Japanese GP 2011 - Suzuka

[PlatinumZealot]

But who says all the performance gain was the DRS? Hamilton has 3 tenths in his pocket on Button and Vettel. The race is definitely going to be a brawler.

[LionKing]

But who says all the performance gain was the DRS? Hamilton has 3 tenths in his pocket on Button and Vettel. The race is definitely going to be a brawler.

How is that Lewis has 3 tenths in his pockets on Button and Vettel? The logic behind it being?

[PlatinumZealot]

To point out the performance in qualifying.LH lost pole for just 0.151s which in reality was the banker set with scrubbed softs.I am guessing he would be at least 0.1s ahead of SV and JB had he set the flying lap.

Oh well,moving on to tomorrow's race!

That was one a fresh BRAND new set of softs & not scrubbed. Lewis 2nd set of option. No need to exaggerate Lewis fanboys.

If Lewis would have got in another lap with his 3rd & final set of fresh softs then he might have been able to get P1 or maybe would have stayed in P3. It's a guessing game now & pretty much useless.

What is obvious is Mclaren is almost on par with Vettel on sheer pace & it is possible for either of the Top 3 to win the race. It is very open. I actually see Mclaren's superior race pace.

Did you see the practice times? Did you hear Button begging the racing gods for more speed in his car? lol Mclaren are not even close to the Bulls in race pace. Nice try to twist history.

[raymondu999]

But who says all the performance gain was the DRS? Hamilton has 3 tenths in his pocket on Button and Vettel. The race is definitely going to be a brawler.

How is that Lewis has 3 tenths in his pockets on Button and Vettel? The logic behind it being?

I think that was based possibly off the first Q3 runs.

Having said that Lewis is running more wing in qualifying; which potentially is giving him a better qualifying setup as he's getting more DRS effect in qualifying.

To point out the performance in qualifying.LH lost pole for just 0.151s which in reality was the banker set with scrubbed softs.I am guessing he would be at least 0.1s ahead of SV and JB had he set the flying lap.

Oh well,moving on to tomorrow's race!

That was one a fresh BRAND new set of softs & not scrubbed. Lewis 2nd set of option. No need to exaggerate Lewis fanboys.

If Lewis would have got in another lap with his 3rd & final set of fresh softs then he might have been able to get P1 or maybe would have stayed in P3. It's a guessing game now & pretty much useless.

What is obvious is Mclaren is almost on par with Vettel on sheer pace & it is possible for either of the Top 3 to win the race. It is very open. I actually see Mclaren's superior race pace.

Did you see the practice times? Did you hear Button begging the racing gods for more speed in his car? lol Mclaren are not even close to the Bulls in race pace. Nice try to twist history.

To be fair smikle; Hamilton also said that he was absolutely confident that McLaren was running heaps more fuel. The McLaren had the legs on the Red Bulls all throughout qualifying

[PlatinumZealot]

But who says all the performance gain was the DRS? Hamilton has 3 tenths in his pocket on Button and Vettel. The race is definitely going to be a brawler.

How is that Lewis has 3 tenths in his pockets on Button and Vettel? The logic behind it being?

Button and Vettel gained 5 tenths on their second hot lap in Q3. Everybody with a clean lap went faster. I mean It's only normal to go faster on fresher tyres? Or is that too logical? Let me know why you think not.

[PlatinumZealot]

To be fair smikle; Hamilton also said that he was absolutely confident that McLaren was running heaps more fuel. The McLaren had the legs on the Red Bulls all throughout qualifying

Hamilton says all sorts a crap every now and then.

While Paddy Lowe was hoping the Bulls had less fuel. Going by past experience, the Bulls never run light to impress. On the contrary they seem to pull out 5 tenths in Q3.

[raymondu999]

Actually that's not quite accurate; there have been FP sessions in the past where the RBs have run lighter on the LONG RUNS. The RBs certainly don't run light in the quick laps; but in the long runs they do

[LionKing]

But who says all the performance gain was the DRS? Hamilton has 3 tenths in his pocket on Button and Vettel. The race is definitely going to be a brawler.

How is that Lewis has 3 tenths in his pockets on Button and Vettel? The logic behind it being?

Button and Vettel gained 5 tenths on their second hot lap in Q3. Everybody with a clean lap went faster. I mean It's only normal to go faster on fresher tyres? Or is that too logical? Let me know why you think not.

Is there a standard chart that tells which driver will improve by how much in Q3 vs Q2?

Q2 purpose is just to advance to Q3 for top teams. Are you sure Lewis, Vettel, etc were pushing the same through their Q2 laps?

Even during Q3 drivers do not always improve their own laptime on their second run.

As for the tires, there are those who are saying they were tires used in Q2 vs saying brand new tires. So I am not sure about which one Lewis used during his first (and final) attempt...

[jeremy]

With 2 theories on free practice fuel loads this weekend, fuel correct the bulls seem to have a few tenths still but not a second as the lap times as projected over the Mclarens. It may be close tomorrow which is good for everyone. Lets all hope for a cracker of a race despite the championship being done. Seb and Red Bull deserves it this year.

[raymondu999]

As for the tires, there are those who are saying they were tires used in Q2 vs saying brand new tires. So I am not sure about which one Lewis used during his first (and final) attempt...

The BBC reported that frontrunners all did their first Q3 runs on scrubbed Q2 sets; and fresh sets for their 2nd Q3 run

[donskar]

One would think from many of the posts above that points were awarded for qualifying. Not so. The race will tell the tale, and the title of that tale this year is "Vettel Wins (and deservedly so)." I'll be glad to see the back of this season; RB domination has been as complete as during Ferrari's "Dream Team" years, and the season has been almost totally lacking in any real competition for WDC or WCC. But it seems that before every race there are dozens of post painstakingly proving that THIS is the race where Vettel is beaten. Too seldom true.

[Shrieker]

Kobayashi is promoted to 7th ? How did that happen ? He didn't set a time in q3 and neither did Senna,Petrov and Schumacher. Plus his q2 time was slower than all three. Any ideas ?

[Shrieker]

Hmm ok, thanks for the kind reply. But I still don't get why Senna starts ahead of Petrov. Did Senna attempt a flying lap too ? Or maybe he just left the pits This tyre saving stuff in Q3 is such a farce... Bring in the quali tyres already.

[megz]

Senna starts in front of Petrov by virtue of having the lower number on the nose of his car. If a car doesn't set a quali lap it is sorted as follows: The car who started a flying lap (but didn't finish) the car who completed a non-flying lap (I.e. Kobayashi) and then numerical order for all cars who do not set a time at all.

[Shrieker]

@megz,

Thanks for the clarification

I have a thing or two to say about Hamilton's incident. I think the whole event was just trivial. Could've just been another driver trying to allow himself some space instead of him, and the shenanigans would still have happened (other drivers trying to pass to start a lap). But somehow, this season Hamilton managed to find himself in so many awkward situations like this one; by virtue of his mistakes, the team's mistakes and just pure luck. I feel he and the team must sit down and sort out more solid tactics in case they are needed, they need to play it safer.