2008 Canadian Grand Prix - Race 7/18

So then, who do you think would set the fastest lap, after 1 (2 hour) practise session, out of the British drivers?

I would still say Button, as he would be fired up at the challenge. His problem right now at Honda, is that he is simply happy to make up the numbers. He has fantastic natural talent, but he doesnt make use of it.

Hamilton has shown that it takes him a little while to learn how to set the car up. This is time he wont have in a 2hr session.

Obviously, there wont be much in it.
 
Last year, towards the end of the season, he was struggling to get the most out of his car. By his own admission, he put this down to set-ups. This allowed Alonso, to generally be quicker than Hamilton in the latter half of the season.

Upon realising that he was going in the wrong direction (set-up-wise), for the last 2-3 races he started to go in the same "direction" as Alonso, with regards to setup and was subsequently faster than him and back on the pace.

Unfortunately now, we dont have anything to compare Hamilton with (with all due respect to Heikki).

What we can say though is that earlier on in the season, Heikki was able to keep in touch with Hamilton. However, as the season has progressed, Hamilton is pulling away from him. This was evident in Monaco and certainly the case in Canada. This would indicate that Hamilton is now understanding the process required to set the car up and get the most out of his car. Its taken a while, but he seems to have got there.

My thinking is that if he was plucked out of McLaren and put in a Ferrari, he would once again struggle to come up with a good setup in 2hrs. I think Button would come up with the faster set-up. Hamilton would rely on his superior speed, but I dont think it would be fast enough to over-come a car that has a superior set-up. Remember, Button isnt exactly crap - given the challenge, I'm sure he would try his best.
 
What do you make of the lines coming from LH and McLaren that they have got an awesome package for the next few races? Are they trying to tell us they've found a couple tenths from somewhere?
 
I doubt it. They are probably basing their "awesome package comment" on Hamilton's performance at Canada. Remember, his pole lap was tremendous and he was able to pull away from the start eeking out a 6s+ gap over the 2nd place man, so he is in good form going into the next GP.

By making comments, I think they are just keeping confidence and morale high within the team. Thats what I would be doing.

The problem is, its a different track and it may suit Ferrari better, but until the GP weekend starts, we wont know. I actually think that the WDC is very open.

The constructors title should goto Ferrari though, barring some disaster.

Whats your opinion?
 
sunama said:
I doubt it. They are probably basing their "awesome package comment" on Hamilton's performance at Canada. Remember, his pole lap was tremendous and he was able to pull away from the start eeking out a 6s+ gap over the 2nd place man, so he is in good form going into the next GP.

Whats your opinion?
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I think his pole was due to a lighter car than anyone else and accounts for his initial pace - he did put a load of fuel during the SC period - probably 2-3 seconds more...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
Yeah he was running lighter, but not "that" much lighter. If the fuel load was identical, based on his pole lap performance, he wouldve still got pole.

As it happened, they all came in for their fuel stops at the same time, so we will never know just how much fuel each driver was carrying. I dont think Kimi had too much extra fuel.
 
I think he was 'significantly' lighter to ensure he got pole - the amount he took at the pit stop seemed a lot especially since it was known he was going to come in under the SC and with his competitors behind him.

The amount he was fuelled up for was planned and unless it was required. why else allow Kimi and Kubica pass in the pits?

As far as I saw the pit stop itself was clean and tidy, just had a lot of fuel...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
He took on more fuel than the others. Yes.
However, this mightve allowed him to progress further into the race than the others.

All this is conjecture anyhow, as we will never know.

What we can say for sure, is that the pole lap was something very special.
 
He took on more fuel - Yes
The team were ready for him to pit as part of the SC period - Yes
Other teams were out so it would have been known they were going to pit as soon as the pit lane opened - Yes
The team would be aware that the amount of fuel they were putting in would be more than a 'streamlined' pit stop - Yes

I agree its conjecture, but I cant see the benefit of taking more fuel than a 'normal' pit stop and losing position at the same time in the aim to allow him to progress further in the race...

Would you really risk it on the hope other competitors wouldnt use the SC period to pit when it just about coincides with the 1st pit stop window?

Im sorry, but it all points to Hamilton needing that fuel which must have meant he was light at quali, if he didnt they would have just opted for the 'normal' 8-9sec stop - its not like they didnt have enough time to react...

Can we really say, for sure, [sic] that the pole lap was something very special - Not really IMHO

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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I think this can be further reinforced by the following:

Remember how Raikonnen was up on Hamilton in S1 and S2, but loses out on S3?

What is S3 in Canada? Two full throttle straights with a right left chicane in the middle...

A heavier car will almost certainly affect straight line speed more than anything, and this is why I believe Hamilton and Kubica were lighter than Raikonnen by at least a couple of laps.
 
Come to think of it...

Hamilton has made more mistakes in the first 6 or so races this year , compared to the entire season last year I think. What do you all think?
 
realscot said:
If u put Lewis, DC, and Jensen all in Ferrari's (netural car), gave them a session to set the car up, and put them out to see who's fastest. Who do you think it would be and why?
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One thing that Hamilton has over all of the other drivers is his ability to be quick from lap 1.

At the new circuits last year he was quicker than all of the other drivers during free practice and at Monaco during free practice he was close to 1 second a lap ahead of all the drivers getting up to speed.

Adapting to tracks and changing conditions is his strength.
 
Just read in a magazine that this year has less overtaking maneuvers than last year. :(
Something like 35 compared to last years 44.
 
Cavallino said:
I think this can be further reinforced by the following:

Remember how Raikonnen was up on Hamilton in S1 and S2, but loses out on S3?

What is S3 in Canada? Two full throttle straights with a right left chicane in the middle...

A heavier car will almost certainly affect straight line speed more than anything, and this is why I believe Hamilton and Kubica were lighter than Raikonnen by at least a couple of laps.
Click to expand...

McLaren had better straight line speed all weekend though. Clearly McLaren were running on lower downforce than Ferrari. Ferrari were running some of the highest downforce there (even higher than BMW) to get the performance in the corners...

PS: And weight affects everything.. cornering, braking, acceleration, top end speed.
 
frakker said:
Is this up to the same point of the season? June issue of F1 Racing magazine has an exposé on the number of passes last season and they said there was 270 passing moves throughout the season. Massa made the most with 20 and was also had the least no times being overtaken with just 2.
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Yer sorry should have stated, its upto the same point of this season.
 
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Testing Times - Day 1 @ Barcelona

Code: 
[b]Name 		Team 		Laps 	Time 		Gap[/b]
Badoer 		Ferrari 	82 	1:22.412 	126.924 mph 
Kubica 		BMW 		69 	1:22.682 	0.270 
Coulthard 	Red Bull 	21 	1:22.724 	0.312 
Buemi 		Red Bull 	79 	1:22.764 	0.352 
Paffett 	McLaren 	36 	1:22.938 	0.526 
Davidson 	Honda 		81 	1:23.208 	0.796 
Hulkenberg 	WilliamsF1 	112 	1:23.619 	1.207 
Grosjean 	Renault 	60 	1:23.899 	1.487 
Kobayashi 	Toyota 		82 	1:24.442 	2.030
Lots of new drivers to F1 there.
 
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