Official Japanese Grand Prix 2010 Thread ***SPOILERS***

I can't believe no one done has this yet.
GP Facts:
Laps- 53
Circuit length- 5.807 km (3.608 mi)
Race length- 307.573 km (191.117 mi)
Number of times held- 36
First held- 1963
Most wins (drivers)- Michael Schumacher (6)
Most wins (constructors)- McLaren (8)

Previous Winners (2000 onwards)
2009- Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault Suzuka
2008- Fernando Alonso Renault Fuji
2007- Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes Fuji
2006- Fernando Alonso Renault Suzuka
2005- Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes Suzuka
2004- Michael Schumacher Ferrari Suzuka
2003- Rubens Barrichello Ferrari Suzuka
2002- Michael Schumacher Ferrari Suzuka
2001- Michael Schumacher Ferrari Suzuka
2000- Michael Schumacher Ferrari Suzuka



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2010 01:07AM by mclarenaustralia.

looking forward to it, being In Canada the race starts at 2am on Sunday Morning. Every year during the Japanese grand prix I make chicken wings, garlic bread and some chips and wash it all down with some cold frosty beers

Having loss my access to the BBC until morning UK time I need a link to a decent quality stream of practice with 5 live commentary.

EDIT: don't worry I have it all sorted out thanks to Expat shield .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2010 02:00AM by mclarenaustralia.

Mclaren are really struggling.

Hamilton crashes after the second degner, and Button almost does the same.

Both running the cars too low, and bottoming out.

New upgrades have upset the balance and are just not working.

Redbulls and Ferrari's look planted.

Really looking forward to this race on Sunday!! 5pm local Aussie time on tv, a perfect way to wind down a perfect Sunday : run in the Melbourne Marathon (only doing the 1/2 marathon this year!!!), home to the couch to watch the Bathurst 1000 all afternoon, then flick over to the F1 race to end the day's entertainment!
Go Webber! Would love to see RBR dominate, and a strong Webber performance. Just hoping Vettel's youthful over-exuberance once again brings him undone, and RBR are then fully behind Webber for the title.

Go Webber! Would love to see RBR dominate, and a strong Webber performance. Just hoping Vettel's youthful over-exuberance once again brings him undone, and RBR are then fully behind Webber for the title.

It's just as likely that Webber will have his trademark brainfade and run into someone. Here's a fun stat.

Webber has been involved in 3 accidents which he could have avoided (Lewis Australia, Heikki Valencia, Lewis Singapore)
Vettel has been involved in 2 accidents which he could have avoided (Webber Turkey, Button Spa).

The points difference between Webber and Vettel hasn't come from Vettels mistakes, but rather than 35 points which RBR cost him early in the season with the fragile car.

Both RBR drivers have been poor, but it seems some people are too blind to notice the other one.

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DaveEllis Wrote:
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> Go Webber! Would love to see RBR dominate, and a
> strong Webber performance. Just hoping Vettel's
> youthful over-exuberance once again brings him
> undone, and RBR are then fully behind Webber for
> the title.
>
> It's just as likely that Webber will have his
> trademark brainfade and run into someone. Here's a
> fun stat.
>
> Webber has been involved in 3 accidents which he
> could have avoided (Lewis Australia, Heikki
> Valencia, Lewis Singapore)

the Lewis incident worked out for the better for him though

> Vettel has been involved in 2 accidents which he
> could have avoided (Webber Turkey, Button Spa).

> The points difference between Webber and Vettel
> hasn't come from Vettels mistakes, but rather than
> 35 points which RBR cost him early in the season
> with the fragile car.
>
> Both RBR drivers have been poor, but it seems some
> people are too blind to notice the other one.

i don't think many judge Vettel from his crashes, but the mistakes he's made, Hungary was another avoidable incident had he had his head in the right place, his race starts also cost him wins that he should've got, last race the best car finished 2nd

the Lewis incident worked out for the better for him though

Through pure luck. On another day he'd have destroyed his front right. On another day the rim would have bent a mm more. On another day it'd have happened 1 lap earlier, and like Horner said, it'd have failed. I didn't say he didn't come out OK, and I didn't even say he was at fault, I said he was involved in an accident he could have avoided.

his race starts also cost him wins that he should've got, last race the best car finished 2nd

As analyised on the BBC Forum, Vettels start was far better than Alonsos. He was forced out of the throttle when Alonso not only cut him off, but continued right over to the edge of the track in a manner far worse than even Vettel has done when people complained. His start at Singapore was also significantly better than Webbers. And if we're talking about starts, both of the drivers again have been awful. Webbers start at Valencia was possibly the worst start and opening lap I've ever seen a driver do in a Grand Prix that didn't involve a crash. So again, both have been poor in this area.

The best car may have finished 2nd at Singapore, but the best car also finished 3rd, a point people seem to miss when criticising the driver who had the better race. Somewhat ironic I guess.

The only reason RBR are still in contention is Ferrari and McLaren have spent too long getting up to speed. Both Webber or Vettel could have/should have been far ahead enough at this point that the title would be between them and them only. But some ridiculous driving from both, and early RBR fragility has stopped that.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2010 09:16AM by DaveEllis.

DaveEllis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> the Lewis incident worked out for the better for
> him though
>
> Through pure luck. On another day he'd have
> destroyed his front right. On another day the rim
> would have bent a mm more. On another day it'd
> have happened 1 lap earlier, and like Horner said,
> it'd have failed. I didn't say he didn't come out
> OK, and I didn't even say he was at fault, I said
> he was involved in an accident he could have
> avoided.
>

but that also applies to Vettel vs Hamilton T1 in valencia... he could've ended in the wall

> his race starts also cost him wins that he
> should've got, last race the best car finished
> 2nd
>
> As analyised on the BBC Forum, Vettels start was
> far better than Alonsos. He was forced out of the
> throttle when Alonso not only cut him off, but
> continued right over to the edge of the track in a
> manner far worse than even Vettel has done when
> people complained. His start at Singapore was also
> significantly better than Webbers. And if we're
> talking about starts, both of the drivers again
> have been awful. Webbers start at Valencia was
> possibly the worst start and opening lap I've ever
> seen a driver do in a Grand Prix that didn't
> involve a crash. So again, both have been poor in
> this area.

well i don't have BBC and i'm sure they do a very good job, but by this video i see Alonso jumping Vettel for a few tenths





check 0.39 Alonso's reaction time was a few tenths faster than Vettels... i'm sure the reason Vettel got side by side was pure RBR engineering


> The best car may have finished 2nd at Singapore,
> but the best car also finished 3rd, a point people
> seem to miss when criticising the driver who had
> the better race. Somewhat ironic I guess.
>
> The only reason RBR are still in contention is
> Ferrari and McLaren have spent too long getting up
> to speed. Both Webber or Vettel could have/should
> have been far ahead enough at this point that the
> title would be between them and them only. But
> some ridiculous driving from both, and early RBR
> fragility has stopped that.

nobody can't discuss that

50mm of rain is forecast for tomorrow! Wet qualifying is likely, unless it is postponed till Sunday morning.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

but that also applies to Vettel vs Hamilton T1 in valencia... he could've ended in the wall

If you want to get into the discussion of every point where a car gets close to another MIGHT end in an accident, then we might as well say nobody can ever race. But this isn't my point, so I don't know why you are bringing it up. Once *again*, Webber has been involved in more accidents as Vettel, yet everyone keeps talking about Vettels inexperience. My point is that BOTH RBR drivers have been poor, and nothing but luck with reliability and avoidable accident outcomes has managed to keep the gap between them.

well i don't have BBC and i'm sure they do a very good job, but by this video i see Alonso jumping Vettel for a few tenths

Few tenths? How? Your video proves my point! Vettel starts behind Alonso and when Alonso makes the chop over, Vettel is closer to him than he was on the start line. He has made up ground, as your video (and the BBC analysis proved). How can making up ground possibly be a bad start? I also don't see how Vettel could have made that situation any better. He got off the line and was immediately impeded by Alonso and had to lift. Had he not lifted then they'd have crashed and you'd be sitting there telling me he should have lifted. How exactly is Vettel meant to make a better start than that? Unlike Vettel in Hockenheim, or Webber at Hungary, Alonso not only left no room for another car, he continued over the track to make sure Vettel could not continue to squeeze by.

It seems my point is being quite spectacularly missed, but perhaps in vien I'll post it again. When you look at *facts*, both RBR drivers have been poor. I'm tired of reading about how Vettel makes mistakes whilst Webbers out there screwing up qualifying and running into cars just as much.

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i get your point, mate, and i think vettel is really a nice guy ( although i really dont want him to win). It is just that after the way RBR handled the situation in Turkey and then in Britain, people started to get some pretty bad views on the situation and started to dislike Sebastian. + Vettel was always meant to be a superstar, while Webber never have scored more than 20-30 points in a season until 2009. The way Webber deals with the situation, his really really great strategy drives (SIngaore and Hungary as only a few examples),his very mature behaviour and most of all --> the way he make his way back into the tittle fight really earned him all the positives of the crowd out there.

P.S. after the start of the season vettel was waaaay waaay ahead of Webber, both in qualyfings and races (Bahrain, Australia, China it hink as well). And then all of a sudden Barcelona came and Webber was just as fast as Vettel.How the h*ll is this possible ??? He found like what, 3-4 tenths out of that car just like that :?:?:?

I don't think Vettel was as far ahead as the times suggested. Webber was making a lot of mistakes. In reality not much seperated them. The gap was formed because Vettel was able to run off at the front, but qualifying mistakes meant Webber was held up by other cars and couldn't exploit his speed advantage. His Singapore race was good, but it was only good because he screwed up qualifying and had to recover it. His best drives have been Hungary and Silverstone, where he was able to race properly, rather than having to make up for his earlier mistakes.

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Ok, not so important, but it seems this weekend Renault will be "vodka powered" thanks to Petrov

And they keep saying they have don't make Petrov race only because he brings sponsors.

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Slightly off topic, but for those who get the Ferrari newsletter, have you seen the "Tod's" Footwear?

How coincidental that only 1 month ago Todt failed to appear at the WMSC hearing about Ferrari's cheating scandal.

Clearly they love what he did for the team!

Click this link for more details: [images.ferrari.com]

alexf1man Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Slightly off topic, but for those who get the
> Ferrari newsletter, have you seen the "Tod's"
> Footwear?


"Tod's" has nothing in relation to Todt [en.wikipedia.org]


> How coincidental that only 1 month ago Todt failed
> to appear at the WMSC hearing about Ferrari's
> cheating scandal.
>
> Clearly they love what he did for the team!

He would have been criticized even if he appeared at WMSC

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Webber has been involved in 3 accidents which he could have avoided (Lewis Australia, Heikki Valencia, Lewis Singapore)

Agreed 100% with the other two, but was the Singapore incident not one which Lewis could've avoided rather than Webber? From what I could tell Webber did nothing wrong there except fail to vanish when Lewis turned in on him.

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I think they both could have avoided it. Lewis should have known that you can't bully Webber like that, and Webber should have conceeded the place rather than trying to cling onto the slim hope of keeping it there. It was 50/50 in my eyes, and I'm certainly not saying Webber is at fault, but he could have avoided it and pure luck was all that stopped him from retiring and losing the championship lead.

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As soon as Mclaren just let this year go the better, they should just work on next years car. I have been saying since Silverstone they do not have the car to challenge yet they keep throwing things at it that are not moving them forward. Lewis today should not have let that crash happen but he was a passenger at the same time. Maybe after this race they will finally admit they cannot find the second in the car they have been looking for all year.

I know people keep saying its not over etc but the RBR and Ferrari are just simply to fast for them to beat on a normal weekend and Lewis is pushing that car so hard he is crashing it. Button today as well spun which is not like him so there is something wrong somewhere.

I agree with what Dave is saying about the last race I am 99% sure that had that been Button, MS or some others both cars would have made it round that corner in Singapore none of the would have risked the championship lead. Lewis had to go for it he got a run and tbh was past him, people keep saying Webber could not brake harder but he should have broke earlier and just given it up but whatever. I am still not really sure what Webber was doing tbh, he lost the corner yet tried to defend had lewis left more room he was past anyway so what was there to gain other than take lewis off and risk his own car.

No one will beat RBR this weekend if it stays dry, even the self proclaimed title favourite lol.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2010 10:19PM by marcl.

I think Vettel definitely has the most to lose this weekend. Of all the remaining tracks, this one should suit Red Bull best, and he really needs to get a win to be right back up there with Webber and Alonso.

Another error from Hamilton is bad news for McLaren, the car obviously isn't quite there and the drivers are forced to push to the very edge. Button was off at least once as well.

With a qualifying lottery, who knows. It would be great to see Rosberg or Kubica or someone like that on pole, with the leaders down the back (just like 2005 ).

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X (@ed24f1)