The Official 2011 Chinese GP Thread **Spoilers**

gav Wrote:
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>
> Pirelli are awesome.


Hell yeah. Considering we've not seen one safety car/monsoon so far this year, we've had three exciting races which were exciting purely for the racing. Enjoying this season immensely.

gav Wrote:
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> Pirelli are awesome.

Nickv Wrote:
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> Yes, they are. I love their take on the drivers'
> complaints about the amount of marbles off the
> racing line. 'Well yeah, tyres wear and the rubber
> has to go somewhere'.

This, and this.

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it was a great race, i wonder how turkey is going to be... hell without these tyres and rules is usually fun, imagine now..

still don't know how Webber managed a 3rd place.. the guy did good, i hope he keeps it up for the next couple of races

dissapointed with Jenson as he looked quite solid in the first half.. i tought he had a chance

He was quick up until the last stint. Lewis just got ALOT more from the primes than Jenson. Lewis seemed to just suddenly turn them on, and ease past Nico, Button, Massa and Vettel.

I dont know what it is though, last week Lewis had a similar issue with the prime. The difference this week however was that Lewis was the only one who seemed to able to get more out of it... But yeah, I think JB's head dropped once he @#$%& up the pit stop. He is too easily distracted, and small issues like that seem to get to him. He isnt one to play on his errors to turn them into strengths. He can when it comes to performing on race day after messing up qualifying, but he can not turn a race around.

Some people say it was a race which showed the obvious difference between Lewis and Jenson, and I tend to agree. Lewis and his overtaking ability was more than supreme. I often used to believe the thought of him being the best overtaker was crazy but when it comes to overtaking, IMO right now only Alonso is near to him. IMO what made the win special was that he had to overtake JB, Nico, Massa and the leader. Likewise Webber had to overtake. Albeit on better tyres, but regarding Lewis the other guys and their tyres were not much better.

Great race yesterday! Going into the last 10 laps knowing the top 6 could change completely is awesome! That is what keeps people watching!

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

chet Wrote:
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>IMO right now only Alonso is near to him.

can't say i agree with you there, Alonso is the nerviest of the lot, always losing more precious time (/front wings) than he should, he ought to take some lessons from Webber (altho webber might just be slow in nature and not have another option than to play it cool ), who put in a solid race. After quali I thought Button had it sown up given his performance of late, but yet again i underestimated Hamilton, he really has 'matured' and certainly deserves a spot in the top teams. Vettel's face after the race without a doubt made his team-mate's day extra special.

why so many drs mess-ups?

Here's a question to you guys.

Do you think Vettel, given equivalent equipment could do what Lewis did at China?

We've said it loads of times that Vettel's ability is to drive from the front, and stay there. But do you think he could win a race the way Lewis did? Im not so sure. In the RBR maybe, but in the Mclaren? I dont think so. Similar to Button, both if they have the car, and are at the front can more often than not, be perfect... I'd also say with Lewis he is more comfortable following, then being followed.

China being the exception for Button :p

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

Something rather geeky I noticed about the Liuzzi's Hispania
Before


After


Part of the engine cover looks like it broke off, I noticed in P2 that it was flapping around a lot, so presumably it flapped around a bit too much and snapped off

Just a random thing I noticed, thought I'd share

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I think it makes the car look nicer without it...

An exciting race lots of action going on all the time.

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Waiting for March.

Brilliant race. Anyone of about 5 drivers had a chance of winning it.
Webber was good to get a podium from the back, a few more laps and he would have won.

Heikki beat Maldonado on merit. Lotus look like they have the race pace but need to improve in qualifying.
Williams seriously need to do something, this is their worst ever start to a season.

The Hispania fin didn't fall off, they had a new engine cover:Clicky

RAC5 Wrote:
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> The Hispania fin didn't fall off, they had a new
> engine cover:Clicky

I thought that at first as I saw that pic, but the first pic (with it on) was also during the race, so it must have broken

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I find it amazing how well all the drivers take the first corner of a race lately. We rarely ever see any major incidents.

Cracking race though, watching live timing it was rediculous how much faster Webber was than anyone else for the last 10 laps or so.

Also, Im pretty sure that Force India behind Hamilton at the end was lapping 1-2s faster than the front runners!

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RAC5 Wrote:
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>
> Heikki beat Maldonado on merit. Lotus look like
> they have the race pace but need to improve in
> qualifying.
> Williams seriously need to do something, this is
> their worst ever start to a season.
>

Yeah, the BBC talked to Mike Gasgoyne on the Forum afterwards and he said much the same thing - they just cannot get the tyre temperature working to deliver on one-lap performance, but they really have come forward in race pace. In fact it was pointed out to him that Trulli's fastest lap of the race was actually faster than Alonso's...

But I think he summed it up perfectly when asked which team he thought Lotus would overhaul first, when he said "Williams, unfortunately." And when asked why "unfortunately" - basically because it's not a team anyone likes to see languishing down the field.

That said, Rubens got himself ahead of Buemi at the end, and maybe it's partially due to Maldonado having an awful start to the season - not entirely his fault it has to be said, but either way, two very early retirements will not have helped his development. I *hope* Williams can improve this year - I think everyone was expecting them to build on the top-10 positions they were getting at the end of last year so it seems a real kick in the teeth for all concerned so far. :\

But otherwise, yes, brilliant Grand Prix. :D

/edit - @matt I think that Force India was Sutil who, a bit like Petrov at Turkey last year, had fresh(er) rubber at the end of the Grand Prix following a forced late stop. Still, nice to see him unlap himself from Vettel though :D
On the subject of Petrov, Renault did have a surprisingly average race really, IMO. Heidfeld suffering from KERS problems too, Petrov had a poor start and I thought the 2-stop strategy looked set to be disastrous when he emerged 14th, and behind Heidfeld, after his final stop, but it seemed to work out as he was able to comfortably close and pass everyone between himself and 9th - though Perez did remove himself and Sutil from the equation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2011 01:29AM by zulu_85.

It does make it interesting though, Its like the gamble you have when rain comes near the end of a race, whether to stick it out on slicks or go for inters. Webbers march through the field reminded me of Heidfelds podium finish at Spa in '08, but Webbers was stretched out of a few more laps.

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Quote
chet
I often used to believe the thought of him being the best overtaker was crazy but when it comes to overtaking, IMO right now only Alonso is near to him.

Alonso's the best all-round driver, and he's not poor at overtaking, but he's not a patch on Lewis. Lewis always gets the job done, but Lewis's problem is it's too often done while breaking or bending a rule - I think he's still got something learn on how to overtake, as he did with Vettel at the end, rather than just getting it done at the first opportunity and dealing with the aftermath later (the best example being Spa 2008 or Petrov at Sepang 2009). Alonso isn't nearly as poor at it as LeeBeau suggests (indeed I can't remember Alonso cocking up (m)any other moves), but overtaking isn't his one of his obvious strengths.

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chet
Do you think Vettel, given equivalent equipment could do what Lewis did at China?

We'll find out at some point, but I've no idea. He's never done it at Red Bull, but I suspect that's partly because he's seldom had a car quick enough in a straight line, whereas Lewis has always had a car with a trick (KERS, F-duct and always a strong engine), but Vettel was good enough at it at Toro Rosso. He's been OK this season in the very few laps he's needed to overtake someone.

That said, I think Hamilton's advantage at China was his speed, not his overtaking. Button opened the door for him, Rosberg just waved him through and Massa and Vettel were easy prey on shot tyres - indeed he took a lot longer to overtake Vettel than I was expecting, but then he had laps on his side to choose his opportunity. It was his speed over Button which was impressive, not his overtaking.


Speaking of Rosberg, he bottled it when his chance came. He didn't have the speed of Hamilton at the end, and wasn't going to win in hindsight, but when it came to the battle of who was going to go on and challenge Vettel, he lost his head. It's the first time he's been in such a position, so fair enough, but it's the one question mark remaining over him for me. He's got the ability and speed, but does he have the head when the pressure comes at the sharp end? He didn't on Sunday.

Alonso can over take, he is bloody good at it. Suzuka anyone, they way him and kimi came through the field.

I would say Massa and Vettel are the 2 with the question marks out the top drivers.

Lets face it Lewis was great on Sunday, but had that not been Button and say Alonso I think they both would have been out the race. It was a risky move.

it's very easy to make a risky move and then say sorry afterwards... i hope Jenson doesn't fall into that game and races people the same way they race him.. he's always been a gentleman, but tere's a limit ain't there?... and i'm not talking about Lewis in particular, but there's other drivers that take advnatage of that and "abuse" of it.. fair enough, it IS a competition, but he needs to realize that he's playing with a hard field and being a double face jack might be part of the game

speaking of good drivers at overtaking... DC.. anyone?

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marcl
I would say Massa and Vettel are the 2 with the question marks out the top drivers.

I think that's a bit unfair on Massa. This year alone, he has made quite a few clean and decisive overtaking moves, as well as some good moves in the past - such Fuji 2008 on Webber, where if Webber was Schumacher, he'd probably be banned for life.









From 3:05

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gav
Speaking of Rosberg, he bottled it when his chance came. He didn't have the speed of Hamilton at the end, and wasn't going to win in hindsight, but when it came to the battle of who was going to go on and challenge Vettel, he lost his head. It's the first time he's been in such a position, so fair enough, but it's the one question mark remaining over him for me. He's got the ability and speed, but does he have the head when the pressure comes at the sharp end? He didn't on Sunday.

Yes, and he also squandered opportunities at Singapore 2009 and China 2010.

I don't blame him as much this time though, as his car was relatively not as strong, and he also had a potential fuel problem.

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matt3454
Also, Im pretty sure that Force India behind Hamilton at the end was lapping 1-2s faster than the front runners!

Yes, it was Sutil after changing to options at his Perez damage pitstop. That was quite amusing actually, as Vettel waved him through on the back straight, and then Sutil locked his brakes and went wide at the hairpin, presumably costing Vettel time on the exit.

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X (@ed24f1)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2011 07:51PM by SchueyFan.

i think vettel was quite good at overtaking this season so far. if i remember correctly he was behind a slower car after the first pit stop twice and got it done in relatively short time. on rosberg: while i think he made it a bit too easy for hamilton he was very unlucky as well as imo he had to back of a lot to avoid maldonado into the first corner. i guess if that had not happended hamilton would have not been able to attack him that lap.

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used to be GPGSL's Nick Heidfeld

Felipe is very good at overtaking actually... i remember in 2005 where he was the guy with the most overtakes in the wholes season.. 25 or so and race starts didn't count so it was a good stat for him, and we all know how hard it was back then...

which brings me to the following thought, namely, who is the best defending driver out there. Cmon say it for me pls.


P.S. The schumacher-alonso battle realllyyyy brought back memories from 2005,2006, (imola, turkey, suzuka, and shanghai 2006 itself.) Really enjoyed it.