2012 European GP - Valencia

[amouzouris]

...Alonso might work some of his magic again and with some luck he might even win...

That's overoptimistic, don't you think? Didn't the Lotus have better pace on the longer runs?

as a matter of fact...no they didnt...i think lotus made a mistake by focusing too much on qualy pace...they said that they needed to improve qualy pace....

[bhall]

the question is :how much is the advanatge of having new unused rubber and how is the degradation for all involved.As we have seen in recent races some car and driver combos can extract incredible performance and endurance from tyres where even teammates struggle .
So is this a setup or a driver issue or is it simply the nature of the tyre-being a random performance item?
[...]

I didn't watch P3, but I've seen it posed that Ferrari didn't even attempt to make any qualifying simulations.

Sauber has shown us all year that a team can fight at the front, even if it lacks the outright pace of the top teams, by simply using good tire management.

[marcush.]

And glock is out.
Bit ashame they didn't let the tirhd driver get his chance

L'Allemand Timo Glock (Marussia) ne participera pas au Grand Prix d'Europe, dimanche après-midi sur le circuit urbain de Valence, en raison d'une "infection intestinale", a annoncé son écurie dimanche matin.

"Les médecins lui ont suggéré qu'il n'était pas raisonnable de participer à la course, en raison de l'intensité de ses douleurs, et qu'il ferait mieux de se concentrer sur sa récupération", précise l'écurie russe dans un communiqué.

Glock, 30 ans, n'avait déjà pas pu participer aux qualifications samedi après-midi, pour la même raison, mais avait été repêché par la direction de course grâce à ses temps des essais libres vendredi et samedi matin.

"Timo est de bonne humeur, s'est reposé samedi soir dans son hôtel et rentrera chez lui ce dimanche", conclut le texte.

eurosport.fr

I think this was a real fauxpas from glock and his team .Overly selfish and egomanic.When there is danger you cannot compete ,throw in the reserve driver at least for FP3 to demonstrate he has the speed and hope to get the ok to have him starting from the back .Or better still:let him qualify and accept you cannot compete really when sick....missed opportunity to give the reserve driver valuable exposure and seat time.
The lower teams show again and again they are not acting like pros ...

[Unc1e_M0nty]

I have read that they had tried to get to q3 saving two sets of new softs. Only raikkonen has made it, using one of the two sets in q3 and keeping one for the race. So I see ferrari trying to do what nearly anyone tries (going to q3 sparing two sets) as a sign of deep self confidence. I think they trust their car now

I thought the smart money was on a soft, hard, hard statergy, not sure how two set of new softs are going to help.

Both Ferrari & kimi will be stuck in traffic diving at the pace of the car ahead, this only works if you have clean air.

Qually is king at the moment, am I right in thinking all this seasons winners have started from rows one & two ?

[TheGkbrk]

I have read that they had tried to get to q3 saving two sets of new softs. Only raikkonen has made it, using one of the two sets in q3 and keeping one for the race. So I see ferrari trying to do what nearly anyone tries (going to q3 sparing two sets) as a sign of deep self confidence. I think they trust their car now

I thought the smart money was on a soft, hard, hard statergy, not sure how two set of new softs are going to help.

Both Ferrari & kimi will be stuck in traffic diving at the pace of the car ahead, this only works if you have clean air.

Qually is king at the moment, am I right in thinking all this seasons winners have started from rows one & two ?

Only Alonso in Malaysia, he started from 8th

[Mr Alcatraz]

And glock is out.
Bit ashame they didn't let the tirhd driver get his chance

L'Allemand Timo Glock (Marussia) ne participera pas au Grand Prix d'Europe, dimanche après-midi sur le circuit urbain de Valence, en raison d'une "infection intestinale", a annoncé son écurie dimanche matin.

"Les médecins lui ont suggéré qu'il n'était pas raisonnable de participer à la course, en raison de l'intensité de ses douleurs, et qu'il ferait mieux de se concentrer sur sa récupération", précise l'écurie russe dans un communiqué.

Glock, 30 ans, n'avait déjà pas pu participer aux qualifications samedi après-midi, pour la même raison, mais avait été repêché par la direction de course grâce à ses temps des essais libres vendredi et samedi matin.

"Timo est de bonne humeur, s'est reposé samedi soir dans son hôtel et rentrera chez lui ce dimanche", conclut le texte.

eurosport.fr

I think this was a real fauxpas from glock and his team .Overly selfish and egomanic.When there is danger you cannot compete ,throw in the reserve driver at least for FP3 to demonstrate he has the speed and hope to get the ok to have him starting from the back .Or better still:let him qualify and accept you cannot compete really when sick....missed opportunity to give the reserve driver valuable exposure and seat time.
The lower teams show again and again they are not acting like pros ...

Marussia screwed up in a major way:
1) They had a chance to put another Spaniard on the track, Marie de Villota
2) Although she probably would not be able to set a time within 107% in practice or in qualy to be the first female on the grid in 20 years, why in the hell were they too lame to even try it?
3) Huge exposure for their sponsors if she just entered quali. Epic fail by Marussia IMO, I wonder if she just pussed out herself

[Chuckjr]

The Pirellis have turned conventional wisdom on its head.  For that reason, I'm making the bold prediction that Alonso and Massa will one-stop their way to a 1-2 finish.

(Considering my luck, though, I may have just given them the kiss of death.)

If that happens the first round is on me. 

Why do you think a one stop will work considering the last race where they tried the same thing, and the increased heat in Spain???

[astracrazy]

Marussia screwed up in a major way:
1) They had a chance to put another Spaniard on the track, Marie de Villota
2) Although she probably would not be able to set a time within 107% in practice or in qualy to be the first female on the grid in 20 years, why in the hell were they too lame to even try it?
3) Huge exposure for their sponsors if she just entered quali. Epic fail by Marussia IMO, I wonder if she just pussed out herself

They don't have a reserver driver she is there test driver because she doesn't have a super licence. The only way Marussia have screwed up is by not having a reserve driver, its got nothing to do with her.

I guess again a fail from Marussia as well as they can't of given her another track time in an F1 car so she can get her super licence.

[Mr Alcatraz]

I stand corrected

[ecapox]

Anyone have a streaming site for the race? The dam race is a FOX race so it is at 2:00 and that coincides with Italy - England. WTF.

[bhall]

The Pirellis have turned conventional wisdom on its head.  For that reason, I'm making the bold prediction that Alonso and Massa will one-stop their way to a 1-2 finish.

(Considering my luck, though, I may have just given them the kiss of death.)

If that happens the first round is on me. 

Why do you think a one stop will work considering the last race where they tried the same thing, and the increased heat in Spain???

For one thing, the tires are different, and the prime (Pirelli's medium) has been revised for added durability. Also, the difference between starting a race on a one-stop strategy with a car that's set up for a one-stop strategy is a whole lot different than switching to a one-stop strategy in the middle of a race with a car that's not set up for a one-stop strategy.

Ferrari got greedy in Canada, and it bit 'em in the ass.

It's been said - with what level of validity, I don't know - that Ferrari concentrated solely on race setup throughout practice. If true, that bodes well for the F2012 in terms of both pace and tire wear/degradation.

Alonso and Massa will start on fresh tires of their choice rather than the drivers ahead who will start on the tires they used in qualifying. That should be a distinct advantage given the massive gulf between tires with life and those that are dead. (Incidentally, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Vettel's pace drops like a hammer a lot earlier than the rest of the field. His qualifying time is an outlier to everyone else, and that may very well be because he pushed his tires a lot harder.)

Most importantly, it's a bold prediction on my part. That's what makes it fun. It's like wagering dignity instead of money. Or something like that.

EDIT:

Anyone have a streaming site for the race? The dam race is a FOX race so it is at 2:00 and that coincides with Italy - England. WTF.

I totally forgot about that. Why am I awake?!?!

[fenix4life]

Anyone have a streaming site for the race? The dam race is a FOX race so it is at 2:00 and that coincides with Italy - England. WTF.

you have pm

[stefan_]

Why didn't Marussia shove miss de Villota in the car for the quali/race?

[radosav]

...
and don't tell me that your enthusiasm about newey came from his exhaust ''please God make it work this time'' system version 5.

Wow. Are you seriously saying that? You don't win multi world championships from multiple teams just hoping/guessing. Please.

ok, if that is the reason for your respect to newey. let me say that everyone respect him, but some people see strange exhaust system and they say: ' wow. that is it, a masterpiece .''
they don't know if it works at all.

[wesley123]

Why didn't Marussia shove miss de Villota in the car for the quali/race?

Not even a page back...

Marussia screwed up in a major way:
1) They had a chance to put another Spaniard on the track, Marie de Villota
2) Although she probably would not be able to set a time within 107% in practice or in qualy to be the first female on the grid in 20 years, why in the hell were they too lame to even try it?
3) Huge exposure for their sponsors if she just entered quali. Epic fail by Marussia IMO, I wonder if she just pussed out herself

They don't have a reserver driver she is there test driver because she doesn't have a super licence. The only way Marussia have screwed up is by not having a reserve driver, its got nothing to do with her.

I guess again a fail from Marussia as well as they can't of given her another track time in an F1 car so she can get her super licence.