The Formula 1 2012 thread

**ouch** · 07-09-2012, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by nole1

Yes, it was extremely dangerous but in the replay you could see he had the wheels pointed left and was hard on the brakes but the car wouldn't turn with the lockup.

It's hard to fathom how these guys can brake from top speed into a hairpin at almost 8g but can't stop in a speed restricted pit.

**nole1** · 07-09-2012, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by ouch

It's hard to fathom how these guys can brake from top speed into a hairpin at almost 8g but can't stop in a speed restricted pit.

My thoughts too! I don't see how he can get lock-up from 60kph but not on track at 300kph. Did he mess up? Heck yes! But €25.000? I don't think so.

Also, I thought it was funny how the jack-man was reaching for the front wing so he didn't roll too far away from the car. What if he ripped off part of it? I'm sure he would have been reprimanded for breaking the car causing them to waste another 7 seconds changing the nosecone.

**maxman** · 07-09-2012, 09:57 PM

I'll bet he has that in his wallet at any given time.

I found it interesting that they fined him. I was expecting a penalty or something.
I don't know why, but I just was

**Rushman2112** · 07-12-2012, 06:56 PM

There's no point in fining these guys a paltry sum like e25k - as you say Marc, loose change for them - a penalty is the only thing that will hurt.

**DoubleApex** · 07-12-2012, 11:13 PM

Originally Posted by nole1

I don't see how he can get lock-up from 60kph but not on track at 300kph.

I know you said this partly to emphasize the size of Kobayashi's (admittedly large) brain fart in the pit lane, but it's worth pointing out that it is much, much harder for an F1 driver to lock the brakes at high speeds simply because they have so much aero grip at those high speeds. They have to trail off the brakes rather significantly as they come into a braking zone, slow down, and transition from mostly aero grip to mostly mechanical grip. That's one of the reasons why most lockups happen at the end of the braking zone.

**xraygun** · 07-20-2012, 10:44 PM

What the heck has Lotus got grafted onto Kimi's car? Is it a new Dyson product?

**nole1** · 07-21-2012, 09:03 AM

That was one interesting qualifying session. It will be interesting to see if Alonso and the RB8s have the pace tomorrow in the dry. I'm curious to see if some of the teams leaned more on the dry set-up for Sunday than wet for Saturday.

On a side note, I'm really getting sick of Fox/Speed broadcasting these European races on tape-delay. I love watching the race with timing & scoring pulled up so I can see it in real time instead of having to wait for the announcers to tell me what they think is interesting. It also puts it airing when I'm still at church so I send up deleting my ESPNF1 app every sunday so I can't check the results until after I watch the race.

**JDTTO** · 07-22-2012, 01:47 PM

Another strong drive from Fernando. The consistency he shows this season is amazing, especially as it's the only thing that is consistent this year.

Kimi showed some great action in the first half but for some reason he often seems to settle towards the end.

Maldonado looked as if he was castrated by the FIA or GPDA not challenging a single move that was made on him.

Good to see Jenson competitive again.

Vettels penalty seems fair to me. He should have known it was safer to file-in behind Jenson and try to have another go in the final lap than to gamble on getting away with an illegal pass. I know I may sound like a broken record but this is the crap you get with tarmac run-ff area's.

**ouch** · 07-22-2012, 02:21 PM

Alonso is gaining more respect from me with every race. China was no fluke. This is all the more amazing given the Scuderia's many troubles at the beginning of the season.

He was never my favorite driver, but he's great in qualifying, a true rain master, and has tremendous concentration. The season could be his.

I was pulling for Vettel, and I don't blame him for starting that move, but you have to know when to lay off. Perhaps he was still steamed from being held up by Hamilton, who did Button a big favor. Can't blame Lewis, though (and you know I would), for trying to unlap himself.

Lotus falls a bit short again.

Perennial also-ran Sauber looked terrific, with both car's dicing with the Force India entries providing some of the best action of the day.

Best season I can remember in 40 years of watching this.

**xraygun** · 07-22-2012, 09:14 PM

Great race to watch. I'm surprised MSC wasn't able to do better. Nice job by Nico coming from 21st to 10th.
I expected better advice from the team for Vettel after that pass. They should have thought of the points and given the position back. Oh well easy to say..

Looking forward to the Hungaroring, still can't get over they are taking the entire month of August off for the break. Maybe by then Lotus will have Kimi's Dyson diffuser ready to whip through Eau Rouge and the Kemmel Straight to get a pole.

**nole1** · 07-23-2012, 08:49 AM

Originally Posted by ouch

Alonso is gaining more respect from me with every race. China was no fluke. This is all the more amazing given the Scuderia's many troubles at the beginning of the season.

He was never my favorite driver, but he's great in qualifying, a true rain master, and has tremendous concentration. The season could be his.

I was pulling for Vettel, and I don't blame him for starting that move, but you have to know when to lay off. Perhaps he was still steamed from being held up by Hamilton, who did Button a big favor. Can't blame Lewis, though (and you know I would), for trying to unlap himself.

Lotus falls a bit short again.

Perennial also-ran Sauber looked terrific, with both car's dicing with the Force India entries providing some of the best action of the day.

Best season I can remember in 40 years of watching this.

+1 on all accounts. I understand Vettel being a little peeved but Lewis had a faster car. He was trying to unlap himself and move up the field. It wasn't like he was in a HRT floundering around at the back.

**Barbiere di Figaro** · 07-23-2012, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by nole1

+1 on all accounts. I understand Vettel being a little peeved but Lewis had a faster car. He was trying to unlap himself and move up the field. It wasn't like he was in a HRT floundering around at the back.

Well said! Vettel himself said he had trouble taking over as their DRS didn't seem to work as it should. Lewis was gaining on Alonso for a while, and Vettel didn't catch them in these laps.

I must say that Vettel had a very strong start. Overtaking Schumacher wasn't easy but he did that very well.

Anyone seen the first question from Niki Lauda for Alonso? Imagine you just won a major race in the championship and extended your lead and then someone brings up all irrelevant politics. And that from a former F1-driver!

**ouch** · 07-23-2012, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by nole1

+1 on all accounts. I understand Vettel being a little peeved but Lewis had a faster car. He was trying to unlap himself and move up the field. It wasn't like he was in a HRT floundering around at the back.

Before he dropped out, he was putting in some of the best laps of the day. If he unlapped himself and the safety car came out, he could have scored some points. Very bad luck to run over the debris so early, but part of it has to be attributed to his poor starting position and even poorer start. He'll be back strong next week, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him on the podium.

**nole1** · 07-23-2012, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by ouch

Before he dropped out, he was putting in some of the best laps of the day. If he unlapped himself and the safety car came out, he could have scored some points. Very bad luck to run over the debris so early, but part of it has to be attributed to his poor starting position and even poorer start. He'll be back strong next week, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him on the podium.

It's amazing he was the only one to get a puncture being the eighth car through the debris. Quite unlucky.

With McLaren figuring out the tire issues on Jenson's car along with the massive update they brought to Germany, they could have an impressive second half of the season. I think its still very possible to bring the fight back to Red Bull for the constructor's title by the end of the season.

I'm glad it looks to be dry and hot at the Hungaroring for qualifying and raceday. Should be interesting to watch tire deg with the heat of the circuit and high downforce they will be running.

**Borked** · 07-27-2012, 09:49 AM

Also to slightly rehash the pit incident, different surfaces usually are found in pits, so they transition from grippy tar to slippery concrete, relatively speaking...

**JDTTO** · 07-29-2012, 01:10 PM

Great win from Lewis and solid result from the Lotusses. Alonso on damage control.

The last 5 laps I got the impression that he was just controling the race and was not really under pressure from Kimi. It looked relatively easy for him to keep Kimi outside the critical 1 second at the DRS reference point.

**maxman** · 07-29-2012, 02:12 PM

Dang! I missed this one. It's on the PVR though. You can bet dollars to donuts I'm gonna watch it.
good result for Kimi. I'm still rooting for him this year.

**commanderkeen** · 07-30-2012, 07:25 AM

Originally Posted by JDTTO

Great win from Lewis and solid result from the Lotusses. Alonso on damage control.

The last 5 laps I got the impression that he was just controling the race and was not really under pressure from Kimi. It looked relatively easy for him to keep Kimi outside the critical 1 second at the DRS reference point.

Kimi had some trouble with the KERS working with only half power. There was some speculation if he could have won if the system was working full-steam. But either way, great race and it's nice to see a championship that's not even close to being decided thus far.

**nole1** · 07-30-2012, 07:47 AM

Great race. Not quite as exciting as Valencia, Silverstone, or Hockenheim but that was due to the nature of the track. Was interesting to see Seb get so mad during the race. I don't think he likes trailing Mark in championship points and not having the ability to pass people at will. He is probably one of the best drivers in the field today but the parity of the cars makes him look somewhat "normal". The previous iterations of the car (RB6 & RB7) made him look near invincible.

**ouch** · 07-30-2012, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by ouch

Before he dropped out, he was putting in some of the best laps of the day. If he unlapped himself and the safety car came out, he could have scored some points. Very bad luck to run over the debris so early, but part of it has to be attributed to his poor starting position and even poorer start. He'll be back strong next week, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him on the podium.

Hey, this guy hit it right on the head.

Another clean race.

Poor Michael. Can his luck get any worse?

Winners- Hammy and Lotus
Losers- Button and Weber

If there were another race next week, my money would be on Lotus, but the month long break should even things out and bring some furious action for the remainder of the season. Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren still have a lot of issues to address.

What am I going to do for a month?