LdiM has already started the clean up at SF.
He must be reading our recommendations at Rennteam regularly
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91694
"Form follows function"
Ferdie:
I cannot agree on that comparison. Schumacher was well-known for his driving style, positioning the car via throttle input and a loose rear axle. His driving style and suspension setup was awkward for competitors such as Berger who tried the championship-winning car with Schumacher´s original setup first.
Alsonso does a similiar thing, constantly adjusting the car at the verge of oversteer. I am not sure if he does so via throttle input only but achieves a similiar effect as Schumacher. I am convinced that a driver needs to "feel" the car properly to drive that way, therefore Alonso might have needed some time to adjust to a new car as it happened at Renault against Trulli and at McLaren against Hamilton initially. Alonso gave an interview during his McLaren season and commented that the technical developments should improve his performance in the second half of the season [which eventually happend to be correct]. I do remember that you found Alonso´s mediocre performance as described above to be proof of his inferiority against his teammates and dependability on the correct settings and surroundings within the team. I happen to believe that he needs a setup that encourages his driving style to make him exceptionally quick but even with a mediocre setup he is considerably fast. The comments of his former teammates and rivals about his performance and support within the team paint a different picture than some sources may suggest.
Hamilton drives the car over the edge and tries to handle any reaction the car gives back. Unfortunately as a consequence he is not able to cover all reactions, such as the training incident in Japan last year or the crash in qualifying in Monaco two years ago. Wait, there is also the crash in the last lap of Monza two years ago. How many times have you seen Alonso do such things? If Hamilton succeeds, he is a hero. If he fails, he does so in a spectacular way.
I would not place Button within the above driving styles as his gentle way of handling the car is one of the most extreme on the grid. One does remember his difficulties to heat up the tires in qualifying in recent years but do believe that it can help him this year with the rapidly degrading Pirelli tires. Of course, one has to ask whether such a driving style can be successfull in the long run as it is directly opposing Hamilton´s. Seeing these two drive the same car and to finish very close to each other so far makes it very interesting in my opinion.
In general I dislike generalisations as purported in the yellow press as it does not do justice to the performance and skills of these drivers. All of the above mentioned top-rated drivers make the sport so interesting once you look behind the obvious that I would not want to miss any of them. Just like Easy, I can affiliate with one´s character more than with the other´s but that should not be subject of discussion if we debate about their skills.
Even I would say good post :)
But there is one point I tends to disagree with, over the years it doesn't seems to me that Alonso is in any danger of losing control of his car, he is very smooth in and out of corners, so I would think he drives a tighter car than Shummy and Hamilton. Alonso reminds me of Prost in that respect. He has the speed but just doesn't seems to pushes the car to the edge which results in my opinions.
May 24, 2011 4:48:46 PM
Smooth does not mean slow, and that depends mostly on the car, next GP take a close look at the onboard camera's and compare Vettel's car to the rest, especially the Ferrari, you will notice that Vettel barely has to make any corrections on the RB while negotiating the turns, its just planted with all the downforce and its effortless to drive, while the Ferrari needs a lot more input and corrections constantly to drive it at the max. While the RB looks the smoothest, it doesn't mean that its being driven slowly as we can see from the lap times.
Just look at the consistantly huge difference in race pace and qualifying laps between Massa and Alonso, and you can see how much Alonso is making do with the Ferrari's ill performance. If it weren't for Alonso, Ferrari would be fighting in between the the Renaults and Williams, and they know that too well at Ferrari, hence they extending his contract just recently.
Whoopsy:
Even I would say good post :)
But there is one point I tends to disagree with, over the years it doesn't seems to me that Alonso is in any danger of losing control of his car, he is very smooth in and out of corners, so I would think he drives a tighter car than Shummy and Hamilton. Alonso reminds me of Prost in that respect. He has the speed but just doesn't seems to pushes the car to the edge which results in my opinions.
To be honest, I initially thought the same. Check the below video though and watch his corrections on the sliding car. I personally believe that he drives aggressively whenever it is necessary. Watch the below video as an example, if you can tolerate a few minutes of Alonso.
Cheers, mate!
Wow, those are some MAJOR corrections..............wait, he was on his warm up lap.............
I actually don't mind watching Alonso drives, he is very fast and smooth in a front runner and he drives safe, doesn't take a lot of risks. He may be driving aggressively but it just doesn't show on TV and thus not many think he is even when he post fast times. I am not a fan but I don't hate the guy, I only think he whines too much and he is overrated a little as he still needs to prove he has the raw talent to bring a so so car into the winning circle a la Senna in a Lotus. If this year's Ferrari is as slow as people think they are, it's actually a perfect opportunity for Alonso to shed that label and prove the doubters like me wrong by winning with the car.
Whoopsy:
Wow, those are some MAJOR corrections..............wait, he was on his warm up lap.............
I thought it goes without saying that you watch the part starting at 3:00 min. Now show me a video of Prost in comparison.
As Throt, I find the Ferrari to be a handful. The fastest drivers do not have to drive aggressively if it is unnecessary. Alonso, in my opinion, can adjust his level of commitment to the situation. The fact that he is not stunningly fast in a mediocre car, and I agree with you on that one, might be due to his specific driving style as I mentioned above. The funny thing is that in motor racing, just as in soccer [football], there are so many variables that we could debate for weeks which one is the better driver. I personally rather sit back and relax.
May 25, 2011 6:27:06 AM
hahaha, the Ferrari sure is a handful and Alonso is doing a pretty decent job of pulling the max out of it. A total package champion can tell the engineers how to improve and better the car. And that is a big variable not discussed in F1...
indeed shifting is ancient technology - so is a fuel burning engine.. I happen to like both :)
May 25, 2011 9:20:57 AM
May 25, 2011 11:38:22 AM
Has overtaking become too easy? BBC's Andrew Benson's article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/has_f1_made_overtaking_too_eas.html
RT Moderator - 997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm sports suspension/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection
May 25, 2011 11:39:00 AM
Strategy analysis from Barcelona by James Allen
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/05/a-deep-dive-into-strategies-from-the-spanish-grand-prix/
RT Moderator - 997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm sports suspension/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection
May 25, 2011 11:40:17 AM
Helmut Marko thinks Ferrari is engaging in espionage
http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/6950173/Marko-RBR-suspicious-of-Ferrari-tactics
RT Moderator - 997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm sports suspension/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection
May 25, 2011 11:41:41 AM
David Coulthard thinks Hamilton's car needed a longer 7th gear in Barcelona (to enable overtaking on the start/finish straight)
http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/6949734/-Lewis-s-gear-ratios-weren-t-long-enough-
RT Moderator - 997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm sports suspension/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection
May 25, 2011 11:59:16 AM
easy_rider911:
Helmut Marko thinks Ferrari is engaging in espionage
http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/6950173/Marko-RBR-suspicious-of-Ferrari-tactics
Marko was interviewed by Lauda and the second interviewer by German´s RTL channel and stated that Red Bull had to use tactics to fool Ferrari regarding the pitstop manouvre. They asked him whether Ferrari was spying and Marko could not do anything else than reluctantly confirm.
I would be actually surprised if any F1 team is not surveying the radio of competing teams to learn something about setup and strategy, what other reason would they have to use encrypted orders everytime the driver has to change a setting on the car?
May 25, 2011 12:33:29 PM
Every team monitors all radio transmisions, they have photographers with telescopic lenses distributed around the track to take pictures in detail of all cars, specially if there is an accident and parts are exposed, etc etc, etc... all that is normal.
May 25, 2011 12:36:34 PM
Exactly - teams wouldn't be exploiting all avenues available to them if they weren't doing these things ...
We, as fans, should feel happy - e.g. the Renault blown-exhaust diffuser design is now used by other teams that has led to closer racing ...
RT Moderator - 997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm sports suspension/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection
May 26, 2011 11:09:17 AM
Has a Spanish journalist been stirring up trouble? Apparently he has been claiming that Banco Santander is unhappy with Ferrari's performance. Ferrari's Horse Whisperer has denied this.
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/05/ferraris-horse-whisperer-attacks-spanish-journalist/
RT Moderator - 997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm sports suspension/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection