Hangaku wrote:Also, with Regards to how Vettel was able to pull away so easily at the start, I suspect that he had the engine turned right up (using more fuel)which prevented him from completing his slow down lap.
I don't think he did anything spectacular to be honest. His gap was spectacular, yes. But he was pulling away from an ailing McLaren - where the real pacesetters were the Loti. When Grosjean came into clean air (after that somewhat-beautiful pass on Hamilton) he was matching Vettel, whose laptimes weren't exactly slower than they were at the start. I think it was more a case of Vettel and the Loti being the 3 quickest cars on track that day - and the Loti initially being caught up in traffic.
Red Bull's continued used of "stop the car immediately, there is a dangerous fault" on the radio at the end of the race is an insult to everyone watching, and it's just them circumventing a sloppy rule that needs to be tightened.
Eh... when did they do that? Other than when they were telling Seb he ran out of fuel that is. I don't think they actually said there was anything wrong IIRC - they just said they were out of fuel and he had to stop so there was enough for an FIA scrutineering sample.
Hangaku wrote:Not convinced that it was all down to tyres. By rights, Mercedes should have done better here, because the lower temps and the track layout suited them very well, as told by Rosberg and Brawn just before the race.
I don't think the Merc suits lower temps in particular - as Brawn has said many times, the car's a bit of a prima donna with tyres. For it to work properly, it needs a setup specifically tailored to a specific temperature. The one time when the Merc has come good (China) has been when Friday temps and Sunday temps were roughly in the same range. Malaysia and Bahrain it was cooler on Sunday, and in Melbourne it was hotter on Sunday.