Japanese GP 2009 - Suzuka

[Miguel]

One question, what wasnt Grosjean realeased from behing Vettel in the SC period??? The FIA were doing that at the start of the season, getting the lapped cars out of the way so we can have a more exciting SC restart. This spoiled a otherwise pretty decent race for me.

From what I heard on the TV, Charlie Whiting isn't happy with the lapped cars racing to get back to the tail of the bunch. That is why he decided to leave Grosjean where he was.

I was utterly disappointed by the R29 this race. Apparently Piquet sucked, but Grosjean, who has been very fast in GP2, doesn't seem much faster. The counterpoint was Hamilton in the McLaren. I certainly didn't expect him to do so well. I suppose sectors 2 and 3 really compensated for a not too fast first sector.

[Paul]

Btw, today proved beyond all doubt for me that KERS is a "cheat button" as when it failed for Hamilton he was 2/10ths minimum slower than when it was working which also proves that the McLaren is still off the pace aerodynamicly! (It really showed in sector 1 even with KERS)

Are you serious? It's like saying that if a runner is slower with a rucksack on his back, then he is a cheater for running without it. KERS was a dead weight in that situation and no way it was possible to keep the same pace.

[Scotracer]

Btw, today proved beyond all doubt for me that KERS is a "cheat button" as when it failed for Hamilton he was 2/10ths minimum slower than when it was working which also proves that the McLaren is still off the pace aerodynamicly! (It really showed in sector 1 even with KERS)

what?

If KERS gives 0.2/lap, if it stops working he will lose more than 0.2/lap as a) he doesn't have the power but b) has to carry the dead weight with it.

[Paul]

If KERS gives 0.2/lap, if it stops working he will lose more than 0.2/lap as a) he doesn't have the power but b) has to carry the dead weight with it.

Actually loss should be more than the gain, but not because of the weight as it is the same for working and not working KERS, but because of the brake balance issues which I think inevitably occur.

[Scotracer]

If KERS gives 0.2/lap, if it stops working he will lose more than 0.2/lap as a) he doesn't have the power but b) has to carry the dead weight with it.

Actually loss should be more than the gain, but not because of the weight as it is the same for working and not working KERS, but because of the brake balance issues which I think inevitably occur.

1) I did say the loss would be more than 0.2

2) They can turn off the system so it doesn't charge it, at all...

[ISLAMATRON]

Hopefully some people will now think twice before ranting about the "Trulli train" (BBC commentators included), as he clearly outpaced "The Boss".

Truilli only "outpaced" THE BOSS only when the KERS(and thus the rear braking) went kaput... THE BOSS had his lead up to 3.5 secs when the KERS took a dump.

The Truilli train is real... but not today, great job by him.... just getting a good start is a great job for Truilli these days.

I like SpeedTV... usually very good... but I hate their time delay... 20 mins for qual and like 30 secs during the race.

[Giblet]

I figured that Fisi would be able to keep within a couple places of Raikonnen, considering that while Alonso was winning, Fisi was never qualifying and finishing that far behind, and he even had some moments of brilliance. He is no slouch, and when comfortable in a quick car he does well.

There is no reason that Fisi is slow enough to be so killed already. I really think these newer cars are much different from each other in how they handle. The new regs have made all the cars have different strengths and weaknesses.

I think the lack of testing this year, combined with the raw difference in this years cars compared to last years, and the extreme differences between teams (balance, KERS, etc, not raw pace) has amplified the problem. Drivers need some serious hours in a car to realy get to know it. Road cars are no different, you can't sit in a car a couple of hours and have an honest feel for it in different situations, just a test of it's waters.

Teams need to be able to test, and every new driver should simply get 3 test days. They pay them so much, make the new driver testing part of their pay package, then budgets and their propose capping would not be affected.

If a team chooses to take on a young inexperienced driver, then I see them getting a couple days to test as no harm no foul.

[Giblet]

Hopefully some people will now think twice before ranting about the "Trulli train" (BBC commentators included), as he clearly outpaced "The Boss".

Truilli only "outpaced" THE BOSS only when the KERS(and thus the rear braking) went kaput... THE BOSS had his lead up to 3.5 secs when the KERS took a dump.

The Truilli train is real... but not today, great job by him.... just getting a good start is a great job for Truilli these days.

I like SpeedTV... usually very good... but I hate their time delay... 20 mins for qual and like 30 secs during the race.

In Canada we have the regular cable choices of TSN or SpeedTV to watch the race. I enjoy the banter of the SPeedTV guys, as they have more fun, but the TSN (BBC) broadcast is more informative, is live (Thus not rendering live timing useless), and during commercials, they still show a window on the screen with the race on it.

The season is almost over, I think Dave "18,000 RPM!!!!" Varsha needs to stop treating every broadcast like it's every viewers first. You need to pander to the newbies, and the nerds as well.

The colours on TSN are also less washed out, as the rebroadcast is direct, and not delayed, stored, and re-broadcast.

[ISLAMATRON]

MAybe I'll get to see Abu Dhabi from Canada

In other race news... Imagine when he stewards actually look at "the telemetry data, GPS records, timekeeping and video evidence"

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79250

No action taken on Rosberg incident

The Japanese Grand Prix stewards have decided Nico Rosberg did not deserve a penalty and so the Constructors' Championship is still up for grabs.

Rosberg and Williams technical director Sam Michael were summoned by the stewards after the race following claims from Jenson Button that the German had set his best sector time during the safety car period.

Button reckoned he could have beaten the German had he been slower and the Briton expected Rosberg to be penalised.

A penalty would have given Button's Brawn team the title, as it needs just 0.5 points to clinch it and both the Briton and team-mate Rubens Barrichello would have moved up a position.

The stewards, however, deemed Rosberg had done nothing wrong.

"The Race Director reported to the Stewards that Car No 16, Nico Rosberg exceeded the time delta from when the 'Safety Deployed' message was displayed until crossing the Safety Car line," a statement from the FIA said.

"The Stewards met with the drivers and the team representatives and considered the telemetry data, GPS records, timekeeping and video evidence. This evidence showed a 'low fuel' message on the drivers display had overridden the time delta information preventing the driver from being able to accurately follow the timing information.

"However the telemetry data shows that the driver from a safety point of view had reacted adequately to the yellow flags and safety car boards. In view of this the stewards intend to take no further action."

[Conceptual]

Btw, today proved beyond all doubt for me that KERS is a "cheat button" as when it failed for Hamilton he was 2/10ths minimum slower than when it was working which also proves that the McLaren is still off the pace aerodynamicly! (It really showed in sector 1 even with KERS)

what?

If KERS gives 0.2/lap, if it stops working he will lose more than 0.2/lap as a) he doesn't have the power but b) has to carry the dead weight with it.

I believe that even with a dead KERS system on board, that the car still weighs 605kg... Just as every other non-KERS car.

I don't think that the KERS button is a cheat, but please don't act as if carrying it when it doesn't work makes the car any heavier than every other car on track...

[Richard]

Now, everybody knows that British TV commentators love to talk about British drivers, but I think today it got beyond the point of silliness ..

It seems to be a Croft disease. Croft is the problem, Brundle is more balanced. You should listen to the BBC radio commentary by pressing the red button on your telly. Its very good, great tech info from Anthony Davidson, and none of that hysteric-I've-got-TO-RAISE-MY-VOICE-BECAUSE-THERE-IS-A-CAR-10-SECS-BEHIND-ANOTHER-WITH-2-LAPS-LEFT-AND-THEY-MIGHT-OVERTAKE-THEM-SOON that you get on the telly.

Anyway, it not just the BBC, I've had the fate of watching F1 on German and Spanish TV in the Schumi and Alonso championship years. I don't speak those languages but do recognise the names and and I'd say they were the same, if not worse.

[lewis all the way]

Btw, today proved beyond all doubt for me that KERS is a "cheat button" as when it failed for Hamilton he was 2/10ths minimum slower than when it was working which also proves that the McLaren is still off the pace aerodynamicly! (It really showed in sector 1 even with KERS)

what?

If KERS gives 0.2/lap, if it stops working he will lose more than 0.2/lap as a) he doesn't have the power but b) has to carry the dead weight with it.

I believe that even with a dead KERS system on board, that the car still weighs 605kg... Just as every other non-KERS car.

I don't think that the KERS button is a cheat, but please don't act as if carrying it when it doesn't work makes the car any heavier than every other car on track...

yes the car still wheighs the same, but the weight is not best situated as ballast. if i am right with the slick tyres they need as much balast as possible up front, kers is at the back and makes the handiling comprimised compared to cars without it.

[ESPImperium]

Just looking at the Technical report of Jo Bauer;

Toyota took a fresh engine for Glock before he had his crash in Quali 2. However, when they switched survival cell they gave him a new engine as well, thus he took a 10 place grid drop for the race. Therefor he has 2 completly fresh blocks for Brazil and Abu.

Toyota and Red Bull also took a fresh gearbox as well for Glock and Webber, meaning they have fresh transmissions for the end of they season.

Just wondering how Red Bull didnt build this into Webber, he started the weekend with a fresh block on Friday, if they gave him a new engine for the race today, he would have had effectivly 2 fresh blocks for they end of they year. A fresh block is essencial for Brazil.

Basically this is where we are at with engine and gearboxes for they year:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/I ... neData.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/I ... oxData.jpg

[ISLAMATRON]

The 8 engine block rules are a farce... totally worthless if they wont enforce them.

It has to be a 10 spot penalty for every race started with any engine other than the 8 allocated.

And they need to bump it up to 10 next year, more races(hopefully)

[andartop]

Truilli only "outpaced" THE BOSS only when the KERS(and thus the rear braking) went kaput... THE BOSS had his lead up to 3.5 secs when the KERS took a dump.

The Truilli train is real... but not today, great job by him.... just getting a good start is a great job for Truilli these days.

Even before Hamilton's KERS malfunctioned, it was clear he couldn't open the gap from Trulli. They asked him on the radio long before the pit stop to make a 3 seconds gap, while it was about 2.2 seconds and he struggled to increase it to 3.4 seconds, then Trulli started closing in again.
For all we know, Trulli might have still come out ahead of Hamilton even without the KERS problem.
As we don't know, we have to go by the official results of the race.