Archive for '2011 season'

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 [...]

Apr201106

Rob

0

2nd stop – Malaysia

With a decent start to the season in Australia behind us the F1 circus moves to Malaysia. The Red Bull cars look unstoppable and with Martin Whitmarsh dampening hopes of McLaren staying in touch does this leave the fighting for third place as the best hope for anyone but Sebastien Vettel or Mark Webber?
The teams will come to Sepang and regard it as the first proper racing track – Australia is a street circuit and as such doesn’t have the same characteristics as a racing circuit. Sepang should let the DRS actually work and should show some more of the aero effects from the new rules.
Ferrari and McLaren will be hoping that they can get on terms with Red Bull and Mercedes will be hoping that they can figure out how to use their car. The tyres will play an important role and all the teams will be keen to [...]

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