Spanish GP 2011 - Barcelona

[MuseF1]

vettel didnt have no KERS at all during the race, he did use it, just not all the time. Lewis was faster in every sector until he got in the dirty air, and even then he was able to match and beat Vettel's lap times. with such a high speed corner leading to the pit straight, a lot of time is lost in that corner from the dirty air, which is what prevented hamilton overtaking. Button beat Webber and Hamilton was very close to Vettel, in my opinion the McLaren was faster in terms of race pace.

[andartop]

I kind of understand why people use different criteria to choose a "driver of the race" after every race, but for me it can always only be one guy, the one who crosses the finish line first.

Would be interesting to know exactly how many laps Vettel could not use his KERS, then multiply by 0.3-0.5sec to figure out the handicap he had over the race distance.

As pointed out, watching Button coming back from 10th after the first lap to 3rd could be an indication of how strong the McLarens were in this race, pace-wise. That was not all down to strategy.

Still, a great drive from Hamilton (and another reprimand for his collection!), and another horrible horrible drive from Massa. Watching him bending over like getting lapped, long before he actually got lapped, was really sad. Let him go and get Perez or Kobayashi!

Ferrari really need to get their act together. Surely, they didn't think they were actually racing Vettel for victory?! Why sacrifice everything to try and cover him? If they were smarter they might have had a chance to challenge Button or Webber later on. Their qualifying strategy is poor, always seem to waste a set of softs when they don't need to, their race strategy is pathetic, their pit stops are consistently slow and Massa is a shadow of his 2008 self. Makes you wonder why Alonso was so happy to have renewed his contract till 2016!

Last but not least, gotta agree with Ray and the others about the coverage. Watching Lewis' brother and Red Bull's pitwall when Vettel and Hamilton are fighting for first place is not my idea of adding some "drama" in the action...

[PlatinumZealot]

vettel didnt have no KERS at all during the race, he did use it, just not all the time. Lewis was faster in every sector until he got in the dirty air, and even then he was able to match and beat Vettel's lap times. with such a high speed corner leading to the pit straight, a lot of time is lost in that corner from the dirty air, which is what prevented hamilton overtaking. Button beat Webber and Hamilton was very close to Vettel, in my opinion the McLaren was faster in terms of race pace.

That is because Hamilton the driver was making up the difference between the RedBull and the Mcalren in the twistier bits.

RedBull 1 second faster in qually -
about 30 points more of downforce in the race -
still had no KERS but could not be overtaken -


THE BOSS
- gives redBull goose bumps.

Let me put this quote down:

I don't think we can be disappointed with today," Hamilton said. "The team did a fantastic job throughout the pitstops and throughout the weekend, they put us in a fighting position.

"We got the best start and were able to keep up with the Red Bulls and Mark [Webber] in particular as Fernando [Alonso] was holding the Red Bulls up.

"As the race went on we had some serious pace but it was very tough to get past Seb at the end, they were massively quick in high speed corners and in the last corner his downforce was incredibly clear.

"Nonetheless I gave my all and to move forward and score some good points and retain second place is great."

Hamilton said there was just no opportunity to get around Vettel when he caught him in the closing laps.

"We did a great job considering their car is a good step faster than ours," he said.

"Our race pace has improved since last race, that was the positive.

"I wasn't able to follow through high speed Turn 3, obviously Turn 9 and the last corner, I was never able to get close enough to maintain the gap and then able to use the DRS.

"But I am very happy with the job both me and Jenson did and to be able to apply pressure to Red Bull considering the circumstances is good."

[marcush.]

strategy wise I do not understand Mercedes Grand Prix...They admit to have balance problems and so have to restrain themselves from pushing the car to hard due to oversteer problems.But why ob earth would you opt for less stops having that problem?
To me this is really contradicting and seems all wrong.If I abuse my tyres due to a setup or a deficit of my car I cannot try to stay out longer than those who have a well balanced car without losing huge chunks of time...Hm If I´m slower I´m slower ...but to nurse the tyres to stay out longer will not gain me anything...So in effect the end result may be similar but it must be so frustrating to hold back and try making the tyres live a few laps more..Surely to me the strategy was WRONG and moreover uninspired.

[lgmars]

vettel didnt have no KERS at all during the race, he did use it, just not all the time. Lewis was faster in every sector until he got in the dirty air, and even then he was able to match and beat Vettel's lap times. with such a high speed corner leading to the pit straight, a lot of time is lost in that corner from the dirty air, which is what prevented hamilton overtaking. Button beat Webber and Hamilton was very close to Vettel, in my opinion the McLaren was faster in terms of race pace.

That is because Hamilton the driver was making up the difference between the RedBull and the Mcalren in the twistier bits.

RedBull 1 second faster in qually -
about 30 points more of downforce in the race -
still had no KERS but could not be overtaken -


THE BOSS
- gives redBull goose bumps.

Let me put this quote down:

I don't think we can be disappointed with today," Hamilton said. "The team did a fantastic job throughout the pitstops and throughout the weekend, they put us in a fighting position.

"We got the best start and were able to keep up with the Red Bulls and Mark [Webber] in particular as Fernando [Alonso] was holding the Red Bulls up.

"As the race went on we had some serious pace but it was very tough to get past Seb at the end, they were massively quick in high speed corners and in the last corner his downforce was incredibly clear.

"Nonetheless I gave my all and to move forward and score some good points and retain second place is great."

Hamilton said there was just no opportunity to get around Vettel when he caught him in the closing laps.

"We did a great job considering their car is a good step faster than ours," he said.

"Our race pace has improved since last race, that was the positive.

"I wasn't able to follow through high speed Turn 3, obviously Turn 9 and the last corner, I was never able to get close enough to maintain the gap and then able to use the DRS.

"But I am very happy with the job both me and Jenson did and to be able to apply pressure to Red Bull considering the circumstances is good."

I believe LH only meant 30% more down force in the last corner.

And this is LH's response during the post-race conference:

" ... I think our raw speed was… we were faster. If I was able to get past I think I would have been able to pull away. I was really losing quite a lot through the high speed behind but nevertheless, as I said, they are quicker through certain corners and we were quicker through some others, so it was almost balanced. ..."

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

The RB did only have intermittent use of its KERs though right?

0.3 seconds a lap right there

[marcush.]

The RB did only have intermittent use of its KERs though right?

0.3 seconds a lap right there

maybe the RBR kers is not much worth apart from enhancing the start.Dr.Marko seems again and again very happy with things as they are...so it looks unlikely they think there is much left on the plate with their system when it could be used to the max.He even choked about them using it for ballast only in the future..They have decided to develop their own system and it just is not as good as what the manufacturers have done.

[DaveKillens]

It just keeps getting better and better. Although criticism of the Spanish director's choice of TV feeds is questionable, what I did see was a lot of fighting and passing at all areas of the track.

I am supremely disappointed in Ferrari, once the race began all their weaknesses shone through. Somehow it appears their strategy in qualifying is disconnected from the race strategy, whereas we all now know that each influences the other. Just look at Heidfeld's saga. He started dead last, but with all his tires unused and available. Petrov started sixth, and in the end Heidfeld finished ahead of him in part because of availability of tires. Go figure, that's just how tire use and strategy rewards results these days.

Other teams manage to cobble up decent strategies that get the maximum out of the drivers and cars, somehow Ferrari are not. Today wasn't a good day for Ferrari, their best driver was lapped in the end, and the other did even worse, finally retiring. They have a lot of work to do before they are back up in contention.

There's been a speculation whether Vettel can handle it if he isn't up front and in clean air. Today was the test, Alonso's brilliant start really mixed things up, and put Vettel to the task of winning the race even though he didn't lead the field out of turn one. And it also laid the rest the claims by some Hamilton fans that if their hero ever came up behind Vettel he would dispatch him with impunity.

The truth is that in the last ten laps, we saw two young, brave, talented drivers battling it out on the track, each in different cars and with different tools and assets at their disposal. Who knows, if the situation was reversed Hamilton most likely would have hung on. But it wasn't, and he didn't. Instead Vettel did all the right things and earned the honor of standing on the top of the podium.

So there's discussion on picking driver of the race? I do respect Martin Brundle as a racer, but let's face it he works for BBC who deliver the most jaundiced and prejudiced standards I have seen since the days of Michael Andretti and his glory years in CART.

OK, let's examine what they did wrong. The only thing that you can criticise Vettel is not to win pole position. Once the race began, he never lost position, even passing Webber at the start. Hamilton started 3rd, was in fourth after one lap. And Alonso won the honors for starting the race best. So Alonso went from 4th to lead at the start of the race, Hamilton lost one position, while Vettel held station in 2nd.

But the deal-breaker is for not respecting the yellow flag. The telemetry is pretty hard to criticise, he did not post a slower time in the same sector when the yellow flag was displayed. If you're going the same speed as the previous lap, hey, you're not slowing down.

And all the drivers who did wrong, Mark Webber, Jaime Alguersuari, Jenson Button, and Lewis Hamilton should hang their heads in shame for not paying enough respect to the yellow flag. It's displayed because there are marshals on track, volunteers who suddenly find themselves in the way of danger, hoping they are made safer by the waving of the yellow flag and the drivers backing off. Shame on them all, and for that Lewis, you lose any right to be considered "driver of the day".

Some fans argue that a driver's time wasn't indicative of the situation, and that they did heed the flags. Even though the numbers say otherwise. We're not casually discussing wing gaps, or small performance enhancements, we're talking about human beings and the very real possibility of disaster if things going wrong. When I watched the race, the objects in orange overalls weren't objects, each one represented a human being, someone's daughter or son, geez, how can I make myself any clearer? Personally, I would have adopted a zero-tolerance policy on marshal safety and made those four drivers sit out the next two races on the calender. That would have driven the point home, that when the yellow flag flies, marshal safety takes priority over the driver's desires to not lose ground.

Although it was a very interesting race, I was sorely disappointed when Kovi retired, he had done something no one else had done, to be one of the drivers in the three new teams and get out of Q1. Saturday was a landmark day, Lotus had finally separated themselves from the other two new teams, and the next goal is to score a point. Although we tend to focus on the front and the leaders, the competition and battle for success are fought just as hard by the "lesser" teams. And what Lotus and Kovi have accomplished this week is reason for celebration.

And now to the one and only relevant question .. can anybody have a response for Vettel, can anyone stop or slow this German juggernaut?

[zeph]

And now to the one and only relevant question .. can anybody have a response for Vettel, can anyone stop or slow this German juggernaut?

Still early days, but I'm not optimistic. Unless somebody pulls a rabbit out of the hat I don't see who's gonna stop him.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

By 3/4s of the season in he will be declared champ, latest.

Unless the EBD ban affects them worse than their rivals I just see the "german juggernaut" rolling on.

[andrew]

And now to the one and only relevant question .. can anybody have a response for Vettel, can anyone stop or slow this German juggernaut?

With a bit of luck, no. I think Vettels racing is just getting better in each race.

[aral]

On the question of slowing for the yellow flags, it is admirable that Vettel did slow, but I wonder by how much?
Had he slowed visibly, then Hamilton could also have slowed, but by not as much, and thus gain time on Vettel. Hardly seems fair, does it?
Granted the flags are there for the safety of track personnel, but no racer would want to leave themselves vulnerable to a pursuer.
So what is the answer?

[andrew]

He played by the rules and was correct to do so. The drivers who were given reprimands have no one esle to blame but themselves.

Had Hamilton have gotten close enough to pass then Red Bull would have a strong case to say that he didn't slow. Basically both should hold station through the corner and the gap should not reduce.

[donskar]

IMHO:

Pretty good race. SPEED coverage was all right.

RBR: head and shoulders the best car on the track. Newey deserves to be ranked alongside Chapman as one of the true great F1 tech geniuses.

Vettel: not my favorite driver, but he drove a great race. Fast, consistent, unflappable. Hand him the WDC now and let's move on to getting ready for next year.

KEY POINT: touched on in other posts, but I think it is important to focus on the fact that in the crucial closing laps Ham had the advantage of DRS and could do nothing to Vettel. Perhaps more important, during many laps, Ham had the further advantage of 80 HP -- and could do nothing to Vettel. Put a very good driver in a great car entered by a good team and you get (probably) WDC and WCC.

RBR versus McL: a great individual genius and a good organization against a great organization without (apparently) a single giant of Newey's stature. Bet on RBR.

McL: no organization (IMHO) is better at developing a car. They're my least favorite team (HRT and Virgin don't even register), but they are our only hope for a good season.

Ferrari: heads must roll. Learning from a great designer (Byrne) made Costa only a good designer, and not good enough. Next up: Ascanelli? Scalabroni?? Lure Rory out of retirement? Massa must go. He was embarrrassing today.

Ciro is right: there are three or four very distinct classes in F1 today. That's always been true, but over the past 40+ years I've followed F1, the top class was seldom so small -- in this case it is made up of just one car, RBR. MAYBE McL can make a race of it . . .

[WhiteBlue]

An entertaining race as we have come used by now during this season. The DRS was pretty neutral and the premium obviously was on engine grunt, KERS and clever tyre strategy.

Vettel had a broken KERS in Q3 and it cost him the pole. In the race he brilliantly used the tyre stops to put in quick laps and got ahead of Alonso, who made a blinding start. Even when he found himself behind mid fielders Vettel went through like a hot knife through butter. Pretty much Hamilton style. That should silence some silly arguments about Seb's ability to overtake.

Ferrari obviously was disappointing result wise and Massa is hopeless on hard tyres. He might as well pass the car to Fisichella for the obligatory hard tyre stint.

Nice battle between Seb and Lewis. McLaren should be very happy with second and third. Webber was overrated due to technical gremlins on Seb's car in free practise and qually. The race soon put that into the usual perspective.

Schumacher and Heidfeld were both hot and showed nice drives. The rest was pretty anonymous during the race.