2012 US GP - Circuit of the Americas

[komninosm]

Vettel can be more than happy to finish second. Hamilton could easily puncutre his rear tyre and then DNF for Vettel. And he has guts to complain. Pathethic.

To be fair, Vettel has a WDC on the line along with all the trappings that go with it - including being written into the history books, probably significant income, sponsorship deals, bonuses, F1 legend status etc, the list goes on. It was far more than loosing one place at race. One can only imagine the immense pressure he and Alonso are under, plus they have to actually drive a car flat-out and still be a race driver. Put anyone in that situation and let's see how they react. Hows about we cut these guys some slack, they are human after all and no-one is perfect.

Yeah, it's not like Senna, Prost, Hakkinen, Schumacher, Raikonnen, Mansel, Hill, etc never whined like crybabies... oh wait they didn't. They may have complained like men at times, but not like spoiled brats. He was almost crying for realsies, you could hear it in his voice, really embarrassing. It's only my opinion.

Alonso is like the Darth Vader of F1 (and proved it again this GP with Massa demoted) and Ferrari are the Evil Empire.

Yes, the Emperor was only too quick to use the force on that seal, then walked into the media with a smile wider than a smuggler stroking his wookie.

That explains why they couldn't find any fingerprints

[SiLo]

Didn't get to watch the race but caught the highlights. Looked like Hamilton and Vettel were just in a different class. 40 seconds down the road from Alonso who is no slouch in race trim either, very impressive. Really liking the track as well, especially that first corner, plenty of overtaking going on there.

[adam2003]

Didn't get to watch the race but caught the highlights. Looked like Hamilton and Vettel were just in a different class. 40 seconds down the road from Alonso who is no slouch in race trim either, very impressive. Really liking the track as well, especially that first corner, plenty of overtaking going on there.

I though was a dull race went to much entertainment, I don't like these set outs the track is massive with lots of distance in background if you understand what i am saying lol

[rodi]

Didn't get to watch the race but caught the highlights. Looked like Hamilton and Vettel were just in a different class. 40 seconds down the road from Alonso who is no slouch in race trim either, very impressive. Really liking the track as well, especially that first corner, plenty of overtaking going on there.

They were on another planeth. It is not just about the 40 seconds during the race. Many inputs from FIA data suggest McLaren and Redbull are a serious threaten to the rest of the pitlane...watch max speed in S1!

....

[beelsebob]

Didn't get to watch the race but caught the highlights. Looked like Hamilton and Vettel were just in a different class. 40 seconds down the road from Alonso who is no slouch in race trim either, very impressive. Really liking the track as well, especially that first corner, plenty of overtaking going on there.

They were on another planeth. It is not just about the 40 seconds during the race. Many inputs from FIA data suggest McLaren and Redbull are a serious threaten to the rest of the pitlane...watch max speed in S1!

I don't get what you mean... "A serious threaten to the rest of the pitlane"?

Just so you know – you can specify a signature in the Forum preferences, that other people can opt out of seeing. This also stops them having to chop it out of your reply manually when they quote you.

[sknguy]

How did Vettel manage to quite consistently drive faster S2 times than Hamilton, while the McLaren had a higher top speed? Was that all down to (if so, obviously much) better traction out of t9?

I'll attempt a guess on this one. Red Bull set their cars up to be slower at top speed, but to get to that top speed quickly. So even though other cars are faster at the top end, the Red Bull is already down the road. We saw this with Hamilton where Vettel could hold him off in the DRS zone. Vettel simply pulls away and gets to his top speed faster than what Hamilton can get to his top speed. If the straights were longer, this tactic would not work for Red Bull, however, to date, its worked quite well in most circumstances.

This is why Vettel was angry at the HRT. He knew he could hold Hamilton off as long as no-one held him up. Hamilton even backed that up in his interview that it was unlikely to get passed Vettel without a back marker or mistake.

I agree, and top speed is often overrated (for certain circuits). What you explained is, I suppose, the same principle that holds true in drag racing, where one car can have a higher top speed at the end but still not make it to the finish line sooner than the slower car. I guess that's about "getting up to speed" the quickest. If you looked at the T11-T12 straight as a drag race, what would be the optimum gearing for your car? Not sure about Hamilton's car, but Button was sure hitting the rev limiter a lot while on the DRS. Maybe McLaren had tried to effect the same principle with their gearing but seventh sure seemed just a smidgen short. Or did they need a different seventh for other sections?

[rodi]

Didn't get to watch the race but caught the highlights. Looked like Hamilton and Vettel were just in a different class. 40 seconds down the road from Alonso who is no slouch in race trim either, very impressive. Really liking the track as well, especially that first corner, plenty of overtaking going on there.

They were on another planeth. It is not just about the 40 seconds during the race. Many inputs from FIA data suggest McLaren and Redbull are a serious threaten to the rest of the pitlane...watch max speed in S1!

I don't get what you mean... "A serious threaten to the rest of the pitlane"?

Just so you know – you can specify a signature in the Forum preferences, that other people can opt out of seeing. This also stops them having to chop it out of your reply manually when they quote you.

"watch max speed in S1!" the difference in speed between Redbull and Ferrari is about 15 kph. This is due to a much more stable and balanced car coming out of corner T4-5-6 and the car capability to break more into T7 (consider S1 is 55 m before the apex).


rodibasso

[beelsebob]

"watch max speed in S1!" the difference in speed between Redbull and Ferrari is about 15 kph. This is due to a much more stable and balanced car coming out of corner T4-5-6 and the car capability to break more into T7 (consider S1 is 55 m before the apex).

Okay, but what I'm not getting is what you're saying with "serious threat to the rest of the pit lane"... I mean... are you saying they'll beat all the other teams? If so, well... no ---!

[turbof1]

Yeah, it's not like Senna, Prost, Hakkinen, Schumacher, Raikonnen, Mansel, Hill, etc never whined like crybabies... oh wait they didn't. They may have complained like men at times, but not like spoiled brats. He was almost crying for realsies, you could hear it in his voice, really embarrassing. It's only my opinion.

?? Euhmm, Schumacher, Prost and Senna all made very questionable decisions and did made childish remarks. Some of the older members here surely remember the hot heated fued which lasted years between Senna and Prost (to name one thing in particular: Prost added a clausule to his contract with Williams then Senna couldn't join that team at the time), which was by all means no less childish then the remark made by Vettel.
Or how about Schumi, who rammed cars when the WDC title was at stake. Isn't that more childish?

I don't like it either when Vettel cries like that, but IMO that is part of the sport. Both in the present, past and the future. Deal with it.

[rodi]

"watch max speed in S1!" the difference in speed between Redbull and Ferrari is about 15 kph. This is due to a much more stable and balanced car coming out of corner T4-5-6 and the car capability to break more into T7 (consider S1 is 55 m before the apex).

Okay, but what I'm not getting is what you're saying with "serious threat to the rest of the pit lane"... I mean... are you saying they'll beat all the other teams? If so, well... no ---!

I think so. McLaren is the only real challenger and during the race, not in qualy. HAM made it to over take VET in USA. When this happens for redbull is very tough to recover because of their aggressive strategy on 7th gear selection. Having said that, in Brazil rain and safety cars may introduce the right random effect to help ferrari gaining an historical result.

[ell66]

Love the track, even from just playing the track on the xbox i knew it would be a good race.

The weekend kinda reminded me of germany last year in some ways, amazing qually from hamilton to get within a tenth then an unrelenting race. When ever he's engaged in a race long duel he always seems to come out on top, true racer.

Was surprised how quick he was in sector 1, he seemed to have a slightly different line through there, was also shocked at vettel moving over, very silly move to make when leading the championship.

[aral]

was also shocked at vettel moving over, very silly move to make when leading the championship.

From the overheads, Vettel was running on the left hand side to defend himself from a pass on the inside. He then made ONE move to centre of road, as he was entitled to do under the current rules, but he stopped his move when he saw Hamilton alongside him. He could have gone over further, so he was really being sensible.

[Hobbs04]

Love the track, even from just playing the track on the xbox i knew it would be a good race.

The weekend kinda reminded me of germany last year in some ways, amazing qually from hamilton to get within a tenth then an unrelenting race. When ever he's engaged in a race long duel he always seems to come out on top, true racer.

Was surprised how quick he was in sector 1, he seemed to have a slightly different line through there, was also shocked at vettel moving over, very silly move to make when leading the championship.

Kinda reminds me of China 2011 when Hamilton was all over Vettel and finally passed him in that left hand bend.

[strad]

thanks Ral

[Hobbs04]

What is the personality of CotA? Ive been trying to figure out what kind of track it is. Most every great track has a personality say Monza or Spa but I can't put a finger on what CotA is in one sentence.

Any suggestions?