I came to the conclusion that Malaysia was a great race but China was in a different league. It had twists, turns, overtaking and controversy plus some great drives from lots of drivers sadly not Renault's Petrov and Heidfield who had two great weeks only to waste an opportunity to build on them. They kind of had a weekend to forget starting in qualifying when Petrov actually hindered his team mate by breaking down right as Heidfield was about to put in his only chance of a flying lap. It didnt pick up for them in the race either, both finishing outside of the top 10.
After Saturdays qualifying which saw an unxpected number of young drivers in the top 10 shootout knocking out experienced drivers like Barrichello, Schumacher, and Webber.
Webber got it all wrong on Saturday picking the wrong tyres and paying the ultimate price by only managing to qualify in 18th place. Alguersuari qualified in his best posiiton if the season along with Buemi qualifying in 7th and 9th respectively.
It was all building up to an exciting race as you knew the experienced drivers had all the work to do to get past the rookies. Hamilton left it late starting on race day. When every other driver was preparing on the grid, Hamilton was still in the garage with his team panicking trying to get the engine to tick over. They came to conclusion that somehow the engine had flooded. The time was counting down and fast for Hamilton. He managed to get out onto the track just in time, another 35 seconds more and he would have had to start from the pit lane. After doing all the hard work to qualify on the second row to have to start from the pit lane would have be devastating for Hamilton and would not have helped his title credentials. However he did roll out of the garage with seconds to spare to mount a challenge next to Rosberg.
Vettel was hoping to continue his good form of leading the field for the 109 out of the 114 laps so far this season. However he would not make it 110 for a while as both McClaren's wanted to fight it out at the front for a change. Button getting a better start than Vettel and Hamilton moving past him on the first corner left the young German down in third place and having to hold of a strong challenge from Rosberg.
I nominated Mark Webber for the driver of the day in Malaysia but that drive was nothing compared to his drive in China. This was the drive of his life!
Starting from p18 he was just hoping to get into the points atleast and probably would have settled for 2 points at the end of the day. He drove calmly and effieciently using his well managed tyres and knowing he was on different tyres than everyone else he could last longer than the surrounding cars. A tactic that didnt pay off in qualifying reeped rewards on race day.
Although it didnt happen straight away as he still found himself at p17 after 15 laps. Both Webber and Schumacher started near the back of the field but both moving up the field throughout the race. But it was the Australian who waited for the right moment to overtake Schumacher and continue to ride up the ranks.
As lap 50 clocked over Webber found himself in 7th place and went into the pit for fresh tyres knowing that he needed a new set soft tyres to catch the podium potentials up and he only had 6 laps to do it in. He had to overtake Rosberg which he did with no trouble at all which took him onto the tail of Button.
Button's race engineer said over the radio that Webber was catching him up fast and on his tail which led David Coulthard to say the quote of the day "The only way he could have said that any scarier was if he said it in the dark". Webber obviously obliged and overtook Button with sufficient ease. Webber must have thought he was dreaming as he had gradually moved up 15 places from his starting position to end of on the podium.
Buttons day was one to forget not only loosing a place on the podium he looked so certain to take but he also looked a total wally when he went into the the pit being followed by Vettel only to stop in the wrong pit. Holding Vettel up in the process and not doing his dignity any favours.
Whilst Button was busy embarrassing himself his McClaren team mate Hamilton drove well all day to put Malyasia behind him, and also put any early doubters that he is not mentally up for it to shove a simple message in their face "He wants to win more than anyone". It showed when just when he went up to the podium he has a few moments to console himself, he has a human side after all after most f1 pundits comparing him to a machine.
Vettel said in the press conference after the race "I was the only driver with two stops on the podium". After three races the teams now know that two stops is not the right strategy with the tyres degrading so quickly. Mark has proved that over the last two races the more you pit the better.
It all added up to a great race in which I can recall atleast 6 drivers being in the lead throughout the race. All the "No Overtaking" talk was truly stamped out.
Driver of the Day: Mark Webber again!
Wally of the day: Jenson Button
We have Turkey next in 3 weeks time, it is gonna be a long 3 weeks for me without the thought of F1 entertaining me on the weekend. Luckily we have the highlights of China to remind us to fill the void.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Shanghai 2011 Preview
As Shanghai is only a day away now, I thought I would give you a preview in what we are expecting from the race and things to look out for.
The Shanghai circuit is known for several things mainly because it has the longest straight on the f1 calender and it is built on a swamp. We could also have rain which will bring a different dimension to the normal race. (Lets hope the track doesnt sinK!) A whole lap is 3.38 miles of which Schumacher (in his prime) holds the lap record - no doubt Vettel will again be trying to out do his German Compatriot to break this record. I'd imagine he has a long list of records to break, most of them held by Michael. He will be crossing them off as he goes on in his career. The biggest two obviously are championship wins and race wins.
Obviously there will two factors stopping Vettel from winning this race (Kers and the long straight). McClaren who struggled with straight line pace in Malaysia have had a few days to make their car quick on the long straight. If they get this right they have every chance of grabbing a one-two in Shanghai. McClaren has won two of the last three races here (Lewis in 2008 and Jenson in 2010). Vettel won it in 2009 when it rained so RedBull will be one of the teams hoping for torrential rain this weekend to hinder the pace of McClaren.
There is a rumour flying around the pit lane that Christian Horner and Adrien Newey have actually got Kers running. "They had it running in Malaysia however they wanted to see how fast they were without it and if they actually needed it". But I dont think this is actually true watching the Mark Webber start in Malaysia.
The thing I havent mentioned in my blog yet is Hispania, they didnt race in Melbourne as they didnt qualify within 107% of the fastest lap time. Not surprising when they tested their car for the first time in the second practice session. However things did look bright when they managed to get inside the 107% of Vettel's time in Malaysia so they were allowed to race. This is a huge step for them as last year in their debut season they were actaully worried whether they would actually be able to finish the lap never alone aim for a time.
My Predictions for Shanghai
- If it rains, put your house on Vettel winning
- If it doesnt rain I think McClaren are set for a one-two
- Renault to put in a strong finish again
- Kobayashi and Perez to finish in the top 10
- Paul Di Resta to finish ahead of Sutil
- Schumacher to qualify for the shoot out
- Maldonado will not finish again
Things to look out for
- Having been impressed by Petrov's flying through the air - will Sutil look to better that attempt this weekend?
- The effect of DRS on the long straight, will teams be able to overtake then be overtaken by the same person on the same straight?
- Will the 25th & 26th starting positons be empty on race day?
- Will Buemi's car fall apart again?
- Will Maldonado actually get a mention on the BBC coverage?
I am looking forward to another exciting race! Coverage starts at 1.00pm on Saturday for Qualifying and 7.00am on Sunday for the race (GMT +1)
See you there!
The Shanghai circuit is known for several things mainly because it has the longest straight on the f1 calender and it is built on a swamp. We could also have rain which will bring a different dimension to the normal race. (Lets hope the track doesnt sinK!) A whole lap is 3.38 miles of which Schumacher (in his prime) holds the lap record - no doubt Vettel will again be trying to out do his German Compatriot to break this record. I'd imagine he has a long list of records to break, most of them held by Michael. He will be crossing them off as he goes on in his career. The biggest two obviously are championship wins and race wins.
Obviously there will two factors stopping Vettel from winning this race (Kers and the long straight). McClaren who struggled with straight line pace in Malaysia have had a few days to make their car quick on the long straight. If they get this right they have every chance of grabbing a one-two in Shanghai. McClaren has won two of the last three races here (Lewis in 2008 and Jenson in 2010). Vettel won it in 2009 when it rained so RedBull will be one of the teams hoping for torrential rain this weekend to hinder the pace of McClaren.
There is a rumour flying around the pit lane that Christian Horner and Adrien Newey have actually got Kers running. "They had it running in Malaysia however they wanted to see how fast they were without it and if they actually needed it". But I dont think this is actually true watching the Mark Webber start in Malaysia.
The thing I havent mentioned in my blog yet is Hispania, they didnt race in Melbourne as they didnt qualify within 107% of the fastest lap time. Not surprising when they tested their car for the first time in the second practice session. However things did look bright when they managed to get inside the 107% of Vettel's time in Malaysia so they were allowed to race. This is a huge step for them as last year in their debut season they were actaully worried whether they would actually be able to finish the lap never alone aim for a time.
My Predictions for Shanghai
- If it rains, put your house on Vettel winning
- If it doesnt rain I think McClaren are set for a one-two
- Renault to put in a strong finish again
- Kobayashi and Perez to finish in the top 10
- Paul Di Resta to finish ahead of Sutil
- Schumacher to qualify for the shoot out
- Maldonado will not finish again
Things to look out for
- Having been impressed by Petrov's flying through the air - will Sutil look to better that attempt this weekend?
- The effect of DRS on the long straight, will teams be able to overtake then be overtaken by the same person on the same straight?
- Will the 25th & 26th starting positons be empty on race day?
- Will Buemi's car fall apart again?
- Will Maldonado actually get a mention on the BBC coverage?
I am looking forward to another exciting race! Coverage starts at 1.00pm on Saturday for Qualifying and 7.00am on Sunday for the race (GMT +1)
See you there!
Monday, 11 April 2011
2011 Malaysian F1 Grand Prix Review
Hi All
I have started to blog about the new F1 season and will keep you up to date with all the races of the 2011. As the Melbourne Grand Prix was non eventful I decided to start with the Malaisian Grand Prix this weekend.
First of all congratualations Nick Hedfeld this weekend and Welcome back to the big time. Being one of the only few Renault fan's left (after Piquet/Briatore-gate) I was devastated for Kubica when he crashed pre-season and injured himself badly. I truly believe he is right up there with Alonso in terms of all round driving ability. As you often saw last season when he finishes comfortably so far in front of Petrov (although it has yet to be decided whether it is an actual achievement to finish so far ahead of Petrov). Heidfeld has a lot to live up to. Now that Petrov and Heidfeld have had consectutive podiums finishes in the first two races as delighted as I am, the euphoria that I should be experiencing is slightly overshadowed by the fact that if Kubica was racing there is a chance that he could really be chasing Vettel and Hamilton down and getting amongst them like a bee in a bonnet.
The Driver of the day along with Heidfeld was Webber, I am not a huge fan of Webber I think people have taken a shine to him since the 'handbags/ not bad for a number two driver' situation with Vettel last season. As soon as he started you knew he was going to have a fight on his hands without the KERS. Everyone just shot past him at the start - it was like he may as well have had an anchor attached to his car. After Petrov and Heidfeld passed most of the front runners on the outside of the first corner including Alonso and Webber, it left Webber down in nineth place which left Horner and his strategy team needing to think of a plan B fast. Webber continued to get let down by Lady luck especially when the pit strategies didnt come off properly with the timing as he came out behind traffic, which wasn't in the plan at all. Having to do four pit stops did help Webber as the new tyres gave him so much speed as the Pireli tyres wore away so quickly. The rest of the field decided to favour the extra 20 seconds from not taking an extra pit stop but were losing speed by running on worn tyres allowing Webber to catch up even without KERS.Lady luck did later return the favour for Webber when Hamilton careered off the track so far that Webber didnt have much trouble passing him into 4th Place. She obviously got tired of trying to ruin his race and grant him fortune for all his hard work.
It was a tough weekend for Alonso and Hamilton who both incurred penalties after the race. Hamilton should be feeling more annoyed as he actually lost a position due to the penalty where as Alonso didnt. You can see why Hamilton was annoyed for getting penalised for changing direction twice to defend his position along the home straight /first corner because he was the only one punished for breaching the rule as some of the other drivers also commited the offense including Vettel on the first lap. Alonso was penalised for causing an accident when he crashed into the back of Hamilton which was undeniably careless but nothing more however this wasn't the start of Hamilton's collapse, as bad tyre management from Hamilton/McLaren meant he struggled to keep a consistent out and out pace.
Alot of opinions have been floating around about both KERS and DRS which have been implemented to increase overtaking opportunities. I couldnt help noticing that DRS was pretty pointless as drivers were taking it in turns to overtake each other at exactly the same place each lap. The battle between Kobayashi and Schumacher created a lot of overtaking manuvers being made between them but it soon became mundane as it became almost predicatable. However you cannot deny Kobayashi is exciting to watch, he is bold and brave although I do have my concerns over his positions when he is defending and also his pit strategies (I will blame the Sauber team for this though).
Of course RedBull drove pretty much the whole race without the use of KERS and were effectively carrying the extra weight with no advantage being gained from it. Christian Horner has a choice to make, it is not a huge decision but with the help of Adrian Newey he should decide whether to try and make KERS work and risk carrying pointless extra weight around for the next few races or scrap the idea and decide to make the car lighter without carrying KERS. Personally i would go for the latter and try and get KERS working. Although Vettel doesnt need it as he has enough talent to shave seconds off lap times not needing KERS, which other teams would create by having KERS. I believe Webber would need KERS in order to atleast maintain his positon he qualifies in and make it to the first corner without being overtaken as his starts aren't the best on the grid.
On a non racing topic it has been raised that Martin Brundle is taking a reserved role at BBC and now doesnt feature in the build up and post race coverage as much as he should be doing. He no longer does the starting grid walk interacting with the drivers minutes before they turn on race mode. Although he has taken over Jonathon Legard as the leading commentator during the race for the BBC people still feel he should be out doin all the interviews and chatting with Eddie, David and Jake pre and after the race. As much as I love listening to Martin talk endlessley about F1 I feel it would be asking a lot for him to do. However it does mean that whenever he does come onto air it makes it more special.
All in all there were a lot to talk about which is slowly drawing away attention from what Eddie Jordan is wearing at the race meetings.
It is only 4 days until we start all over again in Shanghai, China where hopefully there will be more talking points and the race will be just as exciting as it was in Malaysia.
See you in Shanghai!
I have started to blog about the new F1 season and will keep you up to date with all the races of the 2011. As the Melbourne Grand Prix was non eventful I decided to start with the Malaisian Grand Prix this weekend.
First of all congratualations Nick Hedfeld this weekend and Welcome back to the big time. Being one of the only few Renault fan's left (after Piquet/Briatore-gate) I was devastated for Kubica when he crashed pre-season and injured himself badly. I truly believe he is right up there with Alonso in terms of all round driving ability. As you often saw last season when he finishes comfortably so far in front of Petrov (although it has yet to be decided whether it is an actual achievement to finish so far ahead of Petrov). Heidfeld has a lot to live up to. Now that Petrov and Heidfeld have had consectutive podiums finishes in the first two races as delighted as I am, the euphoria that I should be experiencing is slightly overshadowed by the fact that if Kubica was racing there is a chance that he could really be chasing Vettel and Hamilton down and getting amongst them like a bee in a bonnet.
The Driver of the day along with Heidfeld was Webber, I am not a huge fan of Webber I think people have taken a shine to him since the 'handbags/ not bad for a number two driver' situation with Vettel last season. As soon as he started you knew he was going to have a fight on his hands without the KERS. Everyone just shot past him at the start - it was like he may as well have had an anchor attached to his car. After Petrov and Heidfeld passed most of the front runners on the outside of the first corner including Alonso and Webber, it left Webber down in nineth place which left Horner and his strategy team needing to think of a plan B fast. Webber continued to get let down by Lady luck especially when the pit strategies didnt come off properly with the timing as he came out behind traffic, which wasn't in the plan at all. Having to do four pit stops did help Webber as the new tyres gave him so much speed as the Pireli tyres wore away so quickly. The rest of the field decided to favour the extra 20 seconds from not taking an extra pit stop but were losing speed by running on worn tyres allowing Webber to catch up even without KERS.Lady luck did later return the favour for Webber when Hamilton careered off the track so far that Webber didnt have much trouble passing him into 4th Place. She obviously got tired of trying to ruin his race and grant him fortune for all his hard work.
It was a tough weekend for Alonso and Hamilton who both incurred penalties after the race. Hamilton should be feeling more annoyed as he actually lost a position due to the penalty where as Alonso didnt. You can see why Hamilton was annoyed for getting penalised for changing direction twice to defend his position along the home straight /first corner because he was the only one punished for breaching the rule as some of the other drivers also commited the offense including Vettel on the first lap. Alonso was penalised for causing an accident when he crashed into the back of Hamilton which was undeniably careless but nothing more however this wasn't the start of Hamilton's collapse, as bad tyre management from Hamilton/McLaren meant he struggled to keep a consistent out and out pace.
Alot of opinions have been floating around about both KERS and DRS which have been implemented to increase overtaking opportunities. I couldnt help noticing that DRS was pretty pointless as drivers were taking it in turns to overtake each other at exactly the same place each lap. The battle between Kobayashi and Schumacher created a lot of overtaking manuvers being made between them but it soon became mundane as it became almost predicatable. However you cannot deny Kobayashi is exciting to watch, he is bold and brave although I do have my concerns over his positions when he is defending and also his pit strategies (I will blame the Sauber team for this though).
Of course RedBull drove pretty much the whole race without the use of KERS and were effectively carrying the extra weight with no advantage being gained from it. Christian Horner has a choice to make, it is not a huge decision but with the help of Adrian Newey he should decide whether to try and make KERS work and risk carrying pointless extra weight around for the next few races or scrap the idea and decide to make the car lighter without carrying KERS. Personally i would go for the latter and try and get KERS working. Although Vettel doesnt need it as he has enough talent to shave seconds off lap times not needing KERS, which other teams would create by having KERS. I believe Webber would need KERS in order to atleast maintain his positon he qualifies in and make it to the first corner without being overtaken as his starts aren't the best on the grid.
On a non racing topic it has been raised that Martin Brundle is taking a reserved role at BBC and now doesnt feature in the build up and post race coverage as much as he should be doing. He no longer does the starting grid walk interacting with the drivers minutes before they turn on race mode. Although he has taken over Jonathon Legard as the leading commentator during the race for the BBC people still feel he should be out doin all the interviews and chatting with Eddie, David and Jake pre and after the race. As much as I love listening to Martin talk endlessley about F1 I feel it would be asking a lot for him to do. However it does mean that whenever he does come onto air it makes it more special.
All in all there were a lot to talk about which is slowly drawing away attention from what Eddie Jordan is wearing at the race meetings.
It is only 4 days until we start all over again in Shanghai, China where hopefully there will be more talking points and the race will be just as exciting as it was in Malaysia.
See you in Shanghai!
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