2012 Abu Dhabi GP - Yas Marina

[Lurk]

But he was pushed out because of Massa not leaving enough space. So Massa responsible for Webber cutting the chicane, and Webber for Massa spin. Thus Massa for Massa spin.


If it was at Monaco, Massa nor Webber would have finish the race... oh wait, Webber didn't anyway

[Shrieker]

I want to say Vettel's third wasn't down to luck and that he drove at least an OK race, but when you look at the facts... First, he had contact with Bruno Senna in what was a very optimistic overtake attempt. He could've easily lost half his front wing. A rookie driver would at least get a slap on the wrist for doing that. Then, he was being careless (like the driver ahead of him) and barged into the DRS sign. Not to mention he brake checks people whenever there's a safety car. Don't like the taste of your own medicine ? Toys out the pram right away, screaming on the radio. After that he went all four wheels out of the track intentionally since it was his only option to overtake at the time. His team probably told him to give the position back after hearing Lotus complain on the radio.

That's not a good drive. Even without those 3, it wouldn't have been anything special. He was very very lucky today, especially with the number of guys tripping over each other. Hulk/Di Resta/ Senna at the start, and then Rosberg slashing Grosjean's tyre and losing his own front wing in the process... None of which is Vettel's fault of course. Not to mention the perfectly timed safety cars, he probably couldn't have placed them better if he was given the chance. But he benefited massively from all those, and he would not have ended up anywhere near the top 5.

Fantastic result after starting from the pits, yes.

Fantastic drive, not.

[FoxHound]

+1 shrieker

At every stage of the gp, there was some very fortunate circumstance which assisted Vettel.
For me, it was a par drive. He made 2 basic errors, which could have resulted in a DNF in either incident.
And he was bailed out twice with the safety car.

The safety car assists nullified any pit lane start, and he was assisted further by having a car set up primarily for the race.
This will go down as probably one of the most assisted recovery drives ever.

[andartop]

But he was pushed out because of Massa not leaving enough space. So Massa responsible for Webber cutting the chicane, and Webber for Massa spin. Thus Massa for Massa spin.


If it was at Monaco, Massa nor Webber would have finish the race... oh wait, Webber didn't anyway

Massa not leaving enough space is one thing, Webber re-entering the track the way he did is another. Just look at the Maldonado-Hamilton incident in Valencia. Back then we had people crying in this forum that Maldonado should have his superlicense taken away. The only difference today was that Massa took avoiding action and therefore there was no contact, while Hamilton in Valencia had no chance to take avoiding action. Today's ruling of no further action was like suggesting to drivers they are better off going ahead and crashing onto the other guy rejoining the track rather than trying to avoid contact.

What I found most suspicious was that the stewards' decision on this came so quickly that I seriously doubt they looked at all the data.

[marcush.]

Quite interesting so many incidents in this race but not many reprimands or drive troughs/penalties...Rosberg,Webber,Massa ,Grosjean,Perez Ricciardo and many more doing potentially dangerous moves ,
di Resta moving twice in defending his position etc etc..
Ricciardo clearly driving unsafely during Safety car -with Vettel having to take avoiding action. and only perez got a stop and go.. so that clearly was too much action for the stewards ?

[FoxHound]

I think a reduction in front wing width is in order...

[zeph]

I'm gonna have to agree with Massa's view here. If he had not avoided contact (and thus spun) they would have collided, and Webber would have certainly be penalized.

I really like the Aussie, but today he was just not together, and he over-reached to compensate.

I think a reduction in front wing width is in order...

I agree.

[GrizzleBoy]

Okay so we've had:
- Anti-roll bar.
- Front jack.
- Rear jack.
- Gear box.
- Brake tape.
- Wheel nuts.
- Engine power.
- Under fueling.
- Clutch.
- Old tyre left in front of wheels after stop.

What new innovative way of breaking Lewis' car or ruining his race pace/time will McLaren conjure up for Austin?

Its kind of scary. If we had 50 grand prix a year, they might get desperate for ideas and decide his brakes don't need to work at the end of the longest straight.

[siskue2005]

Kimi sounded really rude to me , but I have to say I laughed alot

Rude? I'd actually like to hear more drivers do that. The race engineers are turning into ridiculous baby sitters or worse - gamers who use their driver as a remote control. And often miss to convey a really vital information exactly when it matters. Merc engineers are in the lead there.

come to think of it, you are right...he doesnt need any baby sitting
i really enjoyed it

[GrizzleBoy]

What was with the swearing on the podium though?

[MarkedOne8]

Is this right topic to ask when is the first day of Abu Dhabi F1 Young Driver Tests?
Can't wait to see these updates.It will be interesting to watch RB and Ferrari, and also Lotus with that F-Duct.

Edit: Ferrari will not participate because they have already held YDT at Magny-Cours, right?

[JimClarkFan]

I want to say Vettel's third wasn't down to luck and that he drove at least an OK race, but when you look at the facts... First, he had contact with Bruno Senna in what was a very optimistic overtake attempt. He could've easily lost half his front wing. A rookie driver would at least get a slap on the wrist for doing that. Then, he was being careless (like the driver ahead of him) and barged into the DRS sign. Not to mention he brake checks people whenever there's a safety car. Don't like the taste of your own medicine ? Toys out the pram right away, screaming on the radio. After that he went all four wheels out of the track intentionally since it was his only option to overtake at the time. His team probably told him to give the position back after hearing Lotus complain on the radio.

That's not a good drive. Even without those 3, it wouldn't have been anything special. He was very very lucky today, especially with the number of guys tripping over each other. Hulk/Di Resta/ Senna at the start, and then Rosberg slashing Grosjean's tyre and losing his own front wing in the process... None of which is Vettel's fault of course. Not to mention the perfectly timed safety cars, he probably couldn't have placed them better if he was given the chance. But he benefited massively from all those, and he would not have ended up anywhere near the top 5.

Fantastic result after starting from the pits, yes.

Fantastic drive, not.

+1

Exctly my thoughts

[Gerhard Berger]

I want to say Vettel's third wasn't down to luck and that he drove at least an OK race, but when you look at the facts... First, he had contact with Bruno Senna in what was a very optimistic overtake attempt. He could've easily lost half his front wing. A rookie driver would at least get a slap on the wrist for doing that. Then, he was being careless (like the driver ahead of him) and barged into the DRS sign. Not to mention he brake checks people whenever there's a safety car. Don't like the taste of your own medicine ? Toys out the pram right away, screaming on the radio. After that he went all four wheels out of the track intentionally since it was his only option to overtake at the time. His team probably told him to give the position back after hearing Lotus complain on the radio.

That's not a good drive. Even without those 3, it wouldn't have been anything special. He was very very lucky today, especially with the number of guys tripping over each other. Hulk/Di Resta/ Senna at the start, and then Rosberg slashing Grosjean's tyre and losing his own front wing in the process... None of which is Vettel's fault of course. Not to mention the perfectly timed safety cars, he probably couldn't have placed them better if he was given the chance. But he benefited massively from all those, and he would not have ended up anywhere near the top 5.

Fantastic result after starting from the pits, yes.

Fantastic drive, not.

It's an interesting point you bring up. It seems that incidents are judged on consequences, rather than the actual manoevre. If Senna got a puncture from that incident, it probably would have been investigated and punished. Take Grosjean at Spa - he made an error, but he gets a one race ban because of the consequences (taking out lots of cars). In my opinion, this is not the right way to police the sport.

[MarkedOne8]

Ok, then Kimi is the best of all times by far because of Suzuka 2005 vicotry.Right?

[Shrieker]

@Berger,

I agree with you to some extend. From another pow though, you could compare it with manslaughter by negligence. If you've been careless and caused a death, quite naturally one would expect that your sentence would be lower than that if you had caused 10 people to die with the very same mistake. For example, if Hamilton and Grosjean's contact had happened at any point in the race other than the start at SPA, most probably only two cars would've retired. It's all a bit iffy though. I sure as hell wouldn't wanna be in the stewards' shoes in that sort of incident.

On a side note, I agree %100 with people who say these front wings have to go. It's complete nonsense. They've never looked good, and they hamper racing. One small missjudgement from the driver you're going wheel to wheel with, and you suffer a puncture which always proves fatal to your race. It's not fair at all, and watching hard fair racing is fantastic. Remember Alonso/Button/Hamilton last time round in India ?