Japanese Grand Prix 2013, Suzuka - Race 15/19

drunkenmaster · 13 Oct 2013 at 08:45

al4x said:
didnt see anyone else almost almost beating a red bull

Yet had he gone long he would have held Vettel up as he did Webber and not left himself on a stupidly long stint. He was trying to undercut(or prevent one) on Vettel as Webber did to him, it cost him at least one place, maybe two. 5 lap newer tyres and Webber wouldn't have passed him, if he'd managed to keep Vettel past him till they both pitted, he might have won.

He jumped in early, gave Vettel clear air, helped Vettel save tyres, and put himself on a terrible long stint.

He had a great start, though it was as much a poor Webber/Vettel start as a good Grosjean start. Cruising around out front when the guys behind are scared of their tyres and dropping 2.5seconds back to save them is hardly anything to scream about to be honest.

Danthus · 13 Oct 2013 at 08:45

Horner sounded like he wanted to cut his wrists when he congratulated Webber.

utajoker · 13 Oct 2013 at 08:45

a bit of a dull one again.

how many points does vettel need now?

webber looks happy enough.

a good drive for grosjean, him and hulk to be partners next year?

atleast kimi didnt score much so hamilton can still get 3rd in the championship.

Locky · 13 Oct 2013 at 08:48

OldCoals said:
Horner sounded like he wanted to cut his wrists when he congratulated Webber.

Yeah I thought that too.

Mr Men · 13 Oct 2013 at 08:51

Well done Seb, RBR doing what any other team would do and get the WDC leader the win. Good race from Grosjean again as well.

413x · 13 Oct 2013 at 08:52

drunkenmaster said:
Yet had he gone long he would have held Vettel up as he did Webber and not left himself on a stupidly long stint. He was trying to undercut(or prevent one) on Vettel as Webber did to him, it cost him at least one place, maybe two. 5 lap newer tyres and Webber wouldn't have passed him, if he'd managed to keep Vettel past him till they both pitted, he might have won.

He jumped in early, gave Vettel clear air, helped Vettel save tyres, and put himself on a terrible long stint.

He had a great start, though it was as much a poor Webber/Vettel start as a good Grosjean start. Cruising around out front when the guys behind are scared of their tyres and dropping 2.5seconds back to save them is hardly anything to scream about to be honest.

He put himself in that position by qualifying well
the strategy wasnt brilliant agreed but he did do a good job

on a different note.. wtf is suzi peri wearing today and yesterday.. yuck

drunkenmaster · 13 Oct 2013 at 08:52

Wait why are people banging on about Grosjean always showing pace, he's 90 points behind Kimi after Kimi had a bad race, and he was 100 points off him last year, and he's sitting in 8th where he was last year. He's still behind Massa who most people slate, behind Rosberg(who has replaced Button), behind Webber who has had the worst luck ever. Kimi has had a win, 6 second places and a third. Grosjean in the same car just got his 4th podium, all thirds..... how does that make him fast or always showing he's fast?

Duke · 13 Oct 2013 at 08:53

He has shown speed but not had the results due to incidents (mainly due to him).. have you not watched him in the last few seasons?

Mr Men · 13 Oct 2013 at 08:55

drunkenmaster said:
Wait why are people banging on about Grosjean always showing pace, he's 90 points behind Kimi after Kimi had a bad race, and he was 100 points off him last year, and he's sitting in 8th where he was last year. He's still behind Massa who most people slate, behind Rosberg(who has replaced Button), behind Webber who has had the worst luck ever. Kimi has had a win, 6 second places and a third. Grosjean in the same car just got his 4th podium, all thirds..... how does that make him fast or always showing he's fast?

Not sure who was banging on about Grosjean as you put it, but he has always shown he has the pace, just he tended to ruin it by being a tool.

413x · 13 Oct 2013 at 09:08

Mr Men said:
Not sure who was banging on about Grosjean as you put it, but he has always shown he has the pace, just he tended to ruin it by being a tool.

this is a fair comment

Bottom line for me is that as a lotus supporter i wouldnt want anyone else in that seat next year
the only driver i would choose to be there if all were available would be alonso

Danthus · 13 Oct 2013 at 09:41

So........ Did Red Bull nobble Webber?

Doohickey · 13 Oct 2013 at 09:46

Just woke up. Susie Wolff is very cute. That is all.

drunkenmaster · 13 Oct 2013 at 09:50

al4x said:
this is a fair comment

Bottom line for me is that as a lotus supporter i wouldnt want anyone else in that seat next year
the only driver i would choose to be there if all were available would be alonso

Even though for the second year running he's managed half the podiums, half the points, 700%(guessing there) more contacts than his team mate. A couple fast laps here and there and a few races a year the car is perfect for the track and does well at doesn't make a fast driver for me. None of this adds up to a fast or good driver to me, just a reckless(which sometimes leads to fast) and not very effective driver.

fast + zero control = useless, less fast + perfect control = Alonso = chances at titles.

Grosjean(without Brawn like advantage) will never win a title, challenge for one or be a great driver. single lap pace is almost meaningless as Merc/Mclaren have shown perfectly in the past two seasons. Race pace/strategy/lack of mistakes/control means everything, Grosjean doesn't have any of those things really. Most drivers have a few races they look great at a year, great drivers have a few races they don't look great at a year. This was a poor race for Kimi and he came fifth, this was a fantastic race for Grosjean, and he came 3rd, the other way around and Grosjean will come 15th and kimi will be 1st or 2nd.

Grosjean would be no where near the top 5 drivers I'd take in that team outside of the bigger name drivers, he's had significantly less incidents than last year, but has basically gotten the same number of points, still had incidents, still can't come close to matching his team mate..... and frankly I would say this seems like a good year for Grosjean, a bad year for him would look horrendous. He so consistently fails to get even close to his team mate it's fairly obvious he's not that good.

Danthus · 13 Oct 2013 at 09:54

Grosjean is an vastly improved driver, to say he is not that good is ridiculous.

deuse · 13 Oct 2013 at 09:55

OldCoals said:
So........ Did Red Bull nobble Webber?

Yep.

Danthus · 13 Oct 2013 at 09:57

Ted hinted at it.

leaskovski · 13 Oct 2013 at 09:57

Lol at the Renault sport dude wanting to go up on the podium in his Renault outfit and RB forcing a shirt on him.

Stryda09 · 13 Oct 2013 at 09:58

drunkenmaster said:
Brundle definitely asked if Vettel's DRS was even open when he got Grosjean, I just couldn't actually see myself if it was or not. Occasionally it's just very hard to see when the DRS is open on some cars, the Merc has a smaller slit than most and due to colour it's less obvious, RBR you can usually tell though, Lotus is really obvious.

Looks like you were right.

Vettel on RG

Guerrilla · 13 Oct 2013 at 10:03

Good race enjoyed it, would have been nice for Webber to get a win, there's always next time though!

Good race from Grosjean.

Good to see Hulkenberg have another good result, shame he couldn't hold off Alonso and Raikkonen. Gutierrez had a great result too. Hulkenberg now actually has more points than both F! drivers, didn't see that coming at the start of the season, may not have been such a bad move after all

Irish_Tom · 13 Oct 2013 at 10:35

Marginally more interesting than recent races purely because Vettel wasn't out in front for most of it.

Still a decided air of inevitability about the result and even more frustrating with the Hamilton DNF. Would have been good to see him mixing it up with the top three.