Formula One Gran Premio De España Santander 2011

  • Thread starter Thread starter astrosdude91
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Peter.
I bet he'll complain in the interview that his KERS wasn't working or some other excuse.
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Were you even watching the coverage? I'm willing to bet you weren't, because it was pretty obvious Vettel had KERS issues. For one, the on-screen graphics never showed him using KERS. And secondly, his car had the KERS grounding hoop attached to it in the garage, which is a sure sign that there is an issue because that's how the device is made safe to allow engineers to work on it.

Think before you post.
 
So, RBR are no longer the dominant force they once were...

I mean, really... They're only a second ahead of their closest competitors...



:lol:
 
That was probably the weirdest qualifying session since I first watch Formula 1. Kovalainen of Lotus in 15th, most people are gambling with tyres - some in super-hard and some in soft, both Alonso and Petrov delighted with their performance today and Webber being ahead of his dominant team mate.

Tomorrow perhaps should be another great race... Some will run in super-hard in which we'll be seeing them slower than those in softer tyres. If in 2008 we only saw 2 overtaking manoeuvres, there may well be more shakes in the field tomorrow!
 
Yes, Webber!:D

It will be interesting to see what will happen leading up to turn one. It may get too close for comfort for the two Red Bulls.:scared:

Or Webber will just bog down at the start like usual and fall back about five places.
 
I wonder if they do manage to sort out the KERS issues by tomorrow. Vettel could be in trouble going in to turn 1 if he doesn't have it. It's nice to see somebody else on pole, even if it is another RB.
 
Should be interesting to see if Webber can hold off Vettel (especially if his KERS is working) tommorow in the Red Bull Grand prix.

At least we should see some good fighting between the two Mclaren boys and Alonso though, particularly being that Hamilton and Button has an extra set of softs.

And props to Alonso for ringing the neck of that Ferrari, especially since the new rear wing was banned just prior to FP3 I believe. Massa was nowhere to be found though (nearly a full second back)...must have been that damn lack of team support again :dunce:
 
interludes
Were you even watching the coverage? I'm willing to bet you weren't, because it was pretty obvious Vettel had KERS issues. For one, the on-screen graphics never showed him using KERS. And secondly, his car had the KERS grounding hoop attached to it in the garage, which is a sure sign that there is an issue because that's how the device is made safe to allow engineers to work on it.

Think before you post.
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I know he wasn't using KERS. But I was saying that he would complain about it and make a big point about it not working, basically saying, "I'd have taken pole again if I had my KERS. but I didn't, so I couldn't beat Mark as I usually do."
 
Peter.
I know he wasn't using KERS. But I was saying that he would complain about it and make a big point about it not working, basically saying, "I'd have taken pole again if I had my KERS. but I didn't, so I couldn't beat Mark as I usually do."
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I don't think he was that bad at all in trying to make some point of it though...he was quite fair, and gave Webber all the due credit despites his issues. His constant giggling (as if he was trying to hide what he really wanted to say) was probably getting rather annoying to Mark though...who was sitting there rather stoically NM that, I rewatched the post race press conference and had a change of opinion :)
 
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Five thousands of a second between third and fifth. And then the two Red Bulls a second ahead.
 
Could have likely been well over a second had Vettel had KERS and nailed the lap on his first attempt :scared:

This shows that Red Bull are still on an entirely different level with the RB7.
 
Qualifying has gotten boring with everyone wanting to save tires. They should be given a few more for qualifying only just to make the show interesting.

Good job for Kovalainen. Bad luck for Vettel. Red Bull needs to get this KERS issue down.
 
[Martin Brundle]
They should give the teams a new set of softs with 5 minutes of qualifying left.
[/Martin Brundle]
 
It's a shame Rubens couldn't have a go though.

And what the hell has happened to Massa? I'm all amped up when he dusts off Alonso and then things seemingly go right back to the way they were.
 
lukecfc
It also separates the normal F1 fans from the delusional ones who absolutely refuse to believe Vettel has any sort of talent.
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Is that aimed at me? Because you've targeted the wrong person - I have no illusions of Vettel's obvious talent. But reading anything into practice sessions is enormously difficult, the only thing we knew in FP3 was that Vettel was very obviously on low fuel as he only had 1 lap. But we don't know the fuel loads everyone else was on, when they set their best lap, how worn their tyres were, etc etc.

Its much easier to read the body language and the statements teams give to see how well they are doing, and considering McLaren were sounding a bit "eh, its ok" after practice, it was clear they felt once again Red Bull were going to be much faster. Even this isn't reliable as the teams themselves can mis-read what their competitors have done, sometimes they sound optimistic but are sadly mistaken themselves.
 
Peter.
Thank God, a pole that isn't Vettel. That hasn't happened since Singapore last year.
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:( the fantasy league i play in we make predictions b4 the quali.. after the first 2 practices i had webber to take pole.. but after i saw the hot lap vettel put in p3 i switched them around and now after seeing that vettel didnt get pole i feel stupid for doubting webber :(
 
Peter.
Thank God, a pole that isn't Vettel. That hasn't happened since Singapore last year.
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You're forgetting Interlagos.

Peter
The whole time Vettel turned away from Webber, and did little more than a tap on the back. I bet he'll complain in the interview that his KERS wasn't working or some other excuse.
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He clearly had issues with Kers.

interludes
Think before you post.
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This. 👍

niky
I mean, really... They're only a second ahead of their closest competitors...
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That's crazy. I wonder what kind of time Vettel could have done with kers. Looking good for RBR fans... Of which I am one.

astrosdude91
Or Webber will just bog down at the start like usual and fall back about five places.
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I'll be happy if he just loses one place ;).

Rossticles
Qualifying has gotten boring with everyone wanting to save tires. They should be given a few more for qualifying only just to make the show interesting.
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I agree.
 
F1 fan, I always agree with everything you say. Don't wanna sound like an arse-licker, but yeah, there are few people on the board actually thinking before they post.
 
Alex p.
F1 fan, I always agree with everything you say. Don't wanna sound like an arse-licker, but yeah, there are few people on the board actually thinking before they post.
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👍 . Although I think your attitude may be different if you look through my entire post history... I have a tendency to get involved in a lot of arguements.

Danny
Great job by Maldonado, btw.
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Feels strange to say it, but he did well.
 
Terronium-12
It's a shame Rubens couldn't have a go though.

And what the hell has happened to Massa? I'm all amped up when he dusts off Alonso and then things seemingly go right back to the way they were.
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He's still not right after his accident. He's lost a few tenths pace on the rest of the field. He needs a good race weekend to get his confidence back, then he should get quicker. Same as Shumacher, if he can have a good weekend it'll spur him on, but at the moment Rosberg is running rings around him.
 
NFSCARBON1
He's still not right after his accident. He's lost a few tenths pace on the rest of the field. He needs a good race weekend to get his confidence back, then he should get quicker. Same as Shumacher, if he can have a good weekend it'll spur him on, but at the moment Rosberg is running rings around him.
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He could have had that good weekend at Hockenheim. I blame Ferrari.
 
NFSCARBON1
He's still not right after his accident. He's lost a few tenths pace on the rest of the field. He needs a good race weekend to get his confidence back, then he should get quicker. Same as Shumacher, if he can have a good weekend it'll spur him on, but at the moment Rosberg is running rings around him.
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I don't agree, so far this season, Massa has shown some of his old form and has at times been close to Alonso in qualifying and races. Is it so easy to forget his decent race at Turkey 2 weeks ago?
I don't think Massa has lost his speed or his confidence, I just think Alonso is that much better than him. I also feel Raikkonen has somewhat flattered Massa's reputation a little.

Schumacher on the other hand is totally out of it. While he might have been clever today saving tyres in Q3, we will have to see if he can turn it into anything tomorrow. He has shown some of his tactical mind since his return, this is not really in question. The question is his speed.



Also, I forgot to mention, well done to Narain Kathikeyan for beating D'Ambrosio but more importantly qualifying within a tenth of Liuzzi! Not bad at all.
 
I have faith that Webber won't be his usual can't-get-off-the-line-properly self and will hold down that pole position. If Vettel manages to pass him in a heated back-and-forth session, I will officially be more of a Vettel fan than I am currently. My guesses for the Top 6 are as follows:

1: Webber (Who else did you think I'd opt for?)
2. Vettel
3: Hamilton (There's something suspicious about a guy who admits to being in a weaker medium; I'd go so far as to suggest McLaren has something up their sleeves)
4: Alonso (Will likely be fighting it out with the two I've sandwiched him between and unless he can shoot by Hammy I'll say Alonso is a shoe-in for fourth)
5: Button (Keeping to his smooth demeanor I can see him overtaking Hamilton and assuming that position on the podium, but the tires are everyone's worse enemy)
6: Rosberg (Another one I can see nearing or actually making it on to podium again. But tires assume a large role in deciding who is where...and when)
 
daan
[Martin Brundle]
They should give the teams a new set of softs with 5 minutes of qualifying left.
[/Martin Brundle]
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I see a bit of a problem with that. It simply means that they will do a single run anyway, because they know they can save the set they are currently using for Q3 to use it in the race. As in, currently they are using a set of race softs for a single run, instead, they will use the "Q3 5 minutes left" softs for one run. I don't think it would do much for the racing, instead, give them more sets overall. But then we have the cost issues and so on... This is an annoying conundrum indeed.
 
Even though I'm a Vettel fan, it's nice to finally see someone else on pole. Maybe Vettel should stop using KERS all together to make the front runner's battle interesting again.

Anyway, I had to laugh at Martin Brundle (?) on Schumacher's lap: "Hmmm. That's odd." Got to have some respect for that guy, trolling at the highest levels of motorsport. I'm not looking forward to the start of the race though, unless Vettel gets his KERS fixed, both him and Webber (and possibly a few other cars) aren't going to be happy finishers.
 
I'm worried about the DRS zone for today's race. Sure it's a 100 MPH corner but in practice Button tested it against Rosberg. Same DRS zone and not very far back and he just went straight past him before the corner. Anyone else see this?
 

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