Spanish Grand Prix 2011, Circuit de Catalunya- Race 5/19

sunama said:
That prediction was prophetic and scary.
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Could have been worse, atleast he didn't put names to those positions..........

As of yet I have not watched the whole race, just the BBC3 highlights. Worth watching the whole show/race? I did catch most of it via 5 Live on Sunday and it did sound quite exciting, especially Crofty & Chandhok trying to work out just where Button would come into play.

Just a thought on the stuperb qually/single lap pace of the Red Bull's. The car has immense grip, especially in the high speed as mentioned by Hamilton during the after show stuff. It was obvious all weekend just how much earlier they could get on the DRS compared to anyone else when it was unrestricted thanks to this. Just how much time could they be cutting off a qually lap time by being on the DRS earlier or in places others can't?
 
well considering hamiltons mclaren was faster in the race it could be closer to 0.75 and mclaren have taken a bigger step forward than red bull in the upgrades

or

it could be as much as a second if both cars have taken similar steps in upgrades which was why hamilton could chase down vettel but not quite get past.
 
I watched the race and it was a lot better than the normal Spanish GP which is basically a procession.

The tyres are what provided the overtaking in this race.

Vettel & Hamilton
Great stuff from Vettel. On the BBC F1 forum, the public voted Hamilton (by far) as the driver of the day - I have to disagree. Hamilton was certainly good, however, what Vettel did in those final 15 laps, to hold Hamilton at bay, was mind blowing. I've driven go-karts myself and the worst position to be in is when you are leading and a driver is gradually closing you down and is then finally on your tail. The pressure is immense and can result in the leading driver tying up and driving slower than what he is capable of. Vettel also finished 47s ahead of his team-mate. What Vettel did was very skilful and showed for first time in some time, what a fantastic driver he is.

He also won his 2nd career race, where he wasn't leading on the first lap. 14 wins: only 2 of which came when he was not leading the race on lap 1. It's still a damning statistic.

With regards to Vettel coming through the field: this didn't really happen. He overtook 2 other cars on old tyres, while he was on brand spanking new tyres, in a car which is the class of the field. Had he overtaken Alonso, while he and Alonso were on the same tyres, that would've been a genuine overtake.

Given the above, for me, there were 2 (joint) drivers of the day: Hamilton (for driving the nuts off of a slower car and matching Vettel) and Vettel (for not crumbling under the pressure of having the most aggressive driver in F1, chasing him down).

RBR's Pace
As I suggested before the race started, don't be too disheartened when you see the RBR's leading by so much in qualifying - their qualifying performance is disproportionately faster than their race pace. Also Spain and Hungary (using last year's performance as a guide) are their strongest tracks, so don't expect them to be 1s/lap ahead of the rest (as they were in Barcelona's qualifying).

In Monaco, you should see their advantage seemingly wiped out and the likes of Alonso and Hamilton should suddenly become very competitive. Last year we saw Alonso dominating the Monaco weekend, up until he crashed. Don't expect Alonso to dominate again, though expect Ferrari to take a step forward.

I know its early, but for me, Hamilton is the over whelming favourite to win next weekend.

Only 3 days till Monaco (Thursday) Practise.
 
Skeeter said:
McLaren repeatedly get the strategy wrong. In the middle of the race Lewis stuck in some laps on old softs that were as fast as Vettel on fresh softs. For about 3 or 4 laps he was holding him firm. But then they droped all that advantage by sticking him on new hards right after Vettel. They should have done what they did before. Leave him out, tell him to go mental, then with 12 laps left pit him for some scrubbed softs and tell him to go get him!

I think the problem was the teams worked out that 4 sets of softs and a set of hards wasn't enough to get them through the race.
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Yep - the tyres do have that 'going mental' stage built into them no matter what :p
 
Apart from the red bulls, and when it was working, did any other car have the ability to deploy kers through the final turn even before they were on the start finish straight? I think this is one reason why Vettel was able to keep Hamilton behind him. Every onboard shot I saw, Hamilton had to wait till his car was pointing straight before deploying his kers.
 
Phreaky said:
The off-throttle engine maps give RBR the massive qualy advantage, its well known in the paddock.
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Well Monaco should clear up whether thats true or if it's due to the rear wing and being able to use the DRS for all of qfy.

As it's banned (probably) for monaco we should still see the huge advantage in qually, unless of course it is the rear wing giving them the most time.

:)

Hamilton and Alonso this year for me have shown why they are head and shoulders above the rest of the grid and why Hamilton said Alonso is his main challenger. Neither of them can beat that car though.

I still expect Vettel to get atleast 10-12 wins this year.
 
dannyjo22 said:
I still expect Vettel to get atleast 10-12 wins this year.
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Same, I am really not convinced banning the engine map will make too much difference. The car has an incredible level of downforce and I would be surprised if it was all down to the throttle maps.

Hopefully Hamilton can win a few - he is our only chance at an interesting season. I would love to see what he could do in that RB given what he is doing with that McLaren!
 
I thought the RBR was quicker in qualy due to its rear wing, because they can use DRS all the way round the track their rear wing can have higher downforce but without sacrificing speed

In the race this is obviously different, McLarens rear wing is more conservative therefore giving them a better race pace

Just what I have heard anyway...
 
howler said:
I thought the RBR was quicker in qualy due to its rear wing, because they can use DRS all the way round the track their rear wing can have higher downforce but without sacrificing speed

In the race this is obviously different, McLarens rear wing is more conservative therefore giving them a better race pace

Just what I have heard anyway...
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You are right, it certainly gives them a boost over the other teams. The throttle map, however, gives them more downforce through the corners and so they can deploy the wing much earlier than other teams. We will just have to wait and see as to whether this affects them more than the other teams.
 
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Race - Vettel holds off Hamilton for tense Spanish win
There may not have been as much overtaking as we saw in Turkey, but Lewis Hamilton made it a gripping Barcelona race on Sunday as he hounded Sebastian Vettel from the 20th to the 66th and final lap. The reigning world champion had to work every inch of the way as he took his fourth victory of the season for Red Bull, and the two drivers were separated by a mere 0.6s after more than 300 kilometres of flat-out racing.

Iplayer The Spanish Grand Prix
Jake Humphrey presents coverage of the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, with commentary from David Coulthard and Martin Brundle.

Iplayer The Spanish Grand Prix: Forum
Jake Humphrey presents the post-race forum alongside a panel of experts and pundits, discussing the Spanish Grand Prix.

Highlights - Spanish Grand Prix
Watch highlights of the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Spanish Grand Prix in 90 seconds
Watch short highlights from the Spanish Grand Prix as Sebastian Vettel holds off a late challenge from Lewis Hamilton to win at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Spanish Grand Prix - top three drivers
Winner Sebastian Vettel, second-placed Lewis Hamilton and third-placed Jenson Button reflect on the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

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With regards to the off the throttle engine maps.

dannyjo22 said:
As it's banned (probably) for monaco we should still see the huge advantage in qually, unless of course it is the rear wing giving them the most time.
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On the Forum, DC said that Charlie Whiting has already said that the issue will be discussed at the next technical meeting in mid june. So they'll still have it for Monaco at the very least.
 
realscot said:
With regards to the off the throttle engine maps.
On the Forum, DC said that Charlie Whiting has already said that the issue will be discussed at the next technical meeting in mid june. So they'll still have it for Monaco at the very least.
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It may give them more of an advantage at Monaco than Barcelona. Their main strength in Barcelona was the high speed corners, 3,9 & last one where they were on the throttle & DRS before anyone else. Not an area where aggressive hot blown diffusers will help you.
 
It seems to me that because RBR are so dominant (4 race wins out of 5), the media, the teams, the public, etc are all looking for ways to get any devices used by RBR, banned.

Last year we had the flexi wings, which were later deemed legal, after they passed more stringent tests.
This year, we are now kicking off with the off-throttle engine maps (and I'm sure there will be something else, later on in the year).

Face it people, rather than trying to get RBR car parts banned, it would be a lot more productive and fruitful to copy RBR and retro fit their cars with RBR technology.

Personally, I don't think Charlie Whiting, the FIA, the World Council (or whoever) are going to do anything about RBR's innovations. They are just saying things to keep the other teams quiet. Rather than saying, "sorry guys, RBR cars are legal, go away", they are saying, "ok ok, we acknowledge your concerns and we shall investigate/discuss your concerns later on in the year".

F1 should be about technology and innovation and I personally don't care for people who want to prevent this and get innovate ideas/technology/parts banned.
 
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