Spanish Grand Prix 2014, Catalunya - Race 5/19

Skeeter said:
Is there an average points per finish stat?

Edit: Hamilton 14.4, Button 13.4

The whole results set is skewed by the 5 additional DNFs for Hamilton.
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You're not one of the McLaren/Lewis conspiracy theorists are you? I'd rather not go down that ludicrous route. Assigning 'responsibility' for each DNF that both suffered is pointless.

Cold, hard points are all that the teams are concerned about.
 
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robbiemc said:
You're not one of the McLaren/Lewis conspiracy theorists are you? I'd rather not go down that ludicrous route. Assigning 'responsibility' for each DNF that both suffered is pointless.
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Hamilton was clearly the architect of more of his DNFs than Button. In 2011, in particular, he was involved in a number of needless collisions. It's not conspiracy-theorist to point this out.

I remain surprised at how closely run Button vs. Hamilton was, but I think it's fairly evident Hamilton is the better driver and I think McLaren are suffering from his exit.
 
Mr Jack said:
Hamilton was clearly the architect of more of his DNFs than Button. In 2011, in particular, he was involved in a number of needless collisions. It's not conspiracy-theorist to point this out.

I remain surprised at how closely run Button vs. Hamilton was, but I think it's fairly evident Hamilton is the better driver ...
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I agree with this (except with McLaren suffering from his exit).
Jenson had his golden chance and took it, much as Lewis is doing this year. I can't see Jenson winning another championship, but can see Lewis winning another (or two).

I just find it frustrating that the Jenson 'haters' have such a hard time acknowledging what he's accomplished.
 
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Dunno why people think Lewis is struggling with the car after winning 4 races.... Nico is an exceptionally quick driver (both in race and qualifying) so I am not surprised Hamilton has to be at his very best to fend him off.

Lewis also has the tendency to talk absolute rubbish over the radio regarding what is happening with his car. I remember in Bahrain when he was tussling with Nico and he suddenly screamed "I'VE GOT NO POWER!" over the radio to his team. Really Lewis? Funny Nico hasnt been able to mug you under acceleration then. Also what was it he said last weekend? "My rear end is everywhere!" It looked pretty planted to me, you should take a look at the Ferrari.
 
Hopefully better late than never, I've just arrived back from Barcelona a couple of hours ago, and have quickly sorted through the first pictures. There are a few below, and more on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gregkingston/

Jenson Button by Greg Kingston, on Flickr

Pastor Maldonado by Greg Kingston, on Flickr

Fernando Alonso overtakes Kimi Raikonen near the end of the race by Greg Kingston, on Flickr

Lewis Hamilton winning the 2014 Barcelona grand prix by Greg Kingston, on Flickr

I enjoyed the race, particularly the last laps as the two Mercs and Ferraris battled it out. However, although I haven't yet watched it back on TV, I doubt it will go down as one of the classics. Still, huge fun and a really good weekend. The remainder of this is more of a review should anyone else be thinking of going. For me, Barcelona was one of the most accessible and well-organised races I've been to - the polar opposite to Istanbul!

We flew in on the Wednesday, and stated near Sants. Although it is a four or five metro stops away from the tourist spots, it is just three stops on the train from the airport and, crucially, the point where you can get on a virtually empty train on the R2 line to get to the track. To get to the track you take line R2 to Montmelo and from there, depending on which track gate you're aiming for, it is a 25 - 40 minute walk. If you're lazy, sunburned, drunk or a combination of all three, you can cab back to the station for 10 Euro. A T-10 train ticket gives you 10 journeys covering zones one and two (Montmelo is just in zone 2) and will only cost 20 Euros.

We went for the Thursday pit walk to go and meet the drivers. If you plan the same, get in line a good hour in advance. Once the gates open it is a mad rush, but don't panic. Most people were excited to just get on the track. Don't be distracted - you can take track photos later - just sprint for your garage of choice in the pit lane. We aimed for McLaren and got right to the front - that meant being able to exchange a couple of words with the drivers and also get their autographs. People just two or three behind us though went back empty-handed.

Once the rush has died down you can take track photos to your heart's content.

We didn't bother going on Friday, opting instead to do the tourist thing around Barcelona, and only returned on Saturday for qualifying. On Sunday we missed the first race (GP2) and turned up in time for GP3 and, of course, the main F1 race. We were in stand F, which is the last stand on the main straight. Good views, if you're high enough, looking out over turns one, two and the beginning of three.

Track facilities were really good - plenty of toilets (kept clean) and, whilst expensive, the refreshments were not ugly over the top (11 Euro for a litre of beer). We took our own food and water in though - just note that you will not be able to take your own alcohol in (although you could easily smuggle in a clear spirit in a water bottle if that's what you wanted).

Both before and after the race Montmelo has plenty of places to eat and drink on the main road through town and, unlike the track, they're pretty cheap. On each visit to the track we stopped for a couple of drinks on the way back to let the rush die down, and each time we managed to get seats on the train as a result.

So another F1 venue ticked off the list, but it is one that I'd gladly do again.
 
Joking aside for a minute, there were a couple of observations I wanted to make following the race, centred around the current level of the Mercedes' cars and the others. They're uninformed and a little subjective, but it was just the way I saw them.

We were sitting at the end of the main straight, so we saw the cars brake from top speed down to turn one, blip the power into turn two and then full throttle up the hill into turn three.

Without exception, in qualifying and the race, the Mercedes always closed the DRS earlier than any other car. It was difficult to judge at that speed but I reckon it was a good three or four car lengths. Perhaps to aid braking, or perhaps they are braking earlier and easier.

The latter may be more accurate - perhaps to gain more recovered energy. Other cars, the Lotus and Red Bull in particular, appeared to be able to brake a good couple of car lengths later than everyone else. However, it was the drive out of turn one and two where the Mercedes were quite different. The engine note, smoother than all under braking, was also smooth and crisp when accelerating out of turn one. Lewis in particular was short shifting before the apex of turn two and using the low down torque to pull him up the hill.

In the Red Bull Ricciado was a machine in this section of the track. He was the only driver to consistently hit the apex (Vettel did it from halfway into the race) of turn one, and the only driver to use the outside kerb at the end of the straight to take a wider turn into turn one - you could hear the rumble every time he came past.

Where the Mercedes delivered smooth power out of turns one and two, Ferrari were all over the place. The sound, particularly at low revs, made the engine sound like it was really poorly mapped and delivering power in a far from linear fashion. Both Alonso and Kimi were often struggling to get grip out of turn two - it just didn't seem to be evenly delivered. We only really noticed because a) the engine sounded poor and b) we noticed that the lower drivers in the Porsche Cup really struggled with traction there too.

Anyway, far from scientific. Just some first-hand observations from watching the same spot of track 66 times...! :)
 
Yup, my general thinking behind the Merc's is one of their strengths is the synergy of both engine power and harvesting/applying that power. I think they are harvesting better, storing more energy and by using more energy they can apply it better and rely on it more. Brake a little earlier, harvest more power, spin up the turbo, less lag on exit, quicker acceleration.

Since the first day of the first test, the Merc has sounded smoother. The Renault started like a spluttering mess of miss mapped sounding rubbishness and drove like it(when it could drive) and the Ferrari sounded really poor in testing. Difference is the Renault does appear to have moved on significantly where the Ferrari still sounds dodgy and control wise seems all over the place.

You just get the impression that their engine/power delivery is all over the place, FAR less smooth, less controlled and wheel spin is likely much less predictable as a result.

Merc's are really good in tire life as well, not only faster but went way further than almost everyone. Braking earlier, smoother power delivery out of corners, less wheel spin. The merc seems to just have a perfect balance of everything. Everything works together to give great tire life, and everything seems to work together to store and use more power than anyone else can achieve. Beating everyone in fuel usage on top of being that much faster.

It's an epic piece of engineering that car, to get everything so right at the first go under new regs is awesome. I mean you would think a car banging around 20 seconds faster than everyone else in the first stint would... eat up their tires or use more fuel, to both save tires better and use less fuel while being that much faster is pretty ridiculous.
 
Nice writeup Abyss. I agree about the organisation and accessability. Driving was fine too. We only sat in a queue when leaving on Sunday, other than that it was easy in and out all other days.

Spectating is great from pretty much anywhere. The only place I wouldn't want to sit is the upper level of the main grandstand. The angle of the seats mean you can't see the closest half of the track, which is the racing line.

Also looks like you chose the right day to fly home, its misserable and grey here today :(.

Overall I'd definately come here again. With the airport so close you could easily grab a flight Friday morning and one late Sunday evening and get the whole race weekend in 3 days.
 
robbiemc said:
You're not one of the McLaren/Lewis conspiracy theorists are you? I'd rather not go down that ludicrous route. Assigning 'responsibility' for each DNF that both suffered is pointless.

Cold, hard points are all that the teams are concerned about.
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Nope. Just pointing out that the difference is caused by the DNFs, regardless of fault.
 
Only caught up with the race last night, thought it was an enjoyable enough race though there was a few parts where there didn't seem to be a lot happening, certainly wasn't the most exciting we have had this year.

There was some good drives though and when there was racing it was good... Would just be nice if the Mercs weren't quite as far ahead having their own race battles :p
 
I don't think they're braking earlier, I'd say it's more lift and coast which would explain Lewis' consistently good fuel consumption.
 
The DRS isn't disabled by the throttle though, its disabled by applying the brakes. Lifting and coasting wouldn't automatically shut the DRS, the driver would have to manually close it.
 
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