Turkey GP 2009 - Istanbul Park

[ringo]

Good job by Vettel, Brawn and Trulli. Now it all depends on the fuel weights. Q2 showed that Vettel and Trulli were the fastest on low fuel. Ferrari is not much of a threat here. Improvement by BMW, but Kubica only manages 10th. Heidfeld doesn't make Q3.

Shame Glock did not make Q3, Trulli showed the car had more than enough speed.

Did Kubica go out in Q3?
I don't remember seeing him on the track at all.

I hope Vettel doesn't get passed on the start, he needs to hold back the brawns if he wants to stand a chance of winning, or at least putting Button in a situation where he is under pressure from the guys behind him. If the brawns get by, we are in for another boring race.

[ISLAMATRON]

Vettel much heavier than I expected, only 2 laps less than JB. Webber, on the dirty side must out drag Truilli(clean side) at the start or he has no chance at the podium. Rubans might actually get JB going into 1... the dirty side is a real problem here in Turkey.

Alonso, the lightest down in eighth, on the dirty side, not good, might finish out the points.

Hope its a clean first corner, hoping harder for some rain.

[ringo]

Rain would be good

Didnt Vettel say he was on the clean side? Webber also made a comment about both of them starting on the clean side.

[ISLAMATRON]

Rain would be good

Didnt Vettel say he was on the clean side? Webber also made a comment about both of them starting on the clean side.

odd numbers clean
even on the dirty

[Conceptual]

Why is Massa pretty good everywhere but so devastating here?He needs to seriously sit down and figure out what makes him so confident and quick here.

"I don’t know what the secret is of why I go well here. I feel very comfortable here and in the few tracks where most of the corners go to the left, I am always very competitive."

Wait.... what?!

I've never heard a driver say he is quick because a turn goes to the left or right.

Maybe he should consider following Montoya when his F1 career begins to wind down. Lots of left turning in the States.

Because the Istanbul track is an Interlagos clone?

[ringo]

predictions?

The outcome is in Vettel's hands, his tire wear will set the stage for the race.
Vettel needs to put a big gap to second place in the first stint. It's gonna be hard but he must!

[ESPImperium]

I suspect a Prime/Prime/Option will be the way in this race. However, a Option/Prime/Prime run may also work for a long shot, can see Alonso trying that one since he has only 15 laps on board fuel wise, can see that working, with a long middle stint, just to get a 4th or 5th place result.

However, i cannot split the Brawns and Red Bulls. I just hope that Webber can get the jump on both Brawns and then make his strategy pay over his team-mate and get his maiden victory. Trulli will be the danger man in my view.

I sence a saftey car after a lap 1 accedent, like last year at the first corner.

[ringo]

Rain would be good

Didnt Vettel say he was on the clean side? Webber also made a comment about both of them starting on the clean side.

odd numbers clean
even on the dirty

Yeah i had a brain lapse at the moment. i mixed webber with Rubens.
somehow i saw him in 3rd.

[vasia]

Vettel is heavier than expected, he actually has a good chance to win the race. Vettel is also starting on the clean side of the track, while Button starts on the dirty side. It's very important that Vettel makes a quick start and keeps pole after the 1st lap. Vettel was fastest in all 3 qualifying sessions, so the car is definitely very strong. This time, no cheap low-fuel gimmicks from Red Bull. Vettel and Red Bull are also definitely hoping the car holds together with no reliability issues.

Good job by Webber considering his fuel load. Also good job by the Ferraris. Alonso is very light, yet only managed 8th. Renault dissapointing once again. Piquet was horrible as usual, not even making past Q1. Renault once again making delusional comments, but surprising it's not from Briatore this time but from Symonds.

We had hoped for a slightly higher position for Fernando after second qualifying but bearing in mind our fuel load we are not in a bad position for the race."

Not in a bad position? Who is he kidding? Alonso will have to pit first in the top ten, only managed 8th, and he is starting on the dirty side.

Based on the fuel economy for the Toyotas being a bit better than the others, I expect Trulli to pit around the same time as Barrichello, Massa, and Button.

Heidfeld, Nakajima running heavy, with Glock and Hamilton even heavier. I expect Glock to make up quite a few places in the race. Hamilton will struggle.

Trulli claims the car felt better on hard tires and he might have gone faster, yet his Q3 time was set on soft. This is backed up by the fact that Trulli on hard tires was 2nd fastest in Q2 behind Vettel. Glock claims that his car felt really good on heavier fuel. Glock also said he made a mistake in the final sector on his Q2 run which lost him a few tenths.

Massa said his car lost balance when fuel was put in. Raikkonen said the car also felt good on light fuel. I think Ferrari may not be as strong during the race.

Vettel, Barrichello, and Trulli are all in a good position as they start on the clean side. Trulli also needs to watch out for Massa who has KERS and starts on the clean side, plus he is lighter than Raikkonen.

Toro Rosso was disastrous as usual. They are starting to look slow even compared to Force India. Pathetic.

Should make for an interesting race, the start will be key. Tire choice and tire management will be key.

Did Kubica go out in Q3?
I don't remember seeing him on the track at all.

I hope Vettel doesn't get passed on the start, he needs to hold back the brawns if he wants to stand a chance of winning, or at least putting Button in a situation where he is under pressure from the guys behind him. If the brawns get by, we are in for another boring race.

Kubica did, but he was slow, thus his tenth place.

[ringo]

I suspect a Prime/Prime/Option will be the way in this race. However, a Option/Prime/Prime run may also work for a long shot, can see Alonso trying that one since he has only 15 laps on board fuel wise, can see that working, with a long middle stint, just to get a 4th or 5th place result.

However, i cannot split the Brawns and Red Bulls. I just hope that Webber can get the jump on both Brawns and then make his strategy pay over his team-mate and get his maiden victory. Trulli will be the danger man in my view.

I sence a saftey car after a lap 1 accedent, like last year at the first corner.

This seems likely tomorrow if all goes well.
What would be the strategy for the fuel tankers like Hamilton and Glock. Hamilton seems to run better on the hard tires, would it benefit him to start on them and hope for the best with the options at the end? Or start on the options and finish strongly on the hard tires.

[vasia]

I suspect a Prime/Prime/Option will be the way in this race. However, a Option/Prime/Prime run may also work for a long shot, can see Alonso trying that one since he has only 15 laps on board fuel wise, can see that working, with a long middle stint, just to get a 4th or 5th place result.

However, i cannot split the Brawns and Red Bulls. I just hope that Webber can get the jump on both Brawns and then make his strategy pay over his team-mate and get his maiden victory. Trulli will be the danger man in my view.

I sence a saftey car after a lap 1 accedent, like last year at the first corner.

This seems likely tomorrow if all goes well.
What would be the strategy for the fuel tankers like Hamilton and Glock. Hamilton seems to run better on the hard tires, would it benefit him to start on them and hope for the best with the options at the end? Or start on the options and finish strongly on the hard tires.

Hamilton will likely start on the hard, for Glock it depends what he feels is better. He was fast on both soft and hard. Glock and Hamilton going for one-stoppers, but it will work better for Glock since he qualified higher and has a much faster car than Hamilton. Both of them are likely expecting safety cars, which would work to their advantage. Hamilton also starts on the dirty side further adding to his struggles, while Glock starts on the clean side.

[jon-mullen]

Hamilton will likely start on the hard, for Glock it depends what he feels is better. He was fast on both soft and hard. Glock and Hamilton going for one-stoppers, but it will work better for Glock since he qualified higher and has a much faster car than Hamilton. Both of them are likely expecting safety cars, which would work to their advantage. Hamilton also starts on the dirty side further adding to his struggles, while Glock starts on the clean side.

They've got Hamilton fueled really heavy this time, must've learned their lesson after starting him P19 at 645 kg in Monaco.

[Miguel]

vasia, Piquet had issues with the brake ducts, which ended leaving him without brakes. And in case you wonder, the brake issues started as soon as the session started.

On the other hand, I really expected Alonso to have another 10 kilos of fuel. His qualifying pace on q3 really disappointed me once the fuel was known.

[ISLAMATRON]

It would be absurd for hamilton to start the race on soft option tires with 91.5kg of fuel on board, especially since the track will be slippery early on in the race... under those conditions the softs might last him all of 8 laps.

I expect everyone to start on the Prime tires except for maybe Vettle, Alonso & possibly Truili.

[ISLAMATRON]

Hamilton will likely start on the hard, for Glock it depends what he feels is better. He was fast on both soft and hard. Glock and Hamilton going for one-stoppers, but it will work better for Glock since he qualified higher and has a much faster car than Hamilton. Both of them are likely expecting safety cars, which would work to their advantage. Hamilton also starts on the dirty side further adding to his struggles, while Glock starts on the clean side.

They've got Hamilton fueled really heavy this time, must've learned their lesson after starting him P19 at 645 kg in Monaco.

Yeah that was a dumb move by McLaren, yes he passed some cars at the start of the race and then he gave it all back up by having to pit way early.