2012 US GP - Circuit of the Americas

[Nando]

Brilliant race and always nice to see the real 2012 champ win a race without any problems

when i heard Alonso is up to fourth i was blown away... it´s crazy how good he is on the opening laps.

[myurr]

For Vettel, it is the day when the cucumber strike again. lol

Had Kathikeyan not tangled with Rosberg in Abu Dhabi then arguably Vettel's recovery would have been less spectacular. He gained points in one race because of him and lost points in another.

In this race Vettel also made a job of passing him - he could see the car, should have known that he wouldn't get past through the high speed section, and should have hung back a little bit to then push past when he was clear of that section of the track by making a decisive overtake. As it was he decided to push on, got caught right up behind Karthikeyan's car, which then left him making a clumsy pass, whilst Hamilton had a clear run to follow him through.

Hamilton had the awareness to turn up the engine knowing that Vettel would get caught up behind the back marker. Vettel didn't have the awareness to control the situation, in a red mist moment he then risked even finishing the race by weaving on track as Hamilton came past, and then threw his toys out the pram on the radio. That was not the classy way to handle the situation.

[FW17]

Loved the idea from Pirelli of making cars slower after a pit stop rater than faster.


Overall the FOM did a bad job of camera placements for turn 3 to 9 sequence, it was difficult to follow the track action in this sequence. It was also difficult to differentiate the cars with the sun on a shiny track.

[Powershift]

SPEEDTV here in the US had a "promotion" with Mercedes which allowed viewers to watch the entire race from onboard MSC & HAM.

I watched nearly the entire race from HAM's onboard and it was clear that he was taking a different line thru the esses, specifically in the turn 6, 7 & 8 complex(and gaining alot of time). He was also using the curbs more than VET, but the most shocking difference was under braking were it almost seemed like HAM was within centimeters of running into the back of him several times after reeling him in.

VET was clearly better thru the fast corners 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20 and under acceleration out of 1 & 11.

I have no doubt in my mind that HAM would have won this race if he were driving the RB or the McL.

Also, HAM lost time to backmarkers on several occasions, and also lost time and a position on the start, and lost more time passing WEB, and lost more time passing RAI(after the pit stops). KAR was not the reason HAM won, it was just purely superior driving.

HAM's race was so much more impressive today than VET's race in Abu Dabi 2 weeks ago.

MSC should be banned from his final race after forcing BUT into the pit lane exit again as he did to BAR.

[NathanOlder]

I just want to ask people why they think the DRS being given to the car infront when the car passing is alongside is a good idea?

If that had happened yesterday with Lewis & Seb, there is still no way in hell Vettel could have defended his position any better, Lewis drew level 3/4 the way down the straight, if not further. The speed difference was about 298kph to 313kph. If Vettels DRS had opened, I doubt he would have matched Lewis speed before the braking zone, and even if he did he would have been a good 3-4 car lengths back. So how would this have helped him ? Somewhere like Shanghi it would mean both cars bouncing off the limiter, with the cars having swapped position.
The only thing I can see this helping, is stopping the front car in a pack being passed by multiple cars instead of just the 1. But Multi car overtakes have got to be some of the most exciting racing we can see.

So could someone explain to me how that activating the DRS of the front car when being passed is a good idea? Maybe im missing something ?

[feni_remmen]

MSC should be banned from his final race after forcing BUT into the pit lane exit again as he did to BAR.

I think the same thing on this. It seems drivers are punished because of the consequences of their actions rather than their behaviour straight up.?! I've tried to like Michael,but then his gets up to his old --- and it's just dissapointing. It's no wonder driving standards are so 2nd rate when the world best think this is acceptable... Anyway, nobody seemed to care, so maybe we are just over reacting.

[OppositeLock]

MSC should be banned from his final race after forcing BUT into the pit lane exit again as he did to BAR.

I was shaking my head in pity when I saw that move. He wasn't even fighting for points at the time.

[banibhusan]

Isn't it the first time that Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso have finished on the podium together?

[raymondu999]

Isn't it the first time that Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso have finished on the podium together?

Yes. So the podium IS big enough after all

I always theorised that with the level of combined talent - a VET-ALO-HAM podium would cause the podium to implode in a shower of awesomeness

[myurr]

MSC should be banned from his final race after forcing BUT into the pit lane exit again as he did to BAR.

I think the same thing on this. It seems drivers are punished because of the consequences of their actions rather than their behaviour straight up.?! I've tried to like Michael,but then his gets up to his old --- and it's just dissapointing. It's no wonder driving standards are so 2nd rate when the world best think this is acceptable... Anyway, nobody seemed to care, so maybe we are just over reacting.

Well Anthony Davidson said to Button, don't worry you won't have to put up with it for much longer which got a wry grin and giggle.

Same could be said for Vettel's double defence on Hamilton. He came within a couple of centimeters of launching Hamilton's car with that stupid stunt. But because Hamilton avoided it and then Vettel backed off, no one bats an eye.

[banibhusan]

Isn't it the first time that Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso have finished on the podium together?

Yes. So the podium IS big enough after all

I always theorised that with the level of combined talent - a VET-ALO-HAM podium would cause the podium to implode in a shower of awesomeness

Indeed. I was hoping that no one retires this time to make sure its the 3 best drivers in F1 standing on the podium. I wish Alonso could have been part of the leading battle. It would have been just AWESOME.

[turbof1]

Same could be said for Vettel's double defence on Hamilton. He came within a couple of centimeters of launching Hamilton's car with that stupid stunt. But because Hamilton avoided it and then Vettel backed off, no one bats an eye.

Incredible the way Hamilton handled that situation. He released the trottle just enough to avoid collision, but still had enough to complete the pas. The Hamilton of last year would had crashed into Vettel (which by no means would have been the fault of Hamilton). He is a much more controlled driver this year, without loosing in speed. Also the way he was able to handle himself in the highspeed S's in the turbelent air of Vettel, just shows the race was more won by driver then machine.

[feni_remmen]

Yeah. I've seem no news or comment about it, but I thought Vettels double junk was just asking for trouble.

[banibhusan]

Yeah he did try to get back to the racing line, but I don't think it was that bad enough to earn a penalty. Hamilton still had ample space and had the racing line to pass him and complete the move.

Can anyone post the video of the move here? I cant access youtube now!!

[turbof1]

Yeah he did try to get back to the racing line, but I don't think it was that bad enough to earn a penalty. Hamilton still had ample space and had the racing line to pass him and complete the move.

Can anyone post the video of the move here? I cant access youtube now!!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuvDnB3q-Ec[/youtube]