Italian GP 2011 - Autodromo Nazionale Monza

[ringo]

There is no way in hell Hamilton will go quicker than MSC in a medium set of tyres while MSC is not soft on a track like MONZA.

What if he did?

[raymondu999]

I don't understand how Vettel is 7kph down on Webber but is beating him in Sector 1; albeit by only a tenth or two. There's not much other than straights in Sector 1.

[wesley123]

I don't understand how Vettel is 7kph down on Webber but is beating him in Sector 1; albeit by only a tenth or two. There's not much other than straights in Sector 1.

A huge braking point for the chicane, curbstones to conquer and accelerating out of it. Probably more to gain in this corner then being quicker on the straights

[MikeFromCanada]

I agree, getting good traction out of the chicane will help your laptime greatly. Straightline speed is only half the battle, which is why I expect the Mercs to struggle despite their top speed advantage.

Its also interesting to note that Vettel is once again seemingly using a higher downforce setup than Webber. IIRC, Vettel's times and speeds in the 1st and 3rd sectors at Spa were slower than Mark's in the practice sessions as well.

[Mr Alcatraz]

A huge braking point for the chicane, curbstones to conquer and accelerating out of it. Probably more to gain in this corner then being quicker on the straights

+2
From what I'm reading on the comparative times, of RB, Mac and Merc lead me to believe that some posters did not really watch both practices. Merc ran massively heavy at the beginning of Pr.1 It was quite obvious as NR and Mike both had offs in heavy breaking areas, and I also noticed that Senna ran his first stint or two very heavy in practice one, and I think Renault did that for a very specific reason.
(See start of Belgian GP)

But back to the point about s1 times I noticed both Fred and Massa were late on the power coming out of that chicane and the onboard shots of Massa's steering input looked like he was really wrestling with the wheel in parabolica, and the lesmos. They had problems but I won't be all that surprised if they find a decent solution. I think the most telling times were the ones set at the end of pr.2 On heavy fuel. RB was lapping in the mid 1:27's McL. in the low 129's and Ferrari were in the low to mid 1:29's all on worn options. (as I was also wathing sector times on live timing)It's still very hard to draw conclusions as we still don't know the fuel loads, plus certain drivers tend to let up (like Alonso) just to always have a good space when starting a lap. Just speculation, but I think he was doing that in an attempt to come to terms with the chicane in s1, because as I said he was very slow in that sector for him. Suposedly (according to some) their are still 3 to 4 second to be found for quali. My feeling is that they will only be found with the type of DF that will not play well in the race, and predict pole will be 1n the low 1:22s
Practice 3 will separate the live from the mother_______jive.
I mean bring the picture into a little better focus.

[raymondu999]

If more downforce would yield better laptimes for Sector 1 due to the chicane; and Sector 2 has another chicane and the Lesmos; and Sector 3 has Ascari for braking & carrying more speed across; and Parabolica; shouldn't S2 and S3 be the ones that are more benefitting from a high downforce setup?

Are you folks saying that downforce would be faster around a lap?

[MikeFromCanada]

I think its safe to say any setup that would allow for more downforce in the corners while also shedding that induced drag down the straights would be the quicker setup rather than a relatively flat-planed rear wing setup. It gets tricky when you cannot achieve that laptime because you simply can't shed the drag in race conditions.

The higher downforce setup would also keep your car more planted braking into the corners, most notably the first chicane. This would help greatly in a passing opportunity with the DRS open, but then again would someone with a "barn door" rear wing be able to at the very least match the top speed of a car with a smaller wing, even with the DRS enabled? If not then this is all a moot point anyways.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe when Alcatraz was referring to a high DF setting improving the laptime, he was referencing the entire lap. I think he was just specifically referring to Alonso's problems in sector 1. Definitely a higher DF setting will provide more gains through the Lesmos and the Parabolica, whereas good mechanical grip (as well as kerb riding) will provide a bigger gain through turn 1.

I've never been the biggest fan of Monza over the years, but this all has really intrigued me. Personally I'd love to see the data charts the teams have come up with while testing various wing configurations

[Mr Alcatraz]

If more downforce would yield better laptimes for Sector 1 due to the chicane; and Sector 2 has another chicane and the Lesmos; and Sector 3 has Ascari for braking & carrying more speed across; and Parabolica; shouldn't S2 and S3 be the ones that are more benefitting from a high downforce setup?

Are you folks saying that downforce would be faster around a lap?

I'm just saying there is a lot of time to lose
If you're on the limit and lose traction in a turn in quali, and could completely ruin a q3 for someone. Having said that I think that this race offers some fascinating opportunities. Schumacher ran a 27.0 in s1 4/10 better than Vettel. Did he do that purely on talent, low fuel, more down force, or a combination of the above? All I'm saying is that some sort of compromise set-up will be better for some teams in quali, and having drs available for the entire lap may work out very
Well in quali not having anyone to worry about taking you in a DRS zone
I think the solution for all teams is to push the limit on low down force for race pace but some will not, and they could cause mayhem at the start JMO

[raymondu999]

Yeah. That's been a major highlight for me. With drs unrestricted in qualifying and restricted in the race, with the highest percentage utilization over a lap, we'll see the true differences of "race pace" and "qualifying pace" come to the fore

[Mr.S]

Pole last year was in the 1:21's

Yea 1.21.962. This time we have KERS which according to Merc will cause a difference of 0.4-0.5 seconds. Then you have DRS for qualifying which will made a difference on 1 full second in CHINA(according to MSC) & could theoretically make 1s+ difference here as well if they teams dont run a skinny rear wing.


I expect mid-20's or late 20's. Maybe early 20's if someone chooses to be strong on qualy with a very good DRS.

[Mr.S]

There is no way in hell Hamilton will go quicker than MSC in a medium set of tyres while MSC is not soft on a track like MONZA.

What if he did?

Good for him. In that case it will be a big compromise with him running a rear wing which is probably gonna give him 1.2-1.5s which he will not get during the race bar any overtaking opportunity. TOO big a compromise,in that case I dont even see a podium for Hamilton let alone a win.

[timd]

Anyone else having problems with the BBC website feed? God damn it

[kalinka]

PM me for a stream link. It's japanese , but good quality. No BBC yet.

EDIT : I've got a working BBC now.

[walter]

Did anyone else find the squabble on the commentary between Jake Humphrey and Karun Chandhok to be upsetting rather than amusing? Karun was obviously offended when he got Jakes joke about a "duck". Karun is great to have as a commentator he brings driver's knowledge and insight to the viewers and for Jake to be picking on him for no reason other than to humiliate him was frankly a low point of FP3. I hope that it settles down and they smooth things out between each other.

[timd]

Crofty while being an ok commentator has always striked me as a bit of a dick. He quite often doesnt listen to other peoples opinion and just rattles on to himself thinking he's the expert when clearly he is not. I wonder how long i could actually put up with him in real life. Probably not too long.