2012 Korean Grand Prix

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DOTD:Vettel, Massa, Hamilton
LOTD:Kobay,....i can't think of any.

Really? DOTD honor's for Hamilton? He went backwards the entire race. I'm really starting to think he's checked out mentally at McLaren. Like he really doesn't care anymore. He's just counting down the days until he leaves the team. It's like when you give your boss your "two weeks notice" and you only go into work at that point out of obligation.

I should add, a really fine performance from Nico Hulkenberg and the Toro Rosso twins. Great drives by those three. Especially the terrific pass by Hulk of both Grosjean and Hamilton in a corner and a half. Wicked drive! :eek:
 
Really? DOTD honor's for Hamilton? He went backwards the entire race. I'm really starting to think he's checked out mentally at McLaren. Like he really doesn't care anymore. He's just counting down the days until he leaves the team. It's like when you give your boss your "two weeks notice" and you only go into work at that point out of obligation.

How are you supposed to go forward when your anti-roll bar on rear right is broken? He was even struggling to keep the car in a straight line on the straights because of it. It doesn't help either that McLaren screwed up their strategy once again by pitting early for his second stop and because of that being forced in to a three stop.

I would like to see another view on Nico's overtake on Hamilton/Grosjean because it looked like he went completely over the white line and Webber received a post-race drive-through equivalent penalty for a similar incident in Singapore.
 
Really? DOTD honor's for Hamilton? He went backwards the entire race. I'm really starting to think he's checked out mentally at McLaren. Like he really doesn't care anymore. He's just counting down the days until he leaves the team. It's like when you give your boss your "two weeks notice" and you only go into work at that point out of obligation.

I should add, a really fine performance from Nico Hulkenberg and the Toro Rosso twins. Great drives by those three. Especially the terrific pass by Hulk of both Grosjean and Hamilton in a corner and a half. Wicked drive! :eek:

I don't know if you happen to watch races with any commentary but if you did you'd know that the rear anti roll bar broke after his first pit stop.
 
Really? DOTD honor's for Hamilton? He went backwards the entire race. I'm really starting to think he's checked out mentally at McLaren. Like he really doesn't care anymore. He's just counting down the days until he leaves the team. It's like when you give your boss your "two weeks notice" and you only go into work at that point out of obligation.

I should add, a really fine performance from Nico Hulkenberg and the Toro Rosso twins. Great drives by those three. Especially the terrific pass by Hulk of both Grosjean and Hamilton in a corner and a half. Wicked drive! :eek:

Checked out mentally? Did you not watch the race? The fact he kept Kimi back for so long was remarkable.

For what, doing his job? It's not his problem that other designers can't keep up.

Obviously it's not his problem but I just hope the Red Bull dominance doesn't continue for much longer.
 
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I guess I missed the broken anti roll bar. SPEED commentary made absolutely no mention of it. Shame on that.


Edit: I guess that bit of info was revealed after the race. I guess it makes sense that that was the reason he was struggling.
 
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There's no doubt that when it comes to leading from the front Vettel has few peers. His ability to drive exceptionally quick the first few laps and build a good gap and then just bring the car home have few, if any, equals in F1 today. That together with his extreme talent for qualifying means that if Newey only can supply him with a good enough car then I see no reason why he should not equal Schumachers number of championships.

With that said I'm still just dying to see him battle his way to the front with a car that is not perfect. When I've seen him come from fifth or sixth and pass a couple of his main rivals on relatively equal strategies to win a race then I will hail him as one of the true greats. But for now he is still just a very fast hotlapper in my book.

Still, you cannot be anything but impressed by a guy who has led every single race lap since the 23:rd in Singapore, that's 144 straight laps in the lead. (Except the first 50 meters today)
 
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The only thing that might stop Vettel winning this championship now is any reliability or incidents but Red Bull and Vettel seem to be back to 2011 strength. Got to hand it to Vettel, still tried to do a fast lap at the end ;).

Alonso has got a good chance still to win if he finishes up there in all the remaining races, who knows maybe even challenge Vettel on straight out performance if there are still big upgrade plans.

I jokingly said to my brother that Hamilton will be struggling for a point, when he was fighting with Räikkönen, didn't expect him to fall back so much, maybe might have got 8th if it wasn't for the AstroTurf.

He did quite well with a broken car, even the condition it was in, it was still way faster than the Mercedes which must be a concern if he has a quick check up on them if he is now looking to the future. I know Hamilton was on better tyres at the end but even so Schumacher with maybe a clean race, did not have the pace to match / beat him until the AstroTurf got stuck around the sidepod wing. Mercedes for sure have a lot to do to bridge that 1.5 a second a lap gap to them in race pace over the winter. Hamilton may feel privileged to be fighting with a Force India and Toro Rosso next season for the final points positions otherwise ;) (You will get what I mean if you read this interview.)
 
I've just realised that if Hamilton's 3 year move to Mercedes doesn't work out, he would have had 9 seasons in F1 without being part of a team which has won the constructors championship. :crazy:
 
I've just realised that if Hamilton's 3 year move to Mercedes doesn't work out, he would have had 9 seasons in F1 without being part of a team which has won the constructors championship. :crazy:
2013 is also looking like the year McLaren might peak too, first time in quite a long time. Hopefully Mercedes improve quite a lot due to fundamental design changes, and it is a bit baffling why they are so slow now, when relative to 2011 in China and Monte-Carlo, they were quite fast. They seem to have gone backwards in terms of developing the car similar to what Button thought in 2009 (That is the impression I get without analysing much the races). Sauber must be annoyed they didn't capitalise on todays race.

Similar problems exist with the team / car development after a good few years is definately a concern. There is a reason why Button left, he knows their strengths and weaknesses after all them years with them. Hamilton should have had a chat with him too. 2014 on starts another era in F1 like 2009 on so anything can happen.
 
Vettel wins, and Karthikeyan finishes (albeit over a minute behind Pic :irked:). I'm a happy bunny. :D
 
He wasn't faster. Alonso was saving his tyres. The same situation happened in Monaco.

They told Massa to back off, so that he isn't in the turbulent air.

He was faster, definitely, I dont know why Alonso would have keep his 3rd place if he could had overtake Mark, Felipe was definitely on pace to get that 2nd place. At least it looked like that Live timing.

Good job from the Torro Rosso guys, they always gets points here with there top speed setup, it's quite interesting.

Vettel unbeaten in Korea, that's the kind of record I would love to have ^^

Bad race from Mclaren, Lewis switching to Mercedes definitely triggered something. I dont know if it's Lewis not driving at 100% or Mclaren not doing 100% for Lewis but there's definitely something.

Oh and good race from Grosjean, he had lot of pressure and managed pretty well.
 
I don't think that Mclaren or Hamilton would drastically change their mindset... Their mindset to win, just over Hamilton's move.

Mclaren would want to capitalise on the car's pace and Hamilton raw talent (while he's still in Mclaren) to win both championships, while Hamilton would still love to win the drivers' championship. I don't see why Mclaren and Hamilton would want to ruin their plans to clinch both championships, just for over Hamilton jumping ship. They shouldn't be that petty, especially since they're a top tier, professional team.

Surely it is down more to bad luck really... And also perhaps very poor race management really. A pity, especially since they really had the genuine chance to easily grab both titles.

This really shows that it is not only down to having a fast car, but also good race management by the team + a capable driver who could make full use of the car's potential, as a WHOLE PACKAGE.

Due to most people's lack of understanding of this, they tend to generalise (and unfairly put down) utter domination as down to 'only the car', and also those who barely won the title by a single point down to 'luck only'

The drivers that have won it are the ones who can work best with the team to capitalise on their car's potential, as compared to other drivers who somehow haven't due to one reason or another (the driver himself, the car, the pitstops, strategies, the team etc etc), simple as that.
 
So no gangnam style on the podium :/

Well, at least gangnam style here:
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It was Red Bull camp gets hype all about it:lol:
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Bleh. The most exciting part of the race was Hamilton catching the astroturf. Why can't we have an exciting battle for 1st place?
 
Race was over when Vettel ran Webber off the track really, if that hadn't happened, Webber would have done it to Vettel at Turn 3 or 4 to end the race. Stick some walls or gravel traps and there will be no running off the track, and more side by side racing as running off will either take both you out or get you a penalty for ruining someone elses.
 
Race was over when Vettel ran Webber off the track really, if that hadn't happened, Webber would have done it to Vettel at Turn 3 or 4 to end the race. Stick some walls or gravel traps and there will be no running off the track, and more side by side racing as running off will either take both you out or get you a penalty for ruining someone elses.

And a very nasty accident if someone has a brake failure or accident just before the braking zone...
 
Quick reactions:

Vettel: The usual strong drive. He lucked into a win at Singapore thanks to Hamilton's gearbox, but he entered that race knowing that the remaining tracks on the schedule, starting with Suzuka, favored him and RB. Austin's a wild-card, but the result there won't matter much. Barring a mechanical DNF Vettel will win India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil. He battled through the car's early troubles (contra arguments above that the RB has always been strong; RB is in the points lead because, Italy excepted, both drivers have been scoring at every race) and kept himself in contention.

Webber: Anyone terribly surprised he was slow off the line, again?

Alonso: Put in the drive he needed at Suzuka. Bit late.

Massa: "Fernando, Felipe ... is faster ... than you." Pace looked genuine to me. There were no real differences in tire strategy among the top 4 and Massa would have had Webber but for the WDC points situation. Where's this guy been the last two years?

Raikkonen: Cleanest driver on the grid? Or just the most dependable? It's always a treat watching him battle another of the top guys. The fight with Hamilton was great stuff. Lotus isn't winning the development fight, unfortunately, but if they give him the car, Kimi would win another title.
 
Massa: "Fernando, Felipe ... is faster ... than you." Pace looked genuine to me. There were no real differences in tire strategy among the top 4 and Massa would have had Webber but for the WDC points situation. Where's this guy been the last two years?

Actually, Massa was ahead for most of the race during the Korean Grand Prix in 2011.

Alonso passed him during a pitstop, and guess what Alonso said before the pitstop? I'm faster than Felipe...
 
I guess I missed the broken anti roll bar. SPEED commentary made absolutely no mention of it. Shame on that.

You could see it from watching the race that the car wasn't okay. He was weaving left and right on the straights. Okay...he was fighting Toro Rosso's but it was still pretty impressive.

I'd be worried, too, if the cords on my tires were showing.

Alonso's right front seemed worse earlier on. I bet they were paid off by Bernie to make the race more exciting. :sly:
 
Not the most entertaining race, so I'll revert to my three-word driver reviews again:

Vettel - Inch perfect again

Webber - Shoulda started better...

Alonso - Damage limitation exercise

And the rest...

Massa - Faster than Alonso!

Kimi - Entertaining as usual

Hulk - Mugged Hamilton, Grosjean

Grosjean - Actually... not bad!

Hamilton - Green car scarf

Button - Death by Kamui

Kobayashi - Crash. Bang. Wallop.

As for the race overall, it wasn't the greatest. In isolation, cars are actually quite good to watch at Korea - lots of fast corners to watch the cars move. But it's not great for passing, and even worse given the yellows in the DRS zone. That basically killed the main part of the race when passing would take place. By the time the yellows disappeared, most had spaced out enough.

That said, a few were having a go. Hulk's blitzing of Hamilton and Grosjean was pretty good, and Kimi was doing his best too - great to watch.

As for Grosjean himself - good race. Fair share of passes, and kept his nose clean. Was being extra cautious but that's probably a necessity for the time being.

Congrats to Vettel - didn't put a foot wrong. Even if the team sounded a bit panicked toward the end...
 
I think it's sad when the highlight of the race happened in the podium. I think Hulk vs Hammy and Grosjean was highlight of the race.
 
SPEED commentary made many comments about Hamilton's car and the broken sway bar. You guys must have been watching a different version of SPEED than I.
 
Even if Webber did have a good start, Vettel would have eventually pass him. So really, it doesn't matter. Faster car or not, Vettel deserves the 3rd world championship, even though i won't like it, if he does win, which he will, he will be a deserved world champion, and will be in a great position to take Schumachers record of 7.
Think about it, Hamilton driving a Mercedes already makes too many mistakes, the ageing Alonso, Button and Raikkonen, i don't see anyone else getting in to Vettel's league in the next few years.
And if Newey keeps up his awesome design, i don't see how RedBull can be stopped. That and the car's have become virtually indestructible in this age, we may see Vettel become the greatest winning driver ever.
 
SPEED commentary made many comments about Hamilton's car and the broken sway bar. You guys must have been watching a different version of SPEED than I.

Well they never gave a for sure anything, it was all "I wonder if Hamilton has some kind of mechanical problem, maybe a sway bar."
 
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