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May201109

Rob

0

Istanbul

So F1 is off to Turkey to see if McLaren can still chase down the Red Bulls, will the Ferrari have found what was wrong with their car and improved – Was it just Alonso’s head adding drag to the car? Have Mercedes managed to get to the bottom of the tyre issues? Will Williams actually get going at all this year?
We’ve had a great start to the season, exciting races, close finishes – and some controversy on the track. All we need now is for the title race to close up and we’ll be on for a eye popping year in F1. It could however all go horribly wrong, Vettel could streak out into the lead, McLaren could falter and we could all be watching Mercedes and Sauber fight over 6th to 10th.
Turkey normally has an exciting race, turn 8 in particular takes no prisoners and punishes bad aero. [...]

Apr201127

Rob

0

Alonso vs. Sauber in fairness

In Australia Sauber’s cars crossed the line in seventh and eight places, they were then disqualified because of a technical infringement on the car. A (supposedly) non performance critical part was a few millimetres outside the allowed margin, Sauber sucked it up, said they were wrong, improved their process and got on with their lives. Ferrari weren’t punished at all for the malfunction on Alonso’s DRS in China.
So what is different about the two cases and why were Sauber punished and not Ferrari? If Sauber are to be believed then their infringement wasn’t a performance gain whereas Ferrari’s most certainly could have been so that argument is moot given that Alonso wasn’t punished. Could it have been the pure infringement of the rules that caused Sauber’s penalty? Well Ferrari’s DRS system was clearly active in an area of the track where it shouldn’t have been and so directly contravened the [...]

Apr201120

Rob

0

Hamilton beats Vettel in China

What a weekend for Lewis Hamilton, fast in practice, third in qualifying, then a storming race where he showed why he’s a world champion. Jenson Button had no answer and neither did Sebastien Vettel, Lewis took the race win, he wasn’t gifted it, he didn’t have the ultimate fastest car and he had to pass people to win. It was another busy race but it already seems that the new rules are sinking in and if they provide racing like that then it can only be a positive thing.
Special mention must go out to Nico Rosberg who did a fantastic job and led the race for a good few laps, and to Felipe Massa as his form improves and he finishes ahead of Alonso again. The Toro Rossos did well in qualifying too, we’ve still yet to see the form of the new teams as they aren’t anywhere near the [...]

Apr201113

Rob

0

Lots of action in Malaysia except for Vettel who marches on

The Malaysian GP was full of overtaking, pit stops, accidents, etc… but is was serene for Vettel at the front as he waltzed off to his second victory and a 24pt lead in the championship. Jenson Button who described his own race as “confusing” finished up in second as he put his McLaren where it needed to be and kept hold of his tyres for long enough to make it stick. Heidfeld confirmed the pace of the Renault as he took the last podium place with Webber taking a hard earned fourth spot.
The DRS was used for the first time really in Malaysia and seemed to work quite well at certain points, i.e. getting people along side the other guy (Mark Webber used it a few times), but sometimes it seemed to spoil the show as the car using it just drove clean by – though you have to [...]

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