2012 Abu Dhabi GP - Yas Marina

[Lurk]

Just did a quick calculation about Vettel gaigning 21 places.

Catheram-HRT-Marussia. cannot be easier: 18th
Hulkenberg & Hamilton out: 16th
STRs : RBR little sister, easy when not stuck behind SC: 14th
Saubers, Massa, Maldonado overtook because of (forced) pit stop strategy: 8th
Webber pleased to pit: 7th

Alonso and Raikkonen did 1&2 so only overtaking were: Button, Grosjean, Schumacher, Senna.

[snoop1050]

Could someone explain why schumacher started on hards just to do an extra pitstop at the end dropping him from 7th to last ?

do merc actually want him to score points ?

[beelsebob]

Hahaha, all the Alonso fans are crying luck luck etc etc
It was luck which also brought him so close to Wdc this year

Name me the top drivers Vettel overtook today, please......name these great overtakes during this amazing drive.

Seriously are you blind didn't you see the overtake on Button on the outside .

I did, I saw him struggle behind button for 5 laps, in a car geared for overtaking, with softer tyres that were 8 laps newer... That's hardly impressive, or worthy of "great drive"... To be honest, I'd be more inclined to use that as evidnce of *button* having a great drive.

[FoxHound]

So what many of you do is to watch a picture and telling yourself it is a result of pure luck.

Was he lucky in the incident with Senna?
Yes. He could have lost more than 1 element of a front wing.

Was he lucky after using the RB8 to eat a bollard for not checking the pace of a car whilst under safety car conditions?
Yes. He could have easily lost more than the left side element of his front wing.

Was he lucky, that both incidents where wiped clean by coming in to the pits for a pit stop change which gave him no real tangible penalty other than being behind cars 2 seconds a lap slower than him?
Yes. The timing was beautiful.

Was he lucky the second safety car nullified the deficit to Button in 3rd that was around 10 seconds?
Yes.

And if he tried the manoeuvre he did on Button, on Hamilton, Alonso, Webber, Perez, Massa, Grosjean, Raikkonen, Kobayashi, Rosberg et al...do you think he would have had room to take the inside?
Not on your life, Button was overly polite and fair play to him for that... but anyone else and Vettel would be in for a new wing at the least.

When you take into consideration what happened today in the sequence they did, it's understandable why some people would suggest that luck had a big part in Vettel's drive today.

[Cylinder]

He drove the wheels off that Ferrari today, brilliant performance. If the race was 1 lap longer and he got into the DRS zone, I am not sure that Kimi would have won this.

Alonso was Monster today, monster. This man is what you call a racer, I know this because when I watch Sky Sports F1, I can SEE HIM overtaking other TOP DRIVERS, I also see him dragging a truck to within 1 second of the race win.

He needs to keep going and not be dis-heartened, the bottom line is, the gap is less now than it was last week.

[Dragonfly]

Just did a quick calculation about Vettel gaigning 21 places.

Catheram-HRT-Marussia. cannot be easier: 18th
Hulkenberg & Hamilton out: 16th
STRs : RBR little sister, easy when not stuck behind SC: 14th
Saubers, Massa, Maldonado overtook because of (forced) pit stop strategy: 8th
Webber pleased to pit: 7th

Alonso and Raikkonen did 1&2 so only overtaking were: Button, Grosjean, Schumacher, Senna.

How about starting twice from the back?

[CHT]

Just did a quick calculation about Vettel gaigning 21 places.

Catheram-HRT-Marussia. cannot be easier: 18th
Hulkenberg & Hamilton out: 16th
STRs : RBR little sister, easy when not stuck behind SC: 14th
Saubers, Massa, Maldonado overtook because of (forced) pit stop strategy: 8th
Webber pleased to pit: 7th

Alonso and Raikkonen did 1&2 so only overtaking were: Button, Grosjean, Schumacher, Senna.

Perhaps you coud do that Simiar calculation with other driver who have done similar race and see if there is anything different

[siskue2005]

Puncture

[beelsebob]

Just did a quick calculation about Vettel gaigning 21 places.

Catheram-HRT-Marussia. cannot be easier: 18th
Hulkenberg & Hamilton out: 16th
STRs : RBR little sister, easy when not stuck behind SC: 14th
Saubers, Massa, Maldonado overtook because of (forced) pit stop strategy: 8th
Webber pleased to pit: 7th

Alonso and Raikkonen did 1&2 so only overtaking were: Button, Grosjean, Schumacher, Senna.

How about starting twice from the back?

I'll give you an example of a great drive, now that you remind me of it... Canada, and Button, last year... Ended up at the back, 20 seconds behind everyone, with 20 laps remaining... Still came back to win the race. That's a great drive. Vettel getting jammy with safety cars is not.

[LionKing]

Did they change the gear ratios of Vettel???

He did not look fast at straights at all....

[mep]

Lucky race for Mercedes, Sauber scored only 8 points because Perez crashed out with Grosejean.
P6 is coming closer.

[Dragonfly]

I'll give you an example of a great drive, now that you remind me of it... Canada, and Button, last year... Ended up at the back, 20 seconds behind everyone, with 20 laps remaining... Still came back to win the race. That's a great drive. Vettel getting jammy with safety cars is not.

I guess everyone has the right to be delusional and comfortably miss some details

[Sombrero]

By the way Lewis Hamilton's pole position yesterday was fantastic Ayrton-like. Nobody has noticed it because of all the controversy about the Red Bull. Nice to see Kimi and Lotus (80th Victory) back on tracks. Vettel has made today a big step toward his third consecutive WC. One WC at least will be clinched at Austin... May be two (Vettel 1st and Alonso not in the 1st 4).

[FoxHound]

I'll give you an example of a great drive, now that you remind me of it... Canada, and Button, last year... Ended up at the back, 20 seconds behind everyone, with 20 laps remaining... Still came back to win the race. That's a great drive. Vettel getting jammy with safety cars is not.

I guess everyone has the right to be delusional and comfortably miss some details

Did you actually watch the race?

Mind the name calling.....

[Phil]

Show why. What moves did Vettel make? Where would he have been had he not gained 35 seconds under the two safety cars? He was incredibly lucky with how that race panned out, and in terms of what he did he just drove fairly fast. In free air when they were both running, Hamilton was a few tenths a lap quicker, so you can't even say Vettel had field leading pace. He was just quick enough to take advantage of the way the race panned out, rather than being spectacular.

You mean the two safety cars - the first being where vettel had to pit because of his broken front wing putting him practically back at the grid *again* - which is where he was when the race restarted, or the second safety car that only yielded him *one single* position (which he might have got anyway even if there hadnt been a safety car)?

dont get me wrong, i hate his finger as much as the next guy here, but there's no denying that coming from back of the grid twice to end up third is phenomenal. all mistakes he did, he ultimately paid for them one way or the other, like the nose he had to come in for, or the position he gave back to grosjean and retook soon after.

i find it quite pathetic to argue about the positions he was gifted by perhaps he's team (by pulling in webber), but who are we to fool knowing full well that if this was Alonso, Ferrari would have went though equal lengths to ensure they gave their driver every advantage possible.

i'm gutted for hamilton, but between alonso and vettel, i'm not sure alonso is more deserving than vettel. this is as much a teamsport as it is a drivers and there's no looking past red bull. if they hadnt stuffed up the fuel issue on vettels car - it would have been an easy 2nd place behind hamilton (or win with hamiltons DNF) in front of alonso.