Turkish Grand Prix 2011, Istanbul Park - Race 4/19

Kerming said:
can I just say, im so happy for team lotus, finaly they are up mixing with the big guns like williams and force india. :)
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they're not team lotus they're a new team started by a malasian guy who runs an airline, may as well be a fizzy drinks team.

Anyway they've got Redbulls engine and gearbox so they've got a decent starting point.

Nice colour cars though
 
Slam62 said:
they're not team lotus they're a new team started by a malasian guy who runs an airline, may as well be a fizzy drinks team.

Anyway they've got Redbulls engine and gearbox so they've got a decent starting point.

Nice colour cars though
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They are Team Lotus. That is their name.
 
Slam62 said:
they're not team lotus they're a new team started by a malasian guy who runs an airline, may as well be a fizzy drinks team.

Anyway they've got Redbulls engine and gearbox so they've got a decent starting point.

Nice colour cars though
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Infinitely more Lotus than that bunch that call themselves Lotus Renault Lada GP though. ;)

Team Lotus are a great bunch of chaps and chapettes though. Visiting the factory on Wednesday.
 
Skeeter said:
I did like the spanish bit to Alonso. Did they seriously think nobody else would just translate that instantly? I expect it was translated on Twitter within seconds!
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Clearly faster than you as it was Italian not Spanish :p, it's a pretty good idea for them to do it. Plenty of teams would take a while to translate it and by then it would be too late.
 
Tweaker said:
I think in 2009, a lot of people were excited in the first 6 or 7 races, with Brawn dominating. It was exciting for most because it was a failing team, limited budget with 2 drivers who were working for a rookies pay. I think in the situation like red bull, a huge budget, the best engineers with 2 good drivers, red bull dont excite people as much.
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And it had a British driver, which always goes down well.

Red Bull have gone from a midfield team to consistent front runners in what, 5/6 years? They've got probably the best driver in the field as well in terms of getting a car to the front and keeping it there so they've totally earned it. It is becoming a little reminiscent of the Schumacher era, but the action behind is fantastic to watch.
 
I wouldn't say that his strategy went horribly wrong. The 3 stopper was slower, right from the get-go.

Other teams, altered their strategy and switched to the 4-stopper, but Button (with his alleged ability to look after his tyres better than anybody else) decided to stick with the 3 stopper and as it turned out, it was wrong, simply due to the tyre degradation and the lack of his ability to look after this tyres any better than anybody else on the track.

At no stage did I ever think that Button could make 2nd - beating his team-mate (and an RBR car) on dry track...how often does that happen?

I think people need to stop believing the hype regarding Button's ability to nurse his tyres better than anybody else on the track. Yes, he is far easier on his tyres than Hamilton, but that's not exactly difficult when you consider that Hamilton is arguably the most aggressive driver in F1. Hamilton is now having to compensate for this aggressive driving style by making more pit-stops, but it is working out well for him.

I would actually suggest that when it comes to tyre management, Alonso is the best in the business.
 
utajoker said:
It was obvious his tyres would never of lasted, mclaren should have new this.
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I assume that the room full of strategists which they have hired (along with the super computers they use to run through simulations), must have known, but probably panicked.

As I said before, it amazes me that a room full of professionals whose full time job it is to predict/make strategies are so bad at what they do.
 
Button said himself he came in too early on each stint, which meant the final stint was too long. It would have worked better if he had delayed a couple of laps on the first two, as he said the tyres at the points he came in were still okay.
 
sunama said:
I would actually suggest that when it comes to tyre management, Alonso is the best in the business.
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Didn't Bridgestone confirm this? They also said the difference between Button and Hamilton tyre wear wise was marginal. I'm sure I read that somewhere. I may be wrong though.

Either way I agree.
 
Duke said:
Button said himself he came in too early on each stint, which meant the final stint was too long.
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Button did say this. But, why did he not suggest this to the team? Button is intelligent and can think on his feet. The room full of strategists obviously did not pick up on this, but IMO, the fault lies with Button, as he can potentially do a much better job than the room full of strategists.

I remember when Senna was around. He was the absolute master when it came to strategy and although the team would make recommendations, he was the one who made the final call. I imagine that the same system is operated by most teams, for pretty much all driver, except for the complete newbies.
 
Interesting article in The Independent today about why the season might not be over already in terms of Vettel winning everything.

It cites the fact that McLaren had a technical issue at the factory last week which meant that they were unable to bring all of their planned upgrades to Turkey but that they should be ready for Spain. It also says that Ferrari are expecting further upgrades in time for Spain which they didn't have in Turkey.

It went on to say that in Turkey, Hamilton went wide and lost places on the first lap, both Hamilton and Alonso had nightmare pitstops and Button's error in strategy cost him time as well. Vettel, and to a lesser extent Webber, had a flawless races in comparison.

The article suggests that the margin by which Vettel is winning isn't so large that it rules out the other drivers and it only takes one technical issue or a second of poor judgement (as seen in China) and the race is no longer a foregone conclusion.

It raises some good points and we have to remember that it is still early in the season. My feeling of deflation after the race on Sunday has wained a bit, especially when I consider the points made in this article.


However, my two concerns are firstly, can McLaren and Ferrari improve their cars faster than Red Bull and secondly, can Vettel and RBR continue to race as 'perfectly' (for want of a better word) as they have been for the whole season or at least as long as they need to for Vettel to win the title.
 
That is all irrelevant.

'What could have been' is not worth talking about, as it didnt happen.

What did happen is Vettel stuck it on pole, 0.4 seconds ahead of everyone else, and then comfortably drove away at the front and would have been fine with only 3 stops.

Nobody who drive as fast as Vettel managed 3 stops, and nobody who did manage 3 stops drove as fast as Vettel.

The guy/car combo as raw qualifying speed, and race pace, and good tyre management. I still firmly believe he lacks as a 'racer' in terms of overtaking and strategy, but when you start from the front and lead all the way that doesn't really matter.

I'm not a Vettel fan, I would like to see some others taking the fight to him. But you simply have to admit that in the Red Bull he has completely out performed everyone.
 
I mentioned this earlier. Right now Vettel is in a rich vein of form. As in any sport and its sportsmen - no sportsman can maintain top form, for an entire season. It rarely happens.

My belief is that Alonso is not in top form right now and that there is a lot more to come from him (and Ferrari). I'm pretty sure that Hamilton and Alonso will close the gap on Vettel by the time we reach the final few races.

Last year, Vettel seemed to dip in form in the Summer, which allowed Webber to win 3 races on the trot. I'm hoping that we see something similar from Vettel this year as well.

This season is not yet a walkover for Vettel. At some point McLaren/Hamilton will realise that denying Vettel pole position is VERY important for the race, simply because Vettel can't seem to a win a race, unless he is leading on lap 1. Stop Vettel from leading on lap 1 and you have almost denied him victory. Once Hamilton and McLaren understand this, they can start strategising to give more emphasis to qualifying (just as RBR do).
 
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