Spanish GP 2011 - Barcelona

[bot6]

Anyone notice that Webber didn't seem that happy about his pole when he stepped out of the car?

[fausto cedros]

I did and that's the thing that puzzled me most...anyone knows why?

[Mysticf1]

As someone else mentioned, he did the maths, without Vet's kers issue he probably would have been on pole, no one really knows what its worth outside of RBR.

Also this year we have seen grid position isnt as important as it once was, especially at a circuit such as this one where we have traditionally been subjected to boring affairs.

Vet has a real affinity with the pirelli's, hes able to pull laptime from them when everyone else is coming in to change them. I dont think any driver has this in their pocket...let alone webber...this is coming from a die hard webbo fan

Who knows what'll happen tomorrow

[ringo]

I think webber is one of the hardest guys to overtake and vettel knows this.
So Webber might run away with this one if he can keep ahead in the pitstop game.

Vettel is quick but he's not a brawler. Webber will back up the pack and vettel will bunch up till the stops.
Looks like hamilton has a good chance of a win tomorrow.

[fausto cedros]

Mystic,maybe you are right, but Lewis and Fred will be eager on jumping over Vettel tomorrow, and it won't be show as usual for him i guess, unless he has the edge on webber at the start, unlikely i think.

[myurr]

As long as we can avoid the finger and the stupid catch phrases, "That's what I'm talking about", then I'll be happy.

[bomz_za]

As long as we can avoid the finger and the stupid catch phrases, "That's what I'm talking about", then I'll be happy.

[Mysticf1]

can't argue with that myurr

[marcush.]

I´m pretty sure not both RBs will have a operative KERS tomorrow at the start of the race.the temperatures will climb too high too quickly ...so Webber is vulnerable as he has to stand still a little bit longer than Vettel and both will rest longer than all the others..if Kers does go into a failsafe mode under temp there is a good chance both get into trouble before the first corner.
So we can expect fireworks in lap 1 ....I´m looking forward to it.

I think it is more than obvious that racepace =life left in your tyre allocation is crucial for your result more than ever.We have seen all drivers storming to the front be it Webber or Kobayashi when you got sticker tyres .It just makes so much difference.To be in Q3 and NOT use the softs is the ultimate goal.You can start with the prime and time your pitstop just in a way to not lose any time on the guys in front and play your joker when it counts.
The question will be for how many laps the teams are planning with the primes.With 2 seconds per lap disadvantage there is not much sense in doing a lot of laps with them -if you have enough softs at your disposal.
So maybe a set of sticker primes for a short but hardly contested first stint maybe a good idea and still dive into the pits as one of the first..?

[andrew]

Anyone notice that Webber didn't seem that happy about his pole when he stepped out of the car?

Probably because he knows that when Vettel has a working KERS unit Vettel will be faster.

[ringo]

How long is a pit stop in Barcelona?

[andrew]

22 seconds according to the info I got for the opening post.

[HampusA]

Interesting Q for sure.
Very smart move of Mercedes and Schumi, the guys in front will take off letting him have some clean air and then when they pit he will have even more clean air and possibly stretching out his stint that extra bit further. Obviously to do this he has to make sure that he gets a good start and doesn´t lose a position.

Interesting also that Alonso was more or less just as quick as Hamilton despite the problems he seemed to have with the car throughout the weekend.
Can´t wait for tomorrow, this should be another fantastic race with all elements you can think of.

They wasn´t even close to 19´s today Had no idea on the little kerb they placed there and Coulthard mentioned that the track generally was just a little bit slower.
I think that shortcut they used to take you gain alot of time aswell.

It will be Webber who will dominate this race i think, just like last year.

[horse]

The question will be for how many laps the teams are planning with the primes.With 2 seconds per lap disadvantage there is not much sense in doing a lot of laps with them -if you have enough softs at your disposal.
So maybe a set of sticker primes for a short but hardly contested first stint maybe a good idea and still dive into the pits as one of the first..?

Yeah, the options looked pretty durable in the free practise long runs, and they'd have to wear an awful lot to lose 2 secs a lap. I just don't see why any driver would want to spend much time on the super hard?

Interesting Q for sure.
Very smart move of Mercedes and Schumi, the guys in front will take off letting him have some clean air and then when they pit he will have even more clean air and possibly stretching out his stint that extra bit further. Obviously to do this he has to make sure that he gets a good start and doesn´t lose a position.

I think he'll be done by a few drivers on the first lap or two, but he should be able to take those positions back later on. Lack of KERS might hurt though.

[Just_a_fan]

Vettel is now in the fortunate position of being able to be happy with second places on the weekends he can't secure the win. If those around him (Webber, Hamilton, Alonso) share wins between them with him getting seconds/thirds each time then he's ok. He won't be happy if one of them (presumably Webber) starts to get a number of wins in a row though.

In summary, Vettel can afford to not fight too hard for the win so long as he's still getting good points each race. He will get further wins anyway so he's pretty comfortable up front now.

I don't see him being too aggressive tomorrow off the start unless Webber cocks up his own start. Hamilton/Alonso might be helped by this too.