2010 Chinese Grand Prix

SchumacherM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
3,630
Location
Slovenia
Car(s)
Fiat Stilo 1.8 16V
Shanghai International Circuit

Race Date: 18 Apr 2010
Number of Laps: 56
Circuit Length: 5.451 km
Race Distance: 305.066 km
Lap Record: 1:32.238 - M Schumacher (2004)


Shanghai-International-Circuit-Track-Map-2010.jpg


1. Who will take pole?
2. Who will win the race?
3. How many crashes will there be?
4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating?
5. Where will Schumacher end the race?
6. Which new teams will finish with both cars?
7. Kobayashi - finnaly points?
8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already?
9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? ( I don't know what else to ask =) )
 
1: Vettel
2: Hamilton
3: 2, prety large track to avoid crashes.
4: Yes
5: 6th
6: I hope Hispania, but most likely Lotus.
7: I certainly hope so.
8: No point now since they can change them back in Europe. Just wasted money if they ship them to China.
9: Rosberg
 
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There is high probability of rain, so race could be similar to the one last year.

1. Who will take pole?
Alonso (just don't want to say Vettel again :D )

2. Who will win the race?
I think Hamilton will win sooner than later, so maybe this time.

3. How many crashes will there be?
If it rains 7, if not 1.

4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating?
yes

5. Where will Schumacher end the race?
5th

6. Which new teams will finish with both cars?
Lotus

7. Kobayashi - finnaly points?
I hope!

8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already?
No, there's no point doing that.

9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? ( I don't know what else to ask =) )
Rosberg is always a good guess, isn't he? :lol:
 
1. Who will take pole? Massa
2. Who will win the race? I want Webber to win, but Vettel might, or even Rosberg
3. How many crashes will there be? 4
4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating? Sort of
5. Where will Schumacher end the race?In the top ten, but still lower than Rosberg
6. Which new teams will finish with both cars?HRT
7. Kobayashi - finnaly points? God, yes please
8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already? No, cause what's the point?
9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? Hamilton
 
1. Who will take pole?
Hamilton

2. Who will win the race?
Hamilton

3. How many crashes will there be?
3.

4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating?
No.

5. Where will Schumacher end the race?
14th

6. Which new teams will finish with both cars?
Lotus.

7. Kobayashi - finnaly points?
Defs.

8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already?
yes.

9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? ( I don't know what else to ask =) )
Hamilton.
 
1. Who will take pole?
2. Who will win the race?
3. How many crashes will there be?
4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating?
5. Where will Schumacher end the race?
6. Which new teams will finish with both cars?
7. Kobayashi - finnaly points?
8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already?
9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? ( I don't know what else to ask =) )

1. Vettel
2. Vettel
3. A couple, maybe 3?
4. Yes
5. Top 8
6. Lotus
7. No
8. No
9. Rosberg or hamilton
 
1. Who will take pole? Vettel, Hamilton if McLaren get their suspension approved
2. Who will win the race? Hamilton
3. How many crashes will there be? 1 in T1, 1 elsewhere
4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating? No, McLaren and Ferrari are closer than they look
5. Where will Schumacher end the race? 4th
6. Which new teams will finish with both cars? Lotus
7. Kobayashi - finnaly points? No
8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already? No, it's a performance advantage
9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? Hamilton
 
1. Who will take pole? Vettel
2. Who will win the race? Hamilton (about time!)
3. How many crashes will there be? 4
4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating? Yes
5. Where will Schumacher end the race? 6th
6. Which new teams will finish with both cars? Hispania and Lotus
7. Kobayashi - finally points? No
8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already? Nah, they won't be rushing such a minor thing
9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? ( I don't know what else to ask =) ) Button
 
Anyone else agree the first sweeping corners are unnecessary and this is a better layout?
http://img52.imageshack.**/img52/9385/shanghaiinternationalci.png
 
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I really like the corner. It's one of the hardest corners in F1 and what set this track apart from all the others. It's like taking away Turn 8 in Istanbul.
 
1. Who will take pole?
Vettel
2. Who will win the race?
Vettel
3. How many crashes will there be?
4 crashes, one of them awesome
4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating?
Yes
5. Where will Schumacher end the race?
Behind Rosberg probably but I hope he gets OK points
6. Which new teams will finish with both cars?
Lotus !! Go Heikki !!
7. Kobayashi - finnaly points?
No
8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already?
No
9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? ( I don't know what else to ask =) )
Force India or Williams

I am not expecting an exciting race. C'mon European tour!! :)
Anyone else agree the first sweeping corners are unnecessary and this is a better layout?
http://img52.imageshack.**/img52/9385/shanghaiinternationalci.png
The entire Chinese GP track is not designed with racing in mind.
Apparently it is designed to look like a Chinese letter/word and adapted to racing. Wich is why it is one of the most boring events on the calendar.
 
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1. Who will take pole?
Vettel lol

2. Who will win the race?
Lewis. I'M FEELIN' IT!!

3. How many crashes will there be?
2 crashes, 3 retirements due to them. A little more wheel banging and spinning out.

4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating?
The advantage gets slimmer and slimmer, race by race :D

5. Where will Schumacher end the race?
5th

6. Which new teams will finish with both cars?
Lotus!

7. Kobayashi - finnaly points?
I don't think so. He will finish just outside the points, but be the better of the BMSAURARRIS

8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already?
They will test them in FP

9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? ( I don't know what else to ask =) )
Louise Hamiltone
 
McLaren will rock that long main straight, so that should make up a good bit.
 
If you're talking about ride-high control McL dropped that, because FIA said it'll be illegal.

Seems you're right:

Q & A with McLaren's Paddy Lowe

By Jamie O'Leary Tuesday, April 13th 2010, 12:19 GMT
The dispute over active suspensions seems to be over now that the FIA has made it clear any systems that would alter the ride height would be deemed illegal.
After that, McLaren has decided to stop work on its own system and will race in China with its regular car.
AUTOSPORT heard from McLaren's engineering director Paddy Lowe on the suspension affair and a lot more ahead of the Shanghai race.
Q. Has McLaren had to change its suspension system following the FIA's clarification that self-levelling ride height systems are illegal?
1271161518.jpg
Paddy Lowe - McLaren engineering director:
We've been working with the FIA on this subject for months. It's a complex subject and one that goes back really to 1993 when active ride suspension was banned. Exactly how you interpret the regulations in relation to ride height adjustment is very complex. I have to say we respect the FIA's job of navigating through that difficult area.
We were aware over the last few months of a different approach to it, an approach which historically we hadn't thought to be the typical interpretation, and we were reacting to that. Now that the FIA has taken a fresh view of it and drawn a different line - and one we think is nearer the historical line ? we are reacting to that too, so we've had to change some of the things we're doing.
Q. Will the ruling affect the competitiveness of the MP4-25 in China?
PL: Not our car, because in terms of us taking this fresh approach to the rules, I got the feeling we were rather late to the game relative to perhaps some others. We absolutely don't know who has been doing what and whether anyone has been racing anything in the nature of ride height control systems. We got the feeling that others were further advanced in development. I haven't got a clue as to whether anyone else has a system on their cars. We had a system that we were working on which we've no suspended.
Q. Has McLaren put such a system on the car yet?
PL: No. There are no alterations we need to make for China.
Q. What went wrong in Malaysia qualifying?
PL: One of the issues we recall with some pain was Monza 2008, when we also made mistakes in a wet Q1 and Lewis [Hamilton] also paid the price. We wanted to learn from that experience and put it into practice in Malaysia, but we applied the wrong learning. What we really needed to be doing was shadowing the tyre choice of the people we needed to knock out of Q1, not our immediate competitors.
I think all the leading teams suffered from that and some got knocked out and some didn't. We came particularly badly off because Lewis spun in the last turn when the track was at its quickest, and Jenson [Button] made it through [to Q2] before he spun off on the subsequent lap. We've refined our rules in terms of how we approach wet conditions.
There are a lot of factors to consider. There had been a strong hint from the teams and drivers meetings that if the whole qualifying had been called off due to torrential rain in mid-course, then all the times from Q1 would become the grid. This is another factor why some teams were holding out to try and get the best times on the best tyres we had. In a sense that was greedy, but the greed was there for rational reasons.
Q. How much extra work and cost would a switch to low-profile tyres, as is being suggested by Michelin for 2011, create?
PL: Michelin are talking to the FIA, FOTA and FOM about a return to F1 for 2011-2013 and 18 inch wheels would be a requirement on their part. Principally they feel that those size wheels would be more contemporary in terms of appearance and technology. For us, it depends how we manage it as to how big a problem it could become.
In terms of being conscious of the time and the costs, the teams, I hope, will agree to a set of constraints that mean we don't expand the development into an envelope that's screwed up by that. With a bigger wheel you have less volume around the upright and the brake, for example, and that would have to be looked at. I think that new rules can be written in a way that managed the costs, and I don't think it would be too bad.
Q. Would McLaren support such a move?
PL: Yes. I think all the teams have agreed that if Michelin supplies that as a condition then we'll support that.
Q. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current McLaren?
PL: The car is good overall on race pace and particularly in the early to mid part of the race, we're in good shape relative to our competitors. If you want to win a race, then having a good qualifying position is very important, but the pace you do have in the first third of the race is the really crucial bit. It's proven that our car is at its strongest at that point. I think it has shown an ability to overtake that's proved very fruitful whereas others have struggled, so there's clearly good straightline performance.
I think really qualifying is the one thing where we need to improve. We are pretty happy with the car and Lewis has been saying some very nice things about it recently compared to last year. We freely admitted that last year's car was very poor in high-speed corners and this car is the reverse of that. It's very much stronger in the high-speed corners compared to the low-speed ones.
Q. Have the budget restrictions that the teams agreed to last year really been implemented? There's been little physical evidence, especially with teams upgrading cars on a race-by-race basis.
PL: The teams agreed a contract called the resource restriction agreement and that did introduce a set of caps. We have the wind tunnel and CFD caps which have been running for over a year now. We also have external expenditure and headcount caps. We are all working to those ? at least we are at McLaren anyway ? and they have ensured that we've had to be more precise about how we use different elements of the budget in those categories. Although it may not appear things have changed, they have, and it will get tougher over the next 12 months. In some ways it is good that some people haven't noticed the change, because we still need to put on a show and it's not good for that if there is suddenly a perception that we've turned into dinosaurs technologically. I would hope we can still continue by being more efficient, and we're finding greater efficiency all the time. Things are changing behind the scenes, and people not being able to spot it is probably a good thing.
Q. Have the rear-wing changes introduced for 2009 really worked in terms of increasing overtaking?
PL: I think things are getting worse in terms how the overtaking working group, which set out the rules for 2009, intended. Principally this is because the cars are generating much more downforce out of the floors than was ever envisaged. A lot is driven by the opportunity we get from the double diffusers. One of the intentions of the OWG package was that the downforce generated by the floor would be much lower, and this would help overtaking. Firstly, if you have less downforce to begin with, then you lose less in the wake.
Secondly, generating downforce the floor creates a very bad wake for the following car. Downforce now is approaching where it was in 2008 in terms of levels, and at the same time we have slick tyres now against grooved tyres, so it has escalated. What we've agreed for 2011 is to ban double diffusers and reduce the height of the diffuser exit, which will reduce the amount of floor-generated downforce, which will be better for following cars. We are looking at whether even that is sufficient. I think what we've agreed is that we're going in the right direction with OWG.
Q. How do you interpret this ride height situation?
PL: There are two aspects. It's what you can do to a car during a race and what you can do during the parc ferme restrictions. There is quite a clear rule that any adjustment to the suspension during parc ferme would require you to start from the pitlane. This is intended to stop people changing springs and ride heights. Where it's got tricky is that you can design suspension systems that could self-adjust during that period and use a whole host of techniques to make that happen. Previously, if you had a system that could change the ride height with no human intervention, you could say 'I haven't touched it, so it's not changed.' Now, the FIA has clarified that by programming it to change electronically, for example, you are changing it.
Q. How will the FIA check this? Simply by measuring ride height?
PL: No. They will measure it by inspecting the car, determining what equipment is there and examining how it works, which is quite normal process for them. Don't' forget there is also the modification of ride height during a race to consider. There are systems that would allow you to do this, but these are not permissible. That's like an active suspension, but without using external power.
Q. Is the MP4-25 using its tyres differently to the rival cars?
PL: There's nothing I'm aware of. We obviously work very closely with Bridgestone and have our own engineer. He is aware of the tyres and how they're being used by the whole grid and not just us. I think how we approach qualifying with tyres is a big issue and it is an area where maybe we haven't learned as well as some others.
Q. Could we soon see cars covered in all kinds of ducts, following McLaren's inception of the F-duct?
PL: We've expressed openly to the other teams that the technology doesn't lend itself to a huge degree of escalation. An easy way to look at it is that teams have been attempting either legally or illegally to find ways to help wings in order to reduce drag. It's always been a big issue and there are a great deal of tests to stop trickery in that area. If you think that the amount of work that goes into rear wings for that reason is more than on any other area of the car...
We don't worry about front wings or sidepods backing off though, do we? The same is true in the application of this technology. It lends itself to backing off the rear wing, but by the same token, there's very much less to gain by us applying a similar system to other parts of the car. I'm not just saying that as a tactic either. We think we've pretty much reached as much benefit as you can from that technology. We certainly don't envisage that you could double the benefit.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82854

But yeah the McLaren should be very fast on the straights. I think if they can be in the front or second row, they could be leading by the first few laps....
 
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1. Who will take pole? Webber

2. Who will win the race? Webber

3. How many crashes will there be? None

4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating? Yes

5. Where will Schumacher end the race? Yes

6. Which new teams will finish with both cars? Lotus

7. Kobayashi - finnaly points? Finally... and no.

8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already? Dunno :cool:

9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? Rosberg
 
1. Who will take pole?
Webber
2. Who will win the race?
Hamilton
3. How many crashes will there be?
A million!
4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating?
It will show
5. Where will Schumacher end the race?
11th
6. Which new teams will finish with both cars?
Lotus
7. Kobayashi - finally points?
YES!!!
8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already?
Doubt it
9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? ( I don't know what else to ask =) )
Britney
 
1. Who will take pole?
Vettel

2. Who will win the race?
Vettel....or Webber. Either would be oh so very very good! :thumbsup:

3. How many crashes will there be?
Only a couple. I predict there'll more mechanical retirements than crashes.

4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating?
Hell yeah! I mean, I really hope so. Heheh! :ninja:

5. Where will Schumacher end the race?
I'll say 5th. I mean, he'll keep improving no doubt about it, he's freaking Schumi! (If he doesn't....:rolleyes:)

6. Which new teams will finish with both cars?
Most likely to be Lotus, but even though I hate Richard Bloody Branson it would be nice to see both Virgins make it to the end for once. :wall:

7. Kobayashi - finnaly points?
Please please please please please please!! :-(

8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already?
No freaking idea, I'll wait for car pics. :p

9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? ( I don't know what else to ask =) )
Massa (because I always seem to forget him when answering these questions).
 
The entire Chinese GP track is not designed with racing in mind.
Apparently it is designed to look like a Chinese letter/word and adapted to racing. Wich is why it is one of the most boring events on the calendar.

It's supposed to look like this: ?, but that's just a coincidence. Lots of circuits look like Chinese characters.

Hockenheimring, for example, looks like the Chinese word for melon: ?
 
1. Who will take pole?
Massa

2. Who will win the race?
Vettel

3. How many crashes will there be?
Lots - hell this is China

4. Is Red Bull going to keep dominating?
Umm - good question - for now yes.

5. Where will Schumacher end the race?
No there will be one next year :lol:

(Er yes he will).

6. Which new teams will finish with both cars?
None.

7. Kobayashi - finnaly points?
Finally nope.

8. Are teams with outboard mirrors going to be inboard already?
No

9. Who will be the fastest in FP1? ( I don't know what else to ask =) )
Hamilton - got the car for it.
 
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