2010 Chinese Grand Prix

For me, as the only Button supporter on this board, it looks like this: If there's one thing that can be learned from this race it's that McLaren got themselves the best package any team can dream of: In Hamilton, they got the best racer in the field. No questions asked, when it comes to racing, to overtaking, to taking chances, Lewis Hamilton is the best man on the grid. Even better than Alonso in that respect. Jenson Button, on the other hand, is the best driver on the grid. He's very fast, he drives incredibly smooth, saves his tires and engine, keeps his act together, makes no mistakes, makes all the right strategy calls and thus logically came out on top in both situations where clever tactics and a smooth drive were more important than racing - when going wheel to wheel, he lacks the agressivness that makes Hamilton such a brilliant driver.
Of the current drivers, only the hated Schumacher back in his heyday and maybe Alonso (albeit not showing much of it these days) have a combination of this skills and therefore might be even better as an overall package, but all in all McLaren has a brilliant driver line-up, got the car working reasonably well by now (with the "big" aero update only scheduled for Spain) and thus are the major rival for the Red Bulls, who once and for all prove that F1 is not only about having the fastest car - the Red Bull is undoubtedly the fastest car on the grid, and yet they made nothing out of it.

Button, by the way, made the perfect move by leaving Brawncedes - not only doesn't he have to deal with a seven-time-world champion as a co-driver, but the McLaren seems to be the much better car so far.

Speaking of Mercedes GP, someone will have to tell the seven-time-world-champion that he is the #2 driver quite soon, the results speak for themselves.

The rest of the race - it was brilliantely entertaining, i've never seen that many overtakes in a single F1 race i think. The last season was brilliant, but this year seems to be even better.
 
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Now, how many supported Button before 2009, hmmm? :p

Oh, according to Martin Whitmarsh Hamilton has done ~30 total overtaking manoeuvres just within the first 4 races.
 
The FIA has heard the fans and are letting drivers compete.
A day has passed and still nobody has been gived a penalty of any kind for overtaking. Awesome.
I'm not saying I want races to turn into real life Carmageddon but it's nice to see that drivers are not given a penalty for trying anymore.
Though there is still room for improvement.

"Incident between car #X and #Y to be investigated after the race"
My only though at that point was: "Why?". There are 30 laps or so to go there is time to penalize drivers during this race for the mistakes they did at this race.
Why do it later? Makes no sense to me. I never want to see that text on the screen ever again. :|

I did not expect such an eventful entertaining race. :|
One thing I wanna add. The new teams are fantasticly slow compared to the top4. It was agony to see the restarts when the safetycar was called to the pits and the race resumed.
All cars flew past the Lotuses Virgins and Hispanias like those were not even moving.
 
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ahpadt said:
Now, how many supported Button before 2009, hmmm? :p
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I'm just nationalistic. I wish for nothing more than the success of British drivers and teams.

I've also only actively followed Formula One since the 2004 season, so what I do know.
 
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mpicco said:
Wooow, less than one quarter of a turn of a wheel. Clearly he deserved a whole 20 second penalty driving through the pitlane.


The sensors are on the ground, measuring where the car is... But that's not the point
Formula one was about being in the edge of everything. Edge of reaction times, edge of grip, edge of excitement, competition.
Now we are on the "saving" of everything. Be conservative about the start. Save the tyres. Save the fuel. Manage the engine so it lasts, not so it goes fast.
Boring races. Boring rules.
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You are out of your mind.
A jumped start is a jumped start. No excuses. The drive through was well deserved.
This has been the best start to a new season ever. Overtaking just before the pit entrance is extremely rude I think everyone here agrees to that. But it isn't against the rules!
You know they are racing for the F1 Championship? Did you even watch this race or just followed it online on some live timing?

If you watched it please elaborate what to you is a exciting race? The ones won by Santanderlonso?
Like the one in Singapore 2008?

If you've been watching F1 for 15 years please remember back to last two years where drivers were penalized for attempting overtaking. I think it was Trulli and Webber who were penalized for even brushing against another car at the start of the race.
Bahrain this year was extremely boring. Watching grass grow is more exciting than that race. But all the races since have been awesome.
 
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"There's no overtaking in Formula 1? One should ask Michael Schumacher, who contantly got overtaken. Poor Schumacher has not even been humiliated like this as a rookie. Everybody made a fool of him: Old rivals (Alonso), young warriors (Kubica, Vettel and Hamilton), his ex-teammates (Massa), his fellow contrymen (Sutil) and even the young russian Petrov, only in his fourth Grand Prix ever"
(La Stampa, Italy)

I know that the italians might be a tiny bit biased against Schumacher, but this quote just sums up the race from his perspective nicely.
 
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Horner: RBR would have won normal GP

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner is adamant his team would have dominated the Chinese Grand Prix had it been run in normal conditions.

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber finished a distant sixth and eighth respectively in the Shanghai race, despite having started from the front row of the grid.

Red Bull struggled in the tricky conditions, with rain hitting the circuit several times during the race.

Horner believes, however, that had it been dry, his drivers would have emerged on top quite easily.

"A far from straightforward race in very tricky conditions, and sixth and eighth is still very valuable points," Horner told AUTOSPORT.

"It is just obviously frustrating, that with a straightforward dry race today I don't think the opposition would have seen us."

Despite Red Bull having missed several opportunities in the first four races of the season, Horner insists there are lots of reasons to be positive.

"We know we have a fast car," he said. "I think in conditions like in China it is not just about strategy, there is a degree of luck involved. And when you start seventh and eighth you have less to lose and more to gain.

"We head back to Europe have gone to four very different venues, had had two 1-2 starts and one 1-3 start.

"So I think there is an awful lot of positives. As you saw with Ferrari here, they didn't score big points either. So I think it is innate to the championship that there will be swings and roundabouts to it."

And he reckons Red Bull is operationally stronger than last season, despite having won just one race out of a possible four so far.

"Absolutely. There is no question about that. Here was not anything to do with strategy or operationally. I think the communication between the engineers and the cars and the drivers - at the end of the day they made all the same calls as Lewis [Hamilton] did so I don't think there are any issues there whatsoever."
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Not just about strategy? Oh you mean like not pitting for inters like Button, Rosberg and Kubica? Having the fastest F1 car on the grid counts for nothing if you can't back it up with results. McLaren dont have the fastest car but they're leading the championship simply because they've been the most consistent and reliable in their mechanical prowess and decision making (Malaysia qualifying not withstanding...even though they actually would've made it through had both drivers not thrown it off the road). Red Bull have been plagued with reliability troubles, and poor strategy such as waiting too long to pit in Melbourne, and making the wrong call in Shangai regarding inters. Yeah luck plays a big part in a race like that but you make your own luck. Button was 50 seconds up the road when the second safety car came out while the Red Bulls were stuck firmly in the midfield.

Christian Horner is sounding like a wronged schoolboy. "But sir, it's not fair!"

He was the first man on Saturday to rub it in all our faces when his cars went one and two on the grid ('who needs ride height control!') which was hardly a gracious comment at the time and has since been made to look completely stupid by the McLarens. Button who drove the perfect race strategy wise, and Hamilton who showed both Vettel and Webber absolutely no mercy on track by barging on past them at any opportunity. Even Alonso who made five pitstops and finished fourth and well ahead of Vettel in sixth.

Horner says in the article "It is just obviously frustrating, that with a straightforward dry race today I don't think the opposition would have seen us." The argument against that was Webbers (and to a lesser extent Vettels) speed during the dry parts of the race. Webber was mugged by Hamilton and Vettel wasn't exactly pulling clear of the McLaren driver when he had clear air. I've always felt McLaren are on par with Red Bull in terms of race pace and have been since Bahrain, it's just their speed over a single lap which is letting them down and putting them into situations where they havent been able to mix it with the Red Bulls on track.

It's only going to get harder for Red Bull as McLaren and Ferrari will be relentless in their development push. McLaren have already made massive inroads into Red Bull and will continue to chip away as they bring the full force of their technical prowess to bear. Ferrari are just as strong development wise so it's not impossible to imagine both teams overhauling, and then leaving Red Bull in their dust. Mercedes are making positive noises about Spain and beyond as well.
 
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^ yeah

RBR would of won a normal race

well christian it wasnt a normal race... and you didnt win because you tactics and your pit crew suck. you have perhaps the most hooked up car on the grid, but the rest of the outift isnt to that standard.
 
The Chinese Grand Prix saw McLaren score their first one-two finish since Fernando Alonso drove for them.
It was also the first British one-two in 11 years and Russia became the 33rd country to score points in F1. Read on for all the stats and facts from China.
Jenson Button won his second race in four starts for McLaren and the ninth of his career.
The Chinese Grand Prix has still not been won by the same driver twice. Since 2004 it?s been won by Rubens Barrichello, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and now Button.
With Lewis Hamilton finishing second this was the first one-two for a pair of British drivers since the 1999 Austrian Grand Prix, won by Eddie Irvine with David Coulthard in second place.
McLaren recorded their 45th one-two finish and their first since Fernando Alonso led home Hamilton in the 2007 Italian Grand Prix.
After four races we?ve already had three different teams record one-two finishes ? Ferrari in Bahrain and Red Bull in Malaysia.
It was pole position number eight for Vettel, who has now started from first place as many times as 1964 champion John Surtees and Riccardo Patrese.
Red Bull kept up their run of pole positions in 2010 and achieved their second front row lock-out. No-one has won a race from pole position yet this year ? the last person to do so was Vettel at Suzuka seven races ago.
Despite having 11 wins and 17 pole position, Lewis Hamilton?s fastest lap was only the fourth of his career. His last one came at the same circuit when he won the 2008 race.
All three drivers on the podium were powered by Mercedes ? the first time this has happened since the 1955 British Grand Prix when the Mercedes factory team fill the podium, Stirling Moss leading home Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling at Aintree.
Vitaly Petrov scored the first points of his career ? and became the first Russian driver to score in Formula 1. It was also his first race finish.
Russia is the 33rd different country to produce a Grand Prix points-scorer. The last addition to the club was Poland, when Petrov?s team mate Robert Kubica finished third at Monza in 2006.
Virgin and Sauber failed to get either of their cars to the finish once again. The two teams have only recorded one finish each so far this year. Timo Glock and Kamui Kobayashi are yet to see the chequered flag in 2010.
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http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/04/...e-2007-chinese-gp-stats-and-facts/#more-32174
 
ahpadt said:
Now, how many supported Button before 2009, hmmm? :p
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I always liked his playboy pose and the sorta kinda shadyness of his entourage... John Button, the old playboy, with a taste for booze and pink shirts and the asian underwear model girlfriend. So much cooler than, let's say, a plastic-pop singer and an IT guy.
 
Dr_Grip said:
For me, as the only Button supporter on this board,
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I'm a Button supporter as well, but I disagree about him being the best driver on the grid.

ahpadt said:
Now, how many supported Button before 2009, hmmm? :p

Oh, according to Martin Whitmarsh Hamilton has done ~30 total overtaking manoeuvres just within the first 4 races.
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I've been supporting Button long before he took his 1st victory in the '06 Hungarian GP. Unlike the majority of the hamilon-fans who just started watching F1 in the past year or two.

EsPpY said:
At least we have a pretty loyal fan there.

You, on the other hand.... IMHO, is just spreading your eggs out on a lot of baskets.
The sig below just gets longer and longer. How diversified are you mate ?

It would be fine if they are different disciplines.. but... ok nevermind.

I'm just sharing your joy for Button and Kubica there on this weekend. :D
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In case you haven't noticed (or have, judging from the "okay nevermind" reply), half the drivers on my sig list aren't from the current F1 grid. The list simply states the drivers that I'm supporting this year, which consist of only 4 current F1 drivers

Jenson Button | Michael Schumacher | Robert Kubica | Sebastian Vettel
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Schumi - don't need much explaining to do, I've always been a fan of Schumi and always will.
Button - Another F1 driver whom I have been supporting since the beginning of his F1 career.
Kubica - Been supporting Kubica since the beginning of the '08 season.
Vettel - Been supporting Vettel ever since his first win at Monza in '08
 
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MadCow809 said:
the majority of the hamilon-fans who just started watching F1 in the past year or two.
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Completely out of context here, but this statement here, I agree with. There are SO many people like this on the atlas boards, and most of them annoy me so much. Not that I have much against age groups, but when their maturity and impatience is inferior to even their age, it really bugs me. They've been following F1 since Lewis came to McLaren and think they know about the sport more than anyone else.

I fully appreciate why so many people dislike Lewis because they have to deal with people like this. Some of the things they say make me want to cringe, and make me want to start disliking the guy, myself, but I'm usually able to hold my cool...

Boy, can they test my patience, though...
 
mclarensmps said:
Completely out of context here, but this statement here, I agree with. There are SO many people like this on the atlas boards, and most of them annoy me so much. Not that I have much against age groups, but when their maturity and impatience is inferior to even their age, it really bugs me. They've been following F1 since Lewis came to McLaren and think they know about the sport more than anyone else.

I fully appreciate why so many people dislike Lewis because they have to deal with people like this. Some of the things they say make me want to cringe, and make me want to start disliking the guy, myself, but I'm usually able to hold my cool...

Boy, can they test my patience, though...
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Yeah, it's probably the main reason why I toned down my participation on this section of the forum.
 
One thing that bugs me is the amount of people who don't read up on rule changes, I've hear people bitching about the racing before the S/F line and explained to them that they can race after the first safety car line, they said they hadn't heard about that. The regulations are free to read on the FIA website, I read up on them before the season started and there is no reason why anyone else can't.
To quote Mika Hakkinen
"People have to have a deeper and better understanding of F1 and understand what the driver is going through and what the teams are doing,? "They should study it. If you just turn on your television and watch the grand prix and watch people go around and around, it?s boring and you change the channel. The more knowledge you have, the more interesting it is."
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Red_Bull said:
snip
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Red bull's problem is that they have a sub par strategy team; its almost like the guy at mclaren who put hamilton on slicks in germany 2007 is the chief strategist now at red bull. Vettel doesn't seem to show the same aggressiveness as hamilton or alonso on track and webber is always driving into someone, so they are almost let down by their drivers when things don't go accoriding to plan.
 
Topgearfanatic said:
One thing that bugs me is the amount of people who don't read up on rule changes, I've hear people bitching about the racing before the S/F line and explained to them that they can race after the first safety car line, they said they hadn't heard about that. The regulations are free to read on the FIA website, I read up on them before the season started and there is no reason why anyone else can't.
To quote Mika Hakkinen
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That is why F1 is a thinking man's sport. ^^
 
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