BARCELONA Grand Prix 2009 - Race 5/17

lopkinfop · 10 May 2009 at 00:46

That was a very exciting qualifying session, i'm happy about button on pole and vettel keeping his top 3 status still. The best thing is the ferrari up there, hopefully it will be an interesting start and race.

was i the only one rooting for piqet when he almost made it into Q3?

pingwing · 10 May 2009 at 01:32

lopkinfop said:
was i the only one rooting for piqet when he almost made it into Q3?

Yes! No-one else (apart from his dad) wants Piquet to stay in F1 really, hes pretty poor. Even with a bit of confidence he's still been rushed into F1 on the basis of the Piquet name (as will Burno Senna) there's almost certinally a better driver out there in need of the seat.... Sato anyone?

Are you Nelson Piquet sr?

But yeah i didnt think he'd make the European season....

chumpit · 10 May 2009 at 01:35

pingwing said:
Yes! No-one else (apart from his dad) wants Piquet to stay in F1 really, hes pretty poor. Even with a bit of confidence he's still been rushed into F1 on the basis of the Piquet name (as will Burno Senna) there's almost certinally a better driver out there in need of the seat.... Sato anyone?

Are you Nelson Piquet sr?

But yeah i didnt think he'd make the European season....

Oh gawd not sato...

Have to admit piq is only thier because of Hamilton, in gp2 they were both fighting each other closely.
Only difference now is that Hamilton has steeped up to the plate and piq seems reluctant to improve his driving style.

lopkinfop · 10 May 2009 at 01:39

pingwing said:
Yes! No-one else (apart from his dad) wants Piquet to stay in F1 really, hes pretty poor. Even with a bit of confidence he's still been rushed into F1 on the basis of the Piquet name (as will Burno Senna) there's almost certinally a better driver out there in need of the seat.... Sato anyone?

Are you Nelson Piquet sr?

But yeah i didnt think he'd make the European season....

thought so

I know he shouldn`t be in F1 but with the amount of stick he gets it would be good to see him get the occasional decent result in quali even if he would just stick it in the gravel in the race

chumpit · 10 May 2009 at 01:42

lopkinfop said:
thought so

I know he shouldn`t be in F1 but with the amount of stick he gets it would be good to see him get the occasional decent result in quali even if he would just stick it in the gravel in the race

i cant say he shouldn't be in f1, i believe that the Renault car requires a lot of skill and experience to get right something he just doesn't have, he should have started of with someone like force India and got the experience he needs for the better cars.

Type_R · 10 May 2009 at 01:47

Well now the weight's have been released its looking even better. The Ferrari is fatest on fuel in the top 7 cars on the grid and with KERS on board i think Massa is in with a shout. The Brawn's definitely have not improved as much as the rest in single lap pace, race pace might be another thing. Vettel also looking good for a fight.

I take back the stunning lap comment on JB for pole, I think fuel adjusted Barrichello actually did a better job!!

chumpit · 10 May 2009 at 01:52

Type_R said:
Well now the weight's have been released its looking even better. The Ferrari is fatest on fuel in the top 7 cars on the grid and with KERS on board i think Massa is in with a shout. The Brawn's definitely have not improved as much as the rest in single lap pace, race pace might be another thing. Vettel also looking good for a fight.

I take back the stunning lap comment on JB for pole, I think fuel adjusted Barrichello actually did a better job!!

Rember race pace and qualifying pace are two completely different things, Also the fact massa has Ferrari strategists behind him......
maybe they'll make him quad stop t, or put on wets? who knows.

I believe brawn has a trick up his sleave for this race, i just get the feeling from that smirk on his face.

"In brawn we trust"

Wicksta · 10 May 2009 at 01:52

Type_R said:
Well now the weight's have been released its looking even better. The Ferrari is fatest on fuel in the top 7 cars on the grid and with KERS on board i think Massa is in with a shout. The Brawn's definitely have not improved as much as the rest in single lap pace, race pace might be another thing. Vettel also looking good for a fight.

I take back the stunning lap comment on JB for pole, I think fuel adjusted Barrichello actually did a better job!!

Nope, fuel adjusted only Vettel did a better job than Button.

Type_R · 10 May 2009 at 01:58

chumpit said:
Rember race pace and qualifying pace are two completely different things, Also the fact massa has Ferrari strategists behind him......
maybe they'll make him quad stop t, or put on wets? who knows.

I believe brawn has a trick up his sleave for this race, i just get the feeling from that smirk on his face.

"In brawn we trust"

lol this is true...Ferrari missing Ross badly in this game

Wicksta said:
Nope, fuel adjusted only Vettel did a better job than Button.

How much is a Kg of fuel going to slow you down around Barca?

el_dazza · 10 May 2009 at 01:58

Swissy said:
Lewis nearly 40 kilos more than Jenson, how many laps is that ... 2 stopping as opposed to 3 ? might it work or will he be a big fat slow roadblock

He won't have many cars to hold up anyway

sunama · 10 May 2009 at 01:59

chumpit said:
i cant say he [Piquet] shouldn't be in f1, i believe that the Renault car requires a lot of skill and experience to get right something he just doesn't have, he should have started of with someone like force India and got the experience he needs for the better cars.

Too right. Also, he has Alonso as his team-mate who is consistently making Piquet look bad, which puts more pressure on Piquet, on top of which, his job always seems to be under threat, which puts even more pressure on him. All this pressure, makes him try increasingly harder to go fast, which often results in him going off the track...regularly.

If he had moved to ForceIndia, say, he could improve gradually and wouldnt be made to look so bad by having a top class driver as your team-mate.

There are very few drivers who are capable of doing what Hamilton did in 2007 (ie. go toe-to-toe with Alonso and compare favourably)...but Hamilton is a little bit special

chumpit · 10 May 2009 at 02:04

sunama said:
There are very few drivers who are capable of doing what Hamilton did in 2007 (ie. go toe-to-toe with Alonso and compare favourably)...but Hamilton is a little bit special

that and the years of extra training by mclaren, all piq is is a jump on the grab a gp2 driver and hope for the best bandwagon, If he was allowed to get the experience from racing a back runner car then yes gradually hed become a front runner.
Unfortunately hes been chucked in the deep end and is sinking horribly.

pingwing · 10 May 2009 at 02:12

chumpit said:
Oh gawd not sato...

Sato is a legend....

Yeah i feel a little sorry for Piquet, his carrer hasnt really gone right for him, but i wouldnt really consider the renult a front runner at the mo... More chucked in next to (probably) the best Driver in F1...

chumpit · 10 May 2009 at 02:16

pingwing said:
Sato is a legend....

Yeah i feel a little sorry for Piquet, his carrer hasnt really gone right for him, but i wouldnt really consider the renult a front runner at the mo... More chucked in next to (probably) the best Driver in F1...

didn't he at Monaco have his engine blow up and instead of free wheeling the car down the slope in to the run off. He instead parked it in the middle of the road whilst it billowed out smoke causing a multi car pile up?

el_dazza · 10 May 2009 at 02:19

chumpit said:
didn't he at Monaco have his engine blow up and instead of free wheeling the car down the slope in to the run off. He instead parked it in the middle of the road whilst it billowed out smoke causing a multi car pile up?

This he did. It let go at the swimming pool and I think it was Fisichella who went hurtling through the air and landed upside-down against a barrier.

chumpit · 10 May 2009 at 02:24

el_dazza said:
This he did. It let go at the swimming pool and I think it was Fisichella who went hurtling through the air and landed upside-down against a barrier.

Hmmm, watching fisichella flying would bring more excitement but he wouldn't have the sear randomness of piq, and i think Ruben's is nicely fulfilling the crash accident quota.
If sato come back we'd only have one car finish upside down n a ball of flames

el_dazza · 10 May 2009 at 02:33

chumpit said:
Hmmm, watching fisichella flying would bring more excitement but he wouldn't have the sear randomness of piq, and i think Ruben's is nicely fulfilling the crash accident quota.
If sato come back we'd only have one car finish upside down n a ball of flames

Sato or Ide? Hmm...

Type_R · 10 May 2009 at 02:47

Sato is pure entertainment to watch - a legend in F1 racing!

chumpit · 10 May 2009 at 02:51

Type_R said:
Sato is pure entertainment to watch - a legend in F1 racing!

Yeah he's the Frank Spencer of the F1 world...

clv101 · 10 May 2009 at 06:24

Type_R said:
How much is a Kg of fuel going to slow you down around Barca?

clv101 said:
Every extra kg of fuel costs a Formula 1 car 0.035 seconds around the Circuit de Catalunya, and a car uses an average of about 2.4kg of fuel per lap.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/f1mole/2009/05/bbc-f1s-fueladjusted-spanish-g.html

Click to expand...

Anyone know how this is calculated? How accurate is it? Surely it will be different from car to car as some cars will work better than others in either a light or heavy configuration?

I'm not convinced we can use the figure "0.035 seconds" with much confidence.