Japanese GP 2011 - Suzuka

[raymondu999]

The damning thing in my view; is that the McLarens were faster in Sector 1 the whole weekend; and that is probably the most downforce-heavy section of Suzuka; while still having a similar top speed.

[beelsebob]

The damning thing in my view; is that the McLarens were faster in Sector 1 the whole weekend; and that is probably the most downforce-heavy section of Suzuka; while still having a similar top speed.

Yep, I said this over and over and over – McLaren have the more efficient car at high downforce levels.

They were fast at Sepang, they were fast at Barcelona, they were slow at Silverstone (but for well known reasons), they were fast in the middle sector of Spa, they were fast at the Nurburgring, and they were fast at the Hungaroring.

We'll see McLaren strong again in Brazil at least.

[bizadfar]

Wrong decision by the stewards. Had Schumacher or Hamilton made that move then he would have been punished. It was a clear push of another car off the track and the rules are clear - you cannot crowd another car off the track.

Alan Jones was as the experienced steward.

His a big MS fan and he loved his aggressiveness as part of racing and the desire to win.
There was never a chance Vettel was going to be penalized with that... And I agree. It was borderline, but legal. If Jenson kept his foot in it and spun him around, I'd still call it legal and Seb's own fault where his aggressiveness bit him.

[MuseF1]

Why didnt Rosberg get a penalty for unsafe pit release

[Shrieker]

I think Vettel didn't deserve a penalty for pushing Button. That's racing. What Button should've done was to say "No, you can't push me off the track, and no I'm not taking to the grass, touch me if you will". The fault would've been Vettel's. But then Button wouldn't have won the race (probably).

[beelsebob]

Why didnt Rosberg get a penalty for unsafe pit release

In general, they're not considered unsafe if the pit lane has 2 lanes.

[WhiteBlue]

A nice race. I think the DRS zone was well thought out this time. The stewards kept out of controversy by deciding for the accused in cases of doubt. That was ok as well.

Jenson was a well deserved race winner although I found it a bit dodgy that he did one lap less than all other drivers and used the petrol of this lap to defend against Alonso. It could have been Alonso as well on the top step of the podium if McLaren had been prohibited to do that. Strange that nobody protested.

Seb was again driving at the top of his ability and the car simply used the tyres worse than the McLaren. It was a surprise for me how much faster the options were over the primes even after many laps. Wonderful end to his championship challenge. The whole family (especially his dad) was very emotional. Mark Webber was very nice to hold station and gifted a podium to Seb. Seb included him in his thank you messages.

Another messy race for Hamilton and a good one for Michael Schumacher. Hamilton can't control the Pirellis as Button can and it frustrates him into mistakes and emotional outbursts.

A pity for Kamui Kobayashi that his strategy did not work and the car was too slow. It would have been nice to see him shine in Japan in front of his home crowd.

It's only some days to Korea and soon enough we will be discussing the next race. I'm looking forward to that.

[beelsebob]

Certainly, the rules do seem to suggest that what button did was illegal:

43.3 After receiving the end-of-race signal all cars must proceed on the circuit directly to the post race parc fermé without any unnecessary delay, without receiving any object whatsoever and without any assistance (except that of the marshals if necessary).
Any classified car which cannot reach the post race parc fermé under its own power will be placed under the exclusive control of the marshals who will take the car to the parc fermé.

If he could get there, he should have, basically.

[raymondu999]

The damning thing in my view; is that the McLarens were faster in Sector 1 the whole weekend; and that is probably the most downforce-heavy section of Suzuka; while still having a similar top speed.

Yep, I said this over and over and over – McLaren have the more efficient car at high downforce levels.

They were fast at Sepang, they were fast at Barcelona, they were slow at Silverstone (but for well known reasons), they were fast in the middle sector of Spa, they were fast at the Nurburgring, and they were fast at the Hungaroring.

We'll see McLaren strong again in Brazil at least.

It certainly does; though I'm not quite sure that you could classify Brazil as a high downforce circuit. The middle sector is more mechanical surely. But then again Hungaroring Sector 2 was also mechanical so what do I know eh?

[beelsebob]

It certainly does; though I'm not quite sure that you could classify Brazil as a high downforce circuit. The middle sector is more mechanical surely. But then again Hungaroring Sector 2 was also mechanical so what do I know eh?

It's not the highest of the high, but it does have some pretty quick sweepers in there.

[mnmracer]

• For the record books: Sebastian Vettel is now the youngest two-time world champion, just 24 years and 98 days. That is actually just 39 days older than Fernando Alonso was when he took his first championship in 2005.
• Sebastian Vettel is the 9th driver in history to win back-to-back world championships, after Alberto Ascari (1952-1953), Juan Manuel Fangio (1954-1957), Jack Brabham (1959-1960), Alain Prost (1985-1986) Ayrton Senna (1990-1991), Michael Schumacher (1994-1995, 2000-2004), Mika Häkkinen (1998-1999), Fernando Alonso (2005-2006). Only Fangio and Senna had won championships before winning their back-to-back championships.
• With Vettel securing the championship, it is the first time since Michael Schumacher in 2003 that the title was won in Japan. He is now the 6th driver in history to become world champion Formula One in Suzuka, after Nelso Piquet (1987), Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990, 1991), Alain Prost (1989), Damon Hill (1996), Hakkinen (1998, 1999) and Michael Schumacher (2000, 2003).
• Vettel's second world championship is the ninth world championship won by a German driver. Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel now together have more championships than all Brazilian drivers combined (Nelson Piquet (3), Ayrton Senna (3), Emerson Fittipaldi (2)).
• Michael Schumacher still holds the record for winning the world championship with most races left in the season, with 6 races left in 2002, but securing the title with 4 races left, Sebastian Vettel equals Schumacher's 2004 result. Lest we not forget Mansell however, he clinched the title 5 races before the end in 1992.
• With the championship won, and no one other than Sebastian Vettel being able to lead the championship anymore, he now holds the record for "leading the championship for most races in the season", leading the championship for all 19 races of 2011. The previous record was held by Michael Schumacher, leading the championship all year through the 18 races in 2004.
[img]http://www.formula1.com/wi/447x283/sutton/2011/d11jpn1965.jpg[/img]
• With Button's win on Suzuka, McLaren has now won 9 of the 27 Japanese Grand Prix since 1976.
• When Schumacher (42 years, 279 days old) led the race before his last pit stop, he became the old driver to lead a race since Jack Brabham (44 years, 107 days old) led the 1970 British Grand Prix.
• In his tenth Japanese Grand Prix, this is only the fourth time Mark Webber scored points in Japan; third out of nine races in Suzuka.
• Button's victory is McLaren's first win at Suzuka since Raïkkönen's win in 2005.
• Although Force India must be happy to finish, after having a double retirement in the 2008 and 2010 Japanese Grand Prix, they were again unable to score points in Japan.
• With Perez's eight place finish, Sauber has now consecutively scored points in the last six Japanese Grand Prix, counting both Fuji and Suzuka.
• The old record for most driver's championship titles entering a race -9 championships equally across Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna in the 1991 Australian Grand Prix- was already shattered when Michael Schumacher brought his 7 championships into the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, starting that race with 13 championship titles. The 2011 Korean Grand Prix will be started with 15 championship titles across the field, but it will be the first time since the 1991 Australian Grand Prix that 3 double world champions will start a race: Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and now Sebastian Vettel.
• This is Jenson Button's 12th win, 40th podium finish and 6th fastest lap.
• Fernando Alonso scored his 71st podium finish, slowly creeping up to Ayrton Senna's 80 podium finishes.
• Sebastian Vettel's 27th pole position, means he is now the all-time 7th driver in most pole positions, clearing himself from Mika Häkkinen, with 26 pole positions. His third place finish in Suzuka meant his 33rd podium finish in his young career: finishing on the podium in 42.8% of his races.
• Although Sebastian Vettel can no longer beat the 2004 record of most wins in a season, when Michael Schumacher drove his Ferrari to 13 race wins, he will still be able to equal the record.
• Vettel will no longer be able to beat Alberto Ascari's record of 7 consecutive wins this season.

[raymondu999]

Fantastic stats mate. Cheers

[Dragonfly]

Glad for Seb's second title as I have great hopes on him.
Button seems to me is settling and stamping his position at McLaren by delivering. Very good race and a well deserved win.
Especially pleased by Michael's result today.

[raymondu999]

The old record for most driver's championship titles entering a race -9 championships equally across Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna in the 1991 Australian Grand Prix- was already shattered when Michael Schumacher brought his 5 championships into the 2010 Australian Grand Prix

I always thought that Schumi had 7 titles...

[LionKing]

Cool stats, thank you very much...