Malaysian Grand Prix 2011, Sepang International Circuit - Race 2/19

[Dave M]

David and Martin both mentioned yesterday how Lewis had changed his driving style to be smoother around the track - unfortunately his 3rd stint damaged all the good work he did earlier in the race (while up behind the Renault)

The 3rd stop put part worn tyres on, he didn't have any new ones left because he burned through some sets in qualifying. That said he wasn't the only driver using scrubbed tyres.

I think these upset his balance, he certainly seemed to drop off a cliff after his 3rd stop.

Perhaps you could say he treated his tires well in the race but sins in qualifying caught up with him.

 

[FrankJH]

The 3rd stop put part worn tyres on, he didn't have any new ones left because he burned through some sets in qualifying. That said he wasn't the only driver using scrubbed tyres.

I think these upset his balance, he certainly seemed to drop off a cliff after his 3rd stop.

Perhaps you could say he treated his tires well in the race but sins in qualifying caught up with him.

Are you sure he wasnt using hard/ prime tyres by this point? (in which case he should have had at least one set of new hard's to put on surely).

I believe it was mentioned in Saturday's quali show that McLaren used more soft's for quali to be sure of getting into Q3 - which means LH should have had one or two sets of new hard tyres

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

Brundle is reporting that Ferrari and Alonso went to the stewards about hamiltons weaving... Standard moaning Spanish prat.

Stop crying. It still took the stewards to dish out the penalty.

 

[Dave M]

Are you sure he wasnt using hard/ prime tyres by this point? (in which case he should have had at least one set of new hard's to put on surely).

Yup, on the prime and going well as far as I could tell. Obviously couldn't have gone to the end on that set but it seemed early to pull him in, guess they saw a gap in traffictgo get him out into (not that it worked too well due to his long stop).

The 4th set (on his 4rd stop) were scrubbed though, they said he had no new left due to flat spotting in qualifying.

He didn't seem happy after the race, hope his head's not going already. Webber didn't look happy at all either although he should be pleased with the result all things considered.

I think both of them were most upset to finish behind their team mate - Button was obviously over the moon finishing in front of Hamilton

 

[Dutch Guy]

Stop crying. It still took the stewards to dish out the penalty.

But would they really have given a penalty without the Spanish Git moaning and crying?

 

[Kerming]

Brundle is reporting that Ferrari and Alonso went to the stewards about hamiltons weaving... Standard moaning Spanish prat.

Prat is abit of a understatement.

 

[godinman]

God, that DRS is a load of crap. Couldn't they just mess with the aero rules a bit, making slipstreaming possible again? I like the KERS tho, are there any rules as to when they can use it?

 

[dannyjo22]

But would they really have given a penalty without the Spanish Git moaning and crying?

If he weaved multiple times he deserved it, end of. It's not like Mclaren haven't been to the stewards multiple times.

He had a warning before. You can't really moan when he gets a penalty for it the 2nd time.

I like Alonso, when he or the team makes mistakes he talks of it like all of their errors. He never singles the team out even after they cost him the title last year. He shrugged it off in public. He never got the arse last year with the car even when it was failing.

Then you have hamilton yesterday interviewed after the race and yet again he talks like all the decisions were out of his hands. He acted like he didn't understand any of the strategy and why they pit when they did. He sounded like a whiney child.

I really liked hamilton last year when he wanted to get on with the wet race, after previously disliking him but his whiney child act that seems to be unable to understand whats going on around him is baffling.

In a way you have to blame mclaren for controlling his career when he started, he clearly has never been in a position where he leds the decisions and doesn't seem to ever understand the big picture.

If he can stay out for another 5 laps and wants to he should demand it, I just don't think he can see the full picture of where he is in relation to everyone else in the way MS or Alonso can.

 

[Duke]

God, that DRS is a load of crap. Couldn't they just mess with the aero rules a bit, making slipstreaming possible again? I like the KERS tho, are there any rules as to when they can use it?

I thought the DRS was great.

 

[godinman]

I just don't see the point, sure it makes for more overtaking - crap artificial easy overtaking.

Why go through the all the expense when just telling the driver infront to pull over and let the car behind past if they're within 1 second would have the same effect? Or better yet, don't race at all, or even make cars, just input the teams budget, likely decisions etc into a computer and run it through F1 2011 (the game) and stream it out on 'race' weekends?

Why do you think it was great?

 

[NathanE]

The 3rd stop put part worn tyres on, he didn't have any new ones left because he burned through some sets in qualifying. That said he wasn't the only driver using scrubbed tyres.

I think these upset his balance, he certainly seemed to drop off a cliff after his 3rd stop.

Perhaps you could say he treated his tires well in the race but sins in qualifying caught up with him.

That's what I've come to believe. I did wonder if he was being too aggressive in qually, looks like it bit him come race day.

Whitmarsh has confirmed his 4th (and worst) set of tyres were "part worn" from qually.

Tyres are a resource for each driver that they can use up over the course of a weekend. Tough lesson but he will learn from this wake-up call.

 

[Dutch Guy]

I like the KERS tho, are there any rules as to when they can use it?

I think it's something like 6 or 7 seconds per lap and the driver is free to use it when he wants.
The main advantage is just before a long straight as it helps with acceleration and ultimately a higher speed at the end of the straight.

 

[FrankJH]

Did they actually show scrubbed prime's being put on Lewis's car during that 3rd stop? It just doesnt make sense to me

Surely he only used one set of hard's during quali 1 and then went on to softs? (this is where the commentators mentioned McLaren being cautious in quali)

I thought he used q3 tires for 1st stint (as all of top ten are required to do), 2nd set of softs and then went on to two fresh sets of hard tyres for the other two stops.

Worst case scenario he should at least have had one fresh set of hard/prime tyres for 3rd stop shouldnt he, even if they always planned on 4th stop and putting used primes at that point (even though Im still not convinced McLaren had planned another stop until LH went over the cliff on performance)

I havent seen /heard Whitmarsh's comment about LH's tyres - but even that suggests 3rd stop were new tyres (wouldnt he otherwise say 3rd and 4th stop were part worn?)

 

[Setroc]

To be honest the tyre decision should be left to McLaren and not Hamilton, and the team screwed up. All Hamilton can do is say how the tyres he is currently driving on are handling. The team is the one with all of the data on how the various tyres are expected to handle the ever evolving track conditions. Expecting the driver to calculate how long he'd expect a set of partially scrubbed prime tyres to last on a track that's been subtly changing throughout a race given the current track temperatures and while he's racing is just not going to happen.

Schumacher famously said that he spent 70% of his brain power on racing and 30% on strategy while in the cockpit, but even then there's too many variables and unknowns for a driver to make that kind of call on whether he can make that set last an unprecedented amount of time.

One issue that struck me during the race, and surprisingly hasn't been discussed here much is the amount of debris that the tyres left on the track. I thought it was shocking to look at, and reminded me of a drying track where its wet except for the dry racing line. There were marbles everywhere, especially offline around the slower corners, where it looked really dodgy to leave the racing line. Paul Di Resta mentioned this in an article in the telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mo...i-in-the-firing-line-over-rubber-bullets.html

Not only did it look like it was harming overtaking opportunities towards the latter stages of the race, but it also sounds a bit dangerous.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Actually managed to catch the race and quali even though it was my gf's birthday weekend

Really not enjoying this season though. The race was incredibly boring, even with Brundle and Coulthard trying to make it exciting. Have watched F1 for about 20 years and this is the first season that I have not enjoyed. Still early days though.

DRS - what a load of rubbish, it just feels artificial and fake (even more so now it has been utilised on a track with a long straight). Basically, you press the button and in most cases it is an automatic pass, great. In the rest of cases, it doesn't work. Brundle said there were two camps, those against and the "wait and see camp". So basically, not many people "for" the system. I wouldn't have such a problem with the system if you could defend with it too.

Pirreli tyres - equally rubbish. Off the racing line is like a minefield and the number of pit stops and the behaviour of the tyres leads to a lot of confusion following on-track battles for position.

Kobayashi - thought it was a great drive by him. He deserves a better team.

Red Bull and Vettel - still seconds per lap quicker than the rest of the field and the only team that *may* challenge them are McLaren (considering RBR still haven't managed to get to grips with KERS, their pace remains ominous). Even Webber can't seem to get in the mix and make it exciting.

Hamilton/Alonso penalty - I hate logging onto the internet later in the day to find the result has changed. Not only that, but how are the drivers supposed to "race" if they are constantly punished for it? Sick of Alonso complaining, Ferrari not happy losing and the FIA constantly taking the side of anyone but McLaren or Hamilton.

Don't even get me started on KERS!

All in all, I am starting to really loose interest in F1. The only thing that could have saved this race was rain. Getting my rain dance ready for China!

 

[dannyjo22]

I just don't see the point, sure it makes for more overtaking - crap artificial easy overtaking.

How though is it anymore artificial than the 70's?

In years before the aero war, when a car got behind it had an advantage that the car infront couldn't counter. It got an advantage being in the slip.

All that has happened in DRS has given some of the balance back without costing the teams millions in aero redevelopement or losing the wings that are advertising boards.

I'm not saying I'm pro DRS I'm pretty split on it at the moment but it's no more artificial than the advantage you used to get but couldn't counter.

 

[mmj_uk]

The slipstream is a natural law of nature, DRS is just predictable and boring.

F1 should just agree on a generic chassis that doesn't give so much downforce which falls off a cliff in turbulent air, it's depressing how F1's solution to a lack of overtaking is to basically hit the defending driver with penalties for not yielding easily, another couple of years and they'll be blue flagging anyone that has a car within 0.5secs of them.

Also with DRS what incentive do drivers have to risk moves elsewhere on the track now? sure if they're given the opportunity they will take it but they aren't going to try to make anything happen when all they have to do is stay close and overtake in the DRS zone.

 

[godinman]

How though is it anymore artificial than the 70's?

In years before the aero war, when a car got behind it had an advantage that the car infront couldn't counter. It got an advantage being in the slip.

All that has happened in DRS has given some of the balance back without costing the teams millions in aero redevelopement or losing the wings that are advertising boards.

I'm not saying I'm pro DRS I'm pretty split on it at the moment but it's no more artificial than the advantage you used to get but couldn't counter.

That's a good point I suppose, at least the old advantage was just a natural occurrence tho.. (edit:beaten)

It was actually a quite interesting race, but I don't think that was down to DRS.

What would be your suggestions for making the races more interesting?

 

[ps3ud0]

That's what I've come to believe. I did wonder if he was being too aggressive in qually, looks like it bit him come race day.

Whitmarsh has confirmed his 4th (and worst) set of tyres were "part worn" from qually.

Tyres are a resource for each driver that they can use up over the course of a weekend. Tough lesson but he will learn from this wake-up call.

And thats why I think Hamilton isnt a great driver, by all means stick him in a car and hell probably get the best out of it or chase down the man in front - but to ask him to do anything that isnt short term and hes found wanting - horse and carrot comes to mind...

He just doesnt have the mental capacity to work out how displaced competitors may affect his race later like people like Schumacher, Button and Alonso do; even Vettels starting to demonstrate some thought, like asking Newey right after the race how many pit stops 2nd place Button had done. To me thats a mark of a great driver, who hasnt the ability to use any spare capacity to question/work out the minimum he needs to do to maintain/gain places while attempting to finish a race.

Hamiton needs to change his driving style which he appears to be doing (as Brundle put it hes trying to be more smoother like Button) as these Pirrelis just fall apart too easily (as per design) - he also needs to realise its a race weekend and whatever silly little things he does in qualifying will affect his race - how often have we heard the words 'Hamitons locked up in the first corner' - hes notorious for having small lock ups and now he has tyres that just wont cope with that, theres no graining phase where they might come back, when they go they go...

At least though he heading in the right direction, but hes definitely the dumbest champion on that grid...

ps3ud0

 

[ins0mn1ac]

What would be your suggestions for making the races more interesting?

driving through spilt petrol in the pitlane with fires/explosions, iceman style?