official F1 World Championship 2011 Thread

[san.W10]

Wow, this was an awesome race :D

Vettle was just wow, under such immense pressure he didnt make one tiny mistake, wow

Ham was just super, again no mistake from him either.

Ferrari should give Massa a good car the diff. between the two was too big, all this FA hype is getting them nowhere.

Good race from Merc., finallllllyyyyyyyyyyyyy MS makes it, top 6 :D :woot: :woot: :woot: :woot: :woot:

now, lets hope FIA bans the Engine mapping, then we'll see some real challenge from Macca to RBR

[san.W10]

yup, official nooz-

McLarens, Webber under investigation

Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Mark Webber and Jaimie Alguersuari are under investigation following the Spanish Grand Prix, having failed to slow down for yellow flags.

The FIA made the announcement after the race, where Hamilton finished in second, Button in third, Webber in fourth and Alguersuari in 16th.

Although the FIA did not specify at which point of the race they ignored the yellow flags, it is believed it happened when Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen crashed out with 17 laps to go.

With 20-second penalties, however, the results for Hamilton, Button and Webber would stay unchanged.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91633

[simonlang]

well i was just about to say how much i enjoyed this very exciting race on an usual boring track when i heard about the investigations.

would handle an uncompetitive alonso p2... coincidence? i dont think so.

lauda was furious on tv when he heard about it, he said that today it has shown that mclaren and redbull are by far the best and fastest cars and other teams should be just ashamed.

i wont even comment massa/ferrari anymore, san.W10 you have said exactly what i was thinking.

ferrari is becoming more and more of a big comedy and its a big fail. years ago they used to have 2 very competitive, fast and honest drivers and were well placed in the wcc.

now they have hired one hyped up driver grabbing the headlines by running with a qualifying setup yesterday and therefore struggling in the race today.

kudos to webber and vettel for staying cool at the start otherwise alonsos kamikaze action would have ended in big tears.

if ferrari doesnt change they can as well replace domenicali with briatore, hire piquet jr. again or even fisichella and tifosi will see how far they ll get with team alonso.

gr8 to see schumacher beating his teammate and ofc he had a super start as usual.

all in all, a nice race but: 2 drs zones from now on are definitely needed i get the feeling teams are already adapting too well to the new rules equaling each and everything out.

[Teebor]

I honestly thought that Alonso was on for a podium finish in this race, but it was a good race indeed. very enjoyable and I look forward to the next one

[san.W10]

FArrari should have stayed a bit more on each stints, but they were more interested in staying in front of Webber. lol

same thing they did in final race @ abu dhabi 2010 :p

[Eddo89]

The way it is going, Vettel probably could have no KERs for the rest of the season and still win the championship. Chances are, if he had no KERs all race he might still be merely "second", if you give him some doubt in being able to get off the line without being mugged too much.

Schumacher's starts is simply amazing. If there is one thing we know, is how he managed to start from pole and stay first place during his glory years. It is almost as if he got double boost of power for the start, his throttling is amazing, last year he was good as well but he slipped back fast often normally. Webber on the other hand is starting to become a joke on the line. At the rate he is going, he is better off sitting with a brand new of soft and sit out Q3. Or just do it on hard or something. Is just not working out for him. I wonder who loses the most place on average I wonder, accidents aside, Webber must rank pretty high. Vettel on the other hand is solid if not good.

Dislike at Brundle not saying Vettel is the driver of the race, there is no other person who should get it. Lewis was fast yes, but I would say the reason he got there was because Webber was held off by Alonso and Button got a bad start, whilst the car was good as the RBR on harder tyres if not better. Vettel on the other hand had 2 critical passes in his first out lap to maintain position and maintained a mistake-free race even when under pressured by Hamilton. But otherwise, I like the DC-Brundle commentary line up.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Drivers escape penalties in Spain

McLaren's drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, as well as Red Bull's Mark Webber, have escaped penalties after failing to slow down for yellow flags during the race.

Hamilton, Button, Webber, and Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari were under investigation after not slowing down sufficiently following Heikki Kovalainen's crash.

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh said the FIA has just given them reprimands, which means the results of the Barcelona race stay unchanged.

"We were able to show that they were slower at that corner than we had been," Whitmarsh told the BBC. "The data showed that they had been [slower] but I think the stewards still felt a reprimand was appropriate, but I think they took a sensible view.

"Anyway, we move on now. We've got to make sure that we stay out of trouble, we do a good job, and it's only a few days before we get to Monaco."

He added: "It was in a part of the circuit where they weren't on throttle anyway. So that was the difficulty. Ordinarily you are having the debate and you can show a lift but when they are off throttle you can't show a lift, can you?"

Source: Autosport

[MightyJordan]

Well that's a relief. :)

I'm assuming Alguersuari escaped punishment too? It doesn't say he did in the article, even though it says he was under investigation too.

[ahmz]

More here: http://youtube.com/bokuwahmz

[san.W10]

Ferrari Accused Of Cheating

Red Bull?s F1 consultant Helmut Marko has accused Ferrari of cheating, he suspects the Italian outfit are secretly listening in on Red Bull?s race strategies during grand prix?s.

Marko revealed this accusation on German RTL television after the Spanish grand prix on Sunday. The Austrian explained his accusation ?We have noticed that Ferrari is doing some kind of espionage. We called Mark (Webber) into the box relatively late, and yet they (Ferrari) managed to get Alonso in as well. They had been able to respond to us."

Marko also revealed that his suspicions were even greater when Red Bull issued fake orders for their drivers to pit, and Ferrari still made moves to respond. Ferrari have not yet commented on this accusation.

http://www.motoring.co.uk/car-news/ferrari-accused-of-cheating_30013

i think this is true :rofl:

[MightyJordan]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's true! :rofl:

[Kerm]

Amazing race. I was so tense for the final third. Wish Hammy had been able to stop Seb pulling away through the final corner, then he would of had him into the first!

[Subject Delta]

now, lets hope FIA bans the Engine mapping, then we'll see some real challenge from Macca to RBR

Almost every team on the grid except Williams, HRT, Virgin, and Lotus are using off throttle blown diffusers, it's not just Red Bull and McLaren. Banning them won't make the difference everyone seems to think, it will make all of the cars slower by pretty similar margins. Given how Renault have engineered their system it would probably hurt them the most.

Ferrari Accused Of Cheating

http://www.motoring.co.uk/car-news/ferrari-accused-of-cheating_30013

i think this is true :rofl:

Teams have been watching each other in the pits for decades, it's far from new. And radio traffic is open, listening to it isn't actually against the rules.

[tomjol]

Ferrari Accused Of Cheating

http://www.motoring.co.uk/car-news/ferrari-accused-of-cheating_30013

i think this is true :rofl:

Could that be because the radio isn't private?

Once again Marko proves he has absolutely no clue about the world he's in.

[simonlang]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's true! :rofl:

me neither! i was wondering yesterday already as it should have been easy for redbull to pass alonso already with the first round of pitstops but was surprised that they came in at the same time. (i fully expected them to pit webber first to put pressure on alonso and then vettel would have been ahead)

it would speak WORLDS about the current state of ferrari or better say team alonso. i really see 2, 3 guys sitting there and waiting what redbull does and then doing the same - not realising that redbull was most likely very aware of this, and therefore pulling out a dummy so to say. and then ferrari fails for it pit alonso after he has done only 10 laps on the harder tire. :woot: :rofl:

and we were told that its all solved now as they fired chris dyer after abu dhabi last year for the wrong strategy calls.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

FIA agrees to Monaco tunnel DRS ban

Formula 1 drivers will be banned from using the DRS in the tunnel at this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix after the FIA reacted to drivers' concerns on Monday, AUTOSPORT can reveal.

On the back of continued fears from drivers that it could be too dangerous to use the DRS through the tunnel in practice and qualifying, FIA race director Charlie Whiting wrote to the Grand Prix Drivers' Association members on Monday to tell them he agreed with their stance.

To prevent the possibility of drivers being forced to take risks through the tricky right-hander in the tunnel by trying out DRS for a speed boost, Whiting told drivers that he was stamping out the possibility.

The FIA will lay down a ban on DRS between two points on the Monaco circuit - distance markers 1350m and 2020m - which is the area around the tunnel.

DRS use will be free elsewhere and the overtaking zone will be laid out on the start-finish straight - because the more obvious tunnel area was too dangerous.

Whiting had said last weekend that he did not believe that safety matters relating to Monaco were enough to justify banning DRS totally at Monaco.

However, not all drivers agreed with the decision and had continued to lobby him for a unique DRS ban in the tunnel.

"I would love the people at the top to sit in the car and try to do the tunnel with the DRS open," Rubens Barrichello said in Spain.

"In my opinion, they are waiting for something bad to happen. And when it happens, they will just say, 'oh, next year we will not have it for Monaco.'"

Source: Autosport

[TheLegendOfMart]

Finally some common sense, i was worried that the drivers were going to get injured using DRS on such a narrow track.

*edit* Seems i need to read the article more fully, i think its ridiculous that they are allowing DRS at all, its just asking for trouble.

[MightyJordan]

Well, at least they're still allowed to use KERS. If they banned both for Monaco, there'd be hardly any overtaking.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Well, at least they're still allowed to use KERS. If they banned both for Monaco, there'd be hardly any overtaking.

It's Monaco. There won't be much overtaking - with or without KERS and DRS. Why? The track simply doesn't allow for it, save for a mistake by the driver in front.

A prime example: The closing stages of the 1992 Monaco GP. Nigel Mansell fell back behind Ayrton Senna after a pit stop. Yet despite having the much faster car Mansell could not get past Senna again. Video:

Mind you, the Williams FW14 of 1992 was in a totally different league compared to the rest of the field. Much more superior than the RBR 7 this year.

[Kerm]

One of my favourite videos of all time.

Thanks for that again.

[ahmz]

I really hate the undercut, I would rather bring back re-fueling and have the guy who's on old tyres and pitting 2nd have to put in some banzai laps on low fuel in order to get in front if it's about pit stops.

[san.W10]

Costa relinquishes position at Ferrari

Ferrari's technical director Aldo Costa has relinquished his position as the team's technical director on the back of a disappointing start to the season, the Maranello squad announced on Tuesday.

Ferrari said Costa, who had been appointed technical director at the end of 2007, will "take on new responsibilities within the company".

The Italian squad also confirmed a new structure for the technical department, with Pat Fry becoming the director of the chassis side.

Production will be in the hands of Corrado Lanzone, while Luca Marmorini continues to be in charge of engine and electronics.

All of them will report directly to team principal Stefano Domenicali.

Ferrari endured a very disappointing Spanish Grand Prix last Sunday, with Fernando Alonso finishing a lap down despite having led in the early stages.

The Italian squad is currently third in the standings, but 110 points behind leader Red Bull.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91694

:rofl:

[Subject Delta]

I think removing the use of DRS in the tunnel is a good move, I am surprised it's use hasn't been eradicated altogether for Monaco in all honesty, I can't see it making a shred of difference to passing considering how short the straight is that the DRS zone will be on.

[simonlang]

lol @costa.

i aint surprised at all. dont forget this guy has done gr8 things for ferrari, he did the f2007 and f2008 and together with smedley, massa and baldisseri and an (unmanipulated) domenicali they came much closer to the world championship than with this santander paid spaniard.

i go as far as i say i wouldnt be surprised if alonso is behind this. ALWAYS and in every team he goes he brings his oversized ego and loads of unrest in the team.

now ferrari has to do without technical director this season. you read it here first, next to go is tombazis, smedley, massa and last domenicali.

then santanderlonso will maybe force in briatore as team principal.

ferrari has sold its soul and enzo would rotate in the grave if he seen this. this is not ferrari anymore. shame shame shame!

the scuderia always had 2 cars racing each other very closely and be evenly matched now its a gap from 1 second from alonso to massa - but for what price i ask? they fighting for p5-p8 now together with renault and mercedes while getting lapped from mclaren and redbull.

i say: make the f150th italia not undrivable for a certain driver to make the other one looking like he is god but make the car fast. and if it results in a 2nd 2008 where the de facto nr2 driver gets in a position to outpace the nr1 worldchampion driver, so be it!

but kicking out brilliant technical guys is not the solution. domenicali is digging his own grave right now and i fear he doesnt even realize it. :(

[what]

I think removing the use of DRS in the tunnel is a good move, I am surprised it's use hasn't been eradicated altogether for Monaco in all honesty, I can't see it making a shred of difference to passing considering how short the straight is that the DRS zone will be on.

Yep. The final corner is very slow so the car in front can get well ahead, they don't build up enough speed along the pit straight, and the first corner isn't designed for overtaking, inside or outside. Monaco may well turn out to be the most boring race of the year, unless the tyres they choose don't last long at all.