Chinese Grand Prix 2012, Shanghai - Race 3/20

[el_dazza]

I think it's far too early to be almost certain, a lot can change and there's still 85% of the season still to run!

Yep, but they easily have the best all-round car. I don't see Mercedes challenging for the title, wins maybe but I'd put them second best right now. Red Bull are playing catch-up and Ferrari are just dismal, Sauber are impressive but aren't good enough to win just yet and Lotus are reasonably quick but mid points scorers at best. Once you have a lead, it's hard for the rest to chip away at

 

[Duke]

i dont think it will be as bad as people expect

aus = to hard on the tyres
mal = not hard enough of the tyres
china = about right

i guess it depends on how stable the weather is over the race weekend to how well they can dial in the settings but i dont see them beeing as fast as mclaren in race trim very often

Neither of those were hot races though, when all three could have been. We'll see

 

[Kevin Clark]

Round up from Ted Kravitz

 

[Outcast]

http://i.imgur.com/sl2GQ.gif

gif of mark webber's wheelie nicked from tumblr.

vTec just kicked in, Yo!

 

[FrankJH]

Lol, yeah. Rosberg was lapping very quickly on the prime tyres well into his stint. Button would not have been much quicker. So i was anticipating the gap being more or less the same ( Button's tyres wouldn't ahve been much newer) until about lap 48/49 when Rosberg's tyres would have started to go off. Than Button would have needed to be 2s a lap faster once Rosbergs tyres hit the cliff.

the fact that JB was knocking literally seconds off per lap excaped you yes?


He would have needed 1+s a lap with the gap he had (not withstanding the issue in the pit) to get up behind Rosberg + how ever much to actually get past

 

[Guerrilla]

Rosberg was in the nice position of having that gap though, he was being told to drop a lot of time.
He may of been able to pick up the pace a bit if he needed to, or he may of totally destroyed his tyres doing so, which seems likely but I guess we'll never know.

 

[GravyMonster]

After this race my first though was that I was really happy that Rosberg and Mercedes finally won a race.

My second thought was despair as Arknor was bound to be an impossible **** in this thread now.

 

[arknor]

We are going to some hot races soon though right? Wouldn't expect that to help their tyre wear. The fact is not even Mercedes know what is going on or what to expect though, so I guess we will just have to wait and see.

whys the heat going to effect mercedes more than anyone else? ,merc always said tyre wear wasnt the issue it was getting a setup that puts the tyres into the correct operating window

 

[dannyjo22]

Rosberg was in the nice position of having that gap though, he was being told to drop a lot of time.
He may of been able to pick up the pace a bit if he needed to, or he may of totally destroyed his tyres doing so, which seems likely but I guess we'll never know.

Pretty pointless to try to think what might have happened as JB could have destroyed his tyres in the chase himself. We will never know, but Rosberg looked to me to have it all in hand.

 

[sunama]

Rosberg definitely had that race well in hand. You only have to look at the speed at which he pulled away at the start. Now unless Button was purposely driving slow for half the GP, I cant see how he would've caught AND passed Rosberg, in the latter half of the race.

 

[englishpremier]

the fact that JB was knocking literally seconds off per lap excaped you yes?


He would have needed 1+s a lap with the gap he had (not withstanding the issue in the pit) to get up behind Rosberg + how ever much to actually get past

Rosberg was knocking a second per lap of Button before button's stop. Escaped you yes? Button was losing far too much time.

After the stops, Rosberg was still running at decent times while just taking it easy. We heard the call over the radio to take it easy and manage the tyres.

 

[arknor]

Rosberg definitely had that race well in hand. You only have to look at the speed at which he pulled away at the start. Now unless Button was purposely driving slow for half the GP, I cant see how he would've caught AND passed Rosberg, in the latter half of the race.

might have bene a different story if rosberg had been under a bit of pressure and not allowed the luxury of taking it easy on the tyres but button could have killed his tyres in the chase anyway so we will never know.

personally i think button would have needed tyres a lot younger than rosbergs for his last stint, a few laps wasnt going to cut it

 

[deuse]

It may have been a different story if Lewis didn't get a penalty

 

[Tweaker]

Should we expect a lot more cars to copy the Merc system, or is this a next season thing for most teams, or not at all for smaller ones?

 

[arknor]

Should we expect a lot more cars to copy the Merc system, or is this a next season thing for most teams, or not at all for smaller ones?

it wouldnt suprise me if only a few teams bothered to copy it, i doubt redbull can anyway as there packaging is usually extreme , maybe ferrari (just because there so desperate) and mclaren will copy it but probably no one else.

its likely to be against the rules next season as once everyone has it theres little point and its just wasted money.

 

[sunama]

...i doubt redbull can anyway as there packaging is usually extreme , maybe ferrari (just because there so desperate) ...

 

[Duke]

lolMarussia

Charles Pic – The team took the canny decision to call Pic to drive through the pits on lap 48 without stopping, allowing the leaders to pass without costing him too much time. Until that point he had been around ten seconds behind Glock – he crossed the line less than half a second behind his team mate.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/04/16/vote-chinese-grand-prix-driver-weekend/

 

[FrankJH]

After the stops, Rosberg was still running at decent times while just taking it easy. We heard the call over the radio to take it easy and manage the tyres.

whooosshhhh as the whole idea goes WAY over your head

The whole point was made IF JB hadnt been stuck in traffic (because of the bad pitstop), and hence the radio message broadcast on the day.

There is no way to know either way, but its fair to say JB on the harder tyres was able to compete and beat some of Rosberg's lap times just before his stop (and then as you pointed out when Rosberg stopped for new tyres JB started to lose time).

When JB SHOULD have come out he would have been about 10 - 15 second behind Rosberg, ie infront of the traffic in free air but on slightly better tyres.
As stated the pressure JB might have been able to exert given this, could have caused Rosberg to make a mistake or just over use his tyres (or on the other hand, JB's tyres could have died chasing him)

Due to the bad pitstop we will never know, but it would have been a very interesting last few laps but for that dodgy wheel nut

Well done to Rosberg, he drove very well indeed - but the low track temps assisted in making it a little easier than it should have been

It may have been a different story if Lewis didn't get a penalty

We will never know - but it was a little disappointing how Rosberg was never tested in the final laps

 

[Tweaker]

lolMarussia



http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/04/16/vote-chinese-grand-prix-driver-weekend/

So the time lost on track to faster cars is more than a pit stop?

 

[Kevin Clark]

Not going on the marbles I guess.