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

Flibster · 21 May 2011 at 10:48

pingwing said:
Well that fire is the end of the blown diffuser concept, surly the FIA will just go urm so that's what happens when you fire the exhaust over the diffuser... FIRE!

Renaults EBD exits at the front of the sidepod, not where the fire appeared to start.

Irish_Tom · 21 May 2011 at 10:49

Well there's been plenty of drama already this morning. Let's hope it continues into quali.

Shimmy · 21 May 2011 at 10:51

pingwing said:
Well that fire is the end of the blown diffuser concept, surly the FIA will just go urm so that's what happens when you fire the exhaust over the diffuser... FIRE!

Cant complain, it is a clever thing, but typical F1 everyone tries to push it too far and it'll lead to potential danger so it gets banned.

Bring back T-cars! Forgot how annoying it is pretty much loosing someone to a mechanical fault. Didn't the FIA try and put working limits to stop the teams having to stay up all night to repair cars that get totalled before the gp??

Whilst the sensor reported it was the exhaust running too hot; Renault run a FEE system which is different from anyone else on the grid.

AGD · 21 May 2011 at 11:00

Lol, vettel comes out and in one lap beats webber!

Slam62 · 21 May 2011 at 11:02

ha ha race is already over folks

Katoom · 21 May 2011 at 11:02

Vettel sideways! Cracking single lap.

pingwing · 21 May 2011 at 11:02

Flibster said:
Renaults EBD exits at the front of the sidepod, not where the fire appeared to start.

Shimmy said:
Whilst the sensor reported it was the exhaust running too hot; Renault run a FEE system which is different from anyone else on the grid.

You know how the FIA work though guys, to tackle the problem they wont say you cant blow the exhaust over the floor, it'll be "for safety reasons PUT THE EXHAUSTS BACK IN NORMAL PLACES LADS" (and instead of listening to the causes it'll be there was fire in about the right place so be quiet and listen to us).

Stifles ingenuity and development but should even up the field a bit

SPARC · 21 May 2011 at 11:05

Red Bull 1-2 again by a mile today then

I guess I can only hope that they fumble on strategy tomorrow but they probably won't

Duke · 21 May 2011 at 11:08

Well the gap remains, oh well! The racing behind Vettel last time was epic though.

sunama · 21 May 2011 at 11:13

Guys, this isn't 2010.

During the race, with all the pit stops, possible overtaking opportunities and varying strategies, just because you are the fastest over a single lap, it doesnt mean you will win.

The racing in 2011 is unpredictable.

Lest we forget that if Vettel does not lead on lap1, the chances of him winning (regardless of how fast his car is) are almost non-existent.

RBR will have the best car by far (this track is their strongest), however it is not as straightforward as some people are making out.

Glaucus · 21 May 2011 at 11:26

Practice One - Webber leads Vettel by a second in Spanish sun
Red Bull's Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel led the way during Friday morning's first, relatively low-key, practice session in Spain, and the margin of their superiority was highlighted by the 1.007s gap between them.

Highlights - Spanish GP first practice
Watch highlights as Red Bull's Mark Webber sets the pace ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel in first practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Iplayer - The Spanish Grand Prix - Practice One
Coverage of the first practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix from Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona.

Glaucus · 21 May 2011 at 11:29

Practice Two - Webber again, but Hamilton splits the Red Bulls
For a while in Spain on Friday afternoon, when Sebastian Vettel was 1.960s ahead of anyone else, rivals feared the worst. But by the end of a second practice session in which the world champion finished third, the gap between Vettel and fastest man Mark Webber was 0.356s. And in between the two Red Bull team mates, a threatening Lewis Hamilton was only 0.039s adrift of the Australian for McLaren.

Highlights - Spanish GP second practice
Watch highlights as Red Bull's Mark Webber goes fastest at the Circuit de Catalunya ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Iplayer - The Spanish Grand Prix - Practice Two
Coverage of the second practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix from Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona.

Glaucus · 21 May 2011 at 11:32

Final practice - Vettel pips Webber at the post
He sat in the pits for most of the final practice session as team mate Mark Webber set the pace, but right at the end Sebastian Vettel emerged with two and a half minutes to spare to take the honours with a brilliant lap of 1m 21.707s. That was 0.084s faster than the Australian, whose best of 1m 21.791s was 1.350s faster than Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes.

Nick Heidfeld's Renault goes up in flames in Spain
Nick Heidfeld is forced to take evasive action after his Renault catches fire during a flying lap in third free practice ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Glaucus · 21 May 2011 at 11:34

FIA Press Conference
FIA Thursday press conference - Spain
Drivers - Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Sergio Perez (Sauber) Mark Webber (Red Bull).

Friday practice - selected team and driver quotes
Red Bull’s Mark Webber may have led his team mate Sebastian Vettel by a country mile during Friday’s opening session, but in the afternoon the situation changed somewhat with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton pushing Vettel down the order to third to run a very close second to Webber. The leading teams and their rivals reflect on their early progress in Barcelona…

FIA Friday press conference - Spain
Senior team personnel: Jose Carabante (HRT), Jean-Francois Caubet (Renault Sport F1), Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari), Mark Gallagher (Cosworth) and Adam Parr (Williams).

Glaucus · 21 May 2011 at 11:36

Flibster · 21 May 2011 at 11:37

Virgin and HRT may well not be able to protest the results. They have been consistantly outside the 107% time set by the leading car.

At this rate, they may not be allowed to race. I wouldn't let them.

TaKeN · 21 May 2011 at 11:40

Red Bull in being quick shocker

pingwing · 21 May 2011 at 11:52

Flibster said:
Virgin and HRT may well not be able to protest the results. They have been consistantly outside the 107% time set by the leading car.

At this rate, they may not be allowed to race. I wouldn't let them.

7 seconds off the pace is stupid! Shame as the previous couple of races (mainly with HRT) they had started to get their act together, well a bit...

Im loving the drivers whine about the new hard tyre, Hamilton calling it "a disaster to drive" means if nothing else who ever has the most good ones for the race might have some sort of advantage (if they can make the 2ish second advantage work over a decent period of time).

First Spanish gp that could be good for a while.

Flibster · 21 May 2011 at 12:04

So far the fastest time is 1:21.707 from Vettel.
So the 107% time for that is 1:27.426

Drivers that have not gone faster than that time are:
Glock, D'Ambrosio, Liuzzi and Karthikeyan - Glock being the closest at only 0.3s off the 107% time.

deuse · 21 May 2011 at 12:06

Flibster said:
Virgin and HRT may well not be able to protest the results. They have been consistantly outside the 107% time set by the leading car.

At this rate, they may not be allowed to race. I wouldn't let them.

I think williams can protest or they may come to a deal with FOTA.