2010 Formula One Japanese Grand Prix

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niky
Interesting how the Renaults seem to have leapfrogged McLaren in pace... though McLaren could just be preserving their engines for qualifying and race-day... Wouldn't be surprised if Alonso's pace is all down to engine preservation.
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I haven't watched either FP1 or FP2, but from what I've read (on some of the Ferrari F1 sites) Ferrari were doing longer runs on the softs today, as rain is expected for qualy tommorow.
 
I don't think Ferrari is really trying to preserve their engines at this point. Alonso is on his 9th already
 
Can't get streaming from the office... shoot. Will have to settle for watching qualifying tomorrow... but I might be at the racetrack and with no cable TV in easy reach...

happycorey
It'll be interesting to see how Hamilton does in the race with the new additions and the lack of track time

I'm actually JUST starting to follow the F1 season THIS season. I wish there was a F1 general discussion but there really isn't. But since Spa the first race I watched it has been pretty intense season and other than Schumacher I think Vettel would have to be my favorite driver
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Actually, most of the important news is discussed inside each race thread... though if you haven't followed the thread from the beginning, it's daunting to read each one.

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I think Hamilton should do relatively well. The big issue is whether that ridiculously stiff car will punt him off at Degner again...
 
happycorey
I don't think Ferrari is really trying to preserve their engines at this point. Alonso is on his 9th already
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Since when? AFAIK he is still on his 8th (since Monza).

Here's an interesting article regarding Ferrari's engine situation.

EspnF1/September 23rd

Ferrari Fernando Alonso has again insisted he has no concerns about engine usage as he heads into the final five races of the season with no new units available to him.

Alonso used his eighth Ferrari engine of the season at Monza, hitting the limit under the regulations before a 10-place grid penalty applies for fitting a ninth. By comparison, both McLaren drivers and Sebastian Vettel have used seven, while championship leader Mark Webber has used six.

Alonso's higher usage is due to a number of problems at the start of the season and a failure at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Since then the Ferrari V8 has been altered to improve reliability and Alonso is confident that the engines he has available are of sufficiently low mileage to last him until the end of the season.

"There is no reason to worry about engine problems, because our engines can also be used more," he said. "And there are no other tracks where we are on the throttle for most of the lap."

Stefano Domenicali added that Singapore specifically was easy on engines.

"It is a street circuit, where the engines are less important," said the Ferrari team principal.

McLaren race engineer Phil Prew expects the problem to limit Ferrari's practice mileage but not cause any problems in the races.

"I think it will only affect their Friday running, in terms of running used engines on the Friday," he told the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in. "Sadly I don't think that will give us any advantage over them."
 
I could've SWORE they mentioned he was on his last. If not then I got it mixed up that they were saying 'Will he switch to his last' around the time Massa had his car trouble at Singapore I think it was? And when Alonso also had some engine trouble, and then they switched to the tune from Monza
 
"Last" means 8th. ;)

Be an interesting qualifying tomorrow. Hope McLaren put the car back together in time.

Interesting thing... if Renault outqualifies the Ferraris and McLarens...
 
happycorey
I could've SWORE they mentioned he was on his last. If not then I got it mixed up that they were saying 'Will he switch to his last' around the time Massa had his car trouble at Singapore I think it was? And when Alonso also had some engine trouble, and then they switched to the tune from Monza
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As Niky said, the "last" engine is his 8th, after which his 9th, 10th, 11th, etc engines will cost him in grid penalties.

Pressure getting to Hamilton? He gives himself all the pain at the moment (though the Webber incident wasn't his fault solely).
That said, Button made the same mistake, as Ant Davidson commented, seems the McLaren is just setup a bit too shaky for Degner.

I would love rain to rear its head here, if anything just to stop Red Bull utterly dominating as seems to be the case.

A little worrying for some drivers that they haven't been confirmed for 2011 yet...particularly the Williams drivers.
 
Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I looked around and didn't find direct (YES/NO) answers to them. Here goes:

Fact - Alonso is using his 8th engine this season.


Question 1 - Can he use any of the 8 engines he has used since the start of the season?


Reply - YES/NO


(If you replied NO, the questionary ends here. If you replied YES you should also reply to Question 2)


Question 2 - Can the 8 engines be in any way "serviced" (and I don't mean just doing an oil change)?

Reply - YES/NO


(If you replied YES to question 2, please elaborate. WHat can be done to a used engine?)




Thank you for your patience, have a nice day! :D
 
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question 1: yes

question 2: no
 
Also - if Ferrari report an engine broken - then that engine cannot be used again...

i.e. Massa who stopped in Quali with his 7th engine - had he declared that the engine had failed - then he could've swapped an engine... but he wouldn't be able to use that 7th engine again.

(I think that's what they said at Singapore)

C.
 
niky
"Last" means 8th. ;)

Be an interesting qualifying tomorrow. Hope McLaren put the car back together in time.

Interesting thing... if Renault outqualifies the Ferraris and McLarens...
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Ahh alright.. It's my first season so I should pick up on more as it goes on.
 
Hun200kmh
Question 1 - Can he use any of the 8 engines he has used since the start of the season?
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Yes. Sometimes teams will introduce a new engine for a race that can be stressful for it - like Monza - even if they put a fresh engine in for the previous race. It's not particularly efficient, but it's permitted.

Hun200kmh
Question 2 - Can the 8 engines be in any way "serviced" (and I don't mean just doing an oil change)?
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They may be repaired, but they cannot be raced again. They may only be used during Friday practice. That's one of the ways teams manage their allocations - by recycling old engines to keep the stress down.
 
Very wet P3 with the teams questioning if the qualy will even take place. Weather forecast is only supposed to get worse in the next few hours.
 
Looks like qualifying will be delayed until tomorrow, then. However, I'm curious as to what will be done if tomorrow's session is also too wet.
 
Qualifying would start at 14:30 local time depends on the weather and track condition. We'll know it in the next 30 minutes.
 
I've just been awake, and the first thing i'm doing is watching the Qualifying coverage. It's 6am in London and it hasn't started yet. Anyone know why?
 
Dan360
I've just been awake, and the first thing i'm doing is watching the Qualifying coverage. It's 6am in London and it hasn't started yet. Anyone know why?
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It's been raining heavily there and the condition is undiveable according to some drivers.
 
Just saw Hamilton's crash for the first time. Pretty clumsy.
 
Thanks for answering, I fully understand the condition of the qualifying, when my coverage showed the safety car around Suzuka. It looks very, very wet.
 
To everyone who prayed for rain.... you fools! You've ruined the race!!!1!!1!!!1!!!! :grumpy:
 
Delayed for another 30 mins... This is terrible :grumpy:
 
Sigh. Q1 delayed for another 30 minutes. I woke up, just to anticipate...
 
Watch Bathurst qualifying while you wait.
 
Some people, on track, are getting very bored. I just saw a paper boat, floating down the main straight. Shows how much water is on track.
 
And I just dragged myself out of bed...:lol::crazy:
 
Plus another 30 minutes... I think this qualifying could well be delayed until tomorrow...

EDIT: They can only do this until 16:00 local time.

Question: If the qualifying starts at 15:30, will the qualifying be held like normal Q1, Q2 and Q3 to darkness or just only Q1 all through to 16:00?
 
I guess I could have stayed in bed a little while longer! :sly:
 
See you at super Sunday, with Qualifying and race tomorrow. ;)
 
Mhm... Qualifying postponed until Sunday - Stweards decision to follow shortly.

I guess it's 10:00 in the morning tomorrow then. Get back to sleep...
 
If it's still raining or is wet enough to negate Qualifying further, I don't like the numerical order, aka 'Option C', that the cars are going to start in. One, it's kind of limp-wristed and slightly unfair as you're essentially damned to the exact place on the grid that your car corresponds to. 2. It'd be better to do it in Championship leading order.
 
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