Turkish GP 2011 - Istanbul

[Mr Alcatraz]

Ferrari are still going down!

Seriously, what's with the Ferrari bashing!

I have not seen any more Ferrari bashing than usual with the exception of WB's absolutely obtuse comment. A Mercedes out-qualified the the Ferrari of Alonso who also thrashed the other one (by 8/10ths), and out qualified Button's McLaren. Let us not forget all the giddy speculation of how Renault was passing Ferrari this week. Heidfeld was out qualified by over .8 sec, and Petrov by .45. Renault was roundly beaten in Q3 by Alonso’s Ferrari.
How you can spin that as going backwards is a just straight up BS, antagonistic BS at that.

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m25.049s
2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m25.454s + 0.405
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m25.574s + 0.525
4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.595s + 0.546
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.851s + 0.802
6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.982s + 0.933
7. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m26.296s + 1.247
8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m26.646s + 1.597
9. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m26.659s + 1.610
10. Felipe Massa Ferrari No time

[Tamburello]

I don't think there's much to choose between Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari in either qualy or race trim, especially here at Istanbul Park. There wasn't much to choose between them at the last GP either, aside from some strategy and mechanical issues. In fact throughout the year, Ferrari and McLaren have been very close on pace in the races, and now Mercedes has joined that fray for the last podium place too!

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Ferrari are still going down!

Seriously, what's with the Ferrari bashing! I am not a Ferrari fan but how can any true F1 fan take enjoyment from an F1 team going through tough times?

Andrew not 2 months ago you were jumping on Mercedes for not providing your hero with the machinery "deserving" a 7 time champion.
Where you not in the seg and x corner of firing salvos at the team of "lncompetents"?
Everyone has there favourites and their hated figures. Part and parcel of sport, even you admitted for a soft spot for Ferrari. But the fact is they aren't performing as they thought they should. Alonso salvaged something for Ferrari today, but I wonder how much of that was alonso or Ferrari.....

[Mchamilton]

Qual

Best sector times: Qualifying
Lap Chart Qualifying

hamilton must have cocked up somewhere cus his absolute lap time is only .364 behind vettels and would have put him second.. looks good for the race other than the red bulls havin an extra set of softs

[MikeFromCanada]

hamilton must have cocked up somewhere cus his absolute lap time is only .364 behind vettels and would have put him second.. looks good for the race other than the red bulls havin an extra set of softs

Lewis lost a good couple tenths in the last sector. Must not have got the car hooked up around there.

It'll be a dogfight between positions 3 through 6. Once again Webber just can't match Vettels pace. And starting from the dirty side of the line, it looks like Vettel should get off okay and lead through the first corner (barring any KERS issues of course).

[Paul]

It almost seems like track-tyres combo hit its soft spot in the first half of Q3. Has anyone actually improved their time?

[donskar]

This post may require a new thread, but is clearly related to the Turkish GP: It's odd and unsettling that the tire limit rule encourages teams to restrict their qualifying attempts -- and thus limits "the show" for the paying spectators. I'm referring to Vettel sitting in the pits at Instanbul instead of trying to improve his time and the likelihood discussed numerous places that teams will limit their qualifying efforts in order to save tires for the race. If this is an offshoot of "cost savings," then we have gone too far.

[Paul]

It is not nearly as bad as when it was 12 laps for an hour. And I believe there should be some strategy involved during qualifying, even if it means track is a bit quiet sometimes. I really enjoy how teams are risking it all not putting options on cars in early sessions.

[sink]

Did anyone else see the in car shot of vettel's car through turn 8
he had to lift but he had the DRS open according to the graphic

He lifted then shortly after enabled the DRS, at that instant you can see the car wanting to get away from him.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMg5JdXzA24[/youtube]

[beelsebob]

What surprised me is that the McLarens went out for an extra run – surely it would have been better to simply go "well, 4th/5th with an extra set of softs spare is better than 3rd without*".

* And hell, 4th if you go cocking up your final sector.

[myurr]

What surprised me is that the McLarens went out for an extra run – surely it would have been better to simply go "well, 4th/5th with an extra set of softs spare is better than 3rd without*".

* And hell, 4th if you go cocking up your final sector.

If Hamilton had gone as fast in S3 as his first run then he would have been second and everyone would have been saying how silly Rosberg and Webber were for not doing a second run. However it didn't work out this time. Such is racing.

[Shrieker]

Spoils of Saturday:

First off, from Mr. Button.




And then two shots;







both signed by non other than the Boss himself.


I said "Lewis" and put out my hand. He put his marker down, smiled back and reached out for a hand shake. People call him 'arrogant' know nothing. Didn't skip in wishing him good luck. And to Button too, whom was at his side.

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow after the race with some action shots

[beelsebob]

What surprised me is that the McLarens went out for an extra run – surely it would have been better to simply go "well, 4th/5th with an extra set of softs spare is better than 3rd without*".

* And hell, 4th if you go cocking up your final sector.

If Hamilton had gone as fast in S3 as his first run then he would have been second and everyone would have been saying how silly Rosberg and Webber were for not doing a second run. However it didn't work out this time. Such is racing.

Even 2nd I'm not sure is better than 5th with an extra set of softs.

[Tamburello]

Did anyone else see the in car shot of vettel's car through turn 8
he had to lift but he had the DRS open according to the graphic

He lifted then shortly after enabled the DRS, at that instant you can see the car wanting to get away from him.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMg5JdXzA24[/youtube]

It would be interesting to see an onboard of the qualifying laps of the other drivers for comparison. In particular, I'd like to see Webber's lap. He lost 2 tenths to Vettel in sector 2; could it be due to different deployments of the DRS?

[Tamburello]

What surprised me is that the McLarens went out for an extra run – surely it would have been better to simply go "well, 4th/5th with an extra set of softs spare is better than 3rd without*".

* And hell, 4th if you go cocking up your final sector.

One eye on the weather? If it rains tomorrow, track position is going to be gold.