many others by not staying in the white lines.

But none of it really effected the racing just some was a bit unsafe if you know what I mean.

I am normally one of the 1st to defend Lewis but today there were 4 things that I thought were a bit wrong.

Great race, great performance by Petrov...he picked up a nice little haul of points.

I thought Alguersuari would get points too...but he just didn't have the pace as the tyres went away from him.

Unlucky Sauber (again). Ferrari just gotta get their engines sorted, and just hope for a bit of luck for Kobayashi. He's got the talent no doubt, but just been the victim of failures and crashes. Same for de la Rosa.

Hopefully James Key will steady the ship.

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GPGSL: S6 - TafuroGP Tester (14th) /// S7 - ART Tester (6th) /// S8 - Demon Driver (13th) /// S9 - Demon/Snake Driver (13th) /// S10 - Snake Driver (???) ///]
"My ambition is handicapped by laziness" - Charles Bukowski

Brilliant race.

Hamilton might be the 'better' driver, in terms of being the aggressor and all; but it just goes to show that it doesn't necessarily make you the winner.

Can't wait for these Mercedes updates in Spain.

Waited a long time to see Jenson and Nico up there, couldn't get better than it is right now for me! :D (and Chet!)


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

Great race, but frustrating for my 3 preferred drivers.

The Chinese track isn't particularly inspirational, but it has provided a few good races over the years now.

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X (@ed24f1)

has to be noted though, with the possible exception of Australia, none of Kobayashi's incidents have been his fault, which is unusual for japanese rookies. I'm gutted for Sauber - was delighted to have them back, but they're failing to deliver on a massive scale so far... wonder if they could reignite the tech partnership they once had with ferrari (once they've ditched the BMW name), like FI have with mclaren

_______________________________________________________

Team Japan Owner - GPGNC

danm Wrote:
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> Brilliant race.
>
> Hamilton might be the 'better' driver, in terms of
> being the aggressor and all; but it just goes to
> show that it doesn't necessarily make you the
> winner.
>

Yup, though I wouldnt go as far as saying Lewis is better, or rather its not the word id use. I would say he is deffo quicker out of the two but speed isnt what wins championships, sure it helps when judging a drivers performance, speed is often the primary focus, and perhaps wrongly?

Also, I think if anything, this year has shown just how mature a driver Button actually is, and just how much experience is worth. Not only that, and ive said this a thousand times but most of Jensons qualities regarding race strategy, and how to play out a race have been imo learnt from Brawn and Barachello. Without Rubens Jenson certainly would not be the driver he is.. and I just hope Jenson can pass this on to Lewis. So far journalists have said Jenson does act like the bigger brother in the team, like the team leader.

> Can't wait for these Mercedes updates in Spain.
>
> Waited a long time to see Jenson and Nico up
> there, couldn't get better than it is right now
> for me! :D (and Chet!)

Haha, seems strange but Nico on the podium was just standard to me. By that I mean its like he's done it a thousand times before. It is great to see him finally show his true worth, apart from you Dan, ive only felt Gav has rated Nico fairly :p!

let me put this to people..

With Alonso, Massa, Vettel, Webber, Lewis, Button, Nico and Michael all driving quick cars, some more than others who in the right mind would have, or could have predicted after four races that Button and Nico would lead the championship??!! Okay, Nico's on par with Lewis and Alonso (i think?) but even still thats amazing. Both Nico and Jenson were not given a chance in hell by most yet so far they have been awesome. Okay, its only 4 races, and admitidly 3 of them have been slightly off from the norm, but still...

F1 2010 is awesome!!!!!!

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

harjinator Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> has to be noted though, with the possible
> exception of Australia, none of Kobayashi's
> incidents have been his fault, which is unusual
> for japanese rookies. I'm gutted for Sauber - was
> delighted to have them back, but they're failing
> to deliver on a massive scale so far... wonder if
> they could reignite the tech partnership they once
> had with ferrari (once they've ditched the BMW
> name), like FI have with mclaren

I'm sure they will, but it would have been hard to develop the partnership much in the rush to get onto the 2009 grid, I suppose.

They have Ferrari's engine and gearbox at least.

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X (@ed24f1)

Steady Chet. I wouldn't put Nico in the same vein as Alonso. I don't think he has the raw ability of Hamilton either. He's possibly got some of the best qualities of Alonso though - the consistency while being quick with it. I think the only guy who can rival Lewis on raw speed is Vettel, but neither of them are even close to the level-headedness and race-craft of an Alonso (or Schumacher for that matter, even if some of his is a bit more controversial, the guy knows where to place his car).

While he has those 2 qualities to a degree, I don't think Nico is top class, but he could be a guy right behind the top class. Stewart to Clark. Villeneuve to Peterson. Mansell and Hakkinen to Senna. Kimi to Schumacher and Alonso.

I think he does have a championship in him if he's in the right car, but his mental strength with the pressure of a championship on him is still unknown.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2010 09:35PM by gav.

The Australian coverage picked up some outside audio about 2/3rds through the race that spoke over the BBC commentary - it sounded like possibly race control, and it went for quite a while - talking about reviewing the Vettel/Hamilton pitlane incident.

Did anyone else get this?

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X (@ed24f1)

I do get a whiff Rosberg might fall into the trap of being the next Alesi... being the bridesmade and best friend at the side and always in the background, but never quite getting that crowning day, if ever, for a while.

Time will tell, but for sure, he doesn't quite have that spicy flavour to make him an Alonso or a Vettel or a Hamilton.

Nonetheless, I think he is known for having an astounding technical ability - being more of a cool and calm player as opposed to raw aggression.

Think Senna / Prost for pristine evidence of such contrasting traits.

Alonso / Vettel / Hamilton are all very spicy racers. They will fight fire with fire. They have that Senna-esque flair.

Button is much cooler, calmer and collected. A thinker, much more like Prost. Nico is perhaps a much diluted version of this, but also having an essence of the other trait.

Not saying they are the same, but if you had to group them, the traits do all the talking.

Usually having one or the other has produced world champions - being totally aggressive, or being solid and sound. Nico is a bit of both, of the good parts. More so the thinker, like Prost. Versus Hamilton, he has been truly sliced and diced on the aggression front.

Off the top of my head my F1 knowledge is pretty pants, but could we perhaps name some past champions that were neither outright an aggressor; nor a solid thinker?

I'd say Hill was the last... not particularly spectacular or notably reliable. I still find his title rather a wet one.

Senna, was fierce.
Prost, was technical.
Piquet, was a bit mental.
Keke, ragged and rough and wild. consistecy and oddities got him his title.
Mansell, was a brute
Hill, limp wristed really
Schumacher, id say he was more a tactile and thinking driver, with visciousness
Villeneuve , aggressive
Hakkinen, thinker and ultimately electrifying
Kimi, pure speed aggression, short blasts
Lewis, ferrocious aggression
Jenson, tactile, steady and thinker
Alonso, shear balls.

Of the current crop, based on those extremes of traits, you have to say that future champions would lie in Kubica and Vettel. Nobody else stands out enough.

Massa is doubtful. And probably outrule Nico too, unless, like Jenson in a good car, the Mercedes can compliment his consistency and convert the 4ths and 5ths into more podiums or the odd win.


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



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2010 10:00PM by danm.