2012 Korean GP - Yeong-Am

[f1316]

The FIA has lengthened the DRS zone at the Korean International Circuit by 80 metres ahead of this weekend's grand prix.

WHY???

It can be argued DRS should not be on that massively long straight all together (as with the Kemmel straight), and yet now they decide to lengthen the zone?

I guess becasuse Webber found it so hard to get past Hamilton last year?

I personally enjoy seeing people having the possibility to defend, but then you could argue that Webber would have challenged Vettel for the win if he had got past.

[beelsebob]

The FIA has lengthened the DRS zone at the Korean International Circuit by 80 metres ahead of this weekend's grand prix.

WHY???

It can be argued DRS should not be on that massively long straight all together (as with the Kemmel straight), and yet now they decide to lengthen the zone?

I guess becasuse Webber found it so hard to get past Hamilton last year?

Right, but that was because they were bumping the rev limiter, because the DRS zone was in the wrong place, not because it was too short. The DRS zone should be on the straight before or after the main straight, not on the main straight.

[FLuidd]

Vettel will win this year's WDC and it all starts here in Korea.

Remember kids , Red Bull has both the downforce and speed due to their new DDRS system.

The championship is over.

[f1316]

Right, but that was because they were bumping the rev limiter, because the DRS zone was in the wrong place, not because it was too short. The DRS zone should be on the straight before or after the main straight, not on the main straight.

I guess you could argue that was RB's fault with the gear ratios.

Either way I guess they want to make it easier because: "Korea was among the worst tracks for overtaking last year, with just 29 moves completed - just over half of the season average." (autosport)

[raymondu999]

A large part of it IMO is mind management. If he comes into the race thinking he has to win - he could end up being brash and binning it. If he comforts himself saying he only needs podiums, he's more likely to play it safe and collect points.

[f1316]

A large part of it IMO is mind management. If he comes into the race thinking he has to win - he could end up being brash and binning it. If he comforts himself saying he only needs podiums, he's more likely to play it safe and collect points.

I agree that it's mind management, but I actually think he's had an overally cautious approach for too long and that having to be more aggressive may suit him.

[raymondu999]

It's debatable, but a fresh approach could be warranted.

A lot of athletes do fall into that rut at times. I often find (I used to be a performance coach once upon a time) that there are times when an athlete gets successful results through suboptimal methods. They repeat it once or twice, and when they face a long barren period, they go back to what they know worked, only to realise that the conditions and circumstances might in fact have changed, and warrant a change from the athlete's approach.

[SamH123]

I think we could be back to Mclaren and RB being close this race

It's easy to forget Button was only 4 tenths down in qualifying in Suzuka. If Vettel had had the Q3 we expected in Singapore the gap there would have more

If Hamilton really was having serious setup issues in Suzuka it could be close again in S Korea. Also Silverstone/Suzuka were similar tracks with similar results for Mclaren, maybe there is a connection there.

[MikeFromCanada]

I think we could be back to Mclaren and RB being close this race

It's easy to forget Button was only 4 tenths down in qualifying in Suzuka. If Vettel had had the Q3 we expected in Singapore the gap there would have more

If Hamilton really was having serious setup issues in Suzuka it could be close again in S Korea. Also Silverstone/Suzuka were similar tracks with similar results for Mclaren, maybe there is a connection there.

It's amazing how Hamilton's results seem to carry more weight than Button's when it comes to the general feeling towards McLaren's pace. Lewis had an awful weekend pace-wise at Suzuka and thus the general consensus has been McLaren had awful pace. However as Sam and others have mentioned, Jenson was only 4 tenths off Vettel's time. Generally speaking, that 3-4 tenths margin seems to be a consistent difference for Jenson to the pole time at most of the circuits this year, though many times that pole times has been by Lewis. What I'm saying is Jenson has been the slower of the 2 McLaren drivers in qualifying all season long, so it is not too hard to imagine that Lewis would have got closer to Vettel's pole time than 4 tenths. Lewis has out-qualified Button in I believe 11 of the 14 races leading up to Suzuka?

[Nando]

12-3 in Qualifying and a total of 4 seconds in collected time deficit.
Lost a full second in Suzuka and 8 tenths in SPA due to the different wing and now latest messing up the setup.

It was obvious he was struggling, you could see the super-early braking he did but it seemed to click mid way through the race.

What surprised me the most was how close he got to Button before falling back again.

[FLuidd]

12-3 in Qualifying and a total of 4 seconds in collected time deficit.
Lost a full second in Suzuka and 8 tenths in SPA due to the different wing and now latest messing up the setup.

It was obvious he was struggling, you could see the super-early braking he did but it seemed to click mid way through the race.

What surprised me the most was how close he got to Button before falling back again.

Nando , we all apreciate your optimism , but let's face it ... Vettel will take this one , specially in this season where qualifying is so important.

That is it.

[Hail22]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMxorQ9wrwk[/youtube]

[PlatinumZealot]

Vettel will win this year's WDC and it all starts here in Korea.

Remember kids , Red Bull has both the downforce and speed due to their new DDRS system.

The championship is over.

I said "Championship over" waaay back in March in the RedBull thread, and I was reprimanded and my comment deleted. Ironic isn't it?

[RB7ate9]

Vettel will win this year's WDC and it all starts here in Korea.

Remember kids , Red Bull has both the downforce and speed due to their new DDRS system.

The championship is over.

I said "Championship over" waaay back in March in the RedBull thread, and I was reprimanded and my comment deleted. Ironic isn't it?

I can understand being reprimanded for calling the season so soon. But deleted comment? really? was in the RB8 thread? Odd.

Anyhoo. I'm predicting that the Lotus passive DRS (aka "the Device" aka "DDRS" aka "PDRS") will still have issue in setup, putting them lower in the final order compared to Mcl, RB, and Ferrari.

With any luck, Lotus will have issue in qualifying, putting RG further back in the top 10 (see? I am not saying that he isn't fast, I just don't want him near Webber and Vettel...).

For his own sake, I hope Massa can out qualify and finish higher than Alonso this time around on his own merits.

Ideally: Red Bull 1-2 lights to flag.

Realistically:
1. Vettel/Hamilton (looking for Vettel to take this one)
2. Hamilton/Alonso
3. Button/Alonso/Webber
4. Alonso/Webber/Raikkonen

Dark horses are Sauber if they can get the tires smoothed out for longer.

Don't think Mercedes will have their "device" set up properly to be utilized.
Force India and Williams will duke it out with Mercedes to fill out the lower points positions.

[Ral]

Vettel will win this year's WDC and it all starts here in Korea.

Remember kids , Red Bull has both the downforce and speed due to their new DDRS system.

The championship is over.

I said "Championship over" waaay back in March in the RedBull thread, and I was reprimanded and my comment deleted. Ironic isn't it?

I can understand being reprimanded for calling the season so soon. But deleted comment? really? was in the RB8 thread? Odd.

Possibly because the season hadn't even started yet? Or had, but the RBR'S wasn't exactly setting the pace? Mark Gillan from Williams, says they suspect RBR have found a better exhaust position and suspects that might have more to do with the upturn in speed.

Anyhoo. I'm predicting that the Lotus passive DRS (aka "the Device" aka "DDRS" aka "PDRS") will still have issue in setup, putting them lower in the final order compared to Mcl, RB, and Ferrari.

With any luck, Lotus will have issue in qualifying, putting RG further back in the top 10 (see? I am not saying that he isn't fast, I just don't want him near Webber and Vettel...).

Well, if you are basing your hopes on problems getting the device set up, you're out of luck as they won't be running it at all this weekend.