2009 Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix

This is funny... where is hamilton when all this chaos is happening? I want him to be part of all this!



Yellow flag means caution, do not set your fastest time around that sector.

A single yellow indicates danger ahead, such as debris from a crash. Drivers must slow down as they pass; no overtaking is permitted, unless it is unavoidable such as a driver retiring in the section, or a driver is lapped.
 
If you love Suzuka for crashes, may I recommend Nascar?

Wonder how many SC periods we see tomorrow.

I'm more interested in how completely wacked everybody's qualifying strategies must be, the situation is at least fairly unprecedented. It makes the racing more interesting when things don't go to plan.
 
^ yes the drivers slowed down by not setting the fastest lap time.

..? They set top 10 times. You're saying unless they set pole times they slowed down enough to satisfy the rules. Silly.
 
..? They set top 10 times. You're saying unless they set pole times they slowed down enough to satisfy the rules. Silly.

F1 is all about finding loop holes and pushing the rules to the limit.
 
Kimi is out of soft tyres : (

I hope he can grab either pole or front row for tomorrow's race.

edit : fuck yes, Vettel on provisional pole!
 
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Vettel on pole.

Trulli P2

hamilton P3

Sutil P4

Ruby P5

Heidfeld P6

Terrible quali lap by Button.. P7

Kimi : ( P8
 
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I really hope Trulli gives a good show in Toyotas home race, for next years Toyota funding more then anything.
 
F1 is all about finding loop holes and pushing the rules to the limit.

There are no loop holes in yellow flag rule: Drivers must slow down and proceed with caution. That's not measured in sector or lap times, the stewards have telemetry and can hear the drivers to decide whether they took adequate caution.

Now, on that particular place that might not mean you'd need to slow down a lot because you have good visibility up the hill and the drivers would have seen that there's a wing on the track but the rest of the track is clear. I recon they'll get away with it.
 
I really hope Trulli gives a good show in Toyotas home race, for next years Toyota funding more then anything.

Precedent says he wont. Toyota always fuel their cars light for qualifying at Japan. Looks good for the Saturday headlines, but they're usually nowhere come Sunday.

Great to have Suzuka back. You make a mistake here and you'll know about it. Kovalainen's crash begun on the entry to the first Degner, he missed the line completely and was just a passenger from then on. The problem, as the BBC commentary kept saying is the lack of track time these guys have had, coupled with the pressure they're under to get in a good time. And as I said, you can't just run off the track and expect to rejoin further around because there arent any tarmac run off zones. A good thing in my opinion!
 
wow crazy session congratulations to Vettel :)
 
There are no loop holes in yellow flag rule: Drivers must slow down and proceed with caution. That's not measured in sector or lap times, the stewards have telemetry and can hear the drivers to decide whether they took adequate caution.

Now, on that particular place that might not mean you'd need to slow down a lot because you have good visibility up the hill and the drivers would have seen that there's a wing on the track but the rest of the track is clear. I recon they'll get away with it.

Of course it's measured, you are not allowed to set the fastest time around the yellow flag area. It doesn't say anything about full throttle or not, and the drivers did proceed with caution, they had good a visible track and they did proceed in caution.

History shows that loads of top drivers often full throttle over yellow flag zones and didn't get penalised.
 
Insane session. Really shows how much FP helps the drivers, without it they are really all over the place. I hope Glock is OK...

Vettel on pole is great for the championship, and Trulli is probably light. But most importantly, I think McLaren have finally gotten on top of their problems :D I think Lewis has the same fuel as Vettel, but I'm hoping he's got more. Tommorow I want a Lewis, Vettel, Sutil podium ;)

Anyone know what the KERS advantage is off the line? If it's good, we may well see Lewis lead after T1...
 
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I'm really going to have trouble sleeping after an exciting qualifying like this. :eek:
I never saw a race at Suzuka, but if what I saw today is any measure for what we might get tomorrow... Well we should be in for a treat! ^^

Also, assuming Lewis has a comparable fuelload to Vettel, I am very impressed with him. Unfamiliar with the track coming in, very little running over the weekend, but still able to nail 3rd... :D
 
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That session was just amazing. I completely skipped lunch!
 
A hectic quali session like this is the perfect way to start the day. Having breakfast now and then I'll be in shape to get cracking on an assignment for a Uni laboratory next week. :)

Can't wait to get to watch the Beeb commentary. And also the fuel weights will paint an interesting picture... today they ought to be out around noon here.
 
A hectic quali session like this is the perfect way to start the day. Having breakfast now and then I'll be in shape to get cracking on an assignment for a Uni laboratory next week. :)

Can't wait to get to watch the Beeb commentary. And also the fuel weights will paint an interesting picture... today they ought to be out around noon here.

Fuel weight will be very late today I think. They need to rebuild all the crashed cars first <_<
 
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