2012 Formula 1 Season Thread

[SupraPwn]

Anthony Davidson had a great analysis with that other Sky girl a few days ago where he showed how Vettel's driving style complimented the blown diffuser Red Bull used, and how Mark struggled with it. He also showed how that driving style, specifically the way he attacks high speed corners, doesn't work as effectively this year so Mark is able to get ahead. Unfortunately I'm having trouble finding that segment on Youtube .

 

[Delll]

I never said Vettel was a bad driver, he is certainly talented. It didn't matter that he was in BMW or TR, he had a spot reserved for him at RBR.

Just like Liuzzi, Speed, Bourdais, Alguersuari and Buemi? Are Ricciardo and Vergne guaranteed to drive for RBR too? Why did Vettel have a seat reserved at RBR if the others didn't? Talent? Marko? And why did Vettel do much better in the TR than any of the others?

 

[mpicco]

You're conveniently forgetting how Mark was able to pull away from the field as well. Mark was just as untouchable. also, Mark's car almost never had functioning KERS, and if it did, he rarely used it. Vettel seemed to adore hitting that little button. Honestly I don't know what the discrepancy between the two is, but the fact remains that the RB7 was in a class of it's own. The rest of the field may as well have been in GP2 cars.

I'm sorry, are you talking about the same Mark Webber I'm talking about? The one who finished third, a mere 1 point ahead of Alonso in what you call a GP2 car? The same Mark that almost finished the year without a win, and saved it at the last race, probably just cos Vettel wasn't even trying anymore?
I don't agree with you here. Webber had the same car but both emotionally and physically couldn't keep up, or pose any real threat. They both did have the fastest car of the year yet only Vettel dominated with it. The Red Bull 2011 campaign was not a 1988 McLaren or a 2004 Ferrari.

You can add MSC to the VET-HAM "spoonfed" camp.

Back in the nineties, a pre-fame, Minardi-driving Alonso even was the subject of a radio comedy show over here in Germany: "Alonso and Marquez" - the whole concept of the show was both of them qualifying last and not knowing what they were doing, with fake Spanish accents and everything.

MSC spoon fed to a very awesome *drumroll please* BENETTON!!

Great show, wonder how the writers are feeling now...

In other news, Ferrari are lending Jacques Villeneuve the car his dad drove, maybe to exorcise some demons:

On that infamous day in 1997, when Schumacher?s Ferrari was passed by Jacques Villeneuve in the Williams a few laps from the end at the European Grand Prix in Jerez, crushing our hopes of bringing the title back to Maranello, the young Canadian must have felt a sense of catharsis as he finally outdid his father?s achievements. This was little Jacques who witnessed tragic accident at Zolder. Jacques who, as a young driver, had always been known as Gilles? son. Now, however, he?d finally broken that giant taboo bequeathed to him by his father, by winning the World title that had eluded the latter.

Link

Those awful Ferrarians again, holding grudges and being assholes and what not..

 

[bone]

anyone knows the reason why the FIA imposed a mandatory weight distribution?

 

[Cellos88GT]

anyone knows the reason why the FIA imposed a mandatory weight distribution?

Jul.5 (GMM) For the first time in F1, a mandatory weight distribution ratio will apply in 2011.

Germany?s Auto Motor und Sport said the front-to-rear ratio must be 46:54 per cent, due to the arrival of Pirelli as the sport?s new exclusive tyre supplier.

The teams want to avoid the kinds of surprise problems that arose in 2009, when a pre-season change to the Bridgestone tyre design resulted in the need to make expensive changes to the cars? weight distribution.

But if a mandatory weight distribution applies in 2011, all the teams will be in the same boat.

?If the weight distribution remained free, then some would get it right by accident while others get it totally wrong. That?s what we want to avoid,? said FOTA?s technical boss Ross Brawn.

src: http://www.yallaf1.com/2010/07/05/f1-to-have-mandatory-weight-ratio-in-2011/

 

[Dr_Grip]

MSC spoon fed to a very awesome *drumroll please* BENETTON!!

IIRC he won a race in his first full season in a Benetton. Even the Jordan he made his debut in was a midfield car, far from the awfulness of a Minardi.

 

[hajj]

Jordan became 5th and Benetton 4th in 1991, so midfield cars. The backfield cars of that time were truly bad, including some teams with just one car.

 

[Dr_Grip]

Jordan became 5th and Benetton 4th in 1991, so midfield cars. The backfield cars of that time were truly bad, including some teams with just one car.

One could speculate that Jordan would have come fourth if Schumacher stayed on as he reportedly felt the Jordan to be superior to the Benetton.

 

[ahpadt]

I wouldn't really say that the RB7 was dominant in 2011. It was Vettel that was dominant, not the car. The MP4-26 was pretty much as fast.

 

[Pininfarina_]

I wouldn't really say that the RB7 was dominant in 2011. It was Vettel that was dominant, not the car. The MP4-26 was pretty much as fast.

This is probably a more accurate representation though I think the MP4-26 wasn't as fast. The driving style required for the EBD suited Vettel and it complimented his super fast style of driving. Though I'm not a race car driver and don't really know much about how individual styles can differentiate, Webber performed much better in 2010 and now this year so that must mean something about last years car.

 

[lukenwolf]

This is probably a more accurate representation though I think the MP4-26 wasn't as fast. The driving style required for the EBD suited Vettel and it complimented his super fast style of driving. Though I'm not a race car driver and don't really know much about how individual styles can differentiate, Webber performed much better in 2010 and now this year so that must mean something about last years car.

It isn't always down to the car alone. Hamilton has pretty much proved the point last year that the private life can make just as much of a difference. Who knows, maybe there were some additional bad factors for Mark that year, which we didn't get to know about.

 

[ahpadt]

It's a combination of a lot of things, of course, but I maintain that the RB7 was not as dominant as the media wanted it to be.

 

[lukenwolf]

I think the RB and the McLaren of 2011 were pretty much equal in terms of performance. Behind them was quite a gap to the rest of the field. The key factor to Vettels dominance was the one-lap speed, which enabled Vettel to start from pole so often. The RB looked better over one lap, while the McLaren seemed slightly better over a race distance, problem was that by then Vettel usually had pulled out a gap already. I think the influence of the car is a bit overrated as far as 2011 is concerned. The key factor was the fact that Vettel managed 5 or 6 blisteringly fast laps right from the start and could then concentrate on reacting to others. The McLarens usually were the fastest in the closing laps, especially Button. But that only worked out twice - for Hamilton in China and for Button in Canada.

This year the cars are a helluva lot closer in terms of raw speed, which is why Vettel struggles. He has to 'learn' a whole new general tactic for the races. Added to that is the fact that unlike last years car, this years version doesn't fit his driving style, especially with the updated exhaust. This years races just have so many variables. Cars that are blindingly quich in qualifying may fall apart in the race (Merc, Sauber) others suddenly appear in top position despite mediocre speed (Alonso's Ferrari). I think, unless someone pulls a really big rabbit out of the hat, were heading into an epic season.

 

[mpicco]

IIRC he won a race in his first full season in a Benetton. Even the Jordan he made his debut in was a midfield car, far from the awfulness of a Minardi.

And? That's spoon feeding to you? Surely on par with mr Hamilton? Shit.
Benetton won here and there, once or twice a year at most, even when world champions were driving the car.

Also after this whole debate of Vettel having "lost it" and that he wasn't "fast, just had the fastest car", well there you go. This year everyone considers the McLaren to be the best car, with Mercedes charging as close second... Pole for Vettel.

 

[lukenwolf]

@mpicco.
I wouldn't argue with some people too much. There are people in here who habour pathological hatreds of certain drivers and won't listen to a reasonable argument.

This whole 'spoonfed' debate is sort of useless. Almost every driver in the last 20 years has earned his place by driving for midfield or low level teams before entering the spotlight. I can only remember three drivers, who were where plopped right into the best cars of the field at the time: David Coulthard (Williams), Jacques Villeneuve (Williams) and Lewis Hamilton (McLaren). There is no such thing as being 'spoonfed' a career. Money and support can't buy you the neccessary talent.

 

[Gman333-X-ferrari]

You can add MSC to the VET-HAM "spoonfed" camp.

Wtf, that wasn't even in the same league of spoon-feeding as VET-HAM.

 

[TestECull]

Yay, another boring race at a boring track. I can't wait for this circuit to get dropped entirely.


Also, another textbook "Let's follow Sebastian Vettel!" parade. I hesitate to even call it a race. Sigh. Here's hoping Spain is more entertaining.

 

[SchumacherM]

If this was boring, then...idk.

 

[TestECull]

If this was boring, then...idk.

It was very boring. Very very boring. There wasn't any real racing going on. The few passes that did happen were over in a few seconds. There was no "Pass-repass-pass-repass" battling going on. It was more 20 billboards in a high-speed parade around a dull track than a motor race. The most exciting points were when Rosberg ran Hammy and Massa off the road...and that was about fifteen seconds in total. Behind that, you had the flat-and-spin of Maldonado, and then.....I suppose Hamilton's pit troubles count? Kimi looked a bit racy at one point but he gave up after a couple of laps and fell back into parade mode, so there wasn't really a fight for the lead either.


Boring race was boring.


The last ten laps of China, positions 2-12, is what racing is supposed to look like. THAT is exciting. THAT is what I want to see. I want to see a big gaggle of cars duking it out lap after lap, positions swapping so often the running order is wildly different in each sector. I want to see RACING. If I want to see strategy play out I'll go watch some Starcraft streams, and if I want to see a parade I'll search for them on youtube.


I don't care if it's slower, it's exciting. I find races fought in the pits instead of on the track to be incredibly dull and not worth the harddrive space they take up on my TiVO. Bahrain is, and always has been, fought in the pits instead of on the track.

 

[lukenwolf]

If this was boring, then...idk.

It was boring because in TestECull's hatred-addled opinion the wrong driver won. Simple.

Seriously, TestECull, it has been a while since I read such a pathetic dribble. Maybe after 6 more beers your post will make a shred of sense, but I better don't hold my breath...