Malaysia Grand Prix 2012, Kuala Lumpur - Race 2/20

Yesterday Massa was told by Smedley to push and try to pass Rosberg (I think), and then lost 3 places in 2 laps.

I was watching some NASCAR and they mentioned Danica Patrick had done 150+ laps and not said a word on the radio.

It wouldn't be unusual for someone talking to you to put you off, especially if you don't realise the position you are in until told. They deliberately kept Vettel in the dark as to what others were doing in Abu Dhabi in 2010 so he wasn't distracted.
 
If I raced in F1 I'd need the ability to turn the radio off and have the pit wall know this. The chance of a voice in my ear at any point would just drive me nuts, or I'd just plain ignore it as I zone out which I can do quite well. Some drivers like Massa and Hamilton seem to need mothering during a race though, especially Massa. I feel embarrassed for him with some radio comments and then the usual shot of Rob Smedly face palming shortly after.
 
It's a choice of both the driver and race engineer. If a driver moves they can make provisions in their contract at the new team that their engineer comes with them. If not, then the engineer will be assigned the new driver at the team, as happened to Jock Clear, as he's worked with Sato at BAR through to Rosberg now that the team is Mercedes.

I'd imagine Smedley would go with him (assuming Massa stays in F1) as they seem to be good friends.
 
I think Smedley and Massa are the perfect example of how a great driver/engineer partnership can work. They seem to have absolute confidence and trust in each other and get on really well. The other teams can learn a lot from them.

More often than not the engineers stay with the team rather than follow the driver though, so I would expect to see Ferrari retain Smedley.
 
LizardKing said:
Was it Alonso that told his engineer to stop talking to him last season while he was chasing someone down?
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Alonso wasnt chasing anybody down.

He was told that Hamilton did incur a penalty, but managed to take his penalty and get out ahead of Alonso. This is what angered Alonso. His response was to tell his radio man that he didnt want to speak to him.

It had nothing to do with distractions.

Alonso is a top draw driver and like MSc, can handle constant chit-chat over the radio during the race. Though MSc is the best at doing this.
 
Sometimes think Rob should be the one behind the wheel tbh, he seems to do everything bar push the pedals and turn the steering!

Felipe overtake that guy in front
Felipe go a bit quicker
Calm down Felipe it's only a bit of rain
Felipe let Fernando by you're the whipping boy now etc etc.

I'm sure they make a good team but it seems Massa requires too much tutoring for me.
 
What I am finding very amusing is that people seem to be having an orgasm over Mercedes' ingenuity when it comes to the front DRS system.

I just checked the table and they are sitting on 1 constructors' point. The only teams behind them are Marussia and HRT (both of whom did very little testing and some predicted may not even turn up to the early races) and Caterham (who just plain, No Swearing please.).

Mercedes would be one of the last teams that I would want to copy, when it comes to trick bits. I always tend to look at the fastest cars first and the slowest cars last.

Some people on this forum stated that HRT are an embarrassment to F1 (due to the way they've gone about "buying" their F1 car and not even turning up to testing). Well, what about Mercedes. Surely, they must also be considered an embarrassment.

Last year I remember, people on here were having an orgasm over Williams' minimalist back end. After their worst season ever, they appear to have ditched that minimalist design and gone back to something more traditional. I argued this point many times last year, nobody agreed, but it was appear that Williams have agreed with my way of thinking, that the small back end just isn't the way to go.
 
Psycho Ned said:
Sometimes think Rob should be the one behind the wheel tbh, he seems to do everything bar push the pedals and turn the steering!

Felipe overtake that guy in front
Felipe go a bit quicker
Calm down Felipe it's only a bit of rain
Felipe let Fernando by you're the whipping boy now etc etc.
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This is exactly what Hamilton needs. He needs a big brother figure in the pit-lane who will basically be on his side and fight his corner. When he was getting hot-headed (last year) his radio man should've been the one to clam him down and tell him that he wasn't going to win a wet race in the first 5 laps or be careful of Massa and to overtake him on the DRS straight. Unfortunately, McLaren insist on using robot-like men, to man the radios and they dare not talk out of turn.
 
timbob said:
I think LH and JB would have something to say about that comment! IMO, Massa's do or die attitude to defending his places sometimes borders on the deliberately dangerous. It was only JB's level head that prevented him from being taken out multiple times by Massa when trying to overtake in Sepang.
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Really? what most F1 fans love to see is hard and fair racing, side by side action, yet you find that wrong? Did Jenson have any complaint? No because he is a racer and it was thrilling for him as well as most fans who watch to see such action.
 
sunama said:
What I am finding very amusing is that people seem to be having an orgasm over Mercedes' ingenuity when it comes to the front DRS system.

I just checked the table and they are sitting on 1 constructors' point. The only teams behind them are Marussia and HRT (both of whom did very little testing and some predicted may not even turn up to the early races) and Caterham (who just plain, No quoting swearing please.).

Mercedes would be one of the last teams that I would want to copy, when it comes to trick bits. I always tend to look at the fastest cars first and the slowest cars last.

Some people on this forum stated that HRT are an embarrassment to F1 (due to the way they've gone about "buying" their F1 car and not even turning up to testing). Well, what about Mercedes. Surely, they must also be considered an embarrassment.
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Simplistic argument as theres a massive difference between ingenuity to come up with that idea and the ability to apply it and make it an advantage; its far easier to copy and improve an idea than it is to come up with the idea itself even with all the bright sparks in F1.

Teams arent stupid enough to ignore any idea just in case it shaves off time or makes the car a better package, and other teams will be keen to look into other competitiors non-traditional designs even if they arent working out for that particular manufacturer.

Just because it might not bear fruit at Mercedes (Ill let someone else remind you its only the second race and only one thats not had an significant external factor affecting it) doesnt mean it might not work at McLaren or Red Bull etc...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
sunama said:
This is exactly what Hamilton needs. He needs a big brother figure in the pit-lane who will basically be on his side and fight his corner. When he was getting hot-headed (last year) his radio man should've been the one to clam him down and tell him that he wasn't going to win a wet race in the first 5 laps or be careful of Massa and to overtake him on the DRS straight. Unfortunately, McLaren insist on using robot-like men, to man the radios and they dare not talk out of turn.
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Doesn't Hamilton usually tell them to shut up anyway? Usually when they talk to him in a corner or braking zone though :p
 
sunama said:
Last year I remember, people on here were having an orgasm over Williams' minimalist back end. After their worst season ever, they appear to have ditched that minimalist design and gone back to something more traditional. I argued this point many times last year, nobody agreed, but it was appear that Williams have agreed with my way of thinking, that the small back end just isn't the way to go.
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Nope - this year's back end is every bit as small as last years, if not more so. They've just worked out how to do it properly this year, after all the data they gathered on the design and how it affected car setup last year.
 
Dup said:
If I raced in F1 I'd need the ability to turn the radio off and have the pit wall know this. The chance of a voice in my ear at any point would just drive me nuts, or I'd just plain ignore it as I zone out which I can do quite well. Some drivers like Massa and Hamilton seem to need mothering during a race though, especially Massa. I feel embarrassed for him with some radio comments and then the usual shot of Rob Smedly face palming shortly after.
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How would you deal with shift on tone then? With thousands of gear changes per race, that would drive me insane.

sunama said:
Last year I remember, people on here were having an orgasm over Williams' minimalist back end. After their worst season ever, they appear to have ditched that minimalist design and gone back to something more traditional. I argued this point many times last year, nobody agreed, but it was appear that Williams have agreed with my way of thinking, that the small back end just isn't the way to go.
Click to expand...

If anything, other teams have followed the Williams minimalist back-end in their own way.
 
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