[Official] Round 18: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Bononi

What's next ? No more hot babes in the paddock ?

Not if they make you swear.

[wolfhound]

Kimi has been out shopping and bought some T-shirts, one for every member of the Lotus team. They bear the legend

"Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing"

http://www.pitpass.com/47867-Raikkon...ts-the-message

[Born Racer]

I'm neither pro nor anti-swearing really, but would they like to tell the teams to tell their drivers to just giving stock PR answers like they used to (and possibly still do) in the sterile press room.

[andy666]

As a father of a 9 and 13 year old i should not be saying this but f**k**g hell it was funny probably because it was so unexpected . At the end of the day kids are always gonna pick swear bombs up from somewhere its about making them realise the wrong times to use them .

[andy666]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

Kimi has been out shopping and bought some T-shirts, one for every member of the Lotus team. They bear the legend

"Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing"

http://www.pitpass.com/47867-Raikkon...ts-the-message

Brilliant Kimi !! Kimi Raikkonen the only current F1 driver to go out on the p**s with !!

[Adam43]

Realise the wrong times...

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Mr V

I think the point that wnut is making is, use that set up for qualifying too.

This is what I meant.

Who knows what is Red Bull's 'ultimate' qualifying and race setup? It's not like they changed it to 'Monza' race specification for the Korean race. It would be an unenforcable regulation.

If the point he is making is for no change of specification from qualifying to the race, why? It's the same for everyone. As I said earlier, it's not a strategy that anyone would use for every weekend. You aren't going to see the pit lane have 24 cars in it, and there be none on the grid. Marbot

The point is that RBR seem to be compromising an absolutely awesome car for the race by setting it up to take pole. I was thinking that they should go more toweard the race set up that they were able to use due to Vettel starting out of the pit lane.

I would submit that it would have been completely fair if RBR had gone to a Monza setup or any other. If they had used it in qualifying it is unlikely that they would have qualified worse than 24th (not possible) or outside the 107% rule (unlikely). Therefore if you start from the back of the grid or pit lane you should clearly be allowed to use any setup you like.

?

[wolfhound]

It is a compromise between race and qualifiying set up. If one a team goes for the ultimate qualy setup then the car might last 10 laps in the race, but the ultimate race setup leaves you too far back to be able to make up the lost time being stuck in traffic to win.

There are tracks where passing is relatively straight forward such as Spa or China that a driver can run a setup more suitable for racing that will good race pace providing they have enough straight line speed to overtake. Lotus has had a car this year that has good race pace but not enough straight line speed to overtake.

The setup that Vettel had in Abu Dhabi gave him good straight line speed to allow for overtaking. However he is unlikely to have been able to reach the podium without the second safety car. He would probably have ended up about sixth without it. Another example of a good race from the back was Mark Webber in China a year or two ago where he failed to get out of Q1 and had three sets of unused soft tyres for the race.
However a couple of years ago Vettel ended up at the back of the field early in the race at Silverstone 2 years ago and ended up at the bottom of the top ten.
If you compromise your qualifying there is always the danger of getting caught in an incident or traffic as you try to get to the front of the field. It would be interesting to see it tried a few times though.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

However a couple of years ago Vettel ended up at the back of the field early in the race at Silverstone 2 years ago and ended up at the bottom of the top ten.

I agree with your point about needing a safety car. The example you use with regards to Vettel at Silverstone, he was immediately hindered by having a puncture at the first corner and having to limp round the first lap at vastly reduced speed. There is no way any driver is likely to come back from that without the safety car you mentioned.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by dsg

Oh Jenson, you absolute pussy.

Maybe he should have just collided with him like several of the non-world champions spent Sunday doing.

I noted that Andrea Stella (I'm guessing it was him) radioed Alonso and told him Button had fallen asleep and Vettel had got past him (I disagree with the sleeping comment).

[Aysedasi]

It was fair, but Button really didn't make Vettel work all that hard now, did he.....?

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

It was fair, but Button really didn't make Vettel work all that hard now, did he.....?

It was ahn... a easy move.

[Adam43]

Yes, he forgot to drive into a car overtaking. Old school!

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

It was fair, but Button really didn't make Vettel work all that hard now, did he.....?

I don't know what else Button could have done apart from perhaps blocking him earlier. Button stuck to the inside not on too tight a line but Vettel just put it very close to him and made it through. An impressive move by Vettel actually (although he won't get credit like Ayrton Senna would) and logical driving by Button.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

I don't know what else Button could have done apart from perhaps blocking him earlier. Button stuck to the inside not on too tight a line but Vettel just put it very close to him and made it through. An impressive move by Vettel actually (although he won't get credit like Ayrton Senna would) and logical driving by Button.

Jenson could have defended like his team mate did at Valencia, and not scored any points

Joking aside. I agree with you. Not much he could do about that, but as oppossed to Vettel getting credit, Button will be criticised.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Yes, he forgot to drive into a car overtaking. Old school!

Just......spot on, really.

Yes indeed, it should be mandatory to at least lose a front wing end plate when defending your position. Failing that, you will be given a drive-through penalty and a severe ticking off at the next drivers meeting.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Jenson could have defended like his team mate did at Valencia, and not scored any points

Joking aside. I agree with you. Not much he could do about that, but as oppossed to Vettel getting credit, Button will be criticised.

Vettel doesn't get a lot of credit. Alonso will get credit for his on-the-edge tyre-smoking move on Webber whereas Vettel won't.

Harsh on Hamilton I thought. Maldonado was off the kerb and just stuck it back on track a la Perez in Abby Dabby.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Harsh on Hamilton I thought.

I didn't mean it to sound harsh on Lewis, but when Maldonado was behind him, on far fresher tyres, it didn't take an Einstien to work out what the outcome was going to be.

Anyway, back to Adu....

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Mr V

I agree with your point about needing a safety car. The example you use with regards to Vettel at Silverstone, he was immediately hindered by having a puncture at the first corner and having to limp round the first lap at vastly reduced speed. There is no way any driver is likely to come back from that without the safety car you mentioned.

At Silverstone however, RBR could not change the gear ratios after the puncture. Certainly the safety car helped, but it is gob smacking how far the ideal qualifying and the race trims vary. Vettel was 17 kph faster down the straight than Webber!
Sure its nice to start on pole and lead from the front, with DRS however and looking at Vettel's performance in the race car vs. the qualifying car of Webber, you have to wonder if they have got the ultimate set up right. i.e. the balance between qualifying and race setup.
Difficult to point fingers bearing in mind RBR's performance over the last 5 races.

[Mr V]

Red Bull's way of doing things has proven to be spot on really. In Vettel they have a driver who can, more often than not, get pole, then drive off into the distance once the race starts. Where their way of doing things falls down is if the make a up during quali.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Red Bull's way of doing things has proven to be spot on really. In Vettel they have a driver who can, more often than not, get pole, then drive off into the distance once the race starts. Where their way of doing things falls down is if the make a up during quali.

A lot of eggs in a 1 lap basket!

Still they seem to get it done!
Maybe they should just look at Webber's setup! Given that he can't start!

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by wnut

A lot of eggs in a 1 lap basket!

Still they seem to get it done!
Maybe they should just look at Webber's setup! Given that he can't start!

I'm not saying that they won't look at the alternative, but all the time they have Vettel, doing what he does, there seems little point in changing their stratergy.