2011 Chinese Grand Prix

prisonermonkeys

prisonermonkeys

Be Fearless
Premium
33,155
Peru
Hammerhead Garage
Two races in, and Sebastian Vettel is still dominating - so much so that he has twice as many points as his nearest rival, Jenson Button. But if Sepang proved anything, it's that the races can still be exciting even if one man walks away with it ... and that Red Bull are not nearly as bulletproof as everyone expected to be. They can be caught, and so the early subplot of the 2011 season is to see who can do it first. The championship moves to China after a one-week break, and the end of the first flyaway leg of the season.

Round III of the 2011 FIA Formula 1 World Championship is the ...

2011 UBS CHINESE FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX
from the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China

Circuit_Shanghai.png


One lap with Jarno Trulli

Seven-day forecast:
Some cloud cover expected. Clear on race day.
Low to mid-range temperatures (13-20°C) through to Sunday.

Lap Record ~ 1:33.238
(Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004)

2010 Results:
1st ~ Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes)
2nd ~ Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
3rd ~ Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

2011 standings after two races:
1st ~ Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) ~ 50 points
2nd ~ Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) ~ 26 points
3rd ~ Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) ~ 22 points
4th ~ Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) ~ 22 points
5th ~ Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) ~ 20 points
6th ~ Felipe Massa (Ferrari) ~ 16 points
7th ~ Nick Heidfeld (Renault) ~ 15 points
8th ~ Vitaly Petrov (Renault) ~ 15 points
9th ~ Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) ~ 6 points
10th ~ Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) ~ 4 point

After the heat of Sepang, the circus moves to Shanghai, where temperatures are expected to be in the range experienced in Melbourne. Watch for people attempting a Sergio Perez-like one-stop strategy if they think they can get away with it. Although unpopular with the fans, the slightest threat of rain can turn a race at Shanghai exciting, as it demonstrated in 2010.

While the race is on to catch Red Bull, there are a few moved further down the grid that get less coverage than the main players. Paul di Resta has now scored points in every race he has taken part in and has out-qualified Adrian Sutil twice, While Fernandes-Lotus was just half a second off the Q2 cut-off in Malaysia and Hispania Racing finally made the grid.​
 
The only places I can reasonably think of would be into turn 5 or into turn 14. Probably the latter. Turn 1 is simply too quick for the DRS to be used, because as we saw in Malaysia, the DRS works by allowing a driver to get his front wing alongside the rear wheel of the guy in front. From there, it's a braking duel into the corner, but the braking for turn 1 just isn't heavy enough for the DRS to be effective.
 
interludes
The only places I can reasonably think of would be into turn 5 or into turn 14. Probably the latter. Turn 1 is simply too quick for the DRS to be used, because as we saw in Malaysia, the DRS works by allowing a driver to get his front wing alongside the rear wheel of the guy in front. From there, it's a braking duel into the corner, but the braking for turn 1 just isn't heavy enough for the DRS to be effective.
Click to expand...
Coming into 14? Really? I'm thinking out of turn 13 it will be active.

Ardius
Isn't that the case with every race this year?
Click to expand...
Not exactly. On circuits that have a clear long straight it will be easy to say where it will be used. The pit straight and back straight in Shanghai are both quite long. Catalunya quickly comes to mind as a circuit that there's no question where DRS will be.
 
Well, how is that different to China, which has one very, very long straight and one not so long? There is only one sensible place for it to go. Very few tracks on the calendar have more than one decent straight that DRS will work best with.
 
I'll save this so I can quote it at the end of the race:

And Vettel makes it win number three!!!!:D

Ok, maybe I'm being a bit foolish. Literally ANYTHING can happen. So to predict it now is just stupid. As a Red Bull fan, I'm hoping for a Vettel win, but as an F1 fan, I'm kinda hoping for a big shakeup.
 
Realistic expectations? Dry race, Red bull wins, 90% chance it's gonna be Vettel.

As it has been raining for the last 2 years at Shanghai, which have both been at around this time of year, I think there is a 60-70% chance of rain. And I don't rate Vettel or Webber too highly in the rain compared to Alonso, Hamilton and Button, so who knows what will happen if it rains?

And for the record, Webber willbe behind Vettel in the race classification. He's back on form, but Vettel is still too good. Hamilton will beat Button, or if not, have a whinge. And Massa will be beaten by Alonso. And Lotus Renault will not get another podium this race.

Now watch these 'predictions' become utterly incorrect!
 
DRS from turn 13 will be a good location.

Long straight with KERS+DRS=very high speed.

If redbull can't get KERS to work they may not make podium.
 
I rather not see the Youtube video, makes the post look messy, not to mention if you go to youtube you can choose if you want to see it in HD.

And i don't like seeing the Download link for youtube videos outside of youtube.
 
Personally, I like the Youtube embedding in the first post, but is it such a big deal?

This will be an interesting race. Look forward to seeing who can suck the most drain covers off the kerbs during the race... :D
 
Famine
They should allow DRS everywhere as they do in FP/Qualy.
Click to expand...

Same, it only will it put more skill into play of when should i enable it(a few milliseconds before the driver infront may have a big advantage), but make it so their are punishments if you activate it at the wrong time(as seen on the Australian GP when one car spun out on the entry to pit straight by activateing DRS early).

But keep it so it should not be used in the rain.

Note: does anyone else think the track records should be cleared as most of them were set with V10 engines which had more power.
 
Grayfox
Note: does anyone else think the track records should be cleared as most of them were set with V10 engines which had more power.
Click to expand...

Nope, Vettel's poletime last time out was 1:34.870, the lap record for Sepang is 1:34.223 set by Montoya in the '04 race. Now sure, under race conditions the cars will get nowhere near, but that's mainly due to the fuel load on the car.

The steps forward with aero packages and engine performance has almost completed negated the power loss between the V10 and V8's. 👍 They just need to allow refueling again and then possibly, just possibly, we'd see records broken again.

Sadly, that'll be very unlikely.

Famine
They should allow DRS everywhere as they do in FP/Qualy.
Click to expand...

Hmm yes and no, yes because of faster laptimes and possibly more errors, but no because then everyone will be on it at the same time, no advantage/disadvantages found there to create chances.
 
Grayfox
Same, it only will it put more skill into play of when should i enable it(a few milliseconds before the driver infront may have a big advantage), but make it so their are punishments if you activate it at the wrong time(as seen on the Australian GP when one car spun out on the entry to pit straight by activateing DRS early).

But keep it so it should not be used in the rain.
Click to expand...

Bee
Hmm yes and no, yes because of faster laptimes and possibly more errors, but no because then everyone will be on it at the same time, no advantage/disadvantages found there to create chances.
Click to expand...

It's just a mandated F-Duct.

Trailling a DRS-enabled car means trailing a car with less wake - more slipstreaming and less of the seven-tenths effect we saw over the last few years. Combine this with your own DRS and there's still an advantage to the trailing car.

As Grayfox points out, there's skill in when you activate it - rather than "1s or less behind at arbitrary FIA-line, press button". Same as the KERS system which, incidentally, I'm not a fan of in its current implementation - it should be available whenever a driver wants for as long as he wants and has power remaining, and should be recharged under braking for immediate use, not limited to a 6.7s total discharge time each lap and re-enabled when he crosses the line. Then you'll have drivers braking at earlier points for corners, to top up their KERS to use on corner exit, while other drivers brake later to pass under braking but can't accelerate out of the corner as effectively.
 
Yeah I can understand the reasons for everyone having it, but I don't thnik it'd make a hgue difference to the racing if both the car infront and behind have the same amount of power boost at the same point in the circuit. The drivers are smart enough to tailor their usage to each track, operating it at the most efficient points in a lap. It would just be a sleapstream advantage, which apart from perhaps the last two seasons, never really created much overtaking as it once used to.

It'd just become another part of the car rather than a luxury that people (kind of) have to work towards to use. It's a reward to being within the second of the next driver. I'm all for it being used all the time in practice and quali, but leave it to a little special difference maker in the race.

On the other hand, I completely agree with you about KERS. If teams are investing serious money in this 'green' technology, then they should be able to use it when they like, for as long as they like.
 
Alonso will win this comfortably.


Edit: I am quite surprised by the lack of reliability of both KERS and DRS. These systems cannot really be that complicated compared to other systems in an F1 car and yet Red Bull can't even get KERS to work at all and DRS fails for Ferrari after a few laps in Malaysia.
 
Last edited:
interludes
As comfortably as he won in Sepang?
Click to expand...

Even more comfortably.

Edit: Seriously. As always I am hoping for a good and trouble free race for all top contenders. I hope that Alonso will have a good day and that the Ferrari works, but I also hope for the same for Vettel, Webber, Hamilton and Button. I just want to see them duke it out for real when everything is working for everyone. I must admit I would very much enjoy to see a start without Vettel taking a lead from pole for once though
 
Last edited:
Anghammarad
Edit: I am quite surprised by the lack of reliability of both KERS and DRS. These systems cannot really be that complicated compared to other systems in an F1 car and yet Red Bull can't even get KERS to work at all and DRS fails for Ferrari after a few laps in Malaysia.
Click to expand...

New systems, more issues. While KERS isn't completely new, its new for most of the grid.
Many things can go wrong with KERS, usually cooling issues.

DRS relies on hydraulics and electronics to activate. Again, these very easily fail.

There are many parts on an F1 which frequently fail, we don't always hear about everything but if you read the FIA Reports, the teams are constantly replacing parts which break. The whole point of an F1 is that the parts are designed to the extremes, they will attempt to package the car so tightly and using the most lightweight components possible that they cross the line with reliability. Its not surprising reliability is a problem, its actually amazing we have seen such amazing reliability the past 5+ years.

For example, already this season we have had failures with:
Dampers
KERS
DRS
Suspension
Brakes
Gearbox
Clutch
Hydraulics
Engine
Rear Wing
Water leak
Electrics

Plus bits of bodywork coming off in several sessions already. There are probably many more than that too that we don't hear about (as they are not major failures worth reporting).
 
The Outlaw
Be quiet you...remember, ALONSO....MUST....FAIL!!! :lol: :sly: I will pull my hair out if he wins. If he DNF's or crashes, it's time for celebration lol.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the latter isn't something one would want to celebrate.

Anghammarad
As always I am hoping for a good and trouble free race for all top contenders. I hope that Alonso will have a good day and that the Ferrari works, but I also hope for the same for Vettel, Webber, Hamilton and Button. I just want to see them duke it out for real when everything is working for everyone.
Click to expand...

Very well said! Wish everyone was of this opinion.
 
Rue
I'm pretty sure the latter isn't something one would want to celebrate.
Click to expand...

Rue, The Outlaw is:

a) a joker;
b) an Alonso and/or Ferrari fan;

and ...

c) Superticious :P , he thinks Anghammarad's (another Alonso and/or Ferrari fan) posts saying "Alonso will win this comfortably" are in fact jinxing Alonso's chances :sly:
 

Latest Posts

Back