official F1 World Championship 2011 Thread

[simonlang]

i think its no matter if mechanical glitch or not - the fact remains he gained time with that. sauber got DQ last time they gained advantage so it should be the same happen to car nr 5 now.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Man of the race today: Mark Webber. His drive from 18th to 3rd was nothing short of astonishing and will shut up some of the critics.

Reject of the race: IMHO a toss-up between Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso. The former for his rookie mistake during the pitstop, the latter because he was nowhere near his nominally slower #1b team mate during most of the race. You'd expect more from him. The only positive side to Alonso's race today were the battles he had with Michael Schumacher.

[san.W10]

he is Alonso, he can do anything :p

was expecting some great moves frm him, but notihng happened.

MS was really good, this race must have recharged his batteries to 100% now :laugh:

[TheLegendOfMart]

i think its no matter if mechanical glitch or not - the fact remains he gained time with that. sauber got DQ last time they gained advantage so it should be the same happen to car nr 5 now.

Im not disputing that, i think its a bit unfair calling him a cheat.

[simonlang]

Im not disputing that, i think its a bit unfair calling him a cheat.

i agree. its only cheating if he wins by it, like done in shanghai 2008 or hockenheim 2010.

today he was just slow like a granny and not worth sitting in a ferrari. kinda repeat of malaysia. its getting quite regulary these days doesnt it? :D

[JoeC]

AWESOME race, great result for Lewis. Also something that made me chuckle during the presentation of the trophies, Coulthard and Brundle were taking turns pronouncing the Chinese names, and DC said at one point how he's a "cunning linguist" - got to be careful how you say that one live on TV :p

[sundayx Veteran]

He'd be a cheat if he wins it or not, but it's pre-mature to call him a cheat at this point.

[san.W10]

Jenson's pit blunder is gonna become "fail" pic for months to come :rofl:

edit:

loool, here's 1st one

http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=135088&view=findpost&p=4976009

[MightyJordan]

He'd be a cheat if he wins it or not, but it's pre-mature tradition to call him a cheat.

Fixed. :rofl:

And LOL at the Button pic. Even though I'm rooting for him, he made such a bad gaffe today, so bring on the funnies! :p

[san.W10]

Rosberg bemoans missed opportunity

Nico Rosberg was disappointed after missing the chance to finish on the podium in the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver led the event for a handful of laps and looked in contention for a spot in the top three before he was hit by fuel consumption issues.

The problem meant the German was unable to push as much as he wanted, dropping down to fifth position.

Rosberg, however, was still upbeat about the step forward taken by Mercedes and says the team will learn from the lessons of today.

"Naturally I'm disappointed with the race today as we know that we didn't make the most of our opportunity out there," said Rosberg. "We've made a big step with the car this weekend which is really nice to see and we will have better races in future.

"Leading the race for such a long time was a great feeling but we had issues with the fuel consumption which made it really difficult to fight for position.

"We could have had a podium finish or maybe more today, but we will learn from this together as a team and make sure that we get the results next time."

The team completed its first double points finish of the season after Michael Schumacher was eighth in the race.

Schumacher was also positive about his team's progress ahead of the start of the European season.

"That was a lot of racing in one grand prix this afternoon and very exciting," he said. "I had a lot of fun this afternoon and I'm so pleased to see the hard work of our guys paid off this weekend.

"We have made a big step forward with our car and it worked very well. We are heading towards the first race in Europe now and will bring some upgrades to Istanbul which should help us to improve even more. It is good to leave Asia with a positive feeling."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90834

[ahmz]

Alonso's not a cheat, despite the haters, he's a double world champion ;)

[TheLegendOfMart]

Doesnt stop him being a complete arse****, some say being or having been world champion has responsibilities as they represent the sport, people like Hamilton, Button, Vettel have all matured and Alonso just has a massive ego, its funny seeing him being beaten by Massa.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Alonso's not a cheat, despite the haters, he's a double world champion ;)

Schumacher is a seven-time WDC, yet some people still call him a cheat...

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Webber relieved Vettel's run ended

Mark Webber said he was pleased to see his Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel's run of victories come to an end in China, as he did not want the world champion getting out of reach in the title hunt too early.

Webber drove a spectacular Shanghai race to come from 18th to third, while Vettel lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton with just a handful of laps to go.

"Congratulations to Lewis," said Webber. "It was good that someone finally... of course Seb is in the same team, but he's been on a phenomenal run and we're all here together fighting for victories.

"Shame McLaren won in a way, but also we can't let Seb get too far away. It was a good day for the racing, I think, and a good day for us in terms of points for the team."

Webber had appeared to be making little progress in the opening stages, as he struggled to get through the midfield traffic while on hard tyres. But he later flew on softs and came through to third with a string of late moves.

"It was an interesting GP, we decided to start on the prime hard tyre," said Webber. "We know it was not the more desired tyre. We got that out of the way, and it was quite tricky. It was not easy to come back with those guys.

"But I got the car back and we really started from there. To still see P17 on board after 15 laps [was hard], then I felt comfortable with car, and I had a few sets of tyres left after qualifying - so maybe the best bet is not to take part in qualifying and go from there!

"Jokes aside, great job this weekend, the guys haven't given up - it is a drive for everyone at the factory."

Source: Autosport

[TheLegendOfMart]

People arent giving him enough credit everyone seems to be focused on Vettel, despite Webbers KERS nearly setting his car on fire in practice, being knocked out in q1 thanks to some pretty poor strategy and then starting on prime from 18th place to get a podium finish is a monumental effort.

My man of the race by far is Webber.

[vanx]

I have paused from ironing my shirts while watching a recording of the race to say that it's seriously getting on my wick the way DC pronounces Vettel's surname. Is this Kubic(k)a vs Kubic(ts)a all over again?

[san.W10]

Fernando Alonso rear wing mystery explained

Alonso's rear wing mysteriously opens

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso was involved in a mysterious incident during the Chinese Grand Prix when his drag-reduction system overtaking aid deployed in a forbidden area while he was trying to pass the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher.

The devices - known as DRS for short - have been introduced to Formula 1 this year in an attempt to make overtaking a little easier.

Drivers can use their DRS in one designated zone on the track and only if they are within a second of the car they are trying to overtake. The driver defending his position is not allowed to use his device.

The device is enabled electronically by systems operated by the FIA, the sport's governing body. It works by lifting the upper of the two parts of the rear wing, 'stalling' the wing, reducing drag and therefore increasing straightline speed.

In Shanghai, the DRS zone was on the long back straight. It started 750 metres before the hairpin at the end of the straight and ends as soon as the drivers hit the brakes.

But at one stage, while Alonso was still behind Schumacher, television viewers saw the Spaniard's wing open between the hairpin and the final corner on lap 23.

BBC Sport has learnt that an error caused Alonso's DRS to 'offset' on that lap.

That meant it was not enabled until 300m before the end of the straight, and was then available after the corner for a short time.

This meant that he gained no advantage from the situation - in fact it actually caused him a disadvantage - so was given no penalty.

FIA officials are still investigating what caused the error.

Alonso eventually passed Schumacher two laps later, on lap 25, by getting a better exit out of the hairpin.

He finished the race in sixth place. It was won by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton from Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

Alonso also had problems with his DRS in the previous race in Malaysia a week ago. Then, it stopped working and he was unable to use it for much of the race.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/formula_one/13109394.stm

[simonlang]

hehe i guess every1 wishes such a technical problem when the drs exactly closes and opens on the entry/exit of the corner. im still fascinated. :p

[what]

Yeah it's odd how it disabled through the corner and re-enabled again. I'm dubious as to how much of a technical error it was seeing as the driver needs to push a button/pull a lever/hit a footswitch to activate it.

I still reckon if it was a McLaren they would have been penalised five minutes after the race, regardless of where they finished.

[JoeC]

I have paused from ironing my shirts while watching a recording of the race to say that it's seriously getting on my wick the way DC pronounces Vettel's surname. Is this Kubic(k)a vs Kubic(ts)a all over again?

I'm more annoyed by him saying "Alggerzari" instead of "Aljersuari" heh. Where you put the stress on Vettel is much more of an open thing, but Kubica and Alguersuari are pretty straight forward.

[vanx]

I'm more annoyed by him saying "Alggerzari" instead of "Aljersuari" heh. Where you put the stress on Vettel is much more of an open thing, but Kubica and Alguersuari are pretty straight forward.

The thing is, Martin Brundle pronounces it differently, so it's weird to hear it one way and then the other in the space of seconds. They need to institute pronunciation consistency in the commentary box.

[ahmz]

[null.]

Fantastic race from start to finish! :D

[ahmz]

For all those wondering, Martin Brundle said that the FIA have made it "absolutely clear that the one move rule does not apply at the beginning of a Grand Prix." Though I thought that would have been obvious to any regular Formula 1 viewer.

[san.W10]

Kubica set to leave hospital

Robert Kubica is set to leave hospital within the next 10 days to begin the next phase of the rehabilitation process that he hopes will get him back into Formula 1.

The Pole has been at the Santa Corona hospital in Italy since the rally crash in February that left him with serious arm and leg injuries.

Speaking to the official Renault F1 website on Thursday, Kubica said that he intends to return home to Monaco soon - before moving to the Formula Medicine clinic in Italy to continue his recovery.

"I am starting to feel a lot better now. My recovery is moving in the right direction: my strength and weight are increasing day on day and as a result I will leave the Santa Corona hospital very soon," he said. "I don't have a precise date as yet but I hope to be able to leave within the next 10 days.

"The mobility of my hand is limited but this is pretty normal in this kind of situation, because the connected arm muscles are still very weak due to the long period of immobility. Things are definitely improving day by day."

He added: "As soon as I leave hospital, I'll head to my home in Monaco for a short period of rest. Then I'll move to Dr. Ceccarelli's facilities in Italy where I will start a deep rehabilitation program and a preliminary soft training programme. The two programmes will gradually cross over based on the speed of my recovery."

Kubica has said that he has kept in touch with his Renault outfit throughout the opening weekends of the season ? and he is hopeful that the team will continue to improve on its strong early form.

"They are sending me the race reports so I can remain up to date and fully informed, as if I were there at the tracks. Eric Boullier is also in constant contact, keeping up to date with my general condition.

"There is no doubt that it's been a strong start to the season. The potential of the car, which I already noticed in the February Valencia test, seems to be confirmed. As usual, it's now important that the development done in Enstone continues to produce consistent updates for maintaining this level of performance. The guys did a great job with this car and I'm sure they'll continue to improve."

When asked if he had a message for fans, Kubica said: "Well, just continue to enjoy the F1 show even though I'm not there at the moment. From my side, I'll try to use my difficult experience to come back as strong as I possibly can."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90905

Q & A with Robert Kubica