European GP 2011 - Valencia

[Mysticf1]

Vettel certainly can do things with the pirelli's that no other can, how much of that is down the the RB i cannot say...hes able to run consistently quick through a stint and still pump in some super quick sectors on his in lap. Webber seemed close this race but still not quite there, i have a feeling Vettel wasnt showing his hand, all three of the front runners were running within half a tenth of each other for quite a few laps but now and then Vett would pump in a few tenths quicker.

I hope the ban at silverstone will give anyone other than vettel an edge, just to spice up the season a little, lets face it the title is gone

[Pedro]

Pit Stop summary


(Columns: Position, Driver, Team, Lap, Time of the Day, Number of Pitstop, Pitstop duration, Pit-lane time,
Total time spent in the pit-lane)


Stints and tyres used


(Yellow - soft tyre, White - Medium tyre; star = new/unused tyre)

Source: http://www.f1news.cz

[zeph]

I wouldn't want to say that RBR is deliberately sabotaging Webber's season, so as for him not to mess with Vettel again, but it is remarkable how he has had car problems in every race this year whereas Vettel has not even had one.

Amazing how they get it right for Vettel everytime, but never for Webber.


That sort of thing does feed into the theory that they want to avoid a repeat of last year.

[i70q7m7ghw]

Indeed, they had a massive problem last year. Two out of five championship contenders in one team, it almost lost them the title all together. It was very damaging for their brand to be acused to team orders etc. etc. which always happens in such a situation. It seems this year they've found a way to avoid that problem.

If you look, the cars are clearly numbered

[Gaara]

Can the drivers use the DRS in the activation Zone if he wasn't 1sec behind the car? (but he was 1 sec behind it in the detection zone)?

[SiLo]

Can the drivers use the DRS in the activation Zone if he wasn't 1sec behind the car? (but he was 1 sec behind it in the detection zone)?

No they cannot.

I found this race a extremely boring compared to all the other races we've had this year (bar Melbourne). The title has pretty much been wrapped up already and we haven't even had half the season yet, it's getting to be like the Schumacher era which put a huge downer on F1 for me. I'm more interested between Mclaren and Ferrari now and rarely pay attention to Red Bull.

Maybe I'm biased because I'm a Mclaren fan, but I think seeing domination like this again which is very reminiscent of years gone past, I just can't help but feel less interested in watching anymore. Although saying that, if we have a wet British Grand Prix, I'll probably be harking that it was the best thing since sliced bread.... [-o<

[i70q7m7ghw]

RE: DRS - Actually yes he can. As long as the driver is inside 1 second going through the detection zone, it doesn't matter where he is relative to the other car when he arrives at the activation zone, DRS is activated for that lap. The other car could fall off the track before then, DRS is still enabled for that lap.

[i70q7m7ghw]

I found this race a extremely boring compared to all the other races we've had this year (bar Melbourne). The title has pretty much been wrapped up already and we haven't even had half the season yet, it's getting to be like the Schumacher era which put a huge downer on F1 for me. I'm more interested between Mclaren and Ferrari now and rarely pay attention to Red Bull.

The worst bit about this is that just like Ferrari did all those years ago, Red Bull are getting the title out of the way early so they can start working on their 2012 car at the same time as everyone else. They'll come back next year just as strong.

[gridwalker]

Can the drivers use the DRS in the activation Zone if he wasn't 1sec behind the car? (but he was 1 sec behind it in the detection zone)?

Yes, that is why the detection zone and activation zone are separate entities.

If they could tell the time differential between the two cars whilst they are in the activation zone, where is the point in having a detection zone in the first place?

[Mandrake]

I Still think Webber was severely impacted in his understanding of the Pirelli's by not getting to test them on the RB6 at the end of last year when Golden Balls did the 2 day Pirelli test by himself.

I don't remember it exactly, but wasn't Webber having a surgery or went to promote his book? It wasn't Vettel wanting to do all the running with the new tires.

And even McLaren do not show superior knowledge about the tires despite having tested with last year's car at the beginning of this season.

I wouldn't want to say that RBR is deliberately sabotaging Webber's season, so as for him not to mess with Vettel again, but it is remarkable how he has had car problems in every race this year whereas Vettel has not even had one.

Amazing how they get it right for Vettel everytime, but never for Webber.

If you remember last season, it was always Vettel's car that failed, in many occasions he was comfortably leading the race until the car failed. We would have seen a totally different season last year without all the failures. Would you say that last year they deliberately gave Vettel the worse car? I doubt that RedBull have unequal cars for their drivers....

[horse]

I've sure it's been said loads before, but what a dull race.

Highlights were Jenson's pass on Nico, after failing to work out how to pass on DRS and Jaime Alguersuari's drive was decent too.

I feel sorry for Torro Rosso, the drivers keep exchanging the dunce cap!

[andrew]

Webber isn't being given equal car with Vettel since the final 2-3 races of last season. I think it's evident when you compare his performances with Vettel's in 2010.

Source or are we just confusing fact and opinion again. This is nothing new in F1, 1 driver always gets the updates first. That's the way it has always been and it will be that way until the end of time or F1, which comes first.

It is entirely feasible that Vettel is just faster than Webber. I know this is a startling theory, but I don't think we need Stephen Hawking to confirm it with some extremely complicated maths do we?

In fact I recall Hamilton getting the new parts first over Heikki Kovalainen. This isn't me making it up or mindless bashing, it is fact that was confirmed during the 2008 season, but we will just ignore this as it concerns our Lord and saviour.

It seems to me that certain drivers are lambasted for getting updates 1st or preferential treatment but then the exact same is considered totally acceptable for others. Huge double standard there but again we will ignore this as who gives a damn about consistency?

[djos]

I don't remember it exactly, but wasn't Webber having a surgery or went to promote his book? It wasn't Vettel wanting to do all the running with the new tires.

No he hasnt needed surgery for well over 12 months, that was just a rumour someone started. The book was launched in Australia and Webber was in the UK relaxing.

[LionKing]

Alonso and Hamilton probably can do as good as Vettel, possibly Rosberg. However Massa, Button and Webber (obviously) could not. These drivers almost always finish behind their teammates in races and usually soundly beaten.

Q: Who is the only person to beat Vettel in qually this year?
A: Webber

Q: Who has the most fastest Race Laps so far this year?
A: Webber

Q: Who lead the 2010 WDC points chase the longest?
A: Webber

Q: Who saw off all of his former team-mates in Qually & points/race finishes through out his entire career before Vettel Joined RBR?
A: Webber

Point of the Q&A? Webber is no journeyman, Vettel is simply been able to adapt to the Pirelli's better than anyone else no matter what team they drive for and that combined with the RB7 has proven almost unbeatable.

What is the point of doing a fast lap when you finish 40 seconds behind the race winner (who happens to be your teammate) and all the positions are settled? Just self satisfaction? The time to do the fastest laps are in qualifying and when it actually matters during the race...

As for teammates, Webber was behind Heidfeld in points after 14 races in 2005, and he finished behind Coulthard in 2007. And Heidfeld and Coulthard are just good drivers, and that is about it.

He was leading last year because, Vettel lost three wins (65 points) due to reliability issues early in the campaign. Otherwise the picture last year would not be much different to this one.

Anyways, I think Webber is a solid driver, but definitely not a top driver.

[i70q7m7ghw]

And even McLaren do not show superior knowledge about the tires despite having tested with last year's car at the beginning of this season.

You keep bringing this up and it's a void point. Why? because neither of the McLaren race drivers tested at the first Pirelli test.

The point we are making is Vettel was elected to run at that Pirelli test, and it was a very important test because the drivers then provided feedback to Pirelli on how to improve the tyre. Now out of all the drivers at that test, which one do you think had the biggest voice after, say, winning the championship?