German GP 2011 - Nürburgring

[raymondu999]

Yeap. Webber used the yellows to close the gap (as Lewis backed off and he didn't) but I believe he DID cross a green light before that happened. And what do you know? Shortest race thread we've had in a while

[imightbewrong]

Isn't it just Hamilton running too deep into the chicane?

[raymondu999]

Whatever it may be; Webber pounced.

[HampusA]

Hamilton took it easy to the chicane but you can see him fighting for traction out of the chicane. That was a perfect thing for Webber who capitalized on it.

And it looked like it was a green flag blinking as they were side by side.

[Ray]

I wanted to ask this...Is it me or i get the impression that Hamilton had lifted coz of the yellow flags at the chicane and Webber not,thus he was alongside to Lewis?Or actually Hamilton slowed a down a bit too much?I recall a radio from/to the time at the incident.

Indeed, I thought at that moment it was still a yellow flag in that area, making the overtake actually illegal.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev0EfUe3_Ic[/youtube]

Maybe a warning next time that the youtube videos audio is way overblown and extremely loud???

[i70q7m7ghw]

Shortest race thread we've had in a while

Seems like alot of users have left.

[ringo]

Yeap. Webber used the yellows to close the gap (as Lewis backed off and he didn't) but I believe he DID cross a green light before that happened. And what do you know? Shortest race thread we've had in a while

Not much to criticize hamilton for i guess.

[HampusA]

And not many fanboys trying to justify his driving

(even though i feel Hamilton should do what he always does)

[godlameroso]

I'm surprised to see that post from you

I agree with you in thinking that the RedBull is not the best car to overtake with when it's only a couple of tenths quicker per lap, if at all. In China, where Webber blasted through the field, the RB was a lot more competitive, if not unreachable.

In Germany we saw Vettel with open DRS behind Massa only marginally faster, that way you cannot pass unless the guy in front puts a foot wrong. Vettel had several very good opportunities coming out of the Mercedes Arena, but that's a place where MAssa could easily block him going into the next left hander.

On that note, what a poor pace from Massa.....the gap between him and Alonso is just massive...And having Vettel all over him it didn't look like he was going any quicker than him.

Alonso vs Lewis after the pitstop: I think Alonso was way too gentle with Hamilton. Hamilton pushed Webber so wide he had to back off, Alonso could and should have done the same to hold P1....this is where he lost the race!

I don't think Massa was trying to catch up to the lead pack, but rather hold back Vettel, If you saw the way he drove, he was taking the defensive line through the turns rather than the fastest one. I don't think it's a good strategy for Ferrari, but that's what they want to do. I think Massa has the pace to keep up with Alonso, and even be faster in some circumstances, but Ferrari does not want any conflicts, and does not let Massa challenge Alonso.

[HampusA]

(Apart from the BS above)

Massa drove like a god, big ups for him.

[ecapox]

I think Massa has the pace to keep up with Alonso, and even be faster in some circumstances, but Ferrari does not want any conflicts, and does not let Massa challenge Alonso.

So in qualifying, you think Ferrari says "Hey Massa, try not to be faster than Alonso. Slow it down about 3 tenths less than him."

[wesley123]

Yeap. Webber used the yellows to close the gap (as Lewis backed off and he didn't) but I believe he DID cross a green light before that happened. And what do you know? Shortest race thread we've had in a while

In the vid when Webber is next to hamilton I see a lght flickering on the left side of the track, it is hard to see but it is a warning light. I do not know how these lengths work but I believe it was still flickering yellow.

Maybe because Hamilton took the place back so quickly it wasnt a problem with the stewards?

[raymondu999]

I guess so; in any case; Webber could've said, "Hey, that was me letting him back as I overtook him under yellows. Not him repassing me!"

[archiebald]

I may be wrong on this but I believe that the penalty for overtaking on yellows is nothing to do with race position.

Think about it, racing and overtaking on yellows is simply dangereous for the marshalls that may be on or near the track. Hence I believe it is an infraction of the safety rules.

Therefore, even if Webber were really giving the place back to Hamilton, the offence had already been committed and could have been penalised. (assuming that it was actually done on yellows - I haven't seen that fact clearly yet)

[Mr Alcatraz]

I think Massa has the pace to keep up with Alonso, and even be faster in some circumstances, but Ferrari does not want any conflicts, and does not let Massa challenge Alonso.

So in qualifying, you think Ferrari says "Hey Massa, try not to be faster than Alonso. Slow it down about 3 tenths less than him."

There always has to be some kind of knock or innuendo to find fault. I've noticed that for the most part there has been a lot less hatred since suddenly Enthusiasts’ understand (as of course the teams always have)”
The enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
Personally I've never had anything but respect for Hamilton and think he is actually starting to exhibit the kind of self control that has seemed to elude him at times. Maybe that is because I'm an American; not a Spaniard, a Brit, or an Italian. In the US tabloids are sold in the check-out lines in grocery stores and generally only read by women. (Or at my age as sanitized as our real news always has been it has only relatively recently started to become sensationalized, and a bit tabloid)
Suddenly Fred is getting respect from here-to-for dyed-in-the-wool Alonso haters, but there is always a caveat from somewhere about a guy that is a real team leader, not a pampered overpaid "prima donna". As for Massa he is starting to come good and it is as simple as that. Massa is fast. Ferrari has two, count them two fast pilots. The same as McLaren and Red Bull, maybe the problem is Massa is the best #2 of the bunch. I think the rest of the season may just be very enlightening:

“It was a problem of the nut on the front left tire that went disconnected from the wheel gun,” said Stefano Domenicali in Germany. “That is something that is part of this game. We are stretching everything up to the limit to minimize the pit stop time. In this case it was a problem on the technical side.”

Today, the team elaborated on the problem.

“Since the beginning of the year we have had various issues with pit stops,” said head of track operations, Diego Ioverno. “Which we are currently fixing step by step, knowing that this year, with so many stops, anything can happen. And indeed we have seen other teams also experience difficulties in this area.

“Our issues concerned the car itself and the jig of the tools we use and especially the wheel nuts, where we have had several problems. Silverstone was the first race we ran with a completely new specification of wheel nut, which has been very interesting, because in the British Grand Prix, our pit stops were the quickest in the race.

“Then, in Germany, we were again using this new wheel nut, which does work better, but the system is still not perfect and, at Felipe’s last tire change, we lost the connection between the wheel nut and wheel nut gun, which cost us around one and a half seconds. So we have more work to do on perfecting it.”

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/ ... sa-a-spot/

Sounds like Ferrari made an error of aggression to me. Massa is a solid dude and I believe he is very motivated. Sometimes things just don't fall your way. Both pilots have had some bad luck at times. Massa is not going anywhere
soon. I believe he is quite happy with his seat at Ferrari.