Mark Webber has run his race just like he did in qualifying yesterday by consistently being the fastest. He led from start to finish and didn't worry about the guys behind him. Lewis Hamilton went of in the last lap, allowing Alonso to be second and Vettel, despite late car worries third.
If Lewis is a threat to Webber's position during the last part of the race, I am pretty sure RBR will be 0.5 sec faster than the fastest lap time set by lewis.
Petrov did his best lap in clear air, and Kubica did his FL while he was 1 sec behind Sutil. Robert had damaged front wing, and the car was more understeer.
nipo wrote:For a change - How many people agree with Ross Brawn's claim that Schumacher has continued to make the progress he has been making in the first three races?
I cannot say for sure but I agree with someone on this forum that maybe Button needs a little creativity in passing? Like going to the outside first then dive into the inside? MS was defending great yeah maybe but I do think Button could have done a bit better than that.
In fact, MS was towing a whole bunch of cars. At some point Adrian Sutil and Robert Kubica were catching up with the Schumacher-Button-Massa pack. Maybe car performance is only part of that and MS still has some more rust to shed.
Schumi resurgence or not, the last thing I want is for this to be "manufactured" by engineering the car Michael's way... look at Rosberg...
It was obvious to anybody who followed P1-P3 and qualifying that Michael did very well and better than in any of the other race weekends. He was faster in all but one qualifying sessions and crossed the line ahead of Rosberg. I believe that he would be still a contender for WDC this season if the car had been designed to his preferences and with his input in 2009.
Button is a pussy for his complaints about Michael passing him on the outside. He should use his time to take a lesson from Hamilton how to pass. I don't think that Hamilton had been behind Schumacher all race.
On the other hand having to defend against Button slowed down Schumacher's pace considerably. He systematically slowed down on the entry into each last corner before both straights to be able to accelerate out of the corner faster and create a gap for the straight where the F-duct gave Button the edge. I reckon that cost him 0.4-0.7 s per lap. It is standard racing practise and should not surprise anybody. Of course Rosberg was faster without constandly fighting a rear guard and with new tyres at the end of the race with a lighter car.
The W01 is faster with the new wheelbase as Schumacher and Rosberg both said. They are going to use that version on all circuits where length is no disadvantage. But the teams as well as the punters are agreed that the W01 isn't a contender for any of the championships. Both the results and the odds show that Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren have pulled away from Merc. The chances to catch up are very small unless luck interferes at Monaco and the team has massively performant upgrades in Turkey. My impression is that this is not going to happen and that Merc will quietly switch to 2011 in June.
Formula One's fundamental ethos is about success coming to those with the most ingenious engineering and best ..............................organization, not to those with the biggest budget. (Dave Richards)
The public is dumb enough to believe in McLaren excuses.
Formula One's fundamental ethos is about success coming to those with the most ingenious engineering and best ..............................organization, not to those with the biggest budget. (Dave Richards)
Any wheel experts around? You can see from the photo that the wheel rim is gone. Would track debris cause this or is it likely to be a manufacturing flaw and as such just "one of those things"?
Can anyone explain Button having a sulk? Does he expect Schumacher to jump out the way because he is the regining WDC? I thought the whole idea of racing was to stop the guy behind from getting past.
Button just having a moan, Overtaking in Spain is up there with trying to land the space shuttle blindfolded, drunk and gagged with 8 days worth of fellow astronauts smelly socks.
As for the wheel, it looks like rim failure. dunno
mx_tifosi wrote:Massa also complained about having cars in front of him.
Felipe Massa: “It was a difficult race. I got a good start but then I was always behind other cars and I never managed to run at a constant pace."
Really?
And that's the "nutshell" reason why Ferrari is talking (or more)to Kubica. (According to Speed) I judge Massa to be like Webber -- a very good driver, good enough to win races. But good enough to lead a top team? No.
Enzo Ferrari was a great man. But he was not a good man. -- Phil Hill
Q. You asked Rubens to slow his pace in the closing laps of the race. Why was this?
Sam Micheal: Rubens was on the radio reporting a possible issue with either his front tyres or the front end of the car so he chose to back off to ensure we made it to the end of the race. We are now investigating what that issue was.
Here is the last word on the Hamilton wheel issue, based on my inside contacts at the Scuderia*. I base this on strong factual evidence -- certainly at least equal to the strongest arguments yet proposed:
As the cognoscenti are well aware, Luca Cordera de Montezemolo is Italian National Skeet Shooting Champion, and first alternate to their Olympic Sharpshooting team. My sources reveal that Luca was seen in the area of Hamilton's contretemp, only minutes before the event, then was seen hurrying away just minutes later, carrying what appeared to be a case designed to hold a sniper rifle. Case closed. Remove tinfoil helmet.
Seriously, I think this season could help Hamilton take a step closer to greatness, unless he is totally stupid (probably not) or very egotistic (well, maybe). All he has to do is see how Button's low key style has put him atop the standings, while Hamilton is far behind. Hamilton is the more impressive during the race, but Button is getting the results. I hope I'm wrong about this, because I'm not a fan of Hamilton, so I do NOT want to see him get better.
*"Scuderia," a seedy bar located in a Houston suburb.
Enzo Ferrari was a great man. But he was not a good man. -- Phil Hill
Rumble strips needed behind the curbs. Look at how much they cut the corner! And they were even going onto the gravel by the looks of the right side tyres.