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you get a spring to the head at 200 km per hour and tell me how you recover.
Sure, that's a possible explanation, but we were all told by Ferrari that he was back in race shape before the season began. Even by the end of last season he was at the races and seemed physically fine.
I'm thinking that if he were affected by the spring incident in Hungary then it's more confidence-related than it is physical.
He's not BAD by any means, but he's really not the same driver he was when he challenged for the title a couple years back. Hopefully he can get back to form soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blinky
I've been impressed by Kubica since he had that big year at BMW two years ago. I really hope he finds a better drive next year. Maybe Mercedes if/when Schumi decides to go back to proper bumpercars.
Seems like Kubica's best option. Massa is staying at Ferrari and Webber is inked for another year at Red Bull, so assuming those contracts are honored then Kubica's options are limited. He may have to switch teams if Renault decides to pull out of F1 next year...
I personally didn't find the Canadian GP as exciting as some others... it was definitely a very entertaining race but after the second pit stop, the race seemed to settle and there was little hope for any movement at the front of the grid.
I continue to be immensely frustrated by Red Bull. For Sebastian Vettel (and even Mark Webber at times), the RB6 seems to simultaneously be the boon and bane of his existence. How many points has he lost due to the Red Bull's reliability issues?
- He lost 13 points in Bahrain thanks to a spark plug failure;
- He lost 25 points in Australia thanks to a loose wheel nut;
- He lost 3 points in Spain thanks to a brake problem;
- He had damage to his car's chassis for Monaco;
- He had unknown engine problems that forced him to slow down in Canada.
The first two are particularly significant. Now, that's not to say he has been anywhere near exceptional this year - I think Hamilton has been better overall, and Webber and Button have been great too - but he's just not having any luck at all with his car.
At this point in the season I have absolutely no idea who will win the WDC this year. None. Could be any of the top five. I'd say Hamilton looks poised to do well, but I'm not confident in his mental toughness at all and one or two bad races could rattle him. Button is cool as a cucumber but he just doesn't have the raw speed of guys like Hamilton. Vettel and Webber are neck-in-neck... if Vettel returns to last year's form, he'll be a strong contender. But this year Webber looks to be his equal and has been very impressive. Can't forget Alonso, either, who is quietly having an excellent year in a car that's not up to par yet.
anyone notice the cars from 94 look a lot like the current indy cars? mclaren will run away with this years championship. mclaren always have the best development/improvements as the season progresses. they just have to many good people and to much money. look at last year. ferrari gave up halfway through. mclaren never stopped development and they were cleaning up at the end of the season. mclaren has been able to stay competitive with red bull b/c of their f-duct and now they are going to flex their development muscle and will pass redbull as the team to beat for the remainder of the season.
anyone notice the cars from 94 look a lot like the current indy cars?
Definitely. They look a lot cooler than the current F1 cars, imo.
It's fascinating to look back at old F1 pics/vids and see how the car has changed over time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackal
mclaren will run away with this years championship. mclaren always have the best development/improvements as the season progresses. they just have to many good people and to much money. look at last year. ferrari gave up halfway through. mclaren never stopped development and they were cleaning up at the end of the season. mclaren has been able to stay competitive with red bull b/c of their f-duct and now they are going to flex their development muscle and will pass redbull as the team to beat for the remainder of the season.
I don't really agree with this at all. Yes, McLaren's car was garbage in the first few races last year... but Red Bull's development was equally impressive.
By the second race, in Malaysia, the McLarens were already competitive. The following round, in China, saw the two McLaren drivers finish 5th & 6th. Hamilton then broke the top-5 by finishing 4th two weeks later in Bahrain. McLaren's performance slipped after that, finishing 8th or lower for five straight races.
Red Bull's car was good at the begin of the year, and by the halfway mark they had caught up to Brawn's pace. By the time the last few races rolled around, the RB5 was basically unbeatable. Vettel won 2 of the last 3 races, Webber won the other. The McLaren car was quick by year's end but remained consistently slower than the Red Bull. Kovaleinen didn't even break the top-10 in any of the final three races.
Don't forget that last year Red Bull had very little pre-season testing, and they had less money than McLaren with which to develop the car over the course of the year. In spite of this, the RB5 was a better car for more or less the entire season.
This season, Red Bull has more experience and more money... and instead of beginning with a "good" car, they're starting with an extremely fast car. After 8 rounds, the qualifying pace of the RB6 is still better than McLaren, imo. The nature of the Montreal circuit didn't suit the Red Bull car, and thus they conceded pole for the first time in 8 races. Similar to the race in Monaco, where most critics expected Red Bull's dominance to end, both Red Bull cars performed far better in qualifying than most had predicted. They were only a few tenths of a second behind Hamilton, who was on the soft tires.
Valencia will probably be another track that favours the McLaren car, but I can't imagine the Red Bull will be far off the pace. And at Silverstone, the Red Bull will be a very strong contender, as shown by Vettel's dominant victory form pole last season. Same goes for Germany, where Webber won last season... and the RB6 should also be well-suited to several other tracks coming up in the latter half of the season... anything that doesn't have long straights where McLaren's extra horsepower is a huge advantage.
The one area where McLaren has outperformed Red Bull from day one is reliability. Red Bull has already lost a huge number of points due to mechanical failure. However, I believe that reliability is easier to improve upon than overall pace, as demonstrated by Red Bull's performance in the second half of last season.
McLaren may have more experience and more money behind them, but Red Bull is no slouch. They've got 6 years of experience now, and there's no doubt that Adrian Newey is one of (if not THE) best in the business.
Both Red Bull drivers are capable of winning a championship, and they have proven that both last year and again early this season (aside from the Turkish GP incident, anyway). Webber may not be as quick as Vettel in a one-lap situation, but he seems to be just as capable as his teammate when it comes to winning on Sunday.
People rag on Vettel a lot, often arguing that he's an average driving benefiting from a great car. "He has never come up from the back of the pack and he has never overtaken a good driver" seems to be the go-to criticism, which is both false and naive at the same time. First of all, he did make a huge comeback in the '07 Japan GP (started 17th, finished 4th). Secondly, if he's a product of his car, then how do you explain his dominance of Webber last season? (Vettel won 4 races to Webber's 2, Vettel had 4 poles to Webber's 1). Love him or hate him, Webber is a very solid driver who has never been consistently outperformed by his teammates.
The ability to overtake is only one of many factors that make up a driver. It's one of Hamilton's strongest attributes, but one of Vettel's weaknesses. Similarly, drivers like Button are better at caring for the tires although they may be slightly slower in actual one-lap pace. Vettel is one of the more complete drivers in the field, though: he has consistently proven to be one of the fastest drivers in qualifying, which is absolutely crucial in F1 these days. Simply put, if you can't win pole positions on a regular basis, then you have very little hope of winning a championship. Not a lot of drivers can consistently get the most out of a car, and Vettel is one of the best in this area. Rosberg is another good example of a guy who excels in qualifying.
In contrast with Rosberg, however, Vettel has shown the ability to win a race. He's great from the start line, and he appears less prone to mental blunders this season. Although he hasn't proven an ability to overtake particularly well, he can defend position in most situations, and he seems to treat his tires kindly for the most part (altho perhaps that's partly the car). On top of all that apparently he is very interested in the technical aspect of the cars and he seems like the type of driver that will work with the team to improve the car. Not to mention he's likable thanks to his sense of humor and smaller-than-average ego (by F1 standards), much like Button.
I'm a Vettel homer, yes, so I feel inclined to defend him. But I'm not saying he's "the best," I'm simply saying that he has the tools needed to become a world champion. I believe that both McLaren drivers - and Webber - also have the necessary skills and consistency to win this year's WDC. IMO, whenever you combine a very fast race car with a very good driver, you've got a shot at winning it all. The McLaren/Red Bull drivers all meet the criteria at this point, and Alonso may be there as well if the Ferrari returns to form.
Anyway, I'm not saying that Red Bull will continue to dominate all season... nor am I suggesting they are the outright favourites to win. But, given the way they consistently kept pace with (or outpaced) the development of every other team last season, I imagine they will be one of only 2 (possibly 3) teams still contending for the Constructors championship by the last couple of races. Who comes out on top in the end will depend on several things: Red Bull's ability to provide the drivers a car that can finish races, Red Bull's ability to mimick the McLaren F-duct and remain competitive on high-speed tracks, McLaren's ability to match Red Bull's downforce and effectively reproduce the RB6 exhaust system, Red Bull's ability to keep it's drivers from colliding, etc.
The verdict: Red Bull will be a contender to the end, because they still possess the fastest car... and they proved last year they have the ability to improve a car over the course of the season. McLaren will also be in contention thanks to recent upgrades to the MP4-25 and superior reliability. All four drivers have the talent and consistency to win the WDC, imo.
if you remember last season redbull began the season with the better diffuser. the main reason they were a front runner at the begining of last year. mclaren and ferrari were way slower because aerodynamically they could not compete. ferrari gave up and mclaren re developed their entire aero package. this year red bull is fast, really fast, but they are so close to the limits they are unreliable. mclaren began the season as always with an extremely reliable car and now as the season progresses they will improve the downforce to allow them to compete with the bull's in the twisties. they are already the fastes on the straits by a lot.
vettel and webber make a truely great team for redbull but they are not better nor are they worse then hammilton and button. drivers aside mclaren as a team has the experience it takes to get them to the finnish.
if you remember last season redbull began the season with the better diffuser. the main reason they were a front runner at the begining of last year. mclaren and ferrari were way slower because aerodynamically they could not compete. ferrari gave up and mclaren re developed their entire aero package. this year red bull is fast, really fast, but they are so close to the limits they are unreliable. mclaren began the season as always with an extremely reliable car and now as the season progresses they will improve the downforce to allow them to compete with the bull's in the twisties. they are already the fastes on the straits by a lot.
I agree that McLaren will improve their car as the season progresses, there's no doubt about that. But they're still a bit behind Red Bull in their one-off pace (at least on most tracks)... and I don't see why Red Bull can't improve their reliability, too.
McLaren are the fastest on the straights now, yes, but it's partly due to the F-duct. Gotta think the other teams will figure out how to make their own F-ducts work sooner or later, which will reduce the speed advantage. Their engine is definitely stronger than the Renault but a number of teams are using that engine, so they don't hold the sole advantage there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackal
vettel and webber make a truely great team for redbull but they are not better nor are they worse then hammilton and button. drivers aside mclaren as a team has the experience it takes to get them to the finnish.
Yes, gotta give the edge to McLaren when it comes to experience. I don't think Red Bull is inexperienced anymore, though... they've been around under the current name for five full seasons, and they gained much valuable experience last season. Christian Horner seems to be competent and generally well-respected... and of course Adrian Newey is top-notch, I think Martin Brundle said he's "the best team principal in Formula1".
Anyway, I maintain my position that Red Bull and McLaren will both be contenders down to the final few races. Can't tell quite yet if Ferrari will be able to catch up to those two, but Alonso has definitely battled adversity and picked up a lot of points in spite of the car's shortcomings.
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what's usenet? Help a brother out.
sorr didnt see it... its hard to explain :P
but you need a program like altbinz and you need your ISP's news server address and put it into the program (best bet is to pay for a news server, like newsrazor or better giganews because ISPs news servers are highly edited)
then you use a website like binsearch to search for what you want to download
and Lewis Hamilton is the luckiest SOB ever. Fooker just kept breaking the rules and get off scot free every single time.
Crappy strategy to call Schumacher in.
__________________ 08 CBR600RR 03 IS300
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To be fair to Lewis, if he had kept his pace, he would have been well in front of the pace car. He slowed down only to be cautious, and got penalised for it. The rules are clear, but when you are racing, you aren't thinking about those minor details. Maybe that's why Alonso is having such a shitty season. He's bitching and complaining about others instead of focusing on his own driving.
I had a great laugh watching eddie jordan and david coulthard go tete a tete about the webber/kov. incident. Webber had no reason to be so close up to the Heiki. They were 4 seconds per lap apart. Everyone KNOWS the Lotuses are slow as all fuck. Mark should have left him way more room than he did. He used the wake to come up behind Heiki at insane closure speeds and waited till the last nanosecond to pop out. He essentially rear ended Heiki. You can't blame Heiki for defending his position with one block. In my view, Mark is making too many judgement errors and it has cost him the championship this season. At his age, he should be more level headed instead of making these bonehead mistakes.
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As much as I don't like Alonso, if Hamilton kept his pace both Alonso and Hamilton would be well in front of the safety car before the white line ends. I don't think you can blame Alonso for this one. You see the safety car coming out and the car in front of you slowed down, there's nothing you can do except to slow down.
Alonso is a whining little bitch. Granted, he's a whining little bitch that can drive.
Calling the race "manipulated" is horrible. Maybe he's been hanging out with Flavio Briatore too much. I think he was very, very unlucky in this case and I can see why he's upset:
However, I don't think Hamilton did what he did to intentionally screw Alonso/Ferrari. He acted illegally and he took the penalty. One can argue about the timing of the penalty and if the severity of the penalty justified what he did, but that's a different argument. The punishment was within the rules.
Alonso is a whiner, and it's really irritating. Yes, it was bad luck for him, but at least Hamilton willingly accepted the drive-through penalty, and it cost him 16 seconds. I still don't think he would have won the race, but at least he didn't whine about it for days on end. I'm sure the stewards investigated as quickly as they could, but given the complexity of the situation it took them a few minutes to determine the necessary punishment for Hamilton. I agree that it wasn't at all intentional of Hamilton's behalf. Anyway, Alonso can stuff it. Now he's being outdriven AND outclassed by McLaren and Red Bull.
Not sure you can apportion blame to anyone for the Webber crash. Like the incident with Vettel in Turkey, Webber perhaps "should have known better," but it happened in the blink of an eye and hindsight is 20/20. I'd say it's a "racing incident" and move on. In defense of Kovaleinen, he has every right to defend his position. Just because his car is slower doesn't mean he has to yield. Webber should beat him cleanly just like he would any other driver.
This wasn't the most exciting race, aside from the Webber crash, but I am very pleased that Vettel is back on form. That's the Vettel that I remember from last season, and he controlled the race very well. The announcers made a big deal about Hamilton closing the gap in the final 10 laps, but obviously Vettel was fully aware of that and was simply saving his engine and his fuel. When the gap closed to under 8 seconds, he turned up his engine and started lapping a half-second faster than Lewis.
Unless McLaren has some insane upgrades planned for Silverstone, Red Bull will dominate once again. They still have the fastest car and Vettel appears to have his confidence back, so I suspect they will dominate from pole again.
I'm so tired of hearing about Schumacher. He's in a mediocre car, and the team isn't making good strategy decisions, but he's still being outperformed by his teammate. Really, no idea why anyone expected much else from him... he's 40 and he's up against some incredible drivers in Lewis, Alonso, Button, Vettel, etc... all of whom have a better car. His second retirement is imminent, I think, and it'll be a relief not to hear about him and his 15th place finishes anymore.
Coulthard comes across as a fool for stating that there are two separate classes of cars in Formula 1, and that the "B Class" drivers should get out of the way. Fuck that shit, they were racing for position. Kov didn't make "2 or 3" moves either, he barely moved at all. Webber missed his braking point, and he is lucky he didn't kill himself or the other driver.
BTW go out of your way to catch the BBC post-race coverage, it was fantastic. Eddiy Jordan (who is usually a nut) went right after DC, and they even had Mike Gascoyne go after him as well. Awesome stuff.
Alonso is a whiner, and it's really irritating. Yes, it was bad luck for him, but at least Hamilton willingly accepted the drive-through penalty, and it cost him 16 seconds. I still don't think he would have won the race, but at least he didn't whine about it for days on end. I'm sure the stewards investigated as quickly as they could, but given the complexity of the situation it took them a few minutes to determine the necessary punishment for Hamilton. I agree that it wasn't at all intentional of Hamilton's behalf. Anyway, Alonso can stuff it. Now he's being outdriven AND outclassed by McLaren and Red Bull.
Not sure you can apportion blame to anyone for the Webber crash. Like the incident with Vettel in Turkey, Webber perhaps "should have known better," but it happened in the blink of an eye and hindsight is 20/20. I'd say it's a "racing incident" and move on. In defense of Kovaleinen, he has every right to defend his position. Just because his car is slower doesn't mean he has to yield. Webber should beat him cleanly just like he would any other driver.
This wasn't the most exciting race, aside from the Webber crash, but I am very pleased that Vettel is back on form. That's the Vettel that I remember from last season, and he controlled the race very well. The announcers made a big deal about Hamilton closing the gap in the final 10 laps, but obviously Vettel was fully aware of that and was simply saving his engine and his fuel. When the gap closed to under 8 seconds, he turned up his engine and started lapping a half-second faster than Lewis.
Unless McLaren has some insane upgrades planned for Silverstone, Red Bull will dominate once again. They still have the fastest car and Vettel appears to have his confidence back, so I suspect they will dominate from pole again.
I'm so tired of hearing about Schumacher. He's in a mediocre car, and the team isn't making good strategy decisions, but he's still being outperformed by his teammate. Really, no idea why anyone expected much else from him... he's 40 and he's up against some incredible drivers in Lewis, Alonso, Button, Vettel, etc... all of whom have a better car. His second retirement is imminent, I think, and it'll be a relief not to hear about him and his 15th place finishes anymore.
It's more like the FIA is being run by a bunch of amatuers. The incidents could have been easily avoided if the SC came out to collect the leader behind him instead of coming out in the middle of no where.
With regard to Schumacher, it was a good strategy call for him to go into the pit at that time, but FIA fucked up again and turned the pitlane light to red by mistake as the race control can't seem to interpret the rules all that well. If the light was green, Schumacher would come out in third place without needing to pit again.
__________________ 08 CBR600RR 03 IS300
Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.
I agree, it would have been 'better' if the safety car came out sooner to collect the leader - however I don't know what delay there was between the crash and the safety car going out. Was there any delay? I would suggest, if they're not doing it already, to have someone strapped in the safety car, ready to go, AT ALL TIMES. It's got a/c. They can handle it.
Koby's driving was fucking fabulous. I was impressed.
I feel bad for Button and Schummy, they both deserved better.
David Coulthard should stop defending his employer. He maybe still employed by redbull but foremost he is a pundit for BBC. That class B comment straight to the lotus boss? What a diss.
edit: Schumaker would have placed higher if that pit thing didnt fuck him up.
those of you in this thread looking for motorsports only torrents, give me a PM and i'll let you know what site I use. I can't post it here cuz I'll get my account banned if they find out.
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