F1 World Championship 2010 Thread

[Subject Delta]

In general terms, I feel the rain is about on the same level as it was at Fuji in 2007, but because of the nature of Suzuka it simply wasn't safe to send the cars out. Personally I don't think there is a lot of fun in seeing them trundle around at 90kph anyway

[san.W10]

Missed the Qualy.

it was @ 6.30am in India :p

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87343

Jenson on prime tyres :o

[enigma-penguin Veteran]

Missed the Qualy.

it was @ 6.30am in India :p

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87343

Jenson on prime tyres :o

Aww man, I even missed it here and it was at 9am fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu FIA :( That'll teach me for sleeping in.

[Subject Delta]

Interesting race in the offing here. McLaren delivered reasonably well when it mattered, and I believe that whilst Jenson's position may look poor on paper, it is exacerbated by his tyre choice, but I believe it is a strategy that may help him move forward in the race. Very disappointed that Lewis had to take a penalty as it would have been really interesting to see how he went from third. Still a very impressive lap that he delivered considering how little running time he had. The biggest surprise for me though is that both Ferraris are off the pace. In Massa's car in particular I noticed a lot of low speed understeer. Drivers title is still very much on for them, but I believe they may as well kiss the constructors goodbye unless they can pull off a miracle result in the race.

[ahmz]

Petrov & Massa thought they were playing F1 2010.

[MightyJordan]

Well, it could have been worse, but at least we got a Red Bull 1-2. I would have preferred to see Alonso go allons-y into a tyre wall then see Button on the podium, but sometimes, life's a bitch. :p

[enigma-penguin Veteran]

The Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka, Japan;
53 laps; 307.573km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h30:27.323
 2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +     0.905
 3.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +     2.721
 4.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    13.522
 5.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    39.595
 6.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    59.933
 7.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:04:038
 8.  Heidfeld      Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:09.648
 9.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +  1:10.846
10.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:12.806
11.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
12.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth             +     1 lap
13.  Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth             +    2 laps
14.  Glock         Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps
15.  Senna         HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps
16.  Yamamoto                                 +    3 laps
17.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    5 laps

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:33.474

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Sutil         Force India-Mercedes         45
Kubica        Renault                      4
Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth            1
Massa         Ferrari                      1
Petrov        Renault                      1
Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes         1
Di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth              1




World Championship standings, round 16:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Webber       220        1.  Red Bull-Renault          426
 2.  Alonso       206        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          381
 3.  Vettel       206        3.  Ferrari                   334
 4.  Hamilton     192        4.  Mercedes                  176
 5.  Button       189        5.  Renault                   133
 6.  Massa        128        6.  Force India-Mercedes       60
 7.  Rosberg      122        7.  Williams-Cosworth          58
 8.  Kubica       114        8.  Sauber-Ferrari             37
 9.  Schumacher    54        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         11
10.  Sutil         47       
11.  Barrichello   41       
12.  Kobayashi     27       
13.  Petrov        19       
14.  Hulkenberg    17       
15.  Liuzzi        13       
16.  Buemi          8       
17.  De la Rosa     6       
18.  Heidfeld       4       
19.  Alguersuari    3   

The carnage at the start was insane, Petrov's rookie colours show again and the rest of the field didn't fair much better. Other than that a commanding redbull 1-2 again, the other teams didn't have enough again today. Bring on Korea and the track being a total unknown. :D

Kobi has to be the drive of the race, the 4 passes on the hairpin were great.

I think even if they finish 1-2 for the next few races, Webber may still come away with the title.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Pretty good race. RBR were unbeatable; deserved victory, albeit in the wrong order imho. Alonso keeping his title hopes alive with third place. As to his team mate: What the hell was Massa thinking at the start? Reject of the race award for him.

Both McLaren drivers only have a theoretical chance of winning the WDC after this weekend. Hamilton was lucky to make it to the finish with his damaged gearbox.

Solid race by MSC, well deserved sixth place.

Man of the race though is Kamui Kobayashi. His overtaking manoeuvres were something to behold. I'd love to see what he is capable of in a top car.

Bring on Korea.

[MightyJordan]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Kobayashi! When he overtook during BBC's technical error (lost picture for a few seconds, then when it came back, no commentary for a minute, then up came the 5 Live commentary for a few minutes), the 5 Live commentary called him Leeroy Jenkins! :p

[Nicholas-c Veteran]

Fantastic race, Sadly alonso finished on the podium. Fantastic drive from Kobayashi i thought, i think he deserves a good car next year. Webber is looking like the win now, I either want him or button to get it.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Petrov penalised for start accident

Vitaly Petrov will lose five places on the grid of the Korean Grand Prix for his accident at the start of the Japanese GP.

The Renault driver made contact with Williams's Nico Hulkenberg as he swerved to the left as the cars were getting up to speed. Petrov ended up crashing into the wall, with Hulkenberg also retiring with a damaged car.

The stewards decided Petrov was to blame and imposed a penalty on him for the next race.

Meanwhile, Ferrari's Felipe Massa escaped penalty following his crash into Force India's Tonio Liuzzi at the start.

The incident was under investigation, but the stewards deemed it was just a racing accident.

Liuzzi said on the crash: "I had a great start and passed five or six cars before the first corner and thought I was pretty safe but then when I went into turn one I saw Felipe coming up on the inside - I don't know if he had broken something on the car but he seemed to come into my side like a bullet.

"I don't think he was in control of the car at the time, but it's a shame as it's another first corner accident and then retirement for me."

Source: Autosport

[ahmz]

Webber needs to finish ahead of Vettel and Alonso at least one more time, and never finish more than 1 place behind either one of them, and he'll have the WDC.

[Shibby]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Kobayashi! When he overtook during BBC's technical error (lost picture for a few seconds, then when it came back, no commentary for a minute, then up came the 5 Live commentary for a few minutes), the 5 Live commentary called him Leeroy Jenkins! :p

That glitch showed how 5 Live is better than the main commentary with legard. Its so dull. ?I was rather enjoying it!?

[Subject Delta]

Kobayashi earns Driver of the Day for me, quite awesome performance from him, he was the only thing that kept the race interesting for me, upfront it was a snoozefest. Shame to see Kubica drop out, as his interference with the RBR race could have spiced things up a bit.

As for the start line incidents... for me, Massa was every bit as daft as Petrov, yet he got away with his mistake scott free, whereas as far as I am concerned, if Petrov deserved a penalty, so did Massa. But Ferrari are still taking the pain, as his accident probably completely scuppered their chances of the WCC

[Nicholas-c Veteran]

Kobayashi earns Driver of the Day for me, quite awesome performance from him, he was the only thing that kept the race interesting for me, upfront it was a snoozefest. Shame to see Kubica drop out, as his interference with the RBR race could have spiced things up a bit.

As for the start line incidents... for me, Massa was every bit as daft as Petrov, yet he got away with his mistake scott free, whereas as far as I am concerned, if Petrov deserved a penalty, so did Massa. But Ferrari are still taking the pain, as his accident probably completely scuppered their chances of the WCC

Yes and no, Petrov was pure stupid and didn't look in his mirrors, he had a fantastic start and thought he pulled away, alas, he didn't. However massa was ran off the track on the inside, hit the kurb and lost control trying to control it.

[Buio]

Man of the race though is Kamui Kobayashi. His overtaking manoeuvres were something to behold. I'd love to see what he is capable of in a top car.

Yeah, I belive he has a lot of potential. Maybe in Renault or Mercedes next year? :)

[what]

Yeah, I belive he has a lot of potential. Maybe in Renault or Mercedes next year? :)

I'm sure the commentary said he'll be in a Sauber seat next year.

[Buio]

I'm sure the commentary said he'll be in a Sauber seat next year.

Things can change quickly in F1, although next season seem to be less grapevine friendly. Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren seem content with their current drivers and they have contracts, I'm not so sure about Petrov in F1 next year. He's sort of driving himself out of F1 race by race now, even if Renault could earn money from sponsors for him. A big name driver like Kimi is probably expensive, and Renault already has Kubica. I think it would be a nice pickup if they got Kobayashi instead. Even if not probable.

[Subject Delta]

Yes and no, Petrov was pure stupid and didn't look in his mirrors, he had a fantastic start and thought he pulled away, alas, he didn't. However massa was ran off the track on the inside, hit the kurb and lost control trying to control it.

From what I could see Massa chose to run off the circuit, it didn't look as if he'd been forced off, but i'd need to see a replay to confirm that in my own mind

[Buio]

From what I could see Massa chose to run off the circuit, it didn't look as if he'd been forced off, but i'd need to see a replay to confirm that in my own mind

Here is a video that shows the start and crashes from several angles (will probably be taken down fairly fast by F1 management as most F1 videos are)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-P4amy_X58

[ahmz]

[Subject Delta]

Here is a video that shows the start and crashes from several angles (will probably be taken down fairly fast by F1 management as most F1 videos are)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-P4amy_X58

From what I see, that replay reinforces my view, nobody hit massa, he was just overly aggressive and decided not to lift.

[Buio]

From what I see, that replay reinforces my view, nobody hit massa, he was just overly aggressive and decided not to lift.

I agree, he was overly aggressive. Maybe even should have got a penalty like Petrov did, but it wasn't as clear cut I guess.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Korean Grand Prix gets FIA go-ahead

The Korean Grand Prix will take place later this month after the FIA gave the circuit a green light on Tuesday following two days of safety inspections.

Although the event has been surrounded by speculation for weeks that the venue would not be finished in time for the October 24 race, FIA race director Charlie Whiting was happy with the progress that had been made.

Whiting told race officials that he had seen enough at the track to convince him that he will issue it with the mandatory circuit licence that it needs to host a Formula 1 race.

In a statement issued by race organisers, Whiting said: "It is satisfactory, and I will issue the license through (ASN) KARA."

Race promoter Yung Cho Chung welcomed the FIA approval, and said he believed the grand prix would ignite huge interest in his country.

"We are delighted that all works are now finished to the complete satisfaction of the FIA, and we join the whole of Korea in welcoming the Formula 1 fraternity to the Korea International Circuit for the first time," he said.

"The KIC has been constructed to the highest standards, and will become the epicentre of motorsport in the country. We believe the Korean Grand Prix will be the catalyst to ignite enormous interest in the sport across the nation."

Aerial photographs of the track this week showed that the final layer of asphalt had been laid, but that much of the infrastructure around the venue was not yet totally complete.

F1 teams said at the weekend that they expected the race to go ahead, even though F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has expressed some reservations about it in Singapore a fortnight ago.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: "I think we have got to respect the fact that a lot of money has been spent, and a lot of effort put in, and I am sure the Korean nation will ensure that there is a grand prix."

Mercedes GP team boss Ross Brawn said: "As far as we know, yes it will happen. The final surface has been laid and they are finishing off the kerbs and so on...I think the infrastructure will be a bit weak, but we want to race there and we need to do everything we can, as long as it is safe to race there."

Source: Autosport

[Subject Delta]

I agree, he was overly aggressive. Maybe even should have got a penalty like Petrov did, but it wasn't as clear cut I guess.

I personally didn't see a lot of difference between the 2 anything, in fact i'd say Massa's was worse, but that may just be my ferrari bias coming out :p