Brazilian GP 2011 - Interlagos

[raymondu999]

Lap length - 4.309km (2.677 miles)
Race laps - 71
Race distance - 305.939km (190.067 miles)

2011 tyres: medium (prime, white) and soft (option, yellow)
2010 tyres: Medium (prime, no stripe), Super-Soft (option,stripe)
2009 tyres: Medium (prime, no stripe), Super-Soft (option, stripe)

2010:



2010 pole lap:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2NihNzuIyE[/youtube]

[Gerhard Berger]

One of my favourite tracks. Once again i think Red Bull and Mclaren will lead the way but Ferrari will be a bit closer, especially if conditions are warm. Tyre wear should be higher than in the last few races which should make the race more interesting.

With regards to DRS, i think one zone should suffice (either the pit straight or the back straight).

[raymondu999]

I'm thinking McLaren will be quite strong here - relative to Red Bull, McLaren will be stronger than they are in Abu Dhabi. Tight and twisty seem to be the MP4-26's playgrounds. As beelsebob has said before, the McLaren this year seems to enjoy the tracks where the setup calls for a high wing angle - the U shaped channels feeding the rear wing nicely. McLaren is back to their days of being strong at technical twisty circuits, with good mechanical grip.

[ell66]

I'm thinking McLaren will be quite strong here - relative to Red Bull, McLaren will be stronger than they are in Abu Dhabi. Tight and twisty seem to be the MP4-26's playgrounds. As beelsebob has said before, the McLaren this year seems to enjoy the tracks where the setup calls for a high wing angle - the U shaped channels feeding the rear wing nicely. McLaren is back to their days of being strong at technical twisty circuits, with good mechanical grip.

Will be intresting because mclaren haven't been that strong at brazil in recent times, red bull will be on pole and will be the fastest car, but whether mclaren will be very close like this weekend or further away like at india is the question

[raymondu999]

I think probably the Red Bull and McLaren will be neck and neck in the dry qualifying. Race pace maybe the McLaren would be a bit closer; or even ahead. The infield section is sort of a similar technicality to the Hungaroring; and the McLaren was the fastest car there

[MrBlacky]

1. Wet race
2. Can anyone tell me how the hell Hülkenberg took the pole last year? I can't remember it well, but was he the only one on slicks?

[raymondu999]

Blacky - Hulkenberg had a super aggressive outlap where he just massacred the tyres; and so he had a lot of heat. He also was out on the best timing in that he crossed the line with 4 seconds to spare before the lights turned red. That gave him 3 flying laps while the others had 2. Crucial, as the track was drying and so was just continuing to get faster. His 2nd lap however, was good enough for pole ahead of Vettel by 1 tenth already. His final lap (shown above) out qualified Vettel by a second.

It was watching magic. I just watched live timing in awe. Hulkenberg set a string of super laps. He set an outlap with purple sectors 2 and 3, and then had 9 purple sectors in a row (3 triple-purple laps)

[ell66]

Blacky - Hulkenberg had a super aggressive outlap where he just massacred the tyres; and so he had a lot of heat. He also was out on the best timing in that he crossed the line with 4 seconds to spare before the lights turned red. That gave him 3 flying laps while the others had 2. Crucial, as the track was drying and so was just continuing to get faster. His 2nd lap however, was good enough for pole ahead of Vettel by 1 tenth already. His final lap (shown above) out qualified Vettel by a second.

It was watching magic. I just watched live timing in awe. Hulkenberg set a string of super laps. He set an outlap with purple sectors 2 and 3, and then had 9 purple sectors in a row (3 triple-purple laps)

Indeed, the williams also got heat into its tyres very quickly last year, which hindered them at other races.

I think qually will be close again, but with the bulls having better race pace.

[ringo]

I want rain in the end of the race.

I suspect ferrari will be strong here. They tend to do well on the tracks that are on the calender for many years.

Hamilton/Vettel for pole.

Vettel/Ham/Alonso for the win. If it rains in the end then Hamilton for the win.

[ringo]

Ringo -China 2011 was dry...

err hungary.

[raymondu999]

I hope the FIA don't mess up the race with a massively long DRS zone. I can see them plonking it down the pit straight for half the length, and people zooming past before the pit entry.

Just as a curious thought - where do you all think will be those "holy crap he opened DRS!" corners here? i'm thinking Curva do Sol will be DRS-able for McLaren and Red Bull; and *possibly* but unlikely Turn 2 - though that would probably require major-sized balls. Turn 5 would probably be easy DRS though; maybe Mergulho? I know they were on the f-duct in the damp last year in Mergulho

[Kaneda]

Personally, I think Interlagos doens't need DRS at all. It's a track where many overtakings happen every season.

[Gerhard Berger]

I'll say Massa on pole after gaining 1s from the crowd support for the sake of making the thread interesting. That is still a valid point and the same goes for what happens if it rains.

Well Massa did say he was an Interlagos specialist so this may be his best chance to get a podium this year (i guess you could forgive him for underperforming last year because of the rain in qualifying). Then again, he did say he was an Istanbul and Singapore specialist and ended up being beaten comfortably by Alonso at both tracks this year.

[FW17]

Is there any talk of a revised layout for Interlagos?

[beelsebob]

Is there any talk of a revised layout for Interlagos?

IIRC they've slightly changed the first part of the "straight" bringing it in somewhat to allow them to improve the barriers.