Canadian GP 2011 - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

[zeph]

Button changed lane without looking into his mirrors. You just don't do that, even on civilian streets.

[forty-two]

By the way, did anyone else hear him being booed during the podium?

Yep, and did you see his face. He seemed quite shocked by that.

[beelsebob]

Right – but the lack of contact was because they were trivial passes. They involved one car being massively superior to the other. An F1 in which we have no close, tight battles because they're deemed "unsafe" is not an F1 I want to watch.

If you consider the battle between Schu, Webber and Button to be trivial, I think you might want to check out Monster Trucks.

I consider passes that are completed before the braking zone to be trivial (both WEB vs MSC and BUT vs MSC). BUT vs WEB required some superb reactions from BUT, but could just as easily have ended in disaster as any of the other moves that did.

[beelsebob]

By the way, did anyone else hear him being booed during the podium?

Yep, and did you see his face. He seemed quite shocked by that.

I was pretty shocked too... That's really not on. The guy drove very well, and kept his nose clean all race. He didn't deserve that at all.

[andrew]

Right – but the lack of contact was because they were trivial passes. They involved one car being massively superior to the other. An F1 in which we have no close, tight battles because they're deemed "unsafe" is not an F1 I want to watch.

So you want F1 to resemble some computer game, or dodgems? That isn't racing. It's a demolition derby.

I can still remember when there was contact free overtaking in F1 and the racing was fantastic.

So can I – China wasn't it?

I was refering to the halcyon days of the mid to late 90's.

China kills your arguement as that was where Red Bull screwed up Vettels strategy and the tyres were shot but Hamilton breezed past on fresher rubber. However, it does prove one thing - Hamilton can pass without making contact.

[andrew]

By the way, did anyone else hear him being booed during the podium?

Yep, and did you see his face. He seemed quite shocked by that.

I was pretty shocked too... That's really not on. The guy drove very well, and kept his nose clean all race. He didn't deserve that at all.

Who was booed? I changed channel as soon as the coverage cut to Eddie Jordan and missed the podium.

[forty-two]

BUT vs WEB required some superb reactions from BUT, but could just as easily have ended in disaster as any of the other moves that did.

That alone is enough to make JB driver of the day for me.

[zeph]

BUT vs WEB required some superb reactions from BUT, but could just as easily have ended in disaster as any of the other moves that did.

....but they did not. And that is what DaveKillens is talking about.

Fighting hard with the knife between your teeth requires exceptional skill, lest you end up with carved-up gums and a smile like the Joker.

[beelsebob]

So can I – China wasn't it?

I was refering to the halcyon days of the mid to late 90's.

China kills your arguement as that was where Red Bull screwed up Vettels strategy and the tyres were shot but Hamilton breezed past on fresher rubber. However, it does prove one thing - Hamilton can pass without making contact.

Yes he can – what was the difference between then and now? Could it be that the other guys didn't turn in on him?

I got what you were referring to. I was trying to point out that the "ah, those were the days" comments are bollocks. In the mid to late 90s people crashed just as often when passing, they just didn't tend to be passing as much because MSC was 3 miles down the road. Quite frankly, I don't remember a time where F1 was more exciting to watch than the last year and a half. We have 3-5 fricking awesome drivers raring to go and some beautiful racing.

[beelsebob]

Who was booed? I changed channel as soon as the coverage cut to Eddie Jordan and missed the podium.

VET.

[Paul]

I was pretty shocked too... That's really not on. The guy drove very well, and kept his nose clean all race. He didn't deserve that at all.

I agree generally, but with so many yes-men in his team, some critique from the masses might do him good.

[horse]

Button changed lane without looking into his mirrors. You just don't do that, even on civilian streets.

Oh and he knew Hamilton was there... he was all over Button's gearbox the previous lap and up to the chicane, where Button made a mistake and didn't want the embarrasment of being overtaken by his TM twice! But I'll let it go for now, let Button have his time. I'm just glad that the Mclaren has decent race pace.

Button definitely made a move to stop Hamilton coming up the inside into turn one, but I do think he was genuinely surprised that Hamilton had not switched to the outside. I think he assumed Hamilton would go on the outside once he (Button) had started moving across, but he was wrong.

[beelsebob]

BUT vs WEB required some superb reactions from BUT, but could just as easily have ended in disaster as any of the other moves that did.

....but they did not. And that is what DaveKillens is talking about.

Fighting hard with the knife between your teeth requires exceptional skill, lest you end up with carved-up gums and a smile like the Joker.

So the point is that the thing that makes a great passing manoeuvre great is a bit of skill combined with a bit of luck? I don't think that's what he was trying to say at all. If that was the point he was trying to make he wouldn't be making it at all, because he would accept that the other incidents were simply ones where the luck part of the equation didn't happen.

[ringo]

Dave always has a long post about blaming Hamilton in a subverted way.

He didn't colide with Button, he was collided into.

Had it been him doing that you would asking for a revocation of his license.

I have to say Ringo, I am a massive fan of Hamilton, honestly probably level with my admiration of Button actually, but I read the Hamilon Button incident as a exactly that, a racing incident.

Hamilton should have known that JBs mirrors would be nothing but spray, and JB only followed the racing line.

I would bet my mortgage that JB would not close the door to Lewis like that intentionally. It's just not his style.

He moved twice. Check the video. If he didn't see him then we can say it's weaving.
It can't be played down as an incident. Jenson reacted incorrectly even though he regretted it, it could have been a serious accident.
It was neither on the racing line as some put it. The racing line is about where the grid spaces are.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baDHw0vRxQs[/youtube]

from this view you see the double swipe.
You can also see Jenson get back onto the racing line, which is along the grid slots, after the squeeze. Not much spray to hide a loud silver machine moving over on your right side, with your head clearly looking into the mirrors.

Take it for what it looks like, not how Jenson feels after the incident.

[TRICKLE69]

Signs of life... MS made the W02 look good today.

I have one complaint about DRS. When Button got by the W02 in the first DRS zone, Buttons wing was still active in the second zone even though he was no longer trailing, and MS DRS was NOT active allowing Button to pull away beyond the 1 second gap. Not very sporting in IMHO. I think once the trailing car passes, DRS activation should have reversed.

Not that the W02 deserved a podium on merit but MS did make it shine a bit.

Actually Button commented on that same thing in an interview before the race. source--> http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92186

"Jenson Button was one driver who said that while the double DRS zone would definitely help overtaking, it would not necessarily make the grand prix a better spectacle.

"I am not sure how the DRS is going to work here, because on the first DRS zone it should be easy to overtake," he said. "Then, as you exit the chicane across the start-finish line, you can DRS again so you pull away from the guy you have overtaken - and they cannot fight back.

"It is not like I thought it was going to be where we had two activation zones, it is just one activation zone at the hairpin. So you can use it all the way down the straight and use it out of the chicane. It is going to help the overtaking but I don't think it is going to help the racing."